In case you haven't heard, we're working on an oral history of Michael's for an upcoming issue of Quest. (It's true that we kid David Patrick Columbia because we love, and don't worry, you'll see it on Mediabistro eventually.) We mention it because it gave us an excuse to reminisce about past lunches with Joe Armstrong and Tony Hoyt today, even though we were afraid that a meta-media vortex would open up in the lobby and swallow us all. Not that anyone would look up from their Cobb Salads. In any case, on with the roll call:

Table 1: Liz Smith, lunching with Paramount chief (but for how long?) Brad Grey. Grey's been hanging out at Michael's a lot for someone who presumably lives and works in Los Angeles. Lloyd Grove spotted him here yesterday breaking bread with his new boss (and Sumner Redstone arch-crony) Phillipe Dauman. By the way, why isn't lunch at Michael's on Tom Freston's to-do list? After all, he has the time...

2. So this is where the money saved by the hiring freeze is going: Hachette Filipacchi CEO Jack Kliger was eating here with William Morris chief Jim Wyatt. Hopefully Wyatt paid for lunch.

3. The Mayor, Joe Armstrong was here today with Karenna Gore Schiff. We didn't get a chance to ask how it feels to have a father who's hanging with a younger crowd than she is these days.

4. On the early shift: Ron Perelman, with his boys and vice-chairmen Howard Gettis and Donald Drapkin. On the second shift: the forever-young Lisa Birnbach celebrating her "35th birthday" (again) with her husband and son. "We're celebrating every Wednesday this month," she sad. We're sorry it had to end.

5. If we're not mistaken, this table held Claudia Cohen (i.e. the second ex-Mrs. Perelman) with Patricia Rose.

6. Henry Schleiff was looking super-casual today in a blue button-down and a sweater vest while he lunched with Ed Bleier.

7. Mike Holtzman of Brown Lloyd James and guest.

8. A theater pair: Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization, with stage and screen director Sam Mendes. It's more likely you've seen his movies (American Beauty, Jarhead) than his theatrical work.

11. Packaging designer Mark Rosen with 1950s starlet and beauty writer Arlene Dahl.

12. The coolest girls in school today: Lunch at Michael's friends Lisa Dallos and Chris Taylor, NYC film commissioner Katherine Oliver, and Project Runway executive producer Desiree Gruber.

14. Arnold Scassi, Parker Ladd and an unidentified lunch date.

15. Gil Schwartz lunching with Premiere editor Peter Herbst.

17. Norm Pearlstine, with who we do not know. (We even saw him leave alone.)

18. Lou Korman.

20. Jack Myers lunching with Kim Martin, general manager of WE Network.

21. Quest's Chris Meigher at his usual table.

23. Judy Price with Ms. Semi-Made Sandra Lee.

24. Fashion designer Steven Stolman, along with Gillian Miniter, and Louise Grunwald.

25. Michael Kasson.

27. Polo Ralph Lauren president Roger Farah with Playboy fashion director Joseph de Acetis.

28. Linda Janklow.

29. Lisa Kovitz was celebrating her new gig as a senior media relations strategist at Edelman with Dianne Doctor, the former news director of both WCBS-TV and WNBC-TV and apparently her former roommate at Syracuse.

Also spotted in the room by the eagle-eyed ladies of Table 12: CNBC's Jonathan Wald with former Good Morning America executive producer Ben Sherwood; and the Greater Talent Network's Don Epstein with Jolie Hunt.

Please send any and all correct spellings, additions, and what-have-you to FishbowlNY AT mediabistro Dot Com.

Map of Michael's