By JESSE GREEN [NY Times, 20 January 2008]

ON a cold Saturday afternoon in November, Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein held court in the vaulted marble lobby of the Hermitage Hotel here, dispensing bons mots and refreshments with abandon. A Brownie troop practicing Southern charm over tea nearby kept glancing toward them in awe. Who were these great men seated before the fire, broadly gesturing and accepting homage in plus-size wingback chairs?