A “pretentious” Manhattan socialite hosted a swanky, “black tie optional” bash in January — where he sipped champagne with his fabulous friends and boasted of an upcoming years-long vacation to Europe he was about take. Tabber Benedict bellied up to the bar at Chelsea’s Bungalow 8 — with a woman on his arm — and bent his friends’ ears about the planned jaunt and all the places he was going to visit. But the finance lawyer was hiding the real, sinister reason he was saying his farewells. He was going to prison for nearly killing a man. About two years ago, the West Village denizen slammed his SUV into a Long Island dad after a night of hard partying in the Hamptons — and left his victim for dead, records show. The Jan. 24 soiree was just four days before he was sentenced to as many as 10 years in the clink. “He lied to everybody about going to Europe,” one of his friends said…“I feel terrible for Tabber because I know there’s no table service where he’s headed,” sniffed fellow socialite Justin Ross Lee. “He’s the most pretentious person I’ve ever met.” [NYP]