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STIRRING THE POT: PADMA LAKSHMI

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Padma Lakshmi. Photo: Inez & Vinoodh

Tag: Talk

MARC SHAIMAN: NEVER MIND THE HAPPY

Featuring Susan Stroman & Robyn Hurder

Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award–winning composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman comes to Guild Hall to celebrate his New York Times bestselling memoir, Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner. Known for his acclaimed work across Broadway, film, and television—including Hairspray, Mary Poppins Returns, and numerous other beloved productions—Shaiman reflects on a remarkable five-decade career defined by collaboration, creativity, and resilience.

In conversation with Tony Award–winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman, Shaiman offers an intimate look at the artists, influences, and experiences that have shaped his singular voice. By turns candid, humorous, and deeply personal, the evening draws from the memoir while exploring the triumphs, challenges, and unforgettable moments behind a life in show business.

The event also features a special performance by Tony Award nominee Robyn Hurder. Hurder, Stroman, and Shaiman most recently collaborated on Broadway’s SMASH, bringing together three of musical theater’s most celebrated talents. Together, they create an evening of conversation, storytelling, and song that celebrates the enduring power of collaboration and the art of making great entertainment.

 

KILLER LAWNS: A PERFECT EARTH PROJECT GROUNDED CONVERSATION

Is your lawn harming you, your kids, and your pets?

Join experts Dr. Ray Dorsey, Dr. Sarah Evans, Dr. Carl Safina, and Perfect Earth Project founder and landscape designer Edwina von Gal for an enlightened conversation on the dangers lurking in your yard from common landscape chemicals and the health effects on you, your children, and your pets. Yes, you can have beauty without the beast!

The first 100 people who purchase a ticket will receive a copy of Dr. Ray Dorsey’s The Parkinson’s Plan.

STIRRING THE POT: FLORENCE FABRICANT—SALTY, NOT SWEET

Stirring the Pot: Florence Fabricant—Salty, Not Sweet
with James Barron

Guild Hall turns the tables for a special Stirring the Pot with Florence Fabricant as the guest of honor, celebrating her forthcoming memoir, Salty, Not Sweet: A Life in the Food World, published by Running Press of Hachette Book Group with an October release. Interviewed by New York Times writer James Barron, Fabricant will reflect on the many decades of her life and her remarkable career, defined by an insatiable search for new dining experiences. She will trace the evolution of food and restaurant culture in the United States and abroad, share behind-the-scenes stories from her reporting, and reveal the personalities, trends, and turning points she helped bring to the public’s attention.

The morning begins with a complimentary continental breakfast courtesy of Citarella, offering guests a delicious start before this engaging and flavorful conversation with one of food writing’s most influential voices. Following the program, guests can meet Florence in the lobby and secure advance copies of her new book.

STIRRING THE POT: RUSS & DAUGHTERS

Stirring the Pot: Russ & Daughters—Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper

Join Florence Fabricant at Guild Hall for an irresistible edition of Stirring the Pot featuring Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper, fourth-generation owners of Russ & Daughters. They’ll share stories from their family’s legendary Lower East Side appetizing shop, tracing a century of smoked fish, bagels, and New York food culture, and discuss their new book, Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing. Following the conversation, guests are invited to a special book signing—an opportunity to meet the authors and take home a signed copy.

A must-attend for food lovers, home cooks, and anyone who savors the traditions that define New York’s culinary heritage. And make sure to grab a complimentary black & white cookie on your way out!

Breakfast will be served before the program starting at 10 AM.

In 1907, a Jewish immigrant named Joel Russ landed in New York City, where he took a pushcart of herring and built a legacy that would pass down through fathers and daughters (and sons and husbands and wives) for more than a hundred years. Four generations later, the ancestral heart of Russ & Daughters continues to bustle on the Lower East Side, with three more locations throughout the city.

Over the course of a century, Russ & Daughters has fed hundreds of thousands of customers, many considering a visit to the original shop on East Houston a family tradition, weekly ritual, or New York experience. Now, for the first time, Russ & Daughters brings its world-famous institution into readers’ homes with RUSS & DAUGHTERS: 100 Years of Appetizing. Its rich history is told through insider anecdotes from the family and characters on both sides of the counter; illuminating guides to its most famed offerings—smoked salmon, sable, sturgeon, herring, and caviar; and more than 100 cherished recipes for favorite foods like latkes, matzo ball soup, babka, and bagels among many others.

Nothing can ever replace the experience of taking a number, kibbitzing with a slicer, waiting in line, and ordering your whitefish or belly lox. Yet this book captures some of that infectious Russ & Daughters appetizing spirit, and most importantly, brings families and friends together around the table.

STIRRING THE POT: CHEF KWAME ONWUACHI

Stirring the Pot: Chef Kwame Onwuachi

Join Florence Fabricant as she sits down with acclaimed chef, restaurateur, and author Kwame Onwuachi for an illuminating conversation about his remarkable culinary journey. A James Beard Award winner, Onwuachi is the chef and partner behind Tatiana in New York City—one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country—as well as Dōgon and Patty Palace by Chef Kwame, each reflecting his bold, globally inspired approach to flavor and storytelling through food.

Born in the Bronx and raised between New York, Nigeria, and Louisiana, his cooking draws on Afro-Caribbean, West African, and American traditions that shape his personal history and are defining trends for today’s dining. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and author of the bestselling memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef, Onwuachi brings candor, creativity, and cultural insight to the table.

Enjoy a pre-show continental breakfast, courtesy of Citarella, before this inspiring morning of conversation, culture, and cuisine. The talk will be followed by a book signing in the lobby, and books can be purchased in advance or on site.

 

BOOK LAUNCH—ALICE BABER: AN ARTIST’S TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY

Book Launch
Alice Baber: An Artist’s Triumph Over Tragedy
by Gail Levin

Join us for a book launch celebrating Alice Baber: An Artist’s Triumph Over Tragedy by art historian and artist biographer Gail Levin. This new biography revisits the life and work of Alice Baber, an abstract painter known for luminous fields of color that seem to float and shift with light. During her lifetime, Baber’s work entered major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney, and the permanent collection of Guild Hall, before her premature death at just fifty-four. Levin draws on extensive research to trace Baber’s artistic development, her place in the mid-century art world, and the forces that contributed to her later obscurity. More than a portrait of an individual artist, the book offers a needed reappraisal, restoring Baber to the history of American modernism and introducing her work to a new generation.

IN CONVERSATION: ARCMANORO NILES AND ERIC FISCHL

Join artists Arcmanoro Niles and Eric Fischl for a moderated discussion with J. Cabelle Ahn, PhD. Taking Niles’s Guild Hall exhibition Forgotten Words I Never Got to Say as its point of departure, the conversation will consider the evolution of his practice through early and recent works and mark the 10-year anniversary of his 2016 residency as the inaugural participant in Guild Hall’s Artist-in-Residence initiative, while reflecting on the role of the history of painting in contemporary practice.

Come early from 5:30-7:30 PM to enjoy extended gallery hours and live music in the garden as part of our Third Thursdays programming.

IN CONVERSATION: ROSS BLECKNER & DAVID SALLE

Join artists Ross Bleckner and David Salle for a conversation moderated by Melanie Crader, museum director and curator of visual arts at Guild Hall. The discussion will focus on Bleckner’s summer exhibition at Guild Hall, Never The Less, which spans intimate studies dating back to the 1980s and features larger, more recent paintings. Bleckner and Salle first met in the early 1970s at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), before moving to New York City, where they established themselves as two of the most influential painters of the last fifty years.

Come early to visit the galleries and enjoy live music in the garden from 5:30-7:30 PM as part of Third Thursdays programming.

EXHIBITION WALKTHROUGH & ARTIST TALK: CLAIRE WATSON

Join artist Claire Watson for an exhibition walkthrough and artist talk in conjunction with her exhibition Re-Paired, which spans earlier and recent works, featuring mixed-media wall works and sculptures. Watson’s practice draws on found materials; in recent work, she deconstructs salvaged leather garments and rebuilds them into new compositions using sewing and pattern-making techniques. Emphasizing leather’s tactile and structural qualities, the works transform worn, utilitarian objects into abstract reflections on the body, labor, and presence.

FREE WITH MUSEUM ADMISSION

 

IN CONVERSATION: JASON BARD YARMOSKY & ROSS BLECKNER

Join artists Jason Bard Yarmosky and Ross Bleckner for a conversation moderated by Melanie Crader, Museum Director and Curator of Visual Arts at Guild Hall. The discussion will focus on Yarmosky’s current exhibition, Jason Bard Yarmosky: Time Has Many Faces, exploring the evolution and history of his practice. Bleckner—one of the most influential painters of his generation and a longtime educator—will reflect on Yarmosky’s work and their artistic dialogue, offering insight into process, influence, and the broader trajectory of contemporary painting.