It was one of the hippest and most anticipated culinary events of the season, and Social Scribe was there to indulge, critique, and spy on Boston’s glitterati as they noshed on the South End’s finest food.
The AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is the noble beneficiary of the Taste of the South End, now in its 14th year. Despite the dreary economy, eager revelers keen on a big night out splurged on VIP passes pegged at $150 and general admittance tickets for $95.
Soon after arriving at the Boston Center for the Arts, we spotted fab All Heart PR spin mistress Nicole Kanner glad-handing with the AIDS Action Board and the all-star chefs, who were momentarily distracted from their delectable offerings. We immediately made for the Boston Mag VIP Lounge and were greeted with a Tommy Bahama rum “Havana Night” martini. Tommy, a word to the wise: stick to Hawaiian shirts and tacky furniture.
We meandered through the dense crowd and spied wedded restaurant powerhouses Christopher Myers and Joanne Chang sneaking a little snuggle by the Flour table. Then we slinked over to the STIX Restaurant & Lounge table to try their spice-infused pork skewer and nearly had an allergic reaction to the potpourri-flavored stick. I’m all about gorging on meat on a stick, but sometimes it’s just one spice too many…
Hemant Chowdhry, banQ Restaurant big, was seen parading around the venue with a gorgeous gal pal on his arm, while his former gal pal, Da Vinci Ristorante diva Wioletta Zywina, was noticed doing a little jig for a patron (the customer is apparently always right) while clad in what seemed to be BeDazzled trousers. We LOVE you Wioletta, but BeDazzling is always, we repeat, ALWAYS wrong.
Celebrity bartenders Jennifer Murphy of Stella, Alejandro Alvarez of Mistral, and Laura Hernandez of banQ were overheard promoting their new private-event venture, Ki Bar. (Here’s the thing… love the bartenders, don’t get Ki Bar. Isn’t the concept healthy alcohol, dressed up with pretty flowers? Let’s not kid ourselves: there is nothing healthy about alcohol, and we’re just fine with that. We are all ears if there’s a better explanation out there.) After that lap around the room, we took a well-deserved timeout to try Aquitaine’s crispy mini-reuben roll, which was quite tasty — the perfect nibble to preface more drinking.
Notable drinks included the Franklin Café’s blood-orange martini served via ice luge (paging the CDC), while over at the Martignetti table, we sipped a mini-pour of petite Syrah — whatever that means — and glimpsed over at mega-cougar and Martignetti maven Theresa Morris, who was making time with her cute broker BF (next time, we humbly suggest a suite at the Liberty, Theresa). The Back Bay Restaurant Group’s Christina Baltatzidis hung on PR cuckoo Chris Haynes, who has reemerged as an event fixture (we missed you, CBH — and your sloppy wet ones).
At the tail end of the evening, we spotted 28 Degrees GM Robert Weddleton blushing while chatting up the super-duper deeeeelicious Pops boys behind their culinary table (we’d taste anything they serve up… anything, any day… yum). VIPs sprinted off to Beehive for the official after-party bash, but the Social Scribe clan was tipsy, tired, full-bellied, and ready for bed. Until next time, socialistas.
