PartyLines- photographs by Patrick McMullan

How did you learn how to run a restaurant? “I had a very expensive education dining out in restaurants over the last 35 years, thanks to the Newhouses and Time Inc.” —Graydon Carter

—Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower

Do you remember meeting Robert De Niro? “He came to a U2 show in the eighties with Martin Scorsese. We’ve been friends ever since.” —Bono

—Diane Von Furstenberg

—Kanye West

How did you meet Robert De Niro? “I can’t tell you. Let’s just say it was in Rio, and he does not remember.” —Rosie Perez

—André Leon Talley

—Harvey Keitel

Where did you meet Graydon Carter? “Bergdorf men’s. I was buying my father a 70th-birthday present. I was holding a shirt, and he said, ‘That shirt is too young for a 70-year-old man.’ I said, ‘That shirt’s for me.’” —Fran Lebowitz

—John Turturro

—Edie Falco

When did you first meet Robert De Niro? “At an audition for The Deer Hunter. I walked into a room, and he was sitting there eating a yogurt. He was very quiet. He ate his yogurt. I left, and I got the job.” —Christopher Walken

—Gayle King

—Nicholas Pileggi

How did you meet Robert De Niro? “My first film callback was for Casino, for the Sharon Stone role. I was 24 and had no money. I went to an uptown hair place and said, ‘Make me look like Ivana Trump.’ I walked in and he looked at me, and he’s like, ‘What? You goin’ to a prom?’” —Debra Messing

—Spike Lee

—Tory Burch

How did you meet your wife, Nan? “We met through mutual friends. I took her to Toots Shor’s. My big date.” —Gay and Nan Talese