Behind the Scenes at Elton John's Oscar Party

Elias partners with a celebrity chef every year, and this year it’s Iron Chef Cat Cora — and as a lesbian, she’s “family,” he adds. Elias has created the menus for the pre-dinner cocktail hour and post-party reception, and Cora, with his guidance, the five-course dinner menu. “She’s very easy to work with,” he says.

The cocktail reception will feature Elias’s signature grilled cheese sandwich, which instead of your mother’s American singles on Wonder is Gorgonzola and mascarpone with pears on raisin bread, along with other tempting morsels. The dinner entrée will be a choice of Basque-rubbed tenderloin of beef or pan-sautéed sea bass with lemon couscous, and Cora has come up with delicious appetizers, salads, and desserts as well. The post-party offerings will be one buffet of sweets, including miniature red velvet cupcakes and heart-shaped cookies, and one of savory “comfort food” treats, such as hamburgers, steak fries, and onion rings.

The party is at a new venue this year, West Hollywood Park, across from its former home, the Pacific Design Center. “That is going to be so fantastic,” Elias says. “It’s so much larger.” It allows for accommodation of a substantially bigger guest list; the expected attendance is 200 more than last year’s.