Rex Serves Up Taste of Benefit to Come

There were assurances at Rex Il Ristorante last week of culinary wonders awaiting Los Angeles County Museum of Art patrons Sept. 4.

Owner and Renaissance man Mauro Vincenti has assembled four French chefs with 14 Michelin stars--Michel Rostang of Michel Rostang and Jean Pierre Vigato of Apicius (both in Paris), Jacques Lameloise of Lameloise (in Chagny) and Guy Martin of Le Vendome (near Geneva)--and three up-and-coming chefs to fly here for a stellar experience to kick off the inaugural Martell Cognac French Festival.

The celebration of French culture and cuisine is scheduled Sept. 6-9 at the Santa Monica Civic Center.

The chefs will create gastronomic delights at Rex for 170 patrons who will pay from $250 each to $10,000 a couple. Biggest spenders will be entitled to dinners at all four restaurants in France.

The night’s proceeds will help defray costs of the current exhibit: “Monet to Matisse: French Art in Southern California collections.”

Last week, Vincenti talked philosophy and gastronomy over tantalizing morsels prepared and announced by his chef Gennaro Villella-- foie gras with figs, lobster ravioli with tarragon sauce, fettuccine with pheasant and Barbaresco wine sauce, grilled sea bass with onion marmalade and artichokes, and hazelnut ice cream with peaches and strawberries smothered in orange sauce.

Through lunch, Vincenti, born a stone’s throw from the Fountain of Trevi, also orchestrated morsels of knowledge, such as: “Prometheus was the first chef, because the gods gave him fire.”

And, “Cardinal Richelieu rounded off the knife so people at the table wouldn’t clean their nails with it.”

On the honorary museum committee: Rob and Susan Maguire, Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Dwight and Dona Kendall, Dee and Richard Sherwood, Daisy and Dan Belin, Terry and Lionel Bell, Iris Cantor and Sheila and Wally Weisman.

FOXY: Remember those red foxes found last April under the Costa Mesa freeway in Orange County? Two will be among the animals available for “adoption” Sept. 14 at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn.’s 21st annual Beastly Ball. Always a zoorific affair, last year’s grossed $521,619 for education and conservation. For the 10th year, Westsider Helen Maher chairs the affair, says Bruce Nasby, GLAZA president and CEO. Peter McCoy will auction and “Golden Girl” Betty White Ludden will emcee. Tickets are $350. Successful bidders will become foster parents of a kookaburra, a corn snake, a penguin or a pygmy falcon.

KUDOS: To Thomas P. Pike, for taking on the honorary chairmanship of Mayfield Senior School’s campaign for a $1-million scholarship endowment to be named for Sister Mary Wilfrid. The nun, he says, has taught 13 Pike children and grandchildren.

EARLY START: At tea in Lanie Bernhard’s home, the UCLA Art Council announced its famed Thieves Market will return to the Santa Monica Art Center March 20-21. Art Council president Muriel Simkin told 70 supporters: “This grandest of all garage sales will be headed by Gloria Drexler and Helene Cooper.” Connie Nagler and Lulu Epstein will co-chair the preview dinner. Among those who already have offered support are Lee Ramer, Judy Murphy, Carmela Speroni, Hannah Carter, Linda Brownridge, Tally Mingst and Roz Rogers. The last Thieves Market was in 1989, but the council has raised about $2 million with its markets since 1966.

On Monday, council members will meet Adolfo at Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills and view the designer’s fall collection during a champagne luncheon.

PAST PERFECT: Orel and Jamie Hershiser hosting “Going, Going, Gone!” for the L.A. Dodgers 65 Roses Club at the Bonaventure. They raised $50,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation with the help of 425 including about 15 Dodger families. In the crowd: Jo Lasorda and Pat Hichcock O’Connell . . .

Programs designed to help the blind live independently will benefit from the Robert Skene Invitational Polo Match and luncheon Saturday at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club in Carpinteria. Carrie Calvin and Merry Graham co-chaired the event, sponsored by the Braille Institute Auxiliary of Santa Barbara. Patron co-chairs Cecelia Dalsemer and Zola Rex were prominent.

FOR ABBY: Ted and Rhonda (Fleming) Mann host “An Evening Honoring Our Dear Abby” on Sept. 7, Upstairs at the Bistro. The guest list includes Bob and Diane Anderson, Charles and Mary Jane Wick, Joseph and Beverly Mitchell, Herbert and Juli Hutner, former Ambassador to Belgium Geoffrey and Mary Swaebe, Mel and Ali Torme, Stuart and Honeybear Brien, Bill and Erma Bombeck, Glen and Marilyn McDaniel, Jerry and Marjorie Perenchio, Gary and Mary Ann Collins, and Ted and Susie Field.

It’s a busy summer for Rhonda. On Sept. 15, UCLA will dedicate the Rhonda Fleming Mann Clinic for Women’s Comprehensive Care. The Manns have given their support to the clinic in honor of Rhonda’s sister, Beverly Engle, who died two years ago of a rare form of ovarian cancer. The outpatient facility will provide crucial services for those with gynecological and catastropic cancer.

SUMMER TEA: Suzanne Marx gathered friends of Karen Gould at the Regency Club for a tea before she moves to Manhattan, where husband Michael will be chairman and CEO-elect of Bloomingdale’s. Karen, a stalwart volunteer with Friends of Robinson Gardens, the Music Center’s Blue Ribbon and Otis Art Institute, said she wasn’t saying “goodby” as she greeted a galaxy: Judi Davidson, Joan Selwyn, Diana Bollero, Gail Newman, Terri Childs, Adrienne Hall, Barbara Namerow, Sophie Mastor, Joanne Kozberg and Judy Ruderman.