Ahead of her upcoming twentieth anniversary in business, Nili Lotan partnered with Saks for a celebratory dinner Thursday evening. Held on the fourth floor walkup Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, guests like Jacqueline Jablonski, Colin King, Alex Tieghi-Walker, Beverly Nguyen, DeVonn Francis, Anh Duong, Alexander Roth and Saks’ Roopal Patel and Tracy Margolies were treated to a special dinner by former Bon Appetit editor Andy Baraghani. Nili Lotan has been carried by Saks for roughly a yr and a half.

The art gallery venue is in Tribeca, where Lotan has lived since 2006.

“I’m a Tribeca queen,” the designer said during cocktails. “I live in Tribeca, my studio is in Tribeca, my store is in Tribeca. As a matter of fact, my studio was right round the corner to this gallery before the galleries were here. At one point there was a developer who brought all these galleries here. So I do know this street by heart.”

She loves the “unpretentious and laid back” nature of the neighborhood, noting her local haunts include The Odeon, where she is “almost every night.”

Adding a private touch to the night was the custom plates at each place setting, designed with a motif Lotan’s mother had done years prior. 

“My mom was a textile designer who never pursued her profession. In her 20s she was caught in a war in Europe and immigrated to Israel, and had very limited possibilities to pursue her talents,” Lotan explained. “I desired to honor her here since it’s a milestone in my profession and I wanted her to be here.”