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Remember the board game Clue? The one where Col. Mustard was in the library with a knife and Mrs. Peacock had a candlestick in conservatory? That game came to mind Friday when TACA’s Party on the Green annual outdoor event at the Rosewood Mansion was moved indoors because of inclement weather.
Instead of having the great outdoors with the Rosewood Mansion’s terraces and lawns to cook for 425 chicly casual guests as planned, POG chairs Ashley and Elizabeth Tripplehorn and the TACA team decided to move the whole kit and caboodle indoors due to Mother Nature’s having a temper tantrum. Gee, she’s getting to be the ultimate party pooper. But never fear –the POG team with the Mansion staff pulled it off as if it had been planned all along.
So what did moving the party indoors have to do with Clue? When you have 20 chefs from around the Rosewood world plus a handful of locals preparing their individual recipes, where do you put them all? After all, the boutique Mansion is not the Sheraton Dallas Hotel mega-world. Mansion impresario Duncan Graham and his smiling, unruffled staff blew off the concerns with, “No problem.” The Mansion can accommodate any situation.
When guests arrived, they received a detailed map specifying the location of all the action:
FIRST LEVEL
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Along the Promenade – Chefs Sharon Hage (formerly of York Street), Wolfgang Eberle (Al Faisaliah Hotel), Bruno Davaillon (Rosewood Mansion), Ned Bell (Rosewood Hotel Georgia) and Teiichi Sakurai (Tei-An) and the Chambord Vodka bar.
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Across the way in the Pavilion Ballroom — Chefs Jacques Sorci (The Carlyle), Kevin Garvin (Neiman Marcus), Juan A. Rosado (Rosewood Crescent) and Hemant Dadlani (Rosewood Little Dix Bay) along with the Merrill Lynch Wine Cork Pull, the Lexus chance tickets and silent auction.
- The Mansion Restaurant — Chefs Peter Rudolph (Rosewood Sand Hill), Luca Rutigliano (CordeValle), Fabrice Guisset (Las Ventanas al Paraiso), Yann Giacomoni (Jumby Bay) and Nicolas Blouin (Rosewood Mansion) along with the Collingwood Whiskey bar and Don Ambrose trio.
SECOND LEVEL
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Sheppard King Suite — Chefs Anthony E. Dawodu (Caneel Bay) and Daniel Echasseriau (Rosewood Corniche) and DJ’s Jen Miller and Paul Paredes
- FDR Suite — Chef Graham Dodds (Bolsa)
- Hunt Suite — Chefs Scott Romano (Charlie Palmer)and Brian C. Luscher (The Grape)
- Burford Suite — Chef Tim Byres (SMOKE)
Chef wrangler/ Mansion exec chef Bruno was the realist in the group. Yes, logistically it would have been easier to have been outdoors as originally planned, but these chefs are the best in their field and they knew how to go with the flow. Besides the out-of-town chefs had been in town for five days enjoying the Dallas scene. Tuesday night they tried out Tre Wilcox‘s cooking at the Marquee and felt no pain! According to California Dreamy Peter Rudolph, “The food at Marquee was fabulous!”
Actually, the move indoors had organizers reconsidering the outdoor venue. Duncan admitted that moving the party indoors had opened his eyes to the fact that many of the ladies preferred the air-conditioned surroundings opposed to the May outdoor temperatures. Hmm, could this be a sign of things to come?
But it wasn’t all about the chefs and where they were stashed. Each dish was incredible and this year the chefs came prepared. They were bound and determined not to run out. The Lollipop Flower Garden in the main room of the restaurant had everyone lined up plucking the little darlings as chef Nicolas Blouin smiled on the sidelines.
As for the guest, they didn’t seem to mind being indoors one iota. One guest claimed that she had seen more people because of the indoor arrangements. “It’s like bumper people. You just bump into everyone, but it’s a fun bumping.”
Diane and Hal Brierley were just back from a Mediterranean cruise during which they learned of Bill Lively‘s unexpected resignation. . . . Lucian LaBarba was continuing his quest to have a statue built honoring the late Stanley Marcus. . . Doris Jacobs was looking at a July 1 closing on Scott Ginsburg‘s home on Isabella. . . By 9:15, the wall of 400+ wine bottles for the wine cork pull was starting to look pretty bare. . . Dianne Cash was upstairs looking for her daughters/chairs Ashley and Elizabeth, who were downstairs looking for mom. .
. Chef Graham Dodds was still nursing a badly burned hand. No, it didn’t happen at POG. . .Colin Duchin
was doing a solo act because main-lady D’Andra Simmons was attending a Sweet Briar reunion. . . Mary Gill was in the Mansion bar on the couch with Holly Reed. . . Scott Kimple‘s $100-raffle ticket was picked for the 2011 Lexus CT 200h. ..POG vets (Caroline Rose Hunt, Charlene Howell, Fred Merrill and Sally Blanton and Christy Coltrin and Brad Oldham) found their favorite banquettes in the restaurant to call home base.
BTW, Brad O. once again created the Golden Skillet Award. Unlike other awards made of fragile, clear crystal, the GSA is truly unique. Looking to all the world like a true-blue cast-iron skillet, the art piece has “thyme, chives, chervil, tarragon, parsley, sage and basil sculpted onto the inside edges of the skillet. The cooking area of the skillet features the event logo, which is slightly raised off the bottom to emphasize its prominence.”
This year Luca took the GSA home to San Martin, California, for his “Pressed Watermelon and Dungeness Crab Salad with Chili Lime Dressing.”
While Luca may have been thrilled over his prize, it didn’t compete with the TACA take-home for the night. The $325,000 raised was an increase from last year’s $636 per guest to $765 pg this year thanks to increased sponsorships and a highly-successful cork pull. Not shabby for a night that was supposed to be a wash out.