What kind of dinner does $3,600 buy?
When it’s spent at a Symphony Orchestra League of Alexandria auction, it buys a gourmet five-course dinner at the home of Stan and Gail Krejci, well known around here for their culinary expertise and outstanding entertaining. It also buys a stellar staff of Jim and Alice Close; Mike and Carter Flemming; and Sarah King Carr.
In short, a very memorable evening. An evening that, afterwards, dinner participants Linda and Elliott Bunce; Vicki and Nick Coward; Julie and Beau Dudley; Julie and Ed Dyson; Rita and Denny Meyer; Molly and Jim Singerling; and Jeanne Vander Myde and Senator John Warner all agreed was well worth the price of admission.
The dinner was the highest-priced item in last year’s auction, rising to the outstanding level as two other groups competed in the bidding. Krejci said that Margaret O’Grady was one of the bidders; she won a dinner at the Krejcis when it was offered years ago. Stan was president of the board then and recalls the dinner going for $500. “We thought that was the pinnacle,” he said. But that was before last year’s auction drove the price more than seven times that high.
ALTHOUGH THE DINNER was bid on at last spring’s symphony gala, the ASO dinner took place just this past Saturday at the Krejci’s home in Belle Haven. “It took a long time to get a date,” said Stan Krejci, who along with his wife, Gail, spent months planning the event.
“I planned the whole menu. Recipes are from all over,” said Gail, who enjoyed going to the library to look up many of them. Stan had final approval, of course and they finalized the menu a few days before the dinner.
Some items were tried and dismissed, not necessarily for unworthiness, but because of complexity. Jim and Alice Close were privy to the sampling and Jim said that the original first course, which was a tomato garlic timbale, was “the best first course I’ve ever had.” Still, the Krejcis decided not to use it because they felt that it would be too labor intensive.
What they used instead was stuffed artichoke bottoms with Hollandaise sauce. For the second course, they served seared scallops with crispy pancetta and pea puree. This was followed by beef tenderloin with blue cheese and rosemary vinaigrette; sweet potato confit with garlic and thyme; and roasted asparagus with orange and hazelnuts. The fourth course was a spinach salad with pear-thyme vinaigrette, followed by a terrine of fresh berries with creme fraíche. Demitasse was also served at the end of the evening.
BEFORE DINNER BEGAN, everything was relatively calm. Stan had prepared a schedule, down to what time the “staff” would arrive (7 p.m.) to when the guests would adjourn to the living room for coffee and brandy (10:25 p.m.)
Plates were neatly stacked (a different set of china for every course), while cutting boards, bowls, utensils, pots and pans were placed strategically, ready for preparation “I want everything orderly,” said Stan, telling the staff, “We’re all going to have a good time. There should be enough to have nibbles.”
As guests started arriving and things were being prepared, however, there was some apprehension.
“You can feel the tension building,” said Carter Flemming, one of the servers.
All of the people who agreed to serve as staff are good friends of the Krejcis. The men wore tuxedos, while the women were dressed in black French waitress uniforms with lace aprons.
Although they knew most of the guests (one of them was Alice Close’s brother), they maintained character and tried not to “fraternize” with the guests. Alice Close served crab balls to the guests, while Carr followed close behind with smoked salmon with cucumber vinaigrette.
“We were just like the characters in ‘Upstairs, Downstairs,’” said Stan.
“IT WAS JUST over the top in every way,” said Julie Dyson, president of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees. She and husband Ed were part of the original group who bid on the auction item. They asked other couples to join in to share the expense.
“Whatever we spent, we got more out of it. It was perfect,” said Dyson. “It was so memorable. Everybody loved it.”
Unbeknownst to most of the others, one of the guests, Jim Singerling, used to be a chef for the Shah of Iran. At the end of the meal, he proclaimed that the meal was fit for a Shah and that even the chef’s uniforms, furnished by the Tower Club, were worthy of that bygone monarch.
Dyson said that Senator Warner added to the liveliness by suggesting that dinner partners switch to a new seat after the second course. He also suggested that all the men stand up to give a toast.
“They were clever and spontaneous—sometimes symphony related and sometimes not,” said Dyson. After the men gave their toasts, Warner asked that the women give a toast as well.
They so appreciated what their hosts were presenting that during the fourth course, they picked up their salad plates and marched into the kitchen, singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”
The party continued past midnight, with guests finally leaving around 12:30 a.m.
“I think they were pleased with what they got,” said Flemming. “It was nice to see them enjoying themselves.” Cleanup wasn’t too bad, she said, as the staff had been cleaning as they went along.
They ran two dishwasher loads during the night, so the only thing to be cleaned was the glassware, which Stan said he would hand-wash the next day. He pronounced himself pleased with the dinner and said, “It really did flow nicely. Everything went more smoothly than we expected.”