On a rainy New York day, fashion designers Phillip Lim and Hennessy sit next to the MoMa, unbeknownst to passers-by, bringing New York
’s restaurant turned into an exciting evening celebrating the Lunar New Year. For the guest list, Lim curated a close group of fashion designer friends, fashion trendsetters, restaurateurs, artists and more to kick off the Year of the Rabbit intimate gathering. Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, Peter Do, Laura Kim, Sho Shibuya, Dorothy Wang, Tina Leung and other guests attended.
The evening kicked off with partygoers enjoying a range of craft cocktails and Asian-inspired appetizers in the 53 lounge area, surrounded by rich, full-bodied Vibrant red plants and Hennessy’s exclusive Lunar New Year bottle designed by Chinese artist Yan Peiming. This marks the second year that Lim and Hennessy have come together to celebrate Lunar New Year and support Heart of Dinner, whose mission is to address food insecurity and isolation in the Asian American senior community. After the
cocktail reception, guests headed to the 53 iconic Dome Room for an epic family-style feast hosted by Chef Mark Yu. Dinner began with a fiery traditional lion dance, followed by more than a dozen contemporary Asian dishes – oysters and violets with trout roe and oranges, hamachi with kinkan jam and citrus, xiao long bao with burgundy truffles and more. After dinner, guests enjoyed a chocolate ganache paired with Hennessy Nutella and the brand’s signature Paradis cognac. But the night didn’t end there. In keeping with the night’s theme, guests were invited down the rabbit hole to step into 53’s exclusive new speakeasy for the first time, “The BA53MENT” DJ Mona Matsuoka keeps the party going until late into the night and the Year of the Rabbit begins.
