MY DINNER WITH KAL; AT A RESTAURANT OF THE MOMENT, BLOOMINGDALE'S FASHION SEER REVEALS HIS SOURCES OF INSPIRATION.(biography of Kal Ruttenstein)(Biography)

Daily News Record, November, 2004 by Pallay, Jessica

Byline: JESSICA PALLAY

Kal Ruttenstein, Bloomingdale's senior vice-president for fashion direction, once described his evening routine this way:

"Every night I get in a car and go downtown for dinner to see what's going on. I always get a table with a lot of traffic at whatever are the hot restaurants of the moment. Restaurants are the discotheques of the first decade of the new century, and I have to be out there to see what everyone is wearing. I don't feel like I'm doing my job if I'm not out at night."

With this in mind, I thought I'd join this legend of retail and fashion for a dinner date and check out his nighttime research ritual. (Never mind that Kal would be the last guy to call himself a legend.)

Kal chose our...