In honor of the New York Public Library’s extensive collection of works by Ernest Hemingway, event coordinator Claudette Kollar brought to bear some of the author’s fine qualities on the library’s annual Young Lions benefit: he had a knack for understated detail, and he appreciated fine spirits in quantity. So this year, Kollar chose the theme “Hemingway’s Cuba,” and the look—along with guests’ wardrobe—was lush, colorful, and evocative of a sultry Caribbean social club from a bygone era.
Designed by former library event staffers Carolyn Bakula and Reginald Grayson, who now operate as Grayson Bakula Design, the cocktail space was decked in hues of brown and green, with potted palms casting dramatic shadows. Squat brown cocktail tables featured delicate patterns of gold rings and held white flowers and votives in brown glass holders. Guests who didn’t dress to match the theme—as the invitation suggested—could stop by a table and pick up hats, woven fans, faux orchid boutonnieres, and cigars. (The library has a tradition of supplementing guests’ wardrobes: at last year’s benefit inspired by Truman Capote’s black-and-white ball, staff distributed masks and strands of pearls.) Cuban band Song de Hoy played while guests nibbled on hors d’oeuvres from Creative Edge Parties.
For dinner, held this year in the grand Astor Hall inside the library’s Fifth Avenue entrance, Grayson Bakula topped the tables with burlap-wrapped pillar candles and delicate, rustic centerpieces made from towering branches and orchids. Creative Edge prepared shrimp cubano, grilled steak with chili sauce, black beans, and crisp banana tart with rum butter sauce for dessert.
After dinner, guests moved downstairs into the Celeste Bartos Forum—where a neon sign above the door read “Club Copa” in green script—for the after-party. Two faux palms flanked the checkered dance floor, and the bars were draped in soft fabric in shades of fuchsia and bright orange. Of course, bartenders liberally dispensed mojitos and cuba libres—just as Papa Hemingway would have liked it.
—Alesandra Dubin
Related Coverage
Young Lions' Black and White Ball
Library Benefit Patrons Go to Hell
Singin' in the NYPL: Movie Musical Kitsch
Designed by former library event staffers Carolyn Bakula and Reginald Grayson, who now operate as Grayson Bakula Design, the cocktail space was decked in hues of brown and green, with potted palms casting dramatic shadows. Squat brown cocktail tables featured delicate patterns of gold rings and held white flowers and votives in brown glass holders. Guests who didn’t dress to match the theme—as the invitation suggested—could stop by a table and pick up hats, woven fans, faux orchid boutonnieres, and cigars. (The library has a tradition of supplementing guests’ wardrobes: at last year’s benefit inspired by Truman Capote’s black-and-white ball, staff distributed masks and strands of pearls.) Cuban band Song de Hoy played while guests nibbled on hors d’oeuvres from Creative Edge Parties.
For dinner, held this year in the grand Astor Hall inside the library’s Fifth Avenue entrance, Grayson Bakula topped the tables with burlap-wrapped pillar candles and delicate, rustic centerpieces made from towering branches and orchids. Creative Edge prepared shrimp cubano, grilled steak with chili sauce, black beans, and crisp banana tart with rum butter sauce for dessert.
After dinner, guests moved downstairs into the Celeste Bartos Forum—where a neon sign above the door read “Club Copa” in green script—for the after-party. Two faux palms flanked the checkered dance floor, and the bars were draped in soft fabric in shades of fuchsia and bright orange. Of course, bartenders liberally dispensed mojitos and cuba libres—just as Papa Hemingway would have liked it.
—Alesandra Dubin
Related Coverage
Young Lions' Black and White Ball
Library Benefit Patrons Go to Hell
Singin' in the NYPL: Movie Musical Kitsch
At the New York Public Library’s Young Lions benefit, Grayson Bakula topped the dining tables with burlap-wrapped pillar candles and centerpieces made from towering branches and orchids.
Guests could pick up hats, woven fans, faux orchid boutonnieres, and cigars to go with the event’s “Hemingway’s Cuba” theme.
Squat brown cocktail tables featured delicate patterns of gold rings, and held white flowers and votives in brown glass holders.
For the after-party, the bars were draped in soft fabric in shades of fuchsia and bright orange.
