A balmy October night, and the temperature inside the tiki hut was approaching that of the brush fires sweeping across Napa.

Was it the effect of scantily clad Brazilian and Tahitian dancers wiggling their, um, God-given talents through the mai tai-sipping crowds? Or was it the heat generated by a room of wall-to-wall swells determined to make it to a hyped (and several times delayed) opening, even as the last presidential debate took place?

Either way, the tropical fever that guests experienced seemed apropos for the opening of the Polynesian-themed Trader Vic's. (Once the place to see and be seen in San Francisco, it faded from view and operation in
1994. See page 26 for another item on it.) The night's celebration was for the 64-odd investors, who were allowed to invite four friends apiece to
witness Vic's rise from the ashes. Invitees included a mix of old San Francisco types and a nouveau crowd anxious to be part of a tradition it missed out on. The list ranged from Fritz and Lucy Jewett to Leigh Matthes, Chris Vietor, and recently retired Goldman Sachs managing director Guy Muzio and his wife, Maria.

The talk of the room centered on three things: Was one an investor? (Many didn't know who else was involved.) And among noninvestors, a do-you-think-it-will-take-off inquiry came up frequently. Last, virtually everyone had a nostalgic dining tale about the storied canteen, out of fondness, yes, but also to let it be known that one had made the cut even then. Longtime rake and raconteur Harry de Wildt told the Socialist, "I was here so much they always had a table waiting for me. I'd have to phone them only if I wasn't coming."

So it was, indeed, a night of nostalgia. With the usual boldfaced names—Danielle Steel low-keyed it in the back, surveying the goings-on from an elevated platform; Aqua restaurant's Charles Condy; financier Tully Friedman and his wife, Elise; Ken Rainin and Heidi Betz—one couldn't help but wonder if it was, say, the year 1976. One half expected Herb Caen or Pat Steger to be in the room, and many of the guests would have been happier if they had been. Compounding the retro factor, the new Vic's is in what was formerly the restaurant Stars' venue, and some traded Stars stories from the eighties.

If atrophy is to be avoided, the high society tradition needs to be reinterpreted and updated with different players, ever-new ways of keeping score, and a changing playground. And so, in a renewed grab for the glamour stakes, Trevor Traina and Kathryn Lasater are once again gearing up for their second Fine Arts Museums' spring gala—the one that, as you might recall, put off some folks last year for keeping the over-45s out. A chinoiserie-themed kickoff party at the Yves Saint Laurent boutique, where people literally sweated to the oldies on account of an unfortunate air-conditioning breakdown, was attended by the mostly dress-to-impress crowd. This included San Francisco's glam style editor Kathryn Retzer and her beau, Alex Fisher, as well as the fast and furious trustafarians, ranging from Argentinian Victoire Reynal and Kentucky-transplant Owsley Brown to Alexis Swanson, Roth and Emily Martin, and Jamie Goodyear. With all the effort (now who said chic was effortless?), the party went heavy on the hauteur, but sometimes you need to put it out there. Call it...festive. "It's the usual suspects," said one guest with a sigh, "in their see-and-be-seen mode." And why not? It's perhaps the designer duds and the theater that separate us from Cleveland or Kansas City.

And yet, some are socially confident enough to go the Kansas City route. Vanessa Getty summoned guests for a burgers-and-bowl fest to welcome fashion designer and friend Michael Kors. Among those who arrived at the Presidio Bowl for Dom Perignon in plastic cups (to go with your spicy fries, of course) were John Idol, the former CEO of Donna Karan and Kors's current partner; Anne Waterman, the designer's right-hand woman; Brad Kroenig, a Ford model who's currently among the top in the industry (see him in Fendi, Cavalli, and Hilfiger); as well as local friends Vandy Boudreau; fund-raiser Peter Poulos; and Skylar Ulrich (soon-to-be-ex-wife of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich). Getty and Kors, with their not-so-strong blue collar cred, bowled "like blondes," said Kors, and went straight to the gutter. Both of them ultimately improved (Getty bowled two lanes), with Kors concluding to the Socialist that he "went from bowling like an autistic child to bowling just like a child."

Meanwhile, back at the Getty mansion, prolific interiors scribe Diane
Dorrans Saeks was being feted for her 15th book, this one entitled San Francisco Style. A cabal of interior designers, including Timothy Marks, Kate McIntyre, Brad Huntzinger, and Steven Volpe; Chronicle Books publisher Nion McEvoy; and bicoastal jewelry designer and boutique owner Federico de Vera (whose apartment is featured in the book) came to toast the Englishwoman by way of New Zealand beloved (and feared) for her tart social commentary, delivered with a deadpan expression and a stiff upper lip. It was a month-long affair for Saeks, what with Urannia Ristow throwing a lunch one day, Sherlee Rhine hosting cocktails in her Pacific Heights home, and Vanessa Getty arranging a dinner another evening at Mecca. And owing to that powerful word in society, obligation, the social merry-go-round continued to spin.