A fabulous night out

OUR LAGUNA

Contrary to speculation, Montage top brass claim they did not chum

the waters off the resort to lure dolphins and gray whales to the

resort’s opening night festivities.

That’s not to say they wouldn’t have, if they had thought of it.

They seem to have thought of everything else to make the gala opening

spectacular. The California bungalow-inspired architecture of the

resort might be low-keyed compared to the St. Regis or the Ritz down

the road, but the reception Feb. 21 and the service were opulent.

“This is the most over-the-top event I have ever attended -- and I

have attended a lot,” Arts Commissioner Pat Kollenda said. “It is the

absolutely the most gorgeous, elegant reception. And the staff is

beautifully trained.”

Without the help of a bartender named Wayne in the Studio

restaurant, this column might not have been written. Imagine a

reporter dumb enough to forget to put pens in her evening bag? Wayne

graciously volunteered the use of his pen -- which he didn’t see

again for almost five hours.

There was plenty to write about.

Four hundred to 500 people attended the invitation-only event.

They were treated to tours of the hotel, including the kitchen at the

Studio, one of the resort’s four dining facilities.

Restaurant supervisor John Vance proudly showed off the marble

counters, copper pots and imported French stove.

“It took six months to get the stove,” he said.

Executive chef John Pflueger grew up in Laguna Beach, said Bill

Blackburn, who went to school with Pflueger’s father. Former Mayor

Kathleen Blackburn was quite taken with the intimate private dinning

room adjacent to the kitchen.

“This is where I want to have my birthday party,” she said.

Terry Smith and former Councilman Wayne Peterson sampled the food

before touring the kitchen. Planning Commissioner Anne Johnson,

seated with husband, Marv, school board member K Turner and her

partner, Bivens Hunt, at a window table, had “a divine” chocolate

mousse for her starter.

“We are to the manner born,” Johnson said.

Others began the evening with oysters. Outdoor grills lured many

of the guests to the swimming pool area, where slabs of meat 4 inches

thick and big enough to a feed a family of four for a couple of days

were being seared.

“What’s that?” Mayor Toni Iseman asked.

“Appetizers,” the griller replied. Well, maybe after the 24-ounce

New York strip steaks were sliced.

Did we mention the chocolate fountain?

Gallons of Beluga caviar were served in the hotel lobby. Becky

Jones said she considers caviar a spice. However, there are those of

us who consider it an entree, and we did our best to see that none

went to waste.

Champagne, still wines and mixed drinks were abundant.

Early arrivals at the reception included Frank Ricchiazzi and

Borden Moller, and Charlie and Ann Quilter.

“We were the last residents [in a mobile home] at Treasure

Island,” Patriots Day Committee President Quilter said. “It was the

best two years of our lives.”

Ann Quilter ran the information center during the referendum

campaign for voter approval of the project, and the Quilters moved

onto the property after they lost their Laguna Canyon home in a

landslide.

“It was very healing place for us after our catastrophe,” Quilter

said. “I would invited all the people who had concerns about the

project to simply take a walk on the bluff top and see the magic.”

Greg Vail, who chaired the joint Planning Commission. Design

Review Board meetings which hammered out solutions to the myriad

disparate opinions for the project, was speechless when he and his

wife, Lynn, first arrived at the reception.

“Don’t expect any good quotes from me,” said Vail, an ardent

supporter of the project. “I am in a happy daze.”

Design Review Board member Eve Plum described the hotel as

“comfortable elegance.”

Nicholas Kinsman, son of Michael and Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman,

would have been right at home.

This story was told by Nicholas’ father at the reception: When

Nicholas and the Kinsman’s older son, Josh, were returning home from

a trip to the Midwest, the 8-year old persuaded his father to stay at

a hotel in Elko, Nev., on which there was a sign advertising an

indoor pool.

“Do you really have an indoor pool?” Nicholas asked the desk

clerk.

In the patronizing manner some adults assume when talking to

children, the clerk answered, “Oh yes, little boy. I bet you have

never seen an indoor pool, little boy.”

“Well, not since the Ritz in Paris,” Nicholas said.

Oh.

“We wanted first class and we got so much better than that,”

Councilman Steven Dicterow said.

Cindy Prewitt and Joe Byrne of Laguna Live! checked out the site

as a possible venue for musical performances such as the Capistrano

Symphony concerts at a Dana Point hotel.

They had plenty of examples. Singer/pianist Lisa Lofthouse

performed in the lobby -- she’ll be there from 7 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and until midnight Thursdays through Saturdays. Small

combos and individual musicians were positioned throughout the

grounds during the party. A fanfare of trumpets greeted each arrival.

Guests included Jack Cuneo, formerly of Merrill Lynch, a real

estate trust of which previously owned the property.

“This is a good use for the land, for visitors to California and

for the people of Laguna Beach,” Cuneo said. “It is sensitive. It’s

creative. It’s a beautiful property, done with a lot of class.”

Cuneo brought Athens Group into the project.

“This is a special night for me and my family,” said Athens Group

President Kim Richards, at a pool side ceremony. “It is the

culmination of seven years of toiling in the fields of politics,

design and development. Tonight I keep a promise to myself five years

ago.

“I stood out there on that point,” he said gesturing behind him,

“and promised that if this night ever came -- and it was a big if --

that I would thank all of the people who got us here.”

Richards acknowledged the leadership of the city, including Mayor

Iseman, Mayor Pro Tem Kinsman, council members Wayne Baglin, Dicterow

and Elizabeth Pearson, former council members Peterson, Blackburn and

Paul Freeman -- “Thanks, buddy,” Richards said. He also thanked City

Manager Ken Frank, Community Development Department Assistant

Director John Montgomery, members of the Planning Commission and

Design Review Board, the resort design team, Athens Group partners

and Montage operators.

“We got it done on time and on budget,” Richards said.

Fireworks concluded the official festivities.

“Everything has come together,” said Chris Loidolt, who worked

early on Athens Group and now is employed by Montage.

The resort plans include condominiums and private homes as well as

the hotel, with its a spa, exercise room and beauty salon; a

children’s activity center, called the Paint Box; a grand ballroom to

accommodate 300, a gallery ballroom for smaller groups and additional

meeting space; lawns, gardens and the public Treasure Island Park.

An extensive collection of Plein Air art is displayed throughout

the hotel and resort bungalows are named for pioneering Laguna

artists Cuprien, Mannheim, Payne and Wendt. Public art dots the

landscape.

“It will take a while until we see if the resort develops a

personality of its own,” Planning Commissioner Norm Grossman said.

“That’s key.”

Other guests were Linda and Bob Dietrich, Boys and Girls Club

Director Kim Maxwell, Festival of Arts Marketing Director Sharbie

Higuchi, Pageant of the Masters Director Diane Challis Davy, Carole

and Gary Alstot, Arts Commissioner Joan Corman Block, No Square

Theatre founding artistic director Bree Burgess Rosen, Chamber of

Commerce Executive Director Anne Morris and board President Ken

Delino, Steve Miller, and Martha Lydick and her son Chip, who took a

professional interest in the hotel -- he has a degree from the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas in hotel and restaurant management.

Also David and Diane Connell, former Lagunans Jack and Margy

Hefti, Brandy’s Friends founder Cheryl Post, Planning Commissioners

Bob Chapman and Kimberly Stuart, Ann McDonald, John Keith and his

wife, Lindsay Tognetti, architect Morris Skendarian, City Treasurer

Laura Parisi, Dora Wexell, former Arts Commissioner Susie Chauvel,

Design Review Board member Ilse Lenchow, Diana Greenwood and John

Mansour, who had a two-fold interest in the resort, as partner in

Athens Group and a Laguna Beach resident.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652, hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22;

call 494-4321 or fax 494-8979.