Jersey Boys Grand Opening Party Bedazzles Guests
Presented by the Palazzo Las Vegas Resort, Hotel, and Casino
“Oh, what a night!” was both the theme and the enthusiastic response to the grand opening party of the Tony award-winning Jersey Boys musical at the Palazzo’s Congress Center. With a guest list of 1,900 celebrities and VIPs, the gala not only feted the launch of the celebrated musical but also honored the legendary Four Seasons and heralded lead singer Frankie Valli’s birthday.

Guests were directed to the post-performance gala site by models in 1950s costumes. Just outside the Palazzo ballroom, waiters clad in white Eisenhower dinner jackets served up signature cocktails themed to Four Seasons’ musical hits. Upon entering the ballroom, guests were photographed as they walked through a series of three-dimensional, eight-foot-tall letters spelling out Jersey Boys.

Anchoring the corners of the room were classic cars from the era, valued at more than $1.2 million. The room’s centerpiece was a 180-by-20-foot video screen displaying vintage footage of Valli and the Four Seasons. At the big reveal, the screen plummeted to the floor to expose the event’s true entertainment stage, where 1950s costumed dancers came wildly alive to audience gasps.

Menu design and food presentation were fun and retro, featuring classic 1950s fare with a modern twist. Passed items, including Dungeness crab canapés and pigs in a blanket, were served on trays resembling vinyl records with the Jersey Boys logo. Sleek, stainless steel tables with minimal décor served as the delivery platform for a “no-chafing-dish” menu. Hot food items were finished to order by chefs stationed behind main service buffets, and attendants assembled plates in front of the guests—all to extend the feel of a high-end diner. American Kobe beef and lobster sliders, beef and sausage meatloaf, chicken pot pie with duck confit and cranberry and mâche salad, and Clams Casino with citrus fennel salad and carrot kouglof were served. Guests waxed nostalgic over the handcrafted milkshake station and its surround of 1950s penny candy.

“Working on the Jersey Boys grand opening party at the Palazzo was exciting,” says Gary McCreary, executive director of conference and catering management. “The event was created to fit the theme and concept of the show, and in doing so, we stretched our creative legs and had fun with the food, drink, and atmosphere.”

A Spanish Salute to the Local Arts
Presented by the Sheraton Seattle
The Sheraton Seattle recently hosted the 18th Annual Wine Auction for Patrons of Northwest Civic, Cultural, and Charitable Organizations (PONCHO), a gala fundraising event that wowed guests and raised $1 million for local arts organizations. More than 500 guests attended the Spanish-inspired evening, featuring rare items brokered by the renowned Christie’s auction house.

Executive Chef John Hart of the Sheraton Seattle spent two weeks in Spain, learning the secrets of Spanish cuisine at Grupo Lezama, Spain’s foremost culinary school. To further master authentic Spanish cuisine and cooking techniques, Chef Hart visited Michelin-starred restaurants in Madrid, Seville, and Marbella. Upon returning to the States, he devised a menu of both traditional and modern Spanish cuisine.

Guests entered the foyer of the Sheraton Seattle’s ballroom, made luxuriant with rich drapings of chocolate brown, distinctive black-and-white linens, and Spanish accents throughout. Flamenco dancers entertained as fine sherry, cava, and sangria were poured. Illuminated Riedel decanters served as centerpieces. Butler-passed tapas highlighted the reception menu and included items such as chilled beet gazpacho with Oregon bleu cheese; duck magret with carrot confit, toasted pine nuts, and red wine reduction; and octopus with pimentón dulce and herb potato purée. A six-course dinner followed, featuring gazpacho Andaluz; olive oil-poached black cod with butter clams; autumn greens salad with Spanish goat cheese, persimmon compote, and heirloom tomatoes; and smoked paprika sea salt-crusted filet of beef. A grand display of desserts followed and included Spanish cheesecake with red fruits, almond pumpkin cake with sliced grapes, and dark chocolate cake with late harvest peach soup. Twenty-three sommeliers poured Spanish wines, including Dehesa La Granja 2002, Mont-Marcal Cava Brut Reserve 2005, and Guelbenzu Evo 2005. Viva el Arte!

Crescent City Hosts Fattest Tuesday Ever
Presented by the New Orleans Marriott
Satisfying the discriminating tastes of professional meeting planners is not an easy task but was achieved by the New Orleans Marriott in its International Carnival hosted for 1,500 members of Meeting Professionals International (MPI). An evening reception of grand proportions took place within two hotel venues to accommodate the vast scope of food and entertainment. The festival incorporated themes and decorative motifs inspired by New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Venice, and Asia.

Upon arrival, each guest was issued a passport that included a map of the internationally themed areas, menus, and entertainment. In the Grand Ballroom, a top-shelf bar served up beer, wine, and classic cocktails. Distinctive New Orleans favorites were offered via themed food stations: a Louisiana seafood display of spiced shrimp, oysters on the half shell, and Jonah crab claws; a New Orleans Grocery station with petit muffalettas, shrimp po’ boys, and cashew butter and raspberry pepper jelly duck confit panini; and a carving station of dry-aged striploin with marchand de vin and béarnaise sauces and Niman Ranch loin of pork with chipotle honey butter sauce. A dessert station served made-to-order pralines, along with traditional bread pudding and Bananas Foster.

An international masquerade greeted guests in the Mardi Gras Ballroom, where a Rio-inspired Carnival menu featured items such as ceviche, tomato concassé with fresh coriander and parsley, palm-oil sautéed crabmeat and chiffon, and chiffon cake with caramelized pineapple.

Guests traveled across the planet merely by crossing the room, where they were transported to magical Carnevale in Venice. An antipasto station featured bresaola, prosciutto, and cappicola; a custom Caesar salad station with carved Parmesan; and a cook-to-order pasta station by award-winning Chef Melissa Kelly of the famed restaurant Primo. Gnocchi with oxtail bolognaise, marcagiani with arugula pesto, and gemili with fresh truffle cream were standouts. Tiramisu and panna cotta were the grand finale to guests’ Italian gourmet adventure.

Just footsteps away, an Asian-themed reception beckoned with made-to-order sushi, lo mein salad in Chinese boxes with condiments, buckwheat soba noodles with bean broth, and seared and poached house-made pot stickers with Asian dipping sauce. Chocolate sushi and fortune cookies topped off guests’ grand international journey of the palate. As the evening wore down, MPI attendees were regaled with a full-scale Mardi Gras parade through the ballroom, complete with police escorts, marching bands, and festive floats.

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