B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

The operative word is most definitely style. South Coast Plaza

celebrated the opening of The Bridge of Gardens, its massive contemporary

art form with function that spans Bear Street with a pedestrian walkway

joining the retail center on both sides of the street.

A Thursday midday ceremony featured everything from an orchestra

perched atop an elevator shaft to the release of hundreds of white doves

to the blasting of confetti suitable for your basic 5th Avenue ticker

tape parade. Style, style, and more style.

Moreover, the mood was electric. Not your average shopping center

ribbon cutting.

“The bridge is a local monument to art, architecture and usability,”

offered Betty Shafer, a Costa Mesa shopper standing on the sidelines of

all the hoopla. “I’ve walked it, and it is a wonderful experience. You

feel like you are walking on air.”

Following brief tributes by dignitaries -- including Costa Mesa Mayor

Gary Monahan, South Coast Plaza managing partner Henry Segerstrom and

members of the bridge design team, including lead architect Kathryn

Gustafson -- invited guests and the public at large was invited to cross

the span to the new South Coast Plaza stores on the west side of Bear

Street.

In the crowd were high-ranking executives from Macy’s, representing

the new home store that recently opened in the new building.

“Just cross the bridge and turn right,” said the ranking Macy’s boss,

teasing the crowd to come and experience the massive home center.

“It is fabulous. Absolutely incredible,” said Irvine resident Cathy De

Meco, who had already been shopping at the Macy’s store. “The selection

and the merchandising is remarkable. They have everything.”

So, as a good columnist following directions, I crossed the bridge and

turned right. There we were in the most impressive home store one can

imagine. De Meco was not exaggerating.

Macy’s has created four floors of home shopping unparalleled in

Southern California. There were even lava lamps for those seeking a

little retro.

Wolfgang Puck, as in the real Wolf himself, was doing a cooking

demonstration in the kitchen department. The furniture, displayed on

several levels, reminds me of the glory days of department stores when

big businesses like Bloomingdale’s in New York set the pace with the

latest and the best of market-grade furniture with flair.

Shoppers can just pick the grouping of their choice and have an

instant room with decorator sensibilities. They even have designer picnic

tables. And china with a cow pattern, which to me was just not kosher.

After all, how could one eat a hamburger on a plate designed with cow

spots?

Turning left from the cow-imprinted china and ending up in the middle

of the Godiva chocolate section of the store, waiters appeared with trays

of beverages to welcome guests to the opening luncheon in honor of the

bridge and the union of Macy’s and South Coast Plaza.

Hosted by Macy’s, cream-colored drapes were drawn by waiters in black

tie with red carnations in their lapels, while servers in blue chambray

shirts and starched white aprons were very busy transforming what is most

probably a delivery space into a salon worthy of photographic duplication

in high end magazine publications covering the world of dining and

catering.

Wolfgang Puck, who really was demonstrating his recipes at the other

end of the store, had the Wolfgang Puck Cafe restaurant at South Coast

Plaza handle the luncheon duties. While guests enjoyed the Puck fair of

salad a la crab sushi, beef sirloin and halibut, followed by creme

brulee, South Coast Plaza was orchestrating a massive dining event on the

upper floors of the new center, calling the luncheon “a taste of South

Coast Plaza.”

It was far more than a taste as the multitude of dining experiences at

the Center set up booths to serve their finery.

OK, it’s all about business. South Coast Plaza and Macy’s and even

Wolfgang Puck are there to make the green stuff. They are the first to

admit it. Nevertheless, this was a wonderful afternoon of pomp,

circumstance, food, furniture and a magical new bridge to unite it all.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.