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The Grand RE-Opening of Quark’s Qantina
March 20, 2010
************************

Images from the party have now been uploaded!
I am still tweaking the commentary so
PLEASE REFRESH OFTEN to pick up the latest version.

THE INVITATION
As usual, costumes were REQUIRED!




The idea behind the party is that when Star Trek The Experience in Las Vegas closed its doors (in September 2009) Quark entered into an arrangement with the Wookie Chalmun (of Chalmun’s Cantina in the city of Mos Eisley on Tatoine (of Star Wars fame)) to open a new establishment. It is called Quark’s Qantina and is located on the Healy Space Station.

Our goal as proprietors is to create a science-fiction themed gathering place where creatures from ALL galaxies, star systems, planets, and fantasies can imagine, for one night, that they are in a bar on a far-away space station. As such we do not feel bound to recreate exactly what was seen on screen. Rather, we incorporate, as much as possible, the props ( found objects ), lingo, and relationships as is practical given the limitations of our budget and 21th-century home.

The Qantina opened for the first time in February of 2009 and was such a success it will now be a yearly event! This year, re-opening day was Saturday, March 20, 2010. We expected 28 guests and 27 showed up!

Press here to see last year’s pictures.


QUARK’s QANTINA as it looked from the street



Yes, it was snowing! The weather had been in the mid 60’s all week but that day it was cold and snowed until after midnight. It didn’t stick, fortunately, and the roads were OK. The cold weather was nice for those of us in heavy costumes as we could nip outside to cool down if it got too warm inside, which it did, even though I had the heat turned off.


WELCOME TO QUARK’s QANTINA 2010


The welcome sign was created using the original Quark’s graphic but in ‘our’ colors.


These door signs, the menus, and some of the bottle labels were created by
John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio
aka Unkle Kahn of The Empire,
a VERY talented professional graphic artist
who also happens to be a powerful Klingon,
a Vice Chancellor of The Empire, and Line Lord of House Klag.

I will be working with Unkle Khan (John Harrington) and his associates at The Empire
to document all we know on the barware, tableware, and beverages used in the series.



THE INTERIOR DECOR
The entire ground floor was illuminated with hundreds of small colored lights.

Some of the shots are a bit blurry because the only way I could capture
the ‘feel’ of the lighting was to turn off the flash.


The FOYER:


The GAMING ROOM:






The TEN FORWARD Lounge:



DICE game in Ten Forward:


The MESS HALL:





THE DABO TABLE
Our FUNCTIONING DABO TABLE, built specifically for this event.

The Dabo Table and lighting were entirely KC’s responsibility
and I must say I was blown away by what he accomplished.

The DABO TABLE:


Please check back later for pictures of the Dabo Table in progress

The CARDS and LATINUM:


The cards were custom made for us with our logo on the back and custom colors on the faces:


The latinum was made by scanning in some ‘real’ latinum and then printing it on
business card stock. I was going to print it on regular paper, laminate it, and then
cut each piece out individually but Number One made me see the folly in that. If
I had not listened to her we would not have had enough latinum to play the game.

Each guest who wanted to play was given 5 pieces of latinum with which to start.
Here is a shot of the real bar of latinum from which ours was “cast”.
Next year, we will be providing latinum in multiple denominations.


The WHEEL:



The PLAYING FIELD:



The rules for the game were devised by KC and Kevin, our neighbor.
Please check back later to see the rules.
Please check back later to see the odds.


The highly-competent semi-Andorian table operator:


The CROWDS:


The ACTION:





The Dabo Table was so popular that there were not enough spaces for all the people who wanted to play. So, next year, we will be changing the rules slightly, requiring all players to move one space to their right after every spin. This will force each player to cycle off after 6 spins and enable a new player to join giving everyone an equal chance to participate.

A few shots of the décor taken WITH a flash
so you can see the ‘magic behind the scenes’:

Deanna Troi in the gaming room:


The Dabo Table



The Ten Forward Lounge



The Security Detail at the top of the stairs in the foyer:


A (mostly) new crowd around the Dabo Table



THE BAR
Our kitchen cabinets were covered with silver lame
expertly custom made for us by our Number 1, Starfleet officer Emilia.

Shelves in the window well held all the glasses.
Shelving, built by KC, on the island held the bottles.
KC, dressed as a three-breasted dabo girl, was the bartender!

The BAR:



Please check back later for info on the silver panels.

The GLASSES:


The BOTTLES

Most of the bottle labels I made using graphics I found on Memory-Alpha
Because all the names were in alien text,
each bottle had a label around its neck with the
alien name, written in English, and the terran translation.
For instance: Langour (Pinky Vodka).



The really UNIQUE labels, like the one on the Grand Nagus Spider Wine
in the center of the bottom row in the picture below, and the Eel gin label
on the dark red bottle three to the right of the Spider Wine, were made by
John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio
aka Unkle Kahn of The Empire,
a VERY talented professional graphic artist
who also happens to be a powerful Klingon,
a Vice Chancellor of The Empire, and Line Lord of House Klag.





Underneath those white panels with the holes in them
there were supposed to be lights shining UP through the bottles
but they generated so much heat, even with the holes to ventilate them,
that we had to turn them off.



Unkle Khan (John Harrington) was EXTREMEMLY helpful with all the graphics we used. For the canon bottles, on the top shelf in the picture below under the Quark’s scrolling LED sign, he had labels printed on waterproof vinyl and will be working with me over the next year to produce all our bottles labels in that material so that we don’t have to re-apply them every year. The glossy material I used will run if it gets wet and the labels are really had to remove so replacing them is unpleasant.

On the top shelf, some of some of our CANON FOUND OBJECT bottles,
on the lower shelves, the SYRUPS, EXTRACT, and BITTERS,
on the bottom shelf the ice buckets (snail shells, bajoran orbs, bioluminescent cubes):


The juices were served from FOUND OBJECT thermoses:


Please check back later for info on bottles.

The 3-BREASTED DABO GIRL cum BARTENDER:


The RECIPE CARDS
each mixed drink was printed on its own card
with both the alcoholic and alco-null recipes
and a picture of the glass to be used:


ORDERING DRINKS:






Some of THE DRINKS

Each drink was served in a unique glass
many of which were either FOUND OBJECTS
or very similar to those used on the show.
MOST of the mixed drinks were available in an ALCO_NULL version.

Please check back later for info on glasses.

Healy’s Comet:


Before it’s ignited:


Rocket Fuel served with chuch (dry ice).
Any drink we served with chuch required a special straw
with a mesh end which prevented the ice from being ingested:


Klingon Warrior’s Martini:


Hallelujah Mountain Swirl:


Gallia Nectar Nog:


Risan Maitai with chuch (dry ice)
(some drinks were available with either terran ice or chuch):


Wadi Winning Wager (with dice pick):


Langour Lillet:


Bajoran Fire Cave Margarita:


Cool Blueblood Martini:


Gamzian Wine, green:


Rekarri Starburst:


Takarian Mead:


Slug-o-cola with chuch (dry ice)
(some drinks were available with either terran ice or chuch):


Mountain Banshee
(with an origami straw made to look like an ikran):
Please check back later for link to eBayer who made them.


Picard Cocktail
(with a pick that looks like a ComBadge):


A drink for next year suggested by q’IDar, the Ferengi Brain:





THE DRINK MENUS



The mixed drinks were divided into 2 categories, Alcoholic and Alco-Null

Each of those was further divided into Classics and Alpha-Flyers

The “Classics” were those which would taste familiar to a Terran
The “Alpha-Flyers” were those made with more unusual ingredients.

The menus were created by
John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio
aka Unkle Kahn of The Empire,
a VERY talented professional graphic artist
who also happens to be a powerful Klingon,
a Vice Chancellor of The Empire, and Line Lord of House Klag.



QUARK’S CLASSIC COCKTAILS

These are made with ingredients that most Terrans would recognize

Some of them are classic cocktails, like the Gallia Nectar Nog (a golden cadillac),
but many were mixtures we devised ourselves by taking recipes we found on the
internet and adjusting them so that they tasted good and looked appetizing.

One requirement (for me) was that the drink LOOKED like the one served on the show.

In many cases, the cocktails were devised to use as an ingredient
the beverage served on the show, rather than the beverage itself.

For instance, the Langour Lillet is made using Langour, a rose-scented
vodka which could be served straight but is more interesting mixed.


ALPHA-FLYERS COCKTAILS

These are made with ingredients that most Terrans would NOT recognize,
like peanut rum, saffron gin, milk vodka, and kiwi tequila.

Most of the alcohol used in the Alpha Flyers had
to be imported as I was unable to find it locally.

The recipes were created by taking a classic cocktail and changing
the main ingredient to the unusual one we wished to serve.
For instance, the Falah Nectar Martini is a bacon martini
made with Bakon vodka, rather than an unflavored spirit.


ALCO-NULL QUARK’S CLASSICS

NON-ALCOHOLIC concoctions made with ingredients that most Terrans would recognize

These were the hardest recipes to create as most of them were too sweet.

The solution was to use flavoring extracts (imported, again), instead of syrups,
to flavor the juices we used as the base.


ALCO-NULL ALPHA-FLYERS

NON-ALCOHOLIC concoctions made with ingredients that most Terrans would NOT recognize,
like lavender syrup, bacon extract, cucumber juice, and lychee-wasabi water.

Many of the ingredients for these drinks had to be custom made,
like the alco-null Vulcan port and the beet juice.


THE STRAIGHT-UP DRINK MENU: ROCKET FUELS

These are all the non-mixed drinks we served: beers, wines, sodas, water, and juice.
We had waaay too many Rocket Fuels this year:
8 wines, 5 beers, 19 (!) sodas, 9 juices, and 2 waters
so next year we will be eliminating many of them.

Many of these were imported as well.
(When I say ‘imported’ I mean shipped in from other quadrants,
like CA and NY, because there is no distributor in our quadrant, IL.)


THE FOOD MENU: VICTUALS






THE VICTUALS (FOOD)


Our goal was to duplicate the appearance of the comestibles on the show – which were not meant to be enjoyed and could be created from unappetizing ingredients like real worms, Karo syrup, and Jello – with things that taste good to humans. The names of the dishes also had to jibe with the canon descriptions. For instance, we couldn’t call lemon-habanero mayonnaise “Cherel Sauce” because that is normally served with fruit; and the Osol Twist had to be lemon-based, not chocolate, because it is described as “very tart”.

Most of the menu did not change this year because it is not that easy to find unusual looking things that taste good. We did replace the Pipius Claw Salad with Pipius Claw Gumbo because the salad wasn’t consumed last year, and we served Bajoran Ratamba Stew (made with veal) instead of the Andorian Redbat Casserole because last year’s menu was too heavy on pork-based dishes. For that reason we used beef in the Gagh instead of pork and, personally, I like the pork version better so we will revert to that next year.

Please check back later for info on the food.
I will NOT be posting the recipes online but I am willing to email them to anyone who asks.


The Owon Eggs were provided by Keiko
The Ygrish Cream Pie was provided by Princess Amidala
The Hasperat was prepared by Starfleet Officer Roberta
The Capellan Flower Crostini were prepared by Starfleet Officer Linda, and Queen Debi
The Gagh was prepared by our three-breasted Dabo Girl.
Everything else was made or procured by me, a’Noi N’gurl, aka Quark’s Barb.

We were unable to serve four things on the menu:
the vak clover puree, the pickled regova eggs, and the tube grub salad
because two of our supply ships were hijacked and the ingredients never arrived;
and the taspar eggs because we were unable to locate the
implement we need to saw open their very hard shells.

Screen-used Ferengi Dome used as the centerpiece
(at this time of year the selection of weird fruits and vegetables was very limited
so the table décor is much less interesting than it was last year):


Food ID cards with alien names and terran translations:


Quadrotriticale Bread and Brill Cheese
(brioche and boursin)
Served on FOUND OBJECT from the film I Robot:


Capellan Flower Crostini
(hibiscus flowers and brie on French bread)


Klingon Gagh with dirt attached
(radiccio noodles with beef and chili-orange sauce)
served in FOUND OBJECT bowl in which it was served on the series


Owon Eggs with Grapok Sauce
(preserved duck eggs with sesame-soy sauce)


Sisko’s Pipius Claw Gumbo
(chicken and andouille gumbo from Heaven On Seven)


Hasperat
(spicy roasted red pepper and arugula roll-ups)


Wentlian Condor Snake
(Chinese long beans in aleppo pepper and tomato sauce)


Stuffed Calbreean Lungs
(mushroom pierogi)
served in screen-used platter from ENT


Rattlesnake nipples and Risan Beans
(black rice and tarbais beans in caramelized onion and herb sauce)


Bajoran Ratamba Stew
(veal meatballs in a mushroom and asparagus cream sauce)
served with FOUND OBJECT spoon from Neelix’s kitchen on VOY


Palmarian Tartok Salad with Humat Pod Dressing
(arugula in a lemon-fennel-garlic-caper dressing)


Klingon Throat Stew
(coddled pork shoulder)
served in FOUND OBJECT from Neelix’s kitchen on Voyager


Cardassian Tojal with Fettran and Yamok sauces
(cold shrimp with lemon-habanero mayo and classic red sauce)


Terran Sliders
(for those terrans who can’t eat alien food)


Desserts from left to right:
sugar-free Delavian Chocolates (Frango mints)
gluten and dairy free Kefarian apple tart (apple pie)
Delavian Chocolates (Vosges exotic truffles)
Osol Twist (lemon squares)
Circassian Figs (figs stuffed with almonds)
Ygrish Cream Pie (cheesecake)
Boolian Balls (oreo balls with blue coating)
Jumja Sticks (chocolate lollipops)
Kobayashi Maru cake (chocolate mousse cake which had an accident on its way into the house)


THE GUESTS

The HOSTS
Klingon a’Noi N’gurl (Starfleet Ensign, Crew Services Officer assigned to the USS Black Hawk )
and her shape-shifter husband who, this year, morphed into a 3-breasted Dabo Girl


KC MADE his costume, hand-painting it one color at a time:




Our “Number One” and her husband, Admiral Forrest:


Starfleet officers Dave and Roberta
helped immensely with our set-up activities on Saturday:


Toq la'Hom, pItS puqloD and his mate Deanna Troi
(many of the images on this page were taken by Toq):


q'IDar ro'bergh zantai-Qoltar
and Toq la'Hom, pItS puqloD
q’IDar, a master seamstress , made her costume, Toq’s, AND MINE!
Both are members of The Empire, q’IDar as their quartermaster and Toq as their counselor at large.


q'IDar ro'bergh zantai-Qoltar
Her outfit is really magnificent and she is formidable in it:


Toq, ready to attack!
To protect yourself, Toq advises you say the following
”HIHoHQo'” which means, “Don’t kill me!” in Klingon.
Toq’s outfit is also superb and his attitude is menacing;
we were lucky he is well mannered and does not anger easily:


Klingon Boots:


A Duberite and Morticia Addams:


Our Andorian Dabo Table operator, Kevin,
his wife, Queen Debi, in a screen-used dress from VOY Alter Ego character Marayna
and their daughter, princess Peyton
(Queen Debi and Princess Peyton helped us prepare both on Friday and on Saturday):


Another picture of Queen Debi, with a’Noi N’gurl:


Starfleet officers Linda and Keiko playing Dabo:


Princess Amidala
(she made her costume, sewing it BY HAND as she doesn’t have a machine!):


Dr. Who, who really is a renowned physicist,
(Dr. Who is married to Princess Amidala and she knit his scarf, by hand):


Starfleet officer Gary and Deanna:


Our KP Corps, Starfleet officers Ari and Dani
KC says their help was invaluable!


Alien Leah, Starfleet officers Ari, Linda, and Dani


Starfleet officer Marla, Starfleet Marine COO Lieutenant Colonel William Hof, Dr. Who:


Starfleet Marine COO Lieutenant Colonel William Hof from the USS Black Hawk :


Former Queen of Uranus and Starfleet officer Gerhard:



DS9 Starfleet officers Keiko and O’Brien:


Vulgi Ragance (you can call him Rance), loosing at Dabo
Here verbatim is Rance’s description of his character:
”I came as a Vulgi,
the bastard son of Waston the Wise (but not so discrete), a Vulcan
and Uvila Obverse, a Ferengi.”
An oenophile, Ragance managed our wine service:


Starfleet officers Gary and his wife Marla, a Trill:


Starfleet officer Marla and Deanna:




PRIZES!
At 20:00:00 hours we gave out prizes to those people who had the most latinum.


We were SUPPOSED to give out a prize for best costume
but I totally forgot to do it!

We were also SUPPOSED to give out latinum
whenever someone ordered a cocktail for the first time
but we couldn’t think of a way to manage it this year.

For next year, we have a plan for that, but this year,
the prizes went to those people who were lucky at Dabo.

The WINNERS!
Grand Prize winner Marla is in the center,
the other winners surround her:




The ‘THANK YOU FOR COMING’ sign
on the inside of the front door!

Once again, the door signs, the menus, and some of the bottle labels were created by
John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio
aka Unkle Kahn of The Empire,
a VERY talented professional graphic artist
who also happens to be a powerful Klingon,
a Vice Chancellor of The Empire, and Line Lord of House Klag.



Please check back later for details on the preparations.


If you are interested in attending next year,
we are tentatively targeting March 12, 2011 as the re-opening date.


KUDOS to all the people who helped us:

Our Number One, EM

For the second year in a row, my BFF Em, our NUMBER ONE, came through in spades! She pretty much moved in with us for the week before the party and took over all the things I was floundering with IN ADDITION TO MAKING THE SILVER PANELS FOR THE KITCHEN CABINETS! She loaned me her printer, which did a MUCH better job than mine with the colors I needed; she made the blue cover for the island in the kitchen; she figured out a better way to produce our latinum and then did it for me; she made a special trip out here to fix the printer when it ‘stopped working’ and all Quark’s label production ceased; she made and laminated all the cocktail recipe cards and printed the food ID cards pretty much as our guests were walking in the door. And, 20 minutes before the party started, she sent me up to my room to get dressed and managed to get the ground floor party-ready while I was gone. She is not only the best friend I’ve ever had but the best friend anyone could ever wish for and we could not have had this party without her help. She is truly a NUMBER ONE!

Honorable Mention: Em’s husband, who was a Quark’s widower for that week, and helped us himself by driving all over creation both to bring Em to our house and to pick up things we needed.

Our neighbors, DEBI and KEVIN

Debi and Kevin did so many small things that I almost forgot to mention them! But, as I was putting all the party stuff away, I kept thinking, “Deb made the tea and heated the apple cider in these” or, “Deb made the caramelized bacon in this” or, “We used their oven to heat the stew and the gumbo” etc…etc…etc… They’re so unobtrusive and so willing to pitch in that you don’t feel like you’re taking advantage of them even though you really are!

In addition to the above mentioned tasks, Kevin helped KC create the rules and the odds for the Dabo game and then ran the table the entire time it was “open”; on Friday, Deb came over and set up all the cardboard stand-ups then cleaned up the mess in our basement; Deb and Peyton made countless trips up and down the stairs hauling the serving dishes from the basement to the dining room and then helped arrange the food on the table, they also helped get the house ready while I was upstairs getting dressed (I’m not sure who did what at that time but I know Deb was there); Kevin picked up the gumbo and the sliders and then carried all the hot pots over from their house, and Em used their stove to cook the pierogi.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, they came over the next day to help us clean up. We were too tired to clean so we opened a bottle of wine and they helped us determine what we needed to change for next year to make it even better. (Wait till you see what we have planned!)

We could not have had this party without their help, either. I’m not sure technically who is next in line for command after Number One but they are it in our book! THANK YOU BOTH, you are truly wonderful people.

John Harrington, our graphic artist


John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio, aka Unkle Khan, who I met through The Empire, , a Klingon forum I joined last year looking for help with my costume, provided invaluable assistance with many of the graphics. He designed the “Quark’s Qantina” logo used in the signs on the doors, on the menus, and on many of the bottle necks.

When I expressed an interest in creating a large sign for the front door, not only did he design and have it printed on re-usable vinyl, he also designed one for the inside of the door (pictured at the end of the page) which is PRICELESS. In a million years I would never have come up with something so appropriate.

He is able to print and die-cut labels but, although I wanted to have all the bottle labels produced that way, there just wasn’t time so we decided to do the cannon labels this year and leave the rest for next.

He designed some INCREDIBLE labels for our individual bottles (the beers, sodas, and waters) but the blank labels I had purchased to print them on (cheaper than vinyl and more appropriate for things that would be thrown out) were not compatible with the Avery labels they were supposed to be identical to and I did not have time to use the company’s tedious proprietary software to print them out. So, this year, the individual bottles had their original labels on them but, next year, EVERY bottle we serve will have a Cedar Street alien label!

In addition to all that, he designed our menus and made last minute changes to the content pretty much as he was walking out the door to another engagement. He worked with me, patiently, as I wrestled with the inaccurate colors produced by my printer (until Number One lent me her printer, which worked much better than mine) and even explained why I was having so much trouble reproducing what I saw on my computer screen.

Thank you, John, for EVERYTHING you did. You made a HUGE DIFFERENCE in how things looked this year! And, you eliminated some of the stress I was under. If I had been responsible for the menus in addition to all the other things I was trying to do, we would not have had menus….

Thank you, LEAH, for cutting and marking the latinum, assembling the books with the drink recipes, making the Klingon battle notch picks, and helping Em tape the cover on the island.


Thank you, MARLA, for taking most of these pictures and capturing almost everything I needed her to!


Thank you, TOQ, for taking photos of everything Marla missed!


Thank you to all our drink tasters for helping us work out the recipes:
Debi and Kevin
Em and Forrest
Linda


Thank you to DAVE and ROBERTA who came over early and provided an extra 2 pair of hands. Roberta printed out all the menus, cleaned up the mess in the dining room and kitchen, and made the hasperat. Dave set out the garnishes and labeled the bowls they were in, and helped Em prep the bar area.


Thank you to LINDA, who provided our KP crew (her kids) and a third pair of hands. Linda also helped haul serving dishes up from the basement, helped Em prep the bar area and helped Debi make the crostini. (Linda will be running our Tongo table next year).


Next year, I think I will have a little pad set out where people can write down what they did so I don’t leave it out of the blog! I’m sure I have forgotten someone so please let me know if I did!


My Husband, KC

It might seem weird that I am mentioning my husband here but this event is really my obsession not his. I’m the one who conceived the idea, collected all the things we needed and did the research necessary to ‘pull it off’. I hoped he would help but would have done it without him if I had to.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to! He came up with some of the best parts of the event – the lights, the shelving in the kitchen, and the Dabo Table -- and took care of those aspects with almost no input from me. Every one of the things he did added IMMEASURABLY to the ambience and effectiveness of the party. Many of our guests said they didn’t think we could top last year’s party but KC’s contributions managed to do just that! (Wait till you see what he has planned for next year…)

I also have to mention his sense of humor: when I was upset over the fact that the perfect mousse cake I had purchased for dessert was upended on its way from the car into the house, he made me laugh by calling it a Kobayashi Maru cake and convinced me to serve it anyway.

I am truly the luckiest woman in the world….

Oh, I also need to mention the members of Alex Peter’s forum, StarTrek Invisionzone , who provided pictures of shuttles and Dabo Tables when we were in the design phases. They have helped me since day one in my quest for found objects and sold me many of my screen-used ones (like the Ferengi Dome and the dress Queen Debi wore). Thank you – you guys are wonderful!

Press here to see last year’s pictures.
Press here to return to personal picture menu.


Note to self: Do not use ResQ tape to attach signs, it doesn’t come off!

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Last Revised: April 13, 2010
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