Last night at Paramount Pictures Studio, we joined in on a very special Valentine’s Day dinner hosted by Bombay Sapphire and director Baz Luhrmann. The evening kicked off on the site of the inaugural edition of Frieze Los Angeles, hosted on the iconic New York Backlot set. It began with cocktails at Bombay Sapphire’s immersive pop-up bar installation, inspired by Max’s Kansas City—an iconic dive bar in New York that once hosted some of history’s greatest creators like David Bowie, Bob Marley, Twiggy, Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, and David Whitney. The brand’s homage to the dive bar was heightened by music-related memorabilia hung on the walls, like posters, photographs, and signed guitars. After sips of cocktails like the Cherry Vanilla Mule and Blondies Grasshopper, we followed the intimate crowd to a transparent tent under the stars.
As we followed a guide holding a lantern, through the twists and turns of the alleyways of “New York,” we approached the magical tent. Surrounded by trees with dangling lights strung from its branches, we were greeted with new cocktails, like Jane County Punch and Boilermaker. As we trickled in, a zen atmosphere was achieved by lush above-the-table installations and basket lights hanging from above. Under the glow, close friends of Luhrmann’s greeted us, like Leonardo DiCaprio (and his parents, George DiCaprio and Peggy Ann), Rita Ora, Billy Zane, Asia Chow, and his work and life partner, Catherine Martin. Over conversation about today’s creativity—a blend of art, technology, gastronomy, and experience—we enjoyed bites of winter salad, rib eye caps, white bass, warm apple tart, and carrot cake. After dessert, we chatted with Luhrmann before parting ways.
“The idea of the art fair actually being on a film lot is great. A lot of my friends are artists—in fashion or music—and it’s all art. I never saw the borders. In a world where we are retreating behind the lines, it’s good that in the arts we’re going the other way. In a world where there’s many negative things, that’s one of the really positive things. And access to expression.”
