crab cakes Follow

Every year, anticipation builds … Stephen Mills and Becky Beaver To see how Ballet Austin will top its previous Fête … Matt Duncan and Ena Sharma Some pretty amazing folks have organized the annual fundraiser in the past … Mary Margaret Farabee and Nancy Scanlan But this year, celebrity lawyer Becky Beaver and her team outdid them all … Ben and Joanie Bentzin First, dinner guests were ferried by construction elevators to the 33rd floor of the unfinished Austonian condo tower … Brent Hasty, Maria Groten and Eric Groten Where the views were stupefying. I mean, I couldn’t recognize certain parts of downtown Austin, so high up were we. And there were another 20 unfinished floors above us … Suzanne Winkelman and Carmen Tawil Then there were the floral arrangements — always a Fête eye-opener — this year from new florists Mandarin Flower Co. The couple used black and white calla lilies to suggest tutus for “Swan Lake” … Lee Walker and Michelle Westling When guests stopped ogling the view and the flowers and greeting one another — it was the highest concentration of Fortunate 500 All-Stars anywhere — we found our tables … Michael Pungello, Oliver Everette and Kevin Smothers These were arranged in a doughnut shape around the central structural well, so everyone had splendid views of the city, but nobody could see two-thirds of the other guests. So we were linked up via video screens … Shannon and Tony Casati This didn’t work that well for the auction, with poor Evan Smith wandering among the guests with a microphone. Smith didn’t give up, and even pumped up bids for an Italian vacation to $23,000 … Becky and Damon Holditch We munched on tiny steaks and crab cakes provided by chef Elmar Prambs — who had another function over at the Four Seasons going simultaneously … Doug Kaminski and Judy Wenum I spent the most time with Melanie and Ben Barnes, also with Stephen Mills and Brent Hasty. I enjoyed priceless stories from Ben, who knows more about realpolitik than anyone else in Texas. (He says we are losing out on big projects because of red-state leadership.) He also introduced an idea for a presidential ballet that merits close attention. Jim Smith, Jare Smith and Cliff Redd Also met up with Jack and Carla McDonald, Amy and Kirk Rudy, Steven Tomlinson and Eugene Sepulveda, Karen Landa and Dale Dewey, Nancy Scanlan and John Watson, Dave Shaw, Mary Margaret and Ray Farabee, Cookie Ruiz, Nina and Frank Seely, Stephen Moser (looking fantabulous!), John Riedie, Linda Ball and Forrest Preece, Sarah and Ernest Butler, Kathy Panoff, Charles Duggan, Dr. John Hogg and David Garza, David Wyatt, Lauren Tuttle, Kristen Chen, Taylor Perkins, Lance Avery Morgan, Kevin Smothers and Michael Pungello, Oliver Everette, Cliff Redd and Rick Johnson, Larry Connelly and James Armstrong, Shannon and Tony Casati, Joanie and Ben Bentzin … And those just off the top of my head. For others, see Eugene’s Community Matters blog … Sofia Avila and Victoria Avila (in charge of the amazing decor) We all shuttled downstairs for the after-parties — one on the 10th floor with cabaret singer Mandy Lauderdale, and another, the Fête-ish, on the ground floor, which included hundreds of additional guests already progressing to a party climax as the two forces met … Berry Crowley and Melanie Barnes I saw some sexy dancing, ate a few sexy chocolates and consumed a sexy sazerac before making my departure … Carla and Jack McDonald One last note: By attending the Fête and the earlier Night of the Child (could do so because they were a block apart), I completely missed the the Bob “Daddy-O” Wade career celebration at the Museum of Popular Culture and the Horton Foote tribute at the Public Library Foundation gala … Odette Perez and Nichole Wright (I’m supposed to mention Neiman Marcus) I’m fond of artist Wade. And those of you who know my deep affection for the late playwright Foote realize this was heart-wrenching. (In fact, I spent my very first gala ever sitting next to Mr. Foote, starstruck but, luckily, not tongue-tied.) … And look who was out, in top form! Somebody has got to set up a master social calendar. We go weeks without a major event, then pack three or four biggies into one night? And these were just three of the invitations I received for Saturday. Please, somebody …