garden

Well said, considering the artfully designed food coming out of the
kitchen on black and orange lacquer trays from the San Francisco catering
company, Taste Catering & Event Planning. The company's credo
is fresh, local and sustainable — and of course, delicious. First out is a
chilled lobster with creamy mozzarella-like burrata cheese (a current darling
of the Bay Area food scene) and tomatoes from Baia Nicchia Farms.
Dalbok explains how his relationship with Taste goes back 30 years,
when he first moved to the Bay Area and worked with Taste founder
Timothy Maxson as an event designer. "I wanted to get creative with the
food display, and 1 knew that Taste would be ready to play."
As the party gets into its groove, guests settle into a low modular
sofa where they rest glasses and plates on the ceramic-top table. Says
Dalbok: "I wanted unique and edgy furniture that would reflect the
look of the property and the garden — and be comfortable. The choices
reinforce the color story in the garden: There's a lot of orange. And
elements like the teak in the arms of the chaise longue carry over to
the teak dining table."
Upstage from the dining table — reserved for the evening's final act,
dessert — is the other major design component. The slope directly off
the back of the terrace combines herbaceous perennials and droughttolerant
plants like the agaves and aloes. "That curvilicious bed acts as
a counterpoint to the straight-line design of the patio," Dalbok says,
attributing its shape to the ethos of Brazilian landscape-design legend
Roberto Burle Marx.
When reviewing his plant palette, Dalbok explains that he didn't want
to stick to one look from one region. "I wanted it to be diverse and to
Left: The giant mirror hung on
the fence tricks the eye into
thinking there's an entry into
another garden room. Above:
The works of Bay Area artists
Marcia Donahue and Edith
Heath accent the garden's
colors and shapes. The Heath
mural was purchased by the
owner for this garden before
she'd even found the house.
Donahue's Burmese Temple
Offering Bamboo is made of
high-fired ceramic pieces handstacked
on rebar. Opposite: Dalbok
attributes this "curvilicious
border" to his design inspiration,
luminary Roberto Burle Marx.