Charles, consider yourself anointed. The soon-to-open West Village boîte got buzzy in the best way possible last night, playing dinner host to the Purple magazine crowd. Newspaper had been taped over all the windows at the ex-Les Deux Gamins space, piquing the curiosity of the West Fourth Street passersby. Inside and safe from prying eyes, Purple editor Olivier Zahm and friends including André, Daphne Guinness, Dan Colen, Zac Posen, and Neville Wakefield feasted on organic Greek salad and prime cuts of steak and trout. Sponsor Audemars Piguet made sure the Champagne flowed like tap water, while the pro-tobacco predilections of most attendees obviated all the privacy precautions as the party drifted out onto the street.

At the Beatrice Inn after-party, some guests again found themselves on the street, this time thanks to a surprise visit by the fire department, which (quelle horreur!) shut the club down. "They won't let us in, but nobody's coming out," sighed Henry Holland. "Maybe Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are on a secret date," suggested Irina Lazareanu. Probably not, but then again, stranger things have happened when Olivier Zahm is in the room.

— Maya Singer