Remembering Adina

I met Adina Azarian at the most exclusive social event of the year in the Hamptons, which was then called Taste of Two Forks.

The event, hosted by Dan’s Newspapers in Bridgehampton, was traditionally the signature event culminating the social season in the Hamptons. The event and the paper have since been acquired by very close friends.

I was flying high on Wall Street running PartyDigest.com by night, moonlighting by day as a real estate salesperson for Nestseekers (Ryan Serhant was my rental neighbor in Casa Armani – we would run into each other late nights in the fruit aisle at Trump Wall Street! Who knew!), and occasionally doing some work for Time Warner Cable.

I was invited to attend the Taste of Two Forks (back then tickets went for thousands per person) because my company PartyDigest.com was a media sponsor. I was invited to stay at a private Bridgehampton residence by a friend of a friend of a friend who had advance stage cancer and was subsidizing her medical bills by having guests help defray expenses for weekend stays. I invited the lady host as my plus 1 guest to the party.

I ran into Adina at the silent auction at the Taste of Two Forks gala. Her name kept appearing for items I was bidding on, so I had to find out who this person was who constantly outbid me.

She didn’t know me. I didn’t know her. We met and instantly connected and she snapped a selfie to capture the moment (If a lady is hot I allow her to snap a selfie with me!).

We exchanged numbers. I asked her out. She accepted. We texted and made plans for a breakfast date.

I mentioned to my host the next morning that I had met a really hot gal and mentioned the spot Adina had picked for our breakfast date. My hostess said that I was in for a challenge as Adina had picked the most expensive breakfast spot in town!

Fast forward. Adina and I went to breakfast.

It became pretty clear she was out of my league so I demurred. Sensing my hesitation, Adina quickly suggested a friendship. I countered by asking if she had a pool in her home in East Hampton.

I put out my hand and we shook hands to be friends! I won’t try to sleep with you if you own on a manse in the Hamptons that comes with a pool!

We built our friendship brick by brick, party by party, one Bollywood tiffin meal at a time.

I would invite her to parties I was invited to as Publisher of PartyDigest.com, and she graciously allowed me to stay over in a guest bedroom downstairs.

On my way from Astoria, I would often stop in Jackson Heights, fill up a Bollywood Tiffin, and drive it to her house where we would share meals. I also introduced her to my Bollywood Tailor who made her some nice bespoke Indian outfits I helped her pick.

Our friendship grew stronger as I would disclose my challenges and she would encourage me to keep growing. That’s where the idea of the Hamptons Cigar Manufactory was born.

I felt I had achieved what I wanted to with PartyDigest, and as a serial entrepreneur it was time to try something new. Earlier that summer I had been approached by a distinguished cigar family in the Bronx to start my cigar line, and things just fell into place.

I enjoyed a couple of years spending time with Adina and her friends in the Hamptons, lounging in her pool, dreaming up a smoke. And with help from the Sag Harbor Historical Society, the Enigma Segar was born! It became an instant hit, and over the last 10 years, my factory in Tamboril, Dominican Republic and my manager from day one – Jose – have produced thousands of high quality cigars. These mild to medium Connecticut blend smokes have been smoked by celebrities and paupers from Delhi to Dubai!

Adina helped me in so many ways I can’t even begin to explain. Like leaving her back door open for me to stay the weekend, to come and go as I wished while she was on a private jet with her adopted family. Yea, that was her allowing me to build my brand on her dime and then some more. The only rule: I couldn’t bring any women back to her place – whether she was there or was not there. I never did! -). The trust was never broken. But my inventory in her basement was always full and safe! Locals knew where to go to grab the Enigma!

I would share my struggles and successes in our emails and texts over the years and Adina always listened. She took me to dinners and I took her to galas. That’s what friends do. Sometimes, I would leave her house to head back to Manhattan and leave her the extravagant goodie bags the Hamptons rubber chicken circuit would dole out to departing guests. She would chuckle when she would discover them hidden around her house. Her most favorite: the goodie bags from the Killing Kittens sex orgy where I was a cigar vendor in Bridgehampton (yes a rabbit ear!). I’m not a dog person anymore but “Genie” her pet was my favorite.

I got a chance to meet her eclectic social circle. She took turns inviting a coterie of friends over the summer and sometimes would decamp to a yoga or Pilates class leaving us guests to our devices! I even met a couple of her boyfriends. Nobody could figure out our special friendship. It was none of their business. Yes, men and women can be platonic friends. An exception to the rule.

Whenever I was in a spot of legal bother, Adina was the first call I would make in those days because my family was so global. She was not one to bail you out, but she was there to make sure it happened! Let’s leave it that. Her kindness was devotional yet savvy.

Adina relied on me in making important creative and artistic decisions in her life. She wanted to build a blog called #AdinaEast and spent a weekend at my Astoria apartment building the blueprint.

She had a flourishing real estate business out East with Keller Williams but like me she wanted more.

She was intensely private about her upbringing but she alluded to her adoptive parents and biological family who she eventually got closer to her when her daughter was born. She didn’t like taking about her personal stuff and I respected that.

I loved going to art events in East Hampton and would help her decide what art to buy. She could be indecisive at times – that’s why she loved having me around.

Being single, I always encouraged her to build her family outside of a traditional partner and she eventually did. The happiest moment was when she sent me a picture after endless IVF sessions. She was pregnant with a daughter.

I couldn’t wait to have yet another beautiful portrait of her – this time with me and her daughter on my lap. Adina loved how I photographed her house and her life.

Sadly, that picture never materialized.

Adina and her daughter perished in a high-profile private jet crash that circled around the White House and perished in Virginia while she was enroute from a visit to her adoptive parents home to the Hamptons. The tragedy made global headlines.

 

Adina attended my first event when I launched my Enigma cigar brand at an Aston Martin brunch hosted by RAND LUXURY in the Hamptons hosted by my first client in Bridgehampton – Mr Bradford Rand.

She was beyond excited to see two years of my hard work pay off.

I promised her that one day I would make a ladies-only cigar and name it #AdinaEast.

Adina lives on, in front of my eyes every day.

Her portrait watches over me as I go about my business at my #CigarVillas in Florida.

One day, I will fulfill that promise.

Lak