Graydon Carter: Cafe Sociologist
Posted By Randy Jones on
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April 13, 2009
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Canadian-born wordsmith, editor, author, film producer, and restaurant entrepreneur Graydon Carter proves that the American Dream is more powerful than any other. I first met Graydon in the mid-1980s, when he, Kurt Anderson, and Tom Phillips were launching Spy magazine. It was a brash, bold, satirical look at the excess of the Reagan years. Graydon and Spy made fun of nearly every rich person or celebrity, and absolutely every symbol of the ostentation of the era. Donald Trump, famously dubbed a “short-fingered vulgarian,” was their favorite target. They were the gadflies of the New York establishment, and they did it brilliantly.
Almost 30 years later, Graydon could almost be a target of his former magazine, were it still in existence. He is the editor of the glossy Vanity Fair, which not only chronicles the lives and lifestyles of the rich and famous, but also helps define the elite with its annual New Establishment issue. He also owns the ultra-exclusive and hip Waverly Inn (no phone number for reservations—you must know Graydon).
Now he is orchestrating the resurrection (appropriate word for Easter Monday) of Midtown Manhattan’s Monkey Bar—the 21st-century equivalent of the famed Stork Club or El Morocco of the mid-20th century, which catered to, if not created, cafe society. Graydon is the conductor of the modern equivalent of cafe society, and he seems to be loving every moment. On my visit, the Monkey Bar was swinging, with writers (Fran Leibowitz among them), society stalwarts (Jennifer Creel and Paul Wilmot), reviewers (Tim and Nina Zagat), a few Hollywood stars (Donna Dixon), and, of course, the maestro himself present. What’s more, the food is really good and the environment clubby, decidedly un-ostentatious chic. Yeah, I would say Graydon Carter is living the American Dream, and his way—not bad for a middle-class boy from Ottawa.
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