“As I like to say,” booms emcee Josh Gates from the stage, “you’re at the most interesting dinner party in the world!” The gala attendees titter demurely at their tables in their tuxedos and gowns. Interesting? “If you say so,” they seem to agree bashfully. We’re on Manhattan’s West Side for the Explorer’s Club Annual Dinner Gala, part fundraiser, part reunion for this social club of world travelers, scientists, and other expeditioners. A table costs more than I make in a year, but this dinner (if you can elbow your way in) is an opportunity to meet people who have been to the most remote parts of the world. If past menus are any indication, the food is at least as fascinating as the people: In the ’50s, attendees of this same dinner purportedly ate woolly mammoth (it was actually sea turtle); more recently, the menu featured a glorious whole roasted ostrich; and at least once, martinis were garnished with cow eyes… read more >
