Valentine’s Day can be tough, so I wanted to throw a Saint Valentine’s party where couples and singles would have a special occasion-y evening in a beautiful and engaging setting.
The evening was hosted by Vivian Brodie and Ahmet Civelek in Ahmet Civelek’s studio loft in Lower Manhattan. We ate below his paintings, and he talked about his work. The table was crowned with a big balloon customized for Victory Club by Robert Moy of the Brooklyn Balloon Company.
Me, dressed up like a Hallmark Valentine, and dear friend Lucy Demery.
Some "Galentines": Leslie Blackshear, Alyss Vavricka, Sophie Lambert, and me.
The dress code? Black tie. Why? Because though the evening was intimate (12 people), I wanted it to feel festive and special.
The dress code extended to each place setting.
Wine flowed (at an average rate of 1 bottle per person), and during dinner, a few people volunteered to read poetry. I read my favorite love poem, Frank O’Hara’s "Having a Coke with You," and another guest read Billy Collin’s "Aimless Love."
Clockwise from left: Suzie Byowitz, Alyss Vavricka, Matthew Chen, Sophie Lambert, Vivian Brodie, Ahmet Civelek, Greg Cohen, Lucy Demery, Zach Sims, Leslie Blackshear, David Byowitz.
In Victory Club style, all invited guests were encouraged to bring someone who had not been invited. For this holiday, however, bringing a date (a friend date or date date) is sensitive, so I adjusted the verbiage to say: "Please bring your dearest." I was touched by everyone's interpretation of "dearest": one guest brought her brother; another brought her best friend; and the rest brought date dates of varying seriousness. The warmth of every pair radiated to the entire party.
Suzie Byowitz and David Byowitz, sister and brother.
The playlist was singsongy and familiar: Diana Ross and the rest of the Motown canon. It was perfect: relevant and fitting from 8pm and 3am, the entirety of the party.
The menu and its corresponding pictures follow below. And yes, I did fry the cauliflower in my Valentino gown ;)
Menu
Champagne, White Wine, Red Wine
Hors D'Oeuvres
First:
Crimini Mushroom Soup with a Porcini Marshmallow
Second:
Filet mignon
"Chefanie's" cauliflower
Roasted Haricots Verts
Third:
Peppermint Tartlets
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Crimini Mushroom Soup with a Porcini Marshmallow
Chocolate dipped strawberries with the Victory Club seal