“Everyone is swilling non-alcoholic elixirs named “LOVE CONQUERS ALL” from Waris Ahluwalia’s House of Waris Botanicals and there is caviar while I take Ukrainian vodka shots from an enormous bear ice luge.”
Designer Miguel Ferreyra de Bone’s Ferreyra Marini launch attracts fashion folks like Casey Kohlberg, Adrien Lesser, Anita Sagguriti, Jonathan Cohen and Christian Bendek. The collection of luxe bags, handmade in small batches, blends Italian craftsmanship with modern, architectural design. “In today’s world of pollution and fast fashion, true luxury isn’t excess; it’s intention, craftsmanship and a commitment to creating pieces that are meant to last,” de Bone tells me.
Afterwards, I arrive at the David Geffen Hall and make my way up to the Leon and Norma Hess Grand Promenade for cocktails beneath a hanging garden of flowers. Friends of the Philharmonic are here to honor Barbara Tober and remember her late husband Donald. Inside the hall, Gustavo Dudamel lifts his baton for Musorgsky’s “Prelude and Dance of the Persian Slaves” from Khovanshchina, followed by Stravinsky’s 1919 “Firebird Suite.” Then the moment we’d been waiting for: Evgeny Kissin’s first appearance with the orchestra in over a decade, for Scriabin’s “Piano Concerto.” Kissin’s return gets an instantaneous standing ovation. And he does two encores, Scriabin’s “Mazurka, Op. 25” and Tchaikovsky’s “Nathalie-Valse, Op. 51.” Then the orchestra sends us into intermission with “Pas de Deux” from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.” Post-concert, we return to the Hess Grand Promenade where dinner tables decked with peonies, ranunculus, anemones, tulips, orchids, and roses, arranged on slices of tree trunks. Matías Tarnopolsky and co-chairs Peter W. May and Oscar L. Tang, deliver warm remarks and then Barbara Tober speaks with grace and wit as she is honored.
Next up is The Russian Tea Room for Creative Time’s after party, where 450 artists, celebs, and cultural luminaries raise over $700,000 for the organization’s public programming. In the 1927 Bear Lounge I see Miles Greenberg, Neil Hamamoto and Ilana Savdie. Everyone is swilling non-alcoholic elixirs named “LOVE CONQUERS ALL” from Waris Ahluwalia’s House of Waris Botanicals and there is caviar while I take Ukrainian vodka shots from an enormous bear ice luge. Guests like Michelle Coffey, Jean Cooney, Guadalupe Maravilla, Paul Arnhold and Wes Gordon leave with temporary tattoos shaped like the Russia–Ukraine border, inspired by Molly Gochman’s “UKR|RUS” artwork and a Nordstrom x Creative Time “caviar tin” of chocolate pearls.
“Lisa Rinna and Amanda Lepore pose for photos together while my head gets whiplash from the star power in the room.Think Lena Dunham, Grace Gummer, Naomi Watts, Adam Scott, BJ Novak and Natasha Lyonne.”
Thursday is another triple header. First up: The Metropolitan Club for Spoons Across America’s 25th anniversary, which raises over $521,000. We all toast the charity’s impact and commitment to expanding food literacy for children nationwide. Chef and TV star Andrew Zimmern opens the evening, setting a tone of urgency and purpose, then leads a live auction of culinary experiences from Jacques Pépin, Daniel Boulud, José Andrés, Marcus Samuelsson and Stefano Secchi. Katherine Gage Boulud tells me, “In the last year alone, we’ve expanded the reach of our programs by more than 300%. That’s not a fluke, that’s demand. It’s a signal from educators and parents across the country that this work is needed now more than ever.” Next is Cultured magazine’s “Cult 100 Party” with Megan Melbourne. Editor in Chief Sarah Harrelson welcomes guests alongside Keke Palmer. Lisa Rinna and Amanda Lepore pose for photos together while my head gets whiplash from the star power in the room. Think Lena Dunham, Grace Gummer, Naomi Watts, Adam Scott, BJ Novak and Natasha Lyonne. After a quick outfit change, I hit The Boom Boom Room for the Cult 200 after party. Around 1am, Pop star Chloe Jane performs “Lucky” to Adam Eli, Jack James Busa, Jordan Dorso, Ian Malone, Aquaria and the infamous grifter Anna Delvey, who wears a monitor on her ankle.
The next morning, I head to the 30th street heliport. Aero has invited me to check out their new Gulfstream IV-SP which starts service from Teterboro to LA and Aspen this year. This plane is not your typical, boring private share, it’s super luxe. We nibble caviar and sip champagne on board and hear about Aero’s new routes. I will be taking advantage of their direct flights to Aspen. I heli back the city for lunch and a tour of the buzzy new JP Morgan building. Designed by Foster + Partners, the skyscraper is already a 60-story world wonder. In the lobby, an American flag waves above, using a custom airflow system. Created by Lord Norman Foster as part of the “Wind Dance” installation, fans mimic exterior wind conditions. The tour ends with lunch on the private client dining floor, with a meal rivaling any Michelin star restaurant in the city.
“The French onion soup pot pie and the cod are to die for. There is a reason Marcel is already impossible to get into.”
The next night, I see playwright Elmer Rice’s “The Adding Machine,” a 1923 American Expressionist play about Mr. Zero, a man who is replaced by an adding machine after 25 years of service. Starring Jennifer Tilly and Daphne Rubin-Vega, the play is disturbing and haunting and leaves me a bit unsettled. I then head over to Coco’s for the Friends of the Costume Institute reception, celebrating the opening of the Met’s “Costume Art” exhibition. Andrew Bolton gives us a preview, noting that garmenting and draping runs through every gallery within the museum. Co-chairs Wendi Murdoch and Mark Guiducci welcome the fashion flock like Maye Musk, singer Sam Smith, designer Christian Cowan, Doja Cat, Polina Proshkina, Chloe Malle and Sami Deller. Then dinner with Roman Chiporukah, Elijah Haelow and Erica Jackowitz at Marcel, the new French restaurant at Sotheby’s Breuer Building. The French onion soup pot pie and the cod are to die for. There is a reason Marcel is already impossible to get into. – ALEXANDER HANKIN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BFA
