Such inner turmoil was the stuff of my deep meditations last night when my sensible side said, Go home, eat some vegetables and get to bed. But the siren call of a Dom Perignon dinner at Alphabet City eatery Edi & the Wolf proved irresistible and so that’s why I found myself in a tiny, rope and objets-bedecked restaurant around 9pm sipping champagne, as Lily Kwong, Harley Viera Newton, Elise Overland, Richard Chai, Arden Wohl, Hannelore Knuts and Waris Ahluwalia clustered by the bar.
From left: Lily Kwong; Elise OverlandThe evening was called a “Just for Fun Dinner, Celebrating Fashion, Champagne & April in New York,” a rather unwieldy name, but an apt description and certainly enough of a draw for even those ambivalent about the beverage of choice.
“I hate champagne, but I’m here anyway,” said one guest.
Quarters were cramped, and movement nearly impossible as waiters passed around trays of mini Wiener Schnitzel.
“I think I’m too big for this party,” said one guy as he looked for an escape route.
Vincent Chaperon, guest of honorOnce seated at long, candelit wooden tables, Vincent Chaperon, a young, French Dom Perignon winemaker and the guest of honor introduced himself and the three varieties and vintages of Dom being served with the meal of Austrian ravioli, shell steak and Bavarian cream with macerated fruits.
“It is a very seductive champagne,” he said of the 2000 Rosé, to many titters.
From left: Richard Chai; Phillip LimAnd it proved rather potent, too. By the second course, Phillip Lim had switched to a tall, frothy glass of beer.
“I don’t want a hangover,” he said.
Wish I had been that smart.
Photos: Billy Farrell Agency
