The Waverly Inn may very well be the new Café Society, but we don’t see anyone lying around in settees there. Least of all its star chef John DeLucie, who likes a meal you can eat with one fork and has a story or two to tell in his upcoming memoir, The Hunger.

Nightly they come, exiting chauffeured limos and Maybachs, rushing by the paparazzi, and entering a Bilbo Baggins-sized door into the magical labyrinth called The Waverly Inn. There’s no need to name them. “They” have all been there, whether strolling from neighboring West Village brownstones (“Hey, Hah-vee! Can we get one shot?”), or “just in” from Los Angeles. Cannes. Sundance. Turks. Rehab.

Adam Alpert, director of promotions for white-hot nightclub 1Oak (“1 Of A Kind”), is a true New York City party boy. From trips to St. Tropez in diapers to managing events at Manhattan restaurants and clubs, Alpert doesn’t know the meaning of a night off. Sushi Samba, Butter, and Pop Burger are among the notches on his belt, not to mention more in the Hamptons and those infamous New Year's Eve parties in South Beach. Still, the med school student turned nightlife aficionado took a minute to talk with us about parties, Darwin, and those curious 1Oak paintings.

Point of Origin: “Born and raised on the Upper East Side. Went to Horace Mann high school in the Bronx. Went to collage at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. I was pre-med. The summer after my junior yr of college, right before I started studying for the MCATS, I came home for the summer and started going out to night clubs and enjoying myself. After a few weeks, people were calling me, begging me to come, giving me drinks for free, and I became immersed in this culture, and entranced by this, and how all the different industries come together at night, and I loved it

Amy Sacco, simply put, is the queen of New York nightlife. The city's myriad bars and clubs act as her own personal Cheers, a place where everybody knows her name. Her near-mythical Bungalow 8 club celebrates its unprecedented-for-New York eighth year at this September's Fashion Week, a year after a larger version opened in London. She's the kind of club owner that doesn't need a promoter. From her early days owning Lot 61, this Amazonian impresario understood what celebrities can do for one's business -- Bungalow regulars include everyone from the Olsens to Bill Clinton -- so not only did she attract them to her clubs, she became a celeb herself.

A promotional prodigy, Sujit Kundu has channeled his love of the game into startling early success as a DJ talent manager, promoter, and recording executive. His laundry list of clients and associates reads like a who's who of turntable talent, not to mention an artistically profitable relationship with sudden superstar Lil Wayne. Unsurprisingly, his ambition isn't quite satisfied.

Point of Origin: "I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Fullerton, CA. During high school, at the age of 16, I started promoting clubs and raves as well producing concerts in Southern California. After high school, I attended and eventually graduated from UCSB, where my primary focus on academics quickly changed as I began to see the business opportunities in the marketplace. At 19, I became the GM of Sticks restaurant and nightclub (Santa Barbara’s #1 club) and started my own mix show and street promotion company. After college, the mix-show promotions escalated into independent/retainer radio promotions. At the same time, myself and Damian Young, along with Emmis Communications, created Baby Ree Productions, a joint venture production company, which produced tracks for the likes of Mariah Carey, Ja Rule, Nate Dogg, Warren G, and Shade Sheist, among others."

The big restaurant biz certainly runs in Harry Morton's family. His grandfather Arnie Morton started the immortally eponymous Morton's, and his father Peter Morton was a cofounder of the Hard Rock Cafe chain. Harry has a few irons of his own in that fire, including his own Pink Taco chain and the recent purchase of legendary LA club Viper Room. And just incidentally, he used to date Lindsay Lohan.

Point of Origin: "Born in London, live in LA now."

Current Biz: "Currently working on expanding Pink Tacos and Viper Room -- working to build my company large enough to give us total marketing freedom. We want the ability to do what we want when we want. I’m also creating a new concept that is solely based on creating business to give back. The entire company’s focus is to make money to give back positively in the community. I’m working with Lloyd and Co., who are creative geniuses ... they are helping me develop the idea. A real passion project."

Lionel Ohayon's ICRAVE has designed and architected some of the coolest bleeding-edge restaurants, clubs, lounges, and hotels of recent years. From New York to Los Angeles, and Las Vegas to Miami, ICRAVE venues draw praise from nightlifers and aesthetes alike -- and Ohayon promises more to come.

Point of Origin: "I'm a French Moroccan Jew. I was made in Morocco, but born in Canada where I grew up and studied architecture at the University of Waterloo. After working and studying in Paris and Rome, I came to New York at the bequest of a client/friend who had recently gotten engaged to the daughter of a billionaire and needed help on a sprawling mansion. I never finished that project (I don't think it’s finished yet); it’s not destined for completion. But I did get a virus in my system called New York, and never left. New York is my junk."

Rachel Uchitel has run the velvet ropes from Las Vegas to the Hamptons. Uchitel's come a long way -- she lost her fiancée in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11, found love again, then moved on once more. After conquering so many obstacles and returning east to manage VIP action at some of the most successful clubs in New York, she has no plans to slow down.

Occupations: "I'm obsessed with work ethic and can get anything done. I'm aware of what I am good at and what I am not, and I surround myself with people to help get the job done flawlessly. Having once worked in live TV, I'm intuitive about reading people's wants and needs, and I take customer service to a whole new level. It can be difficult being a successful woman in this industry because being assertive is often misinterpreted as being a complete bitch. I take people's opinion of me personally, and that can be rough."