Putting on the Ritz for O.C.’s Homeless
Bacchus would have enjoyed Fair Share 502’s third annual wine-tasting and auction to benefit the homeless of Orange County.
No fewer than 40 wineries were on hand at the Ritz in Newport Beach on Sunday to pour premium wines for 400 thirsty guests. The tasting included gourmet hors d’oeuvres prepared by some of Orange County’s leading chefs and an auction of more than 200 bottles of fine wine. Between the auction and a $25-per-person entry fee, the benefit raised $35,000 for three groups that assist the homeless: Share Our Selves, Project HOPE (Homeless Outreach Project for Education) and Someone Cares Soup Kitchen.
Grape Expectations
“You’ve never seen such a variety of wine,” promised Glenn Dassoff, event chairman.
Guests wandered around the restaurant with glasses in hand, sampling cabernets, Chardonnays and champagnes at tables staffed by winery representatives.
“Ah, smell that yeast,” said one woman as she sniffed a glass filled with Perrier Jouet champagne.
Nancy Clarke-McKissock walked purposely from table to table with pen and paper in hand, dutifully recording the names of her favorite wines.
“This is a great way to try a lot of different wines,” she said. “I’ll go to (a wine warehouse) and buy them later.”
Party-goers crowded around tables where their favorite wines were flowing and mobbed the waiters and waitresses carrying platters of such exotic hors d’oeuvres as rabbit torte and duck in puff pastry.
Among the contributing chefs were Michael Kang of Five Feet, Pascal Olhats of Pascal’s, Phil Crowley of Five Crowns, Jean-Pierre Lemanissier of Antoine, Alan Greeley of the Golden Truffle, Christian Rassinoux of the Ritz Carlton and David Wilhelm of Bistro 201, Diva, Kachina, Zuni Grill and Topaz.
“There are no egos involved here,” said Claude Koeberle, the chef at the Ritz. “Everyone helps each other. There’s no, ‘My dish is better than yours.’ ”
Later, San Francisco wine auctioneer Dennis Foley encouraged bidding wars between guests for exotic wines, including signed magnums and imperial-size bottles. Other auction prizes were dinner for 10 prepared at home by Kang and dinner for 20 at the Ritz.
School Without Walls
Fair Share 502 is a nonprofit group dedicated to raising money for the homeless.
Project HOPE, one of the beneficiaries chosen for the wine tasting, plans to use its share of the funds to buy backpacks filled with school supplies for 200 homeless children. The children receive instruction in mobile classrooms sent out by the project to various parks within the county.
“In the beginning, we held school in the back of my car,” said Ann Robinson, who started Project HOPE in 1989 and still teaches the homeless. “We’ve had classes on park benches, in parking lots--we’ve even had school on sidewalks.”
Merle Hatleberg, director of the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, still drives from her home in San Clemente every day to cook a hot meal for the hungry. She turned 70 Monday.
“People ask me, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I tell them: ‘When I make a big pot of soup, open the door and nobody’s there.’ ”
Others attending were: Peter Zeughauser, chairman of Fair Share 502, Hans Prager, owner of the Ritz, Frank and Jean Forbath, Mike and Lauri Mendenhall, Jerry and Merry Neitlich, Tom and Marilyn Nielsen, Barry Pierce, Nancy Rasoletti, Rick Webster and Mary Westbrook.
