vip in the city

MOVE FOR AIDS at Public

On Tuesday night, M and I attended Public and AvroKO’s preview showcase of acclaimed Australian photographer (and yoga enthusiast) James Houston’s latest artistic endeavor: MOVE FOR AIDS — for which Houston brought together over fifty of America’s leading dancers in a photography essay created to raise awareness and funds for AIDS charities.

The project incorporates the MOVE FOR AIDS book, published by DUMBO-based powerHouse Books (it’s Houston’s fourth, and the result of a collaboration with design house Hugo Boss), photographic exhibitions, a special documentary on the shooting of MOVE, and dance performances by some of the world’s leading dance companies to launch the project around the world. Houston will be donating all author royalties from book sales of MOVE FOR AIDS  to DRA (Dancers Responding to AIDS).

Houston’s background as a sculptor is evident in his shaping of the dancers’ sinewy forms — some of which may not be SFW. The full exhibition will be on view at Manhattan’s MILK Gallery from October 24 to October 29, 2006. After the New York launch, MOVE FOR AIDS will continue on to London to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and then to Australia to coincide with World AIDS Awareness Week. The exhibition preview was held in the brightly lit jewelbox gallery adjacent to the restaurant, and this night the overflow of attendees lined up along the restaurant’s entrance staircase and spilled out to the sidewalk in front.

M and I snaked our way in through the room and after touring the small selection of photographs on display (which took all of ten minutes), we took our glasses of Shiraz inside the dining room for dinner. The terrace facing Elizabeth Street, where we were seated last time, was closed off on this brisk night.

Amuse-bouche, which has been described as “little bites of food to amuse the mouth, invigorate the palate, and whet the appetite.” Indeed! Soft-cooked quail egg, atop an eel cabbage slaw.

New Zealand snapper on wasabi-boniato mash with poached conch, pickled ginger, and yao choy:

Our meal was accompanied by a fine pinot noir, and finished off with Public’s ultra-rich, ultra-dense chocolate fudge cake, served with a stick of salty, sweet peanut brittle and a scoop of Guinness ice cream. M is still waiting for her favorite “Hokey pokey ice cream with a ginger snap” to make its return to the dinner menu. (Currently only available for brunch.)

Comforting to know that even after she defected to the other side of the river, my (lesbian) friend can still make time for us New Yorkers… even as she tries to recruit a select few over to the Garden State.

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