Raise Your Glasses!

The stoic lions guarding the New York Public Library main branch, on Fifth Avenue, never flinched. And yet, streaming past them up the stairs and into the great marble hall of learning were 2,500 (perhaps more) revelers with one thing on their minds: a good, stiff drink. With liquor companies from Belvedere to Maker's Mark to Hendrick's Gin setting up shop in the grand library's three stories (and its lower level, too, where Ketel One, Don Julio, et al set up a re-creation of the city's famed and long-gone Stork Club), New Yorkers had come out to party. And despite being given wrist-bands that urged them to behave (wink, wink), the evening's attendees knew that the order of the night was to sample as many different mixologist-created cocktails as possible, while dancing and mingling the night away.

This was the Classic's second gala outing, a sequel to a smaller but still ambitious event last fall, also held in the Library. Organizers nonetheless promised bigger and better and in that, they did not disappoint, as stilt-walkers, burlesque performers, magicians and other creatures of the night roamed the halls. Although food was in perilously scant supply, the event's 9 p.m. start time was apparently the cue that event organizers expected ticket-holders to have dinner before coming to the gala. Also making matters a bit uncomfortable was the toasty temperature in the Library, no doubt exacerbated by the presence of so many well-lubricated party-goers in a building that tends to attract patrons who are considerably more sedate.

How the library's cleaning crew got the space ready for opening time the following day we don't know, but suffice it to say that we're sure they did, and for that we are duly impressed.

For more pix from the party, click here.

Off to the Races!

The whirlwind of the social season has us thrashing about from one social gathering to the next, and in this maelstrom of activity, have you wondered whether you have whacked your head or whether every party you attend is playing out the same script?  Well, fret no more and mark your calendar for the 3rd Annual Kentucky Derby Celebration at 11 Madison Park. Once you read on, you’ll understand why you’ll want to buy your tickets the second the event is announced...in 2011!

Yesterday marked the second time Esquire magazine and Union Square Hospitality Group joined forces to create the Derby Day party in New York, a festivity that in a very short time has become an extravaganza.  In fact, days before the event New Yorkers were jockeying for a way to get their hands on tickets, just as if they'd been trying for the highly-coveted wreath of roses bestowed upon the Derby winner.
 
The frenzy was understandable. With USHG founder, Danny Meyer, and Esquire editor-in-chief, David Granger, involved, the event could not be more masterfully run.

The doors to 11 Madison Park’s sublime art-deco dining room opened at 3:00 pm to usher in the most creative, audacious, and fabulous fashion parade seen there since Big and Carrie lunched there in Season 2 of Sex & the City. Everyone from David Diehl of the NY Giants, Chef Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, cocktail great David Wondrich, Don Lee, from Momofuku, and Jenny Slate of Saturday Night Live, dressed to impress. And when I say impress, I don’t mean the trite dress code we see starlets don at Churchill Downs. I am talking more Ascot, England, racing-day-spectacular! Men were bedecked in their own creations and interpretations of what the traditional seersucker suit meant to them, and women opted for fanciful headdresses by Leah C. Millinery that featured feathers and bold colors rather than the meek watercolor palette might have expected.
 
Indeed, many aspects of the afternoon involved unexpected twists. Who'd have ever thought that Chef Daniel Humm’s fried chicken on French toast could be the most delectable incarnation to ever cross your mouth?  Or that the most lavish raw bar you'd ever see would be at a Derby party?  And what of the libations, you ask? Thanks to Maker’s Mark, not only did we have mint juleps, but also cocktails that rarely come out to help us play: Old Kentuckys (bourbon, mint, and Champagne) and Seelbachs (bourbon, bitters, and Champagne). Yet, the winner of the afternoon was Joaquin Simo’s Double Barrel Julep...with round peach flavors that kept all of us coming back for more. (And, if you are now longing for one, head to Death & Co., where it is part of their spring menu!)
 
To add to the buzz of the liquid spirits flowing through the room, Nat Sherman organized a cigar lounge outside, where one could select from a myriad selection of cigars while a blue-grass band played long past the 7 pm closing time.  (Courtesy of the Nat Sherman folks and as a tribute to the amazing time had by all, the lounge remained packed until 9 pm!) ELIZABETH DA TRINDADE ASHER