On the Upper East Side on Wednesday evening, it was a case of honoring haute heritage and history while toasting to the new. Gherardo Felloni, the creative director of Roger Vivier, was in town, prompting the pink carpet to be rolled out as the Parisian house unveiled its Madison Avenue flagship. After that, it was over to Le Veau d’Or for dinner—marking the first time that New York’s oldest French bistro had the chance to show off its new guise for a fashion brand takeover.
Now sitting pretty at 650 Madison Avenue, the store is intended to mimic the feel of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré location, with square-tiled mirrors peppered with gold-leaf, French molding, and Versailles-inspired parquet floors. Inside, devout fans, VIP clients, and tastemakers gathered in their polished and poised I Love Vivier pumps, patent leather Trompettes, crystal buckle biker booties, and suede Viv’ Choc bags, enjoying Ruinart champagne and passed canapés.
A mannequin in the boutique window debuted a take on a Western-style studded and fringe black gilet vest, reminding passersby that there’s lots more to explore inside than the famed footwear. The eye-catching piece was also modeled IRL by fresh-faced young actress Jaya Harper, whose mom, Laura Dern, recently fronted a whimsical video campaign for the luxury label. Another familiar name, Pat Cleveland, who’s currently gracing the Fall ads, could be spotted in the crowd too. Rising star Ella Hunt, who plays original SNL comedienne Gilda Radner in Saturday Night, which hits movie theaters today, stopped by after a hectic day of press promotion around the city, looking every bit the English rose in a blush-hued outfit.
After touring the store, guests including Inès De La Fressange and her daughter Violette D’urso, Ivy Getty, Sabine Getty, Meena Harris, and the evening’s co-host Laura Brown hopped into waiting SUVs to spin over to Le Veau d’Or on East 60th Street. The famed French eatery, a one-time haunt of everyone from Grace Kelly and Jackie O to Truman Capote and Orson Welles, has now changed hands and reintroduced itself this summer under proprietors and Chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson of Frenchette and Le Rock.
Entering through a cutaway Eighties-esque speckled pink doorway that bears the restaurant’s signature golden calf on a plaque and making their way up the wood-paneled staircase, attendees got a glimpse of the bistro’s chic private room over a cocktail. By the time 8.15 p.m. rolled around, all anyone could think of was the Filet de Boeuf au Poivre that was rumored to await. Kicking back into the comfort of the bisous-red leather banquettes with glasses of natural wine, guests, including AnnaSophia Robb, Danai Gurira, and Padma Lakshmi, tucked into bread with salted butter, salade de legumes, poached halibut, steak, rice pilaf, and, mais oui, heaving plates of crispy Frites. While it’s surely a special treat to immerse yourself in the surroundings of the intimate dining room at the best of times, the fact that it made for a perfectly cinematic backdrop for the vivid world of Vivier made it seem even more delicious.
Seeing as it’s the spookiest month of the calendar, dinner table chatter kept returning to whether or not the room may be haunted by fabulous ghosts of the past. Given that original Vivier muse Marlene Dietrich was one notable regular way back when—no doubt she’d have approved of the scene.