After a traffic-filled drive out to the Hamptons, the proper way to unwind is crucial. For the lucky few, on a Friday evening, Nick and Verity Edmiston, Mark and Lucy Cornell, and Nacho Figueras and Delfina Blaquier hosted an intimate soiree aboard a Highlander yacht at the Sag Harbor Yacht Club. Mr. Cornell, the former CEO and President of Moet-Hennessy USA, now works with Mr. Edmiston. His company, Edmiston and Co., constructs, manages, and charters yachts.
The official dress code was "Yacht-Chic," which, for this writer, would normally entail popping a Dramamine, but fortunately (again, for me), the boat was docked. Dramamine and liquor don't mix well anyway (or so I've heard).
Speaking of liquor, the champagne was courtesy of Dom Perignon, and, true to Long Island form, there was plenty of perfectly chilled rose to go around. In keeping up with my reputation as a cheap date, I stuck mostly with the latter. Fat Radish provided the appetizers, and Victor Muller, the CEO of Spyker Cars, provided the yacht, albeit he was unable to attend the festivities.
The crowd was a mix of celebrities, media figures, fashion fixtures, and fellow journos: Liev Schreiber, Dylan Lauren, Fisher Stevens, Michael Michelle, Alina Cho, Rita Schrager, Lara Shriftman, Fern Mallis, Elizabeth Harrison, WSJ's Marshall Heyman, and Forbes's Leah Bourne. And even Goldilocks could not have complained about the weather: no humidity, no jarringly chilly breezes from the bay... just right.
Mrs. Edmiston knows all too well how important it is to create a refuge after a trying commute. Classically chic in vintage DVF, the Monte Carlo dweller relayed how the drive from there to St. Tropez could take anywhere from one and a half to three hours, with the gridlock (naturally) reaching its zenith in July and August. Next up on the Edmiston agenda? A trip to Block Island ("the Bermuda of the North," a partygoer quipped), then Nantucket, then Newport.
Once the sun began to set, it was time to move on to East Hampton, for the second night of Grey Goose's inaugural Blue Door weekend series, held at a private estate where golf carts chauffeured guests to the secluded destination. This time around, Grey Goose teamed up with the hottest-of-the-hot ping-pong social club SPiN New York, for a festive evening of table tennis, cocktails, and hors d'oeuvres courtesy of CYNFULFOOD from Top Chef talent Cynthia Sestito. As part of the Grey Goose experience, guests in the competition had a chance to win tickets to the 2011 US Open Tennis Championships. But really, everyone was kind of waiting for Susan Sarandon to show up, and who can blame them? Indeed, she did arrive with bells on, and she was game -- literally. SPiN creators Franck Raharinosy, Jonathan Bricklin, and Andrew Gordon also came to represent -- and get a few good games in. And true to form, the Grey Goose cocktails were flowing well into the night. Good thing I never took that Dramamine.