Visions of love danced in their heads

B.W. COOK

Love was in the air.

The Visionaries, a support group of the Orange County Museum of

Art, shared Valentine’s Day with husbands and lovers at the Four

Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach. The chic Saturday night soiree was

created with great attention to detail by Four Seasons’ executive

chef Michel Pieton.

Some 100 Visionaries gathered in the ballroom at the hotel,

dressed to kill and ready to dance the night away.

“I ordered the biggest dance floor I could have,” event chair

Irene Mathews said. “The Art Davis Jazz Band was a smashing success.

They had us dancing all night long.”

Art Davis is a psychologist with a doctorate who has been playing

jazz in Orange County for many years to the delight of patrons such

as the Visionaries.

Mathews, wife of Dr. William Mathews, who also happens to be an

accomplished wine expert, welcomed the local guests and party

committee members, including dedicated friends Rosalie Friedman,

Barbara Glabman, Teri Kennady, Gale Layman, Suki McCardle, and Jan

Seitz-Jashinski. Also, supporting Irene Mathews were Donna Phelps,

Marlene Hamontree, and Robin Turner.

“In the spirit of the original St. Valentine’s Day in the fourth

century A.D., we have come together tonight to celebrate friendship

and be close to loved ones,” Irene Mathews said.

Pieton and the Four Seasons dining staff exquisitely carried out

the love theme. Everything was created with a Valentine’s theme. From

start to finish, red hearts exploded everywhere. Pieton’s Peekytoe

crab, the starter course, was prepared and served surrounded by red

peppers formed in Valentine’s hearts. Even the filet of beef

tenderloin was served in a heart-shaped scalloped potato basket.

Special wines selected by William Mathews accompanied the elegant

dinner. The highlight of Mathews’ wine service was a Casa Lapostolle

Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine came from Chile and the vineyards of

Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle, a world-renowned French vintner who

also happens to be the granddaughter of the man who created Grand

Marnier, which remains part of the family wine business to this day.

Mathews explained the history of the wine to the crowd, quoting

Lapostolle and sharing, “The wine is Chilean by origin and French by

design.”

Museum guests including Patricia and Dick Allen, Pat and Gene

Hancock, Pat and Carl Neisser, and Heather and Marty Klein shared a

toast to Valentine’s love, the great life in Newport and the ability

to support the arts in Orange County.

The Visionaries’ purpose over many years of service to the museum

is to specifically support the financial needs of educational

activities sponsored by the Orange County Museum of Art. The

organization also sponsors a wide and varied range of art-related

educational programs and opportunities throughout the year.

Also celebrating were Newport-Mesa couples Patricia and Bob

Marshall, Nadine and Bob Hall, Gordon and Reta Fishman, Elana and

William Donovan, the fashionable Linda and Ron Beale, Dawn and Bob

Washer and Lido Isle’s social standouts, Joan and Tom Riach. Spotted

in the crowd were the classy dermatologist Gayle Widyolar and her

best man David Scott, Newport’s glamorous Ann Van Ausdeln and Ramona

and Dom Bernamonti.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.