Getting in the Habit







Alexandre Petrossian (heir of the caviar business that bears his family name) this week showcased some of his company's newest menu offferings. There were treats aplenty at Petrossian restaurant, but our favorite was this playful blini topped with a quail egg (can we ever have enough eggs?), caviar and a snippet of crème frâiche. Also featured was one of Petrossian’s newer products, pressed caviar. When prodded about what they do with the “juice” left from pressing four kilograms of caviar into one kilogram of condensed, surreal deliciousness, the heir merely smiled and answered that this was a family secret. We'll report back if we discover what that secret is.
Our breakfast at Petrossian was a feast that touched our innermost voluptuary. Don’t forget, the restaurant's boutique and café also offer some of the finest gourmet foods in Manhattan. Their pastries are perfectly flaky, and the Greek honey they’ve sourced is so floral and fresh, you can taste the summer breeze. Perfect for the colder days now upon us. Or for holiday gift-buying. Because much as we love eggs, who doesn't love caviar?
Fresh from their appearance at this weekend's Bamboozle music festival, band The White Tie Affair held an after-party at The Gates, in Chelsea. Not yet officially opened, The Gates also hosted a weekend fête for The Real Housewives of New York City. The Chicago-based members of The White Tie Affair (who nonetheless don't seem to wear ties, white or otherwise), cite musical influences from Stevie Wonder to The Police and are currently touring the country performing songs from their debut album, Walk this Way. The party's venue, The Gates, will open officially this weekend, as the lounge's pre-selected "ambassadors" (125 élite members of the city's social set) and their guests will be marvel over the stunning lounge's marbled walls (reported to be worth $2.4 million) and bronze detailing. Managed by owners Danny Kane and Rod Surut, the space is the former home of restaurant The Biltmore Room (2002–2006). This time, here's hoping that the Gothic iron gates that lend the space its name remain open for a many years to come.
For more photos, click here.
To see more photos—just make sure you put on your sunglasses first—click here.
Restaurant Bruno Jamais threw its doors open for the U.S. debut of Henri Giraud earlier tonight. The entire range was available for sampling, from six different cuvées in all. Oenophiles sipped the maker's miel not from flutes, but from wide-mouth wine glasses. This was not, as one might have guessed, because Bruno ran out of suitable stemware. Instead, Henri Giraud believes that for the breathability of its Champagnes, the wider mouth is the way to go. Judging from the smiles on the faces of tasters, there were no dissenters in the room.
For more photos, click here.
Talk about a brain trust. There was an expert for every conundrum at Whiskey Park last night, where the ever-charming Samantha Ettus, with the support of ForbesLife magazine, launched her latest book, The Experts Guide to Doing Things Faster. Having trouble getting pregnant? There was Lisa Masterson, of TV's The Doctors. Not the best judge of character? If you were able to pin down former Army interrogator Greg Hartley, he was there to tell you how to read the body language of others. Do you know the best ways to make someone feel good or (conversely) how to politely exit a conversation? No? Well, if you're feeling the need to brush-up in one of these areas, you're probably wishing you were at Samantha's party, too. But fear not, because all of this wisdom (and more) is found in the book—natch. And you don't need to be a speed reader to make your way through it. With quick in-the-know tips from Richard Branson, Barbara Corcoran, Colin Cowie, Gunnar Peterson, Graham Hill, Sally Hershberger and even New York Insider's Thomas P. Farley, among others, the table-top tome is jam-packed with pithy and engaging must-dos. One word of advice...don't start reading it before bed and still expect to nod off. It's far too scintillating to make you drowsy. But if you do have problems in that department, see Chapter 41, by Dr. Michael Breus. His contribution? "How to Fall Asleep."
For more photos, click here.