The champagne and fab fare overflowed at the renowned chic-with-mystique eatery Le Cirque, which nearly burst at the seams with almost 1,000 guests for owner Sirio Maccioni’s party, touting his recently released book. His long-awaited memoir, Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque (John Wiley, 2004), was written with Peter Elliot.
The fete drew an impressive potpourri of chefs, res-taurant owners, moguls, and other party-scene regulars. Martha Stewart was in good spirits as she arrived amid the flash of paparazzi and gave Donald Trump a little hello smooch. Stewart was then spotted deep in the kitchen (where many guests dined) seated near Mike Wallace and nibbling the caviar out of each little potato! Also seen among this New York Who’s Who: Regis and Joy Philbin, Rudy Giuliani and Judith Nathan, Rick and Kathy Hilton, Milos Forman, Police Commish Ray Kelly, Jeffrey and Linda Chodorow, Joan Rivers, Liz Smith, Ann Slater, Andrew Saffir, Bai Ling, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Bill O’Reilly, Charlie Rose, Chuck Scarborough, Denise Rich, Eileen and Jerry Ford, Fern Mallis, Hal Rubenstein, Howard Stringer, Jamee Gregory, Mort Janklow, Nicole Miller, Pamela Gross, Steve Forbes, Richard Johnson, William O’Shaughnessy, David Brown and Helen Gurley Brown, Carroll Petrie, Ruth Reichl, Andrew Soltner, Jacques Torres, Drew Nieporent, Gray Kunz, Cesare Casella, Felix Rohatyn, Marvin Shanken, LeRoy Neiman, Steven Greenberg, and Slim Aarons.
Guests noshed on prosciutto, salami, and coppa braesola near Le Cirque’s entrance, while in the Red Room and L’Orangerie, attendees enjoyed fish soup with mussels, rock shrimp, and monkfish. The specialty of both the Blue Room and the Library was the ravioli of wild greens with light tomato sauce. Also passed around: Tuna tartar with curry or honey mustard, oysters, shrimp, sea scallops, ceviche, cod beignet, risotto primavera with pesto, roulade of lamb and fine herbs, Sevruga and American caviar on toast and blinis, mousse of foie gras and duck prosciutto, quiche “Le Cirque” with leeks, and Asian lamb satay with peanut sauce. Dessert delectables included crème brûlée, pastries, bombolinis, and other tasty signature Le Cirque treats.
Gourmands came to salute distinguished restaurateur Maccioni, who was born and attended hotel school in Tuscany’s Montecatini Terme. After immigrating to the U.S., Maccioni went from being a restaurant maître d’ to the pinnacle of the fiercely competitive NYC restaurant world (and is even given credit for inventing pasta primavera!). For the past 30 years, Le Cirque has been well-known for both its high-profile clientele—a mixed bag of celebs, politicians, and socialites — and its unique menu of French, Italian, and Asian fare. This renowned restaurant originally held court at the Mayfair Hotel (the first privately owned hotel restaurant in NYC) for nearly 23 years. Don’t expect its newest incarnation, Le Cirque 2000, which has reigned in the New York Palace Hotel since 1997, to abdicate any time soon. (Rumor has it that Maccioni passed on a space in Donald Trump’s new Trump Park Avenue, which Cipriani will now occupy.)
The author/restaurateur has created his own culinary dynasty. He owns the New York eatery Osteria del Circo (managed by son Marco) and has conquered Las Vegas, with branches of Osteria del Circo and Le Cirque (both run by son Mario) in the ritzy Bellagio Hotel. A third Le Cirque (overseen by son Mauro) thrives in Mexico City’s Camino Real Hotel, extending the unique Maccioni brand of hospitality internationally.
The book party, like the man it honored, earned a place in restaurant history — for its class, taste, and style!
