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Grand Evening At Boyds

The autumn party season is in full swing in the city and on Thursday we attended one of the biggest and best parties of the year -- the Fall FashionFest at Boyds celebrating the opening of the store's new women's department on the third floor at 1818 Chestnut.
We enjoyed wonderful white cosmo martinis made with Pravda vodka and delicious treats from Raw, the cafe at Boyds. These included shrimp wrapped in bacon, thin-sliced steak rolls, a variety of sushi, batter-dipped chicken and other delights.
Live models provided the visual stimulation (along with the many guests all of who were instructed to "dress fashionably") and DJs kept the whole environment reverberating.
Of course we saw many friends such as former Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellors Allan Gordon of Kolsby Gordon (there with his wife, Sharon) and Alan Feldman of Feldman Shepherd. Feldman was there with his partners, Carol Nelson Shepherd and Roberta (Bobbi) Pichini. We also chatted with our dear friend lawyer Theresa (Terri) Italiano who is now Legislative Director for Philadelphia City Council and with the great Nicole Cashman whose Cashman and Associates produced the entire evening for Boyds. And let's not forget Rob Kaloustian, General Sales Manager for 1210 AM Radio, The Big Talker in Philadelphia and Johnny Corrado of Morgan Stanley's Corrado Group.
Seventy years ago, Boyds opened its doors with a relentless commitment to providing customers with the best of the best. Today, in its third generation, Boyds is regarded as one of the world's great clothing stores.
While Boyds has grown and evolved, its core ideals have remained unchanged. There are no demographic breakdowns and no shareholders to answer to. Its customers are not points on a graph. Boyds one store. The same one that has been owned and operated by the same family for 70 years. And when you know customers by their names and individual tastes, demographics just seem silly.
In an age of mass merchandising, when so many retail stores look the same, Boyds focuses on providing our customers with exclusive merchandise. They are proud to offer one of the country's largest selections of fine men's and women's designer fashions.
Boyds is known for extraordinary customer service. Free custom alterations by fifty European tailors, fashion coordinators and free valet parking are part of Boyds tradition.

Starr Shines Bright

Will Stephen Starr be bringing one of his hugely successful restaurant brands to the Cherry Hill Mall?
We don't know.
We can't say for sure.
But one of the restaurants now being constructed at the Mall certainly appears to be (at least from the outside) a Starr brand.
In any event, we do know that Starr has opened his newest eatery Butcher and Singer at 1500 Walnut St. on the site of the former Striped Bass.
We attended the huge gala opening of Butcher and Singer last week and found ourselves in the midst of a crowd of luminaries including Starr himself. We also spotted Mayor Michael Nutter, CBS 3 Meteorlogist Doug Kammerer and his lovely wife, Holly; Food Channel Host Marc Summers; Dechert worldwide PR maven Mark Tarasiewicz; Philly Super Lawyer Scott Sigman; Big Time Special Events Exec Nicole Cashman, City Paper's Mary Patel, Philadelphia Tribune's Bobbi Booker and many others.
At the event (which featured plenty of Adult Beverages) we enjoyed steak tartare; fresh, icy, jumbo shrimp; lobster salad; sauteed mushrooms; homemade carrot cake, pecan pie and chocolate mousse.
We also chatted with B & S Maitre d Raj (transplanted from The Palm by way of Barclay Prime). Raj is one of the city's finest hosts and he is a great asset at this new eatery.
And we met Executive Chef Shane Cash who came to B & S from legendary Shelly's Steak House in Manhattan. Cash has lots of great ideas for Buthcher and Singer whose historic location dates back to the early 1900's when it was the site of the National bank before becoming the Butcher and Singer stock brokerage house. Now, the dramatic space features 28-foot ceilings, seductive leather Hollywood booths, bold draperies and two magnificent chandeliers rescued from the original Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami.
This spectacular new steak and chop house is inspired by clubs such as 21 Club in New York, the brown derby in Los Angeles and Philadelphia's Frankie Bradley's

Delicious Izakaya

We were out late last night celebrating the opening of the spectacular new Izakaya Japanese Pub at the beautiful Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City. In Japan izakaya describes is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks.

The name "izakaya" is a compound word consisting of "i " (to remain) and "sakaya" (sake shop), showing that izakaya originate from sake shops which allowed customers to remain on the premises to drink.

At Borgata Izakaya describes a modern Japanese pub that defies comparison and serves extraordinary sushi, sake and robotayaki served in a sensual, yet contemporary atmosphere. Izakaya's tempting cocktails and sharable plates make it the premier spot for after-hours nosh and drinks, or a delicious late night meal.

We were mesmerized as we watched chef/owner Michael Schulson (pictured) and his fine staff at work as they produced dazzling treats such as cubed kobe beef, king crab, seared scallops, salmon, spicy tuna cracker and sushi made of cucumber, tuna, eel, shrimp, yellowtail and avocado. Schulson is the acclaimed chef and star of "Pantry Raid" on the Food Network and his new eatery is inspired by his time living in Japan and his global travels.

Izakaya is dreamy inside - tranquilizing in shades of brown, gold, grey and black. With an airy spaciousness Izakaya invites you to linger and taste a variety of dishes while enjoying drinks such as its signature sake sidecar. Last night we sampled all of the treats including the refreshing sidecar and topped it all off with mini ice cream sandwiches made of green tea, chocolate or vanilla tofu "ice cream."

We also met many members of the Borgata staff including Signe Huff who works in human resources. Signe told us that Borgata employs more than 8,000 people and that its human resources department alone employees more than 20 people. Signe started working in Atlantic City at Resorts when gambling first arrived 30 years ago. Signe was a pleasure to chat with as she described how the town has grown and thrived and how Borgata has redefined hospitality at the shore.

BTW: In Philadelphia magazine's "Best of Philly" (just out) Borgata garners a record FIVE "best of" winners in five different categories. Is anybody surprised?

Kudos once again to Cashman and Associates for producing a top-drawer party!

Positano Coast!

We had a wonderful time last night at Aldo Lamberti's dreamy Positano Coast Restaurant and Sopra Lounge (pictured) amidst the treetops of Philadelphia's Society Hill neighborhood. Sopra is color, comfort and intimacy combined in a soft, welcoming atmosphere.

We were part of a huge party centered in the lounge and we enjoyed Positano's unique lemon drop martinis. The party also featured a variety of other adult beverages as well as shrimp, tuna tartare, brusceta, gazpacho soup, mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat and miniature potato puffs. As the evening wore on the open-walled setting was throbbing with happy partygoers and intoxicating music. The candlelit space opened to the balmy night breezes and the sky beyond as guests sort of naturally blended into their vibrant surroundings. The more, the merrier!

It was a night to celebrate the coming of the warm-weather months and the rain held off just long enough to make it a perfect evening in every sense of the word.

We congratulated Aldo as we departed and we extend our thanks as well to Nicole Cashman and her extraordinary staff at Cashman and Associates for their hard work in making this event such a great success.

On The Main Line

Last night we went to the big party at the Radnor Hotel marking the release of Main Line Magazine's spring issue.

This happy event in the heart of the legendary Main Line featured plentiful adult beverages and a wide variety of edible goodies as well as cool music and rooms bathed in preppy pink and green. We chatted with Andrew Cantor, the magazine's publisher and complimented him on the current issue which is chock full of stories on the Good Life including features on Main Line wine enthusiasts, lush garden furnishings, island escapes and the enduring allure of Lilly Pulitzer.

You can understand why ML calls itself "The art + culture + lifestyle magazine." But the book also contains more serious articles such as the family feature on infertility. All in all, it's a seductive, vivid publication that inspires you live life to the fullest. And everyone from the magazine was justifiably proud last night as the new issue debuted.

Since we were just down the road from Villanova University we felt very much at home at this event. And once again the evening moved along smoothly thanks to the topnotch staff at Cashman and Associates.

Taking Comfort In Comfort

We had a great time last night at John DeBella's Comfort Food fest presented by Classic Rock MGK, 102.9 on the FM band.

The Fest at the beautiful Cescaphe Ballroom in Philly's hip Northern Liberties neighborhood featured food from many of our town's best chef's including one of our favorites, Pippo Lamberti of Positano Coast. Also on hand were Matthew Levin of Lacroix, Todd Fuller of Tangerine, Don Mercantuno of Brasserie Perrier, David Wiederholt of Oceanaire, Brian Duffy of Kildare's, Cary Neff of Coquette Bistro, David Zuckerman of Philadelphia Park Casino, Scott Dubbs of Lucky Strike Lanes and Steve Linneman of the Cescaphe Ballroom.

Food stations served wonderful goodies such as tomato soup and grilled cheese, chili, tuna melt, waffles 'n chicken, crispy pizza squares, pad Thai with shrimp and even that old reliable Spam. The drinks of choice were Bluecoat gin and Fiji water.

John DeBella is one of Philadelphia's favorite (and funniest) radio personalities and last night he presented his First Annual John DeBella Golden Spoon Award.

On a personal note, it's wonderful to see Positano Coast and all the Lamberti restaurants prospering. We've been visiting Aldo Lamberti's original South Jersey restaurant (Tutti Toscani) on Brace Road in Cherry Hill since it first opened in 1985. There are now nine Lamberti restaurants in the region with more than 300 employees company-wide serving more than 18,000 guests every week.

Kudos once again to the folks at Cashman and Associates for putting together a spectacular evening at the Comfort Food fest.

Party With Perrier

All of the chairs and tables were removed from Georges Perrier's legendary jewel box last night as Le Bec Fin opened its doors to a reception hosted by the renowned chef himself.

Philadelphia's most revered restaurateur mingled with guests amicably and invited all to enjoy menu samples from appetizers to desserts. Level 1 Vodka and fine wines were the lubricants of choice.

The Perrier empire (dubbed Signature Restaurants) will soon unveil its latest attraction at the dazzling new Comcast Center which will be the tallest building between New York and Chicago and one of the largest and most advanced "green" buildings in the world. Perrier also announced an update of the nearby Brasserie Perrier with more popularly priced menu items and he encouraged diners to stop by Le Bec Fin and its lower level Le Bar Lyonnaisse for new menu choices and more accessible offerings.

Kudos to the evening's architects: the extraordinary Nicole Cashman and her wonderful staff at Cashman and Associates. Nicole told us that she is now representing Philadelphia's Sofitel where big changes are on the horizon for the hotel's restaurant and lounge.

At the event we also chatted with CBS3 meteorologist Doug Kammerer and his lovely wife Holly and Fox29 weatherguy John Bolaris. Doug just moved from NBC10 to his new digs at the up-to-the-minute CBS3 broadcast center. Bolaris has returned to town from New York.