Black Tie & Tales

+ Everyone loves Michael and Phil
American Jewish Committee West Coast Florida hit the jackpot when it selected Michael Klauber and Phil Mancini of Michael’s On East as winners of its 2014 Civic Achievement Award. The full house included a record number of past honorees: 17. So many Sarasota nonprofits have benefited from the generosity of the honorees, and their leaders were out in force, including Mary Ann Servian and Hillary Steele from Sarasota Ballet, Betty Schoenbaum and Kameron Partridge Hodgens from Glasser-Schoenbaum Human Services Center, Alexandra Quarles from Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation and Dennis Stover and Dr. Sandra Stone from USF Sarasota-Manatee.

The evening was a love fest, rich in family and community spirit. Michael said, “This is like my bar mitzvah,” and Phil chimed in, “This is my bar mitzvah.” Yes, Phil, now you are a man.

Phil boasted that he makes the best matzoh balls and the best meatballs. Guests who came to his table mid-meal to congratulate him discovered he wasn’t there; he was in the kitchen checking on things.
Michael shared that their vision for their operation from the beginning was that it would be “a place for our community to come together.” How fitting, then, that AJC Regional President Anne Virag and board member Fran Blum, visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, this summer, bought them aprons emblazoned with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: “No love is sincerer than the love of food.”

+ Tidbits
Happy Friendsgiving … Nikki Sedacca and daughter Montana Taplinger decided it was too long a wait until their annual Valentine’s Friendship Luncheon, so they added a new luncheon to the books. The mother-daughter duo hosted a Friendsgiving Luncheon Nov. 20, at 530 Burns Gallery, and their friends showed up to socialize before the holiday, including Teri Hansen, Kelsey Alholm, Jennifer Rust, Sharon Black Floyd, Ping Faulhaber and Lisa Morris … No sale …  Realtor Barbara Ackerman tried on a little black dress at Anika Sundstrom’s Olivia on St. Armands only to be told she couldn’t buy it because someone else, likely headed to the same fundraiser, had already done so. Smart merchant … Happy birthday dear Anne ... Anne Virag’s birthday was the day after AJC’s smashing successful dinner. On her calendar: an AJC luncheon for 40 supporters and visiting Assistant Executive Director Dan Elbaum after which she expected to be “too exhausted to do much of anything”... Look who’s back in the kitchen ... Chef Christian Hershman is back in the catering business. He is already booked for several parties including a birthday celebration for good friend and long-time client Margaret Wise and several events for Dr. David and Yara Shoemaker. Reach him at [email protected] …  Standing-room only … The JFCS annual gala, featuring the Sarasota Orchestra, is a sell-out for the ninth year in a row. And that is after the organization figured out how to fit in two more tables and additional space the orchestra needed … Dinner with a side of celebrity … While celebrating her birthday at Jack Dusty, Jessica Hays and friends Allison Werner, Daniela Kirvin, Lydia Chapdelain, Brigid Saah and Francesca Duran stumbled upon actor Adrian Grenier and got up the nerve to ask him for a photo. Entourage’s Grenier was in town to visit Ringling College of Art and Design as part of the school’s film lab series.

+ Over the river and through the woods …
To cook or not to cook … Jack and Judy Bloch have booked a table for eight at Michael’s On East … Jerry and Wendy Feinstein are taking a corn pudding and a couple of bottles of wine to his daughter’s in Coral Springs … George Kole and Judy Zuckerberg are heading for their daughter’s in Basking Ridge, N.J. … Larry and Deb Kabinoff may have the distance record — they are off to Panama … Foodie Vivian Kouvant is going to friends, and taking a basket from Blackberry Farm in Tennessee and Isak Dinesen brand teas from Denmark ... Carolyn Michel is cooking a carbohydrate festival including her favorite sweet potato casserole and trusting the rest to Publix and to Bob Turoff, who always brings a smoked turkey ... A favorite response came from Carla Ennis, who says, “We always stay home for Thanksgiving. Joe thinks it‘s the best holiday because he doesn’t need to shop for a present.”

Black Tie & Tales columnists Stephanie Hannum, Heather Merriman and Molly Schechter wish our readers a Happy Thanksgiving!
 

+ Black Tie Affair
Starry Night Dinner 1, highlighting the production of ‘The Matchmaker’
Benefiting: Asolo Repertory Theatre
When: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15
Where: The Forest at Hi Hat Ranch
Tickets: $250
Contact: 351-9010, Ext. 4712