Table-Hopping Suits Designer for Tiffany

Looking for inexpensive ways to make your holiday tables shine?

Follow the lead of Fred Chuang, window display coordinator for Tiffany & Co. in Costa Mesa.

When Chuang whips up ambience, it isn’t always about baubles, bangles and beads.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a fruit assortment piled on a platter or nestled in an heirloom silver bowl. Sometimes it’s a cluster of pumpkins trailing silver-tinged ivy. Or a floral arrangement stuck with keepsakes for guests.

One of Chuang’s favorites is a fruit display, a centerpiece he calls “ecologically sound.”

“Ultimately, at the end of the meal, you bring out a board of cheeses and sit back and eat the arrangement,” Chuang says.

“When people ask me about table settings, I say one thing: ‘You are hosting, offering something of yourself to guests. More than anything, you must be sincere.’ ”

And what’s more sincere than fruit?

But not just any fruit. “Look for fruits that are beautiful,” Chuang says. “Once I did a centerpiece with fresh prunes--they were a lovely dark purple-green.

“During the holidays I always go after red and green fruit and a touch of yellow--a peach with a blush, for example. Then I add dark touches--black grapes or plums--for depth and contrast.”

Arranging the fruit takes some thought, Chuang says. He tries to distribute the colors evenly. “But not in a strict pattern.” Balance is the watchword.

When it comes to style, Chuang’s steadfast rule is: Know when to stop. “Even clutter should be controlled,” he says. “I like tight concepts--the distilling of a presentation down to one emotion.”

For the second year in a row, Chuang will create the ambience for the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Christmas Candlelight Concert, a gala on Dec. 8 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine featuring a concert-in-the-round with pianists Steve Allen, Pete Jolly, Mark Massey and Paul Smith.

Here, the design requirement is: Fill the space above the tables to “create a total atmosphere,” Chuang says.

A sincere atmosphere. Chuang plans to incorporate 5-inch Mexican tin stars (hostess tip: you’ll find them at the Folk Tree in Pasadena) into the floral centerpieces. Each guest will be invited to take one home as a souvenir.

Above each table, Chuang will create 6-foot high topiaries topped with facsimiles of the perforated tin stars. They will be made from foil-covered card stock that has been embossed and attached to 4-foot lengths of aluminum wire.

During one Thanksgiving season at Tiffany, Chuang had great success using pumpkins, Indian corn, sweet potatoes and ginger to create a turkey centerpiece. “I carved the pumpkin into a turkey body shape,” he says. “I used small and large Indian corn on bamboo skewers to create two rows of feathers. (Drill holes in the corn to insert the skewers--the corn is hard, he warns.) Then I fanned out the corn husks.”

For the head and neck, he used yams. Green peas were used for detail. The feet were created from fresh ginger root. “Women looking in our store windows loved those turkeys so much they took notes,” Chuang says with a satisfied chuckle.

“The simplest things can be so eventful.”

“The Extra Man” opens at SCR: Anybody who thinks Orange County theatergoers are prudish better think again. There was not one titter--not even a gasp--on Saturday night when two stars of “The Extra Man” doffed their duds on stage at South Coast Repertory.

(We’re talking frontal nudity by actor Jonathan Emerson. And two in-the-buff peeks at leggy actress Kandis Chappell.)

After the performance, theatergoer Barbara Peckenpaugh called the world premiere of Richard Greenberg’s play a “wonderful chance to see the male as a meddler.”

“Usually, women are portrayed as meddlers,” she added. “The extra man was a lonely man trying to find happiness by living other peoples’ lives.”

First-nighters enjoyed a champagne reception before the world-premiere performance and a sandwich (salmon or ham with cucumbers and tomatoes) and dessert (crepes drizzled with fresh peach sauce) buffet afterward.

The Buzz: “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” star Robin Leach plans to attend the Ritz-Carlton’s World of Wines festival next month. . . . Lady Bird Johnson is making plans to visit the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda early next month. She is coming to California to attend the opening of the Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County on Nov. 4. . . . Part of the Absolut (as in vodka) art show is on display at Gustaf Anders restaurant in Sana Ana. On Tuesday, the public is invited to dine on Absolut citron sorbet at a feast that will also feature salmon and pike terrine presented in a golden caviar sauce and mixed greens tossed with Absolut pepper dressing. Absolut commissions artists such as the late Andy Warhol to paint images of its streamlined bottle. . . . Larry Mindel, chief executive officer of Il Fornaio restaurants/bakeries (the hot California eating spots frequented by celebs such as Billy Joel, Ted Danson, Barbara Hershey and Bonnie Raitt) was in Newport Beach recently to discuss final touches for the Il Fornaio restaurant that is opening in Irvine. On Nov. 12, Il Fornaio will sponsor a benefit at its new eatery for the Orange County Dance Alliance and the Carousel chapter of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. . . . The cast and crew of “City of Angels”--opening Wednesday night at the Center--will enjoy a post performance bash staged by the Center’s board of directors at Birraporetti’s in Costa Mesa.