There are evenings at the Club that feel woven into its history the moment they begin, and the 2026 Summer Gala was one of them. As dusk settled over the gardens on the last Saturday of June, more than four hundred members and their guests gathered beneath strings of lanterns and a sky that, as if by arrangement, stayed perfectly clear until the final dance.
A Grand Arrival
Guests were received on the front steps with a glass of vintage champagne and the sound of a string quartet drifting from the loggia. The Great Hall, dressed in white peonies and candlelight, served as the evening's first act — a reception in which longtime members greeted newcomers with the particular warmth this Club has cultivated for more than a century.
By eight o'clock, the doors to the terrace opened to reveal the season's most ambitious tablescape: forty tables set with the Club's heritage silver, each named for a figure from our founding years. It was, as one member put it, "a dinner party thrown by history itself."
Music, Menu, and Moonlight
Executive Chef Adrian Beaumont, presiding over his first gala since joining us in the spring, delivered a five-course menu that drew a standing ovation before dessert had even been served. Highlights included a chilled English pea velouté, butter-poached lobster with saffron, and a bittersweet chocolate marquise finished tableside with candied violets.
As the plates were cleared, the Club's forty-piece orchestra took the stage for a program that moved from Gershwin to Ellington and, by popular demand, well past the printed set list. The dance floor did not empty until the small hours, and the final waltz — under a nearly full moon — will be spoken of for seasons to come.
In Support of the Foundation
Beyond the celebration, the evening carried real purpose. This year's silent auction and paddle raise benefited the Prestige Club Foundation's scholarship fund, which supports promising students from our city's schools. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of members, the gala raised a record $340,000 — enough to fund twelve full scholarships for the coming academic year.
Our thanks go to the Gala Committee, the house staff whose precision made an evening of this scale feel effortless, and every member who attended. To those who missed it: the date for next year's gala will be announced in early spring, and we suggest marking your calendar the moment it is.
Isabella Hartley
Events Director
