Thursday, March 23, 2006

Lunch at Michael's

map2006

(image via fishbowlny)

It's Thursday, so that means that the adorable Laurel Touby is assessing with a jewelers eye the talent in the room at uber-media powerspot Michael's. Vanity Fair's Michael Wolff is still -- we guess it's now a permanent condition -- AWOL, sulking, no doubt, at some less swishy joint (Averted Gaze); if only Wolff had just graciously accepted the lush bouquet that Michael's exceptional General Manager Steve Millington sent him then this would all be water under the bridge. And so today Table 5 was occupied not by Wolff but by "Ex-Variety publisher Gerry Byrne with a film producer." (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment)

Anyhoo: It was a mixed bag yesterday at lunch. Not so much rib-busting ox strength media power on display today so much as an eclectic gathering of various players, including:

According to FishbowlNY:

"1: HarperCollins' head Jane Friedman, in a brown-floral top, holding court with three others.

"2: Time Inc. editor-in-chief John Huey and Time Warner corporate communications EVP Ed Adler.

".. 4: Gil Schwartz (a.k.a Stanley Bing) with New York Times TV editor Steve Reddicliffe. Gil (or was it Bing?) schmoozed it up with Friedman on his way out."

Pimp that book proposal! Pimp that book proposal!

"... 7: Men's fashion mogul Barry Wishnow and someone.

"... 9: Chris Taylor with Betsy Perry, of the Milken Institute and an executive in Mayor Bloomberg's office.

"... 11: The always-fashionable author Pamela Keogh and veteran journalist and author Michael Gross, both Vassar alums. Keogh stopped by Huey's table to chat with Adler, a fellow-Vassar grad.

"... 15: Cyberhostess Laurel Touby, mediabistro managing editor Dylan Stableford, Ed Koller of Howard Sloan Koller with EVP Karen Danziger, BusinessWeek president Bill Kupper and new-Aussie import Babe Scott. We discussed, among other things, magazine start-ups, what constitutes a Cobb salad and golf club membership dues � which, we'll admit, shocked the hell out of us.

"... 17: Joshua Nash of PBS with William Baker, WNET president.

"... 26: Mary Murphy, formerly of CBS News, with Patrick Murphy, who works with an academic development company in DC."

The full dosage of media crackrock here.

No comments: