Susan Alexandra Hosts The Seder Of The Year

New York is full of great parties, but at many of them, it’s a lot of standing around with a white wine or vodka soda, eyeing the caterer with the canapes. A proper dinner with the right group of people that just clicks is much rarer — which is what made Susan Alexandra and the Jewish Food Society’s Seder the party to be at on April 23.

At a loft in Tribeca, some of the coolest Jews in the downtown scene — fashion insiders, comedians, chefs, and socialites — gathered to break the matzo and celebrate Passover together over a menu created by the renowned Jewish chefs Fany Gerson, Sasha Shor, and Rinat Tzadok. The trio pulled a selection of recipes from The Jewish Holiday Table, a new cookbook from the society.

While Seder dinners may bring back memories of dining rooms in our childhood homes, Alexandra went all out with the decor: Golden tablecloths were accented with oranges, stacked, sliced, and each punctured with flower stems, while place settings were marked with a charm in the shape of a matzo. Mamo wine glasses were also filled with Fallen Grape’s orange wine throughout the night.

“I just think it’s great that we’re all here under one roof together,” Alexandra tells NYLON. “The Seder is something that’s really special to me, and it was great to get to share it with so many friends and new faces.” The guest list included comedian Alex Edelman, who was recently added to Time magazine’s 2024 Time 100 list, and Jewish food stars like chef Jake Cohen and Morgan Raum of Shabbat Club. Great Jones’ Sierra Tishgart brought her adorable new baby. The two long tables that spanned the room were also filled with fashion, design, and cultural tastemakers such as stylist Doria Santlofer; Audrey Gelman, owner of The Six Bells country store; Dimepiece’s Brynn Wallner; photographer Hunter Abrams; and Byline’s Megan O’Sullivan.

After guests were greeted with deviled eggs and horseradish-and-tomato martinis, the dinner started with some classics like an eggplant salad served in bib lettuce cups, along with fish patties and artichoke hearts. New twists were added, though, straight from the new cookbook, like a Mexican spin on matzo ball soup featuring chopped onion, avocado, and jalapeno that people were talking about for the rest of the night. Pomegranate-braised short ribs were served as a main, but the mina de espinaca (a spinach, cheese, and matzo pie) was another crowd pleaser. By the time dessert rolled out, a chili-chocolate cake and passionfruit sorbet, guests were absolutely stuffed.

While Alexandra and the Jewish Food Society hosted the event, they brought in Rabbi Samantha Frank to run the show. Frank asked guests to remember the importance of the Seder, particularly in a year that’s been so difficult for Jewish people around the world. She also brought together the youngest children from everyone’s respective families to go over the four questions and handed a microphone around to have guests read from various parts of the Haggadah that Alexandra and the Jewish Food Society had created. Before ending the prayer, she took a moment to hide the afikomen — a piece of matzo — among the crowd, promising the winner a prize.

Later, Wallner found the afikomen under her seat. All guests were given a bag containing a copy of the cookbook, but she left with an extra gift for her big find.

Photographs by Emma Cheshire