Drink Up!

Doesn't this look tasty? It's one of the cocktails that will be sipped and enjoyed during Fashion Week, the Chambord French Martini. If you'd like practice making your own before the tents go up in Bryant Park, here's what you'll need: 1½ oz vodka ½ oz Chambord 3 oz pineapple juice shake ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass garnish with a lemon twist BTW, Chambord is the official liqueur of Fashion Week (February 13-20). Stay tuned for more official Fashion Week pronouncements as they become available.

A Motion on the Ocean

Hoping to make some waves about World Ocean Day, which happens June 8, charity organization Oceana brought together a select group of journos and celebs tonight at the Upper East Side home of Bettina Zilkha. Among the boldface names in attendance at the intimate gathering included Sting, Sam Waterston, Jeff Goldblum, Keith Addis, brother-sister surfers Karina and Erik Petroni and Andrew Saffir. With a new administration in Washington, this group of believers and supporters expressed new optimism that it's not too late to save our imperiled oceans.

For more photos, click here.

All in Good Taste

Lever House, the New York restaurant treasure that looks as though it was lifted from an episode of Mad Men, was positively buzzing tonight, as delectable food and wines were passed—along with a healthy dose of animated conversation—during Share Our Strength's annual New York dinner. Host chef Bradford Thompson was joined in the kitchen by Anita Lo, Terrance Brennan, Jacques Torres, Marc Murphy, Alain Allegretti and Michael Laskonis, all of whom donated their time preparing a sumptuous series of courses (paired with wines donated by Empire Merchants) to titillate the palates of patrons who had paid $1,000 or more per ticket. Patron proceeds, combined with funds raised during silent and live auctions, will be used to further the charity's goal of eradicating childhood hunger in America by 2015. Dubbed "A Tasteful Pursuit," the evening was the kick-off for a series of similar nights that will be held around the country throughout the year, in cities including Palm Beach, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago. Quoting Mother Teresa, Share Our Strength director Billy Shore expressed why he believes that goal to be attainable: "If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt—only more love."

For more photos, click here.

Fourteen Going on Fifteen

Fourteen restaurants each brought a signature dish to 15 Union Square Park West tonight for a special walk-around grand-tasting to benefit Citymeals on Wheels. The new luxury condo complex (at one time the home of Tiffany & Co.) is far from completion, but the model-unit floor of this very-much-under-construction building proved to be one heck of a hip spot to throw an open-house party. Co-chair and chef Daniel Boulud somehow found a moment to break from his Upper East Side restaurant and accept all-around congratulations for a glowing write-up in this morning's Times. (Frank Bruni's much-anticipated weigh-in reaffirmed the eatery's well-deserved four-star status.) But Daniel wasn't the only happy camper in the bunch. Sated guests left the event with copies of Dining in New York City, the new book by writer-photographer Jan Bartelsman, which features 40 of his picks for the city's best eateries. There are no recipes in the compendium, but with chefs this good in our metropolis, why would any of us even dare to set foot in a kitchen?

For more photos, click here.

Sting and Co. Get Creative

The Creative Coalition brought together a constellation of stars for its inaugural ball last night, including the still-gorgeous Dana Delany (can she possibly be 52?), her fellow Desperate Housewives alumna Alfre Woodard, Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon, Tim Daly, Marisa Tomei, Tony Goldwyn and Heather Graham. This crew of Hollywood élite each took the stage to offer a line or two of inspirational poetry and after having earned their keep, were treated (along with ticket holders who paid up to $10,000 per couple) to a concert featuring Sam Moore, Sting and Elvis Costello. Moore (the onetime member of the duo Sam and Dave, famed for the hit song "Soul Man") has apparently buried the hatchet with Barack Obama, whose campaign he sent a cease and desist letter last year for using his music without permission. Costello didn't exactly bring the house down, but Moore has still got it and Sting, his vocal chords well-rested after the close of his reunion tour with the Police, sounded better than he has in quite some time. He even convinced Moore to join him on a duet of Every Breath You Take. The night came to a stirring close as Moore and a backup singer performed a spine-tingling version of "Amazing Grace." Only a wretch would have left the amphitheatre with a dry eye.

For more photos, click here.

Green Movement Rocks D.C.

As part of New York Insider TV's continuing coverage of President Obama's swearing-in, we dropped in on the Green Inaugural Ball last night, which was held at the National Portrait Gallery. Tickets and sponsorships for this event, which was chaired by Vice President Al Gore, were said to have sold out within fifteen minutes of going on sale. And we now know why. With a stellar lineup of performers that included Michael Franti, Maroon 5 (lead singer Adam Levine is at left), Melissa Etheridge, John Legend and Will.i.am, the event was a show-stopper, one that very nearly knocked some of the museum's portraits right off the walls. Afterward, we dropped by the Huffington Post party at the Newseum. The place was so packed that even ticket-holders were being turned away. But lest the Green peeps brag that they had all the fun, the Huff Po folks enjoyed their own concert, featuring the likes of Sting and Sheryl Crow. Tonight, it's on to the star-studded Creative Coalition Ball--the A-lister of all A-listers.

For more photos, click here.

Princess Leia's Pajama Party

Carrie Fisher, the actress best known for playing Jabba the Hutt's bikini-wearing princess-cum-slave girl in Return of the Jedi, opted for a silk robe rather than a skimpy two-piece tonight. But the ensemble was apropos, considering she was hosting an event to benefit the Pajama Program. Attended by Mad Men's Bryan Batt, Milk producer Bruce Cohen, television raconteur Mo Rocca and a slew of supportive folks in PJs, the event was a benefit for a terrific charity that puts warm sleepwear into the hands of needy children across America. This innauguration-week confab wins our award for having the most fun name to say: The Obama Pajama Party. Doesn't it just make you want to put on your best pair of footies and grab a teddy bear?

For more photos, click here.

New York Insider Heads to D.C.

All next week, New York Insider.TV will be bringing you the best of the celebrity-packed inaugural events taking place in our nation's capital.  (Yes, we know the name of our site indicates otherwise, but we do occasionally acknowledge that there's a world outside the island of Manhattan. Particularly during a historic week such as this one.)

Hillary: Halfway There, Livin' on a Prayer?

Soon-to-be Secretary of State Hilary Clinton hopes to see a substantial chunk of her debt erased at a fund-raiser at Town Hall Theater tonight, where Bon Jovi frontman Jon Bon Jovi (seen here in an encounter that clearly never happened) will perform an accoustic set, The concert, called "Thank you, Hillary: A Salute to Hillary Clinton" is being held with the goal of whittling down the former First Lady's remaining campaign debts, which currently stand at just over $6 million. Top-tier tickets start at $1,000 and include a photo with Mrs. Clinton. No word on whether Jon Bon Jovi will jump in the photo on request. If you're at tonight's event, let us know. We'd like to hear from you.

Fare Thee Well, New York Post?

If Vanity Fair journalist and author Michael Wolff (The Man Who Owns The News) is correct, the New York Post may not be long for this world. At least, not as a Rupert Murdoch publication. Addressing the New York Press Club last night, Wolff predicted that once Murdoch buys the New York Times! (which, says Wolff, is all-but inevitable as the Gray Lady teeters on the edge of financial ruin), the Australian newspaperman will lose interest in the Post, which bleeds his News Corp of millions of dollars every year. Murdoch's shedding of the paper famed for headlines such as "Topless Woman in Headless Bar" may well prove to be the paper's death knell, forecasts Wolff, who believes, if anything, the tabloid will be folded into the Daily News. As for the city's paper of record, Wolff called the Times slushy and in need of an owner who can re-energize it. He believes that a Murdoch buyout of the NYT would save the periodical from its current state of wayward irrelevance. Wow. Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in the hands of one man? Unimaginable. But, in Wolff's belief, unavoidable and not such a bad thing. Stay tuned.