A Houty-Touty Affair

Frank and I were invited to the Hotel Utah 100th Anniversary celebration. It was probably the nicest affair that we have ever attended. Here Beth poses in front of a 1914 Cadillac with one of the hosts dressed in period costume. (A bit of history: The hotel closed in 1987 and was re-purposed as a downtown social center and re-named the Joseph Smith Memorial Building).

Here is a shot of one of the tables on the lobby where the dignitaries were seated. The centerpiece must have measured three feet tall!

Another view of one of the lobby tables. Each setting was complete with place cards, commemorative program and coin. We were glad that we had paid attention at those "etiquette" lessons so we knew which spoon and fork to use for which courses.

The gala dinner was served to 600 and was superb! A delightful band played through it all. A Hotel Utah original chilled beet soup was the first course followed by Smoked Duck Salad. A lime sorbet with mint came next to "cleanse the palette". The entree was beef tenderloin with lobster tail paired with Basil Mashed Potatoes. The presentation on each course was fabulous, but the dessert was out-of-this-world stunning! Here are two pictures of the strawberry shortcake.

The "sail" is a white chocolate curl. Isn't that awesome...and to think that they served 600 of these all at the same time...Wow!! The delicious meal was followed by guest speakers that included the mayor of Salt Lake City, the Governor of the State of Utah and then remarks by President Thomas S. Monson. We had a lovely time and were so happy to share the evening with co-workers from the Event Services Division.
To see even more pictures of the food, check out this blog: http://chewandchat.blogspot.com/2011/06/hotel-utah-100th-anniversary-gala.html