The best supporting supper

Inspired by a chandelier-hung ballroom ambience he compared to “the palace at Versailles,” chef Wolfgang Puck created an elegant supper for the 1,650 guests attending the Governors Ball:

An antipasti course including smoked salmon served on Oscar-shaped flatbread, roasted peppers and white anchovies and beet and goat cheese napoleon.

A first course of roasted Yukon Gold potatoes with creme fraiche and Osetra caviar; an entree of roasted filet mignon and Maine lobster with two truffle sauces.

“Dessert Oscar,” the piece de resistance, a Viennese chocolate torte topped with a gold-dusted 6-inch chocolate Oscar statuette.

With a 1,200-member staff -- including 150 chefs, 453 waiters, 50 bartenders and 50 managers -- Puck planned on slicing up the $20,000 worth of black truffles from Perigord, France, himself.

“We’re lucky. The Oscars came early this year, so we were able to get the finest truffles,” Puck said.

This is the 10th year Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events has created fare for the gala. Have guests’ tastes grown more sophisticated in the last decade? “Some people have a passion for cuisine and some don’t,” he said. “But I’m the one who must like the menu. I’m the tough guy who must be happy first. If I’m happy, I know they will be.”

-- Ann Conway