USA Network took over Craft in Century City last Thursday with its Los Angeles upfront party. The restaurant’s sweeping dining room became a cocktail and lounge setting thanks to custom-created neutral-toned lounge furniture and pillows.
USA Network executive vice president of consumer and affiliate marketing Alexandra Shapiro turned to event producer Jessie Lomma for XA, The Experiential Agency to create the look. Burgundy-hued arrangements of orchids and lilies filled vases on the bar and in the dining room, and USA-branded cocktail tables added to the network’s marketing message.
Guests sampled the restaurant’s catering as they noshed on passed appetizers like roast beef sliders and fried tequila-stuffed olives, and a variety of seafood from a 10-foot raw bar, including salmon tartare and Alaskan crab legs. In a nod to the network’s “Characters Welcome” slogan, bartenders mixed up the Character cocktail (vodka, triple sec, apricot liquor, blood orange juice, lime juice, and ginger ale).