Rick’s Café Américain: A Casablanca Fantasy
Photo credit: Drew Altizer Photography
It’s 1941, two years into WWII, and it has been nearly a year since Nazi Germany invaded Paris. Many who could have fled to Casablanca, Morocco to escape and are trying their luck at finding an exit visa to the USA, where the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii was just days away, ultimately antagonizing the United States to join the war. Not exactly an ideal opening prologue for a romantic story, but hear me out.
I was amid planning my big annual birthday bash, going back and forth on a theme. I have been wanting to do a retro-futuristic space theme (think Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon meets The Jetsons) for the last three years. Imagine transforming Neiman Marcus’ fifth floor into a spaceship orbiting the fictional “Planet X,” complete with a swashbuckling fight between our hero and the evil space villains attempting to infiltrate the ship. I even found a cool, life-size robot with face recognition that can remember guests’ names and drink orders, can even
engage guests with witty remarks, and which has an uncanny resemblance to Rosie the Robotmfrom The Jetsons. However, the scope of the theme’s logistics and its complications would take longer than the timeframe I had to deliver, so “Planet X” was off the list for now.
Now the big event was narrowed down to two themes: “Siam Palace,” a chic, Thai-inspired luncheon complete with a glamourous garden gate inspired by the ornate architecture of Bangkok’s Grand Palace and Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple) to welcome partygoers into the space, and a reboot of my 2017 “Purely Paradise island-themed event I’d call “Return to Paradise,” one of my most requested parties to recreate—both fabulous ideas I had the hardest time choosing between.
And now for the kicker: If the madness of narrowing down and selecting the subject matter of my annual event weren’t difficult enough, Ed excitedly announced that he wanted to go on a trip for the holidays to a destination of my choosing. But there’s more… after over 20 years together, Ed decided that he wanted us to get married before we left! So now, the annual event went from a birthday bash to a romantic wedding reception. However, due to time constraints, ultimately, we had to wait until we returned from our holiday trip to Vienna and Prague to wed.
But alas, I’m off the market! Ed and I were married on February 4, 2025, officiated by San Francisco’s beloved former mayor and my longtime friend, Willie L. Brown Jr., in an intimate ceremony in the window overlooking Union Square at Neiman Marcus’ The Rotunda restaurant with our witnesses, Sonya Molodetskaya, Victor Makras, and Ed’s best pal and attorney, Michael Mazzocone, who both signed the marriage license and joined us for a chic lunch afterward.
It was time to get back to planning, but I was still in a toss-up between an island paradise or a Thai-inspired theme, and for the life of me, I just could not choose between them. With less than two months to go, I had to decide—and quickly!
On one night at home and after Ed retired for the evening, I grabbed a snack and scrolled through AppleTV to nestle in and find a movie to relax to when I saw Casablanca (Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc, 1942, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman).
It had been years since I saw it last, so with nostalgia in my heart, I pressed play and sat back. I was so enthralled by the characters and the storyline’s relevance, and the Art-Deco Moroccan architecture used in the film, that I watched it twice back-to-back! I immediately knew that I had to host a party inspired by the romantic aesthetic of the film.
So now with three themes in mind, I turned to Neiman Marcus’ Rotunda restaurant manager, Katrina Parlato, for her thoughts. Unfortunately, Katrina found herself just as stumped on the theme as I but loved the romantic possibilities of the Casablanca theme. Desperate, and with two months to go until the event date, I said to Katrina, “Let’s ask (chef) Erik what his favorite cuisine out of the three is, and we’ll go with it!” Katrina turned, marched into the kitchen, and came back a minute later:
“Without hesitation, Erik said Moroccan!” And our theme was on!
With time of the essence, I quickly contacted one of the event prop builders I follow on social media and someone I have wanted to work with for some time to order what would be the foundation of the romantic soirée’s feel. And luckily, I was able to quickly find other Casablanca-inspired props, including palm trees and a prefabricated Arabic arch that my friend Elle Longaway painted black (Elle is also the organizational goddess who keeps my party storage facility tidy).
With everything ordered, the menu planned, and a date set, it was time to create the magic!
Guests made their glamorous entrances and snapped photos down the 40-foot red carpet along a 34-foot wall of ornate white and gold Moroccan arches that I had custom-made by Ihor Romaniuk of RIAS WoodModern (Instagram: @backdrops_event_props) to emulate the décor found in the Rick’s Café movie set from Casablanca.
As guests made it to the end of the red carpet, they entered through a black Arabian ogee archway (the one Elle painted), capped with a reproduction of the iconic “Rick’s Café Américain” neon sign from the film, where they were greeted to succulent Moroccan spiced lamb “lollipops,” duck confit-filled pastillas, and other
passed hors d’oeuvres, along with an opulent caviar bar featuring caviar from our friend Petra Highby’s The Caviar Co
Guests enjoyed an hour-long cocktail reception with a full bar underneath a 10-foot white lattice Moroccan arch (that Ihor of RIAS WoodModern also custom-built), featuring specially curated libations inspired by the movie, including the Casablanca, a concoction of Demerara gum syrup, angostura and orange bitters; Morocco’s famed spirit, Mahia (“water of life”), a potent, 80-proof fig and anise spirit (often compared to grappa) made by the Jewish settlers of Morocco; the French 75, the cocktail Rick ordered when his ex-girlfriend, Yvonne, showed uto his supper club with her new Nazi officer boyfriend as an over-the-head nudge to the Nazis (the French 75 cocktail was named after the French 75mm field guns used in WWII to kill the Germans); and the Sour Jdid, a refreshing spritzer of scotch, sweet vermouth, citrus, and seltzer, the official drink of the actual Rick’s Café in Casablanca, Morocco, named for its address at Place du Jardin, 248 Bd Jdid, Casablanca, Morocco.
Lunch was served! Guests made their way to their seats where they were welcomed to custom round ivory silk cushions with their names beaded in gold by Shikha of NeaFabrics/French Décor, Paris, France (neafabrics.com) to add comfort for the duration of the soirée and to serve as a chic memento of the auspicious occasion. Shikha also custom-made the elegant silk and gold embroidered tablecloths, adding another level of glamour to the dining tables. Revelers dined under a towering canopy of stunning, jewel-toned florals presented in tall brass pedestal urns created by farmer and florist Bonnie Lumis. Though, there wasn’t a flower in sight in the film, it isn’t a party without them, right? The tables were set with sterling silver service ware and gold-rimmed bone china and crystal glassware to mimic and maximize the glamour of the 1940s.
Neiman Marcus’ The Rotunda restaurant’s executive chef, Erik Harrelson, curated the Moroccan menu, beginning with a classic Moroccan tomato, cucumber, and feta salad followed by dishes served family-style in the traditional Moroccan way. Guests dined on savory kefta tagine (mkaouara), spiced meatballs in tomato and red pepper sauce served in individual brass-handled au gratin pans (scroll down this page for Chef Erik’s kefta mkaouara recipe), along with roasted carrots with cumin, harissa-spiced haricot verts, and almond and apricot couscous with adorable mini pita breads displayed in elegant sterling silver bread baskets on the table for soaking up the chef’s delicious mkaouara sauce.
Fitting to the occasion and to add to the ambiance, guests were amused by Casablanca being projected on the silver screen on a recreated gold bunting valance-draped theater against the far wall of the dining room while audio excerpts of the film and popular music of early 1940s (contemporaneous of the years the movie took place) played in the background, adding to the theme.
For a delightfully sweet ending, cake designer extraordinaire Jamie Li of Cake by Jamie Li (cakebyjamieli.com) created a stunning Art-Deco, arabesque revival masterpiece inspired by the architecture found in Casablanca’s Rick’s Café Américain and the white and gold Moroccan ogee arches that defined the event’s décor, taking great care in her eye for detail with intricate hand-done pastillage embellishments. The host and Jamie offered two tantalizing flavors for guests’
enjoyment: a chocolate sponge with toffee crunch mocha buttercream (because, who doesn’t like chocolate?) and, as an homage to Humphrey Bogart, Jamie’s take on his favorite cake, Mama Agata’s Famous Lemon Cake, a rich, lemony sponge topped with confectioner’s sugar which Bogart enjoyed for breakfast during his annual summer holidays to the Amalfi Coast.
Jamie Li’s rendition of zesty lemon sponge filled with raspberry coulis and white chocolate buttercream took the famous Italian classic to the next level.
Guests continued partying throughout the afternoon, sipping on libations and indulging themselves with the endless caviar bar.
Some of the afternoon’s 72 notable guests included an introduction from host Aubrey to Neiman Marcus San Francisco’s new vice president/market manager, the fabulous Anna Chung, who wears two hats as the head of SF Union Square’s two most iconic luxury retailers, both NM and as the general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue SF: former SF mayors Willie L. Brown Jr. and London Breed; former mayor of Walnut Creek Bill Armstrong; philanthropist and former honorary Swedish consul Barbro Sachs-Osher and her husband, retired American businessman, and philanthropist Bernard Osher; partner at Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty, owner of Haute Living, San Francisco Magazine, and philanthropist Olivia Hsu Decker; Union Square Alliance President Marisa Rodriguez and her husband, vice president/wealth manager at Morgan Stanley Sean Peak; socialites Heide Betz, Clara Shayevich, Tracy Chen and husband Tom Schoenherr, Daru Kawalkowski, and Mary Beth Shimmon and husband David Shimmon; author Jennifer Walske and her husband Steve Walske; and couture designer Vasily Vein and his husband Alex Axel, to name a few.
HAUTE RECIPE
Chef Erik Harrelson’s Kefta Mkaouara (Tagine)
(Moroccan Meatballs in Spiced Tomato Sauce)
I’m delighted for executive chef Erik Harrelson of Neiman Marcus’ The Rotunda Restaurant to share his take on this Moroccan classic.
Erik served this dish at Aubrey Brewster’s “Rick’s Café Américain: A Casablanca Fantasy,” leaving guests asking for seconds. (I sure did!) It’s delicious over plain buttered couscous or over your favorite couscous preparation. (Chef Erik added toasted almond slivers and diced dried Turkish apricots to his). Or roll them smaller, add cocktail picks, and serve them hot from a chafing dish for guests to hover over, or stuff them in mini pita pockets with a dollop of tzatziki sauce and pass them around at your next summer soirée!
Kefta (meatballs)
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef, preferably ground chuck roast
2/3 cup grated onion
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1¼ teaspoons fresh mint, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
¾ cup plain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Prepare Kefta:
- In a large bowl, except for the olive oil, combine all the above ingredients, mixing well with your clean hands.
- Form 24 small meatballs (approximately 1½ ounce each) and set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and half the meatballs (12).
- Sear the meatballs, browning on all sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the other half of the meatballs, adding another teaspoon or two of olive oil, if necessary.
- Drain some of the fat from the pan, leaving the fond or brown bits, and set the pan aside for use in making the tomato sauce.
Tomato Sauce (Mkaouara)
Ingredients:
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon carraway seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 mild chili pepper, such as poblano
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Prepare Tomato Sauce:
- In a food processor or blender, purée the garlic, spices, and mild chili pepper into a paste, occasionally turning off the machine to scrape down the sides.
- Heat the pan used for the meatballs to medium-high heat (the brown bits or fond left at the bottom of the pan from the meatballs will add flavor to the sauce) and cook the chili-spice mixture for 2-3 minutes to concentrate the flavors.
- Add the water and tomato paste and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
- Add the lemon juice, sugar, and cook for another minute, check taste for salt and pepper, adding more if necessary.
- Return the meatballs to the pan and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over couscous.