A tennis skirt called mineral water.
+ Graydon Carter's perfect use of "fuck", Glossier gardening gloves, and more.
Last night I went to the book party for Graydon Carter’s When the Going Was Good, hosted by Michael Bloomberg. I am once again asking someone to introduce me to Mike, I really need to talk to him about something.
Everyone at the party was wearing name tags, which was kind of like the Nosedive episode of Black Mirror. You could immediately clock familiar bylines and luminaries of the 80s 90s media scene.
Besides Mike, attendees at the party included Tony Danza, Martha Stewart, William Cohan, Gay Talese (looking fantastic), Chris Black, Jen Vitagliano, Thessaly La Force, Derek Blasberg, David Haskell, someone who I’m 90% sure was Victor Garber and either way looked very distinguished , Stella Bugbee, Alex Vadukul, Charlotte Klein, Thessaly La Force, and a lot of women who looked like they may have partied with Trump in 1988, and then insulted him in Spy magazine the next day.
Everyone really brought it and turned out, to commemorate Graydon, and commemorate a certain moment in time when magazines editors reigned supreme, and bought townhouses and Hamptons houses and smoked.
In his Thank You speech, Graydon said, “I feel lucky but not as lucky as Jeffrey Goldberg. Easiest scoop ever. Fuck!” Well-placed Fuck. He’s a pro.
Today’s letter includes: Glossier’s gardening gloves, mineral water-colored tennis skirts, Mario Carbone’s new restaurant is in Arizona, the first natural wine bar in the Hamptons, Duke said The White Lotus took it too far (curious what Cornell thought of Andy Bernard), and Bloomberg knows you like clicking on stories about the Sweetgreen founders.
Earlier this week, Hell Gate published a glorious interactive map of restaurants in New York where you can get dinner for $20. I rarely pay $20 for dinner — whether it’s takeout, or a split check with friends, or groceries. Even my favorite Winner sandwiches end up being over $20 with a tip (and a cookie).
I caught up with Max Rivlin-Nadler, co-publisher of Hell Gate, about eating in new neighborhoods, how I wish I had the site’s ability to build and publish projects like this, and why people who don’t live in New York should read Hell Gate.
First question, when’s the last time you ate in a new neighborhood? It’s hard for me to always see long lines in the West Village and Greenpoint when there are so many other hoods to eat in on a Friday night.
Oh, great question! Yeah, long lines, social media, and reservation culture have made a lot of neighborhoods a total bear. But that is overwhelmingly not the case in NYC to find insanely good food! I’m from Jackson Heights (so I’ve been spoiled), and I think it was only last year that I walked into a restaurant and was asked if I had a reservation (Angel, which is on the $20 Dinner map!). Recently I had Dunya Kebab House on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn—incredible Afghan food. Cheap!