O.C. Opera-Lovers to Get Royal Treatment in Monaco

Fairy tales do come true.

It’s going to be a “Musical Weekend in Monaco” for members of Opera Pacific’s Impresario Circle when they join Princess Caroline and her father, Prince Ranier, in the tiny principality for a series of benefits on behalf of the Opera Company of Monte Carlo and the Hospital St. Antoine of Paris.

Opera buffs Floss Schumacher, Laila and Bill Conlin, and about 20 others will spend this weekend attending events that begin Friday with a recital at the Cathedral of Monaco (with a preliminary cocktail reception staged in Hotel de Paris by opera philanthropist Ed McGrath) and continue Saturday with a tour of the Princess Grace Irish Library and the Palace of Monaco.

On Saturday evening, opera-lovers--who also include Sharon Jaquith, Dick and Jolene Engel and Maxine and Robert Gibson--will don gala finery to attend a performance of music and dance at the Monte Carlo Opera House followed by dinner at the Salle d’Empire in Hotel de Paris.

*

It’s all in the (restaurant) game: Venison and smoked reindeer were on the menu last week when Swedish artist Kjell Engman was feted at Gustaf Anders restaurant in Santa Ana. Engman, a designer for Galleri Orrefors Kosta Boda at Crystal Court of South Coast Plaza, joined about 100 guests at tables laden with shimmering glassware and table accessories including candlesticks, goblets, bowls and art glass.

The “Art in Dining” gala on behalf of the Laguna Art Museum raised about $10,000. Among guests was the event’s honorary chairman, Peter Hammarstrom, consul general of Sweden. Marsha Grinberg and Darrel Anderson were co-chairmen. Guests also included Henry and Renee Segerstrom, Teri and John Kennady, Elyse and Bruce Miller, JoAnne and John Erickson and Debi and Tim Bremner . . .

“Supper at the Ritz,” a benefit for UCI’s Clinical Cancer Center, was held at the Ritz Restaurant in Newport Beach on Sunday.

Guests paid $100 each to dine on roast duck, red cabbage and an assortment of sorbets served in a flaky cookie crust. The annual affair--founded by arts activist Elaine Redfield--raised about $60,000 for the Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. Cancer Fund, which was established in memory of UCI’s founding chancellor.

Barbara Ramsey was chairwoman. Jean Aldrich was honorary chairwoman. Committee members included Redfield, Eva Schneider and Ann Siemens . . .

Claes Seafood at Hotel Laguna was the site of Monday night’s benefit for the Art Institute of Southern California. Proprietor Claes Andersen underwrote the bash, which featured curried lobster appetizers, seared ahi tuna salad with pomegranate dressing, mashed potato cake with Florida rock shrimp and grilled ono and enu. Dessert was chocolate done three ways--orange chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse. Oh, and let’s not forget the peanut butter ice cream . . .

More than 40 local restaurants participated in the ninth annual Food Fair & Wine Tasting at Crystal Court last week. About 1,000 people attended the benefit for the Food Distribution Center, including Orange County Supervisor Thomas Riley and his wife, Emma Jane; William and Willa Dean Lyon; and Peter and Mary Muth.

The FDC is a private, nonprofit food bank that collects and distributes surplus food to the needy through a network of more than 260 local charities.

Said FDC director John Heffernan: “We distributed 9.6 million pounds of food in the fiscal year which ended on Sept. 30, a 15% increase over last year.”

*

UCI Medal Dinner: On Thursday, a dinner sponsored by the UCI Foundation Board will honor UC Irvine Chancellor Laurel L. Wilkening and the university’s 1993 Medal Recipients at Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach. Receiving medals are Louise Turner Arnold, Martha Newkirk, Robert Cohen, Jack Peltason and Suzanne Peltason.