12.15.10: Invigorating Cold | New York Social Diary

Invigorating Cold

Looking east through Central Park towards the Pierre, the Metropolitan Club, and Sherry Netherland on Fifth Avenue. 3:05 PM. Photo: JH.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010. Very cold in New York, biting the tip of your nose. Invigorating. If you can come in from it.

Finchies Unite. A few weeks ago I wrote about lunch at Michael’s with three women who all went to Finch College, now defunct, here in Manhattan. That entry brought out a lot of Finch girls.

I remember it vaguely since it was still going when I moved to New York out of college in 1962. The Finch girls were considered classy and presumably from wealthy families. It was considered a “finishing school” of a college. There was much more to it, however. Years later Anne Slater happened to tell me that she was a Finch girl. She raved about how it introduced her to the New York that she loved and made her home.

Ellen Easton, DPC, and Linda Purl at Michael's yesterday lunch.

One of the letters I received was from a woman named Ellen Easton who went to Finch and wanted me to meet another Finchie, Linda Purl, the actress. Linda, who lives in Los Angeles (Sherman Oaks), is starting a two-night engagement at Feinstein’s at the Regency January 26th and 27th. Billed as “Linda Purl in ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine.’”

I met Linda and Ellen yesterday at Michael’s where they were lunching. Linda grew up in Tokyo where her father was an executive with Union Carbide. Her father’s mother, however, had been an actress in the early decades of the 20th century when touring companies played in theaters all over the nation. So it was, even in Tokyo, in the American colony (this was in the late 1950s, early 1960), there was theatre. The child took to it and the father by his own heritage naturally encouraged it. So did the mother.

Linda was making films with Robbie Benson by the time she was 16. What has followed has been a long and varied career. There’s a sense of her attachment to her roots that motivates her professionally. She loves to perform, to act, to sing.

French fries for the table (JH's Bloody Mary in the foreground). After my interview with Linda Purl, I joined Carol Joynt, our NYSD Washington Social Diarist, and JH for a business lunch. Carol, who's been in town on assisgnment, ordered a simple Cobb Salad and a plate of French Fries. They don't skrimp on Fries at Michael's. JH had the Fig and burrata salad, then the Nicoise Salad. I had the Michael's Burger. The orange drink is mine -- a Barbara Bush: Iced tea and orange juice.

Fig and Burrata salad.

Cobb Salad: Maytag Blue Cheese, Julienne of Bacon, Hardboiled Egg,Cherry Tomato, Avocado, Chicken Breast Filets, Baby Greens in Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Michael’s Burger: Ground Rib-Eye, Arugula, Tomato, Pickle, Brioche Bun.

Niçoise Salad: Seared Tuna, Fingerling Potatoes, Haricots Verts, Hardboiled Egg, Niçoise Olives, Shaved Parmesan.

A cappuccino.

The Feinstein’s booking will include a special guest appearance by Tom Wopat. If you want to make reservations, there are two “Show” packages: cocktails, $75 per person; dinner, $100 per person.

$10 of that is a tax deductible donation to the Finch College Alumnae Association Foundation. Ellen Easton told me that although the college no longer exists there is still an active alumnae association that raises money for scholarships for students at other schools. So, as you can see, it’s another one of those Finch stories that stirs up enormous nostalgia for something that was so right in its moment. A long moment.

(For further information and to reserve tickets by credit card for Linda Purl’s evening at Feinstein’s, call Jessica Poli 212.339.4160).

Carol Joynt and JH. Talk at the lunch table inevitably turned to the cameras we are all using and what's good and what's not and finally where modern man now goes at the end of every activity: to their cell phones ...

And was it good news?

Detritus from a fashionable lunch in media-mad Manhattan.

Last Night in New York. Jill Spalding hosted her annual holiday cocktail party at her Park Avenue apartment. It was called for 6 to 8 and I had a hard time getting away from my desk. It was 7:45 when I made an appearance on my way to (what I thought was) yet another holiday cocktail. Jill’s apartment was still jammed. Jill draws a wide array of New Yorkers, internationals and locals and a lot of talkers. Perfect for a cold night in New York at the beginning of the holiday season.

Linda Silverman, Jill Spalding, our hostess; and Sharon Handler.

Lou Miano and Linda Silverman.

Dame Jillian Sackler, Edgar Battista, and Mary McFadden.

Leaving Jill Spalding's party, passing The Chinese Porcelain Company's perfectly chic Christmas tree.

After Jill’s I caught a cab down to 26th Street where my calendar told me I was going to a holiday party hosted by Darren Walker and David Beitzel and their dog Beulah. The calendar note said 7 to 10 – an odd time for the weekday but perhaps sensible for a lot of people who work long hours.

This is always a good party. Their associations are far flung and industrious so there is always a lot of interesting people. However. I got my West and East mixed up and finally gave up finding their apartment on the West Side.

It was so cold at that hour and vacant cabs were not materializing. I decided to walk over to Park Avenue South and catch the subway uptown. On that brief walk, I passed luxury apartment building with an East (rather than a West) address. It occurred to me that maybe I’d written it down incorrectly. I asked the doorman if Darren Walker lived there. He pointed to a man walking across the lobby toward the front door. “That’s Darren Walker.”

Darren was on his way out. The party had been last SATURDAY. Duh. I would have felt like a fool except Darren is one of those people who’s always a pleasure to see. Which probably explains how he’s one of the best connected people I’ve ever met in New York. (he knows everybody, or rather, everybody – who’s anybody – knows him).

In a way it was a relief. I was home earlier than usual.

Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater.

This past Saturday at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, the New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet joined forces once again for the Nutcracker Family Benefit. The party began with a performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. After the performance about 4 pm everyone moved to the Theater’s Promenade for the party decorated with gingerbread houses along with the Sugarplum Fairy, her Cavalier, Candy Canes, Chinese Tea, Marzipan Shepherdesses along with the children from the cast of the ballet who mingled with guests and signed autographs.

Events such as this continue to amaze me, and I’m always reminded of how New York offers some of the most extraordinary activities for its interested citizens. The Nutcracker Benefit is an annual event that raises money to support the NYC Ballet’s Education Programs which serve thousands of children and families in the metropolitan area. It also provides support for the School of American Ballet’s Scholarship Fund.

Table décor.

Event Chairwomen Danielle Ganek, Elizabeth Miller, Julia Koch and Kathy Drill with NYCB Principal Dancer Tiler Peck (center), the Sugarplum Fairy.

NYCB Principal Dancer Tiler Peck, as the Sugarplum Fairy, signs autographs for guests.

NYCB Principal Dancer Sterling Hyltin, Dew Drop, poses for photos with guests.

NYCB Board member Lisa Maria Falcone and her daughters.

Alexia Ryan and her daughter.

Tiffany Moller and her sons.

Yesim Philip and her son with Darci Kistler.

Julie Miller and her daughter.

Linda Evangelista and her son with NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins and Darci Kistler.

NYCB Board member Donya Bommer and her daughter.

SAB Executive Director Marjorie Van Dercook and NYCB Executive Director Kathy Brown.

Dr. Sherrell and Muffie Potter Aston and their daughters with Alexandra Lebenthal and her daughter.

NYCB Board member Jane Carroll and her grandson.

Mrs. Anthony Brown and her granddaughter.

Children dancing on the Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater.

More holiday spirit, Amanda Gordon writes:

In Brooklyn Heights this past Saturday night, they held 90th edition of the Yuletide Ball. For a time it was an occasion to present debutantes, a tradition that ended in 1968. The cherished tradition now is to begin the evening with dinner parties in people’s homes and local restaurants. There were 75 such parties this year, with everyone -- more than 700 guests -- gathering later at the private athletic club the Heights Casino for dessert (brownies, chocolate covered strawberries) and dancing on a tented tennis court.

What inspires such commitment entertaining even a few people during a busy holiday season is in New York? Answer: the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society. Since 1891, BKS has provided education, enrichment, and social services to pre-school kids and their families living in poor areas of Brooklyn.

Decked for the holidays.

These kids may seem a distance from the wealth and privilege of Brooklyn Heights. But the dinner hosts and board members who describe to guests why they care so much about them, and what their visits to the centers are like, makes them seem very close. In any case, the Yuletide Ball is the source of the almost all of the organization’s donations from individuals, and is critical for funding things like music, art and gardening programs and counseling for parents.

The event shows how a neighborhood — several neighborhoods, actually, because these days the stalwart supporters hail from Williamsburg and Park Slope as well as Brooklyn Heights — come together. Forget about town cars pulling up to hotel ballrooms. On this night the sidewalks are filled with couples bracing in the cold, ballgowns flapping under their coats, as they make their way to and from the Ball festivities.

Dinner hosts Josh and Alison Lindland.

It sounds quaint, old fashioned, and in a way it is compares to what we are used to on the other side of the bridge in Manhattan. However, the remarkable thing about this event is the number of young people who have embraced it.

Which leads me to the dinner I attended, hosted by Alison and Josh Lindland. Alison is a marketer, Josh is an investment manager. Soon after they married and had moved into their cute apartment in Brooklyn Heights, which they share with their dog, they began hosting a Yultide dinner for their friends. That was six years ago. Now, barely past 30, they’re old hands at it. They’ve even converted several of their
past guests into hosts.

A warm greeting from the Colonie's Tamer Hamawi.

Prepping the roasted beets, hazelnuts, orange, mint, ricotta salata.

This year, their crowd was too big to entertain in their apartment, so Alison went hunting for the right venue to entertain in. She chose Colonie, a restaurant that hasn’t even opened yet, but which is so cutting-edge it raised its seed money on Kickstarter. Colonie pulled out the stops for their fancily clad first round of diners. For starters, the chef prepared apple pie gougeres with bacon, cheddar and thyme; tuna tartare with cucumber; and holiday goose, carrots, and pomegranate. The seated meal began with a salata of roasted beets, hazelnuts, orange, mint and ricotta, and ended with braised short ribs, potato puree, and roasted root vegetables. Everyone wanted to try the Colonie’s dessert, but were reminded that dessert awaited them at the Heights.

A highlight of the Lindlands’ dinner was the singing of a hymn from their “Yuletide Hymn Book.” The lyrics were written by Alison, who had meticulously studied her guest list, even asking her husband for the resumes of the friends he had invited!

And so I leave you with a snapshot of Yuletide 2010: (sung to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”)

On the Sixth Year of Yuletide the
Evening brought to me
Twelve Months Till Next Time
Eleven Finance Gurus
Ten Brooklyn Hipsters
Nine CBS Gals [that’s Columbia Business School]
Five Creative Types
Four Amex Chargers
Three Princeton Tigers
Two New Parents Dancing
And a Hit Restaurant Named Colonie!

Amanda Gordon for NYSD