Fried Chicken, Cognac & Lion Dancers At Phillip Lim’s Lunar New Year Party

“Every fashion Asian in NYC is here,” says a publicist as I walk through the doors of one of New York’s hardest-to-get-into restaurants: the Korean fried-chicken temple (and NYLON Nights Award winner) Coqodaq. It’s Philip Lim’s annual Lunar New Year dinner, thrown in partnership with Hennessy, and the second unofficial kickoff event of New York Fashion Week — the first being Marc Jacobs’ runway show, from which many of Lim’s guests arrive fashionably late.

Before I have time to process this statement, a red envelope emblazoned with the Hennessy logo is thrust in my face. “Would you like to write down your wish for the wishing tree?” a server asks. I look up, and sure enough, there’s a gilded, grandiose “tree” of sorts to my right, with red envelopes clipped to its weeping-willow-esque branches. Without waiting for an answer, the server hands me a heavy gold pen and guides me to a corner, where I try to think of a wish vague enough that I wouldn’t mind a PR assistant potentially reading it.

Tonight’s celebration is not just an excuse to eat buckets of fried chicken (though this was at the top of my list of priorities), but an opportunity for the city’s AAPI fashion community to welcome the Year Of The Snake, which, according to the Chinese zodiac, requires rebirth and renewal. (Lim nods to these themes in his pre-dinner speech, remarking on how they’ve rung especially true in his personal life — perhaps alluding to the fact that he recently announced his departure from his namesake line.) It’s also a celebration of Hennessy’s collaboration with the Shanghai-based, Chinese-born artist Shuting Qiu, who created limited-edition bottles for the brand.

Looking around the dim, sexily lit space, I couldn’t help but agree with the publicist from earlier — the “fashion Asians” were out to play. I immediately spotted designer Kim Shui, while the “Slaysians” — Prabal Gurung, Laura Kim, Tina Leung, and Ezra Williams — held court at a round booth. Fashion editor Diana Tsui, wearing a festive Simone Rocha frock with lucky red detailing, chatted with a publicist, while Mona Matsouka, Fiffany Lu, and Laura Jung gathered in front of the Hennessy step-and-repeat.

At the tables, delicate golden snakes serve as chopstick holders, while mini engraved bottles of Hennessy function as name cards. The first course — a truly stunning chicken nugget loaded with caviar — arrives to oohs and aahs. (“It’s cruel to give just one,” I hear Natalie Lim Suarez say, and I agree — which is why, after some pleading, our server sneaks us a second round.)

Around this time, dancers from Chinatown Community Young Lions arrive, transporting me instantly to the New Year celebrations I experienced in my hometown of Shanghai growing up. After more courses of fried chicken (glazed in gochujang and sweet soy sauce this time), cold sesame noodles, and tteokbokki, the night ends with a surprise fan-dancing performance and the Hennessy signature cocktail, appropriately named The Serpent.

On the way out, I accidentally drop my tiny Hennessy bottle and the top breaks off. Some might see it as a bad omen — but in the Year Of The Snake, it’s obviously just shedding.