A sneak preview of the 2019 Oscars Governors Ball
LOS ANGELES -- It's one of the most elegant and star-studded parties of the year: The Oscars' annual Governors Ball.
Invited guests get to enjoy all the fun after the 2019 Oscars. Celebrated Chef Wolfgang Puck and his team are creating dozens of dishes for the 1,500 invited guests of this year's after party.
Puck said he uses a global influence for his menu, which combines tradition - like his infamous salmon Oscar - and innovation - like a sea urchin-shaped chocolate with fruit caviar on top. Guests can expect more than two dozen different desserts! They all include one essential ingredient: love.
"You know what? Cooking is all passion and love," Puck said. "If you don't like what you do, get out of the heat, get out of the kitchen."
Besides lots of food, there's lots to drink. Don Julio is taking care of the tequila-inspired cocktails. Piper-Heidsieck has the champagne covered. Filmmaker and winemaker Francis Ford Coppola has the wine with a very special label, just for the Governors Ball.
Also decorating the ball are 400 floral arrangements featuring roses, orchids and tulips from Mark Held of Mark's Gardens. In a perfect world, Held said he'd love to see one particular celebrity with his work on Oscar Sunday.
"To see Glenn Close walking off with an arrangement. I mean, that would be pretty cool, right? I'd like that picture," he said.
As far as the big picture of the ball? Think old theatre glamour with a filmscape playing of more than 140 movie moments. The chair of this event sees the ball as a special gift.
"When you take the lid off and look at what it contains, that's where the excitement should be," said Lois Burwell.
"The ball is sort of like a film in itself. It should never stop," said Governors Ball producer Cheryl Cecchetto. "You should always be looking for something else."
