She has been described, more than once and never kindly, as a professional guest. The description misses the point entirely: in eleven years she has hosted four hundred and six dinners, and almost every institution in this city has been rebuilt at one of her tables.
The method is unglamorous. Fourteen people, never more. A seating chart made the night before and revised the morning of. No speeches, no programme, no fundraising ask of any kind.
What comes out of it is harder to measure than a gala total, which is precisely why she prefers it. Three of the city’s largest cultural boards were assembled, in effect, over her braised short rib.
