Thursday, June 6. 10:30 pm. Party for the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Sugar Bakeshop, Bill Bowick and David Bouffard. 59½ Cannon St.

Sugar bakeshopYou could call it the Zoolander Effect. Take two stylish guys from New York, put them in a transitional neighborhood and add pastries, chocolatinis and champagne and the result is some hip and really, really ridiculously good-looking people. I mean, look at this picture. I’m not a good photographer. All the other party photographers have fantastic cameras. Mine is crap. The room was just that smoking.

But even without the Spoleto SCENEsters, the bakeshop and gardens of Sugar are pure eye candy. Bill Bowick and David Bouffard, architects both, are of the form-follows-function school – the space was a wonder of workable décor, mixers and stainless steel bowls, racks of cupcake tins, sacks of flour.

Loren Schwerd and NoodleThe backyard is a minimalist (Maya Lin-ist?) garden of modern delight. Pea gravel ground cover, old shutters as dividers, a big blue storage shed that reads nothing like a shed. (“Reads” is architect for “looks.”)

Jared and Jennifer CharzewskiSculptor Loren Schwerd, (formerly of CofC, visiting from LSU), and the V-tones’ own Noodle McDoodle (I believe his real name is Don Something) were checking out Jared Charzewski’s (currently of CofC) video installation, projected on ostrich feathers. Cindi Gasparre, Harleston Village Neighborhood Association president and lifesaver/babysitter to the stars said the billowing white plumes made her feel cooler.

Randolph Martz — discontentedRandolph Martz — superciliousArchitect Randolph Martz explained that a recent photo of him had mislabeled his glasses. “These are my angry, discontented architect glasses (see left). But they can also be my haughty, supercilious architect glasses.” (Right.)

The Sugar duo lives in the house next door. Bill bakes while David is still designing, at Liollio Architects alongside Jay White, who with his new bride Amelia arrived on his-and-hers Pashley city bikes. Brian Sanders and Jen Hurst, also of Liollio, came on a Columbia Twosome tandem.

Brian Sanders, Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Jen HurstI was pumped to talk about Chipper “Mr. 400” Jones but this ain’t the crowd. The closest I got to sports was hockey – Lauren Curler said her brother-in-law Brian Rafalski just won the Stanley Cup. She and her husband celebrated with a special St. Petersburg bottle of Veuve. Sweet!  

Justin Robinson (pulling a Lou Reed) and Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Bill Boward of SugarSignature drink: Chocolatini – crème de cacao, Godiva liqueur, Stoli and a little crème, with shaved chocolate around the lip.

Spread: Drinks and desserts. Galvanized metal buckets of ice held bottles of Spanish cava, waters (thank you!) and cola. Actual, literal chocolate drops with Hershey’s kisses. Cupcakes: red velvet, chocolate icing, homemade caramel-icing, fresh strawberries, brownies, blueberry tarts, lemon tarts, Derby pie tarts.