central park conservancy

RSVIP: Taste of Summer Benefit in Central Park

On a balmy evening, Wednesday, June 2, 2010, a white tent with multiple peaks sprawls out next to the bandshell in New York's Central Park. Inside, rows of stations manned by chefs, their well-known names inscribed on their kitchen whites, dole out amuse-bouche and larger bites.

Well-heeled guests generously shelled out $350 ($400 at the door) for the endless banquet, as the proceeds benefit New York's beloved Central Park. In stilettos, reed-thin social Somers White Farkas towers next to a dance floor where her pal Muffy Potter Aston mixes it up to Michael Jackson's "ABC."

"We'll raise over $600,000," says Gillian Miniter, president of the Central Park Conservancy Women's Committee. Miniter sports a dress by designer Lela Rose, Manolo shoes, and jewelry by Fulco di Verdura, an Italian duke favored by Coco Chanel. "All of it goes directly to the park," she says. "The conservancy provides 85 percent of the [$26-million] budget for the park each year."

At station 19, Austrian chef Marcus Glocker of Gordon Ramsay at the London NYC tells Luxist that he met the Brit TV foodie when he was 19 years old. "I knocked on his door to get a job in London," says Glock while spraying white foam into plastic cups from a silver canister to prepare white chocolate ganache, coconut foam, and fresh mango. "The yogurt powder in the chocolate makes it a bit tangy, very airy, no dairy, nice and light," he says. And does Ramsey, famous for knocking everyone in the kitchen down to size, wreak havoc when he visits New York? "He checks flavors," says Glock, who claims that no f-bombs are dropped. "He just mentions a few nuances."

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Christie's Green Auction, Saving The Planet Through Art

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this year, Christie's has joined forces with NBC Universal to auction off a host of celebrity experiences, world-renowned art, and luxurious travel packages. In addition to a live inaugural Christie's Green Auction on the 22nd, they've partnered up with Charity Buzz to host an online auction with such prizes as a golf outing with President Bill Clinton or an all-new Lexus Hybrid 250h. And the entire event is carbon neutral. Among the spectacular artwork up for bids is Damien Hirst's All You Need is Jealousy, The Salt Pit by Matthew Ritchie, and a Broken Record Beatles Art collage from our favorite young art duo Robi Walters and Leanne Wright, signed with the support of Sir Paul McCartney himself.

Proceeds will benefit the Central Park Conservancy, Oceana, Conservation International, and the National Resources Defense Council.

Christie's Green Auction
April 22 at 7.30pm EST
20 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY

Through May 6 at CharityBuzz.com.

Tags: central park conservancy, charity buzz, christies, conservation international, damien hirst, earth day, green auction, oceana