Most people don’t come to the Four Seasons for the hot dogs or the ice-cream sandwiches, but, when you’re dining for a good cause, anything goes.

The Irvington Institute of Immunological Research’s Through the Kitchen benefit Sunday night was a free-for-all of eating and fun. No wonder people clamor for the tickets, which cost $1,000 each, and call it one of their favorite parties of the year.

The event started off as any other fancy party at the Midtown power dining room designed by Philip Johnson. Guests gathered at the top of the stairs, mixing and mingling, while waiters served not-so-formal fare, including mini-hamburgers and spring rolls. Delicious!

Most parties descend into boredom after cocktails. Dinner means worse food, too many speeches, and too much time to talk about the stock market. At the Irvington Institute event, the evening got better and better.

At a certain moment, Julian Niccolini threw open the kitchen doors. Guests immediately broke out of their clusters to form a queue that slowly, slowly snaked into the center of cooking action.

Lightly stepping on the rubber mats that line the floor, guests first reckoned with a raw bar offering oysters and clams. Heaping trays of salmon and blanched asparagus were next, followed by sushi. In the middle islands were lamb chops and other carving stations, plus huge bowls of shrimp and lobster meat. And on the other side of the kitchen were stainless-steel counters lined with plates of Reuben sandwiches, ravioli, gnocchi, and, my favorite, dumplings stuffed with pears.

With full plates, guests headed to the Pool Room, where whimsically designed tables awaited them. Each year the institute chooses a new theme for the decorations. The level of creativity – and the joyful responses of guests – reminded me of what the first themed bar mitzvahs must have been like. This year, each table was decorated after a movie set in New York.

The centerpiece at “The Odd Couple” table was a 1960s typewriter. Half of the table had a black cloth, with things related to Oscar: crumbled potato chips, crumpled beer cans, a bottle of ketchup, a cigar butt, and a Mets cap. On the other half of the table was a white cloth covered with objects associated with Felix: silver candlesticks, a bouquet of flowers, sheet music from the Metropolitan Opera, a camera, and nasal spray.

“It’s a Sunday night supper. It’s not terribly lofty,” the decor designer, DeJuan Stroud, said. Other events he’s designed recently are the premiere party for “The Interpreter” and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Bunny Hop at American Girl Place.

The most raucous set was at the “Big” table. Pizza boxes were piled in the center, surrounded by milk carts and cans of Silly String.

At the “Wall Street” table, Mr. Stroud noted, the bulls were bigger than the bears.

Mayor Bloomberg sat at the “On the Town” table, where men got sailor’s caps and women got “Miss Subway” banners.

Princess Firyal of Jordan sat at the “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” table, which featured an organza overlay and tiaras for every guest (though not necessarily befitting a princess; these ones were $9.50 a dozen from Sally Party and Novelty in Colchester, Conn.). The same table had the sheet music to “Moon River,” Tiffany boxes, and items associated with Holly Golightly: long black gloves, cigarette holders, a big pair of black shades, and the black hat that she wore. One of Mr. Stroud’s favorite details: printouts of the Sally Tomato weather reports that the Audrey Hepburn character delivered on her prison visits.

Before dessert, Nazee and Joseph Moinian successfully bid $2,500 for a summer internship with advertising brainiac Donny Deutsch. Ms. Moinian said the internship is for their son Mitchell, a student at Dwight.

The dessert buffet included an ice-cream cart, but most guests waited on line for fruit tarts, creme brulee, chocolate cake, cookies, and jumbo chocolate-covered strawberries.

Lauren Veronis came up with the idea of Through the Kitchen 20 years ago and has served as chairwoman ever since, recently with the assistance of her daughter Perri Peltz. Nancy and Henry Silverman, Aerin and Eric Zinterhofer, and Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder joined as dinner chairmen. Other patrons included the institute’s chairman, Fred Frank, and his wife, Mary Tanner, and the institute’s president, John Moore, and his wife, Laura.

The event raised $400,000 for the institute, which subsidizes scientists doing cutting-edge research on the body’s defense system against disease. The institute pays out $1 million annually in grants.