Shinanigans ensue at Holts Café book bash

Amid TIFF hoopla, the National Post’s society and celebrity ink slinger, Shinan Govani, held a launch for his book Boldface Names at the Holts Café—an event that seemed to procure more boldface names than Vanity Fair’s tiresome TIFF party the night prior. The event condensed every big schmoozer-boozer in the city, culminating in champagne-induced strategic chit-chat, name-dropping and back-handed gossip.

Few parties in Toronto could hope to pull in so many prominent figures. Here’s a run-down of the crowd: Jeff Stober owner of the Drake Hotel, Amber’s Toufik Tarwa, ever-so-tanned club king Michael King, Zoomer’s Suzanne Boyd, Society dolls Ashleigh Dempster and Amanda Blakley, Ben Mulroney of eTalk, Roots founder Michael Budman, Fashion Television’s Glen Baxter, Hello! Canada’s Ciara Hunt, brash book agent Sam Hiyate, Bustle’s design man Shawn Hewson, PR powerwomen Debra Goldblatt and Natasha Koiffman, actor Kristin Booth, singer Jill Barber, the Globe’s Leah McLaren (who rode her bike into Holt Renfrew) and a sprinkle of hot-to-trot 20-somethings that brought just the right amount of sexiness to mill about the lingerie section.