Cucina Rustica and "Il Postino" at the LA Opera
On Tuesday, September 21, the new downtown Italian restaurant
Cucina Rustica hosted concierges for drinks and hors d'oeuvres
before the final dress rehearsal performance of "Il Postino" at
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Cucina proprietor Albert Shamaradian
and Operations Manager Bill Wenzel welcomed concierges and treated
guests to wine and beer pourings and a buffet of Italian appetizers
including stuffed mushrooms, vegetable and cured meat skewers, crabcakes,
pizza slices, calamari fritti and stuffed peppers. LA Opera's Associate
Director of Marketing, Mark Rice was on hand to give concierges background
on the world premier of Daniel Catans "Il Postino" starring Placido Domingo
as the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Sponsoring partners including Ryan Kerzner
and Damien of Midway Car Rental, Ihab Kharma from Avakian Jewelers, Julia
Salter from Top Notch Tickets and Jenny Leeser of Catherine Malandrino Maison
were on hand with raffle prizes and mixed and mingled with guests. Klaus Ritter
represented Starline Tours that provided roundtrip shuttle services to and
from The Music Center.