I friend just gave me the scoop on 86 Recipes. She said the recipes look amazing. Of coursee the design is fantastic as well (by the agency she just joined). I already ordered one as a gift for my sister (free shipping right now too!) but I’m holding out for the San Francisco editition (coming in January) for myself.
I belong to the large group of Roland Mouret worshippers spawned by his perfectly of-the-moment Galaxy dress (perhaps best described as “the fashion equivalent of the ‘Rachael haircut’”). Along with the rest, I scoured eBay. I was over the moon when a peacock blue original turned up at Jeremy’s… if only it hadn’t been two sizes to small. I almost bought it anyway. That very piece, tell-tale small tear and all, turned up on eBay the next day.
I may never have my own Galaxy dress (especially since Mouret left his eponymous label), but these days many high-fashion designers are trying to bring great design to the masses (think of Isaac, Michael Graves, and now Proenza Shouler at Target). I was intrigued by the idea of Roland Mouret’s collaboration with the Gap (Product) RED (TM) line to create five dresses to raise funds to fight AIDS in Africa. The sidebar article in some one fashion magazine or another mentioned only that the dresses would be in stores on December 1st. From the photo, they looked genuinely cute, and for $88-$108?! I made it over to the Stanford Shopping Center’s Gap store today. The first sales person I asked had no idea what I was talking about but hadn’t seen any dresses in the store at all. Another knew about RED but not Mouret and had no info on when or whether they would be getting anything from the line.
Further research online turned up Gap’s press release on the topic. What fascinates me in this release is how Mouret’s perfectly understandable mass-market justification (”I was interested in the opportunity to make my designs available to a broader audience”) was delivered immediately on the heals of this statement: “Beginning on December 1, an exclusive collection of five dresses designed by Roland Mouret, will be sold in seven select Gap stores in New York City: 54th Street & 5th Avenue, 59th Street & Lexington, 42nd Street & Broadway, 34th Street & Broadway, 18th Street & 5th Avenue, 42nd Street & 3rd Avenue and Astor Place.” Note that all seven stores are on the island of Manhattan. And this from a company based in San Francisco.
If you believe the hype on eBay, where there are already 46 listings with nearly all priced above retail, the entire collection is already sold out in stores. It’s too bad that, as with the knockoffs of the thousand-plus dollar originals (here’s a funny story about one and a piece by Mouret that touches on knockoffs), so much of the profit from Mouret’s designs will be going to opportunistic individuals. I can’t really blame them, but I have to wonder why Gap would choose to keep the production so low and, with all the buzz, limit distribution to New York City. So much for reaching the masses.
Anyone looking for cookbooks to give your kitchen-dwelling friends–as well as those who may need some coaxing to go near a stove–has no dearth of Favorites and Recommendations lists to consult this year, including Heidi of 101 Cookbooks‘ article for NPR and Barbara’s commentary on the big newspapers’ roundups at Tigers and Strawberries, a blog I recently discovered through the Food Blog Award nominations I urged you all to check out last week. I’ll leave the cookbooks to them and share instead my list of beloved books about food and wine.
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It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Village Imports Warehouse Sales. In case you too are looking for tons of chocolate, or fabulous bargain cheeses, or an entire pound of dried morel mushrooms (OK, so you can get just a few ounces), or any of the other great things they stock (the website only has a fraction of their selection), mark your calendar: the next sale in Brisbane will be Friday, November 18th (2:00pm - 6:00pm), and Saturday, November 19th (8:30am - 1:30pm). Apparently they now have a Los Angeles location that will be open on the same dates and times at 6900 Beck Avenue in North Hollywood (off Vanowen Avenue, close to Lankershim Blvd). I’m hoping to pick up another wheel of le Délice, in particular. (I haven’t seen in anywhere else, but I need to start looking.) If you go, just don’t make the same mistake a friend of mine recently did: 3 compact but incredibly rich Petit Suisse yogurts in one sitting is one or two too many.
Kate of Accidental Hedonist’s post on the familiar debate over prices at Whole Foods, If the Name “Whole Paycheck” fits…, has already sparked quite a discussion, but I wanted to point out her evidence for a belief I’ve long held: when you shop for fresh basics rather than luxury items, the cost difference of going to Whole Foods is marginal. For most of what I buy (seasonal and preferably local, organic/natural vegetables and fruits), Whole Foods’ prices are actually lower than those of other stores that sell the same quality produce (which isn’t Safeway). For me, the difference in quality, in what’s stocked, and in the shopping experience itself at Whole Foods and many of the smaller, independent groceries is worth a lot more than a few pennies per item.
Anyone who’s been concerned about signs of aging in the last few years has probably heard of Strivectin-SD, the “miracle” wrinkle and stretch mark cream marketed as possibly “better than botox.” I have actually had a tube sitting in my bathroom for about a year. I had no idea what it was when I received it as a gift–what exactly is a present like that supposed to say?–and used it on my face diligently for a few weeks. I have to admit that I did actually notice a difference, though I’m still young enough or vain enough that I’d like to believe it’s not yet a necessity. However, if you’re hooked, or want to try it, a “fix” has just gotten a lot less painful for your wallet: though a 6oz tube still retails for $135, Costco is now selling two-packs–enough for facial use for twelve months–for $67. With younger skin at such a steep discount, perhaps it’s time I started banking some wrinkle-free years.
If ever there was an event to make me feel like a real gourmet glutton–with all the good and bad that phrase implies–it’s a visit to the Warehouse Sale at le Village on a day when not too many other people are out shopping. On such days, I can peruse the goods without being jostled or needing to rush or having to wonder whether my finds are really worth the hour-long checkout line. Saturday was just such a day. My haul: an obscene amount of chocolate, cheese, more cheese, butter, Petit Suisse yogurts, roasted peppers, and dried mushrooms.
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A wonderfully epicurean, world-traveler-extraodinaire friend moved to San Francisco a few weeks ago. She has visited dozens of times and has a good grasp of tourist things to do in SF, but it’s accomplishing the day-to-day errands that prove most challenging for the recently relocated, so I’ve decided to start an abbreviated guide to accomplishing life’s little chores in the Bay Area.
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I love American Apparel t-shirts. They make the canvases for art-house t-shirt designers like Threadless.com and some of the best casual basics and layering pieces in my wardrobe - good cuts, great colors, very reasonable prices, and all produced “sweatshop free” in the USA.
American Apparel’s most recent e-newsletter included this photo of the company’s founder and CEO:
The story includes some interesting snippets about the business, but I’m still stuck on this “advanced” facial hair fashion statement from a guy making such stylie basics.
Saturday was cool but pleasantly sunny. We started the day with a walk around Yountville and environs, then had a leisurely brunch at the Vintage Inn before driving up to St. Helena to stroll around downtown and visit some of my favorite clothing and shoes stores.
We met up with our friends Joe and Kelley at Gordon’s and stopped at Pine Ridge for a tasting before heading to Spring Mountain Vineyard for our scheduled tour and tasting. We aren’t closet Falcon Crest fanatics, but I can see why they would have chosen this spot for filming – it really was a spectacular setting. We especially liked the 2001 Elivette Reserve, though the small production Pinot was quite nice and the Wine Spectator’s raves about the 2003 Sauvignon Blanc (May ‘05 issue) are well-deserved.
And finally, on to our 5:30 dinner at French Laundry…
