EDITOR AT LARGE

We Are Relocating!

2010-08-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Followers and Fans,

This blog has moved from Blogger to join the Aficionado blog network, so please keep following me at

http://aficionado.co.za/editoratlarge/

I look forward to hearing from you over there. And you'll find me on Twitter @editoratlrg

Let me know what you think!

Love,

Nadine

Rolling, Williamsburg-Style

2010-07-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

You may be in Brooklyn once you cross the Williamsburg Bridge from Clinton and Delancey to South 4th and Bedford, but this isn't kid-obsessed Park Slope, at least when it comes to the transport. Yesterday I happened past this Mini Cooper with its Austin Powers roof and one of the most hilarious personalized plates I've seen: "Diet SUV." Oh yeah, baby.

Stars and Stripes

2010-07-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

It's Independence Day in the United States and that means that Stars and Stripes abound on everything from flags to patriotic pedicures. Even this fire hydrant got some love of country love...

Happy 4th!

The Art of Appropriating Andy Warhol: Q & A with Mike Bidlo

2010-07-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I met the artist Mike Bidlo in the lobby of the Lever House to discuss the latest addition to the building's art collection: His stack of "Not Warhol Brillo Boxes." Instead of the provocateur I was expecting, Bidlo was a soft-spoken intellectual who is more interesting in teaching others about the masters than criticizing them. Read all about it on T Magazine's "The Moment."

World Cup Mania at Monkeybiz

2010-07-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

I love this amazing beaded Bafana Bafana soccer player, made for Monkeybiz by women in the townships of Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu.

The height of the doll is almost one meter high (about 3ft).

If you want it, you'll find it the Carrol Boyes Store in the Waterfront in Cape Town.

I'm not convinced, though, that Monkeybiz should part with this museum-worthy piece too quickly...

Sag Harbor's Sustainable Living Emporium

2010-06-21T14:40:00.001-07:00

Donna Karan's Urban Zen has some serious competition: Down the road on Main Street in Sag Harbor is Well Nest, a serene haven for cold-pressed juices, super vitamins, delicious mood-enhancing chocolates, terrariums filled with orchid plants and even wooden ipod covers. Basically, all things sustainable, especially if they're also chic.
I especially loved the Japanese recyclable picnic gear which includes square paper plates (genius) and wooden flatware that looks Victorian in design.

For more info head to 125 Main Street, Sag Harbor or www.wellnest.us

Most Wanted (even during World Cup): Jenny Holzer Tees

2010-06-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

My interview with Jenny Holzer about her t-shirt intervention in Johannesburg and Soweto was published on T Magazine's web site (T, for those outside of the U.S. is the New York Times Style Magazine).

Have a read here.

And learn more about the In Context project, curated by Liza Essers the owner and director of the Goodman Gallery, here.

Essers had the following to add: “The Goodman gallery is committed to social responsibility. Hundreds of millions have been spent on soccer stadiums and we wanted Jenny's truisms on t-shirts -- not LED screens -- to highlight the very real issues and abject poverty surrounding them.”

If you're in Johannesburg on Thursday, head to Melrose Arch to watch the 90 minute film Zidane: A 21st-Century Portrait, by artists Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon, also part of Incontext. And look out for Kara Walker's films at the Apartheid Museum and Hank Willis Thomas's work on show at the Goodman Gallery space at Arts on Main and in Parkwood.

Missing Marina

2010-06-07T19:44:00.001-07:00

New York is just not the same without the knowledge that Marina Abramovic is sitting serenely up at MoMA while we rush around her like chickens who have lost our heads. It's been a week since she moved out of the museum and I'm not sure if, without her unwavering gaze, we exist at all.

I went to MoMA to bid my farewell just four days before her vigil ended. And although photography wasn't permitted I snapped these two cheeky pics with my iphone. Hey, Peter Magubane used a milk carton and a loaf of bread when he had to.

Love Your Hair? Let the World Know

2010-06-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

Kissa Thompson, the founder and creative director of Buttaflyunltd has made a t-shirt that tells it like it is.

It certainly inspired me to start thinking about going back to my naturally curly hair instead of throwing hundreds of dollars away on straightening treatments. Kissa's next move is to make her t-shirt in girls sizes and give talks on the importance of learning to love the hair you were born with. Hair, hear.

Calling all Renegade Crafters

2010-06-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

McCarren Park in Williamsburg is a live manifestation of Etsy.com this weekend. If you missed the first day (today), you've still got all of tomorrow to catch up on some crafty finds.

Here, some items that made me smile.

1. Onesies by neighborhood. Babes who hail from the Jersey Shore, don't need to wait until they can walk to get ripped.

While Williamsburg tots get instant hipster mustache-cred. Go to www.handsomehoward.com for more info.

2. I have a serious soft spot for homemade dolls, especially when they come in all the same colors as real little girls.

4. Inknjoy's animated bracelets are so cute, I vote for an armful of friends who all look like they'd get on well with Daria.

A Not So Simple Salad

2010-06-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Caffe Falai on Lafayette Street in Soho is one of my favorite New York eateries. Today I tried a new salad there for the first time and fell head over heels for the presentation before I'd even tasted the delicious mix of trumpet, shitake and portobello mushrooms under that canopy of parmeggiano.

Street Boners: Having a laugh at your crazy get-ups

2010-06-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

If you're a fan of The Sartorialist, you'll love Street Boners, a tongue-in-cheek version by Gavin McInnes, the former top dog at Vice. He has created an entire lexicon of looks from pocahipsters to the nerdy slut and rated them with a kitten rating system.
Read more about it here and here.

Jedis!

2010-05-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night, as we were walking home through the Lower East Side, we stumbled on a park filled with lightsaber wielding Jedis. I kid you not.
It was all the work of Newmindspace, the same masterminds behind International Pillow Fight Day. Read more about it here.

Summer Highs...and Lows

2010-05-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day on Monday -- the official start of summer in America. And in New York, that means that more bikers will take advantage of the lovely warm weather and hit the streets and bike paths in the coming months.

There's one memento mori that always stops me in my tracks on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. It looks like any other bicycle at first, tied to a street pole or bike rack, but on closer inspection one realizes that it has been crudely sprayed white and sometimes it has flowers on the handle bars and a note explaining that it stands there to mark the spot where a cyclist was killed.

They are called "Ghost Bikes" and described here as "quiet and somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street...They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel."

According to GhostBikes.org, these aren't a New York invention at all. "The first ghost bikes were created in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003, and they have since appeared in over 100 locations throughout the world. For those who create and install the memorials, the death of a fellow bicyclist hits home. We all travel the same unsafe streets and face the same risks; it could just as easily be any one of us." *Shiver*

Above, is a minimal ghost bike that I spotted just off the Williamsburg Bridge, a fantastic bike path between the Lower East Side and Williamsburg. It may not have a plaque or flowers, but it's a stark reminder, nonetheless.

Crying for Art's Sake

2010-05-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

"Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present" is on at MoMA only until May 31. If you need any further inspiration to get there and sit with the artist, take a look at this blog called "Marina Abramovic Made Me Cry" featuring sitters who became emotional in her gaze.

Cuba on Her Mind

2010-05-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

Mexican born photographer, Alinka Echeverria's sensitive work in progress is titled Cuba 1959: The Second Front. Echeverria (above), an ICP graduate, is concerned with collective memory. Editor At Large spotted her work yesterday in the Latin American Pavilion at the New York Photo Festival in Dumbo. For these portraits of men in their homes, she encourages veterans of the Cuban Revolution to reminisce. "The process of being photographed wearing their military uniforms and medals provoked in many an emotional journey into their past and created a space for self-reflection of their identity as veterans of a war that changed their nation forever," she writes. See her work below and here.

South Africa at the NY Photo Festival

2010-05-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

Editor at Large went over to Dumbo to listen to Jodi Bieber talk about her new book on Soweto. It is quite an honor to be asked to give a talk at the festival and Bieber's work is certainly strong, interesting and even groundbreaking (though some photos made me think of Zwelethu Mthethwa's shack portraits and also of Lolo Veleko's "Smarties"). But we think Bieber could have been more prepared for the talk and more conscious of the fact that she was talking to Americans who have only the scantest knowledge of what life in South Africa was like during apartheid and what it's like now. For example, showing a photograph of black South Africans swimming in a public pool and commenting: "Before black people didn't swim," is not really enough information. Same goes for the amazing photo of the women with the boa constrictor wrapped around her body and the photo of the gay couple. Most speakers suffer from TMI (too much info). Bieber made us yearn to understand the context better and to know more.

Meanwhile, at the Tobacco Warehouse, I spotted the work of one South African photographer and one Swiss/Lebanese photographer who did a documentary in South Africa:

1. I loved Market Photo Workshop student, Simangele Kalisa's "Clothed" project. Kalisa grew up in Soweto. She says that she's using the title "Clothed" for a number of reasons. I like this one: "In most traditionally black Christian churches and movements in South Africa -- with most having their own uniform and therefore a particular semiotic system associated with dress and identity -- uniforms are called Izambatho (Zulu) or diaparo (Sotho) which translates into English simply as 'clothes'. Looking at the history of colonialism, and in particular how Africans were referred to as 'the naked'and colonisers 'the clothed,' it becomes apparent how identity can literally be fashioned by dress."

2. Mariella Furrer's hard-hitting black and white photographs document the realities of child sexual abuse beyond the headlines that are so hideous to read but also so easy to forget. "South Africa records one of the highest rates of child sexual abuse in the world," says her artist's statement. "Because the sexual abuse of children remains taboo, it is not spoken about openly and is, in a sense, invisible." This heartbreaking photo shows a child being examined for signs of abuse.

Pullino's Public Patio

2010-05-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Word on the Bowery is this: Pullino's, Keith McNally's new Nolita hotspot, opened its "patio" last night by placing chairs and tables on the sidewalk at the corner of Bowery and Houston. Thing is, that corner is extremely popular with hipsters, but also with the homeless. And, sure enough, a homeless man came around and began asking Pullino's patio patrons for donations. When a security guard asked him to move on, he became angry and began throwing his body against the nearby busstop. Needless to say, the two patrons he'd been plaguing decided against dessert and called for their check. Talk about a turf war!

Death for Dieters: Artisinal Ice Cream Truck

2010-05-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Van Leeuwen's artisinal ice cream truck is testing the willpower of New Yorkers from Williamsburg to the East Village. One source on the Lower East Side told Editor At Large: "Every night I come home and it's parked outside my apartment. It's ruining my diet!" Well, at least if said source does succumb, she should feel better about the fact that Van Leeuwen uses hormone-free milk in their flavors. Read more about them here.

Better than Magnolia: Butter Lane

2010-05-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last night was a carb-fest: I cooked rigatoni with gorgonzola, artichoke hearts, asparagus and cream and my guests brought over organic cupcakes from Butter Lane in the East Village.

Seriously, if Carrie wasn't frozen in a certain New York minute, she'd dump Magnolia Bakery's overly sweet offerings in a heartbeat for these organic culinary orgasms.

Butter Lane owners Pam Nelson, Maria Baugh, and Linda Lea offer up frosting flavors like key lime, pumpkin, raspberry, or blueberry. We had popcorn flavor adorned with a couple of popped kernels, dark chocolate, chocolate with raspberry frosting (topped with a fresh raspberry), and vanilla with cherry frosting (crowned with a fresh cherry). I also hear that the banana cake with cream-cheese frosting and the grapefruit ginger is divine.

123 E. 7th St. (near Ave A)
Tel: 212-677-2880

Gourmet Doggy Treats

2010-05-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Spotted at the Hester Street Market (Saturday and Sunday on the Lower East Side), Naya and Mila's Gourmet treats, named after two pooches, of course. Plus, you can spoil your pooch with a handmade, leather personalized collar with their name on it.

Cart Smart

2010-05-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

Editor at Large makes no attempt to hide her addiction to lemon curd ice cream, so it was with much excitement that she spotted this cart outside Cookshop in Chelsea.

Find refreshment on your way to the galleries on the corner of 10th Avenue and 20th Str.

Bloom-ing Marvelous

2010-05-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

The South African author, Kevin Bloom, stopped over in New York on his way back from launching his memoir, Ways of Staying, in Toronto. Editor At Large caught up with him at a punk bar on Bedford Av in Williamsburg for a pint of locally brewed Brooklyn Lager and a conversation about how even if he wanted to leave South Africa (which he doesn't), he can't now that he's written a book called Ways of Staying , but he did concede that if he had to leave the country, Williamsburg wouldn't be a bad place to land up.

See what the Economist had to say about his book here

Lucky Fish

2010-04-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

My latest crush: Lucky Fish's gorgeous screen printed South African-themed pillows. Bonus: They do T-shirts too, for kids and adults.

For more info e-mail: soluckyfish@gmail.com

Chocolate Secret

2010-04-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

If you're as obsessed with Mast Brother's chocolate as I am -- especially the dark chocolate with almonds, sea salt and olive oil -- you'll be glad to know that you can get a slab for just $7 direct from the factory. Two blocks away, at the Bedford Cheese Shop on Bedford Avenue, they retail for $8. And at Wholefoods and Dean & Deluca you'll pay a whopping $9.

Mast Brother's Chocolate Factory
105 North 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211-3927, United States
(718) 388-2625

Israeli Food Find

2010-04-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Went past Israeli chef Einat Admony's new Nolita restaurant, Balaboosta (A Yiddish term meaning the perfect housewife, homemaker). Very swish compared with Taim, her much smaller joint in the West Village. Must-have appetizers include the fried olives with labne and the humus which is served guacamole-style with mortar and pestle for DIY chickpea crushing. Delicious.

Find it at 214 Mulberry St. near Spring.

Best $5 Dollars You'll Ever Spend....

2010-04-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Imagine paying just $5 for an hour of Burlesque set to live music in New York City. Sounds impossible, right? It isn't. The Slipper Room on Orchard Street is a Lower East Side gem if flirty girls in corsets and fishnets are what you're after. And remember, this is where Lady Gaga used to perform (well, she was Stephanie Germanotta then), so you never know if you might be watching the Next Big Thing for under the price of a glass of wine.

167 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002-2214, United States
(212) 253-7246

Funky Chairs

2010-04-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

I stumbled on a literal treasure chest of reupholstered furniture in Williamsburg this afternoon. Funkiture by Caitlin Conlow has beautiful second hand and antique chairs covered in Congolese fabric, starting at around $100. Also on offer, an apple green Art Deco writing desk, peacock feathers for $2.95 each, and fabulous striped scatter cushions.

Funkiture
94 South 1st Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
347.400.3172

Ricotta Star

2010-04-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

My new favorite brunch: The Sheep's milk ricotta served with burnt orange toast at Locanda Verde in Tribeca.

locandaverdenyc.com
377 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 925-3797

Best Alfresco Eateries

2010-04-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

I would never usually quote a PR firm, but Bullfrog & Baum do happen to have a client list that I have personally sampled, paid for out of my own pocket because these places really are great. Here, a selection from their list of where to eat al fresco in New York:

Alto
Chef Michael White
11 East 53rd Street, 212-308-1099‎
www.altorestaurant.com

At the Michelin-starred Alto, diners are given the option of enjoying a meal outdoors, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase al fresco. In this sanctuary of cobblestone and marble, patrons can enjoy a glass of wine from Alto’s Wine Spectator Grand award-winning wine list in between bites of Chef Michael White’s lauded dishes like Tortellini con ortica e ricotta, porri e aglio verde.

Anella
Chef Joseph Ogrodnek
222 Franklin Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 718-389-8100
www.anellabrooklyn.com

Located on one of Greenpoint’s most popular thoroughfares, Anella offers diners seasonal American cuisine with Mediterranean accents. In the restaurant’s open kitchen, Chef Joseph Ogrodnek whips us such dishes as Sweet Carrots with whipped ricotta and Sylvetta arugula and Brick Oven Roasted Chicken with creamy lentils, sherry vinegar and seasonal vegetables. The restaurant features a backyard herb-and-vegetable garden which is open for both dinner and weekend brunch for al fresco dining. For “locavores” the menu at Anella is a dream, as the kitchen draws upon the garden to supplement its produce, often using ingredients for food and cocktails that are picked a la minute. The majority of the restaurant’s other produce is procured from nearby Rooftop Farms.

Cookshop
Chef Marc Meyer
156 10th Avenue, 212-924-4440
www.cookshopny.com

At Cookshop, guests can enjoy a full service 44-seat patio, serving dishes featuring a wide array of sustainably-sourced meat and produce from the greater New York area. Chef Marc Meyer’s menu include delicious dishes like Ecofriendly Farms Pig Porchetta with drunken beans, Applewood smoked bacon, dried fruit and Roasted All Natural Chicken with market fresh vegetable bread salad. And, for the second year in a row, Cookshop will be serving a selection of their house-made ice creams from the Cookshop Ice Cream Cart, located right outside the restaurant’s main entrance.

Delicatessen
Chef Michael Ferraro
54 Prince Street, 212-226-0211
www.delicatessennyc.com

The entire façade of Delicatessen’s main dining space opens with stainless steel glass garage doors that retract seamlessly into the ceiling to present unobstructed views of Prince and Lafayette Streets. The retractable garage doors allow the restaurant’s dining room to flow into the excitement of sidewalk life where diners can enjoy international comfort foods such as Spring Vegetable Cassoulet with asparagus, fava beans, spring onions, ramps and parmesan morel broth.

Hundred Acres
Chef Marc Meyer
38 MacDougal Street, 212-475-7500
www.hundredacresnyc.com

French doors open up Hundred Acres’ main dining room, welcoming warm weather into the restaurant. A 38-seat garden in the back allows diners to enjoy regionally-sourced fare in an intimate setting. Marc Meyer’s menu features dishes such as Block Island Swordfish with hummus, garlic braised escarole and dried fig anchoide.

Locanda Verde
Chef Andrew Carmellini
377 Greenwich Street, 212-925-3797
www.locandaverdenyc.com

Tribeca’s rustic Italian hotspot Locanda Verde will soon begin seating in The Greenwich Hotel’s Courtyard, accessible via French doors through the newly re-designed back room. Enjoy Chef Andrew Carmellini’s award-winning Lamb Meatball Sliders and fresh pastas al fresco.

Motorino
Chef Mathieu Palombino
319 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-599-8899
www.motorinopizza.com
New Yorkers can enjoy Chef Mathieu Palombino’s wood-fired pies al fresco on Motorino Brooklyn’s 24-seat outdoor patio. The authentic Neapolitan pizza made with hand-crafted ingredients include classics such as the Marinara or patriotic Pizze Margherita, and seasonal favorites such as the Piccante, a vibrant combination of spicy soppressata, garlic, tomato, fior di latte and chili oil. A selection of predominantly Italian wines, bottled beers, house-made cocktails, grappa, and aperitivi are on offer to complement Motorino’s menu of pizza, antipasti, formaggi, and cured meats.

The Mermaid Inn: Upper West Side and East Village
Executive Chef Laurence Edelman
Upper West Side: 568 Amsterdam Avenue, 212-799-7400
East Village: 96 Second Avenue, 212-674-5870
www.themermaidnyc.com

The Mermaid Inn, Restaurateur Danny Abrams’ nod to the classic New England-style fish shack, combines sincere service and a seasonally-inspired seafood menu with an unrivaled attitude toward hospitality and has some of the most coveted outdoor seating in the city. Seafood inspires an appreciation for the outdoors and at The Mermaid Inn, diners can enjoy an extensive raw bar selection, as well as dishes like a decadent Lobster Roll on a grilled brioche bun served with Old Bay seasoned fries, or a Whole Roasted Fish outside The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side, or in the private garden of the East Village location. If you close your eyes, you can almost hear the ocean.

The Mermaid Oyster Bar
Chef Laurence Edelman
79 MacDougal Street, 212-260-0100‎
www.themermaidnyc.com

French doors open up the Mermaid Oyster Bar to the outside, where diners can enjoy numerous raw bar options and classic seafood dishes such as Lobster Rolls, Shrimp and Oyster Po’Boys and a daily selection of 16 oysters on the half shell.

High Five

2010-04-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Best brunch in Williamsburg/Greenpoint: Five Leaves.

Try the house made Bircher muesli with poached pears, sugar plums and spiced creme fraiche or the Ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter, sliced banana, blueberries, strawberries and maple syrup. Even the house cured gravelax is scrumptious, right down to the sourdough roll it is served on. And we haven't even sampled the lunch offerings yet, but we hear that the BLAT sandwich with bacon, kettuce, avocado, tomato and cumin/lime mayo is a winner as is the radicchio and watercress salad with roasted acorn squash, feta and red onion. For gorgeous pics of the place by Will Femia, go to www.fiveleavesny.com and click on gallery.

18 Bedford Avenue
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 383-5345

Shag-adelic Shopping

2010-03-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

On a corner on Roebling Street in Williamsburg you'll find a quirky erotica store called Shag Brooklyn. No, it's not owned by Austin Powers (as far as we know), but it is our new number one place to purchase "French Titties" -- glittering nipple caps usually worn by Burlesque dancers. Shag also has a large and equally titillating selection of adult toys and a fabulous collection of funny, sexy $4 cards. Take a look at it all at www.weloveshag.com or head to 108 Roebling Street.

Wolf At The Door

2010-03-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Vicente Wolf today, voted one of America's 10 most influential designers. He has been working as an interior designer in New York for the past 37 years. Unlike many Americans, Wolf travels constantly, the more remote the location the better. He says things like: "My friend told me he was off to Bhutan. I mean I went to Bhutan ten years ago." And he says: "Travel keep me young. It pushes me out of my comfort zone."

Just Swell

2010-03-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Williamsburg may seem like an odd location for a surf shop, but when you think of all the headquarters for other subcultures (like Earwax which is packed with young folk obsessed with vinyls), it starts to make sense.
So...if you're looking for a long board or a pair of cute board shorts, some surfer-art photography or DVDs of the best places to catch waves, Mollusk Surf Shop is the spot. Plus it offers excellent people watching. Just don't think you'll be able to grab your board and a tin of sex wax and hit the water.

210 Kent Avenue
Brooklyn
New York 11211
718) 218-7456

Chocolate Worth Traveling For...

2010-03-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

It may seem unreasonable to suggest going all the way from Manhattan to Westport, Connecticut for a chocolate fix, but Cocoa Michelle is worth the trip. Situated across the street from the train station on Main Street, the tiny store with one or two cafe tables serves up hand made chocolates and delicious hot chocolate topped with milk froth.

Salivate at www.cocoamichelle.com

Eloquent Eleanor

2010-02-22T19:44:00.001-08:00

Who knew former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt had such a sharp wit...

She once said:
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." But then again, you wouldn't really expect less from a woman who knew that: "Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product."

Nora's Choice

2010-02-14T03:22:00.000-08:00

These are Nora Ephron's top 11 romantic films:
It Happened One Night
The Lady Vanishes
His Girl Friday
The Palm Beach Story
The Thin Man
Charade
The Apartment
Splash
Hannah and Her Sisters
Casablanca
Sense & Sensibility

Read the full story, including her explanation for her choices and clips of each film at
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-11/nora-ephrons-top-11-romantic-comedies/

Then add them all to your Netflix list.

Into Woodstock

2010-02-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

If you go down to Woodstock today, you're in for a big surprise (sorry, couldn't resist):

On Albert Street, don't miss Saturdays and Sundays at the Old Biscuit Mill, an organic food market cum flea market filled with delicious nibbles and great finds. Lunch, every week day, at Superette. We recommend the mushrooms on toast and the berry, seed and Belgian chocolate muffins. Pop into What If The World Gallery for an art fix and to David West for a fashion fix.
On Darling Street don't miss the Goodman Gallery and Michael Stevenson Gallery.

PS: That's Woodstock in Cape Town, not you know....

Vintage Fintz

2010-02-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Cape Town ceramic artist, Shirley Fintz is finally sharing her excellent taste. Fintz, a long time lover of vintage dresses, is now buying frocks in bus loads and selling them to friends and clients from the ceramic studio that shares a building with her sister Ilana's yoga studio. They retail for around R500 and are seriously addictive. You've been warned. For more info: +27 82 424 5927.

Main Attraction

2010-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Downtown Johannesburg has been very slowly gentrifying. Now, the art community has gotten behind inner city development. At Arts on Main, on Main Street, you'll find the brand new studios of William Kentridge and Mikhael Subotzky, as well as a project space for the Goodman Gallery and for David Krut Projects, the publishers of Taxi Art Books.

Steenberg Wine Estate

2010-02-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

Steenberg's new Bistro 1682, named after the year the wine estate was first established, is a fantastic brunch and lunch venue. And the best part is the complimentary wine tasting in the Wine Tasting Bar (notice the glass chandelier mimicking red and green grapes) and Tasting Lounge before the meal, just so you can be sure of what bottle you'll order. I had the rose which was very dry and very good R34/ carafe (about $5).
I ordered the very good smoked trout sandwich and my lunch mate tried the more complicated steak, grilled to perfection. The only complaint: If you're offered a dessert wine by the owner, ask the price before accepting. Ours was R125/ glass (about $17).

After your meal, step outside to marvel at the foothills of the Steenberg Mountain (Stone Mountain) and the spectacular views across the vineyards.

+27 21 713-2211
www.steenberg-vineyards.co.za

Soccer for Poster-ity

2010-02-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

David Krut, owner of David Krut Projects and Bookstores, is betting that there is such a thing as a football-hooligan-cum-art-lover. He's convinced some of South Africa's top artists living inside and outside of the country -- William Kentridge, Marlene Dumas, Kendell Geers, and more -- to design posters for the FIFA World Cup 2010, to be hosted in South Africa from 11th June to 11th July 2010. Each poster comes in an edition of 2010 and is priced under R5000 (about $714). If you're interested, find more details at www.davidkrut.com

This Just in: More on Hokey Pokey...

2010-01-15T05:49:00.000-08:00

Food technologist and author Jennifer Yee Collinson, who also happens to be a born and bred Kiwi, sent Editor at Large this missive:

"Hokey Pokey Ice Cream is as iconic as Whittaker's Chocolate Peanut Slabs and Buzzy Bee's in NZ." [You might recall images of Prince William playing with said Buzzy Bee when he visited New Zealand as a child with his mother and father].

"Hokey Pokey is what kiwi's call honeycomb - made by cooking sugar and golden syrup to a toffee and stirring through bicarbonate of soda so that the mixture bubbles and foams up. The resulting hokey pokey or honeycomb is light, airy and crispy with slight burnt caramel notes. Hokey Pokey Ice cream does not contain nuts but nuggets of this honeycomb blended into vanilla ice cream."

Groucho's Rule

2010-01-13T13:02:00.001-08:00

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." -- Groucho Marx

Kiwi Chic

2010-01-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

If you're shopping in Auckland, don't miss:

Ponsonby Road, New Market and downtown around Queen Street and look out for local style at Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, World, Zambesi.

NZ Nibbles

2010-01-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

1. Vogel's bread -- the recipe hasn't changed since the '50s and who knew they knew about healthy stuff back then?
2. Manuka honey -- thick, delicious, creamy and good for you.
3. Flat white -- not as milky as a latte, not as frothy as a cappucino. Perfect.
4. Hokey Pokey ice cream -- vanilla ice cream filled with crunchy toffee and nut bits. Yum.

Forget Your New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc....

2010-01-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Word on the beach in Waiwera, New Zealand is that Sauvignon Blanc is old news. Instead, Kiwis recommend their Pinot Noir. Try Mt. Difficulty or Saddleback, both from Central Otago in the South Island, or the delicious Cloudy Bay.

Village Style

2010-01-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

Head to St. Heliers in Auckland, New Zealand for some of the most inspired ice cream around. You'll find it at Village 88 ice cream, a father and son business in a tiny building, that serves up sensational flavors like Lemon Curd and Bourbon and Brown Sugar. Grab a cone or, even better, take a tub or two home.

Annus Horribilus for Magazines

2009-12-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

In a press release issued recently, the following really sad news was reported:

"In 2009, 275 new magazines were launched while 428 ceased publication, according to MediaFinder.com. Regional magazines topped the list of new launches with 21 new titles, such as Maine Magazine and B-metro Birmingham, while it also topped the list of ceased publications (34), with titles such Atlanta Life and Denver Living.

The next largest category for new magazine launches in 2009 was Health, with 15 new titles, including Scottsdale Health and Natural Awakenings (Port Charlotte, FL). Another top category for new magazine launches was Food, with 14 new magazines such as Food Network Magazine, Edible Queens, and Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade."

And here's the bright side:

"'Despite the difficult year for the magazine industry, more than 275 magazines launched in 2009 – showing there is still strength in the regional, health, and food categories, with Food Network Magazine reporting more than 1 million readers,' said Trish Hagood, President of Oxbridge Communications, publishers of MediaFinder.com.

'Yet, at the same time, Gourmet Magazine, with a circulation of 977,000, founded in 1941, folded. And, sadly, many magazines were forced to abandon their print products, including Blender, Vibe, Purpose Driven Connection, and Giant.'

MediaFinder also reported the top categories for ceased publications in 2009. In addition to regional magazines, business magazines lead the list of ceased publications, with 16 publications including BusinessWeek Small Biz, Conde Nast Portfolio, and Fortune Small Business. Other large categories for ceased magazines include lifestyle and real estate magazines, with 14 ceased titles. The Home magazine category also experienced a decline with Country Home, Southern Accents, and Metropolitan Home folding in 2009."

In case you're wondering, MediaFinder.com is the largest online database of U.S. and Canadian periodicals, with information on 75,000 magazines, journals, newspapers, newsletters, directories, and catalogs.

Finally, there is a doctor in the house

2009-12-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

http://medicallessons.wordpress.com/

Last year Elaine Schattner, a highly qualified medical doctor, completed her masters degree in journalism at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism in order to tackle your medical questions and concerns in writing and trawl through and explain new research so that the rest of can have a clue. Check out her blog. I'd bookmark this one...

Decorative Art

2009-12-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

Remember when Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped Sydney's Little Bay in 1969? Me either, but apparently that was the first Kaldor Project. This year Sydney celebrates the 19th project of its kind with Tatzu Nishi's War and Peace and In Between 2009, a major intervention outside the New South Wales Gallery. Nishi takes two well-known public sculptures by the English sculptor Gilbert Bayes and builds rooms around them -- a bedroom and a living room, to be exact. The sculpture are each equestrian in nature -- a horse and its rider. In the bedroom, Nishi turns the everyday on its head making the horse step up onto a double bed. In the living room, a giant horses head is hidden in the TV cabinet and the rider's head sits on the coffee table. Walk back down the ramp and view the installation from afar to notice the bodies of horse and rider beneath the structure. Out of place, out of scale and pure genius. Catch it up until February 14, 2010 at Sydney's New South Wales Gallery.

Sensual Suprise at the Australian Centre for Photography

2009-12-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

The Australian Centre for Photography is currently hosting a highly stylized, decadent, titillating show by Canadian-born, Sydney-based photographers Denis Montalbetti and Gay Campbell (you may remember them as the photographer team responsible for the photo of the X-Files'Mulder and Scully together in bed). The Sensualists sees beautiful bodies seemingly from the 18th and 19th centuries in various poses of wanton desire. Robert Cook, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Photography and Design at the Art Gallery of Western Australia calls it, "Eros at work, eros at play" and ads that there's is an art that "Marie Antoinette would dig, or at least Sofia Coppola's version of her." Stylist Cassandra Scott-Finn, a former fashion editor of iLove and Ego magazines is the talent behind the over-the-top set design, make-up and hair direction. www.acp.org.au

Monochrome Moment

2009-12-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

If you're visiting Sydney between now and April 11 next year, throw on your most colorful frock and head off to Olafur Eliasson's Room for One Color at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Monochromatic bulbs emit light that turns all shades to black and white. Freaky -- in the best way.

Life Cycle of a Marigold Flower

2009-12-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

In India lemon yellow and burnt orange chains of Marigold flowers are used for everything from a welcome wreath to a religious offering.

1. A stall of Marigold chains at a local market in Delhi
2. A stand of wreaths awaits guests' arrival at a hotel in Jaipur
3. At Srinath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon after reaching enlightenment, wreaths are placed in front of statues of deities.
4. A cow in Varanasi gets a floral snack when the Marigold chains have served their purpose for the day.

Don't Miss Deogarh

2009-12-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's name means "Abode of the Gods," it was built in the 17th Century and turned into a heritage hotel in the last decade. You can walk around with an audio tour where British author William Dalrymple interviews the Rawat Nahar Singh ji II about his family's history in the place, plus you'll find one of the charming villages in Rajasthan that spreads out from the stairs of the palace and winds down the hill.

For more info www.deogarhmahal.com

Holy Rats!

2009-12-18T06:25:00.000-08:00

Thirty miles south of Bikaner, in a tiny town called Deshnoke, you'll find what can only be described as spiritual fear factor. At the Karni Mata Temple, built by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 20th century, rats rule -- in their hundreds. Worshipers come to pay their respects to Karni Mata, a mystic who is considered an incarnation of Durga. When Mata's marriage dissolved, when she was 27, she devoted her life to service of the poor (it was not fun to become a widow in 15th century India). The rats (also called kabas) reside here and receive homage (and so much sugary white candies that they have developed diabetes) as their bodies are believed to house the souls of Karni Mata's departed devotees and it is believed that they will reincarnate and return as priests. My advice: Bring a pair of socks you won't be sorry to part with when it's all over.

Sati: Does it still happen?

2009-12-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

The practice of Sati (Satee), where a recently widowed woman jumps, supposedly willingly, onto her husband's funeral pyre and is then considered to be a deity originated around 400AD. As you tour around Rajasthan, you might notice the set hands of royal Satis on the walls of forts. Legend has it that before a woman committed Sati she dipped her hand in red paint and then made an imprint of it on the wall. (The first two pictures above where taken at the entrance to the fort in Jodhpur).

The practice of Sati is outlawed in modern India.

The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act of 1987 Part I, Section 2(c) defines Sati as:

"The burning or burying alive of – (i) any widow along with the body of her deceased husband or any other relative or with any article, object or thing associated with the husband or such relative; or (ii) any woman along with the body of any of her relatives, irrespective of whether such burning or burying is claimed to be voluntary on the part of the widow or the women or other-wise."

However it is still socially devastating to become widowed in India and some widows can still be in their teens if they were married off young. There have been cases of Sati in certain villages in the last few decades. William Dalrymple follows one case that happened in the 1990s in a village just outside of Jaipur in his book Age of Kali. The widow was just 18.

Weirdly, these days, if you do see red hand prints at the door to a house, it may also mean that a woman there has given birth (see pic above).

7 Things to Know about Udaipur

2009-12-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

1. It is spelt "Oodeypore" in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and is the birthplace of Bagheera the panther.
2. Indian sections of the James Bond film Octopussy were filmed in the city, the Lake Palace and the Monsoon Palace.
3. Roof terraces all over the city play reruns of Octopussy at 7pm every night. Take an auto-rickshaw down to the temples and you'll find one.
4. You might recognise the nearby desert in the dramatic scene where Bond rescues Octopussy (Maud Adams) from an aeroplane being flown by the Kamal Khan (Louis Jordan) and Gobinda (Kabir Bedi).
5. In Octopussy, Bond is sent to Delhi. The audience is never actually told that he is in Udaipur for virtually the entire movie giving the impression that Delhi is super-exotic.
6. It is a mini-Hollywood: Scenes from Darjeeling Limited, Opening Night, Heat and Dust and Gandhi were reportedly filmed there.
7. It is a mini-Bollywood too: Hindi movies have included Guide, Mera Saaya, Phool Bane Angaray, Kachche Dhagey and many more....

Photographs: Nadine Rubin
Right: The elephants that welcome you onto Jag Mandir where Octopussy ran her harem of ambidextrous babes.
Left: The Monsoon Palace which appears in Octopussy as the home of Kamal Khan

Ganesh in the House

2009-12-11T13:08:00.000-08:00

All over India you'll find images of Lord Ganesh, the multiple-limbed elephant God who removes obstacles at the doorway to a home. We spotted him at the Karma Sutra temples in Khujarao and on the walls of houses in Jaisalmer Fort with the date of the last wedding in the family inscribed beneath his image.

India in Print

2009-12-09T00:28:00.000-08:00

There's no better way to learn about the history, culture and quirks of a place than to read a mix of fiction, non-fiction and memoir.

I recommend:

1. A Princess Remembers by Gayatri Devi, especially if you'll be in Jaipur and other parts of Rajasthan.
2. Anything by William Dalrymple, but especially The Age of Kali
3. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Yes it's close to 1000 pages, but the descriptions of Mumbai are unbeatable.

Don't Miss: Orchha

2009-12-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

Orchha would resemble many small Indian villages in Madhya Pradesh if it weren't for the glorious medieval palaces and temple spires. According to mptourism.com, "Orchha was founded in the 16th century by the Bundela Rajput chieftain, Rudra Pratap, who chose this stretch of land along the Betwa river as an ideal site for his capital. Of the succeeding rulers, the most notable was Raja Bir Singh Ju Deo who built the exquisite Jehangir Mahal, a tiered palace crowned by graceful chhatris." Inside the palaces, along wall and ceiling are frescoes representing the Bundela school of painting. The only problem, as our guide regretfully pointed out, is that the government have no interest in restoring or protecting these treasures. Sad, when you consider that tourism is all that Orchha has going for it these days...

On Signage

2009-12-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

Call me cheeky or even mean, but I can't help noticing funny signage or spelling errors that result in double entendres. Here are a few I spotted in India:

Beyond Mouvember

2009-12-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

Each year in Jaisalmer a competition is held to determine the owner of the longest mustache. You'll need more than the month of November to win this one.

Here, a regular contender and winner shows off his hirsute pride and joy.

Photograph: Nadine Rubin

Bhang Bhang Club

2009-12-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

Bhang (pronounced Buh-ng) is a derivative of marijuana. Is it legal in India? Nay. However, that didn't stop the owners of the Bhang Shop in Jaisalmer, India from declaring that they are "government authorized."

Photograph: Nadine Rubin

That Sinking Feeling

2009-12-04T05:13:00.000-08:00

Imagine you are a tourist wanting to visit the Jaisalmer Fort, built in 1156 by the Bhati Rajput ruler Jaisal. This is Rajasthan's only "live-in" fort and about a quarter of the city's population still reside within the tall yellow sandstone walls. So you're paging through Lonely Planet India and...whoa!...what's this? The authors of the good book have taken a decision to not review any accommodation inside the fort itself. Instead, they ask that you, dear tourist, be eco-conscious and stay outside the fort to avoid putting additional pressure on the fort's archaic sewage system (it has been reported that three of the 99 bastions have already crumbled because of water seeping into the foundations). Residents inside the fort are allocated one hour a day within which to fill their tanks with water that needs to last them for showers, cooking and drinking. So, yes, taking two showers a day at your boutique Haveli-turned-hotel is a tad unconscious.

If you look closely at the wall in the below photograph you can see the rising water levels that are causing the fort to literally sink into the desert sand.

Photograph: Nadine Rubin

The V.VIP Room

2009-12-03T16:09:00.000-08:00

You'll know you've made it when you bypass the VIP Room and enter the V.VIP Room at the airport in Varanasi. We can only imagine the guest list: Maharajas, Bollywood stars and Graydon Carter.

Photograph: Paul Nathan

Mahatma's Message, Alive and Well

2009-12-01T04:33:00.000-08:00

I saw this sign on the side of the road in Jaipur, Rajasthan. India is a long way from the vision that Mahatma Gandhi had for the country after independence in 1947 and sadly never saw through due to his assassination one year later. Sadly these days his message is used for commercial purposes, but hey it is still a reminder for some of us...

Photograph: Nadine Rubin

The World's Most Beautiful Wash Line

2009-11-29T23:46:00.000-08:00

Diana Vreeland once said, "Pink is the navy blue of India." Well, orange, red, green, turquoise are the sand, stone, beige, brown. Here, 6 meters of saris are laid out to dry on the ghats along the Ganges in Varanasi.

Photograph: Nadine Rubin

Following Buddha's Footsteps

2009-11-27T23:38:00.000-08:00

After attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya the Buddha travelled to Sarnath to preach his first discourse in the deer park. His discourse is said to have set in motion the 'Wheel of the Dharma'. Visit peaceful Sarnath when you visit Varanasi. The site is about 20 minutes away and it offers a wonderful reprieve from the madness of Varanasi.

Photograph: Nadine Rubin

Ethiopian Airlines -- not as bad as they say!

2009-11-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

We missed our Qatar Airlines flight to New Delhi to start our honeymoon last night. So we scrambled to find the quickest way to get to New Delhi from Johannesburg to catch our overnight train to Varanasi. Unfortunately Qatar couldn't help us until 6 days later, but Ethiopian Airlines could get us there in 16 hours. But who knew that Ethiopia had an airline? So I Googled "Reviews of Ethiopian Airlines" and found horribly obnoxious notes from previous passengers complaining about seats not reclining, food being served cold and one rather alarming tale of an engine that caught fire. Still, my fiance insisted we go. I am writing this from the Cloud Nine Lounge at Addis Ababa airport having recently taken my first Ethiopian Airlines flight. I am saddened by the reviews I found online last night. We had a fantastic flight on an aging but still with it Boeing 737. The staff were super friendly, the food was delicious (a wonderful bonus) and the trip was without incident. And actually, when you look them up, Ethiopian Airlines is rated three stars in the same category as most American airlines. I might even give it four...well, if the Addis Ababa to Delhi leg measures up.

Jo'Burg Art Tour

2009-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

No trip to my birth city would be complete without a stop in at the following galleries:

1. The Goodman Gallery
2. ArtSpace
3. Maker
4. Circa
5. Everard Read
6. Gallery Momo
7. What if the World
8. The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG)
9. Museum Afrika
10. And the all new, all fabulous Arts on Main where William Kentridge, Mikhael Subotzky and David Krut have all taken up spaces.

For more good news on the much maligned Jo'burg (or Jozi as we affectionately call her), pick up a copy of Chic Jozi by Nikki Temkin at Exclusive Books.

Soccer's Arty Side

2009-11-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

To commemorate the World Cup Soccer in 2010 in South Africa, local artists including Marlene Dumas and William Kentridge have agreed to design commemorative posters available in editions of 2010. Prices start at R2000 and top at R5000 for Kentridge. You'll find them at David Krut Publishing on Jan Smuts Avenue in Johannesburg.

Art in the Winelands

2009-11-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Six years ago Laurence Graff (of diamond jewelry fame) bought a wine estate called Delaire under the shadow of Botmanskop atop the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch, Cape Town. He commissioned the experts -- British interiors guru David Collins, local landscape genius Keith Kirsten -- to create a wonderfully modern restaurant with clever nods to Africa that's packed to the rafters with a magnificent art collection including works by William Kentridge, Deborah Bell and Dylan Lewis. Chef Christiaan Campbell is responsible for a solid menu and winemaker Morne Vrey has every new toy at his fingertips to make sure that the Delaire Graff Estate wines are eventually able to compete with its neighbors -- Meerlust, Ernie Els, Rust en Vrede.

Recession-Inspired Photography

2009-09-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens Robert Frank's "The Americans," New Yorkers will be able to see these iconic photographs exhibited for the first time ever and at a time that resonates with the past. Frank traveled around the United States with the support of a Guggenheim Foundation grant and presented his book, The Americans in 1959. It coincided with the start of the Cold War and was initially reviled by the press for being "Anti-American." Ten years later, once the world has caught up with Frank's prescient vision, they hailed it as revolutionary. The exhibition also shows Frank's early work, a self-assessment of what he considers his best work called "Black, White and Things," and a short silent film showing Frank assessing his work made especially for this show. Also of immense interest are the six books that represent the tradition that The Americans came out of: The English at Home by Bill Brandt, American Photographs by Walker Evans, Ballet: 104 photos by Alexey Brodovitch, Day of Paris by Andre Kertesz, Fabrik: Ein Bildeposder Technik by Jakob Tuggener, and 50 Photographien by Gotthard Schun. The most endearing element is Mary's Book a book of photographs that he made for his wife prior to their marriage. It is signed "Le Petit Prince" following this note:
Mary,
It is not much, but I promised you a little story. Maybe this is not a story. "Only the essential is invisible to the eyes, one only sees well with the heart."
You remember.
We're lucky to finally be able to view Frank's work outside of the book. Frank, the Met's curators say, resented the success that the book brought him and refused to allow its fame subsume the new work that he had moved on to. But he has blessed this exhibition. Don't miss it.

I Heart Oaxacan Almendrado (Almond Mole)

2009-09-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

I took a cooking class in Oaxaca with Oscar Carrizosa from Casa Crespo. I followed Oscar to the nearby Sánchez Pascuas local market to buy squash blossoms (zucchini flowers), passion fruit, cactus pear, and corn fungus. Oaxaca is famous for its seven moles (sauces) ranging from the incredibly rich mole negro which contains chocolate, spices and fruits to the delightfully delicate and easy to make almond mole.

Here's the recipe:

1 tablespoon oil
¼ medium onion
2 garlic cloves
¾ cup (3.5 oz/100 g) whole almonds, peeled
1 large slice (1½ in/4 cm) Challah-type bread
8 (2 lb/1 kg) cooked tomatoes, seeded and peeled
1 teaspoon thyme
1 in (2.5 cm) slivered cinnamon stick
2 peppercorns
1 clove
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon lard or olive oil
Salt
3 almonds, peeled, toasted and sliced
18 green olives
1/3 cup (60 g/2 oz) pickled jalapeño or serrano chilies, sliced

Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Fry the onion. Once it turns transparent, add the garlic cloves, ¾ cup of almonds, slice of bread and the tomatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and cool. Blend all these ingredients in a blender with the thyme, cinnamon, peppercorns, clove and 2 cups of chicken broth (I find that vegetable broth works just as well for vegetarians).

Heat the lard (or olive oil) in a saucepan with a lid, then fry the blended ingredients. Stir constantly to avoid sticking. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Season with salt. Add chicken pieces (or fish -- we used yellowtail).

Garnish the dish with the sliced almonds, olives and pickled jalapeño or serrano chilies.

And here are the details for the cooking course:

Casa Crespo
Crespo 415
Centro
Oaxaca
Mexico

Phone:
From México 01 (951) 514 1102
(Phone reservations between 9 am and 5 pm)
Email: casacrespo@go-oaxaca.com

See Ya Eggs Benedict

2009-09-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday brunch, 1pm, Oaxaca food market. I push my way through the smokey hallway. A woman brandishes her tray in front of me. It is laden with raddishes, avocado, grilled spring onions, jalapeno chillis. I take one small dish of each. I take a seat in a jam-packed booth. Locals are sipping Oaxacan hot chocolate with its distinctive almond-cinammon flavor or tucking into the typical Oaxacan brunch that I'm about to sample: thin slices of beef with large tortillas garnished with raddishes, spring onions, chilli and avocado. Delicious and, at a couple of dollars apiece, one of the most affordable meals in town.

Photos: Paul Nathan

Fear Factor for Foodies

2009-09-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Outside the market in near Oaxaca's zocalo (town square) are soft heaps of succulent grasshoppers which the locals refer to as a "superfood." While I have no doubt that grasshopper's are nutritious, I had a hard time bringing hand to mouth when said hand was filled with little insects. I was much happier at Casa Oaxaca (García Vigil 407, Centro Oaxaca) where the chef has crushed the pests into a pesto.

Photo: Paul Nathan

String's the Thing

2009-08-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

Oaxaca is famous for its glorious string cheese which is firm and milky, a little like Bocconcini. Find it in the market and purchase by the plaited pound. Or, for those in New York, the Whole Food Deli on the Upper West Side has it.

Squash Blossom Heaven

2009-08-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Oaxaca's vegetable markets are literally blooming with beautiful orange squash blossom. But unlike the Italians who tend to crumb, stuff and fry the flowers, the Mexicans prefer them a little fresher. I had them in a frittata crowned with freshly diced tomatoes, wrapped into a tortilla with Oaxacan string cheese and chopped into a soup.

Virgin Territory

2009-07-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Jeffrey Eugenides last week for a piece about why his first novel, The Virgin Suicides is still so read.

Click on the link for more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-22/the-virgin-suicides-sweet-16/?cid=topic:mainpromo1

Art vs Society

2009-06-03T19:18:00.001-07:00

“Art’s task is to contribute to evolution, to encourage the mind, to guarantee a detached view of social changes, to conjure up positive energies, to create sensuousness, to reconcile reason and instinct, to research possibilities, to destroy clichés and prejudices. Most people don’t see it that way.” - Pipilotti Rist

2009-06-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Back in Business

2009-05-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman,
Ms. Rubin, M.A. (Journ) is back...

Hamlet: A Terrifying Coward

2009-04-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

Some Hamlets are just pure cowards. And what’s worse—they know it. It is with sinking heart that they deliver the lines, “O cursed spite/ that ever I was born to set it right,” when they hear of their fate, because they are well aware that they are too scared to do it. But it’s not just the reality of actually taking a life to avenge their father’s death that frightens them, they are knock-kneed at the thought of the confrontation that is necessary and inevitable before the final decision to enact revenge can be made. In the play, Shakespeare has Hamlet delay by feigning lunacy; he has him avoid simply asking Claudius outright to answer to the ghost’s charge of "murder most foul" by having him put on a play to test Claudius (and his father's ghost) instead. It is the boldest choices that Christian Camargo, who plays Hamlet in the latest Theatre for a New Audience production, makes in the role—sitting down in a chair with its back turned to Claudius and Gertrude, or adopting the fetal position when the ghost delivers the details of his murder—that create a Prince of Denmark literally unable to confront anything. He has no choice but to find some power by handling his women with a terrifyingly rough touch.
In direct contrast to his inability to call Claudius on the truth without the use of bratty huffing and puffing or innuendo, Camargo (of TV's Dexter fame) uses an excessive (I would say abusive) amount of physical strength to grab Ophelia from behind, muzzle her mouth with his hand and then almost throw her off her feet as if she is some rag doll with no capacity for physical, let along emotional, pain. Then he straddles Ophelia (played here by the diminutive Asian actress, Jennifer Ikeda), his more than 6-foot” bulk making her tiny, birdlike frame seem even more vulnerable, in order to tell her “Get thee to a nunnery.”
In comparison, Alyssa Bersnahan makes a blissfully unaware, giddily glamorous, and maddeningly empowered Gertrude. Unlike Ophelia, here is a woman who is comfortable with her sexuality. She wears it on her sleeves—a fact that her many silver-hued gowns and stilettos only serve to highlight. (This is a modern production of Hamlet with the Prince of Denmark in black collar shirt, jeans and boots and Ophelia in a 1940s-style dress until she goes made and runs around in her knickers). Gertrude's physical presence incites great lust in Claudius who cannot keep his hands off her (and one would hope so considering the lengths he has gone to marry her). Yet the same pent up powerlessness sees Hamlet take Gertrude by the throat and smear her red lipstick, psycho killer-style, across her mouth, almost as if to cross her out.
This Hamlet’s madness is not strong enough to create confusion as to whether he is actually losing his marbles. Camargo clearly shows the audience that he is merely acting loopy. Ophelia may lament, “What a noble mind is here o’erthrown,” but why that same noble mind, now done with its cover of craziness, not use its reason to calmly express anger and disappointment at Gertrude’s swift marriage to Claudius, and suspicion over the circumstances of the king’s death without resorting to what begins to resemble an almost-rape remains a question.
Ophelia has historically had a hard time in this play. If she is allowed to actually speak all of the comparably few lines that Shakespeare assigned her, it is still merely to tell us something about Hamlet. Director David Esbjornson has Ophelia tell us that her Liege is murderously furious with his mother—and taking it out on her first.
The absence of Fortinabras in this production is Esbjornson's way of focusing on the domestic situation in Elsinore. So the bigger and more difficult question is: Is Esbjornson perpetuating this tendency for men to use women as their scapegoats, or is he laying it bare for us to recognize how it works? You will have to decide for yourself.
Hamlet is on at The Duke on 42nd Street

A Special Song from a Special Man

2009-03-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Today is Paul and my first anniversary. Share the joy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE0pwJ5PMDg

Harlem - The Dream Deferred

2009-03-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode? -- Langston Hughes

Jack and Meryl in Chelsea

2009-02-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

“What’s wrong with marriage anyway?” asks Meryl Streep. “It’s a wonderful marriage, isn’t it?” she tells herself, sounding enthusiastic and uncertain at the same time. Then her voice sinks into a more plaintive tone: “You make concessions when you’re married a long time. When you’ve slept together a thousand nights.”
What film are these lines from? No one film. They're spliced from the many films that make up the two video installations that were on “Him+Her,” Candice Breitz’s recent solo show at Yvon Lambert in Chelsea. The second installation, housed in an identical blacked-out room next to the first, saw Jack Nicholson—“Him”— engage in his own schizophrenic internal dialogue, although it goes without saying that he was more worried about his mental state than his marriage.
For some years now, films have been far more than mere inspiration for the Berlin-based South African artist; they are the raw material that she slices, dices, manipulates and reshapes. To make “Her,” Breitz sifted through 30 years worth of films that Streep has starred in; for “Him,” she went through movies headlined by Nicholson over a forty-year period, beginning in 1968. Separate installations of seven plasma screens each on a minimalist steel structure played twenty eight different versions of Streep in flicks from Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie’s Choice all the way to the more recent The Devil Wears Prada, and 23 Nicholsons taken from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining, As Good As It Gets and more.
Treating Hollywood movies like found objects is nothing new. Jack Goldstein and Dara Birnbaum were appropriating from film and television in the early 1980's, and in the nineties the video work of Douglas Gordon and Christian Marclay dominated. Still, “Him + Her” seems timelier and fresher in the late noughties, probably because as a society we’re more obsessed with celebrity than ever before. Streep and Nicholson are arguably the most charismatic actors alive today and Breitz’s brilliant editing essentially creates two new 23-minute films. It is riveting to watch the screens alternate close-ups of their faces—sometimes using a filmic shot-counter-shot technique or running two of the same images at once—to play the revamped monologues. And once the nostalgia for all of their fine films passes, not to mention the impossible-to-resist comparison of how the two Oscar favorites have aged, focus shifts to the text of the pieces being communicated through the lines that the artist has culled. “Her” traverses men, love, marriage, divorce; “Him” is more self-reflective, about integrity, fear of commitment and also the anxiety of losing one’s mind.
If these works seem like opportunistic attempts to cash in on the notoriety of the famous subject, Breitz counters by saying that Nicholson and Streep are not the true subjects of “Him + Her.” Her focus lies instead on “the unconscious of mainstream cinema, the values and layers of meaning that slowly start to make themselves legible when the big plots are stripped away.” Breitz reshapes her borrowings enough for her work to achieve autonomy and to induce deep reflection on the gender biases that Hollywood has perpetuated for close to half a century, but there is no doubt that the popularity of her show (it was mobbed on opening night), has something to do with Streep and Nicholson.
Breitz, 36, is considered one of the most important video artists working today. She has her own famous fans like Princess Caroline of Monaco and Francesca Von Habsburg, wife of Archduke Karl of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, and her videos are in the permanent collections of museums including the Guggenheim. But how she manages to pay for the rights for any of this material—or how she gets away with not paying—is still anyone’s guess. “Him + Her” follows on from a previous piece by Breitz, “Mother + Father,” first shown in New York in 2005. Here, the artist stripped the sentences of 12 Hollywood actresses and actors—including Streep and also Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman and Steve Martin—from various films to form new discussions about parenthood. The result then as now, is an experience so intensely mesmerizing and emotionally gripping, it is hard not give the actors—and the artist—a standing ovation.
This article appears as a review in the June/July issue of Art South Africa

Who says black isn't a color?

2009-01-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

On a recent trip to the souk in Dubai, I had a long-held misconception firmly corrected when we stumbled upon this fabric store...

Obammerce!

2009-01-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

On inauguration day, just after Obama took his oath, I went up to 125th Street in Harlem. Many smiley faces--and products! Here are some of faves:

A Front Seat for History

2008-11-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Election '08 is finally here. And Obama is, right now, in the lead. He's winning the cities; McCain is taking the counties But me thinks Obama will take the crown with ease...he's taking too many states that have been Red for at least a decade. I have been at two different parties -- one on the Upper West Side; another on the Upper East. All are eager for Obama to get on with the job of running this country (although he has a rather difficult task ahead of him sorting out this mess of an economy).

Twin Peaks

2008-09-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

South African documentary photographer, Brent Stirton won the 2008 Visa d'Or Award for Feature photography at Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan, France on Friday night. It was another in a series of accolades for his acclaimed project on the slaughter of gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In this interview with Photo District News, he also comes out as the photographer of Brangelina's twins. According to Stirton, "photojournalism is about education for change and [selling pics of the twins for upwards of $15 million] is about finance for change."
Have a listen to what else he has to say about it:

http://www.pdnpulse.com/2008/09/video-brent-sti.html

Girl, Interrupted

2008-09-07T06:04:00.001-07:00

Please refer all complaints for the thinning out of blog postings until May 2009 to Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism where I'm completing my MA in Arts and Culture Journalism.

The Bellini, Reinvented

2008-08-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

Went for lunch to Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown. The food was good, not amazing...but in their defense they only offer a tasting menu in August. However, the White Peach Sangria, made with Riesling was sublime. Make your reservation two months in advance http://www.bluehillstonebarns.com

Is this legal?

2008-08-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

I was walking along the West Side Highway earlier, minding my own business, when I came upon this "play ground" at 23rd St. that looked to me like a mixture between the Baba Papa dolls I was obsessed with as a child and the (er..hum) adult toy in the drawer next to my bed. If Toys in Babeland isn't sponsoring this space, maybe they should?

If You Forget Me

2008-08-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

If You Forget Me

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.

~ Pablo Neruda

Day-Glo No No

2008-08-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

You always know that fashion has gone too far when one's gay friends declare a trend "a bit much." And so it has been with my glow-in-the dark pedicure from One Plus One on 1st St. and 1st Ave.

Nothing is Impossible

2008-08-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

The New Yorker called it "Thrilling," the New York Times "Exhilirating. I wanted to get up from my seat and get lost in Philippe Petit's poetic world in the documentary Man on Wire.

In 1974, Philippe (with a little help from a motley crew of co-conspirators) strung a cable between the Twin Towers and danced across it. It was his gift to New Yorkers on their way to work on August 7, just as it was a gift to the French when he performed his aerial ballet between the rooftops of Notre Dame, and the Australians as he skipped across the high wire off the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Of course the Americans wanted to know "Why?" And Philippe responded: "There is no why?" He thought it was a beautiful thing to do and he was right. I saw Philippe once. He came to Paul Auster's 60th Birthday party at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel. He wore his signature black turtleneck and trousers and for a time I didn't know who he was. But when he walked up to Paul and gave him what looked like a small rock, wrapped up in newspaper and tied up with string I had to know his name.

This documentary, written and directed by James Marsh, is a must see.

Great interview with James here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRz8x3erGPg&feature=related

Koons at Sunset

2008-07-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been up to the roof at the Met to see Jeff Koons' whimsical POP sculptures, choose a Friday or Saturday night and make a sunset drink of it. There are cocktails on offer named after the works -- Balloon Dog/yellow (top), Sacred Heart/Red/Gold and Coloring Book (bottom, above).

The very idea that Koons became a commodities trader in the early '80s (after spending a few years at the membership desk at MoMa) to finance his art is fascinating. How smart this man is. Definitely worth drinking to.

Austerisms

2008-07-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

I interviewed Paul Auster at his home in Park Slope, Brooklyn today. Here are a few of his thoughts:

NR: Your latest novel, Man in the Dark feels so visual. Why is that?
PA: Good. I’ve always been striving to achieve that effect. I’ve always wanted to write a book whose language would be so transparent that the reader would forget that the medium is words and just be inside the story.

NR: Can you take a break from your work, say to travel?
PA: The problem with leaving a book is that you stop believing in it. There’s some kind of state that you get yourself into when you’re working where everything that is imaginary becomes real. But as soon as you step back from that, the illusion bursts, and you have to work yourself back into it and it takes time. When I traveled over the summer, I just clung desperately to what the next sentence was going to be, I tried to keep it in my head, but when I got back it took me a good ten days or so to feel the rhythm of it.

NR: Are you ever influenced by what you read while you write?
PA: I never read fiction while I write fiction. I just can’t. I find that living in my imaginary universe all day, I need to get into the real world. Somehow it’s a stabilizing force. When I’m reading I’m reading for the most part biography, history, books about science, politics but not fiction. Between novels I try to catch up.

NR: Who do you read?
PA: Well, there are certain people that I read faithfully and I suppose these are the ones that mean the most to me. He died recently but Ryszard Kapuscinski is a writer who I read faithfully. Everytime he published a book I would go out and buy it. JM Coetzee. Everytime he publishes a book, I go out and I read it. Don DeLillo, I read every one of his books. Peter Carey, I’ve read every one of his books.

NR: He's dead, but what about Hawthorne.
I’ve read all of Hawthorne. He’s…I don’t know why he’s so important to me but I just love his work. I love his mind. I love what he did for American literature. He is just a stupendously great writer. Did you ever see the little book I put together for New York Review Books, the Hawthorne. It’s called Twenty Days with Julie and Little Bunny by Papa. And it’s something from Hawthorne’s notebooks. But it’s a self-contained text. About 50 or 60 pages. I wrote along essay introducing it. It’s in my collected prose. Hawthorne at Home. It was when Hawthorne move to the Berkshires in 1861. He had published The Scarlett Letter the year before and House of the Seven Gables had just come out and so he was at the top moment of his life as a writer and as a father and a husband. He was about 47 years old and for the first time in his life he was making his living through writing. And he and his wife rented a house in Lennox and they had two children, Oona, a girl, and Julian, a boy. They were about 7 and 5 and then they had a baby not long after they moved in. Rose. When Rose was born, Hawthorne’s wife Sophia took the two girls to the outskirts of Boston to visit her parents for two weeks. And Hawthorne was left alone in the house with this 5-year-old boy. There was some cook who came into the house to do work but essentially he was in charge of taking care of the kid. And I think it’s the first account in history of a man taking care of a child alone. He kept a very meticulous diary, day by day, of what he and the boy did. And how annoying the boy was and how he never stopped pestering him with his questions and his antics and what’s very moving about this piece to is that this is when he and Melville became friends and now Mellville who was living just six miles down the road in Pittsfield, finishing Moby Dick. I mean it was quite a moment. And there’s a great passage of Melville coming to visit and the two of them sitting up late into the night, smoking cigars and drinking and just talking about everything. It’s a great moment in American literature that passage. That’s one element of Hawthorne. The part that nobody knows. The very droll and bemused person. He was a writer of tremendous depth and psychological acuity. And in a sense I think unlike Hemingway who said all American literature comes out of one book – Huckleberry Finn – I beg to differ. I think it’s The Scarlett Letter which was published 30-something years before Huckleberry Finn.

NR: Man in the Dark is your most political book since Leviathan. What are your political views?
PA: Can I say this in one sentence? One wants humanity to be better. I think it’s within our capabilities to do better, so I keep hoping. I’m ever in despair and yet I keep hoping that things will get better.

Man in the Dark is published August 19.

Obama on Iraq

2008-07-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

An Op-Ed in today's New York Times that is well worth the read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opinion/14obama.html?hp