Ten stories above the bustling streets of Manhattan's Upper West Side, the city view was trumped by bright decor and the delicate tastes of Southeast Asian cuisine for the World Monuments Fund's (WMF) gala to benefit its work in Cambodia.Called "Enchanting Angkor," the evening began in the lobby of the Walter Reade Theater with an exhibit of 23 watercolors of Cambodian landscapes by William Rayner; a screening of Les Guthman's film Churning of the Sea of Time: A Journey Up the Mekong to Angkor followed inside the theater. A short reception and dinner followed in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse.
Event designer Susan Miller Smith transformed the penthouse into a Cambodian temple, complete with hanging custom-designed six-foot-long satin banners and bold-hued upside-down umbrellas. Candles, citrus-colored bouquets of flora, and egg-shaped lanterns borrowed from Rayner's wife, Katharine—who collected them during her travels in Cambodia—decorated long banquet tables topped with sunflower-yellow tablecloths and lime green- and yellow-striped organza overlays.
Sage Events chef Molly Sheckell created the Cambodia-inspired menu. Passed hors d'oeuvres included fried pumpkin with toasted coconut, and mango salad topped with squid served in ceramic spoons. The dinner followed in a similar style, with small portions of dishes like chicken satay with peanut sauce and miniature port bahn mi sandwiches at one food bar, and varieties of dumplings and potstickers at another station across the room. Dessert options included individual portions of rainbow ice with coconut and fresh tapioca bubbles, khamer sweet corn pudding, and other traditional Cambodian sweets.
"We didn't want to do formal seating," said Brittany Parks, the WMF's event manager. "We wanted to take the formal edge out of it. Our other fund-raiser is a very formal gala luncheon, so this was to have a very different tone, more festive. We thought the buffet food bar idea would work better in terms of keeping the informality."
Seated on one side of the room was musician Sorawat Ruangamporn, playing traditional Southeast Asian songs on a khim, a stringed instrument from the region.
—Chrissi Mark
Posted 04.18.06
Photo: Lou Manna (food station)
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Event designer Susan Miller Smith transformed the penthouse into a Cambodian temple, complete with hanging custom-designed six-foot-long satin banners and bold-hued upside-down umbrellas. Candles, citrus-colored bouquets of flora, and egg-shaped lanterns borrowed from Rayner's wife, Katharine—who collected them during her travels in Cambodia—decorated long banquet tables topped with sunflower-yellow tablecloths and lime green- and yellow-striped organza overlays.
Sage Events chef Molly Sheckell created the Cambodia-inspired menu. Passed hors d'oeuvres included fried pumpkin with toasted coconut, and mango salad topped with squid served in ceramic spoons. The dinner followed in a similar style, with small portions of dishes like chicken satay with peanut sauce and miniature port bahn mi sandwiches at one food bar, and varieties of dumplings and potstickers at another station across the room. Dessert options included individual portions of rainbow ice with coconut and fresh tapioca bubbles, khamer sweet corn pudding, and other traditional Cambodian sweets.
"We didn't want to do formal seating," said Brittany Parks, the WMF's event manager. "We wanted to take the formal edge out of it. Our other fund-raiser is a very formal gala luncheon, so this was to have a very different tone, more festive. We thought the buffet food bar idea would work better in terms of keeping the informality."
Seated on one side of the room was musician Sorawat Ruangamporn, playing traditional Southeast Asian songs on a khim, a stringed instrument from the region.
—Chrissi Mark
Posted 04.18.06
Photo: Lou Manna (food station)
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