This story starts in the “before” times, in September 2019, when Wes Gordon, the creative director of Carolina Herrera, was looking for the perfect place to host the brand’s Spring 2020 show after party. Three Guys Diner, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, wasn’t an obvious choice, per se, but he and Mrs. Herrera are both long-time customers. And its proximity to the brand’s remodeled flagship and Gordon’s own apartment made it all the more appealing. “It has the feeling of family and everything you would expect out of a club—privacy, familiarity, fun—without it being a club,” Gordon tells ELLE Decor. “My kids know all the staff there, and all the staff there know my kids.”
The tables were dressed in polka dots for the 2019 Carolina Herrera takeover.
That atmosphere happened to be just what the party planner ordered. The fashion house transformed the space into “Carolina’s Diner” for an evening, outfitting the walls in red mylar streamers and dressing tables with polka dotted tablecloths; servers carted around fries and sliders. It was a classic Cinderella story, the casual daytime haunt reimagined as a glamorous party spot for one night only.
The interior of Three Guys Diner transformed into «Carolina’s Diner» in 2019.
Fast forward six years and the slipper still fits. Open since 1978, Three Guys is family-owned and run by one of the original founders, Spiro Argiros, alongside his son, Noufri. The diner is holding its own in a neighborhood that has seen an influx of member’s clubs and impossible-to-book boîtes—Maxime’s is five blocks down, Chez Fifi two avenues over—offering fashion insiders a taste of hard-to-come-by humble pie. (Though the pricing won’t let you forget where you are: two omelettes and coffees set us back over $60 while reporting this piece.)
Tonight, Three Guys will host fashion brand FRAME and Sotheby’s as they fête the launch of their collaboration, a 31-piece collection of 80s-inflected apparel and accessories, with a cocktail dînatoire. It’s also something of a welcome-to-the-neighborhood toast for Sotheby’s, which is relocating this fall to the Breuer building a few blocks away.
Designer Daniella Kallmeyer took over the space in May for Café Kallmeyer.
“Three Guys is the kind of if-you-know-you-know place that plays host to wildly contrasting patrons, from the gallery power-lunch duo to young families having milkshakes after school,” said FRAME founder Erik Torstensson, himself no stranger to a good diner party. (The brand took over Chelsea’s Empire Diner for an event with Karlie Kloss ten years ago.) “It speaks to the inspiration for the collection, imagining the protagonist rooting around in the basement of their Hamptons family home and uncovering a box of classic 1980’s branded pieces from the wardrobes of their parents.”
The party will see the menu redone in an elegant script alongside branded napkins and fries on silver trays. Bar staff will be in full art handler cosplay, wearing Sotheby’s aprons and button downs, worn with white gloves; guests will be given auction paddles and a random denomination of FRAME and Sotheby’s currency for an opportunity to bid on five surprise auction lots. “We liked the idea of showing up in a place that’s already deeply rooted in the community we’re about to join,” Kristina O’Neill, Head of Media for Sotheby’s, tells ELLE Decor.
The campaign for the FRAME x Sotheby’s collection features Ashkan Baghestani, Senior Vice President and Head of the Contemporary Art Day Sale at Sotheby’s in New York and the Middle East. «We wanted pieces that nodded to our legacy while speaking to a new generation of collectors and culture lovers,» said O’Neill.
Since the Herrera takeover, the restaurant has upgraded its appliances, applied a few fresh coats of paint, and even brought in a 22’-long refrigerator. But brands are, for the most part, on their own, hiring servers, bartenders, DJs—you name it. When fashion designer Daniella Kallmeyer took over the space last month to celebrate the opening of her nearby boutique, she drew inspiration from another local institution, Sardi’s, commissioning nearly 100 caricatures of “Kallmeyer women” to preside over the night’s festivities. Tables were set with placemats (as well as crayons with which to color them in); martinis were themed to her uptown and downtown locations; and fries and sliders were once again passed around freely.
The Kallmeyer event served classic diner food.
While such events are new, the famous faces are not—Steve Martin and Tom Hanks have been longtime regulars; Hugh Jackman sticks out in the restaurant’s tagged photos on Instagram. Politicos including former New York governor Elliot Spitzer and former mayor Michael Bloomberg have held casual meetings there to talk about serious business, while Gossip Girl and Billions both filmed there. Locals have been known to take the space over for a bat mitzvah or two. “Sometimes it gets so busy you might see $25,000 worth of strollers sitting outside,” said Spiro Katehis, Noufri’s cousin and the general manager. It makes sense that Jill Kargman even name-checked Three Guys in her 2007 novel, Momzillas.
And that pretty much sums up the appeal: Three Guys Diner is a space with nothing to prove. «In the beginning, when we weren’t used to this, we were scrambling,» said Katehis. «But we’ve gotten the hang of it.»
Sean Santiago is ELLE Decor’s Deputy Editor, covering news, trends and talents in interior design, hospitality and travel, culture, and luxury shopping. Since starting his career at an interior design firm in 2011, he has gone on to cover the industry for Vogue, Architectural Digest, Sight Unseen, PIN-UP and Domino. He is the author of The Lonny Home (Weldon Owens, 2018), has produced scripted social content for brands including West Elm and Streeteasy, and is sometimes recognized on the street for his Instagram Reels series, #DanceToDecor
