Celebrities flavor dinner fundraiser

Newport Beach-based celebrity chef Jamie Gwen is set to front the third Flavors of Orange County dinner and fundraiser on behalf of the American Liver Foundation. The Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach, formerly the Sutton Place, will be the setting for the Jan. 29 event, which will feature some of the finest dining in Orange County.

The premise for the party is that a lineup of celebrity chefs will each prepare an incredible five-course dinner accompanied by the appropriate wine for a table of 12. In other words, everyone in the ballroom will be enjoying their own dining experience prepared by a particular chef. You can be sure that there will be lots of table hopping and comparing going on all night long.

Gwen hosts a radio show on KABC-AM (790) and is also seen on television’s Home Shopping Network, as well as serving as the food correspondent for Fox Channel 11’s “Good Day LA.” She is a certified sommelier and has recently released her third cookbook, “So Much To Celebrate.”

The evening will be co-chaired by Susan Ford and Diana Townsend. Yvonne Goetz will serve as the honorary chef of the night with Garth Washburn filling in as host chef to benefit the Liver Foundation. For more information call (949) 706-7613.

Corona del Mar’s Susan Samueli chaired “Casino Royal” last week. It was the ninth annual event to benefit Orangewood and the Mighty Ducks Care, a charitable fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation.

Las Vegas came to Orange County as the party patrons joined a host of Mighty Ducks players, coaches and broadcasters for an evening of gaming and dining at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Under Samueli’s care, the party was the production of a group known as 44 Women for Children, a small but powerful auxiliary of the Orangewood Children’s Foundation. There was a very hip VIP lounge set up for the big donors prior to the night of gaming that also featured live entertainment from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

One of the O.C.’s most significant charitable organizations, the ARCS Foundation, which stands for Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, will host a sixth annual dinner in Orange County to present student scholarship awards for 2006. UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake will be front and center for the ceremony and dinner that will feature keynote speaker Douglas C. Wallace, director of the Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine and Genetics at UC Irvine.

The party is set for Jan. 27 in the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center on the UCI campus.

The ARCS’ mission statement states, “The foundation provides scholarships to academically outstanding United States citizens studying to complete their degrees in science, medicine and engineering, thereby contributing to the worldwide advancement of science and technology.”

For more information, call Geraldine Schlutz at (949) 631-2540 or Joan Torres at (949) 644-0472.

South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa is preparing for the American premiere of “Hitchcock Blonde,” set for Feb. 10 on the Segerstrom Stage. Written and directed by Terry Johnson, who was in the O.C. over the summer as the honored guest of the South Coast Repertory summer party hosted by Wylie and Betty Aitken, returns for the debut of his acclaimed play.

The opening night will be followed by a party hosted by Mark’s Catering thrown in the Park Tower building lobby behind South Coast Repertory. The cast and crew will be on hand for the event along with patrons and honorary producers of the evening Valerie and Geoff Ferns.

* THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.