84th Academy Awards – Food And Champagne Preview, Oscar Envelopes And Tony Bennett To Perform At Governors Ball

For the 18th consecutive year, master chef Wolfgang Puck has been selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to create the menu for the Governors Ballon Oscar® Sunday, February 26, 2012. On Thursday morning, Puck gave the press a glimpse into what the winners can expect to feast on immediately following the 84th Academy Awards® hosted by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – at The Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

This year, instead of tables with place-settings or buffets, an army of servers will bring the food around on trays with small plates. The band will be in the center on a raised, rotating stage. The first set of bleachers are out on Hollywood Blvd. and rain coverings are installed along the route to the ball. The ballroom is completely transformed in a different way each year including the elaborate ceiling installations and hanging fixtures. The room will sparkle with 1400 strands of Swarovski Crystal.

“We are so excited to help create a new energy for the Governors Ball this year,” said Puck. “With fantastic California ingredients, a few luxuries, and some favorite comfort foods, there will truly be something for everyone, and inspiration for anyone hosting a party at home. We are happy to celebrate Hollywood’s brightest stars and most accomplished artists with our culinary artistry.”

Wolfgang Puck Catering will serve the Academy’s 1,500 Ball guests, including Oscar winners, nominees, presenters and telecast participants.

The 2012 menu created by Puck and Chef Matt Bencivenga embraces the social arrangement of this year’s Ball; it features more than fifty dishes, from one-bite hors d’oeuvres to small-plate entrees that will be passed throughout the evening. With visual artistry and eclectic flavors, signature favorites such as smoked salmon Oscars®, chicken pot pie with shaved black truffles, and Pastry Chef Sherry Yard’s gold-dusted chocolate Oscars will appear alongside inventive presentations such as lobster tacos with tomato and pickled Shallots, and beet salad with pistachio butter, burrata and citrus balsamic. The menu incorporates local produce and sustainable seafood, and its surprise sweets pay homage to the future of Oscar in 3D.

All unused prepared food will be donated to Angel Harvest.

Wolfgang Puck Catering sets the standard for gracious hospitality and expert service in more than 45 exclusive venues nationwide. The Wolfgang Puck Companies – which comprise 21 fine dining restaurants, premium catering services, and quality kitchen and food merchandise – together express Puck’s passion for cooking and living well.

Fun Facts:

• 5000 Mini Chocolate Oscars
• 6500 Wood Fired Oscar Shaped Flat Bread
• 1,000 bottles of Moét & Chandon Champagne
• 20,000 pieces of California Grown Micro Greens
• 7,500 individual US shrimp
• 1,450 pounds Maine lobster
• 5,000 cage free eggs

Marc Friedland has been selected to design envelopes and announcement cards bearing the names of Oscar® winners at the 84th and 85th Academy Awards. Last year was the first year Friedland was selected marking the first-ever specially designed envelope and winners’ cards.

Friesland’s custom-designed envelope is handcrafted from a high-gloss, iridescent metallic gold paper stock, with a red-lacquered lining featuring the Oscar statuette hand-stamped in satin gold leaf.

The outside of the envelope and flap is an Art Deco-inspired satin gold foil frame with an ecru inset panel bearing the name of the award category in a rich charcoal ink. The envelope will contain a heavyweight ecru card featuring gold foil accents and a gold leaf-embossed Oscar statuette along with the phrase, “And the Oscar goes to.” The winner’s name is printed in charcoal ink and mounted onto a matching, red lacquer hand-wrapped frame. The back of the card will be printed with the award category.

Friedland will produce an announcement card for each of the year’s nominees. After final tabulation of the ballots, Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) partners, will insert the appropriate announcement cards and fasten the envelope with a red double-faced satin ribbon and a red-lacquered and gold-embossed seal featuring the PwC logo.

All of the remaining nominee cards will then be destroyed. “I wanted to create an envelope that matched the iconic stature of the Oscars® as an event known and watched around the world,” said Friedland. “So few people actually ever hold these envelopes, but I want everyone to see how special they really are. As with the statuette itself, the envelope and cards will never change.”

Friedland, the designer of the Academy Award winners’ envelope has designed the first-ever collection of Academy sanctioned invitations for Oscar Sunday viewing parties, which is now immediately available to download exclusively on Evite Postmark, announced Hans Woolley, President of Evite and Marc Friedland, Founder and Creative Director of Marc Friedland Couture Communications. Ten unique premium Oscar party invitation designs are being made available online complimentary for party hosts to personalize and have digitally delivered as a way for Friedland and Evite to announce their association and preview Evite’s new premium site Evite Postmark www.Postmark.com. Direct links to Evite Postmark will also be available at www.Oscar.com and www.marcfriedlandinc.com.

The Oscar Collection by Marc Friedland has something for everyone, from classic golden age of Hollywood to modern, fun takes on Oscar as well. There’s the nod to glitz and glam (complete with Swarovski studded Oscar) to mid-60’s inspired chic. Each design begins as an individually handcrafted original, and then is magically transformed to be digitally delivered on Evite Postmark, making this the online debut of Friedland’s high-end signature craftsmanship work.

Each invitation in the collection has a matching designed envelope, custom stamp, and features the never before available Oscar statuette, use of Academy archival photos and images, and the use the of the “official” Academy Awards title.

Tony Bennett will perform at the Governors Ball, the celebration that will follow the 84th Academy Awards® presentation on Oscar Sunday, February 26, Academy President Tom Sherak announced today. “Tony Bennett is that rare artist who truly reaches across generations,” said Sherak. “Welcoming him to the Ball is an honor and privilege.”

Bennett, who recently celebrated his 85th birthday, made music history last September when his “Duets II” album debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, distinguishing him as the oldest artist to achieve the top position. Earlier this month he won his 16th and 17th Grammy® Awards: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Duets II” and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body and Soul,” recorded with the late Amy Winehouse. Bennett earned his first Grammy in 1962 for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Bennett also is a two-time Emmy® Award winner, a Kennedy Center Honoree and an NEA Jazz Master. His dozens of albums have sold millions of copies worldwide. Bennett will perform for the Ball’s 1,500 guests, which will include Oscar winners and nominees, show presenters and performers, and other luminaries. The Ball will be held in the Grand Ballroom on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

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