On the Upper East Side on Wednesday night, it was a celebration of innovation, tradition and respect for history. Roger Vivier’s creative director Gerardo Felloni was also in town, rolling out the pink carpet to unveil his Madison Avenue flagship store in Paris. Then head to Le Veau d’Or for dinner—it’s the first opportunity for New York’s oldest French bistro to show off its new look since its acquisition by a fashion brand.
The store, now located at 650 Madison Avenue, was designed to mimic the spirit of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, featuring square tile mirrors with gold leaf, French moldings and Versailles-style parquetry floors. Inside, devout fans, VIP clients and tastemakers gathered in impeccably balanced I Love Vivier pumps, patent leather flares, crystal buckle biker boots and suede Viv Choc bags, drinking Ruinart champagne and sipping around canapés.
Mannequins in the boutique’s windows wear Western-style boots and fringed black waistcoats, reminding passersby that there’s more to see inside than the famous shoes. This eye-catching oeuvre was also modeled in real life by fresh-faced young actress Jaya Harper, whose mother, Laura Dern, recently did a quirky shoot for the luxury brand’s video ads. Another familiar name, Pat Cleveland, currently gracing the fall campaign, can also be seen in the crowd. Rising star Ella Hunt, who plays original SNL comedian Gilda Radner in “Saturday Night Live,” which opens today, is here after a busy day doing press around town.
After touring the store, guests, including Inès de la Fressange and her daughter Violette Durso, Ivy Getty, Sabine Getty, Meena Harris and the evening’s co-host Laura Brown, boarded a waiting SUV and headed to the East 60th Street store. The legendary French restaurant, once frequented by the likes of Grace Kelly and Jackie O, Truman Capote and Orson Welles, has changed ownership and will return this summer to Frenchette and Le Roc owners and chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson.
Passing through the eighties-style pink door adorned with the restaurant’s distinctive golden calf and climbing the wood-paneled staircase, attendees were greeted with cocktails and a look at the bistro’s charming private booths. At 8:15 p.m., one could only think about the filet mignon that was rumored to be waiting in the wings. Guests, including AnnaSophia Robb, Danai Gurira and Padma Lakshmi, relaxed on cozy double red leather banquettes, sipped natural wine and enjoyed bread soaked in salted butter, bean salad, cooked halibut, steak, pilaf and rice served with a plate of crispy chips. While immersing yourself in the atmosphere of an intimate restaurant is certainly a special pleasure at the best of times, it creates a perfectly cinematic backdrop for Vivier’s vibrant world that makes it all the more delicious.
Given that this is the spookiest month on the calendar, dinner table discussions kept returning to the question of whether the room was haunted. Given that original Vivian muse Marlene Dietrich was a famous regular at the time – there’s no doubt she would have loved the view. Arianna Huffington, Gerardo Ferroni, Sabine Getty-Inès de la Fressange, Violette Marie Durso, Ella Hunter, PJ Pascual, Sarah Hoover, Pat Cleveland, Ivey Getty, Gerardo Filoni, AnnaSophia Robb, Danai Gurira, Jaya Harper, La Seyn Thompson, Chiara Aurelia, Myra Harris, Padma Lakshmi Gerardo Feloni, Laura Brown, Tina Leung, Brendan Borel – Brandon Borer-Chappell, Ella Beatty Sunrise Coigney, Odessa Young, Patina Miller
