Solano 888 Production’s Champagne Brunch

by: James Wallington, Event & Media Specialist   

Sunday, April 6^th, 2014

iL Fornaio

24 W Union St.

Pasadena, CA 91103

(626)-683-9797

www.ilfornaio.com

10:00 AM – The sun is shining, it’s a lovely day in Pasadena and the Solano 888 Team has come together for the first ever company “Champagne Brunch”. One-by-one the team assembled at iL Fornaio Restaurant and we greeted each other with mutual excitement for the day.  Our table was dressed with nine table settings and complimented with beautiful floral centerpieces designed by the team’s fabulous floral designer, Una Yeh of TheFlower Lab in Santa Monica. We were also pleasantly surprised with delicious cupcakes that were baked by the team’s Event Stylist, Nancy Adams-Friedman who is also the owner of Sweet Soirees in LA.

[Photo Credit: (L) Jonah Solano @solano888 (Center) Sammie Kaminski

(R) James Wallington @mrjameswally]

10:30 AM – After ordering our beverages (White Mocha’s, Mimosas, Latte’s, etc.) and getting situated in our seats, iL Fornaio’s friendly and knowledgeable server Arturo entered our private room to introduce himself and go over the three course menu.  We were given two options, either soup or salad, for the first dish.

Insalata Del Fornaio

(mixed greens, garlic croutons, shaved parmesan; house vinaigrette)

Zuppa Del Giorno

(Chef’s fresh soup of the day - Minestrone)

10:45 AM – Now that she had everyone’s undivided attention, without skipping a beat, Jonah pulled out her brunch itinerary and began giving an introduction followed by a toast. 

She revealed to the team exciting company news and welcomed us all to the first Solano 888 Team Brunch; it was quickly followed with applause from the team. As we waited for our first dish, Jonah provided us with our first team activity. It was an icebreaker game where we went around the table introducing ourselves. After giving our individual introductions we were given a container that was filled with post-it notes that had icebreaker questions written on them (Jonah later revealed that they were questions she found online for speed dating – hilarity ensued after that discovery). It was a lighthearted activity filled with a lot of laughter and great conversation.

11:00AM – Midway through our icebreaking activity Arturo returned with our first dish; half the team ordered the Zuppa Del Giorno and the other half ordered the Insalata Del Fornaio. I ordered the Insalata Del Fornaio; it was a perfectly sized portion of mixed greens with garlic croutons and shaved parmesan sprinkled on top that was lightly dressed with a savory house vinaigrette to enhance the flavor. I highly recommend this as starter dish for anyone who decides to visit iL Fornaio!

Arturo then introduced to us our choices for the main dish. We had four delicious options to choose from.

Insalata Di Tacchino

Organic mixed greens salad with house roasted free-range turkey, hardboiled egg, avocado, cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, Parmigiano and balsamic vinaigrette.

Ravioli alla Lucana

Organic spinach ravioli filled with Italian sausage, ricotta, Grana Padano and fennel; topped with fresh tomatoes, spicy tomato sauce with imported pepperoncino, pecorino pepato cheese and fresh basil.

Pollo Toscano

Free-range rotisserie chicken seasoned with rosemary; served with mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables.

Salmone con Spinaci

Griddled salmon over organic baby spinach salad with red onions, mushrooms, toasted walnuts and warm vinaigrette.

Once Arturo left the room with our orders, the conversation continued as we began to dig into our first dish.

Pollo Toscano

11:45AM – Our main dishes arrive at the table and we are instantly impressed with the presentation; not to mention, just from the sheer smell of the food we already knew we were in for something spectacular. I ordered the Pollo Toscano and let me tell you, I’m picky when it comes to chicken but this chicken dish was exquisite. The dash of rosemary was the perfect touch to a satisfying rotisserie chicken. The mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables were the perfect combination of sides to this dish. I highly recommend this menu option for any future customers of iL Fornaio.

12:30PM – After consuming our meals, we started our “Wear Your Personality” photo shoot with the talented photographer, Elite of Elite on Earth Photography. This certainly was a highlight of the brunch because everyone got to showcase their individual styles and how it reflects our personalities. The photos turned out great and I can’t wait to share them with everyone! They will be posted on the Solano 888 Website with mini-portfolios so you can get to know the team better and what skills we bring to the table. Here are just some of the teasers for you:

Jonah Solano

(From L-R: Linda Nguyen, James Wallington, Sammie Kaminski and Jennifer McKinney)

(From L-R: Nancy Adams-Friedman from Sweet Soirees, Vivian Khanh from Etablir Vintage Rentals, Una Yeh from The Flower Lab and our freshest member of the team, Keetin Marchi)

1:00PM – As we finished up our final photos, Arturo brought the third and final dish to our table. Dessert! I think it’s safe to say that this was everyone’s favorite dish of the day.

Tiramisu

Rum and espresso soaked lady fingers, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder

It was the perfect sweet dish to end our wonderful brunch. We sat around the table to enjoy our Tiramisu while Jonah gave her closing remarks about the new and exciting changes to Solano 888 that we can look forward to.

(L-R: Nancy Adams-Friedman, Linda Nguyen, Jennifer McKinney, Sammie Kaminski, Jonah Solano, Vivian Khan, Una Yeh, Keetin Marchi and James Wallington)

 

Everyone on the team is super passionate about the direction in which Solano 888 Productions is headed and we hope that you’ll continue to follow us as we take Los Angeles by storm with class, style and our individual flair.

Until next time… Cheers!