Quest April 2015

From top left: Nan Kempner (in white) kept the most fashionable company, including (l–r) Calvin Klein, Kelly Klein, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Valentino; with

W I R E I M A G E ; PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N ; F RO M R . S . V. P. ( C L A R K S O N P OT T E R ) , BY N A N K E M P N E R

Ahmet Ertegün; ever the model hostess; Kempner’s book, R.S.V.P., benefitted the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; with Oscar de la Renta.

Who came? Only a cherry-picked who’s who of the international jet set, titans of Wall Street, a smattering of celebrated artists and designers, auction types, show folks, and anyone posh who happened to be in from the provinces.

“Wear whatever you’re already in,” said Nan, and nobody missed it. Wryly, she called the guest list a “dog’s dinner.”

Bar none, Nan was the best hostess. A San Francisco native, she came to New York as a young bride in the mid-1950s, met everybody, and became an influential society figure, esteemed fund-raiser, renowned wit, beloved friend, style icon, indefatigable hostess, and talented party-goer. Michael Taylor did up the Kempners’ glamorous Park Avenue duplex in 1958 with a groundbreaking, elegant mix of proper-meets-relaxed-California. Designed for parties, it was a series of grand, inviting public rooms whose

NAN’S BACON STICKS

Yield: 12 sticks • •

Ingredients 12 medium-width grissini (Italian bread sticks) 12 slices bacon (not thick-cut)

Preparation • Pre-heat the oven to 375° F. • Wrap one slice of bacon neatly in a spiral fashion along each stick then place each stick in a grated roasting pan. Make sure the sticks are not touching one another.

• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the bacon strips are brown and crisp, fully cooked through.

• Remove the pan from the oven and let sticks cool completely before serving.

formality was tempered by elements like corduroy-covered banquettes made for lounging. Nan and Michael wanted comfort—and camaraderie—to such a point that Nan’s own mother suggested the pitch of those banquettes might have been better suited to a bordello.

It seems now like another world—no one there was checking Uber notices or Instagram feeds—and I was lucky enough to go often. That apartment had timeless intrigue, and still does; built for a silent film star, there’s even a faucet for Champagne in the bathtub. So Nan. Of all my favorite things Nan and Silvina served, with gratitude to both husbands, Tommy and Bernardo—who made it all happen—these bacon sticks may be my very favorite things. They couldn’t be easier. Spaghetti Dinner or not, there was never any other hors d’oeuvre. Just like Nan was, they’re chic. And razor-thin. u APRIL 2015 67