Cupcakes are more than a trend ... they are been used for fund raising, bringing awareness to a cause, such as saving the Polar Bears.
Article at The New York Times
Scene City
Cupcakes for the Endangered Species Coalition
Arden Wohl at a party for the Endangered Species Coalition at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop. More Photos »
By IRINA ALEKSANDER
Published: December 22, 2010
“WE are saving panda bears here tonight, right?” asked Waris Ahluwalia, the jewelry designer. “Arden specifically told me that, if I showed up, I would save at least one panda bear.”
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Mr. Ahluwalia was referring to Arden Wohl, the young socialite who was hosting a benefit party on Monday for the Endangered Species Coalition, a conservation group with a knack for gathering well-connected people. The awareness-raising event was held at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop in NoLIta, a carbon-neutral bakery where old blue jeans are used for insulation.
The guest list promised Ms. Wohl’s cool friends, including the actress Leelee Sobieski and her husband, the designer Adam Kimmel; the actress Stella Schnabel; and the artist Tom Sachs. It was Mr. Sachs who had originally persuaded Ms. Wohl to get involved with saving animals.
“I surf in the Rockaways, so I see pollution firsthand,” Mr. Sachs explained. “It’s disgusting how many condoms and used needles I have to dodge.” He also wanted to correct Mr. Ahluwalia. “The organization focuses on North America, so the panda doesn’t really fit,” said Mr. Sachs, who wore a gray sweater that appeared to be ravaged by moths — not endangered in New York. “It’s the ambassador animal for wildlife because there is no animal more charismatic than the panda.”
What is the ambassador animal for North America? “The polar bear,” squealed Ms. Wohl, who was studying the cupcake display case. She wore a red beret, miniskirt, patterned tights and red suede oxford shoes. “Coming from New York and privilege, you can’t just sit on the world and let it fall apart.”
“I want to go to Manitoba and see all the polar bears,” she added.
Ms. Wohl, who is 27 and the daughter of a comic book author and a real estate mogul, used to make short films, but now bakes pastries as a recent graduate of the French Culinary Institute. For the party, she made savory potato focaccia cupcakes with cream cheese and goat cheese icing. “I think pastries are an extension of storytelling,” she said. “It’s not that far off. It’s very social.”
The party was intimate and felt more like a get-together at someone’s apartment. Mr. Ahluwalia sat at a nearby table, under a stenciled sign that read “Dolphins for Coney Island Cupcakes,” and dug into one of Ms. Wohl’s cupcakes with a fork. “Sea salty,” he concluded.
Mr. Sachs ate his standing up. “At first, it didn’t make sense in my brain that a cupcake should smell like pizza,” he said, “but I gobbled the whole thing down.”
By 8:30 p.m., Ms. Schnabel and Ms. Sobieski hadn’t showed up, but Ms. Wohl, who had been nursing hot tea for a cold, said she had to go home.
Mr. Ahluwalia was heading out to visit friends in the neighborhood, and doggy-bagged a few treats for the hosts’ children. “By the kids eating these cupcakes,” he said, “they would have also helped a panda bear, right?” Technically, it’s the polar bears. But yes, perhaps.
To all things cupcake!
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