New Pascal Epicerie Takes Guests for a SPIN

Chef Pascal Olhats could have used Santa’s elves at the launching party for his new Pascal Epicerie in Newport Beach on Monday night.

The French gourmet deli--a croissant’s throw from his popular Pascal restaurant--was far from ready. In fact, painters were still touching up the place.

A huge tent was set up in the parking lot for the 280 people who attended the benefit for Serving People in Need, a nonprofit organization that helps provide financial assistance for families with children who reside in shelters.

Guests who paid $100 each were served a sampling of the fare that will be offered in the Epicerie: duck confit cassoulet, chicken with olives and sweet garlic, salmon gravlax with herb sauce and enough tarts and eclairs to launch a patisserie. (The mouth-puckering lemon tarts were a huge hit. Another favorite: hot-pink squares of frothy raspberry mousse.)

“The contractor keeps telling me he is just five hours behind,” Olhats said with a chuckle. “Oh well. We’ll be open for the holidays.”

Olhats, who has catered parties for Henry and Renee Segerstrom and the Chanel boutique at South Coast Plaza, doesn’t think his new business venture will interfere with his popular eatery. “Not at all; we’re always full,” he said.

The idea for opening the Epicerie to benefit SPIN came from Karen Taylor, a SPIN board member. “I eat lunch at Pascal’s all of the time,” she said. “Their orange cheesecake with ice cream is out of this world.”

During one of her visits, Taylor asked Olhats if he would share his opening night with SPIN “He said ‘yes’ immediately,” she said. “We’re thrilled. It looks like we’re going to make between $10,000 and $15,000.”

Party guests sipped fine wines and piled their plates with buffet items that also included sea bass with fresh thyme and tomato coulis, scampi with basil Pernod sauce and seared peppery ahi with fennel.

A nice touch: fresh fruit centerpieces that would be distributed to the homeless by SPIN volunteers.

“We’re a different kind of group in that we try to enable people to get their lives together and stay permanently off the streets,” Taylor said.

The organization has three programs--a Guaranteed Apartment Payment Program (“We loan working families enough money to get an apartment and then they pay us back,” Taylor explained); a Substance Abuse Recovery Program, and a street outreach where volunteers distribute sack lunches weekly in three Santa Ana locations. “We also give out hygiene kits, blankets and clothing,” Taylor said.

Among guests was John Simon, chairman and president of the SPIN board. Event underwriters included Finley and Karen Taylor and Thomas and Jean Mahoney.