It's easy to get swept away by early 20th-century opulence. In our last installment in Valentine’s Day video series with GloboMaestro, Michael Bordenick, the in-the-know concierge at The Surrey hotel, takes us to one of New York City’s most intimate, and dazzling, museums in town—The Frick Collection. The former 18th-century French-style mansion home-turned-museum on the Upper East Side is home to countless European masterworks, sumptuous décor, and even a fun little secret in the basement. Watch and join Michael as he takes you behind the scenes of the former titan of industry’s residence. If nothing else, it will make you fall in love with Gotham’s Gilded Age.
Natasha Tattaglia, bar back and barista in New Orleans, talks to T+L’s Christine Ajudua:
“I bike everywhere—most people here do. Sometimes my knees start hurting since I ride in heels, but I don’t leave the house unless I’m dressed, so it is what it is. I just had lunch at Sylvain(625 Chartres St.; 504/265-8123; lunch for two $85), in this beautiful old carriage house here in the French Quarter. They do Southern-style food and delicious craft cocktails—not the cheap booze and sugar that you find on Bourbon. I live on Royal Street, but a couple of neighborhoods down on the other side of the levee, in Bywater. It's near the Ninth Ward. A lot of young people live there now, and the abandoned buildings are turning into cafés and bars and restaurants. The road is still pretty bumpy, but the area is getting hip. I love it.”
Photographer Brown W. Cannon III talks to T+L's Christine Ajudua:
“Most days when you’re riding around Waimea Bay, it’s open and calm and really beautiful. It’s right in the middle of Oahu’s North Shore, this five-mile stretch that’s known to be one of the world’s greatest surfing destinations. Waimea doesn’t break often—not until the waves are twenty feet or bigger—but when it does, it is a monumental experience. The day I took this photo, the swells were reaching fifty feet—the kind that roll in only every few years. I’ve been going to the islands since I was born, and have seen this maybe two or three times. There are plenty of guys who will hop planes from all over the globe to surf sets like these, but what amazes me most is that so many people will travel there just to witness them. In Hawaii, there’s a real sense of respect for the ocean—the locals talk about having a spiritual connection to it—so there’s something poignant about seeing all these tan bodies converge on the sand, captivated by the Pacific.”
Photo by Brown W. Cannon III / Intersection Photos
If you found yourself tearing up at the end of the last Harry Potter movie this summer, fear not, Muggles! For those utterly addicted to the Harry Potter universe and those who simply want to tour a piece of movie-making history, the franchise lives on. Tickets are available beginning October 13, 2011 for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London—The Making of Harry Potter, at Leavesden, opening in Spring 2012. Tack on an extra day to a London visit and bring your broomstick for this insider’s look.
The holy month of Ramadan, which involves fasting from sunrise to sunset for 30 days, began on Monday. While this may sound grueling, most Muslims have created their own cultural ways to celebrate. But a pair of New Yorkers have managed to come up with one of the most quintessentally American ways yet: a road trip, of course!
Perennially recognized as the gold standard of gastronomy,
Spain’s Michelin three-star El Bulli will shutter its doors on
July 30th and prepare for its transformation into a culinary research
foundation and think tank (at least until 2014). For the mass of foodies never
fortunate enough to take in chef Ferran Adrià’smastery of molecular gastronomy—only a few thousand palates are so lucky
every year—a peek into his world of foams, mousses and nouveau hybrid dishes
can still be had via the silver screen.
El
Bulli: Cooking in Progress debuts at New York's Film Forum tonight, the kickoff of a 10-city tour. The film pulls back the curtain and invites viewers along for
Adrià’s journey from his experimentation
lab in Barcelona—El Bulli closes for six months every autumn so its chefs can
invent the following year’s menu—to the launch of a new season at the world’s
most renowned restaurant on the Costa Brava. Adrià’s imaginative methods are on full display as he deploys
thermo-mixing, vacuumizing, de-juicing, blanching and a vast range of other cooking
techniques en route to a nightly 30-course-plus dinner menu. For many, it will be the first and last opportunity at a glimpse inside an eatery that's stamp on modern cuisine will never fade.
Click
here for a full list of tour dates and cities.
Nate Storey is a research assistant at Travel + Leisure
This spring, visitors to Las Vegas can run away and join the Cirque (but not for peanuts). For $260, a select few will get a small-group pre-show backstage tour to either O (at the Bellagio) or The Beatles’ Love (at the Mirage). You’ll also receive an Insider Access VIP lanyard, special reserved seats for the show, and front-of-line privileges in the concession line and at the hotels’ nightclubs after the show.
On the fence about taking the tour? Here’s a Life.com photo gallery of the backstage scene at a Cirque du Soleil show—acrobats rehearsing a tricky move, clowns at rest, outlandish-costume repair—that gives you an inkling of how thrilling it could be to witness in person. (Get this: during each performance of The Beatles’ Love, the 68 performers go through 331 multi-piece costumes and 110 wigs! Kind of puts getting two kids ready for school into perspective.)
Styling and producing a fashion shoot in Paris takes hard work, resourcefulness, and a lot of praying that the rain will stop. Here are snippets of my 3 days spent shooting in Paris for T+L's September Style And Culture issue.
As top luxe line Crystal Cruises fêtes its 20th anniversary, I decided to check in with cruise director Scott Peterson, a 23-year industry veteran. Below, he reflects on what’s in store for the upcoming season.
Q: What is Crystal doing to celebrate its 20th anniversary?
A: Crystal’s 20th year anniversary is going to be a yearlong celebration. There are going to be special Captain’s parties and champagne breakfasts for guests, plus on the two cruises sailing on July 20, the actual day of Crystal’s anniversary, the first ever Crystal menu will be served at a gala dinner, along with wine selections sold at the original prices. Each ship will also host a games night featuring a Crystal trivia contest. The winning team will be treated to an evening at the Vintage Room for a multi-course meal with wine pairings. All the wine will be from 1990—which happened to be a very good year.
A: Crystal’s 20th year anniversary is going to be a yearlong celebration. There are going to be special Captain’s parties and champagne breakfasts for guests, plus on the two cruises sailing on July 20, the actual day of Crystal’s anniversary, the first ever Crystal menu will be served at a gala dinner, along with wine selections sold at the original prices. Each ship will also host a games night featuring a Crystal trivia contest. The winning team will be treated to an evening at the Vintage Room for a multi-course meal with wine pairings. All the wine will be from 1990—which happened to be a very good year.
