October 9, 2008 |
Short Order
Secession, opening night, still looks Viennese but less formal. Photo: Steven Richter
Insurrection broke out at Secession opening night when a table of elegant upper eastsiders starring journalist Bartle Bull and architect Thierry Despont at a big corner round suddenly shouted out, “We want our food. We want our food.” Waiters froze. “What do you expect?” the Road Food Warrior said to two women as they rose, adjusting their shawls for the exit. “This is Bouley.” The maitre d’ came running, apologizing. “It’s our first night,” I heard him say from our humble stand at an adjacent table where the three of us had been filling in the longish lulls between courses with gossip and travel plans. The eight or nine protesters rose and started seceding out the door. “Where will you go for dinner?” I asked one of the women.
“We all have very nice homes,” she responded.
Suddenly from the kitchen a marathon of runners actually running surged toward the almost-emptied table. A few but not all of the secessionists returned to join Bull. Deep in conversation with an entranced woman on his right, he was sticking it out.
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