Salman Rushdie

SALMAN RUSHDIE: Great impersonator of other writers (Martin Amis, Gore Vidal . . . )

MARY-LOUISE PARKER: For Aaron Sorkin gossip

BILLY CRUDUP: Who doesn’t want to sit next to him?

FRANK RICH: Less long-winded than his column—but just as smart

KARENNA GORE AND DAVID SCHIFF: More fun than the parents

WYNTON MARSALIS: Whenever he’s not touring

HARVEY WEINSTEIN: Guaranteed fireworks

HARVEY FIERSTEIN: Monday nights only

Julianne Moore

JULIANNE MOORE AND BART FREUNDLICH: She’s radiant, simply radiant!

TOMMY TUNE: You need lots of legroom

ISAAC MIZRAHI: To get on his show

JOAN DIDION: Good rarity value

GHISLAINE MAXWELL: Love the accent, and she does party tricks with a wig

PATRICIA DUFF: A-list arm candy

MICHAEL KORS: A younger, maler Vreeland

HEIDI KLUM: Newly divorced

DAVID ROCKWELL: For lighting tips

AMY SACCO: VIP card to Bungalow 8

SIR HOWARD STRINGER: A good knight out

ANN RICHARDS: Every good dinner needs a Texan

LIZ SMITH: Or two

HAMISH BOWLES: For his vintage- shopping tips

RICHARD MEIER: For his renovating tips

BIANCA JAGGER: The night’s still young

ANDREW SOLOMON: For reciprocal invitations

BILL CLINTON: Good for star wattage, bad for same reason—and you feel guilty not feeding the security detail

Oprah Winfrey

OPRAH: To get on hers

JONATHAN FRANZEN: Just not at the same dinner

JASON EPSTEIN AND JUDITH MILLER: He can test the pasta; she can test for sarin

CHRIS ROCK: Funny and actually nice

MALCOLM GLADWELL: A great first—and only—date

JANE ROSENTHAL AND CRAIG HATKOFF: For tickets to Tribeca-festival premieres

SIMON SCHAMA: Smart and sexy

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN: The ultimate walker

DAVID KIRSCH, TRAINER: Makes you feel too guilty to eat

MUFFIE POTTER ASTON: For the name alone

JULIAN SCHNABEL: Maybe he’ll put you in his next movie

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: But no smoking

ALAN CUMMING: He can always emcee

INGRID SISCHY: Maybe she’ll bring Elton

KATE AND ANDY SPADE: Just like the ads

AGNES GUND: MoMA’s brainy grande dame

MARIO BATALI: For a prime-time Babbo reservation

JOSEPH STIGLITZ: For his Nobel cachet

LAUREN DUPONT: Like a gay man, but she’s beautiful and a DuPont

JACK BANKOWSKY AND MATTHEW MARKS: Art-world royalty

ANDRÉ BISHOP AND PETER MANNING: Theater-world royalty

JON ROBIN BAITZ AND JOE MANTELLO: More theater-world royalty

RAY KELLY: For tips on window locks (and to get Greg Kelly’s phone number)

WILLIAM WELD: A fun Wasp

MARTHA STEWART: These days, she won’t dare sneer at your napkin holders

THELMA GOLDEN: To appraise your art collection

BJÖRK AND MATTHEW BARNEY: Just keep them away from the Vaseline

DANIEL AND NINA LIBESKIND: Great glasses!

MATT LAUER: Nice, and you know he’ll leave early

JAZZY ADAMS: With or without Cindy

ADRIEN BRODY: Entertaining—and he speaks in Ebonics

NAN KEMPNER: The mouth on her!

NAOMI CAMPBELL: And on her

CHARLIE ROSE: “I'm an awful dinner guest— nobody invites me anywhere”

NEXT: The Hosts

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Table of Contents: May 5, 2003 issue of New York | Subscribe!