New York Insider Meets the Gossip Girls

It may be true that there's no such thing as a free lunch, but they never said anything about supper. All this week, Upper East Side restaurant Park Avenue Winter has been running a fun-spirited promotion: complimentary dinner and drinks for any woman who shows up in a private-school uniform. The sounds-too-good-to-be-true offer was launched to celebrate the eatery's appearance on Gossip Girl on Monday. Nightly, more than 200 of the show's biggest fans have been popping in to take advantage of the generous promotion, which concludes tonight. Contrary to what you might have guessed, the resto did not yank pricey entrées such as lobster from the menu; instead, owner Michael Stillman decided that it was important for these lucky patrons to get the full Park Avenue Winter experience. And experience it they did. Both of the establishment's dining areas, along with the bar, were jam-packed with giddy women dressed in hiked-up pleated skirts and white blouses. It was a girls' night out unlike any this city has ever seen. During our visit, we taped an episode of New York Insider's soon-to-be-launched video series and had the chance to interview many of the patrons, women who'd shown up not knowing fully what to expect, but loving every minute of their experience. To be among the first to know when we post our video coverage of last night's Gossipgirl-apalooza, click on our contact form and we'll send you an e-mail alert when it goes live. Then you'll really have something to "gossip" about.

For Gossip Girls, Real and Imagined

Private school girls, this is your lucky week. (If you actually like to eat, that is.) Swank Park Avenue Winter (the restaurant that changes its name, décor and menu with the seasons) throws open its doors this week to women of all ages who arrive wearing a school uniform. Wearers of plaid skirts and white blouses (and every other variation thereof) will be treated to a free meal. And for those ladies who have surpassed the ripe old age of 21, the eatery will also include two free drinks. The unusual promotion has been devised to celebrate the restaurant's inclusion in tonight's episode of Gossip Girl and will continue the rest of the week. Bet you're wishing you hadn't given your old school duds to Goodwill now. Didn't Sister Mary Alice Magillicuddy tell you you'd come to love your uniform one day?