While Southern California's year-round beach weather has always made us jealous, it didn't have much of to speak of when it came to fine dining. That's now changed with Addison—the only five-star and five-diamond restaurant in the region—led by Relais & Châteaux grand chef William Bradley. From the grounds of the luxury resort The Grand Del Mar, in San Diego, Bradley meticulously prepares local, seasonal ingredients in a contemporary French style. The four-course tasting menu ($98 per person, offerings change with the season; 5300 Grand Del Mar Court, San Diego; 858-314-1900; addisondelmar.com) offers selections like licorice-glazed squab with candied red cabbage and plums, fois gras pot de crème and delicious handmade sweet pea agnolotti with ham hock. For dessert, the coconut custard with pistachio brittle is a must. The wine list, created by Jesse Rodriguez (formerly the head sommelier of Napa's French Laundry), is an oenophile's dream, with an innovative mix of high-end vintages from Europe, new wines from South America and New Zealand as well as California cult favorites. You can also make it a full day by starting at The Grand Del Mar's spa: Begin with the Spring Refresher facial ($180, lunch and day access to all spa amenities included; 858-314-2020; thegranddelmar.com), continue with a yoga or Pilates class and a plunge in the pool, then take a sunset walk through the property until you arrive, finally, at Addison, refreshed and ready for a dinner to remember.
Where once the options for post-workout beverages were limited to water (boring), juice (sugary) or Gatorade (neon), now the thirsty have coconut water, which has taken over as the healthiest way to hydrate. Packed with potassium and rich in electrolytes, coconut water has found fans among competitive and recreational athletes alike, even taking hold among non-athletes as a nutritious, all-natural alternative to soda.
Of the many brands available, the Departures staff has long favored Zico for its modish design and clean, not-too-sweet taste. So we were excited to learn of the company's recent new version, chocolate. Its previous attempts at flavoring—mango, passion fruit, lima citron, pineapple, pomberry—have been appealing but expected variations on a theme. Chocolate coconut water, however, promises to be something altogether different, introducing a hint of indulgence into a product that has until now represented a certain degree of asceticism. Comfortingly, the ingredients remain all-natural: water harvested from green coconuts, a touch of coconut cream, cocoa and cane sugar.
The verdict? Delicious and still light, thought perhaps better as a reward for completing that spinning class than the drink to keep by your side throughout. For a special treat, try popping it in the freezer for a few minutes beforehand. You’ll never crave chocolate milk again. Zico is available at most major grocery stores and online at zico.com.
Forget chilly wind and wool coats—autumn in Southern California still means long sunsets and warm afternoons. For Pelican Hill, the luxury Newport Beach resort, this fall also marks its second-annual olive harvest. The 504-acre property is home to 750 mature olive trees, and harvest season brings with it a renewed enthusiasm for the resort’s Italian influences, particularly in the kitchen. The highlight will come this weekend, when the resort offers its Ranch to Kitchen Harvest package. Guests will travel with Pelican Hill’s executive chef to the nearby Irvine Ranch to gather the resort’s produce supply, take workshops on the art of making gelato and fresh pasta, and, of course, hand-press their own olive oil. Word to the wise: Make sure not to miss Saturday’s Festa Dell’Autunno, an Italian-style street festival amid the olive trees that will feature traditional Italian foods, wine tastings, live music and a Moriti Italiani car exhibition. Vivo l’Autunno! Ranch-to-Kitchen Hands On Harvest package starts at $2,290 for a three-night stay, October 27–30; pelicanhill.com.
Art at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York has finally come full circle. Built in 1959 by famed architect Philip Johnson, the restaurant doubles as a hub of art and design, one that has displayed works by Picasso, Pollack and Miró. No exhibition has hit quite so close to home, however, as the current installation of ten limited-edition photographs by James Welling. The series (on display and on sale through January 2) depicts another of Johnson’s creations: the Glass House, a 47-acre compound scattered with 14 modernist buildings and structures designed by Johnson, anchored by the crystalline home where the architect lived for more than 50 years. Welling photographed the site in all seasons over the course of three years, using reflections and color filters on his lens to play with the structure’s natural translucence. “In his photos, the Glass House is converted from a transparent box into a lustrous crystal,” says Meri Erickson, the curator of the Four Seasons exhibit, “and from a minimalist articulation of materials and construction to a maximalist expression of colored light.”
The photographs have been shown at galleries worldwide, and the entire series was compiled into a book, James Welling: Glass House (Damiani Editore), published last spring. As for the installation in the Four Seasons? “It’s the perfect backdrop,” says Erickson. “He loved the restaurant, ate lunch there almost every day, and to have photographs of his iconic home there on display—it captures history.” fourseasonsrestaurant.com; philipjohnsonglasshouse.org.
With the rocketing popularity of bike shares in cities worldwide, a pair of wheels has become the must-have cosmopolitan accessory. Luckily, Gucci, which, as we noted in our November/December issue is experiencing its own renaissance, has teamed up with another iconic Italian brand, the high-end bicycling manufacturer Bianchi, to create the fashion house’s first line of bikes. Designed by Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini, the hot wheels come in two models: a white-steel-single-speed City edition with custom-leather grips for city cycling; and a black-carbon-fiber monocoque Urban model built to transition well from the street to the countryside. Add a helmet and gloves—also designed specially by Giannini—and you’re ready to ride in style. Urban bike, $14,000; City bike, $6,200; gucci.com.
It’s no secret that TV musicals are hot right now (ahem, Glee) but NBC’s new Steven Spielberg–produced contribution to the genre is something we haven’t seen before: a musical drama. Smash follows the creation of a new Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe by a producer, played by Anjelica Huston, lyricist Julia, played by Debra Messing, and her writing partner, Tom, played by Christian Brodie. Katharine McPhee, of American Idol fame, stars as Karen, the struggling actress competing for the title role. The plot may sound cliché, but with well-known Broadway director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, American Idiot) behind the camera, and composers of the shows Hairspray and Catch Me if You Can turning out original music, the series promises to be an entertaining and authentic glimpse into the New York theater world. If the première (which airs on Monday at 10 P.M.) is any indication, it’s going to be a…well, you know.
George Cruikshank (1792–1878), Oliver Asking for More / The Morgan Library & Museum.
February 7 marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, and the third and final month of Dickens 2012, an international festival devoted to paying tribute to the famous author and his work. Here are five events not to miss:
1. Dickens on Screen: The largest retrospective ever staged of film and TV works based on or inspired by the author. The highlight of this month-long festival takes place on Charles Dickens’s actual birthday, February 7, with a celebratory première of the film Dickens in London, a multimedia collaboration, at the BFI Southbank. The exhibit will then go on tour, including a stop at MoMA in New York. bfu.org.uk.
2. Dickens at 200: The Morgan Library and Museum in New York is exhibiting the author’s manuscripts, letters, books, photos and original illustrations—one of the two largest archival collections of Dickens in the world. Through February 12; themorgan.org.
3. Rochester Dickens Festival: Rochester, Kent, figures largely in some of Dickens’s greatest works (the author spent the last 15 years of his life there), and the area is paying tribute to his bicentennial with festivities that include readings, music, theater, Victorian costumes and a special exhibition at the Guildhall Museum. Can’t make it on such short notice? The annual Dickens Summer Festival is coming up at the beginning of June. February 6–11; rochesterdickensfestival.org.uk.
4. Dickens and London: This show at the Museum of London is the U.K.’s first major exhibition on Dickens in over 40 years, featuring paintings, photographs, costumes, original manuscripts and commissioned films. Through June 10; museumoflondon.org.uk
5. Dickens at the Lion: Shrewsbury’s Lion Hotel, where the author stayed and gave readings, is hosting a weekend-long festival, featuring Gerald Dickens, Charles’s great, great grandson, performing excerpts from Sikes and Nancy, The Christmas Carol and his own show based on his ancestor’s diaries. February 3–5; thelionhotelshrewsbury.com
Courtesy Craig T. Mathew / Mathew Imaging, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
When a famous composer’s centennial rolls around, it’s safe to expect a year full of festivals and seasonal programming featuring his great works. The Los Angeles Philharmonic is paying an ambitiously comprehensive tribute for the 100th anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s death, collaborating with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra to perform all nine of Mahler’s formidable symphonies in just three weeks. Conducted by the Philharmonic’s Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, who burst onto the international conducting scene by winning the inaugural Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2004, the Mahler festival is winding to a close, with only Symphonies No. 8 and 9 remaining. The Ninth is the most beloved of Mahler’s symphonies, but the February 4 performance of Mahler’s Eighth (the Symphony of a Thousand) will be something to see: Both orchestras will combine with a chorus of 800-plus soloists, making for over a thousand performers in the historic Shrine Auditorium.
Once they finish in Los Angeles, the orchestras depart for Caracas, Venezuela, where they’ll do it all over again—but in only seven days. We wish them luck! laphil.com.
After six months, 68 major museum exhibitions and 125 gallery exhibits all over Los Angeles, “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980,” the Getty Foundation’s all-encompassing homage to the Southern California arts scene, is drawing to a close. For those who have yet to peruse the initiative’s substantial offerings, this Saturday (between 11 A.M. and 8 P.M.), LACMA and 18 other museums are hosting an admission-free day. Visitors can explore exhibits featuring everything from the Abject Expressionists at the Pasadena Museum of California Art to the evolution of the Eames living room at the Eames House Foundation.
In conjunction with this event, the L.A.-based arts organization ForYourArt is presenting “The Catalogue Show,” a one-day exhibit of the over 40 event catalogues and publications that arose from “Pacific Standard Time,” in a display that will map the research and ideas that have arisen from the citywide collaboration. At the end of the day, the exhibit will become a historic keepsake: One attendee will win the entire collection in a raffle. 6020 Wilshire Blvd.; foryourart.com; pacificstandardtime.org.
Matthew Ritchie, Terce, 2012. Courtesy of the artist and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York / Paddle8
Long revered as the dominant cultural hub of the outer boroughs, the Brooklyn Academy of Music—or BAM, as it’s affectionately known—turns 150 this year. To celebrate, the company is collaborating with online art marketplace Paddle8 to present an online auction of over 100 pieces by notable artists, including photographs by Andy Warhol, a print from illustrator Maira Kalman and a new work by William Kentridge, whose films and drawings were the subject of a hugely popular retrospective at MoMA in 2010. All the proceeds will go to benefit BAM, and while the bidding is entirely digital, all of the works up for auction are installed in BAM’s lobby for the event’s two-week duration, alongside bidding stations. On April 22, BAM will host a free closing day celebration in the lobby, where guests can wander among the works, meet the artists and sip cocktails.
To showcase BAM’s distinguished history, Paddle8 has created exclusive editorial content to complement the online auction. There are rare materials from BAM’s Hamm Archives, including art prints, photographs and a video of the 1968 dance collaboration between Merce Cunningham, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. “Benefit auctions are so common, and often they get decontextualized. You lose sight of what you’re trying to raise money for,” says Holly Greenfield, director of For Good, Paddle8’s nonprofit division. “This was our opportunity to help people engage in a more in-depth way, and to explore the amazing things BAM has been able to achieve in its 150 years.”
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