Foodie Talk With Liv Tyler and Maggie Gyllenhaal

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Photo: Patrick McMullan

"There are so many charities out there, and I'm so sensitive. I'm probably over-empathetic," said Liv Tyler—her doe eyes wide enough to make us want to join any cause. The actress was attending a star-studded fête at Buddakan in NYC, thrown by her friend Topaz Page-Green for the Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing meals for children in need.

"Topaz is one of my dearest friends. I've known her for 15 years, so I've been watching her on the sidelines do all this incredible and hard work," Tyler noted. "To start something from scratch, from nothing, and grow it into a real thing takes an incredible amount of courage and dedication."

In between snacking on bite-sized dumplings and egg rolls, guests partook in an art auction featuring work by Chuck Close, Michael Stipe, and Dustin Yellin (re: Michelle Williams' current beau). Various iPads stationed around the restaurant showcased the fund's latest app, Feedie. The app transforms food pictures, à la Instagram, into instant donations made by participating restaurants.

Celebrity chef and co-chair for the Lunchbox Fund Mario Batali meandered through the event sporting his signature Crocs and socks, finally settling on a seat next to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.

While Gyllenhaal gushed about her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal's, cooking ("He has a gift"), she is still a foodie in the making. "I cook things the first time and they come out terribly, often. By the second and third time, I'm pretty good," she admitted.

As it turns out though, Tyler's 8-year-old son might be the real foodie. Aside from getting custom eats delivered by Weelicious, Milo has an adventurous palette that extends to "Japanese rice crackers," according to Tyler. The boy's got taste.