NEW YORK — Chatting over lunch at Fred's restaurant on the ninth floor of Barneys, Steve Tyrellwas surrounded by friends and family, reflecting on the year about to pass and the new one to come. It was New Year's Eve and this would be his last night of the holiday season to entertain fans at the popular Café Carlyle, where he has held forth each holiday season since 2005.
He was joined by his daughter, Lauryn Kloke (a personal chef) and her husband, marketing exec Nathan Kloke, and Tyrell's squeeze Janine Sharell, producer of Joan Rivers' Fashion Police. Lauren was about to make Tyrell a grandfather again, set to deliver his second grandson at any moment. And the Houston native was over the moon with excitement, showing pictures of his first grandson and declaring that nothing is better than being a grandparent.
Hardly playing the leisurely, retired grandfather role, Tyrell will soon be back on the road to perform at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach for much of January, to the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia in February and landing in Houston in March for a "Steve Tyrell & Friends" concert with the Houston Pops. With a few stints in between, Tyrell returns to Café Carlyle in May.
He won't be able to be in Houston for the Jan. 25 Winter Ball where his sister, Roz Pactor, is one of the Women of Distinction. So the night before, he had videotaped a special message for her to be shown at the gala. With her expertise in writing and directing, Sharell, a former CNN reporter, handled production of the video.
While he calls Los Angeles home, Tyrell makes it back to Houston several times each year, where meets up with family including loads of cousins in the Mandola and Carrabba families. In fact, he held a launch party last June for his latest CD It's Magic, The Songs of Sammy Cahn in the Memorial area home of his cousin Johnny Carrabba.
Steve Tyrell, from left, celebrates New Year's Eve lunch at Fred's in New York with Janine Sharell and Lauryn and Nathan Kloke.
