After the evening's host, Whoopi Goldberg, bids the crowd good night at the conclusion of the March 24 Oscar ceremony, 1,700 of Hollywood's hottest will descend on the Governor's Ball at the rooftop ballroom of the Kodak Theater and chow down. On the menu, reports PEOPLE: surf-and-turf, from celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. "It's our most important party," Carl Schuster, president and managing partner of Wolfgang Puck Catering, tells PEOPLE. The arrangements are made with all the precision of a massive military operation, with the dishes -- from a spicy tuna tartare appetizer to the salmon and beef tenderloin entrée -- cooked fresh and served to order. (No steam tables to keep pre-cooked dishes warm.) "The way the Governor's Ball works, people come in and they've been in the show for three or four hours, and a lot of people will sit down right away and start eating," says Schuster. "A lot of others will schmooze and talk and congratulate before they eat. So at a table, we can have three people on first course, seven on entrees and three on dessert." The dinner will be served by an army of 400 waiters, another 100 bartenders and managers, and about 140 cooks and other workers in the two kitchens. The ballroom has been broken down into 20 sections, each with eight tables, 20 waiters and a manager. "That's his little restaurant," Schuster said of the manager's duties. "When the thing starts, he's got to take the ball and run with it." (Tomorrow: PEOPLE.com previews more of the Oscar night menu, from hors d'oeuvres to dessert.)