Lunch at Michael's: you shoulda been there yesterday

We should have been there Tuesday. That's what everyone told us. Tuesday was better, joyous, inspired. Tuesday, with its Bunny Ranchers and Barry Dillers and Barbara Walters and Liz Smiths... Tuesday lovely Tuesday. Today, there were just these to report on: 1: Harper Collins' David Hirshey moved from his regular table to accommodate the overflow. Joining him: Author/magazine writer Gil Schwartz, author James Atlas and colleague Jesse Cohen. Overheard: "Gil writes a book every twenty minutes! I gave him six weeks off and he's writing a book for someone else." 2: Ex-Beatles manager and PR man Peter Brown with Donald Marron, former CEO of UBS Paine Webber. 3: Walter Sabo, a Sirius investor (he was the youngest Vice President in the history of ABC and NBC Inc., according to his site). 4: "Mad dog" Richard Beckman, of Conde Nast, with Paula Fortgang of Vanity Fair. 5: Parker Ladd, who pals around a lot with Liz Smith was there with someone who was not Liz Smith. 6: New York Social Diary's David Patrick Columbia was holding court at a new table today. Joining him: Alex Hitz, Peter Rogers, another fellow and a woman. Let's just say, there were some interesting color combinations at this table. 7: Andre Leon Talley, of Vogue, in grey pinstripes, loafers and no socks, with Prada's Katherine Ross in head-to-toe black. 8: MediaVillage's Jack Myers, with Katherine Styponia, a media analyst at Prudential Equity Group. 11: Eden Collingsworth, of Cross Media, with someone we didn't recognize. 12: Francine Lefrak, head of Lefrak Productions, with two other women. 14: Stanley Schuman, head of the media practice at Allen & Co., with Adam Weinberg. sp? 15: Winner of the Michael's Hip Award today goes to: Claude Moscowitz, of Warner Bros. Records, in a short-sleeved high orange polo shirt and a shaved down mohawk. He was dining next to us with NY Post Writer Tim Arango. 16: CNN's Jeff Greenfield with plastic surgeon extraordinaire Gerald Imber, Jerry Della Femina and another fellow we didn't recognize. 17: Peter O. Price, president of the National Television Academy, dining with a mysterious blonde woman. [A little birdie writes: "The mysterious blonde with Price was Heidi Diamond, late of Martha Stewart's empire."] 18: Court TV's Henry Schleiff with a woman in a patterned top. 19: The Daily News' Joanna Molloy, was wearing an orange knit sweater vest and pinstriped black pants. She was with Lynn Fisher, a prim pony-tailed blonde in a little black dress, who is working with Karen Duffy. Apparently, Molloy was getting the dish on a new TV show for TLC (7 pm on Friday, if you're interested), called "Random Acts of Duff," starring, well, Karen Duffy. 20: Joan Gelman with PR whiz Lynn Goldberg. 21: Quest Magazine publisher Chris Meigher with someone we don't know. 22: Harry Shearer (voice of the Simpsons, among other things), with Lloyd Grove, looking very newsman-ish in a yellow-and-blue striped tie, khaki pants and a brownish jacket. Also at the table was singer Judith Owen, who has very long straight auburn hair, which she fluffed up a lot during lunch, showing off a gigantic topaz or quartz ring. 23: Our table. We were joined by the vivacious Betsy Carter, author of The Orange Blossom Special, Lisa Dallos, of Freud PR and Stuart Zakim, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications at American Media Inc. Dallos and Zakim spent most of lunch shoring us up for How to Create Magazine Buzz. Coming soon to an ASME Breakfast near you :) (This Friday actually!). 24: James Capalino. 25: Susanne Depasse, ceo of Depasse Entertainment. She was with a gentleman and a woman. 26: Jonathan Wald, a CNBC exec, with Ad Age's Scott Donaton in a blue shirt and dark suit. 27: Big-wig lawyer Jordan Ringel, in a red tie, blue shirt and dark suit, was joined late by his mirror image in identical dress. 28: Two Brits lunching. Lionel Barber, US Managing Editor for the Financial Times, with another fellow who ate just like a Brit. That is to say, er, correctly. 29: Stephanie Jordan, of InStyle, with Pat Fili-Krushel , former head of ABC (and WebMD?), in this exact same outfit, interestingly. BAR AREA: Hiding out at the bar was Joanna Jordan, head of Central Talent Booking, with Jerry Maglio and David Charmatz, both big marketing honchos at Starz Entertainment Group. BACK ROOM: Table 52: Liz Meigher, of Polo. and TV Agent Michael Glantz MONDAY at M's Table 2: Kathy Moriarty, of Raging Bull, with Joannie Danielides of Danielides Communications. TUESDAY at M's Table 15: Pimp Master General, Dennis Hoff, of the Bunny Ranch, with none-other-than David Hirshey, who was "just curious," and Jeff Stone, also of Harper Collins. Also, seen on Tuesday: Barry Diller Barbara Walters Liz Smith A little birdie later wrote: "Yes indeed, Tuesday was the day to be at Michael's. I was with my best friend from college, Bruce Barnes, who is the conductor/pianist for Peter Pan which is opening in NY next month (he's also worked with Liza, Kiss me Kate, Cabaret, etc.) and his friend Robbie, who he worked with in West Side Story on the European tour. My friends and I went for lunch right after the Peter Jennings memorial. But how could you not mention Helen Gurley Brown? She walked right past us in her mini-skirt. That was the biggest thrill. Is she passe? Thank God we scored Table 27. So glad I found your column." IF you were at Michael's today (or any day) and would like to report in, or correct the record, please email LaurelT AT mediabistro.com Map of Michael's

Fishbowl

Lunch at Michael's: you shoulda been there yesterday

Lunch at Michael's: Next time, we're going on Tuesday.

Laurel

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Laurel