Annual Culinary Fantasy: Great Food for a Good Cause

Toss out those calorie counters. It’s going to be king salmon with caviar from Tribeca Grill--that now New York bistro owned by Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, et al.--at the Art of Dining on March 10 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach.

Not to mention terrine of duck liver from the Restaurant Leonce in France and smoked sturgeon from Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago. And, while we’re drooling: smoked prawn gazpacho from the River Cafe in New York (you know, the chic riverside bistro in Brooklyn with the drop-dead view of Manhattan) and potato lasagna from Patina in Los Angeles (where Kevin Costner loves the corner booth).

And more: lamb with goat cheese from Emeril’s in New Orleans, partridge from the Four Seasons Hotel and mango strudel with coconut ice cream from Le Canard in Hamburg.

The fourth annual culinary fantasy, which benefits the Newport Harbor Art Museum, has gained a platinum reputation with Orange County’s gourmand set. In fact, its social status has gotten so stratospheric that businesses such as Tiffany & Co., Chanel, Georgio Armani and Neiman Marcus have tossed their charity hats into the ring.

Tiffany has donated $50,000, two gold watches and the decor (favors will be champagne flutes, promises Tiffany veep Jo Qualls). Chanel has come up with a trip to Paris, a stay at the Ritz and lunch at Coco Chanel’s famous apartment.

Armani has guaranteed a $15,000 gift certificate plus $10,000 worth of alligator luggage and the proceeds from this summer’s benefit opening of its new shop at South Coast Plaza. Neiman Marcus has volunteered a $5,000 gift certificate. The Four Seasons has promised trips to Hawaii and the Caribbean. And two of last year’s most satisfied Art of Dining guests--Daniel and Susie Hernandez of Mission Viejo--have handed over $50,000 to help defray costs.

With food costs alone hovering at the $50,000 mark, all of this altruism is music to the ears of Sam Goldstein, event co-chair with Steve McHolm.

Yes, Sam is playing it again. The Laguna Beach resident, a member of the museum board, finds the $300-per-person affair an irresistible challenge. So many chefs, such a great time, he says.

“And can you think of a better cause?” Goldstein asks, sitting down to a recent lunch at Patina with its owner, Joaquim Splichal. For four years in a row, Splichal has masterminded the culinary end of the affair while Goldstein has taken care of business.

This year, Goldstein has some new tricks up his sleeve. Purchasers of $10,000 tables receive gratis limousine service to and from the affair (so they can tip their bubbly and--count ‘em--eight glasses of wine without having to fret about designated drivers). “We’re going to have a fleet of limos,” Goldstein says. “It’s going to look like the Academy Awards.”

Even purchasers of $5,000 tables get free transportation. “If you organize a table,” Goldstein says, “we pick you and your friends up in a shuttle bus.” (Nice idea. Let’s hope it’s the beginning of a trend.)

Each table for 10 will have 10 waiters. No sooner will a guest savor a final morsel of, say, partridge with Napa cabbage and truffle sauce than an attendant will whisk the plate away.

Splichal calls Emeril’s one of New Orleans’ “best, new, upcoming restaurants.”

“Emeril Lagasse is great fun,” he says. “He’ll be doing Cajun lamb.”

David Burke, chef de cuisine at the River Cafe, is very innovative, Splichal claims: “He’s tops in New York. His food is very intense, very artistic. He’s going to be great.” The two chefs met in Los Angeles when Splichal organized a dinner for Burke at the Regency Club a few years ago.

The Art of Dining has become a magnet for the chef community, Splichal says. “They enjoy the little bit of pocket money, the stay at the Four Seasons and the chance to get together and talk about what’s going on,” he says. “Each time they come, they want to come back. We have chefs coming from the West, the East, the Midwest, the South and Europe. Each year we have it all.”