WRITER - Vancouver Lifestyles -
Rosalie Invites
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, of course.”
Even from twenty or thirty feet across the vast expanse of living room one can see that the tiny rosy painting is something special.
It is a Renoir. It is compact and simple. A smiling girl of twelve or fifteen, who knows? There is a small gold art light above it, but even without illumination, it glows. As if the room isn’t elegant enough with its antiques and oversized sofas and tables and the view of Vancouver that never quits, as if all that isn’t sufficient, the painting casts a finishing aura to the scene.
The best Georgian silver collection in Western Canada is here. So is an immense and stunning solid silver epergne, which Rosalie spotted covered in black rust in a local shop. Two of the four Caesars guard the front entrance in busts peering down from perches just below the vaulted, frescoed ceiling.
Rosalie is taking me on the guided tour of her home. The house is called Fontana, and she and her husband, Joe Segal, built it entirely for entertaining. Usually these tours are for dozens of open-mouthed visitors at a time. Usually the occasion is one of Rosalie’s famous fund-raising parties.
“I’ll only throw the party if you can guarantee that you’re going to raise at least $100,000 for your charity. Of course, we’ve had evenings that have raised $2,000,000 or more, but $100,000 is the limit. And I don’t raise a cent. That’s not my job. Joe and I host the party. The food, the drinks, the flowers, the invitations, that’s us. You give me the guest list and the seating plan and I’ll take care of everything else.”
Rosalie can seat 80 comfortably for dinner. That’s 40 couples. On a good summer night, with 550 feet of terraced gardens stretching towards Spanish Bank, 140 people can enjoy the view.
Sometimes there’s a modest bit of entertainment. Yo Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, James Galway. Yehudi Menuhin. Folks like that. David Foster was going to bring his own piano until Rosalie informed him that there was a Bosendorfer nestled beneath the curve of the grand staircase. Fair enough, but Foster sent his own tuner ahead to assure that everything was just right. “Really warm and friendly and loveable, but a perfectionist.”
“Joe came out of the army with nothing.”
Nothing became Fields, Zellers and then Kingswood Capital.
“We had barbeques for the Talmud Torah in the basement of our first house. Then we started the United Way program for individual giving at our house on Marine Drive.”
It’s all there in the 15 black leather binders on the mahogany shelves in the den, where Rosalie and Joe really share their lives. The parties, the invitations, the honours bestowed on them both - a life in philanthropy. VHG, Multiple Sclerosis, Children’s’ Help Line, Red Cross, Variety, St. John Ambulance, the original dinner for the 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, name it.
The invitations for the parties always read “in appreciation of.” The dinner is a kind of Thank You, and “people know they are never going to be hustled or pressured.”
A typical evening, Chez Rosalie?
Cocktails at 6:30. Valet parking. “You’re not allowed to tip. We’ve covered that.”
The staff take the coats. Waiters are serving the drinks. “I hate it when someone approaches me with a tray of wine. We’ve got a beautiful bar. I like a vodka martini myself. We always have premium brands on hand. We spend an hour with cocktails. Relax. Enjoy.”
The Four Seasons Hotel always does the catering. The appetizers are big. Things on skewers, mini-pizzas, something you can really eat without spoiling your meal.
The four-course dinner begins at 7:30. Winton’s does the place cards and calligraphy. “I don’t do the seating or the guest list. When you arrive, you get an envelope and your table number is inside.”
“My day starts early, 7 am. I’m putting out the chocolates and the nuts. By noon, the florist is here, Suzanne from Granville Market. We’re putting up the centrepieces for the tables, the arrangement for the entrance hall. The settings are white with gold trim. They’re our own. So is the stemware, the votive candles.”
“We might start with a salad or lox or trout on greens. The Hotel makes a terrific tomato gin soup that I love to serve. Maybe a small pasta. Then you always have a choice: lamb or beef versus a sea bass or salmon. Fresh veggies, squash with beans. Always light on sauces. The dessert might be an apple tarte tatin. But we always use a sour apple.”
After dinner, the concert might run 45 minutes. People go home then?
“Are you kidding? People stay on. There’s a tour of the house. People are sitting at the bar talking. It’s very relaxed. No formal dress. No tie.”
Rosalie’s a doll. That’s all there is to it. She’s helped raised millions for charity and she’s had a ball doing it.
When’s the next party, Rosalie? Where my invite?
