The Sun
      Sunnyvale's Newspaper

      Photograph by George Sakkestad

      Leslie Hay and Simon Leong toast the upcoming Gala '97.

      Go ahead and eat up --it's for the children

      By Lester Chang

      If champagne bubbles don't tickle your nose ...

      If shrimps on the barbie, crab cakes and caviar don't beckon to your taste buds ...

      If you just can't bring yourself to indulge in a night of delicious food, lively music and fabulous prizes and people ...

      If you can't enjoy all this for yourself, then perhaps--just perhaps--you'll consider suffering through it all for the children.

      Gala '97--the 13th annual event sponsored by the Cupertino Educational Endowment Fund--brings together the best restaurants in town to raise money for local schools.

      The event is scheduled for May 17 at the Research and Development campus of Apple Computer in Cupertino.

      A bonanza awaits the gourmet: dim sum, vegetarian focaccia, giant strawberries, grilled prawns, lox and pasta.

      Maryland-style crab cake with lobster aioli will come from Cafe Gourmet and Catering Company.

      Cafe Quinn, meanwhile, will present a pasta salad with pine nuts, roasted red peppers, fresh basil and Parmesan, served over fresh spinach with a red wine vinaigrette.

      Canton Delights, Fontana's, the Gourmet Works and Hobee's will also serve up their specialties. The Outback Steakhouse, Noah's Bagels, Whole Foods Market, Pacific Espresso, Viking Foods and Max's will do their part, too. Coffee will be provided by Starbucks.

      Other contributors are Odwalla and Bon Appetit.

      The festive occasion includes an auction, where diners can bid on a trip to Paris and a New York theater package.

      A custom gold, diamond and sapphire bracelet, created by Saratoga jeweler Vardy Shtein for the affair, also will be auctioned off.

      Guests will get a chance to dance to music by the City Lights band or play games, including taking a stroll down a giant Monopoly board.

      Among the major sponsors of the event are Apple Computer, Tandem Computers, Hewlett-Packard Co. and the McKenna Family Foundation, each of which donated $10,000.

      Some of the other notable contributors were Applied Materials; BFGC Architects/Planners; Consulting Group of Smith Barney; Cupertino National Bank; Kaiser Cement; Kitchel CEM; McWhorters; National Semiconductor; the Sobrato Family Foundation; Advance Soil Technology, Inc; Byer Properties; United Administrative Services; James R. White and EQ Financial.

      For more information about the event--or to buy tickets--contact Leslie Hay at 973-8828.

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      This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 7, 1997.
      ©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.