Glam Slam: ‘Project Runway’ Dish

I am still recovering from a fabulous dinner at Hollywood Hot Spot Cecconi’s, where I ate too much and stayed out way too late on a school night. It was a dinner in honor of fashion designer Laura Bennett, the “Project Runway” finalist from season three. It was worth every calorie and minute of sleep lost!

The dinner was thrown by “Project Runway” Executive Producer Desiree Gruber, who brought together a group she calls “inspirational,” including “Project Runway” Executive Producer Jane Cha, Rachel Zoe, stylist and Oprah regular Jesse Garza, Glamour’s West Coast Editor James Patrick Herman, L.A. Times Fashion Critic Booth Moore and celebrity dog trainer Tamar Geller among others. Somehow I wrangled a spot in this glamorous group of people.

Laura met Rachel Zoe for the first time at the dinner and told her she loved her show and couldn’t wait for it to come back. (The second season of Bravo’s “The Rachel Zoe Project” returns Monday August 24th). Rachel was looking very chic in a black suit with bold shoulders and tons and tons of her signature gold jewelry, which I must admit, I was coveting in a big way.

Everyone was going nuts (or should I say “bananas?”) over the promos for Rachel’s show and asked her if Taylor quits. I know the answer, but I would never, ever tell!

As we savored fresh buffalo mozzarella, grilled octopus, eggplant parmigiana, fig tarts and wine made by Desiree’s husband Kyle MacLachlan, I sat next to Laura, who is very funny, very open and candid, and her Southern drawl (and a glass of Chardonnay!) brought out my own southern accent.

Laura is in Los Angeles taking meetings about her new book about parenting, called “Didn’t I Feed You Yesterday?”, which is due out in the Spring. The mother of six says she is still recognized by fans… even more so out here than in New York.

She told me she’s looking forward to the new season of “Project Runway” and we talked about the excitement the contestants would be going through as the show is about to hit the air.

Especially in this case since season six was taped two years ago. That’s a long time to keep things a secret, but we all get the chance to watch the action unfold when “Project Runway” returns August 20th on Lifetime. Finally!