Mind the P's & Q's, Roger Neal Style Hollywood Oscar Viewing Dinner, the New Hollywood Classic.

By Laura Medina

To celebrate twenty-years in pioneering the ever-popular Roger Neal Style Hollywood Oscar Suite style and gifting suites that attend to every nominee's last-minute Awards Season grooming needs, Roger Neal finally threw a bash to thank those who had supported him and paying homage to the epitome of Hollywood Elegance, the Oscars.

 

Paying homage and conveniently diagonally across the street from the Academy Awards itself at Hollywood and Highland, Mr. Neal threw his Oscar Viewing Dinner at the historical Max Factor Headquarters/Factory, which is now the Hollywood Museum.

Not only it houses the largest Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, it holds a pivotal point in cosmetic history.  This used to be the Max Factor Headquarters and factory, the man who pioneered movie makeup then re-packaged it to the masses as "celebrity cosmetics."  Since he was the man responsible for making stars look their best, Mr. Factor put color theory in action by painting a star's makeup room a certain, soft-glow pastel that coordinates with skin complexions and hair color then naming these color-specific makeup rooms as "Brownettes, Brunettes, and Blondes."

This is where you get that "Old Hollywood Vanity Room Style," a mid-Twentieth Century pastel room that bathes a person in their best ambiance, way before smartphone filters.

HOLLYWOOD MUSEUM founder, Donelle Dadigan said” We are thrilled to have Roger and his Oscar Viewing Dinner, we are right in the middle of all of the Oscar night activity and we know that the guests and stars coming to this dinner will have an incredible time.”

 

As Hollywood's Gentleman, Roger Neal was considerate enough to hold a press/media buffet room for the starving photographers and tv news anchors stuck on the red carpet, leading up to the real dinner banquet room upstairs.

The press/media buffet room has a wine table and a buffet holding hearty "stick-to-their-ribs" chicken pasta casserole and meatball sauce pasta.

The press/media buffet room was also the receiving area for celebrity guests  to collect and recharge before entering the red carpet clamor.

  

The guests also had a wait staff serving them hors d'oeuvres in the press/media buffet room.

Considering this was a factory, Roger Neal and the Hollywood Museum had a cool idea...

Stuck with a freight elevator?  It's spacious enough to toss in a full-sized, fully-equipped bar and a booth to sit and sip as you go up to the real dinner banquet.  Roomy enough for wait staff to serve you appetizers as you go up.  How's that for Hollywood ingenuity?

     

Once guests arrive up to the fourth floor banquet room, they go to their assigned table where a gold chocolate Oscar statue, by Glamour Bombonier Brazilian Sweet, and an Oscar Nominee voting (Hollywood's idea of bingo) sheet awaits them.

Hollywood has a sweet tooth and they like it sparkly and bubbly.  

Lorimar Wines catered the formal dinner with their 2010 Grenache Rose and Rose Sparkling.  For a pure cocktails, Savile Premium Rumtini was a delicious guzzle of alcoholic pineapple juice.

As a veteran Hollywood publicist, Roger lined up Hollywood classics, such as Dawn Wells ("Mary Ann from "Gilligan's Island), Amy Yasbeck, and the amazing Paul Sorvino serenaded the guests.

Mr. Neal's Oscar Viewing Dinner was an authentic formal sit-down five-course dinner.  Don't worry, everything was well-portioned as was everything was succulent.

There were two salads for the diet/anti-oxidant conscious.  The first salad was grilled vegetables tossed with fresh salad leaves.  The second salad was heaving with bay scallops, clam, and crab.

The main entree was the classic surf and turf of tender steak and salmon accompanied by corn, roasted potato, and stuffed tomato, filled with steamed spinach then topped by grilled cheese.

The finale dessert was a pound cake trifle, dolloped with mocha mousse and whipped cream.

The real dessert was Glamour Bombonier Brazilian Sweet's gold-dusted chocolate Oscar statutes that everyone took home as a souvenir.

This scribe was thankful for the Oscar Viewing Party and hopes this will become a new Hollywood tradition.