Anna Wintour, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta and Sarah Jessica Parker

Quelle chance that the venerable philanthropist and socialite Jean Shafiroff invited The Observer to wine and dine at her table at the David H. Koch Theater for Fashion Institute of Technology’s 2012 Couture Council of The Museum luncheon.  Despite the hefty $1,000-a-head price tag, around 600 guests, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Barbara Walters, Anna Wintour, Simon Doonan, Fe Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, editrix and realty star Nina Garcia, Carolina Herrera, Mario Buatta, Yaz Hernandez, Martha Stewart, Dennis Basso, Ruben and Isabel Toledo, YUE editor Chiu-Ti Jansen and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, paraded uptown for the ruckus.  FIT’s clout was undeniable with so many powerful New Yorkers packed into the gold-leaf foyer. Truth be told, 2012 Couture Council Artistry of Fashion honoree Oscar de la Renta certainly deserved credit for the monumental turn-out.

The festivities took place early at 11.30a.m., with the sylphlike, the supremely coiffed, and the magnificently nipped-and-tucked sloshing back glasses of rosé and chardonnay. It was a bit too early for The Observer, but we took in the self-appreciating, Fashion Week crowd with great enjoyment. Kisses and posing were promptly cut short, as the Couture Council committee and organizers ushered the aristocrats and fashion frenzy to their tables.

Then a few speeches that went largely ignored and lunch was served.

“I don't know where this was swimming early,” grumbled one guest, poking at some nondescript white fish. “The Hudson river!” he suggested, answering his own query, “It's a boring plate.”

Since no one exactly gobbled down the cuisine—it’s not de rigueur in these circles—the program seemed to move along swiftly.

Mayor Bloomberg, who presented Mr. de la Renta with the 2012 Artistry of Fashion Award, started with a series of well placed jokes about his fashion status to warm up the crowd, before acknowledging the legendary Mr. de la Renta.

“Oscar is more than a fashion visionary... You can't swing a stiletto without hitting one... I'm his biggest fan,” the mayor said. “His clothes have been to more award shows than Meryl Streep.”

After a standing ovation, the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award winner took the stage to accept his award from the mayor.

“I live in the best city, in the best country,” began Mr. de la Renta.

“I'm so proud to be here today with so many of my friends who have been important to my career. I love what I do.”

The 80-year-old designer who left his native Dominican Republic to study in Spain, has held leading roles at Balenciaga, Lanvin, Balmain and Estée Lauder, before beginning his eponymous label to critical and financial success. Today, his designs are coveted by editors, starlets and the mega-rich alike.

“Fashion is not really about what I did but what I'm doing now," Mr. de la Renta concluded, “I've been at it 50 years and I'm still leaning.”

Over the years the garden series has become quite popular, reported Ms. Gillman. Thanks, in part, to Hamptons art bigwig Ruth Appelhof, who has championed the tour. These lush, East End gardens are prideful displays that highlight the diverse collaborations between esteemed architects, landscape and visual artists and wealthy homeowners.

For Guild Hall, it’s not always easy to find willing residents; they often guard their privacy and perhaps lavish lifestyles with soaring walls, fences and hedges. “It’s a challenge to open up these private homes,” admitted Ms. Gillman. “A number of people don’t want that exposure, but we do find very generous people who want to share their gardens.”

Still, imagine the level of Victoria Grayson-like envy one could incite if their residence was selected by the Guild’s finicky committee. “We see what we can find and choose the best,” said Ms. Gillman gingerly, careful not to disclose too much insider knowledge about the selection process. “We’re very eclectic.”

Many skeptical green thumbs may scratch their heads as to why on earth Guild Hall, a reputable bastion of Hamptonite culture, would host a garden tour out of primetime season—early summer.

"A garden in June is a like a teenager in a prom dress,” Ms. Gillman retorted to that outlook, quoting some notable to the best of her ability. Touché. The reality of the timing is mostly happenstance. “[There is] a hugely busy calendar,” explained Ms. Gillman. “June, which is the usual time for garden tours, is so crowded and we don’t want to interfere." She did admit that the late August timing turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. “We have thought about changing it,” Ms. Gillman said. “We are brushing up against hurricane season.”

On the positive, there aren’t other tours and—let’s face it—Guild Hall has plenty of sway.

“People are hungry [for a] last look at natural spaces,” Ms. Gillman told The Observer. “It’s a good time for the social calendar and the Guild Hall calendar.”

The 2012 Garden as Art tour will once again kick things off with a pair of VIP events.  On Friday, August 24 from 6-8 p.m., the Guild will host a patron and benefactor cocktail party at a Devon Colony estate. On August 25, the day of the tour, there will be a pricey benefactor luncheon at two neighboring East Hampton estates. In regards to whose palatial residences Guild Hall guests would be dining at, Ms. Gillman remained mum. She did however divulge that there would be a high-brown rendition of musical chairs at the luncheon: “Guests will have lunch at one house and then switch places for a [seated] dessert at the other.”

If you’re lucky enough to score a seat at the Guild Hall patron festivities beside the likes of Paul Goldberger and Martha Stewart (or signup in advance for the tour), expect something a bit unique: “The gardens are very unusual this year—quite different,” said Ms. Gillman. She described some as large estates, while others are small gardens that, despite their size, hold their own. “Small gems and things to marvel at,” she concluded in a hushed tone.

This year’s roster for the Garden as Art Tour is: Lenore and Adam Sender (Sag Harbor), Lisa and Richard Perry (North Haven), Jenny and Trey Laird (Bridgehampton Village), Jody and Larry Carlson (Bridgehampton), Michael MacElhenny and David Wine (East Hampton Village).

La Piscine—the rooftop bar, restaurant and pool at the Hôtel Americano—is helping busy New Yorkers find a moment of European bliss when they just can’t get away from the city’s sweltering heat. “You almost feel like you are on holiday in New York, like on a trip to the South of France,” says Carlos Couturier, who owns the hotel, along with ten others in Mexico, with co-owner Rafael Micha. The pristine rooftop, which opened simultaneously with the Chelsea hotel last September, hadn’t been able to fully flaunt its potential until the weather reached warmer temperatures this past spring. But now that summer is in full swing, artists and A-listers have been flocking to the small but chic space for a drink and a dip.

Just since May, actress Scarlett Johansson has been spotted celebrating socialite Pippa Cohen’s birthday with designer Brian Atwood; Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet busted a move with fashion-staples Jason Wu and Olivier Theyskens; and models Karlie Kloss and Arizona Muse helped designer Olivier Rousteing celebrate the launch of Balmain’s Facebook and Twitter page. “Since our Sept. 5 opening, we’ve had everyone from Martha Stewart to Ewan McGregor,” Micha adds.

However, don’t think the space is strictly VIP: “We have regulars. When they come we know who they are. I don’t like elitism. The neighborhood is not about that,” Couturier, who gave us a tour of the hotel and its multiple eateries and lounges, explains. “It pays to be a regular, or a guest of the hotel, or call ahead of time.”

If you can’t get a table right off the bat, a reservation is worth the wait. Micha and Couturier aren’t just detailed when it comes to decorating; they’re fanatical. Furniture from Brazil was handpicked for the dining area, striped seating was specially ordered from Massachusetts and big, floppy lounges surrounding the dipping pool came from Italy. (The watering hole, which is only open to non-hotel guests after 5 p.m., is guarded by a sign that wittily says “Get A Room.”)

The drink list was also heavily thought out, with Latin-influenced cocktails including a margarita, caipirinha and mojito, beers from Greece and French wine. The menu follows suit, with dishes that lean towards a Mediterranean palate—featuring grilled fish and vegetable dishes—with heavy Greek influences. As for Couturier? “I’m Mexican with a French passport!” he laughs.

While the rooftop closes up shop at 12 a.m. (rather early by New York standards), “as not to disturb the hotel guests,” patrons can head to the hotel’s basement lounge, El Privado. “We don’t want it to be too crowded,” explains Couturier of the retro and French-inspired bar and private event space, “so many places in New York are so crowded, but if you’re in the know, come down and have a drink.”

La Piscine at the Hôtel Americano, 518 W. 27th Street, 212.525.0000

There is one significant change, however. In place of the previous low-key owners, a puckish Julian Niccolini and his partner Alex von Bidder have overseen the grand restaurant since they purchased it with Edgar Bronfman in 1995. Tuscan born Niccolini has the gift of gab and breathes life into the elegant room as he works it masterfully, from table to table, speaking with irreverence and routinely playing pranks on his regulars. Now, after 17 years of honing his skill charming the Midtown power set, he has his eye on the downtown crowd and has been in talks to open a Meatpacking offshoot of the legendary restaurant.

“A particular real estate man has one building already up and another being built on 10th Avenue between 14th and 16th streets; he really wants us,” he reveals. “There are a lot of people extremely interested in our opening a place downtown.”

As soon as word got out, Niccolini was inundated with inquiries. Understandably, architects were among the callers. Who wouldn’t want to be seen as the new Philip Johnson?
“Believe it or not, I just heard last week from David Rockwell,” Niccolini confides. “He is a tremendous architect for restaurants and he said he would be interested in designing the new place. We need to have somebody famous.”

One man who is not excited about the expansion is Marc Sherry, owner of the Old Homestead, which has been in the area for more than 100 years. He told the Daily News, “If they come down here with an elitist attitude or thinking they’re going to reinvent the wheel, they’ve got another thing coming.” Niccolini laughs off the challenge with a touch of condescension. “The Old Homestead is fine with me. I thought it was cute when I was there about 10 years ago.”

In any case, he says he has no plans for an elitist establishment.  “Up until now, many people opened restaurants for the one percent; we need to do something for the other 99. You have to make sure you are giving quality at the right price. The new place is going to be a very democratic restaurant: I think artists and architects will like it—the name itself. It will be dedicated to the emerging class from downtown; there are a tremendous number of people and companies moving there. It is going to be American food, but more casual, and we will call it the Four Seasons Downtown. If we called it Niccolini, nobody would come.”

He has been spending some time scouting the area. “Pastis is a goldmine; I also go to Soho House and I like Catch. The food is outstanding and there’s a lot of action.”
According to Niccolini, the new spot will be a 100-seat room, serving lunch and dinner. The décor, he says, will reflect the mothership, but have downtown sensibility.

That sensibility will be a transition for Niccolini, who knows how to finesse luxurious details and understands the art of high-end service. Even on a rainy summer night, he is dressed in a suit—with flair. “I only like Thom Browne; everything is Thom Browne, even my tie and shoes,” he announces as he shows off his jacket with Browne’s signature tags hanging off the back collar. “Look, it is short and very tight. The suspenders are not Thom Browne, but I wear them because my pants are falling down. I wear a tie because I work here; otherwise I wouldn’t wear one.” His watch is more of a classic piece—a striking gold vintage Rolex from 1962, a time when the restaurant was in its infancy. “My wife got it for me; I guess she decided to keep me around,” he smiles.

Though he sits down to dinner, he carefully monitors the other tables, sending gifts here and there, and finally taking a moment to bite into his food. “My quail are delicious!” he exclaims. “They look like Dick Cheney shot them. What happened to my glass of Sancerre? Did the waiter quit or go on vacation?” His eyes scan the diners with admiration, as if he is appreciating art in his own home, and settle on a brunette in a tight black dress. “She is hot!” Later he checks out a blonde. “Look at this one, she is cute!” Then he calls a waiter over and asks him to gift the tables to our right and left with truffle strewn risotto.

“It’s a fun night!” he proclaims. “Look, we have two beautiful people who just got engaged over here, and over there we have Jamie Dimon and his wife. A lot of people are going over to give him support and say ‘do the best you can.’ Stuff like that happens, what are you going to do?” He heads over to greet the beleaguered banker, then whispers to a waiter and a bottle of red wine appears at the table of the newly engaged couple: the woman illuminates when it arrives. “It’s from Paso Robles; that’s where I’m from!” she exclaims. He has done his homework. “Yes, it’s very dry there and produces great wine,” he notes.

But as he glances at the bottle, his eyes catch a few droplets of condensation: he quickly grabs his cell phone and calls the front to have the wine cellar’s temperature elevated. “Look at the foie gras on that bison,” he says, nodding toward a neighboring diner, “and the tableside carvings…we are not McDonald’s—yet.” The new place will have no such formal service, but it will have the famed Dover sole, he promises, along with extended hours. “Uptown, you see what happens. It’s 9:30 p.m. and everyone is going to sleep. Downtown we will stay open until 1 a.m., of course!”

Niccolini is fond of saying “of course,” as if everything he’s learned and perfected should be easy and obvious. He is confident and mischievous enough to toy with the biggest business players, leading CEOs past the Grill room’s VIP section lunchtime, and up the stairs to Siberia just to make them sweat a little, before circling back to a more coveted table. He has become an expert at juggling the Grill room’s seating chart, which changes daily and accommodates regulars like Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart and Henry Kissinger. “There are 33 tables and they are taken every day,” he explains. “Only a few people have their own tables, like Mr. Bronfman and Pete Peterson. We move guests around to make the room look good. Sometimes it depends on who is doing better and who is doing worse. If someone is having a bad day, I will give him a better table. People are very concerned about where they are seated. They get upset and ask ‘do you know who I am?’ But it is totally impossible to satisfy all these clients. If I know someone is having an important lunch I am tempted to seat the person somewhere that is not so prized and sometimes I do. Then I think, ‘why did I do that?’ But just for a moment.”

With all the outsized egos, there is the occasional seating misstep. “There are sometimes I make a mistake and I say ‘sorry it didn’t work out today, lunch is on me.’”
Niccolini likes to satisfy a customer’s every whim, but also enjoys jabbing regulars in the process. “If a customer like Pete Peterson wants wonton soup, I will get it from the local Chinese place, put it in a nice bowl and charge $45; I also get a hot dog at the truck for $5 and charge $45,” he laughs.

He gets a thrill from playing host to boldfaces like Bono (“that guy from U2”), Drew Barrymore and Bill Clinton, who could apparently fill Niccolini’s shoes were they ever vacated. “Before Clinton sits down, he has to work the whole room,” he says. Who would he like to see as a client? “Beyoncé would be great, and Johnny Depp! He was here for a movie premiere and that guy has seven bodyguards—more than a president.”

The Four Seasons was the first restaurant in New York to focus on seasonal menus, and Niccolini remains true to the love of quality ingredients by bottling “Julian of the Seasons” olive oil, tomato sauce and honey—all come with a caricature of the restaurateur on the label. “It was a terrible year for honey,” he sighs. “People think it is easy to make; they are idiots.”

After 10 p.m., he is ready to head back to the small apartment he keeps blocks from the restaurant. “I am going to walk my new dog, Dutch. Can I show you a picture? Look at that nose! She is only five months old and she is wearing a Thom Browne jacket!”

Despite the side projects, the dramatic room and all the heavy hitters, 58-year-old Niccolini is yearning for another act. He and his wife are planning to give up their home in Westchester and move to the city full time—somewhere downtown, of course.

“A lot of restaurants in Midtown have music because otherwise there would be total boredom,” he says. “We don’t have any except for cocktails, because the diners in this area are more serious. But downtown, it is a different clientele. There will be music and it will be for people who want to stay a little longer. The look has to be very similar to what we have here, but if we had a pool I would have some naked women in it!”

And, Beyoncé and Johnny Depp might even show.

The answers ranged from the gleeful (Ricky Lauren) to the opulent (Geoffrey Bradfield) to the paranoid (Jason Sudeikis), and can be seen by clicking through the above slideshow. Enjoy!

“New York Observer? Right this way!” yelled a publicist with a headset, who promptly guided us through a back entrance to the red carpet of last night’s “Party in the Garden” benefit gala at the Museum of Modern Art. The annual spectacle honors MoMA trustees and other artsy do-gooders. We’re not a huge fan of red carpet step and repeats, they bore us and it makes being mischievous all the more difficult. But we cooperated and grabbed a few words with notables with greater ease as their wranglers forced them in front of the photography pit, making friends with other reporters while we asked the likes of Santigold (in a Marni confection with Cartier bijoux) and Rachel Roy pesky questions.

“My brother is the film curator, I’m his date,” said Ms. Roy. “Whenever he has a major event here I’m his date. I love being in the outdoors.”

Not that the “garden party” was all that green, but let’s allow the fine folks to pretend for a night.

We asked Santigold about her after-party gig.

“We’ll see if we can get anyone up on stage,” she said skeptically eyeing the all too prim and proper crowd.

“Any headaches today getting ready, or was it all easy-breezy?” The Observer inquired.

“It wasn’t bad. I was just running late per usual. I almost missed this!” she laughed.

Kim Catrall and visual artist Clifford Ross posed eagerly for the flashing lights, as did Solange Knowles, whose star seems to be shining a bit too bright for her own good. But we’ll give her a break—she killed it in a Flaminia Saccucci number paired with Cartier jewels and she is one hell of a DJ. Not that we even got to hear her work her magic, but more about that later. Chuck Close in his tricked out wheels looked delighted beside Cindy Sherman. Philanthropic art empress Agnes Gund cut her red carpet appearance short when her gown and heel got caught in the stone walkway, sending her flailing into the arms of Jerry Speyer. We finally had enough and grabbed our arm candy for a round of drinks.

“The bar is closed sir, would you please proceed to the gala dinner inside the Museum?” a server sternly implored.

Fine! We marched over the pool bridge toward the courtyard entrance of MoMA. We spotted Martha Stewart in Lanvin for the second time that evening. (She had just scurried down from Ricky Lauren’s book launch at the Ralph Lauren Madison Avenue flagship, where Mayor Bloomberg had also been in attendance.) We chatted, brièvement, about our mutual experiences summering in Seal Harbor, before we had to move on. We saluted our dear friends Todd Bishop, MoMA's Director of Exhibition Funding, and Molly Epstein, Assistant Director of Barbara Gladstone Gallery, and her curator pal from MoMA PS1 before prancing over to the banquet entrance.

“I’m sorry—we can’t seat press at the dinner tonight,” barked MoMA publicist Paul Jackson.

Bon Qui Qui said it best: “Rude!”

With the outdoor bars on pause and the sweltering humidity leaving us uncomfortable in our couture, The Observer called it quits. We skipped the bitchin’ after-party—Santigold concert and all—but our GalleristNY colleagues were there.

Weaver.

The preservation of the park (you know to which park we refer) is one of those grand old New York causes, like the opera or the ballet. This year’s Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon is for the ladies who do that sort of thing, with a co-chair list that reads like the Social Register and a guest list including a Rockefeller, a De Niro, a Trump, a Martha Stewart—and Avatar-let Sigourney Weaver! (Hey, she went to Chapin, so she’s in the club.) Per the organizers, 93 percent of this year’s invited residents live adjacent to the park—we’ll be looking for the seven percent contingent of Tribecans, and trying to blackmail each of them individually into giving us a prized committee seat for next year!

Central Park. Invitation only.

"I was really upset when I saw it," Ms. Streep said of Bully. "When I watched it, it brought me back to New Jersey in ninteen fifty. . .—a long time ago. I was eight years old and up a tree and a group of kids was below me and my nemisis, this one bully, was hitting my legs with a stick until they bled," she said. "It was very lord of the flies—a very nice Republican community."

We're not touching that last one.

Although Martha Stewart can't recall being bullied—she was "pretty big and strong and certainly didn't bully anybody—" she attended the screening because bullying is a phenomena that needs to be publicized and addressed.

Billie Jean King, like Meryl—but unlike Martha—also remembers being bullied.

"I'd be going home and he'd stop me and start just making me feel really scared, and obviously, being gay was really difficult."

Ms. King told Velvet Roper that she'd hid her sexuality for a long time until finally being outed in her thirties—the decision to publicly identify as a lesbian—or not—had been taken away from her.

"People called me a slut and called me a horrible person and then I could tell who my real friends were though," Ms. King said. "You start to learn about yourself and about the world, the way it really works."

"I think it's ridiculous," Julie Taymor said, when asked what she thought about Bully''s R rating. But this isn't the first time the MPAA has caught Ms. Taymor's ire. "On Across the Universe we had to fuzz out one nipple of the character Lucy, how is that going to endanger anybody?" she mused. "And also in Titus, I had to fight for an R rating because there was a little bit of nudity. I think that the MPAA is completely on the wrong end of things. It's okay to have violence but you can't have love . . ? I find it appalling what is allowed and what isn't allowed."

As far as Mr. Ravi is concerned, Ms. Taymor, is uncertain how he should be treated.

"I don't know about the sentence for him," she said. "I don't know whether it was a hate crime or whether it was really just being mean and nasty . . . It is terrible, but is he a murderer? I don't think that was his intention and there's plenty of hate crimes where that is the intention. Bullying yes, it probably was bullying."

Ms. King agrees. without a precedent, it's unclear how this case should be treated.

"I think it's probably a little bit of an overreaction but I think it brought the subject matter to the forefront, which is good," she said. "He didn't kill him. I'm not sure what the sentence should be exactly . . . He's young too and you hope he can change. I hate it when I see a young child make a huge mistake and not have a chance to change."

Mr. Hirsch, described Mr. Clementi's death as "a total tragedy," adding that he's spent the last three years reading about suicides all over this country that don't make national headlines.

"Each one is so upsetting and many of them don't receive [that] kind of attention, but for me, because it's the work that I do, I'm engaged with so many of these families and it just always breaks my heart." Mr. Hirsch said. "His death, of course was a heartbreak. Any death like that is so sad."

Mr. Hirsch said that despite the tough topics he tackles in his work, the reward outweighs the hardship.

"I get a lot of energy from the people that write us and tell us that we're making a difference for them," he said. "I'm probably on a huge deep well of adrenaline and just feeling like this is the moment and I've just got to push as hard as I can and keep trying to make that difference. I'm tired but I'm also energized all the time."

Ms. Taymor said she believes strongly in hate crime legislation and believes it should be extended to cover transgendered and gay persons as well as women.

"I think what goes on everywhere all over the world with the bullying that women go through with honor killings and rape," she said. ". . . With what's gone on in the Middle East and Africa, as well as the United States with how women are constantly bullied. But I think we take it for granted. We just say, 'Oh, that's private, it's in the home,' but I don't think that, so I hope it just explodes into talking about women. They're bullied and they're abused and they're frightened and that's a hate crime because men do it because they can and because women are considered less, less than human."

Before the film began, Regency Boies told a story about her time in high school with Ms. Streep's duaghter, Mamie.

"I saw her, on more than a few occasions, come to the rescue of some of our classmates that were being ridiculed, when none of the rest of us were brave enough to defend them," Ms. Boies said. "I know that it is the integrity and the kindness that you instilled in Mamie that is bringing you here today and thank God we have your voice."

When Ms. Streep heard this she was almost moved to tears, covering her mouth with her hands.

"I didn't know that story about Mamie, she said as she introduced the film. "Now I have to recover because that's just so great to hear. You never know what they're doing at school."

The crowd laughed and Ms. Streep added one more sentiment.

"A team is stronger than a bully . . . Tell absolutely everyone that it (Bully) should have the MPAA rating of PG-13 . . . or PG."