Which Chef’s Food Will Rock on Grammy Night?

The music industry is filled with artists known for their appetites, and among those charged with satisfying them are the chefs who will fill the plates at this month’s Grammy party. At a tasting Wednesday afternoon, sous chefs at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles offered a preview of what the musical elite will eat.

On every plate sat a little work of art: a tiny piece of asparagus wrapped in steak decorated with a swirl of creme fraiche and a sprig of parsley. This little perfect mouthful, times many hundred, will be among the offerings served to the estimated 4,500 people--rock stars, music industry folks and fans--who will crowd into the hotel for the Recording Academy’s mammoth after-party. This delicacy, created by the hotel’s executive chef, Samuel Sanchez, will compete with those from 10 of the best chefs in Los Angeles, who are invited nearly every year to share their bite-size best at the event.

The party, which consumes several of the hotel’s ballrooms, begins at the conclusion of the ceremony at Staples Center.

To keep some semblance of order in his 125,000-square-foot kitchen, Sanchez assigns each chef 500 square feet of cooking space and some shelves in a walk-in refrigerator. Signs are posted to alert waiters of the different restaurants.

Chef John Sola of the Grill on the Alley will take a station at the far end of the kitchen. A few feet away, chef Yujean Kang will be managing his woks on a grill that reaches 750 degrees. And “there is one guy who uses a lot of burners,” Sanchez said, referring to chef Hans Rockenwagner.

In the weeks before the big night, Sanchez said, he is kept up at night worrying over the details. “You have butterflies the whole month,” he said. “But you get used to it.”

Actors have to eat on awards nights, too. The day previous, across town, in a small auditorium at the Screen Actors Guild on Wilshire, president Melissa Gilbert glanced over a table decorated with succulents and orchids. Roasted vegetables and mozzarella formed small towers along the baby sea bass on square blue glass plates. A board member joked, “This looks like just another board meeting.” “Yeah, right,” Gilbert replied.

A couple of chefs hovered in the background as Gilbert chatted with a couple of members of the SAG board. The occasion: the unveiling of the menu for the March 10 SAG Awards at the Shrine Auditorium.

“Welcome to my home away from home,” Gilbert joked as she took the microphone. “I’m ready to set up a cot here.”

(Gilbert has had more than food on her mind lately as SAG prepares to rerun the election she thought she won from Valerie Harper in November.)

Patina founder Joachim Splichal stepped up to the podium and described the food that will be served to 1,100 guests attending the awards dinner. (The meal will require 1,100 Japanese eggplants, 180 pounds of Mozzarella cheese, 275 pounds of baby sea bass and 687 pounds of chicken breasts, among other ingredients, and the talents of Splichal and 40 other chefs.)

One challenge is cooking to a particularly health-conscious crowd--hence the mountains of vegetables, said Splichal. Another challenge is speed: Everyone is supposed to be served within an hour.

Sipchal, like his counterpart Sanchez at the Biltmore, admits to jitters.

“It’s like you’re on stage,” said Splichal. “It’s a theater.”

Hollywood’s Got a

Call on the Vine

“Hollywood and wine!,” exclaimed Richard Frank, the former head of Disney Television, talking about Hollywood’s passionate foray into Napa Valley. David Gerber, producer and former head of MGM, and AOL’s Barry Schuler are among the entertainment executives who have joined Francis Ford Coppola in the wine business.

“I find giant similarities between the entertainment business and winemaking,” said Frank. “You look at the grapes as you would a script. You can’t make a good movie without a good script, and you can’t make good wine without good grapes.”

Those similarities may help explain why Napa is becoming a Hollywood suburb. And, said Frank, “it’s the closest to Southern France you’re going to get.”

Frank bought a house in Rutherford 10 years ago, and soon became friends with winemaker Koerner Rombauer. “I didn’t know anything about wine other than I liked to drink it,” said Frank. Still, Rombauer persuaded him to buy a vinery.

“You know, I think even Robin Williams has a property up here.” And Coppola is just a grape’s throw away.

Frank produces almost 5,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon and regular Cabernet, and about 5,000 cases of sparkling wine every year. (He has no qualms about calling the bubbles “Champagne,” he said, since the international treaty to protect the name was not signed by the U.S.)

Takers of his wines include restaurants Valentino and the Water Grill in downtown L.A., Frank said.

“What started as a hobby turned into a nice family business,” he said. “We sell every bottle we make.”

A Date With Fleiss,

for Charity’s Sake

In an unorthodox attempt to raise money, a Catholic high school in the Los Angeles area will auction off dinner with Heidi Fleiss and boyfriend Tom Sizemore.

The highest bidder claims a limo ride, dinner for 10 at Halie in Pasadena, a pair of Fleiss signature underwear from her lingerie line and a copy of her new book, “A Hooker Book,” to be published later this year.

A school volunteer was introduced to Fleiss (a former Catholic school student herself) through a mutual friend and asked her to participate after KCET’s public television host Huell Howser declined. Last year, lunch with Howser raised $1,700 of the total $150,000 raised for the school.

The volunteer (who asked to remain anonymous) said she considered Fleiss’ notoriety--the former Hollywood madam served 21 months in federal prison for money laundering and tax evasion--an obvious selling point and not a question of taste. “She’s a pretty savvy lady,” the volunteer said of Fleiss. “People are interested in her and what she’s been through and how she’s progressed.”

But, the volunteer begged us to keep secret the name of the school. Fleiss is still a bit controversial.

Slugger to Wed

Former home run record-holder Mark McGwire announced his engagement Thursday to longtime girlfriend Stephanie Slemer. The couple are planning a summer wedding.