Lunch at Michael's: Ivanka, Ovitz, ALT, Deeda, Dash, David Granger, More

We're in too much of a hurry today to give you much of a lead-in to the names, which are what you come here for anyway. Let's just get on with it: Table 1: We assumed the gathering of editorial firepower at this table was some sort of ASME adjunct meeting. Three of the table's five members included ASME president and Glamour editor Cindi Leive, Esquire editor David Granger, CondeNet editorial director Jamie Pallot, and Runner's World editor David Willey. (There was another pair of women we couldn't identify.) Granger came by to say hello before heading to his table, and we told him what a great hire he'd made in luring Eric Gillin from Maxim to relaunch Esquire.com. (We worked there briefly nearly seven years ago, and the site's look-and-feel hasn't changed much since then.) "He's great," Granger said. "Why do you like him?" Because he's manic. "Yes," Granger replied, nodding in way to signify that this was a very good thing indeed. 2. Peter Brown, as always, although we couldn't identify his lunch date. 3. Joe Armstrong, as always, and we had the chance to ask him who his date was when he came over to say hello. "Deeda Blair," he said, referring to the repatriated Washington D.C. socialite who landed on the board of the NIH and thus became one of the biggest players in biotech. She's apparently a "connector" of the first order, to dip into "The Tipping Point." According to Brian Alexander's book "Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion," She is still the one person in the world who can sit next to the catwalks of Paris during the spring shows, put the arm on a few of the 500 or so women who regularly support couture by purchasing dresses priced about the same as a BMW, and come back with a quarter of a million dollars for a new DNA sequencing machine for somebody's lab." That's it; we're convinced Joe always has the most interesting guests. 4. Perilously empty in the early going, the corner table was finally filled by Jann Wenner and his posse, with the ringleader looking more impishly bear-like than usual. No clue about his companions, however. 5. Allen & Co.'s top media guy, Stanley Shuman, and guest. 6. Terry Allen Kramer settled here after pirouetting around the room to say hello to everyone. She was joined by a round gentleman we didn't know. 7. We were minding our business in the waiting nook when the astoundingly beautiful Rachel Roy (identifiable despite her wraparound sunglasses) sat down across from us. Her presence was explained a few minutes later, when her husband Damon Dash bounded in with a grey-flanneled mountain named Andre Leon Talley. We were talking to Joe when they arrived, and he immediately shook hands with ALT to say hello. "That's a beautiful bag," Joe said, point to his enormous burgundy leather Chanel bag. "This is just my gym bag," he said dismissively. "That's your gym bag?" Dash asked a minute later, still disbelieving. As for Dash and his wife had time for lunch today, well, we read someone that he has a lot of time on his hands these days. 8. A wormhole to the 1980s opened at Table 8 today, and Michael Ovitz and Teddy Forstmann stumbled out. 12. The Trumps Don Jr. and his sister Ivanka were presumably doing business with the unidentified persons at this table. We missed Don's arrival, but Ivanka's was irresistable she glided through the room like a piece of well-oiled machinery. No wonder some men's magazines love to ogle her while others don't understand out how to love her. 14. Gil Schwartz got an early jump on lunch today, grabbing this table at about a minute past noon. 15. "It's a Hearst!" exclaimed our own lunch date today, Elle Decor senior writer Sophie Donelson. Ah, but which one? She guessed Lydia. Wrong, it was Amanda, and by the she reached her table, we had forgotten all about Ivanka. (And had nearly forgot Sophie, too.) 17. Judy Price. 18. Apparently the dicusssions between Al Roker and Men's Health editor Dave Zinczenko to land the latter on the air on a more permanent basis continue, as they were here having lunch together, again. 21. Radio man Walter Sabo. We didn't get a chance to roll up our sleeves and wade into the back half of the room today, so the lunchers there will remain largely unknown (unless, of course, they would like to write in to tell us). Spotted floating around, but not attached to a specific table as far we could tell were:, Jack Myers, Hearst Magazines communications chief Deb Shriver; The Eagles' guitarist Danny Kortchmar, and a Stuff publisher John Lumpkin lunching with Women's Wear Daily's Amy Wicks and the Susan Magrino Agency's Scott Gorenstein. Please send any and all correct spellings, additions, and what-have-you to Lunch AT mediabistro Dot Com. Map of Michael's

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Lunch at Michael's: Ivanka, Ovitz, ALT, Deeda, Dash, David Granger, More

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