10th Annual Extravaganza For The Senses

Saturday, July 21, 2007

This was the 5th time I have attended this event. It is a fund raiser for the LA Free Clinic. It was again held at 20th Century Studios in Los Angeles. The nice thing about having events at the movie studios, is that the have the fanciest" porta-potties".

This event is always interesting because of the "people watching" you can do. It seems to bring out the young "wanna be Paris Hilton" dollies and the old "wanna be Brad Pitt" geezers. You also get the "botox", "cosmetic surgery" queens. There was one blond female there that had so much done to her face she was grotesque. She looked deformed. Yet by her attitude she thought she was "gorgeous". They had a photo area where you could have your picture taken. She spent quite a bit of time having her picture taken, looking at the results and having a re shoot.

We saw "Jose Conseco" the baseball player. Now that is a person who thinks he is "gods gift". He was very tall, 6'4" or more. Very, very tight black pants, a white, form fitted shirt and a very attractive, dewy eyed blond with an extremely flat stomach, skirt hanging on her hip and top just covering the boobs who looked like she was "barely legal" piece of arm candy on his arm. When you got it, flaunt it.

Wine and food were in abundance as is the case with most of these fundraisers. Its a big pick and choose, especially if you are the designated driver (which I was). I was prepared to eat myself into pig heaven .

One of the busiest food booths was serving sushi and spicy tuna hand rolls. We also had, raviolis stuffed with lobster and shrimp, mini carnita tostadas, (instead or tortillas they used a very thin corn cake), barbecued beef tamales with a tomatillo sauce that was to die for (the vendor is right around the corner from where I work ) " http://www.cornmaidenfoods.com/ ". Macaroni & cheese seems to be a "comfort food" item . 3 vendors were serving different versions of it.

Beef on a roll, pork on a roll, different versions of bruschetta, many kinds of salads, some with meat, Lawry's prime rib sandwiches. A lot of pasta dishes, most of which I did not eat. I go for the sushi and meat at these events. Someone was serving a roasted pork, which was so juicy and the skin cracked when you bit into it. They did lack in the dessert department but one of the best ice creams I have had was "Choctal". It is available at Bristol Farms and Whole Foods. Don't know the cost but I'm definitely going to get some. Their "Madagascar Vanilla" was to die for.

In all there were 33 vendors for food and 121 wineries represented, some with more that one wine available

I did like the Rochioli Pinot Noir, the Piper-Heidsieck Rose Champagne, Henriot Champagne. I stuck with the lighter wines since I was the driver and didn't taste to many of the others. I did have a "Bicardi Mojito". That was the only hard alcohol vendor there. In years past they have had martini bars, margarita bars and other types of beverages. Even the rep from Alize was not there this year as he has been in the past.

This event has been one that does not seem to be consistent in its food and beverage department. Some years it seems to be better and some years it lacks something. Even the silent auction items were not that impressive this year.

I sometimes wonder if these "fund raisers" that put the squeeze on the restaurants and beverage suppliers are getting to be "too many".

I was told by a wine rep that he has a budget of wine that he gets at the first of every year from his company. This is for these type of fund raisers. When he runs out of items to furnish towards the end of the year it gets to be a scramble for him to find wine for those organizations that get their requests in late. Those who request early are the ones that are taken care of and get the better wines furnished to them. Its an interesting business.