Some of the most exciting cities are those that have their own unique aesthetic, adopting a feel at odds with the rest of their country. Barcelona for us is such a place, wildly individual and almost visually overwhelming. Famously inspired by Antoni Gaudí’s creations as well as influenced by its Catalan history, it walks its own pioneering path.
The view of Paris from the Suite Eiffel of the Hotel Lutetia is breathtaking. Up seven floors, under the canopy of the hotel’s rooftop, the view from its windows shows you why Paris is a city that can sweep you off your feet. Not to mention the Hotel Lutetia’s incredily rich history in the first half of the twentieth century. But this evening, the view and the hotel’s storied past take a backseat to the Suite itself, designed and customized by sculptor-designer Guillaume Piéchaud.
When I met chandelier designer Michael McHale for coffee one early and cold morning at La Colombe in Soho, one of the first questions out of my mouth was “How did you meet Tom Colicchio?” Mr. Colicchio features prominently as an endorser of Michael McHale designs; and, as a huge Top Chef fan myself, I had to know what brought the two together. The story, I learned, started as a brief online correspondence with Mr. Colicchio’s wife’s sister, which turned into a successful friendship between two very creative individuals.
As Michael McHale sees it, every luxury brand has a story behind it. Customers aren’t just buying the product, they are buying the individual history. For Michael McHale Designs, the story, like the product, is one of transition and reinvention, as he calls it “The re-purposed lighting of a re-purposed lawyer.” (more…)
Architecture is thought of in terms of strength, stability and fortitude. But an exhibit of paper architecture on view now at Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine shows us how delicate, beautiful and intricate a building can be.
The incredible exhibit, which incorporates wall-wide hand-cut paper designs as well as laser-cut sculpture cities and collage dreamworlds, is stunning in its combination of simplicity and complexity, and, well, flammability.
Each artist’s work is accompanied by a biography that includes the artist’s origin, favorite type of paper, and preferred method of slicing and dicing.
These constructions by the likes of Ingrid Siliakus, Peter Callesen, Béatrice Coron, Stéphanie Beck and Mathilde Nivet show us that strength lies not only in stability, but also in ingenuity, flexibility and patience.
5€-8€ (Free on 1st Sunday of the month)
Through 17 March 2013
This article originally appeared on Paris Cheapskate.
In the shadow of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Williamsburg, away from the bustle and crowd of Bedford Avenue, there’s an unassuming new bar that boasts small bites, strong cocktails and a leave-be attitude. For people with good taste who crave a relaxed atmosphere, Exley is about to be a new neighborhood favorite.
Named for the famous New York writer and drinker Frederick Exley, the bar is the product of friends Brandon Chamberlain and Matthew Ricke, who wanted to create a “third space” for friends to gather between work and home to converse and share a solid drink. With the combined forces of Chamberlain’s extensive restaurant background and Ricke’s eye for design after years of working for publisher TASCHEN, the bar is poised to become a staple of the neighborhood, funded in part through community crowdsourcing on the platform Smallknot. They’ve set the stage in an abandoned auto body repair shop that Ricke found advertised in an all-caps, misspelled post on Craigslist. When they arrived to check out the space, says Chamberlain, “the roof was just falling in. It was nothing.” The duo, however, found the crumbling space to be an opportunity awaiting seizure, and Ricke quickly got to work designing Exley.
From the ceiling (constructed from the wood floors of a Catholic school in Virginia) to the trio of massive windows, formerly garage doors, facing the street (which feature what Ricke calls “a natural moving installation” in the ever-moving BQE beyond) to the enormous Brendan Smith painting that anchors the bar and gives a quiet glow to the bartenders’ silhouettes before it, each asset of the bar has been utilized to maximum effect. Even the custom wooden taps on the beer draught come from the same wood as the bar top itself. What emerges is a space that feels both cool and comfortable, and altogether unpretentious.
The menu reflects the same attitude, inspired by classics and lifted by creative twists. For example, the rotating draught list is comprised of American craft brews like Speakeasy White Lightning and Stone Smoked Porter, and in the sparse but thoughtful cocktail list, the Vodka Presbyterian (Exley’s favorite libation) gets a bit of lovage to spruce it up. The De La Louisiane, a play on the classic Manhattan, gets a splash of absinthe (which I enjoyed, being both a New Yorker and an adopted Parisienne). When I visited and chatted up the guys, Chamberlain offered me a sneak peek at a new cold-weather cocktail he had been working on. Served in a warm tumbler, it involves hibiscus tea, rum, ginger, honey and lemon. They hadn’t yet dreamed up a name for it, but in my fond memory of this winter warmer I’m calling it Jenna’s Cold Medicine, as it is far more delicious (and probably better at healing whatever ails you) than anything else you could drink in the chilly months of a New York winter.
A full-brimmed De La Louisiane
In the tiny kitchen off to the side of the bar, the guys make small bites that are just enough to allay an alcohol-induced case of the munchies, featuring a ham and cheese sandwich that’s boosted by gruyere and gin pickles, and a PB&J that’s composed of Nutella, peanut butter, and a strawberry-jalepeño jam that Ricke created just for fun.
Exley’s liquor shelf also includes Tuthilltown’s corn whiskey and moonshine
On Election Night they pulled the projector screen down behind the bar, broadcast the returns and served up drinks like the Mitt Rumney and the Balanced Budget. As the bar settles into the neighborhood, Exley plans to feature releases for local authors, movie nights and other events to draw imbibers into their cozy nooks. They should have no trouble with that: in a city teeming with overwrought nightlife concepts and exerted attempts at what should be simple — comfort — Exley, like their menu and ambience, gives an experience that feels familiar on the slant of the new.
Get in touch with the author @parischeapskate and check out her blog.
The Park is one of those restaurants that I’ve passed by a million times and it has always intrigued me, but until recently I’d never been inside. Well, now that I’ve corrected that egregious mistake, I can tell you that you shouldn’t hesitate to go in. Located on 10th Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets, it couldn’t be in a better location for a scrumptious (late) brunch after visiting some of Chelsea’s famed art galleries. Designed by Eric Good and Sean MacPherson, who also did The Maritime, The Bowery, The Waverly and Lafayette House, the restaurant is like a little indoor/outdoor oasis. You would never suspect that this lushly verdant space used to be a taxi garage. I could go on and on about the lovely atmosphere, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
On the other side of the bar, a fireplace blazes so patrons can lounge around. The details are all there, right down to the waiters’ t-shirts emblazoned with the New York City Parks Department symbol. Even the bathrooms downstairs have drool-worthy design features. The food, which is traditional American with a twist, was great. This is definitely a good place to bring someone you want to impress!
Get more tips about what to do in our guide An Afternoon in Chelsea.
Get in touch with the author @lauraitzkowitz
