Lunch at Michaels



(image via fishbowlNy)

Enquiring minds want to know: What was "60 Minutes') Steve Croft doing lunching with MTV's President of Network Development, John Sykes, the man charged with, according to BusinessWeek, Snagging and holding on to the 35- to 50-year-old crowd."

Yesterday, the hoi polloi of The Chattering Class were out and about at Michaels. FishbowlNY's fellow Michaelsologist-Lepidopterist Diane Clehane captured the social butterflies him her net and, after a quick nip to the thorax, taxonomized them thusly:

"Table 1. The top power spot was occupied by some interesting and intriguing folks today. The early show: Howard Rubenstein and guests. Now that we've been doing this for a while, we've noticed that the master of spin likes to dine, dish and be on his way before most of the other movers and shakers have had a chance to order their Fiji waters.

"... 2. Peter Brown and Time's Michael Elliot. The jet-setting Mr. Elliot tells us he is currently based in New York but is splitting his time between Time's London office (where he edits the Europe, Middle East and Africa editions) and Hong Kong (for the Asia edition).

"3. 60 Minutes' Steve Croft and MTV's John Sykes.

"... 5. Time Inc.'s John Huey with a cool, Grace Kelly-ish blonde we didn't recognize.

"6. MSNBC's general manager and legal eagle Dan Abrams with Good Morning America's newish news anchor Chris Cuomo. Good to see you Chris, after your close call in Iraq ...

"... 8. New York Social Diary's David Patrick Columbia with Barbara Spielvogel. DPC: loved your photos on your site of the soon-to-be divorced Tory Burch and her new beau Lance Armstrong at the book party she hosted in her apartment for makeup maven Bobbi Brown. (How sweet — they were holding hands!). Those of you that are following the oh-so-glamorous life of the intriguing Ms. (Mrs?) Burch, check it out!

"14. Tina Brown and guest. After being fêted last week at table one with Mayor Joe Armstrong, Newsweek's Jon Meacham and other powerful pals, we're eager to hear more about Tina's new book, The Diana Chronicles. Tina, why so low key?

"... 18. The ageless Helen Gurley Brown and, we're told, Betsy Perry and Betty Sargeant.

"19. A table of lucky 'civilians.'

"20. PR maven Joannie Danielides and Freddie Friedman — who, they said, were deciding which authors to publicize for the upcoming season. Do tell..."

The full list here (FishbowlNY)