About Last Night... The Empire Hotel Rooftop Grand Opening

They had us at “hello” with their deviled eggs in their own little egg cups! That and the massive Empire Hotel sign we could literally reach out and touch! PAPER had a great little group “representing” at Jeffrey and Linda Chodorow’s Empire Rooftop opening, and it was fun checking out the very diverse group of guests. There was Real Housewife of New York City Bethenny Frankel, the only blonde, blue-eyed, handsome gossip columnist we know, Ben Widdicomb, and pet expert, soon to be loved and hated as one of the judges on Greatest American Dog, Wendy Diamond. Just before leaving, I chatted with Taryn Manning, Boomkat singer and actress (Hustle and Flow), who should have a banner year in ’09 with four films now in post-production. She was wearing a cute little Madison Marcus number and told PAPER, “I’m looking forward to doing nothing in front of a pool or beach this summer with nobody except my girlfriends.”