VOULEZ-VOUS MANGEZ AVEC MOI, CE SOIR?

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

TONIGHT'S post-Oscars Governors Ball bash for 1,650 Academy Award winners, nominees, presenters, performers and guests is as meticulously orchestrated as a showstopper from ``Moulin Rouge.''

Among the highlights: the gold-dusted chocolate mini-Oscar and film spool, a culinary tradition at the black-tie ball. The awards dinner takes place at the specially designed Grand Ballroom on the top of the Hollywood & Highland complex, site of the 74th annual ceremony's new home at the Kodak Theatre.

``It's a return to the glamorous roots of Oscar,'' said Alan Bergman, chairman of the Governors Ball, referring to the ceremony's beginnings in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel across the street. ``To have Oscar back in Hollywood is simply wonderful.''

The glittery invitation-only event's lord of the napkin rings, star caterer Wolfgang Puck, created the menu - 450 waiters will ply guests with champagne, caviar, sesame-crusted salmon and beef tenderloin - and helped develop the venue's three state-of-the-art kitchens.

Each meal is cooked to order and served immediately, restaurant-style, two elegant clear-glass plates at a time. The ``Shrek''-sized tab is estimated at nearly $1 million, covered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

``It's surf-and-turf - almost,'' Puck said of the feast. ``It's comforting food, but also entertaining.''

At past Governors Balls - held in recent years in a white canvas tent in the parking lot of the Shrine Auditorium - food for the multicourse, sit- down dinner was prepared by late afternoon, then kept warm in holding boxes.

The days of circus tents flapping in the wind while stretch limos navigate nearby are over. The 25,000-square-foot hall resembles the grand ballroom of a golden-age trans-Atlantic ocean liner rather than an ultramodern facility built to host a variety of functions.

Walls have been layered with pewter leaf. Gold faux-leather chairs were custom designed and manufactured to match the late-'20s period feel of the room.

Chandeliers, candles, beads and water fountains give the room a romantic, shimmering glow. Guests are seated at tables both round and square with tablecloths and napkins made of velvet fabrics in mahogany, mocha and gold earth tones.

Four different types of silver centerpieces employ a combination of 1,200 live goldfish in raised glass bowls and 10,000 orchid blossoms in green, gold and cappuccino, flown in from Holland.

``This night is all about seeing and being seen,'' said official florist Mark Held, co-owner of Mark's Garden in Sherman Oaks. ``So, while creating something original and different, nothing must obscure the view across the room.''

Held's floral arrangements were inspired both by the colors of the ballroom and the atmosphere of old Hollywood.

None of Oscar's millions of TV viewers, of course, will see those colors. The Super Bowl of dinner parties is covered by news crews from the tattered edge of the red carpet outside.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (chef)

(2) no caption (plate of food)