So how was your New Year’s?

The Breakers from The Ocean Course. 5:45 PM. Photo: JH.

Happy New Year NYSD readers, and thank you for all your readership support in the year just passed. Two of New York’s high social profile couples are strongly rumored to be on the express headed for kaputsville. Lotsa money involved. In one case, theirs. In the other, his. Lots. Young children too. Cause: for one couple, The Other Woman. And the other: nada except complete utter lack of interest. So much for “having it all.” So how was your New Year’s? A friend of mine here in New York went to dine at the restaurant of one of the fancier hotels, at a table next to a family including a seven-year-old boy who kept blowing one of those bleating party tin horns throughout dinner. As it was practically in the ear of my friend, and as the waiter made no effort to stop him, my friend asked the parents if the kid could give it a break. Whereupon the big bruiser of a father responded to my friend: “f**k off!” and started blowing his horn too. Click to order Out in Beverly Hills, the widow of the Chairman of the Board: Barbara Sinatra had three other famous widows – Felicia Farr (Mrs. Jack Lemmon), Veronique (Mrs. Gregory) Peck and Jeannie (Mrs. Dean) Martin over for a game of poker. Meanwhile down among the sheltering palms of Palm Beach, New Year’s Eve is always one of the resort’s best nights — even for people who hate New Year’s Eve. Maybe it’s the balmy breezes, the swaying palms and the starry skies over the ocean but something seems sets the ideal stage for ringing in a New Year. This year, all the hotels threw events for their guests — from a traditional black tie dance at the Breakers to a Motown shakedown at the Colony. And there were lavish private parties galore, most notably Kate Ford and Frank Chopin’s tented dinner dance at her spectacular lakefront palazzo. But all roads met at the new pavilion at the Flagler Museum for the legendary Coconuts dance at ten thirty, a party that has been a fixture on the Palm Beach scene since the 1930s. Originally conceived by Anthony J. (Tony) Drexel Biddle Jr. as a payback by himself and his group of oh-so social bachelors, the Coconuts New Year’s Eve Gala went dormant almost to the point of oblivion about fifteen years ago but now has morphed into PB’s once again most coveted New Year’s Eve invitation — with tickets akin to something out of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. Selected in the same hush-hush manner as a private club, the Coconuts now number 25 and are chaired by tall, handsome Bob “Lighthouse” Leidy. New among the ranks this year are Wilbur Ross, restaurateur Michael McCarty and young John Ylvisaker. A while back, when Pauline Pitt’s ex-husband Dixon Boardman was running the show, she asked her buddy, designer Steven Stolman to put some spit and polish on what had become a rather dusty dance at the Colony Hotel. Since then, Stolman has recreated El Morocco, Gilligan’s Island and even made it snow on the dance floor for the new millennium. This year, for the first time in the new soaring glass atrium, it was all sparkling silver branches, tables draped in silver “eyelash” lame and thousands of candles. There, among the throng: Ridgley and Mai Harrison, Chris and Grace Meigher, Percy Steinhart, Maribeth and Ellen Welsh, Ed and Hope Gropper, Roberto and Joanne de Guardiola, Lucy Musso, Allan and Maggy (that’s Maggy with a “y”) Scherer, Frannie Scaife and Tom McCarter, John Mashek, Virginia Coleman, David and Polly Ober, Mark Gilbertson and about 400 others — many of whom flocked onto the terrace to catch the fireworks shooting off from Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago club downstream. That’s not all: Over at stylish Club Colette, owner Dan Ponton served up a royal fantasy with red and purple banners, crowns, tiaras, feather boas, a massive gilded throne and a spectacular seamless red Plexiglas dance floor that had everyone wondering “How’d he get that in here?” There was a lavish dinner dance for members and their guests followed by Ponton’s popular annual “First Party of the Year” at 12:01 AM for drinks and disco. There: Brownie McLean, Randall and Barbara Smith, Joe and Sheila Fuchs, Dom and Susan Telesco, Jack and Talbott Maxey, Tommy Quick, Bill and Kit Pannill, Michael and Nancy Peacock, Don Burns and Greg Connors, Allison Wagner, Wanda Kim, Brett Price and many more who managed to shuttle over from the Coconuts and elsewhere.

JH in Palm Beach ...

A walk along Worth Avenue

Way out west in Aspen there were parties galore (and fresh powder almost everyday for the ski bums and bunnies). Christy Ferer had a dinner for Cathy and Stephen Graham, Carolyne Roehm, Charlotte Moss and her hubby where they all watched the fireworks on Aspen Mountain. Steve and Jamie Tisch entertained their troops at their chalet just outside Aspen, with those can’t-stop eatin’-em hors d’oeuvres – pigs in a blanket, mini-hamburgers, etc. Among the guests: Denise Rich, Don Johnson, Jack Wagner, Bill and Maria Bell (producers of “The Young and the Restless,” and “The Bold and the Beautiful”), Bob and Soledad Hurst, Richard Edwards (of the Caribou Club), Ashley Schiff, KK Kravis, and Johnny Schulhof. The day before, art collectors Melva Bucksbaum and Ray Learsy had a party for Carolyne Roehm and her new internet business “Presentations.” Up on Red Mountain that night, Congresswoman Jane Harman and her husband Sidney (Harman Electronics) hosted a party for about eighty guests included Johnny Schulhof, KK Kravis, Queen Noor, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Dick Blum, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Eisner, Arianna Huffington, and Jeff Blau. While over at the Caribou Club, Kurt and Goldie (you have to ask Kurt and Goldie who?) threw a dinner in a private room. Meanwhile back in town, Jack Nicholson entertained at home. Edouard Gerschel and some friends put together “the” party for the 25 to 45 set which for some was the most coveted ticket in town. It was at the Sky Bar and there were two levels and a tent and an “oh, just awesome DJ” (you had to be there). On the guest list: Todd Meister, Nathalie Kaplan (host’s sister), David Schulhof, Brian and Lauren Frank, Eric Eisner. Kaplan and Gerschel are two of the rare ones who actually grew up in Aspen and went to high school there before moving with their parents to New York. Six inches of new snow the day before and celebrities shining through it all everywhere: Usher, Chevy Chase, Diana Ross, Dean Cain (who’s bleached his locks a bright blond); Prada hosting a party for Andre Leon Talley and his book A.L.T., Harry and Michaela Crosby with Perri Peltz and Eric Ruttenberg. And then New Year’s Day Aspen saw a blizzard – a problem for the hundreds booked to depart on the commercial flights, not to mention a problem for the more than 100 private jets scheduled to come in to pick up all those exhausted bums and bunnies. You see, it’s never easy, no matter what. Wait, there’s more: St. Barth’s – don’t forget St. Barth’s where a lot of the Aspen and PB crowd go to (or come from) when the holiday’s in full swing, wall-to-wall boldface: Jon Bon Jovi, Luke and Owen Wilson, George Lucas, Martha Stewart, Harvey Weinstein, Jeremy Irons, Ron Perelman and Ellen Barkin, Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller, Usher, Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova, Lorne Michaels, Brett Ratner, Eve, Bryan Lourd, Paul Allen, Tatiana and Alex von Furstenberg, Kelly Klein, Damon Dash and Rachel Roy, Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, Anthony Kiedis, Ivana Trump, Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour, Larry Gagosian, Patrick Demarchelier, Richard Meier, Clive Davis, Jimmy and Jane Buffett, Robbie Robertson, Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons, Tamara Mellon, Rachel Zoe, Jill and Andrew Roosevelt, Bettina Zilkha, Rob Wiesenthal, Terry Allen Kramer and Nick Simunek, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Samantha Boardman and Aby Rosen, Serena Boardman, Nicolas Berggruen, Charles Evans and Bonnie Pfeiffer, and Marty Richards. And me? Quiet night, thank God; dinner with good old friends at Swifty’s and home and in bed by midnight. Perfect way to start the New Year.

From our correspondent in the Alps:

Not familiar to a lot of Americans, Klosters has long drawn the world famous and celebrated to this quiet little village that has arguably the best world class skiing, and the worlds longest ski run, The Parsenn. Novelist Irwin Shaw lived there. Film actress Deborah Kerr still lives there. One time Hemingway wife, writer Martha Gellhorn was a regular visitor as Salka Viertel (mother of Kerr’s husband Peter Viertel), scenarist and close friend of Garbo who visited. Sam Spiegel and Gore Vidal were frequent visitors in their day. It has changed little in the years that I have been coming here. That may change. The hotel I have been calling home away from home since 1981, The Pardenn, is being torn down in 2007 to make way for a 6 star hotel. It has been beautifully run to Swiss perfection by Jean Claude Huber and his amazing staff (including a bartender who also sings karaoke with the guests after dinner). It had been the only 5 star in town until another white elephant, the Hotel Vereina, was transformed into a 5 star four years ago.  The Pardenn Hotel Walserhof (where Prince Charles rests his head) This is big gossip in town — a 6 star hotel in a town such as this is big news. And not well received. even among hotel regulars who can afford it. In Europe, particularly small Swiss towns, hotels are run by generations of one family. It will change the town if that goes through. Prince Charles and his sons stay in a 3 star hotel. Regular visitors mingle with the locals, many of whom have known them since they were children, and are now seeing second and in my case, a third generation of Klosters regulars. The people at Klosters go for the glorious alpine views, the marvelous food, the skiing, the hiking, the sleigh rides. Social life revolves around your hotel. If you are a chalet or flat dweller, it revolves around friends staying at hotels, friends who live in town, or at a few well known local establishments. There is very little shopping — a few ski shops, two jewelry stores, and a few trinket shops, and a discotheque, the Casa Antica, whose owner Alex has a lovely art gallery across the street. Sylvester is a big night, complete with fireworks, gala dinners, and staying up for "full night parties.” British Vogue, as well as some other popular British journals this year touted Klosters as the number one ski resort in Europe. The younger royals (beginning years ago with Princess Margaret and her family) frequent a small, chic, but lively hotel called the Wynegg (pronounced v-neck). The proprietress, Ruth Guler (along with brother Hans who until a few years ago owned and ran the Chesa Grischuna, which some think has the best cuisine in town, and where Irwin Shaw wrote Paris, Paris) is Klosters royalty. If you don’t pass muster you won’t be back, and no one ever gets a dinner reservation unless they are introduced by a regular. Wynegg is cornered on Doggilochstrasse, which boasts many beautiful chalets. Perhaps the new bridge that connects Klosters and Davos in half the time, and Klosters to St. Moritz in 45 minutes (previously nearly two hours) will make it a more popular "go to" resort. Although you must never use the word with the locals. An old farming town, the local farmers are famous for their meats. In fact, our old Ski instructor, Bartli Gruber is famous for his cows. If one is lucky, he takes you up the Madrisa (the smaller, yet still challenging mountain, think Buttermilk versus Ajax) to his cow house, and you can drink his special liqueur and eat smoked meat from his cows. You can also go to his house in town, and feed the baby goats. There is no such thing as a tourist in Klosters. One is a guest. Most guests end up coming back year after year. Some, of course, complain that it is too sleepy, not enough action or shopping. The hotels are old, need renovating. These are the ones that don’t come back, and that is OK with the locals! Elizabeth Finkle Eliot

 

© 2006 David Patrick Columbia & Jeffrey Hirsch/NewYorkSocialDiary.com