It was a party slipped from the pages of a luxury magazine.
John Paul DeJoria, Eloise DeJoria and Shaquille O’Neal
Start with the setting for the Forbes 30 Under 30 affair. A house by Lake Austin. Relatively modest in scale but unparalleled in setting. A broad lawn shaded by ancient trees spreads below landscaped terraces to the inviting waterside. Across the lake is an arcing canyon wall, lending the land absolute privacy and serenity. No need for over-the-top party decor here.
Waiting on the lawn for the 300 or so guests are three familiar faces: Hair care and spirits billionaire John Paul DeJoria, his movie actress wife Eloise DeJoria along with basketball giant and entrepreneur Shaquille O’Neal. They greet everyone — as do the DeJorias’ gorgeous golden retrievers — and point the guests to an oblong tent that glows wondrously in the dusk.
Tomio Geron and Amanda Ebokosia
Inside, altars of goodies beckon. Several of them — including a mini-hair salon — reflect back the DeJoria business empire. The food — white fish ceviche, mango cupcake, a chocolate dessert — were also made with Patron, Citronge or other DeJoria spirits.
Whipping up these bites was Gordon Grant, the 26-year-old chef at Tony’s, the legendary Houston eatery. He was one of the honorees. Later, he and I caught up on Houston, Austin and other culinary news, after Austin wine expert Jeremy Parzen introduced us.
(He and longtime owner Tony Vallone are opening up a couple new concept places soon.)
Andy Langer’s tweet about one dish: “Foie Gras cotton candy at the Forbes party. Tastes like cruelty. And fun. Simultaneously.”
Cocktails followed, of course, as did a short speech by John Paul and a short set from the harmonically well-blended band Delta Rae. Also, John Anthony DeJoria helped out with the DJ sets.
Grant Gordon and Jeremy Parzen
As always, the meat of the matter was the people. And their ideas.
On the shuttle, I sat next to Peter Luckow who was honored for his efforts with Tiyatien Health. Teaming with Partners in Health, this group trains basic medical personnel to man the widely scattered villages of Liberia. He grew up in Chicago, studied anthropology at Northwestern University and now is based in Boston when he is not in Africa.
We talked about why his generation seems to get more things done than mine did. They’ve got the advantages of the Internet. But they’ve also been haunted by 9/11 and the way the world feels now viscerally interconnected.
And there’s the new spirit of social entrepreneurship. At least my guys paved the way by pointing out the inequities of the world, but we didn’t have the tools or the gumption, most of us, to accomplish much on the ground.
We also talked about symbolic capital and how the Partners in Health pioneered a program with Haitian AIDS patients that showed how powerful a few images of transformation could be.
Later, I heard from Andrew Daines, a Cornell grad whose New York-based group PrePlay comes up with predictive games that go along with live sporting events. He and other young business types keep adding new spins to our age-old diversions.
Gov. Rick Perry, movie director Robert Rodriguez and other A-Listers arrived late, but nobody stole the spotlight from John Paul DeJoria or Forbes editor Randall Lane. It was their exquisite evening.