Food that trumps French kings’ meals

B.W. COOK

The Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs, a royal guild skilled in

the culinary art of roasting meat, began under St. Louis, King of

France in 1248.

Its purpose was to establish and perpetuate a culinary standard of

excellence that was suited to serve the royal banquet table. The

guild was abandoned at the time of the French Revolution, some 500

years later. After World War II, the guild was re-established in 1950

by Jean Valby and Count Curnonsky, two French gastronomes of the 20th

century.

Last week at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort, the Club Grill Room

was transformed into nothing less than a royal table for members and

guests of the Newport Beach chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseurs. An

ultra-lavish holiday dinner was presided over by Newport Beach

hostess Irene Mathews, resplendent in a black sequined dinner suit.

Mathews serves as president of the Newport Beach chapter of the

culinary society. She was joined in the homage to the good life by

her husband, William Mathews, a formidable expert on international

wines.

For those unfamiliar with the Chaine, it is far more than simply a

group of culinary experts gathering for fine dining and wine tasting.

In a very broad sense, this organization is something of a

generational link defining the history and the practice of the

culinary arts as a reflection of the times, of society and of

history.

Additionally, in the modern era, the organization sponsors

creative talents in the culinary field with scholarship funds

earmarked to train the next generation of restaurateurs, chefs,

sommeliers and dining service personnel. In a fast-food world, the

collective talent that comes together to create a magnificent dining

experience is the result of considerable training, with equal doses

of talent and imagination.

In addition to serving as a funding source for young culinary

talent, the Chaine has another important purpose. Over centuries of

gatherings, a grand tradition of sharing friendship and table

conversation has united people in what has become for many a legacy

of enduring friendships.

“This evening is not just about fine food and wine, it’s about

fine people coming together and sharing their lives over the table,”

Mathews said. “We are here to have a good time and to be with one

another. So let the dinner begin.”

Complete with silver swords and European kisses, new members from

the Newport community were brought into the fold. Inductees included

Heather Klein, Eduardo Prado, Patricia Allen, Charles Steinmann,

Patricia Steinmann, Donna Hood, Mary Weidner, Paul Folino, Dee Higby,

Heather Cook, John Dick, Scott Dolbee, Patricia Jones, Jeremy Jones,

Mickey La Barthe, and Balboa Bay Club executive chef Joseph Lageder.

Also inducted were Kimberly Prado, Scott Teruya, James Weidner and

Mary Weidner.

Ranking Chaine officers in attendance included Thomas Buckley, in

from Ojai, Richard Allen, John Cook, David Smith, Dan Abbott, David

Weinberg and Darrel Anderson, with his wife, Marsha. After dinner,

the Andersons of Big Canyon were off to Miami for Christmas and then

to Italy for New Year’s.

The culinary aspect of the evening was supervised by Balboa Bay

Club President Henry Schielein, who also serves on the national board

of the Chaine in the roll of conseiller gastronomique des Etats-Unis.

Schielein recently returned from a whirlwind weekend trip to Beijing

with Orange County celebrity chef Christian Rassinoux. The gentlemen

set up an Asian chapter of the Chaine in China.

Schielein was back in Newport in time for the holidays to

coordinate the Newport dinner with Lageder, Sommelier Christopher

Janz, Maitre d’hotel George Valenzuela and Director of Food and

Beverage Dieter Hissin.

The dinner began with cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres in the Club

Grill Bar overlooking the main channel of the Newport harbor. Caviar

canapes with creme fraiche were passed on silver trays by

white-gloved waiters as Christmas music was played on the grand

piano.

Enjoying the foie gras in brioche, and the lobster bisque served

in demi-tasse, were glamorous guests Joan and Thomas Riach of Lido

Isle, distinguished business executive David Tappan and his wife,

Jeanne, and Newport’s dapper Jerry Harrington, attending the evening

with his charming daughter. Seven courses followed the hors d’oeuvres

reception, each accompanied by specially chosen wines, their pedigree

explained to the guests between courses.

Lageder’s kitchen created what was undoubtedly the dinner of the

year: Maine rock crab and avocado granite, pumpkin bisque, mache

lettuce with warm chevre cheese, braised veal cheeks, pheasant

breasts over roasted chestnuts, a palet cleanser of marinated

cherries in Kirsh, and a dessert of Swiss chocolate raspberry Yule

log. Surely all the kings of France had not dined on such exquisite

culinary preparations as served in Newport Beach.

Also in the crowd enjoying the dinner and the camaraderie were

John and Terri Kennady, Robert Burns, Dennis and Robin Walsh, Richard

Hausman, and Ashton Kaidi. The Chaine meets four times a year in

Newport Beach, bringing people together in friendship, supporting

culinary charities and perpetuating the fine art of dining.

Inasmuch as this is Christmas Day, permit me to share my holiday

wish with readers of the Daily Pilot. The most important message of

this day is to love. Share love in the best of health and your life

will be blessed.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.