Town & Country December/January 2024

1985 THE TOWN & COUNTRY COOKBOOK “If I’ve learned nothing else during my years at Town & Country,” James Villas wrote in his introduction to The Town & Country Cookbook (sadly out of print, but check eBay), “I’ve learned that the rich and successful love and respect a great hamburger as much as an elaborate fish baked in puff pastry.” In 1972 Villas began his tenure as our first food and wine editor, a post he would hold until 1999. He presided over T&C’s epicurean coverage with an open mind (except when it came to nouvelle cuisine, for which he had a passionate contempt), dedicating as many words to luxuries like crème brûlée and rare Burgundies as to the virtues of, say, the onion (“E Pluribus Onion” was the title…

Sometimes it’s harder to find than others, I know. But let’s not stop looking. I often grab some early in the morning around the reservoir, and other days on the Lincoln Center website at 3 p.m. in a buy-tickets-now link for a performance that night. And on most days—often!—there is joy on the 19th floor of the Hearst Tower, where we create T&C for you. So I could not think of a better group of people to answer the question in the headline. We wish you all a peaceful and happy and healthy holiday season, and the same as we enter 2024. We look forward to taking you all along with us on this one-of-a-kind T&C ride. There is joy in it for us—and we hope for all of you,…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? Every year a quintet of creative icons are recognized for their achievements with the Kennedy Center Honors. Consider it America’s OBE, except here we throw a great party, too, attended by POTUS and broadcast on TV. Balanchine and Astaire were among the first recipients, in 1978; this month Queen Latifah, Billy Crystal, Dionne Warwick, Barry Gibb, and Renée Fleming join the crew. WHAT ARE WE WEARING? Extraordinary flair earned Harry Winston the moniker “King of Diamonds.” Today that title remains unchallenged. Just look up: More than 200 diamonds and sapphires are hand-set on the watch (which doubles as a pendant or brooch) to evoke the founder’s beloved emerald cut. Speaking of legacy, while you’re in DC, do drop by the Smithsonian to see the Hope Diamond.…

There was no shortage of scene-stealers at the old Four Seasons restaurant in New York City on a recent fall night. The Kering Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the owner of Gucci and Bottega Veneta, had corralled an A-list posse that included Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Nicole Kidman for its second annual Caring for Women dinner. But for all the star wattage at the Pool, it was hard to miss the man in the 10-gallon cowboy hat and matching belt buckle. Kimbal Musk, the brother of Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon, the richest man in the world, is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist in his own right (with a net worth of $700 million and counting), and on this solemn occasion he was preening in a glimmering black suit…

Bill Nye the Science Guy is used to explaining atoms, molecules, and cells, but real estate zoning laws are an entirely different universe. On the morning of August 24, Nye stood outside Van Nuys City Hall in his signature bow tie. On the docket inside was a development project spanning Weddington Golf & Tennis, a sports facility in Studio City. “It’s beautiful, it is an oasis, it is an emerald jewel in the middle of urban sprawl,” Nye, a longtime Studio City resident, says of the land. “When it gets paved over it will break our hearts.” Six years earlier Harvard-Westlake, a $46,900-per-year prep school with a nearby campus in Studio City, purchased the 16-acre golf and tennis complex for $42 million. Since then the school has become mired in…

There’s a scene in the 1991 Steve Martin film Father of the Bride when the eponymous bride breaks down in tears upon being given a blender by her betrothed. Now, a good blender is nothing to sneeze at—many of us would be thrilled to receive a Vitamix A3500. But in this case the appliance did not stimulate the pleasure centers of her particular brain. Sure, some gifts are straightforward (he needs a new raincoat; she collects perfume bottles), but most gifts—the best—are about more than just the thing itself. They’re about the way that thing makes both giver and receiver feel, the psychological itch it scratches. In the case of really spectacular jewels, there is the pleasure one gets from possessing shiny, beautiful things. But there is also the delicious…