WTW x Sisters Dinner & Performance in NYC

By Annabel Graham

This past Friday evening—the last dregs of summer still lingering in the air, the sun sinking behind the buildings of lower Manhattan as the Chinatown crowds began to thin—forty-five guests made their way down an unassuming stretch of Elizabeth Street, past a decidedly no-frills massage parlor beloved by locals for its reasonably-priced foot rubs, and up a narrow stairwell lit only by paper lanterns. Awaiting them on the top floor was SISTERS, an event space founded by Erin Knutson and run with help from Molly Ledbetter. The charming, pre-war loft had been transformed for the night into the setting of an intimate evening of dinner and performance hosted by Nathalie Love and Samantha Ressler of We the Women, a nonprofit arts collective dedicated to showcasing and promoting the work of women artists. The Los Angeles-based collective’s previous events, productions, and community outreach projects have included plays, variety shows, a short film, and even a wake for the year 2017; Friday’s dinner marked their first New York event.

On the long table, flickering tea lights and beeswax tapers nested in a tangle of freshly-cut fall oak; vintage glass milk bottles held bouquets of Japanese blue delphinium and single stems of midori anthurium. A corner bar featured Gia Coppola wines and craft cocktails by Yola Mezcal and Forthave Spirits (especially popular was the smoky, citrusy Yola Roma, Yola’s take on a mezcal negroni). Chef Marie Sadron’s lovingly-prepared hors-d’oeuvres—shot glasses of parsnip-carrot soup garnished with parsnip chips; crostini smothered in blue cheese, thyme, and roasted grapes—were a smash hit.

As eight o’clock approached, guests found their assigned seats via personalized place cards. Love and Ressler took to the stage to announce the first performer of the evening, author T Kira Madden (whose widely-acclaimed memoir, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, was released from Bloomsbury this past March). Madden read a harrowing and especially timely excerpt from her essay “The Feels of Love,” leaving guests riveted. Next up was storyteller and choreographer Lauren Cox, whose deeply affecting “Water Falls” combined movement with spoken-word poetry. Singer-songwriter Sophia Bastian closed the evening with a soulful, buoyant rendition of “Rhythm to My Heart,” an exclusive premiere of a new song from her forthcoming EP, and a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “One Step Ahead” that had guests beaming and swaying in their seats.

Sadron’s artfully-conceived dinner was a delight—mixed greens salad with fresh herbs, shaved shallots, and caramelized walnuts, roasted duck breast with rosemary-honey glaze, shiitake and cremini risotto, and sautéed chard, followed by ramekins of pumpkin crème brûlée and delicate, spongey petites madeleines that would’ve given Proust a run for his money. Perhaps most memorable of all, as with any New York dinner party replete with inspired minds, were the conversations—though I’ll save those for another story.