Luxe Beat Magazine AUGUST 2014

August 2014

One of Hollywood’s Best Kept Secrets Revealed Betting on Luxury

David Pack’s Napa Crossroads a Toast to Music 100 Years Ago in Boston, The End of Innocence International Wine Etiquette

Natural Luxury

Contents Jim Beam’s Grandson 64

Letter from the Editor 4

Fred Booker Noe Cooks VIP Vienna 8 Worldwide Wine Tips And Sips: 67 Nantucket Unplugged 12

International Wine Etiquette

Betting On Luxury 16

Mississippi Gulf Coast: 68 calling all foodies!

Three Perfect Stays In NYC 26 Why Cruise Ships Offer 72 The Mexican Riviera at its Best! 30

Dining Alternatives

Doing The Grand Canyon In Grand Style 34

The Art Of Spa In Santa Fe 76

9 Reasons Why My New Found 44

Diamonds, Or Is It Jewelry, Is Forever 78

Travel Love is Newfoundland, Canada, Kara Smith One of Hollywood’s 80

part one: St. John’s

Best Kept Secrets Venetian Gondola Ride in 48 David Pack’s Napa Crossroads 86

Channel Islands Marina

a Toast to Music Info Graphics 52 Three Artists Find Their Places 90 Revitalized Atlanta 55

in the World

“All That” With A Capital A! Darlene Kaplan Imbues Her Oriental 94 Global Etiquette – Gifting 58

Brush Paintings, Workshops And Tea Tastings With “Chi” 2

SHERRIE WILKOLASKI Editor-in-Chief and Managing Partner MARALYN D. HILL Executive Editor BENJAMIN BENNETT Creative Director

Aristotle: A Man for All Seasons 100

LEAH WALKER

and Centuries

Editor-At-Large

Featured Contributor - Debi Lander 104

MICHELLE WINNER Editor-at-Large

Dining at the White House - 106

LINDA KISSAM

Part 2 of 3

Global Wine & Travel Editor-at-Large

The End of Innocence 110

DALE SANDERS Senior Travel & Lifestyle Editor/ Director of Photography COURTNEY LOWDEN Fashion Editor-At-Large

NORMAN HILL Editor CONTRIBUTORS Allan Kissam Bonnie Carroll Chef Lance Seeto Chloe Dickson Dana Rebmann David Beebe Debbi Kickham Debbie Stone Debi Lander Dena Roche Dr. Kathy Gruver Gigi Ragland Gillian Nicol Gina Carroll Howard Graeme Kemlo Herve Laurent Inka Piegas-

Luxe Beat Magazine is published in English.

Our audience is a global market with global contributors. Each writes, using the form of English with which they are familiar. So you’ll see US, UK, AUS, CAN, versions, etc. We hope this eliminates any confusion on spelling.

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Quischote Ivan Flowers Janice Nieder Jason Dumas Jenna Intersimone Jessica Skropanic Karen Catchpole Katherine Frelon Kurt Winner Lacey Reeves Larry Larsen Lillian Africano Mandy Rowe Marc d’Entremont Marilyn Green Mark Juddery Marti Mayne

Mary Haban Michael Cervin Nancy Mueller Nikki Mayer Nina Africano Norman Hill Rachel Weil Renee Phillips Sandra Chambers Sonja Hegman Stacey Wittig Susan Lanier Graham The Cooking Ladies

Tim Cotroneo Urmila Ramakrishnan

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Editor’s Lettter

NATURAL LUXURY is the focus of our August

2014 edition of Luxe Beat Magazine. What is natural luxury? Our editorial team had a lengthy discussion about the topic and decided it is more than just a beautiful sun kissed beach or the face of a beautiful woman. It is more than that. It goes beyond what can be discovered in the open air because at the end of the day, everything we enjoy has come from the natural elements that surround us.

It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t showcase Mother Nature just a little bit, in this Natural Luxury edition and contributor Debi Lander takes our readers to the Grand Canyon. Our Creative Director Benjamin Bennett did an exceptional job on the layout of this article, it really feels like you’re there.

Discover the streets of Vienna with Editor-AtLarge, Leah Walker, fall in love with everything that Newfoundland has to offer, and drift away to Nantucket’s The Summer House.

This issue we’re introducing audio! Listen to a clip from David Pack’s Napa Crossroad CD and find out why wine and music mix well together.

Luxe Beat Magazine has the exclusive look at The End of Innocence, Allegra Jordan’s newest novel.

The 1914 Harvard setting of this book will get you in the mood for fall, as the summer comes to a close. The book is being released at the end of August, 100 years after the story takes place.

Don’t forget to read Part II of John Moeller’s Dining at the White House series.

Enjoy everything that luxury has to offer!

Sherrie Wilkolaski Editor-in-Chief

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Maha’s dates and the other fabulous foods of the Middle East played an important part in all our lives – I had blissfully forgotten about most of the things I’d cooked in my previous life. However, I was still receiving my censored editions (think Maggie Beer in a Texta-ed black abaya) of the Australian Gourmet Traveller. The recipes and new ideas in that magazine still excited me.

One day when I was talking to Maha about a recipe for Peking Duck, she casually mentioned that she’d never tried it. I couldn’t resist the urge to cook it, so I organised a dinner in her honour as a thank-you for the date deliveries. It was to be a girls’ night, so I invited Robbie and Aruna, my Indian cooking teacher, to join Maha and me.

I fed the kids and prepared a meal for Shane so that he could make himself scarce. Maha would not be dressed in her abaya: he had to secrete himself upstairs so that he couldn’t see her.

But I saw her – and she looked gorgeous.

When she arrived and removed her abaya and headscarf, she revealed a most exquisite two-piece ensemble in soft blues, mauves and grey. The fabric was a kind of gauze that I’d never seen before. She’d completed the outfit with a simple grey pearl necklace that looked so elegant and right. Maha had a way of always looking as if she’d stepped out of the pages of Harper’s Bazaar. She had such an abundance of grace and poise that I’m sure she would have looked perfectly splendid in a hessian sack.

Aruna also looked beautiful in her magnificent sari, and Robbie looked resplendent – as always – in a cerise coloured blouse that coordinated perfectly with her glamorous hot pink fingernails: after all she was the queen of manicures. Robbie was good friends with Maha and was overjoyed at the dinner invitation. Being a natural conversationalist, she held court and kept the mood buoyant while I cooked.

I couldn’t resist wearing one of my precious pinnies, but I did stick to a conservative number so as not to offend Maha. I presented the duck, which was a triumph, and followed with a rich sticky-date pudding – using Maha’s dates, of course. The meal that I’d made from my muchloved source of inspiration was perfect, and I was delighted with the result. Aruna asked for the stickydate pudding recipe, which I’d borrowed from the great British cook Delia Smith. I’d tweaked it a little and added a few variations, so I had no compunction in calling it my own. Sorry, Delia, but mine’s better.

I always take it as a great compliment when someone asks for my recipe. It means that the dish was a success and that my creation will be reborn in someone else’s kitchen. The person can modify the recipe as they wish, but the request means that they liked it enough to reproduce it, and I am always happy to oblige.

Blending personalized service, stylish spaces But Maha was more interested in alluring my apron. She asked if and an I’d mind teaching her how to paint in a similar style to the flying woman, and of course I took her request as atmosphere to another great compliment. I was now considered a good enough artist todeliver teach others! I blushed and said, “Of an uncommon course. When would you like to have your lesson?”

I was so excited about returning Maha’s favour.

Hawaiian experience.

The end of the summer break was a time that would probably work well for both of us, so she opened her leather diary and gave me a few options.

I thumbed through my own diary and shuffled a few less important engagements to settle on one of the dates she’d given me.

“Okay, this date is good,” I said, writing the words ‘Painting with Maha’ on the page.

Photography and logo provided by BroadsAbroad.net.

855.706.1653

2001. Or – as the Americans It was September would now say – the day after 9/11.

12th

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VIP Vienna

by Leah Walker

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Travel

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T

he Habsburg Dynasty may no longer rule, but one of Europe’s most important families left an indelible mark on Vienna, most notably in the architecture and treasures the city holds. Austria’s capital is one of my favorite cities, and with each visit, I discover more to love.

Much of the Habsburg legacy is seen within the Ringstraße, a 5.3-kilometer road that encircles the cultural heart of Vienna. Lined with palaces built at the urging of Emperor Franz Joseph I, the Ringstraße celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2015. Once the location of the city’s walls, the grand boulevard is now a smattering of architectural styles—New Baroque, Neo-Renaissance, Art Nouveau, Flemish Gothic—which are all exquisite in their own right.

Vienna is a regal and distinguished city, where a simple city stroll takes you back to the time when Franz Joseph ruled. Fortunately, today you don’t have to be from the Habsburg Dynasty in order to get royal treatment. There are plenty of opportunities in Vienna that will leave you feeling like Empress Sisi.

residence of the Imperial family, Schönbrunn Palace is a mammoth baroque complex, filled with a palace, carriage museum, stunning gardens, a hedge maze, zoo and a few restaurants. Exploring the Palace Museum gives visitors insight into what life must have been like for the Imperial family, but it’s certainly is no substitute for actually living in the palace. That opportunity is now available, thanks to the Schloß Schönbrunn Suite.

Located in the eastern wing of the Schönbrunn Palace, the Schloß Schönbrunn Suite is the first of its kind in Europe. At nearly 1,800 square feet, the suite features two bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms, a kitchenette and a salon--because what selfrespecting royal doesn’t need a salon? Views of the Gloriette,

Schlosspark, Neptune Fountain and Crown Prince Garden round out this regal experience. Packages range from $1,100-$6,700 per night.

If the Schloß Schönbrunn Suite is booked, and you’re still looking for something opulent, many of the historical palaces along the Ringstraße have been transformed into luxury hotels. RitzCarlton, located on the Schubertring portion of the ring, is actually four historical nineteenth century palaces combined to make one luxury hotel.

Also located on Vienna’s Ringstraße, Palais Hansen Kempinski was originally built in 1873 as a hotel for the World Exhibition.

Both properties are stunningly beautiful and filled with rich furnishings, as well as the latest in technology.

Surely, Emperor Joseph would approve.

No trip to Vienna is complete without perusing through its museums, many of which are

Also located in the Hofburg is the Natural History Museum. Not only does it have a massive collection of gems, fossils, artifacts, dinosaurs and meteorites, but the museum also offers one of the best views of Vienna. Each Sunday, there is an English cultural-history walking tour through the museum, ending at the rooftop terrace.

Near the Imperial Palace is the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Meaning art history museum, the Kunsthistorisches was built near the Imperial Palace in 1891, in order to hold the immense art collection of the Imperial family. With works by the world’s greatest artists, Kunsthistorisches is one of the most prominent museums, not only in Europe,

ALL PHOTOS BY LEAH WALKER

Step outside of the Ringstraße and you’ll find one of Vienna’s most popular attractions. Once the summer

filled with treasures collected throughout the Habsburg Dynasty.

Located inside Vienna’s Ringstraße, the Hofburg was the epicenter of the Habsburg Empire and served as their winter home. Today, the Hofburg is not only the official office of the Austrian president, but it’s also where some of the most notable spots in the city are found. The Spanish Riding School, Sisi Museum, Imperial Apartments, Imperial Silver Collection, Albertina, Globe and Esperanto Museum, Papyrus Museum and Collection of Arms and Armor are all worthy of exploration.

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but the world. For something beyond a typical audio tour, the museum offers a host of unique experiences.

If you like your art with a bit of culinary, then you’ll be interested in Thursday’s gourmet buffet dinner and Sunday’s brunch, both served in the museum’s Cupola Hall. Between courses, diners are free to explore the galleries on their own or take guided tours.

For something even more exclusive, a personalized, hour-long tour is offered prior to the museum’s opening. Once the museum is closed, a special tour of the Imperial Treasury is available. See items such as the Austrian Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance from the 8th century and jewelry worn by the Habsburgs, including the largest cut emerald in the world. For classical music lovers, Kunsthistorisches Museum hosts concerts, featuring instruments owned by Leopold Mozart, the Stein brothers and Emperor Franz Joseph.

Vienna has a long and varied history, dating to the Middle Ages, but it’s the time the city was ruled by the Habsburgs that is still evident today.

Through the city’s preserved heritage and traditions, it’s still possible for you to enjoy a bit of the pomp and circumstance that existed during the Habsburg Dynasty.

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Nantucket U By BySherrie SherrieWilkolaski Wilkolaski

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ummer in Nantucket is what dreams are made of. This small island off the coast of Massachusetts is magical.

From the moment I arrived, I knew I had found a piece of Heaven on Earth.

Nantucket was the getaway I was longing for. This trip had been booked back in early spring and given my hectic schedule, I couldn’t wait to get there. I started my journey, leaving from Westchester County airport and upon arrival at the secured hanger, my cell phone lost its signal. I considered it to be a nice break and picked up a copy of a People Magazine to get caught up on the latest celebrity gossip. It was only an hour and fifteen minute flight on Cape Air and I figured I

could make some calls once I landed.

Our flight left on time and once in the air, the view was breathtaking.

It’s not often you get such an incredible view on a flight and I did my best to enjoy it. I was filled with anticipation as we descended on to the runway at Tom Nevers Field.

Relaxation, here I come!

Before leaving the airport, I decided to grab some extra cash and went to the ATM machine only to find it was temporarily out of order. No big deal, I’m on vacation. I asked the cab driver to take me to another ATM location on the way to the hotel, and off we went. As we made our way to The Summer House Cottages in Siasconset, the stress of everyday life started to drip off me like rain on a windshield. I opened the window

and felt the ocean air brush against my cheek and with every stroke, my smile grew larger until I realized I could feel the muscles stretching in my face-- brilliant. The cabbie made idle chitchat and after mentioning I was in the publishing business, she told me about one of her favorite memories growing up on the island.

She said when the movie Jaws came out, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing someone with a copy of Peter Benchley’s book, the inspiration for the film, in their hands. The publicist in me appreciated that.

It is about a 15-20 minute drive from the airport to Siasconset. Upon arrival, I immediately soaked in the ocean view. The Summer House Cottages sit on a bluff overlooking

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the Atlantic and in the courtyard area, guests were sitting in their Adirondack chairs, enjoying cocktails and soaking in the sun. I walked from the street along the pebbled path, lined with lavender and hydrangeas, and peppered with butterflies. I checked in at the front desk and was welcomed to the property by a nice young man named Carl. He grabbed my luggage and escorted me to the Francesca cottage, my short-term Nantucket residence.

After unpacking and getting settled in, I decided to make a few phone calls and check emails. My cell was not getting any service and the wireless was working sporadically and at island speed. Again, I thought it wasn’t the end of the world. I had posted my office was closed and

Travel

Unplugged Closing down The Summer House Restaurant

everyone of importance was aware of my travel plans. I had about two hours to kill before dinner and decided to take a walk. I ventured out of my cottage and walked along the side of the road overlooking the ocean. I headed toward the post office and little shops we had passed in my cab ride. It was only about a five minute walk and I found my way to the local market. Everything a vacationing traveler could want was available, groceries, cold drinks, prepared sandwiches, and a nice selection of Nantucket souvenirs.

After a short stroll, I made my way back to my cottage and got ready for dinner.

My dinner plans included dining with property owner Danielle deBenedictis, Chuck Taylor, the

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publisher of Famtripper, fellow travel writer Elizabeth Kochor and several other of Danielle’s friends and guests. We had arranged to meet for cocktails at The Summer House Restaurant at 7pm. My cottage was only a few hundred yards from the restaurant and I promptly made my way across the courtyard. The entrance to the establishment is just off the front deck and the music’s volume increased with each step I made. As I pushed the screen door open to the restaurant, something magical transpired. I felt as if I had stepped back in time. Live jazz music billowing throughout the bar and restaurant, and the chatter of vacationers, mixed with the clinking of utensils and glasses, made for an atmosphere that sounded like a symphony. Dim lights created just

enough of a haze to see everything clearly, but with enough shadow to make the room feel warm and cozy, and on the verge of sexy. There was a feeling of The Great Catsby in the air.

Fluke Meunière, cauliflower two ways, lemon caper sauce, arugula BELOW-RIGHT The Summer House Restaurant Caesar Salad

Danielle deBenedictis and Jay

Just as I turned back to join my group, a woman pointed to me and said with assertive enthusiasm, “You’re Sherrie!” and I of course I couldn’t deny it. It was Mary Rogan, a frequent guest and friend of Danielle’s who was mistaken for me at the bar before my arrival. She extended her hand and properly introduced herself. She was on holiday with her son Billy Rogan, a guitarist and composer. As the maître d’ was leading them off to their table, she invited me to attend Billy’s live performance the following evening in the bar area. He was going to be playing with the pianist and she told me I would not be disappointed. I told her I would be there, and off they went.

Brian playing jazz for The Summer House Restaurant guests

After my lovely chat with Jay, and meeting the Rogans, our group was

escorted to Danielle’s favorite table and seated for dinner. The atmosphere continued to blossom as the evening went on. Each menu selection was delightful. Rumor had it that the fluke was a must-try, so I went for it. It was delicious! This summer flounder dish is a popular favorite amongst locals and guests.

Throughout the meal, the conversation remained lively. Sitting to my right was Candice McDonough, Vice President, Publicity and Corporate Communications at New Line Cinema. Across from me sat Mary Beth McDade, reporter for KTLA Channel 5 News in Los Angeles, and she was charming. Both woman make their way back to Nantucket’s The Summer House several times a year. These Boston College grads cannot get enough of it. They were staying at the sister property, India Street Inn. They reminisced about previous visits and were already planning their return trips.

The evening went by so quickly that, after coffee and dessert, we realized we were the just about the last people in the restaurant. Other guests had moved on to the bar, still

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PHOTOS © SHERRIE WILKOLASKI

I was greeted with a friendly hello as I met up with my Nantucket friends and I ordered a glass of wine. There was an older gentleman named Jay talking with our group and we were introduced. He was in his upscale beach dinner attire and his silverwhite hair glistened in the candlelight. As he talked about his love of The Summer House, I imagined him in Nantucket reds, standing on the sidelines, cheering on the team with a big “SH” monogrammed on his cream summer sweater. So much passion-- he was filled with one story after another about time he has spent over decades at The Summer House. Not so much about Nantucket but of this place, from courting his late wife with vacations to win her over, to his daughter getting married on the beach and partying all night at the Beachside Bistro-- so many memories. He is such a huge fan of The Summer House he commissioned a painting of The Summer House Cottages to hang in his home in Florida. Then, his table was ready and he was gone.

Travel

The Summer House Restaurant

enjoying the live piano music. We said our goodnights and Elizabeth and I made plans for the next day.

As I nestled into my cozy bed and started to drift off to sleep, I realized that I had been unplugged all day and I wasn’t stressed or missing it. With no emails, voicemails, text or Skype messages, it was no wonder why this paradise seemed to draw people back to it, time and again. After a few more days on the island, it was clear to me that this spot was truly enchanted and I started creating memories of my own.

The Summer House is a boutique collection of inns and restaurants and hotels in Nantucket. It operates the famous Summer House Cottages on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic in Siasconset, and four wonderful inns in Nantucket town. In addition, the Summer House operates three of Nantucket’s finest restaurants, The Summer House Restaurant and Beachside Bistro in Siasconset, and 29 Fair Street in Nantucket Town. To learn more go to thesummerhouse. com.

Thank you to The Summer House and Famtripper for hosting my trip.

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Betting n Luxury Atlantic City

By Mary Haban Embrace your inner child at the Steel Pier

Photography by Dale Sanders 17

Travel

T

he stakes were high. It had never been done before. And the odds didn’t look good.

But this was one gamble Dino Dounoulis was willing to take.

He had a lot riding on this venture, and nothing – not even the naysayers -- would deter his vision.

As the General Manager of Bungalow Lounge and Restaurant, located along the main drag of Atlantic City’s burgeoning boardwalk, Dounoulis saw an untapped potential in expanding this mighty city to new heights. And it would start with bringing his popular restaurant across the boardwalk and onto the beach, then elevating it with an upper sun deck so visitors could peer out at the Atlantic Ocean without anything blocking their view. Armed with his best poker face, he took the ultimate plunge -- putting all his chips on a bet many thought would never pay off. And what happened next was inspiring.

Jackpot

A sense of “coolness” wafts through the air at Bungalow Beach. Open since June, it’s the hottest new spot to hit the beaches of Atlantic City.

Soft, supple sand surrounds this 6,000 square foot sanctuary, while modern dune fencing, white umbrellas, clean planks and matching beach furniture give it ultimate curb appeal. First impressions are in full regalia with servers donning stylish shades, meticulously dressed in monochromatic hues of black or bright white, and moving to the beat of jazz house tunes. Thirsty? How about champagne with strawberries delivered to your lounge chair? Feel like noshing on something delicious?

Choose from an abridged bar menu or scoot back across the long wooden walkway off the Boardwalk around California Avenue for the full spread of Mediterranean and Greek infused cuisine at the main restaurant. Both places have the hip factor and play it to a tee. Cap off your day on a white, comfy daybed or make your way to the sun deck for a bird’s eye view of the waves.

Luck of the Draw

Small bites yield big flavors at Fin in the Tropicana Resort, where succulent seafood steals the show, but not before winning your taste buds. Step off the casino floor and into the care of culinary veteran George Fleming, Fin’s Gourmet Restaurant Manager, whose kind demeanor and personal interaction with each guest deserve more than a mention. A visit from Chef Albert

Sun, sand and the most amazing view on the sundeck at Bungalow Beach

Hughes isn’t uncommon either.

“We pride ourselves on Jersey fresh products,” he boasts, while wielding a plate of fresh cracked crab legs.

“The food speaks for itself.” And, really, it does. Try the soft shell crab, the assortment of fresh sushi and leave knowing it was worth your time.

Rooftop pools offer outrageous views at Caesar’s Resort

One of the oldest and most historic restaurants in all of Atlantic City may also be one of the area’s most popular. The Knife and Fork takes diners back in time to its Prohibition era roots, with rich mahogany millwork, hand-painted ceilings, a sweeping staircase, and lushly appointed dining rooms. Try the

maple-and-pecan crusted salmon, served atop sweet butternut squash, Swiss chard, caramelized onions and dried cranberries.

can make that happen with luxury resorts that’ll leave you feeling like a million bucks. First up, Borgata Casino and Spa. Sleek designs tempt your senses as an array of vibrant colors fill the lobby with opulent artwork that mirrors a modern

High Rollers

Want to roll like a VIP? Atlantic City

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museum. The 2000 room resort delivers the finest in food and entertainment with popular chefs like Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck, and music legends like The Rolling Stones, Sting and Jay-Z leading the pack.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DALE SANDERS

After dinner, head downstairs to the Tropicana’s quarter, where you can try your luck on the dancefloor at Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar. Sultry salsa dancing and late night Latin floorshows await your arrival, as do 70 premium varieties of rum. Grab a handcrafted cocktail or fresh mojito and test your best set of moves. You’ll have plenty of room in the 12,000-square-foot space, which envelops you in the essence of 1950s Cuba.

Travel No checkout is complete without a stop at Borgata Baking Company.

Cast your eyes upon mouth-watering “sweets and eats” housemade by former White House Executive Pastry Chef, Thaddeus DuBois.

Try his soft and crunchy French Macaroons, creative Cake Pops or go rouge with a Cheesesteak Croissant.

For a late night cocktail or succulent snack, drop by Izakaya. Think modern Japanese in a sensual setting with foodie favorites like the dumpling spicy tuna cracker.

Just steps away, you’ll discover the Water Club Hotel an 800 room, $400 million hotel featuring 43 stories of sheer luxury. Slip into Immersion, a two-story spa for a Thai massage or ayurvedic treatment, then relax at one of the five heated pools and get some retail therapy at Hugo Boss or Just Cavalli.

A long afternoon calls for more relaxing at Sunroom Lounge, just off the main lobby. Sit beside a roaring fire pit and sip on white sangria topped with plump raspberries.

Next up…Revel where billions, not millions, brought this ultra-mod resort to life at the end of 2012.

Towering high above the famed boardwalk, a steel sculpture sits quietly. Walk by and you’ll see the throngs of tourists looking up – admiring the sheer magnificence of this architectural feat. Inside, a shimmering welcome, as guests ascend on a high-powered escalator to the lobby and casinos.

Call it the wow factor – the Revel gets that a lot with 1,399 ocean view rooms, masterful indoor and outdoor pools, serene gardens, a 32,000-square-foot luxury spa, and designer boutiques. Nightclubs, a dayclub, live entertainment venues and 14 restaurants serving world-

TOP Indulge your alter ego aboard one of these in the Golden Nugget Marina ABOVE Opportunity as far as the eye can see along Atlantic City’s famed Boardwalk Waves break along a brilliant backdrop at the Atlantic City Seashore

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class cuisine add nicely to this resort’s total package. Guests can carve out their own piece of paradise by renting exclusive cabanas at the private VIP pool, featuring top-shelf bottle service.

Double or Nothing

A trip to Atlantic City isn’t complete without stepping inside one of the area’s most famous casinos – Caesar’s. Situated along the boardwalk and connected to the Pier Shops, the hotel offers a prime location to experience the sights and sounds of this active beach town. For one of the best views around, visit Caesar’s rooftop pool, which offers a panorama you won’t soon forget. As the day comes to a close, rich, dramatic skylines give way to superb sunrises, making this property a place to cash in on making memories.

The sun dances on the water, giving way to a yacht named Boardwalk in the marina adjacent to the Golden Nugget. The view seems appropriate given the winning streak Atlantic City has been on. Touting the luxury product has been one wild card they’d hope would pay off.

And this resort is betting on that gamble as well.

LEFT A rainbow of colors plated to perfection at Bungalow Restaurant & Lounge Stellar views beckon swimmers at Borgata’s duel level spa

Tempting creations come to life at Cuba Libre

Tasty treats warm your heart and soul at Borgata’s Sunroom

The property recently completed a $150 million renovation, taking on a fresh, modern look and it shows!

Colorful ornaments dazzle guests as they enter the richly decorated and inviting lobby. Impressive upgrades include 727 handsomely remodeled rooms and suites, a 12,000 square foot salon and spa, 10 mouth-

watering restaurants, and a dozen bars, lounges and a hip nightclub.

Let it Ride

Candy apple red, burnt orange and sun-splashed yellow twist and twirl against the hot June sky as screams of unabashed glee fade into oblivion.

Kids of all ages come here, to the

Steel Pier to relive a time when life was carefree and the only stress one had was deciding between cotton candy or corn dog. This Atlantic City landmark, which first opened to the public in 1898, spans 1,000-feet across the deep blue ocean and was once considered the greatest entertainment venue in the United

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States. Today, it’s home to adrenaline-infused, high-octane rides like the slingshot, Rock N Roll, and a private helicopter tour that takes you across the city’s magnificent skyline.

One of the most memorable ways to embrace your inner child is to step

Travel High rollers delight in Borgata’s VIP suite

Satisfy your culinary cravings at an Atlantic City Landmark, the Knife and Fork.

Restore your physique with a Thai Massage at Borgata’s spa

back in time and stroll down one of the most famous stretches of real estate in the area: The Atlantic City Boardwalk. Each year, millions of feet, bikes, and those famous “rolling chairs” have come across these properly placed planks. In fact, the rolling chairs, first introduced to the Boardwalk in the 1876, still take visitors on a reminiscent ride down this significant stretch of history.

The first permanent Boardwalk was built in 1870 as a way to keep sand off of hotel carpets. Today, the Boardwalk is more than four miles in length and 60 feet across at its widest points. The present structure, which sits upon concrete and steel pilings, is constructed out of thousands of two-by-fours. And due to increasing foot traffic, it’s necessary to replace the boards every 12 years.

Winning Hand

No visit to Atlantic City is complete without seeing where the Miss America Pageant got its start.

Each year, the nationally televised competition unfolds in what was once called Historic Boardwalk Hall.

Located just steps from Caesar’s

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Hotel, this revered venue was home to acts like The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavarotti, the Rolling Stones and Louis Armstrong.

Today, thanks to a three-year, $90 million renovation this historic venue is beautifully updated into a modern special events arena capable of seating up to 14,770 people and now hosts acts like Lady Gaga, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney. The hall’s façade also doubles as the magnificent backdrop for a luminous, 3-D light and sound show held each and every night.

A crowd of tourists huddles along the Boardwalk as night falls. Their big dilemma requires a team meeting.

At hand, a major decision to be made.

Live music? Upscale dining? Sipping champagne on the sand at Bungalow Beach? Dancing? Taking in a comedy act? Or casinos? Thanks to Atlantic City’s decision to roll the dice instead of rolling over, they can now do them all – in one night. A seaside town that was down on its luck took the ultimate gamble by placing a big wager on elegance, sophistication, and luxury. And it paid off.

To try your luck, visit www.doac.com.

Luxury & Elegance

with ocean views from every window.

Each suite has a separate sitting and sleeping chamber with a king sized bed and a luxury private bath.

Wake up to beautiful breakfasts served by our lighthouse keepers in the cozy kitchen with fireplace and ocean vistas.

Our living quarters are outfitted with the latest modern technology including wifi, LED televisions, and USB ports.

Come and stay...

Photos by Darren Setlow

Surround yourself with sweeping panoramic views of Maine’s Atlantic Coastline and bask in contemporary luxury and design. The custom millwork, beautiful moldings, coffered ceilings and marble bathrooms are the ultimate in craftsmanship. The views from every window are dramatic, 360 degree ocean views. The Cuckolds is a unique experience, receiving each guest in contemporary luxury through layers of bespoke craftsmanship and design. All honoring the sense of place and Cuckolds history.

Reservations Toll Free: 855.212.5252 www.innatcuckoldslighthouse.com

Inn_at_Cuckolds_LuxeBeat.indd 1

4/15/14 9:24 AM

When Indy’s Libertine Liquor Bar landed on Esquire’s “Best Bars in America” list, it was acknowledgment of not only a bar, but a scene that has been building. From our breweries raking in gold at the Great American Beer Festival to our chefs stirring up buzz over our dining scene, Indianapolis is serving up more than the race cars and hoops we’re known for. Take a long weekend and discover the Midwest’s best kept secret for yourself.

For what to see, do, and eat, go to VisitIndy.com | BLOG: DoingIndy.com | FOLLOW US: @VisitIndy

Three Perfect Stays in NYC

By Michelle Winner

Oxymoron, this statement?

Not really. Our writers seek the relevant, the appealing and the best value to offer you many choices. Then you can book your own stay and create your own unique experiences.

The Langham Place on 5th is many things to different types of travelers. To the Madison Ave shopper, museum maven, foodophile or Broadway baby hopping to

different show each night, it is an easy walk or quick cab ride. Business travelers like it because of the excellent European buffet breakfast available each morning with the most exquisite croissants, fresh-squeezed OJ and house cured meats. There is a Michelin-starred restaurant, Ai Fiori in the hotel, a swinging lobby lounge with great live jazz called Measure, and a talented executive chef in The Double Bunk Cabin has everything you want- even a view

David Vandenabeele. After your long day touring or in meetings, meet back at Measure for a glass of wine, dinner and later, live music. Just like home, well, if you had an executive chef and a band. Service is exceptional here; the doorman greets everyone with a smile, and as he opens the door for you, he welcomes you back “home� after a day of exploring.

Families like it because The Langham Place has some remarkable square footage by city standards in the form of family-sized suites with drop-dead views of The Empire State Building, full kitchens, multiple bathrooms and living room with

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PHOTOS: LANGHAM PLACE ON FIFTH / YOTEL / SOFITEL NYC

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e have rounded up three perfect stays in NYC, each remarkably different. Our professional reviewers at Luxe Beat Magazine are always searching out the best of the lot for you to discover on your own.

Travel

Yotel has a groovy vibe all its own BELOW Yotel’s “Yobot” captures the imagination of the kid in all of their guests

eating area. Mom can relax in the huge bathtub for some “me time” or the hotel can arrange a sitter and mom can luxuriate for the day in the Spa. There are even art gallery programs and special excursions for children. This is luxury family travel at its best.

Sofitel New York, as you might expect, is French sensibility in New York. Francophiles, French travelers, lovers and those who love a brand that pays attention to details love it here. Much to love-- a glass of Champagne at the beautiful curved mahogany Gaby Bar is my favorite way to celebrate arriving at the Sofitel. Gaby NY is the signature

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Each guest room has an amazing view of the Sound from its room wide floorto-ceiling picture window.

BELOW Mom can take a leisurely soak while the kids explore an art gallery or museum arranged through The Langham Place.

Family Suites at The Langham Place are an incredible place to stay

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Travel Gaby Restaurant NY is the delightful signature restaurant at Sofitel NYC

restaurant and is headed by French Master Chef Sylvain Harribey, who creates a delicious brasserie menu.

Try his playful French riff on the American burger, including a baguette and truffle fries. His menu is inspired by the seasons and Gaby is a great pre-theater restaurant.

With room service at Sofitel also overseen by this master chef, you could roll around in your suite all day with that special someone. But you won’t because you can walk to museums-- a fave is the Morgan with its impressive library and occasional jazz brunch, the spectacular New York Library, or Grand Central Station for an oyster pan fry. Return to your suite and enjoy a soak in your marble bath, with fluffy towels and Sofitel’s Hermes amenities before going out again. Mais oui!

Trendy-somethings take note. The perfect patio for music and cocktails, quirky hotel-speak lingo, and a concept restaurant called “ The Dojo” with sumo wrestlers painted on the wall does exist to satisfy your quest for cool. What would you say to a huge robotic arm behind glass that stores your luggage? What about reporting to “mission control” to check in? How about the most efficient, and nearly the most compact hotel rooms in NYC? Yotel is the hotel for you. Well located on the Hell’s Kitchen side of Broadway, Yotel is popular with European and Asian travelers, and American hipsters with little luggage. Why the luggage comment? No closet but a few hooks to hang your clothes, so pack light.

Really, does anyone wear those long scarves in summer anymore?

The rooms are like a cabin in small boat. There is a really nice, simple bathroom with everything you need and mine had a view to the Hudson River. To craw into this room’s berth, you had to climb a ladder over a queen bed that was like an electric futon. Press a button and it scoots out from being a sofa to a comfortable bed. The NYC Yotel is from the same company that opened the successful Yotel in London Gatwick Airport for sky warriors to sleep off jet-lag between flights.

True to the concept, this one delivers much bang for your buck.

So select what appeals to you as a travel experience and book. And here is a tip for first timers: Don’t forget to pack your NYC City Pass available online. This pass is invaluable to avoid standing in lines at museums, attractions and yes even the iconic Empire State Building.

At Sofitel the high floors have incredible views

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Barceló Maya Beach Resort

People come from all over the world to soak up the sun, swim in the turquoise waters and experience the vibrant culture and cuisine of the Mexican Riviera. Resorts abound from Cancun south along the Riviera Maya, but if it’s luxury you want, head to Barceló Maya Beach Resort, an hour south of Cancun.

Situated on one of the best beaches of the Mexican Riviera, this AAA Four Diamond Resort offers everything a luxury vacation should be. With five hotels, 20 restaurants, 19 bars, 9 swimming pools, 4 theaters, 2 water parks, and a world-class spa, what more could one possibly need? And to answer your question--can the “all-inclusive” label really deliver luxury? Most definitely, YES! I’m staying at the Barceló Maya Palace Deluxe, the premier hotel at the resort. But all the hotels--the Barcelo Maya Colonial, Tropical, Beach, and Maya Caribe certainly meet Webster’s, and my, definition of luxury--”a condition of great comfort, ease and wealth.” The architectural design of the entire resort is inspired by colonial culture, which is further enhanced by its many murals, artwork, statues and rich furnishings.

The Mexica Riviera At It’s Best

by Sandra Chambers

As I enter the spacious open-air lobby with views of the blue Caribbean framed by beautiful archways, I’m already feeling stress drain away. I’m escorted to the Club Premium Deluxe area, which provides guests with the highest level of service, including private check-in and check-out, personalized concierge services, a private Club Premium Lounge with premium brand liquors and rooms with the best ocean/pool views.

My Palace Deluxe Junior Suite features a king bed and two comfortable sofas that double as day beds. The spacious room is quite comfortable for two guests or up to a family of four. A flat screen plasma TV, premium linens, huge marble bathroom with Raindance shower, deluxe robes & slippers and a bathroom scale (which should never be allowed in an all inclusive resort!) round out an assortment of upscale amenities.

Three steps off my private deck is one of the large swimming pools with both poolside and in-water lounges. I eye a large swim-up bar across the pool and quickly grab my

Arial View of Barcelo Maya Beach Resort

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an

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Each guest room has an amazing view of the Sound from its room wide floorto-ceiling picture window.

Tulum--a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city

Margarita at Mexico Lindo

Sports & Entertainment

Guests can be as relaxed or busy as they wish, with a plethora of entertainment options. And they can travel between the five hotels at the resort to experience all activities, dining, shows and shopping. There’s a multi-sports court, tennis courts, volleyball & ping-pong, canoes, kayaks, water bicycles, snorkeling

equipment, water aerobics, mini golf, pitch & putt, and a gym to work off all those extra calories. And if you prefer to sit by the pool or enjoy the warm Caribbean Sea by day and swing by night, there are a variety of nightly shows and discotheques to dance the night away.

And don’t forget to make room for a little “me time” at the 16,000 square-foot Barceló U Spa, which features 25 treatment rooms as well as a hydrotherapy room, three Vichy rooms and a Swedish and Scottish treatment room. In addition, little princesses will love the Kid’s U Spa, with fun treatments such as ice cream pedicures, hair braiding and even birthday parties.

Barceló Maya Beach Resort welcomes families of all ages and recently received the 2014 Traveler’s Choice Award for one of the 25 best family resorts in Mexico. The Barcy Mini Club offers lots of fun with a variety of activities for ages 4-12, and there’s even a special water park for kids.

Teens also have their very own Teen Club with a variety of activities.

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But if it’s privacy you want, there’s plenty of uncrowned beach space, an adult’s only pool and romance galore. In fact, Barceló Resort is one of the most popular spots for a destination wedding, offering complete wedding planning services.

Culinary Delights

Having experienced a private tour of the kitchen with Executive Chef Julio Reyes, I can assure you that cleanliness and safety are top priorities at this resort. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner available in all the buffet restaurants, there are several international à la carte restaurants, where guests have the option of eating, depending on the length and level of stay.

Three of my favorite à la carte restaurants are the Mexico Lindo Restaurant at the Barceló Maya Colonial, the Rodizio (Brazilian) at the Barceló Maya Palace Deluxe, and Palace Brasserie (French) also at the Palace Deluxe.

PHOTOS: BARCELO MAYA BEACH RESORT / SANDRA CHAMBERS

swimsuit from the pocket of my suitcase. It’s only then that I notice the bottle of sparkling wine, the Barceló Tequila Anemone 100% Agave and the Petit Fours on my coffee table. Yum! But those can wait until later, as I slip into the pool and head to the swim-up bar for a refreshing tropical drink to begin my stay at Barceló Maya Beach Resort.

Travel

Brasserie, French Restaurant at Barcelo Maya Palace Deluxe

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort is a great wedding destination

Mexico Lindo offers an upscale twist on traditional Mexican fare. I began my evening with a refreshing Mango Margarita and then a local regional favorite, Sopa de Lima (Lime Soup) and the sample plate of appetizers, including Marinated Pork Tacos, Mexican Yam Lasagna with Lobster Relish and a trio of Ceviches: green, white and red. For my main course, I selected the Duet of Salmon and Sea Bass with wormseed and chili pasilla sauces. I tried to forget the bathroom scale, taunting me back in my room and splurged with the Mexican Crème Brûlèe!

Rodizio is a Brazilian steak restaurant offering outstanding steak and pasta. While I chose the tenderloin, others in the group went for the never-ending skewers with green chorizo, chicken thighs, turkey

breast, pork loin, veal picanha and rib eye. Again, I couldn’t help myself--I just had to have the Sicilian cannelloni stuffed with ricotta cheese.

The Palace Brasserie (French) offers romantic outdoor seating as an option. Their classic French onion soup is a must. The ravioli alle pistache and Burgundy escargot were two amazing appetizer offerings. My selection of surf’n’turf followed. Other favorites of our group were rack of lamb and duck salmistrado with red wine. Dessert time again!

Crêpes Suzettes were totally worth the extra pounds I’ll have to lose when I return home.

Unlimited Adventures

Whether it’s your first visit to the

Pool outside my suite at Barcelo Palace Deluxe

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Mexican Riviera or one of many, you’ll certainly want to experience some adventures beyond the resort.

Barceló Tours (located on the resort property) can help you plan a variety of outings. There are adventures that include swimming with dolphins, catamaran cruises, touring ancient Mayan ruins of Tulúm or Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of modern times.

And with 500 species of fish, 72 top dive spots and a 90-mile section of the 450-mile Great Mayan Reef, guests are assured of some spectacular snorkeling or diving.

Caribbean, its view is spectacular from Tulúm ruins! We then headed to Akumal Bay, where the second largest reef in the world is located.

Akumal, meaning ¨Place of the Turtles” in Mayan, is a great place for snorkeling, with a reef accessible from the beach providing up close encounters with tropical fish, turtles and stingrays. Having worked up quite an appetite, we were all ready for the next phase of our tour—a private beach club (reminiscent of something from Gilligan’s Island) where we had lunch.

Our group did the Tulúm-Akumal full-day tour, that included an amazing history lesson on this 13th century Mayan city from a knowledgeable tour guide. Located on tall cliffs overlooking the

Too soon the trip ended and I was headed back to Cancun to catch my flight home. As I reflect on the trip, I can say I’m sold on “all-inclusive,” especially if it’s as luxurious as Barceló Maya Beach Resort.

Doing The Grand Ca

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Travel

anyon In Grand Style

By Debi Lander

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isits to our nation’s treasures, the U.S. National Parks, connect people with nature and history.

Personally, they wake me up far better than a double espresso. They fill my soul with wonder and appreciation. A recent trip to the Grand Canyon became a glorious getaway and certainly ranked as one of my best. The view from the South Rim declares and defines nature’s power and beauty about as profoundly as possible.

Trust me, no one leaves disappointed.

Each guest room has an amazing view of the Sound from its room wide floorto-ceiling picture window.

The carving of the Grand Canyon by the Colorado River has taken place over the last six million years, exposing rocks at the bottom of the park that are close to two billion years old. The Canyon runs 277 river miles, and the distance across the rim spans ten to 18 miles. The great gorge, declared a National Park in 1919, rightfully attracts about 4.5 million visitors each year and even those on a limited budget can manage. But, if upscale travel is more your style, then follow me.

Grand Canyon Railroad

Imagine stepping back in time and arriving at the Grand Canyon the same way travelers did more than 100 years ago- on the iron horse.

Start by driving to Williams, Arizona, a frontier “Main Street” town along legendary Route 66.

Williams retains much original architecture and road-side appeal from the era when car travel was king and roadside cafes dotted the rural towns along the drive.

TOP Luxury Car Grand Canyon Railroad MIDDLE Wild West Show LEFT Music on Grand Canyon Railroad

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Check into the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, which offers packaged deals from Xanterra, the park’s concessioners, for lodging both in Williams and the national park, as well as transportation aboard the vintage railroad. Arrive in time to explore the town and perhaps dine at Spencer’s Pub in the hotel. When you retire, you will sleep on a wonderfully comfortable bed, a perk always appreciated by travelers. In the morning, simply leave your bags outside your door.

Luggage will be transferred to your room at the Grand Canyon.

Breakfast buffet waits at the Grand Depot Cafe with everything desirable, including eggs and pancakes made to order. Every day in Williams begins with a Wild West shootout. Of course, I expected a lot of cheesy humor from a

Travel scripted show, but the costumed actors were surprisingly good and the banter was honestly fun. The audience fell into the moment.

Afterward, follow the crowd to the diesel-powered train as the conductor barks out, “All-aboard!”

First-class tickets provide entry to the “luxury” cars with period furnishings, an attendant to serve food and drinks and no babies or small children. Guests must be 16 years and up for this class of service. Sip your second round of coffee or juice and munch on pastries, as you ride through pine forests and wide open prairies.

Travelers choose between six distinct classes of service, but the luxury dome car with full length dome windows is the way to go. During the two and half hour ride, musicians stroll between cars playing banjo and western tunes. You can also venture from car to car and stand on the rear platform to capture some round-thebend train pics.

Before this railroad opened for business in 1901, visitors rode a four-horse-team stagecoach. Tickets cost $20 for that arduous bumpy ride, compared to $3.95 for the new-fangled choo-choo. No wonder steam powered trains became the desired choice of public transport.

However, as automobiles grew in popularity, rail travel slowly dwindled. In 1968, the tracks went quiet and lay dormant for twenty more years. Then, in 1989, the line was renovated, providing children and adults an opportunity to savor a most romantic mode of travel.

El Tovar Lodge

The Bright Angel History Room in the Bright Angel Lodge displays the uniforms of the Harvey Girls, the famed hostesses of the Fred Harvey Company that managed so many of the train restaurants and hotels. You can also learn about Mary Colter, the famed architect, and see her famed geologic fireplace.

The sojourn ends in front of the log-framed Grand Canyon Depot.

In 1905, the Santa Fe Railway built the El Tovar Hotel just up the hill and turned management over to the Fred Harvey Company. El Tovar reigned as one of the most luxurious hotels of its day, featuring hot and cold running water, electric lights, art galleries and plush dining rooms.

The original dark timbered structure still beckons. Enter the dim lobby festooned with moose, deer and buffalo heads, plus large paintings of the Canyon, and feel the past.

If you are lucky enough to be staying there or next door at the Thunderbird or Kachina Lodges, you will pick up your key.

Don’t miss the Kolb Brothers Studio, now on the National Register of Historic Places. The Kolb brothers were early canyon photographers who produced a movie of a boat trip they made down the Colorado River in 1911-12. They ran the film daily for 75 years. You can watch their adventurous exploit with dramatic and sometimes humorous footage.

The brothers also took photos of the mule riders, as they descended in the Canyon. These clever men were quick to develop and sell them to visitors on their way back out.

I stayed in the Kachina Lodge, built with a plain modern exterior, but the rooms inside are totally up to date and the view can’t be topped.

Be sure to reserve a room on the Canyon-side so you can look out from dawn till dusk. Being in the Village means you can walk to El Tovar for classic dining or to the excellent Arizona Room at the Bright Angel Lodge. You might try the Canyon Coffee House the next morning, but again I suggest El Tovar. Best southwestern breakfast I have ever been served.

Mary Colter designed the 70-foot tall Watchtower at Desert View, which you can climb for even more astounding vistas. The interior depicts historic Puebloan symbols and legends with petroglyphs, pictographs, and artifacts. Nearby Lipan Point also offers from spacious views into the abyss.

South Rim Shopping

Things to do

The Hopi House sells Native American handicrafts making it the choice for authentic gifts or souvenirs. Mary Colter also designed the building along with Lookout Studio. Walk there to enjoy views from multi-level porches and see their selection of geological gifts. All the lodges sell typical gift shop items.

Allow plenty of time to stroll along the the walkways on the rim, shoot photos and selfies and marvel at the panorama. One can never get enough of this spectacle. The striated colors gleam in daylight. They change by the hour and position of the sun and clouds.

Lookout Point

TOP El Tovar Lobby ABOVE MIDDLE Afternoon View from Kachina Lodge Room

Shuttle Buses

Free shuttle buses take tourists to the main Visitor Center, where they can watch the National Geographic IMAX movie on the Canyon’s history.

Other shuttles run to vantage points like Hermit’s Rest and Yaki Point.

Tour buses for ticketed guests take them on short outings or day trips within the park.

Hiking

Hiking in the Canyon is the opposite of most treks - you descend first and must remember that the climb back becomes more difficult. South Rim elevation is 7,000 feet and the average depth of the Canyon is one mile. You can’t appreciate the Canyon’s size until you descend into it.

Hiking rim to rim has been the classic claim to fame but requires physical fitness and advance preparation. For those not up

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Mule Rim Ride Views

for that strenuous an outing, but one that is still challenging, try the South Kaibab Trail. The rugged route begins with a series of switchbacks and immerses you within the canyon almost immediately. Even if you just go as far as appropriately named Ooh-Aah Point, you will have a

Ooh Aah Point

or be dropped off in the lot past mile marker 244. A very gentle one mile hike gets you to the lookout point.

Carefully walk a bit further out on the rocky ledges and you’ll be blessed with a dramatic, near 380 degree panorama. It’s an absolutely glorious spot that gives a natural

thrilling memory. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and have mules saunter by, adding the nostalgia of the old West.

Another easy access point, but one that is rather unknown and unmarked, is fabulously wind-carved Shoshone Point. You will need to park

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high. Inquire with a Ranger to get directions.

Mule Rides

While any view or angle around the chasm is mesmerizing, one from the back of a mule becomes a special treat. Mules maintain a long tradition

Travel for providing the most reliable transport on the trails. They are three times as strong as a horse and more sure-footed. Their eyes are also located on the outside of their heads, a characteristic that allows them to see all four of their feet, something that comes in handy on narrow trails with little margin for error.

Odds of nabbing a reservation for the famous mule ride down and back with an overnight stay at Phantom Lodge are slim. Make those plans about a year in advance. But, never fear, Xanterra offers a new, shorter and less difficult tour that leaves twice daily: Vista Rim Ride.

Riders start at the historic main barn in Grand Canyon Village and are driven via tour bus to Yaki Barn.

Here they saddle up for a four-mile ride that meanders along the spectacularly scenic East Rim Trail.

I had the opportunity to join this memorable escapade and highly recommend it. Let me assure you that I am not an experienced horseback rider, honestly a total amateur. The mules, however, are real pros. They have been very well trained and will follow the mostly flat trail with certainty. The only requirements are that riders weigh less than 225 pounds, cannot be pregnant, stand at least 4 feet, 7 inches tall, speak and understand fluent English, and not be afraid of heights or large animals.

An experienced wrangler or guide leads the tour and stops the group several times to provide interpretive information about geologic formations, human history, fire ecology, the Colorado River, the area’s native peoples, and the surrounding forest. During these stops, you can take out your camera

and shoot some keepsake photos.

The mule tour covers trails within the Canyon that lie off the wellbeaten main path. It seemed like my group of ten riders had the place to ourselves, a rare treat. I have to say this ride was a true highlight of my stay in the Canyon.

Helicopter and Air Tours

Aerial tours of the Grand Canyon by small plane or helicopter are offered daily by air tour companies out of the Grand Canyon Airport in Tusayan. See The Guide, the newspaper of Grand Canyon National Park, for more information.

River Rafting

Nothing beats a float down the Colorado River but whitewater trips through the Canyon start from Lees Ferry and involve 3-18 days and plenty of advance preparation.

ALL PHOTOS: DEBI LANDER

Mules ready for a ride

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Train Robbery on the Return Trip

Those who left their car in Williams and rode the Grand Canyon Railroad will be delighted with their return trip. They will be served a complimentary glass of champagne before an infamous band on horseback temporarily hold up the train. The robbery is all in good fun and the kids love it.

Finish your trip with a second night at the Grand Canyon Railroad Hotel or head on with majestic memories of a truly grand visit.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Tom Mesereau of Mesereau Public Relations and Bruce Brossman from Xanterra Parks & Resorts for hosting me during a press trip.Thanks also to all the wonderful Rangers and folks who live and work at the Canyon.

d i s c o v e r c h a r l e v o i x ’s h i d d e n g e m

reservations 1 800 441 1414 fairmont.com/richelieu

The castle on the cliff.

Guardian of the mighty St. Lawrence River.

Perched majestically between the ever-changing St. Lawrence River and the rolling terrain of Quebec’s unrivalled Charlevoix region, the Manoir has its special place in history.

And in memory. Tales of elegant hospitality, spectacular golf, exquisite cuisine, non-stop activities all year round ... or total relaxation. Come experience it for yourself!

FA I R M O N T L E M A N O I R R I C H E L I E U

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CASINO

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d i s c o v e r c h a r l e v o i x ’s h i d d e n g e m

reservations 1 800 441 1414 fairmont.com/richelieu

Why settle for ordinary when you can experience the extraordinary.

Savour the rich flavours of Québec’s unrivalled Charlevoix region in an idyllic setting.

Whether it’s Sunday Brunch at Le Saint-Laurent Restaurant or award-winning gastronomy at Le Charelvoix — our beautiful dining rooms overlooking the St. Lawrence River — the innovative menus showcase the best local products. Extraordinarily delicious in every way!

FA I R M O N T L E M A N O I R R I C H E L I E U

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TIMELESS WAIKIKI Situated on a spectacular stretch of legendary Waikiki Beach, “The First Lady of Waikiki” has welcomed visitors to a place of refined elegance and Hawaiian hospitality since 1901. Combining contemporary style with traditions of a bygone era, this iconic ocean front resort provides a timeless setting of genuine Aloha and personalized services. Its beautifully appointed guestrooms, award-winning restaurant, landmark bar, signature Afternoon Tea and rejuvenating spa ensure a rich and memorable experience.

With the Timeless Waikiki package, receive every 4th night free, daily breakfast for two, room upgrade and $100 dining credit.

FOR RESERVATIONS, VISIT timelesswaikiki.com or CALL 866.716.8112 and mention timeless

* Offer subject to availability and blackout dates. Other restrictions may apply and are subject to change without notice. For full terms and conditions, visit timelesswaikiki.com. ©2014 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. SPG, Preferred Guest, Westin and their logos are the trademarks of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, or its affiliates.

There’s that certain time of day. . .

REGIONAL + SEASONAL + ARTISANAL Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the beautiful kohala coast Reservations 808 325 8333

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Reasons Why My New Found Travel Love is Newfoundland, Canada

by Janice Nieder

Part 1 St. John’s

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hen people find out I’m a travel writer, they invariably ask me what my favorite place is. I usually answer, “That depends on what I’m in the mood for.

My favorite exotic place would be Papua New Guinea. Favorite country might be Turkey. Favorite city is Buenos Aires. But the minute I returned from my last trip, Kauai, which had been holding firm as my favorite island for ages, got kicked to the curb by my new found love: Newfoundland.

Before my trip

My interest was first piqued after I canvassed numerous friends and travel writers and found that none of them had been to (or barely heard of) Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province. Then I really got excited when I typed “Newfoundland” into the search box of Afar, one of my favorite travel magazines (right after Luxe Beat Magazine) and found zilch. Not one single, solitary mention! Wow, talk about flying-under-the-radar. Then I wondered if it was because there really isn’t that much to see or do?

Would there be enough to keep me busy for a week?

After my trip

Quick answer: you could easily plan a month for a visit to this breathtakingly gorgeous (we’re talking Angelina Jolie pretty), marvelously quirky province. The day I returned from my “Cliff Notes” overview trip, I wrote to book a return visit to better explore this vast wilderness perched on the eastern most tip of North America.

Quicky background info

The province is actually named Newfoundland and Labrador incorporating the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, but most locals refer to them separately.

Even quicker history lesson: In 1949, Newfoundland (originally England’s oldest overseas colony, said to be discovered by explorer, John Cabot, in 1497) joined Canada as its youngest province. Previously known as the “Grand Cod Fishery of the Universe” it fell upon hard times when the cod fishing ended. Due to a booming oil and gas industry it is now coming back with a vengeance.

Since I only had one week to visit, I was wisely advised to split my time between “ in town” at the historic capital city of St. John’s and “out of town” where I explored the spectacular coastal towns dotted along the Avalon Peninsula.

Here are my top finds in St. John’s Where to Sleep?

1. Leaside Manor- Even though you’re at the edge of the world, there is no need to rough it. Pamper yourself with a stay at Leaside Manor, an impeccably maintained 1920’s merchants home transformed into a charmingly eclectic B & B, located about a 20 minute stroll from downtown. If it’s full, the Compton House, their lovely sister property, is next door, tucked away in an English garden. Both share the sweetest, most helpful staff imaginable.

Pssst: They are happy to bring you breakfast in bed or if you’re feeling truly decadent, you can light a fire and enjoy your meal while luxuriating in your doublesize Jaccuzi.

Where to Eat?

St. John’s restaurant scene offers a full range of culinary adventuresfrom casual pubs serving traditional favorites to fine dining establishments that proudly feature locally sourced ingredients (imagine an endless array of fresh seafood including cod, lobster and snow crab, wild game, organic root vegetables and native berries such as bakeapple, partridge and marsh berries) creatively presented by passionate chefs who take great pride in their authentic cuisine. Some homey favorites to sample are moose pie, fishcakes, cod tongues, bakeapple cheesecake, toutons (fried bread) with molasses, and a classic Jiggs dinner that consists of salt beef, turnip, cabbage, potato, carrot, and peas pudding.

Standout meals include: 2. The quaint, yet oh-so-cool, 18th century Mallard Cottage (one of the oldest wooden buildings in North America) was purchased in 2011 by culinary trio, Chef Todd Perrin (a fan-favorite, Top Chef Canada competitor) his wife Kim Doyle and Sommelier Stephen Lee. The team was recently awarded the Southcott Award for excellence in their painstaking preservation of this marvelous cottage. They bring the same level of superior quality to their food, with a daily changing menu featuring Perrin’s spin on Newfoundland classics using freshly

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foraged, nose-to-testicle food from the area’s finest purveyors (seriously, there was a thinly sliced pork testicle in my beautifully presented offal appetizer). Nabbing a stool in front of the action-packed open kitchen is like getting a free cooking class.

Pssst: Afterwards, cross the street to the Inn of Olde (aka Linda’s) one of St. John’s most unique pubs.

Linda could have a starring role on “The Hoarders” since every inch of the place is jammed-packed with her collection of spoons, army helmets, photos, biz cards and other fun memorabilia. No false advertising here- the owner, Linda will leave you spellbound with her fascinating stories.

3. Bacalao-once you get settled in this intimate bungalow which is a covey of comfy, rambling dining rooms, order the “Iceberg Growler” which pairs perfectly with menu perusing. The hardworking owner, Andrea Maunder, is happy to share the recipe, because this is one cocktail you won’t be able to duplicate at home--It’s made with iceberg gin and served over 10,000+ year old iceberg ice cubes!

Maunder chose the name Bacalao, which means salt cod, for Newfoundlands time-honored main ingredient. She realized there was a niche in the local food scene so she and her hubbie chef-partner, were one of the first to cast a modern, innovative spin on old classics showcasing the area’s finest sustainable ingredients. Bacalao’s “soon-to-be-famous Seafood Chowder”, a cornucopia of NL

seafood: cod, salmon, bay scallops, shrimp and snow crab in a refreshingly light cream broth, Jigg’s Dinner Cabbage Roll, a sophisticated re-do of an old standard (salt beef, turnip, potato, and carrot rolled into a cabbage leaf) cleverly served with a pot liquor “shooter” & homemade mustard pickles, and Tongues and Cake, Bacalao’s ode to the cod, a duo of lightly crisped cod tongues (similar to tender calamari) with a pan-fried salt cod cake are all delicious examples of their homegrown, nouvelle cuisine.

Pssst: Maunder’s inspired desserts are top-notch, so it’s best order a few for sharesies. Be sure to include the spicy Honey Brown Ginger Cake made with local artisanal Quidi Vidi Honey Brown beer.

4. Chinched Bistro is the perfect name for this cozy restaurant since “chinched” means stuffed to the max, which I certainly was after enthusiastically chowing down on the contemporary cuisine. The tag-line here is “Come for the food and stay for the... food” which certainly worked for me! Yet another talented culinary husband and wife team, Chef Shaun Hussey and Michelle LeBlanc, are racking up a loyal fan base for their imaginative, international cuisine based on traditional methods and local products. Exciting palate-pleasing entrees include spicy Korean Fried Octopus, Cod Tongue Tacos and Chicken & Waffles. The mussels were plump and juicy with a delectable Asian inspired miso broth, perfect for bread dunking.

Pssst: One must-order is the house made Charcuterie Plate.

Chef Shaun deserves a serious shout-out for the many months he spends handcrafting a variety of sausages, paté’s, and terrines.

My still-life beauty included a chunky duck terrine, headcheese, cured seal, pickled eggplant, figs, semi-sweet IPA beer nuts etc. served with a bowl of assorted homemade crackers.

What to Do

5. Although downtown is quite compact I highly recommend that you kick- start your visit with an escorted van tour by McCarthy’s Party. Not only will you get your bearings but you’ll also have threehours of Newfoundland 101- which brings to life the colorful history (starting with pirates all the way to how NFL became Canada’s youngest province), culture and current events

that make this area so unique. Our informative leader, John Calver, also works in radio (great voice) patiently answered my many questions and if it weren’t for his sharp eyes, we would have missed the spouting humpback whales. We started at Cape Spear, the most Easterly point in North America. Then off to a 360 degree killer view from the vantage point of Signal Hill while John regaled us with historic tales of North America’s oldest colony.

Other stops included Quidi Vidi Village, Government House, the Roman Catholic Cathedral and an orientation of the shops and restaurants of downtown St. John.

Pssst: If you’re looking for a good meal or where to hear the best music, John has some great suggestions.

6. Quidi Vidi Village is a picturesque, old-timey, fishing village located on the outskirts of town. Plan on a good five minutes to walk from one end of this iconic village to the other. A photographer’s dream spot, Quidi Vidi (there are many pronunciations but the easiest one is “Kiddy Viddy”) was used after World War II for the construction of a United States’ Air Force Base.

It now boasts a population of 599.

Check out the new Quidi Vidi Plantation, a craft incubation facility and home to a talented bunch of emerging artists. Visit, shop and connect with local artisans in their private studio space. I was particularly impressed by textile

artist, Megan Jackman, who handprints, sews and cobbles together leather and metal pieces for the one-of-a-kind handbags.

America. The first record of the event was in 1816, but rowing matches between ships crews have been held here since the 1700’s.

When you’re done shopping, cross the street for a tasting tour (check the times first) at Quidi Vidi Brewery, Newfoundlanders beloved microbrewery. You’ll be able to sample a slew of lip-smacking, award-winning brews, such as Eric’s Red Cream Ale, named after Leif Ericson for his journey to North America 1000 years ago. But for sheer bragging rights, the winner has to be their pure Iceberg Beer made from 12,000-year-old iceberg water.

7. The Rooms - this huge, multifaceted cultural space has it all going on: museum exhibits, art galleries highlighting local artists, archives, performance theatre, a restaurant and sweeping views of historic St. John’s Harbour. While many locals delight in the ubermodern architecture, a distinguished blend of glass and steel designed to represent historic “fishing rooms” where Newfoundland families processed their catch, it also has it share of naysayers who say, “The Rooms looks like the box that the Basilica came in.”

Pssst: If you are here the first Wednesday in August (weather permitting) Q.V. holds the Royal St. John’s Regatta, the oldest continuing sporting event in North

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Pssst: Make reservations at the popular Rooms Café before taking in the art exhibits. Specializing in

Newfoundland comfort food, this is a good spot to try Cod Tongues with scrunchions (fried pork bits) with a side order of the best view of the city.

8. For something slightly less cerebral and the ultimate in barhopping, head to George Street.

AKA “the biggest little street in the world” George Street claims to have more bars per square foot than any street in North America. Every night is party night here so pick a club, any club, to try. It’s the pub version of channel surfing--if you don’t like the scene, flip over to the next one.

Some suggestions to get you started are: Lotties Place, kind of a dive but known for their cheap White Russians, drinks on the patio at Green Sleeves, or O’Reilly’s Irish Newfoundland Pub which has some of the best live music.

Pssst: If you want to get “screeched-in” the best place is said to be at Christian’s Bar. The ceremony involves a shot of screech (cheap rum), a sentimental speech about what it means to be a Newfoundlander and the kissing of a cod.

9. There’s a good reason why Iceberg Quest Ocean Tours has been firmly entrenched in the #1 spot for Tripadvisor’s activities in St John... because it’s so freakin’ amazing!

Iceberg Quest is owned and operated

by Captain Barry Rogers and his wildly enthusiastic wife, Carol Anne Hayes. She capably handles all the business transactions and everything else “on land” while Barry is

responsible for everything “on sea”, a job he was seemingly born to having come from a long line of Newfoundland fishermen. The mission of this dynamic duo is to do everything in their power to ensure the most memorable experience imaginable.

After a run of chilly grey days, the sun shone brightly as I eagerly boarded the M.V. Cetacean Quest.

I had seen a few icebergs the day before, at Cape Spear, but they looked like little white cotton balls from that far away. I was invited to join Capt. Barry in the wheelhouse where I peppered him with iceberg questions while he steered the ship through “The Narrows”, past Cabot Tower, en route to Cape Spear.

My anticipation grew ten-fold when Captain Barry told me, “We’re having the most phenomenal iceberg season.

There has to be hundreds of icebergs around the island. This is the best season I’ve ever experienced.”

I was completely blown away when I saw my first majestic frozen beauty sparkling white with neon bright turquoise highlights.

I asked him if he thought it was as big as our ship? He stifled a smile and politely informed me, “It’s actually much bigger. Only about 10 per cent of an iceberg is visible while the rest is hiding below the surface of the ocean. “ Ah ha, so that’s where the expression “tip of the iceberg” expression comes from.

Rogers told me, “These icebergs have broken off of 12,000 year old glaciers that cover much of Greenland. It might take them up to three years to float down here.”

We were lucky because that was just the first of many bergs we saw that afternoon. Each one had a different shape, coloration and personality. I thought they’d make a wonderful cast for the next animated Disney film.

Pssst: For more iceberg fun facts, check out the Iceberg Finder map at icebergfinder.com for updates on the latest sightings. * For more great itinerary ideas check out: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

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Venetian Gondola Ride in Channel Islands Marina gondola is built with one side slightly longer than the other to offset one-sided rowing. Turning into a wind required getting up enough speed to complete the turn and allow for the natural set downwind.

from Fresco II on the wharf. Lunch while on a row around the canal to tour the rich abodes, and possibly famous ones of the area.

My gondolier was Mark Schooling, owner of Gondola Paradiso, and nearly a twenty-year veteran of the trade. He pushed away from the dock and commenced the rhythmic shuttle motion with his single oar. There is more to this than meets the eye. A

The gondolier, Mark, stood in the rear, or stern, of the boat and used the single oar on the right side. He never changed to the left side. A common joke in the trade is about having to

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tailor clothing for an overdeveloped right side. At the prow was a metal ornamentation to offset the weight at the stern of our gondolier. Make a mistake with the boat and this metal prow will puncture most fiberglass hulls around the marina.

Banter with my gondolier uncovered how one gets into the trade. Mark started out in Balboa, a waterway of Newport Harbor, California. He was a

PHOTOS BY ALLAN KISSAM

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e arrived at the public dock of Channel Islands Harbor Marina in Oxnard, California, and I stepped aboard my personal yacht. It was mine for about ninety minutes - a flat-bottomed, black Venetian rowing boat look-alike, complete with gondolier who wore a traditional blue-striped shirt. Shortly, a bottle of locally produced Ventura red wine appeared, and a box of pizza

By Allan Kissam

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college student, looking for work on a job board; young and strong. This is a fee-and-tips business where only the strong survive, literally. After several weeks of just rowing around the harbor to practice in a borrowed boat, a candidate must demonstrate the strength and ability to conduct hours-long tours for tourists before allowed a hire for fare. Many prospective gondoliers fail for lack of stamina or drudgery of the qualification process. When adjudged qualified, the newly minted gondolier begins a trade going back to 17th century Venice. Even today in Venice, a person must pass an apprenticeship with comprehensive practical exam.

Gondola in Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard, Ca., tours the homes and boats on the canals.

Our gondola, Teresa, was custom built in the USA in the 1980s before being acquired and reconditioned by our gondolier. Construction of a new and larger boat is underway in Seattle at a boatbuilding school. The new boat will seat six people and is 30 feet in length. It is a Batela, a coa de gambaro, one of only a handful not built in Venice, that will enter service this August.

Once well into my wine, I pounded out oar cadence like a Roman galley drummer in Ben-Hur. Changing the tempo from battle speed to attack speed, and announcing this to Mark, the friendly banter ceased but the boat speed never changed.

Clearly, I was not Quintus Arrius, the Roman fleet admiral, and in command of the boat.

In spite of my attempts to redirect the planned voyage, our gondolier gave a pleasant rendition of several

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Visit Hilton Hawaiian Village® Waikiki Beach Resort and discover

the top 10 things to do at Waikiki’s favorite oceanfront playground. www.HiltonHawaiianVillage.com 1-800-HILTONS • 808-949-4321

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1 Waikiki Starlight Luau®: Waikiki’s only luau extravaganza under the stars, featuring four fire knife dancers.

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Hilton is the proud partner of the series, Hawaii 5-0.

Dine at Tropics Bar & Grill and enjoy Hilton’s official Hawaii Five-0 cocktail.

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Hawaiian Cultural Activities.

Demonstrations of Hawaiian arts, crafts and culture, exclusive to Hilton Hawaiian Village, including hula and Tahitian lessons, ukulele, lei-making and more.

Friday Night Fireworks.

Enjoy the energy of the “Rockin’ Hawaiian Rainbow Revue” at 7:00pm pool side, or sit under the stars and enjoy the dramatic fireworks spectacular every Friday night at around 7:45pm.

The best pools and water slides in Waikiki.

Five unique resort pools in all.

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Our beautiful green lawns are the perfect place to start your mornings in Waikiki with daily morning exercise classes: Yoga, Aerobics or Tai Chi.

Explore the Waikiki coast on Hilton’s 54´ catamaran, “Spirit of Aloha,” from the Hilton dock in front of the resort. Enjoy snorkeling, sunset cocktails or Friday night fireworks & dinner.

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Learn how to surf or stand-up paddle surf with the experts where surfing was born. Lessons and rentals available at Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon.

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The award-winning kid’s program, “Camp Penguin®” teaches kids about Hawaii and immerses them in the history and culture of the islands through fun outings and educational activities.

For ages 5-12.

Spend a day on the widest stretch of sand on Waikiki at Duke Kahanamoku Beach.

It was named “The #2 Beach in America,”

by Dr. Stephen Leatherman on his annual list.

Travel Mandalay Bay Beach Resort, Oxnard, CA, is on the beach with fun walks or bicycling

BELOW Order a lunch and wine for the Gondola ride at Channel Island Harbor

BELOW La Dolce Vita Restaurant is affordable, white table cloth service at Heritage Square, Oxnard.

songs and sung in key. Although the songs were not barcaroles, written based on rhythmic strokes of the oar, this was California and contemporary music probably worked best. He said there are songs people request that are standards, and he has seen more than one marriage proposal while singing. Being the nugator that I am, I had to ask if he ever witnessed a refusal and he said no, it is usually obvious ahead of time.

Ninety minutes in the boat with a bottle of good wine was enough for anyone’s bladder, and so the

affordable, and excellent. Featured are Ventura area wines that complement menu items. They also do cooking classes for children.

adventure ended right on time at the originating dock. We then strolled the beach at our hotel, Mandalay Bay Beach Resort, and watched people fly fighting-kites at the nearby park.

This hotel included breakfast with a custom omelette chef on duty, and affordable California surf cuisine.

I enjoyed the Coastal Grill there and its serving of local craft beers.

Keeping busy on this trip was easy, with whale watching cruises and island nature tours by Island Packers from the harbor and paddleboard lessons inside the marina at Channel Islands Kayak Center. The kayak business is owned and operated by famous surfer Mike Lamm (three-time US National Surfing Champion). Get a “cave map” from the Kayak Center and take your kayak to the islands aboard

One of the evenings dining out was at Heritage Square, where a collection of Victorian homes makes for a pleasant shopping walk. Superior dining at La Dolce Vita is white table cloth service,

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an Island Packers boat, an unparalleled adventure vacation activity.

This was a pleasant place, easy to walk about, with a maritime museum display of original scrimshaw by mariners from the 1800s. Outside dining and beers on the marina wharf make a few hours here enjoyable.

The less adventurous, or those tired from adventuring, may find me at the Mandalay Bay pool with a tropical drink in hand, or on the sand touching the Pacific ocean.

New York vs Milan A Graphical Comparison Of Two Fashion Capitals London, Paris, New York and Milan are widely regarded as the “big four” fashion capitals in the world.

These rival city break destinations all share something in common they are cosmopolitan, culture rich, diverse and attract millions of visitors a year.

When it comes to the fashion industry, competition is immensely fierce. Compiled by the influential Global Language Monitor, Milan was ranked number one fashion capital back in 2009. Since then, the rivalry became even more intense, with London crowned the top spot twice and New York the latest fashion capital taking the top title in 2013. This year also sees the emergence of up and coming cities such as Antwerp, Los Angeles and Shanghai, outranking one time “big four” Milan.

INFOGRAPHIC BY WWW.ALPHAHOLIDAYLETTINGS.COM

To coincide with Milan Fashion Week, we have compiled a fascinating infographic comparing two of the fashion capitals - New York and Milan. Find out how these two stylish cities are different in many ways.

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Travel

London vs Paris

How do these Two Mega City Break Destinations compare?

London and Paris are two of the most visited holiday destinations in the world. Although they are only a short distance apart approximately 1 hour by flight the two capital cities offer rather different travel experiences. We have put together a fun infographic to illustrate how different (or similar in some ways) these two cities really are. You will also find some more interesting statistics we did not manage to fit on the infographic at the bottom of the page.

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f you haven’t been to Atlanta in the last few years, you need to plan a trip there asap to see firsthand why Atlanta is now being referred to as the “Empire of the South”, “Hotlanta” or simply “The A” by the locals. But if this is in reference to a grading system, I’d give it an A+.

Atlanta has always scored high as one of the South’s most stylish cities; however, this year, Atlanta has really hit its stride. You’ll need more than a weekend to explore the new museum openings, walk the Atlanta Beltline, max out your cards shopping at the ultra-luxe retailers and come hungry because the local farm-fresh food scene is exploding.

Palate Pleasers

For some scrumptious locally inspired cuisine, head midtown to Livingston Restaurant + Bar, in the historic Georgian Terrace Hotel. Here, the premiere party for Gone with the Wind was held, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about the food here since Chef Michael Semancik took over the kitchen.

Standouts on the contemporary menu include the addictive Cauliflower Popcorn and Asparagus Frites, Free-range Chicken Liver “Gyoza”, followed by Sorghum & Sea Salt Brick Chicken or the Seared Scallops served in a flavorful tasso and corn chowder.

Pssst: Livingston’s is located across the street from the exotic, Egyptian-inspired Fox Theater, built in 1928 for Atlanta’s Shriner’s organization before it was turned into a theater. For the perfect evening, start with dinner at Livingston’s, then take in a show at the Fox (the national tour of Evita was there last week) followed by a return visit to Livingston’s for dessert, perhaps their Carrot Cake “Twinkies” with cream cheese filling and ginger glaze.

Center for Civil and Human Rights is a must see

Westside Provisions District, formerly known as the meatpacking district, is THE place to go for really good stuff for food lovers in Atlanta and the reason I know this is because: A. On either side of the footbridge connecting the two main buildings are signs pointing this way to “really good stuff” and B. When I visited I was blown away by the high caliber of food available in the market, the award- winning restaurants, and the specialty food stores. Truth be told, I’d change the signs to “really great stuff”. There are also some stellar clothing boutiques such as Billy Reid, Calypso St. Barth and Sid Mashburn, a modern haberdashery.

Culinary finds here include Bacchanalia, voted Atlanta’s best by Zagat every year since 1996, Abattoir, an American chophouse, and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams (Jeni’s ice creams are made from the ground up with milk from grass-grazed cows and whole ingredients that they blend, bake, peel, chop, skin, pulverize, and blowtorch) which totally blew my taste buds away! In Star Provisions, a hybrid café/bakery/market with an Anthropology vibe, you can enjoy a delish lunch on the deck (I highly recommend the Fried Chicken Salad Fabulous Fox Theater ABOVE Mandarin Oriental’s Gorgeous English Garden

with Buttermilk Dressing or the plump Shrimp Po’ Boy sammie) and then it’s one stop shopping for a farm-to-your-table dinner.

Pssst: Newbie Preserving Place is tucked away in the corner of the bottom floor, but it is well worth the treasure hunt. Once you locate

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this gem, you’ll find DIY canning supplies, a seasonal selection of house-made preserved products such as ATL-1 Steak Sauce, Hot Peach & Ginger Jam, and Watermelon Rind Pickles. With fond memories of growing up on a farm that produced cotton and peaches, owner Martha McMillin

Travel

Revitalized Atlanta: All That With A Capital A

By Janice Nieder

(a lawyer by trade) is excited to share her knowledge of preserving foods and canning by offering a variety of cooking and canning classes.

Best Calorie Burner

Ditch your car and lace up your sneakers for a walk along the Atlanta BeltLine, one of the

nation’s largest urban redevelopment programs. When finished, the BeltLine will transform 22+ miles of historic rail segments into a network of public parks and multi-use trails that will encircle the entire city.

Locals LOVE it and say nothing has changed the face of the city like the

dynamic BeltLine. So far, about 6 miles of it has been completed and it’s always bustling with joggers, cyclists, and strollers.

One fun addition is the “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine”, the city’s largest temporary public art exhibition, that features work of hundreds of visual artists and street performers.

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Pssst: Stop for a tasty bite along the BeltLine at Parish Foods & Goods, a hip resto and market located in an abandoned pipe factory, filled with restored crown molding, antique Parisian sconces, and red Murano chandeliers. If you’re there on the weekend, step up to the “Build Your Own Bloody Mary & Margarita Bar.”

My home away from home, with yummy allday snacks

Daily delights include breakfast, light snacks, hors d’ oeuvres, beverages (including wine, champagne, and cocktails) and sweets.

Best Sleeps

The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead What’s not to love about sleeping in a cushy feather bed, covered with luxurious Frette linens, using Asprey’s bath products (The British Standard since 1781) in an oversized soaking tub or separate rain-shower; delicately pigging-out at their famous 100+ item Sunday Brunchcomplete with a Bubble Bar for a Kir, Bellini or glass of Champagne;

gossiping over afternoon tea by the elegant fireplace; or ordering lunch delivered to you at the sundeck adjacent to the 60-foot indoor pool?

If you’re really whipped after a day of retail therapy, you have a choice between an energizing work-out at the state-of-the-art gym, or you can retreat to the Spa floor for a signature treatment such as their Southern comfort facial followed by a Sweet magnolia pedicure. For one of the world’s best sleeps, book a Spa Level guestroom where thoughtful amenities include a Tempur-Pedic bed, Yoga mat, yoga blocks and DVDs, plush spa robes and a soothing Brookstone 16-sound machine.

Pssst: Trust me, it is so worth a little splurge to upgrade to the Club Level. When they say they offer “Continuous Culinary Offerings,” they aren’t kidding.

Buckhead’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel combines Southern graciousness with a sophisticated Zen aura, with subtle touches of glamour such as dramatic floral arrangements. The renowned Mandarin Oriental service begins when you are greeted at the front desk with a refreshing scented moist towel and chilled bottle of water and it never stops. I brought my pile of notes to the concierge who magically organized it into a superb two-day itinerary. The only thing better than the soothingly decorated, contemporary bedroom (goose down bedding and luxurious linens by Rivolta) with a trickedout entertainment system was the humongous white marble bathroom- with a walk-in shower, twin vanity units and a deep soaking tub, and bathroom amenities

by Shanghai Tang.

The incredible spa transcends tranquility, with facilities spreading over two full floors of wonderfulness. There are 13 treatment rooms, fully equipped fitness center and aerobic rooms, steam, sauna and vitality pool as well as Yoga, Pilates, tai chi and meditation classes. Sunlight streams

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in though French windows surrounding a climate-controlled 60-foot indoor lap pool. It’s going to be tough trying to choose between a Southern-inspired Peaches and Cream treatment and the Oriental Essence massage featuring their signature Quintessence oil, so don’t stress, book one each day.

The acclaimed Cafe and Bar features modern American cuisine with a twist on traditional dishes, such as a Cold Georgia Green Pea Soup with mint, buttermilk & smoked bacon chip.

Pssst: For a relaxing view, book a room that overlooks the hotel’s private English gardens. Another welcome amenity is the complimentary private car service that operates within a two- mile radius, so no need to fight over who has to be the designated driver.

Choose Your Dream Car

The High Museum of Art is always a popular attraction, particularly since the Renzo Piano expansion in 2005, but I bet it has broken all male attendance records with its current summer show, “Dream Cars: Innovative Design, Visionary Ideas” which showcases 17 groundbreaking concept cars from the 1930s to the present by BMW, Porsche, Bugatti and others.

Travel Pssst: Every third Friday is Friday Night Music Remix where you can enjoy live music as well as halfprice admission.

A Touch of Eden

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens are well worth a visit if you’re craving an escape from the urban frenzy. As you ramble through the 30 acres of greenery you’ll discover over a dozen different gardens, ranging from the Japanese Garden to the popular Edible Garden, where they hold the Well-Seasoned Chef Cooking Series.

But the real wow-factor is the fantastical “Imaginary Worlds”, an over-sized menagerie of 28 topiarylike sculptures, including a 25-feettall Earth Goddess.

Pssst: The best time to explore Imaginary Worlds is at the Thursday night cocktail party, 6-10 p.m. when the sculptures shimmer under the night sky and you can imbibe in specialty cocktails such as the Earth Goddess, I’ll Have What She’s Having.

Celebrate Gone with the Wind Anniversary

Fiddle-dee-dee, it’s hard to believe that this year marks the 75th anniversary of “Gone With The Wind”. The Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, where the author lived and wrote her Pulitzer-Prize winning novel.

Gone With the Wind, is celebrating the occasion with a special exhibit, “Stars Fall On Atlanta: The Premiere of “Gone With The Wind”.

Pssst: For significant savings on visiting the M.M. house, and a handful of other popular attractions, check into buying an Atlanta CityPass. You can purchase it here and use it for the High museum, the Atlanta Zoo, World of Coca-Cola, etc.

The excitement keeps building as Atlantians eagerly await the opening of these next two hot spots:

Upscale shopaholics are marking off Dream Car exhibit is great for picking up men!

RIGHT I’d fly back just to take a class at Preserving Place

Earth Goddess at the Botanical Garden RIGHT Star Provisions has it all

the days until the grand opening of the $1 billion Buckhead Atlanta shopping development, the kingdom of haute! Six seductive blocks of luxury dining, entertainment, shopping, upscale office and residential towers will start opening their doors this September. Breathe in the gentrified air as you stroll the intimate, cobbled streets, lined with fashion icons such as Hermès, Louboutin, Bruno Cucinelli, and Helmut Lang. Local Spanx billionaire, Sara Blakely, put her stamp of approval on the prestigious project, when she announced they will be moving their world headquarters here and it will also be home to their flagship store. Haute shops deserve haute restaurants, so indulgent dining choices will include Le Bilboquet, Lugo Caffe, Gypsy Kitchen & The Southern Gentleman.

headphones that spew out hideous racial slurs and verbal abuse by outraged counter protestors. You are timed as to how long you can endure the torment and can stop at any time. I only lasted two minutes, unlike the non-violent student activists who were trained to take endless hours of abuse.

Pssst: Apartments are a part of OliverMcMillan’s mixed-use development plan so, if you hurry, you can still snag one of the three bedroom/three bath,1,962 square feet penthouse apts, with complimentary jaw-dropping views, at The Residence, Buckhead Atlanta.

Pssst: If you donate $250 you can have your name or a message permanently displayed on a metal tile in the lobby. Check out this video for a preview of this fabulous new museum.

I was fortunate enough to score a private press tour of The Center for Civil and Human Rights (opening June 23) enthusiastically led by Gabriel Wardell, Director of Group Sales. It is no exaggeration to say that it was a life-changing experience. The $100 million, 43,000 square-foot museum, located next to Centennial Olympic Park, centers around three main exhibits: Voice to the Voiceless: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, which will rotate selections from over 10,000 personal items such as King’s “report card” from Crozer Theological Seminary (he only received a C+ in public speaking!) a hand-edited draft of MLK’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, a crumbled note from his wallet with a quote

by Gandhi and a telegram from President Lyndon B. Johnson inviting King to the signing of the Voting Rights Act. The next floor up houses Rolls Down Like Water: The American Civil Rights Movement, which is brilliantly curated by Tony Award–winning theatrical playwright and film director George C. Wolfe. Wolfe’s interactive displays transports visitors back in time to the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. You really “get it” once you sit at the segregated lunch counter exhibit and put on the

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At the top of the museum is Spark of Conviction: The Global Human Rights Movement which furthers the link between civil rights and human rights and how they affect the lives of every person.

When I asked Gabriel what he hopes the museum will accomplish, he succinctly replied, “We’ll be doing our job if a 12-year-old girl walks out of the museum and is inspired to become the next Gandhi, Mandela or King.”

Global Etiquette Gifting

By Maralyn D. Hill

Pens in different categories make great gifts.

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or those of us who enjoy giving and receiving gifts, it is an easy assumption to make that everyone does. They don’t. For those who think gifts don’t matter, they do. I know, along with what I said above, it seems completely contradictory, and it is. Each culture and part of the globe is different. I do not have the information on all, but will share the knowledge I do have.

This article focuses on gifts for the business traveler, even though most also apply to individuals. This applies to those giving, as well as receiving.

Some of my information is based on my own experience, others is adapted and updated for Do’s and Taboos Around the World, and Emily Post’s Entertaining by Peggy Post, as well as articles, tips and experiences I’ve picked up along the way.

Gifts from your own country reflect the best, especially your own state, when possible. If you happen to be an author, your signed books work especially well. I’ve used these myself and seen sales result from those countries. Jazz, rhythm and blues and popular CDs are also well-received.

Merchandise with your logo is an advertisement and viewed as such.

I’ve made a living selling promotional advertising and believe in it, but subtle is better, i.e. small, embossed, printed on the bottom, etc. Gaudy does not work as a gift.

Sport teams merchandise is just the opposite—especially those that are winners. It is quite well appreciated, as are college jerseys and hats. All these years later, Chicago Bulls and Bears hats are still appreciated.

There was a survey done quite some time ago that I am thinking of revising to see current trends. A common denominator throughout was fear of giving the wrong thing.

What’s important is knowing what is important and why. This varies from country to country. In Brussels bringing a hostess beautiful chrysanthemums is equivalent to giving a Chinese client a new desk clock. In both cultures, this is a reminder of death, quite negative.

What works? A Zippo lighter used be “golden,” now it is risky business. For now, think PEN. Everyone writes, these are safe, portable, you can include a variety of levels from modestly priced to luxurious, depending on the circumstances.

The purpose of the gift ties into the usefulness. At this point, pens are still useful and used more than most, hence a constant reminder. If at all possible, the gift should originate in the country you are coming from. On occasion, a local gift may be required.

The thought does count but not as much as taking the time to think of the recipient as a person. For example, if you are made aware that the individual has longed to visit the western U.S., you are wide open to many gifts. One person said, “A gesture too lavish can cause more embarrassment than one too modest.”

Dropping certain American brand names frequently has a magical effect.

If you are still at a loss and the family has children, include some Disney T-shirts, Muppet dolls, or a latest rage.

American cookbooks, if the hostess reads English, Beeswax Candles, Indian Pottery, Vermont maple syrup, or something of that type.

If you are on the receiving end, here are some tips. Carry personalized stationary or thank you notes with you and address to the individual’s business or home address, as you go along. You will appreciate this is done when you are jet lagged. If you’ve taken a photo along the way you can send, it will be appreciated.

Gift giving gets complicated, so I will attempt to break it up to regions.

Please keep in mind there are always exceptions and a reason.

Western Europe

Business gifts are not generally given on the first encounter.

Flowers are appreciated if sent ahead, so the hostess does not have the task of arranging them and it lets those off the hook who did not bring something.

it was payment for dinner.

Avoid logo gifts with large and prominent display of your company name/logo.

Avoid anything extravagant or cheap, including the wrapping. Be sure to enclose a blank card with a handwritten note, not a business card.

In Britain, they enjoy entertainment in the form of lunch dinner, drinks, or a night at the theater or ballet over gift giving.

Japan

(The following has been paraphrased from “Do’s and Taboos Around the World.”)

Gift giving in Japan and its excessiveness are best described by writer Shintaro Ryo as, “Goodwill forced on the recipients largely for the purpose of creating a vague sense of duty...and obligation.”

This has given practice to tara imawashi, where you get a gift that has no value to you and you pass it on to the next individual.

There are four types of gift giving in Japan: Gtri (duty) giving as described above.

Collective giving which is giri giving but by a company or delegation of company representatives, thereby relieving the individual of obligation and keeping the transaction impersonal.

Ulterior-motive giving, which by any other name could be called a bribe.

Personal giving where there is a genuine emotional bond.

There are two times a year when business gifts are obligatory: July 15 (the midyear of Chugen) and January

Avoid giving 13 of anything, even flowers.

For French, chrysanthemums signify mourning. Red roses are a gift between lovers for French and German. In France, records, art prints, and books on latest biographies, histories, and criticisms and memoirs of presidents and statesmen are appreciated.

Good chocolate and liqueurs are always appropriate house gifts.

Small porcelain, silver, candlesticks, etc. are always welcome.

House gifts should be given before dinner. You do not want to insinuate

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1 (year end or Toshidama).

Business gifts are frequently given at first meetings. But do not embarrass your Japanese counterpart by being the only one to show up with a gift.

In any situation, it is better to allow the other person initiate the giving.

After all, it is more his custom than yours. So why not give him the satisfaction of making the first move.

Avoid outgiving the Japanese—which may be viewed as placing an implication or obligation on them.

By the same token, your return gift should not be dramatically inferior in value.

Unless you have something for all, give your gift while alone. Do not expect it opened in front of you, nor should you open yours. If he does open yours or you his, do not show a lot of expression. A simple head bow and smile will do nicely. Do not be insulted by the valueless gifts.

It is more the ceremony than the sentiment.

The same rule does not apply to you. Never give tacky or jokey logo items, imprinted matchbooks, T-shirts, bumper stickers, or cheap ballpoint pens.

You will rarely be invited to a Japanese home. If so, flowers are appropriate. Be sure to check with the florist that you are not arriving with sixteen-petal chrysanthemums reserved for the Imperial Family.

Other welcome gifts include imported Scotch, cognac, frozen steaks purchased at an airport tax-free store.

Children like the latest electronic toys, and for parents Gucci Hermés, Countess Mara, George Jensen and other tony brand names are a language virtually every Japanese understands.

Because preferring to open presents privately, never give an unwrapped object. Perfunctory wrapping, however, is worse than none at all. If you are not skilled in wrapping, wait to buy gifts at a Japanese department store, or arrange for someone who knows how it is done to wrap it for you.

If you do wrap the gift yourself, never use ribbons or bows bought in your country. The color and texture signify the type and value of the gift. Avoid bold color paper.

Black and white wrappings convey funeral overtones, bright red is inappropriate. To show the best possible taste and regard for the recipient, buy lightly tinted rice paper and do your wrapping when you get there.

You may not be able to match the lavish geisha-house treatment provided by your host, let them have the last word.

Avoid gifts in multiples of fours.

Avoid flowers completely, they are usually given in case of courtship, illness or death.

In Japan, never give gift first. This can cause your host to lose face.

China

commemorative coins. A good pen would have more meaning and use.

Technically, it is against the law... but the acceptance of gift gifting is increasing at a rapid rate.

Small gifts are customarily exchanged at first meetings as a way of saying, “I hope our friendship will last.”

Clocks are not well-received, as they connote death.

Kitchen gadgets, engraved name plaques for desk use, personally engraved pens, and cd’s are quite popular, as is cognac.

Avoid giving anything large.

Americans back from China generally agree that gift giving does little to improve business relations, but that of not giving can have a negative effective. In other words, be prepared.

All business should be completed before gifts are exchanged.

There are two gifts that legally and can be given openly. One is a banquet—your Chinese hosts will almost certainly give you one and it is expected you will return the favor.

There is specific protocol. Banquets can be ordered at designated restaurants from one of your hosts chose for their banquet. There are four degrees to choose from. Choose the same degree.

The other legal gift is a collective, symbolic gift from “your side to their side”, It should be made clear the gift is on behalf of the entire group and company and is meant for the whole group on the receiving end. Also, this should be handed to the head representative at the banquet.

Especially welcome are gifts that commemorate the occasion or reflect the business your company represents.

Never give foreign currency or

3

On holidays in Chinese cultures including Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, it is appropriate for guests to give servants a small amount of money in an envelope. In Hong Kong, red envelopes are available for this if you’re there during the lunar New Year.

The Arab Word

This is more challenging than Japan.

Enter treading carefully and carrying a big gift. The Arabs will always

Jefferson Cup from Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s Estate

strive to outdo you in generosity, while keeping tab how you do. This goes beyond dollars and cents, it crosses into understanding his culture and respecting its achievements.

Never give or ask for liquor, as it is forbidden by the Islamic religion.

Never give gift for a wife or wives, but gifts for children are welcome.

Do not consider gifting at first meeting, as it may be interpreted as a bribe, as well as a host losing face.

Blown Glass Paperweight from Seattle

teaching of Muhammad, called the Koran or Quran, may often flatter to your host and useful in learning to understand him.

For women to gift in the Arab world, should be viewed with utmost caution.

Russia

Gifts are frequently exchanged during toasts at dinner. It is rare to happen in an office, conference room, or boardroom.

Latin America

Avoid junk gifts. Art books, CDs, and the like are appreciated. So are desk sets.

Friendships, business relationships, etc. appear to be rapid, but be careful.

American and German workmanship are appreciated.

Be prepared with some type of gift when going to anyone’s house.

Do not appear to contrive presenting the gift when the recipient is alone.

It could make you both look suspect.

Items depicting animals may carry a connotation of bad luck.

But business gifts are inappropriate until a friendly relationship has been established.

A company gift that reflects the recipient’s taste or something special about the source like a paperweight made from the marble or the stone of the firm’s home state or an ornamental bowl engraved with the state flower.

Do not profusely admire an Arab’s possessions or he may make a gift of them.

There is an exception. To ask for an English-language copy of the

Women have to be extremely careful, as even business gifts are wrong.

Most women would be better to err on the side providing no gifts. The exception is gifts for children. They are always appreciated.

Gifts are best given during a long lunch.

Logo gifts should offer a unique tie to your company.

Amazing though it may seem, perfume for women is not too personal, especially from your home state.

Do not admire a Latin’s collection of anything effusively or he make you a gift of it.

Purchasing gifts at home is the safest, but beware of too much, or being ostentatious or expensive.

Check out the customs where you are visiting.

When you have the privilege of a meal or overnight stay, be sure to compliment the host on his home, children, and food served. Say what you would enjoy receiving as compliments in your own home.

Summary

Obviously, I have only included a few geographic locations. For most countries we visit, our books, CDs, and local products work the best. I had a collection of Zippo money clip/ knives, and lighters (now passé), but the chest is just about empty. We need to stock up on some pens, more of our books, so I am ready for Fall.

I find gifting easier in the U.S., as I have a relatively good understanding of the various cultures. I wish it were true of the world.

I am going to add a list of many well-received American gifts.

• American Indian art or jewelry • Maple syrup • US Stamps • Photo book of US State or area • Stetson hats • Sunflower pines (Kansas) • American sports equipment • CD’s (Boston pops; jazz)

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• Pen or desk set with company or state insignia • Pennsylvania Dutch items • Oreo cookies • Steuben glass • Scrimshaw • Mugs • Road Atlas • Gold plated aspen leaves • US coins (not as valuable now as they were in the past) • U.S. regional art • Peanut butter • Tool set • Grand Canyon paperweights • Framed photos of a religious or historic site • Macadamia nuts (Hawaii) • Latest in children’s toys • Liberty Bell miniatures • Western Belt Buckles • U.S. Pens I am quite serious about bringing this up-to-date with current trends and would appreciate participation from our readers. It will take me some time to put the survey together. When it is ready, I hope you will take part.

Remember, you can always email letters to the editors at LuxeBeatMag@gamail.com.

The photos are by Maralyn D. Hill unless otherwise noted. The gifts are those like I’ve given or some I’ve received that I treasure and remember who gifted me with them.

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Jim Beams Grandson Fred Booker Noe Cooks M

By Michelle Winner

eet Jim Beam’s grandson Frederick “ Fred” Booker Noe III, Master Distiller is the current “ Keeper of The Flame” at Jim Beam Distillery. And yes there was a real Jim beam.

Frederick “ Fred” Booker Noe III

A Master Distiller Emeritus, Fred is the great-grandson of the original Jim Beam and a seventh generation distiller. The six family distillers who preceded him in the family business were Jacob, David, David M., Jim, Jeremiah and Fred’s dad Booker, all part of a family that has been cooking up hooch for over 200 years and refining it to become the world’s top selling brand.

Frederick Booker Noe III was born on March 9, 1957, in Bardstown, Ky., “Bourbon Capital of the World.”

He grew up in the very same house his great grandfather, the legendary Jim Beam, had once lived in. His early years were steeped in whiskey culture as he listened to his father’s tales of his famous family, he learned to appreciate and understand the craft of whiskey making.

Fred took over the duty of serving as ambassador of “The Small Batch Bourbon Collection” after his dad’s retirement. After rigorous years of apprenticeship and training, he was named Master Distiller in 2003. In addition to expanding the Knob Creek portfolio, Fred oversaw the creation of Devil’s Cut™, a premium bourbon whiskey developed using a proprietary process that extracts the liquid trapped inside the wood of the bourbon barrel, which leaves rich flavors from deep within the barrel wood it contains. He also worked closely with the company to expand Red Stag by Jim Beam, a line of fine Kentucky Straight Bourbon infused with natural flavors using an artisanal process.

The complete Red Stag by Jim Beam portfolio includes Red Stag by Jim Beam Black Cherry, Red Stag by Jim Beam Honey Tea and Red Stag

by Jim Beam Spiced.

Fred Noe resides in a house built adjacent to the old Bardstown, KY. Beam family home with his wife Sandy and son Frederick Booker Noe IV. Noe remains instrumental in the Beam business, dedicating himself to perfecting the family’s closely guarded bourbon-making process and continuing his family’s legacy.

Starting in the bottling line after college, under his father’s tutelage, Fred learned every aspect of the bourbon-making process, including grain selection, fermentation and distillation. Moving forward as the world’s thirst for new flavor extensions grew, Fred was integral in the development of some of Beam’s innovations in the early 1990s.

Subsequently, he also began to play an important role in promotion of “The Small Batch Bourbon Collection”, ‘Basil Hayden’s”, “Knob Creek”, “Baker’s” and “Booker’s” bourbons. These are ultra-premium bourbons; aged longer and featuring higher proofs, that were created under his father’s guidance.

Fred’s uber high-tech version of tasting samples when the bourbons were first introduced, consisted of sitting around the family’s kitchen table selecting the batches that were ready for bottling. It from that kitchen able a recipe using Jim Beam comes from Fred to you. In fact Fred sent three recipes. We tested and we liked the overall flavor profile of one so much that we used it for ribs and chicken so we included the preparation for both. Be sure to use Jim Beam!

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Cuisine

Fred Noe’s JIM BEAM® B-Que

This is just a jumpin’ good sauce for use on chicken or ribs. ½ cup teriyaki sauce 1 cup oyster sauce ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup ketchup 2 tablespoons garlic powder ½ cup Jim Beam® Bourbon 2 dashes liquid smoke flavoring ½ cup white sugar ¼ cup honey

Ribs* or chicken *if using ribs you will also need two cans beef broth or water Preparation In a large bowl, mix the teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, Jim Beam® Bourbon, liquid smoke, and sugar.

For 3 pounds chicken drumsticks or thighs Place the chicken in the bowl,

cover, and marinate in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the grill for low heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Arrange chicken on the grill, and discard the marinade. Grill the chicken on one side for 20 minutes, then turn and brush with honey. Continue grilling 25 minutes, or until juices run clear.

For 2 full racks (quartered) baby back ribs

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Place ribs and beef broth or water in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, and add enough water to fully cover ribs. Simmer over low heat for about 1 hour. Once tender, remove and set aside.

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

In a medium bowl, combine barbeque sauce. Baste ribs generously with sauce and grill for about 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Images: Jessica Pearl and Kristin Hettermann. Aerial Photo:

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Cuisine

International Wine Etiquette I

have a tip for you. It’s about worldwide wine etiquette. I know, “etiquette” is one of those words that summons up a variety of associations of place and time-some good, some not so much. A few of the rules listed below may seem like throwbacks to a stuffy, longgone era and may remind you of when you could not enter a fancy restaurant in town without a jacket or blazer. I say, go with the flow and relax into the rules. There is a time and place for all things.

The basic canons of wine etiquette and consumption that follow are for those of us who enjoy a glass or two of wine when we travel, perhaps collect and cellar wine and want to enhance our knowledge, appreciation of drinking wine in an international platform. Above all else we want to extend proper courtesy to our international hosts.

by Linda Kissam only at toasts. So wait... and then down the whole glass at once. Good news… glasses tend to be on the small side.

3. France: Always expect a glass of wine with dinner. That’s probably a no-brainer, but here’s something new; in France, wine glasses are filled three-quarters of the way.

“A vote santé” (to your health) or the shorter “Santé “(cheers) are standard toasts. Glasses are generally raised as the toast is made and are sometimes clinked together before the first sip is taken. Be gentle as you “clink,” broken glasses are not a good look.

5. Germany: This may seem the opposite of what you might expect, but don’t bring German wine as a hostess gift to your German host.

Mix it up a bit. Apparently by giving a gift of German wine, it can be viewed as meaning you do not think your host will serve a quality wine. If you wish to bring wine, it should be imported, such as California, French or Italian wines. The host gives the first toast. An honored guest should return the toast later in the meal.

4. Georgia: Opposite works here.

At a traditional feast in Georgia, it’s considered rude to sip your wine. At what Georgians call a supra (traditional feast), wine is drunk

6. Greece: This is really counter intuitive for Americans, but go with the flow. Keep your wine glass at least half full when you no longer want any more wine. The typical toast in Greece is “ya mas,” meaning “to our health.” You may also make a toast to your hosts, as well as to a successful business relationship.

7. Hong Kong: Be inclusive. When making a toast, do not pour your own drink first. Instead, make a toast about business or friendship, then pour everyone some wine - even if the person’s cup is filled, pour a few drops in.

8. Mexico: Only men give toasts in Mexican culture. The common toast is Salud! (for or to health). The most senior host or visitor usually initiates a toast.

9. Switzerland: Patience is a virtue.

Wait to take your first sip until the first toast is given by the host.

When proposing a toast, wait until everyone has been served a drink (whether it is wine or mineral water) and then say, “Prost” (cheers, in German). The toast in Germanspeaking Switzerland is prost; in French-speaking Switzerland, it is votre santé or simply santé; in Italian-speaking Switzerland, salute.

After your host has proposed a toast, look directly at him or her and respond, preferably in the local language. Then, clink glasses with everyone at the table, or at least those within your reach. Only then should you take your first sip.

Here goes...

1. Argentina: Try not to pour wine for others if you can avoid it. There is a ritual associated with pouring wine in Argentina. For example, pouring wine backwards into a glass indicates hostility. So it may be best to let an Argentinian do the honors.

2. China: Be patient. The host makes the first toast. If it is to you, you should respond with a toast to your host. Toasting will continue throughout the meal. Touching the other person’s glass below the rim is a sign of respect. After the first toast and touching of the glasses, glasses are tapped on the table for the following toasts. Typical toasts are “gan bei” (bottoms up) and “kai pay” (drain your glass). You will often find three glasses on your table: a glass for your drink of choice (toast with this glass), a wine glass, and a shot glass for a liquor called ‘maotai’ or ‘wu liang ye.’

10. United States: Back to us and how we should treat our international guests. Let’s get the evening started out correctly.

Fill red wine glasses ⅓ full, white wine glasses ½ full, and sparkling wine ¾ full.

Hope you enjoyed these!

1

Mississippi Gulf Coast Calling All Foodies Each guest room has an amazing view of the Sound from its room wide floorto-ceiling picture window.

By Janice Nieder

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Cuisine

M

ost people visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast for their world-class golf courses, 24-hour gaming at one of the barefoot/ luxe casino resorts, or for some sunbathing on the world’s longest (26 miles) man-made (talcum soft white sand) beach overlooking the sparkling Gulf of Mexico. And who doesn’t appreciate their famous Southern hospitality? But as far as I’m concerned, the reason I’m already planning a return visit is their exceptional food scene that has emerged, yet again, after Hurricane Katrina.

From shellfish shanties to Po’boy trucks to BBQ sheds all the way to four-star Steakhouses that give Ruth’s Chris a run for its money, the Mississippi Gulf coast has something for every palate and budget.

spill over the 10 “ plates. They recently reopened their Biloxi location since the original café was completely demolished by Hurricane Katrina. The new one, perched high on stilts, overlooks the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor and the ocean.

IT: If you have the appetite of a lumberjack (or a Georgia shrimper) the morning shrimp & grits will keep you full until dinner…the following night!

The morning Breakfast Club at Triplet-Day Drugs

Best crab served in one of the America’s oldest homes

If you’re like me and think there is no such thing as too much crab, wear something you don’t mind getting butter drippings on and head over to the iconic Mary Mahoney’s, located in a sprawling home, circa 1737. It is divided into a variety of unique dining rooms or you can dine in the open courtyard shaded by a 2,000-year-old giant oak tree. Start with their addictive mess of crab claws (offered broiled or fried) followed by a zesty lump crabmeat cocktail. Stretch your legs by taking a tour of the magnificently decorated rooms, best led by Mary’s gregarious son Bobby, who has inherited his mother’s legendary “Hostess with the Mostess” title.

Bobby loves sharing historic “if these walls could talk” tales as well as entertaining you from his endless supply of jokes. One of Mahoney’s favorites is, “A bear and a bull are coming right at you. All you have is one bullet. Which do you shoot? The Bear. You can always shoot the bull.”

Then back to the table for their signature dish of Shrimp and Lump Crabmeat St. Patrick, Mahoney’s rift on garlicky escargot.

Mindy’s Bites with secret Rynole sauce Angel tree by 200 North Beach

The locals are fond of saying that “Love in the South is spelled F-OO-D” and after spending a calorieladen (but soooo worth it) few days there, I have to say that these folks really do live to eat.

Here are just a few, not-to-bemissed best bets from a very long list of standouts:

Best chewy beignets

Hiding under a mountain of powdered-sugar, the best piping hot beignets can be found at Triplett-Day Drug Co., a 59-year old, family owned pharmacy, soda fountain and gift shop. Triplett’s feels so authentically old-fashioned, that I almost expected “the Fonz” to walk in. The secret to these greasefree, lighter-than-usual lovelies is that they are made from biscuit dough. It was a hoot watching the tables full of breakfast club regulars who gather daily to smooze over morning coffee and beignets.

IT: Ask Bobby to point out Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s favorite table, the plaque by Denzel Washington’s chair, the watermark showing how high the water rose during Katrina and the framed Western Union Telegram President John F. Kennedy sent Mary. Ask nicely and he’ll even read you a passage from a John Grisham’s novel where he mentions the restaurant.

IT: (Insider Tip) The equivalent of “hitting the jackpot” would be if you happen to visit when “Liver & Onions” is offered as the daily blue-plate special. This dish is so popular that locals will add their name to a call list in order to get advance notification.

Best munchy to go with a beer

Best brekkie with a view

Although the family-owned, McElroy’s Seafood Restaurant doesn’t officially open until 7:00am, if you’re jet-lagged you can join the locals, who often show up at 5:30am, when the kitchen staff arrives, sipping coffee at the counter until the place opens. Not for lightweights, the enormous pancakes

A new, casual all-American spot (with Cajun overtones) Mindy’s Café, offers some might tasty shrimp & grits for breakfast, scrumptious catfish Po’boys and a knock-out Shrimp burger, which is funny since Mindy never eats seafood.

2

BELOW-LEFT Great view/great beds/great service at Beau Rivage BELOW-RIGHT Always a fun time at The Shed

boiled crawfish or Gulf Shrimp.

You’ll burn off most the calories just wrestling open the crawfish.

Best back-story restaurant

In 2011, the historic 200 North Beach Restaurant became the first restaurant to reopen on the beach since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. Originally built in 1903 to house The Sea Coast Echo newspaper, it was completely destroyed by the hurricane. In front of the restaurant is an old tree whose branches had been carved to look like angels done by sculptor Dayle Lewis with the Kat-Rita Wood Project, a non-profit organization that turns hurricane scrap wood into art. Owner Ann Tidwell told us that during Katrina her son-in-law (who was a Hurricane Hunter pilot) neighbor and a dog, had miraculously survived by clinging perilously to the tree for hours.

A not-to-be-missed nibbly is the combo of alligator, boudin and shrimp bites, all delicately fried and served with Rynole sauce (named after Mindy’s three grandkids, Ryleigh, Noah and Levi.

IT: If you’re a craft beer lover, I’d order these as takeout to pair with one of Lazy Magnolia Beers, such as their best -selling Southern

Pecan ale or my fave, the hoppy Southern Hops’pitality.

the 3-Way Broiled Seafood platter (shrimp, oyster and redfish topped with crab meat au gratin) as the way to go, particularly since it comes with a cup of their famous gumbo.

G.M. Diane Hennessy says it’s not uncommon for the restaurant to go through 40 gallons of gumbo a week!

Best “somewhat healthier” seafood platter

Although it’s rare to encounter anything but great service along the MS coast, Dempsey’s super friendly servers deserve a special shout-out.

For the undecided they might suggest

IT: You can also go ultra-healthy and order a heaping mound of fresh

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Talented Chef Mark Daniels adds his creative twist to New Orleans classics such as blackened Redfish served over Andouille hash, moist and meaty “no-filler” crab cakes, grilled lemon trout, and even a gluten-free pilaf. The peoplepleasing homemade potato chips go well with one of the bar’s special Hurricane Hunter drinks.

IT: Save a little room for Miss Ann’s Pecan Pie, made from an old family recipe, that comes gilded with chocolate and caramel.

Beau Rivage has one of the best pool layouts

Best BBQ when you need a time-out from seafood

Best oysters any which-way

Half Shell Oyster House takes great pride in serving the finest quality, hand selected Gulf oysters.

They continually shuck them throughout the day to ensure the freshest oysters possible. The no-stress way to go is with the Best of the Best, a combination of three Charbroiled Oysters, three Oysters Bienville, three Oysters Rockefeller and three Oysters Orleans. All I needed to go along with this was a half-dozen, pristine raw oysters to get my juices flowing.

Extra credit points for the warm French Quarter decor which includes wrought iron, high ceilings, brick walls, classic lighting fixtures, stained glass and a copper bar.

IT: Non-oyster lovers (horrors) can enjoy a variety of other seafood specialties, steaks, pasta, Po’boys, salads and New Orleans favorites such as gumbo and shrimp & grits.

After my very first visit I joined the ranks of “Shed Heads”- loyal followers of The Shed, Barbeque & Blues Joint. What started out as a little 300 square foot take-out spot has grown into 9,570 sq.ft. hangout.

The Shed offers the complete package…superb, fall-of-the-bone “Que”, a whole line-up of awardwinning Junk Free sauces, great beer selection, bonfires to huddle around, and kickin’ live music (for free!!!)

There’s even a Shed Pimp (with his own business card) to hold open the door for you. No wonder it recently scored 1st Place Winner in Whole Hog Competition at Memphis in May 2013!

IT: Another resto that helpfully offers combo platters, for peeps like me who can never decide which way to go. The go-to answer is their Shed Sampler Platter with Baby Back Ribs, Spare Ribs, Pork, Brisket, Chicken, and Sausage served with 3 sides and 2 BBQ breads.

Best swanky steak house fit for your highest Jimmy Choo’s

BR Prime, located in the Beau Rivage Casino & Resort, is the Coast’s premier, upscale steakhouse and a perfect choice for a glam evening on the town. Exemplary service (every request was met with a sincere “My pleasure”) stylish décor (more sparkle than a Swarovski boutique due to the dining room’s glass wine towers that house over 3,000 bottles-with at least another

10,000 in the cellar) and a sophisticated menu virtually guarantee a memorable evening.

Kick off the festivities with a little wizardry provided by the liquid nitrogen added to a unique line-up of fruit martinis followed by the Grand Seafood Platter, laden with Maine lobster, shrimp, oysters, king crab legs, crab cocktail. BR Prime specializes in USDA Prime beef, much of which is dry aged in-house for 28-days, so this would be the time to get down for some serious meat-eating.

IT: B.R.’s Executive Chef, Joseph Friel, cooked for years at NYC’s finest restaurants (before moving South and taking over the Beau Rivage restaurants) hence the Steak tartar “21 Club” on the menu and the fabulous bread from NYC Tom Cat bakery.

Best sky-high continental cuisine

Breathtaking panoramic gulf views provide the backdrop to thirty-two, perched (you guessed it) on the 32nd floor of The IP Casino, Resort & Spa. This Four Diamond Winner features all the classics- fresh Mississippi seafood and Prime USDA steaks, as well as some novel twists such as Escargot Hush Puppies and Salt Dough Grouper. It was hard not to overindulge on the tempting breadbasket, particularly the crispy cheese crackers.

The whole staff could not be more accommodating, but kudos to Kendell,

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our almost psychic server, who steered me to the Cuke-Enrobed Salad, a still-art beauty consisting of Nueske Bacon, Roasted Tomatoes, Radishes, Rye Croutons, and Point Reyes Bleu Cheese, wrapped in long cucumber ribbons. Per Kendall’s advice, I followed it up with a delectable piece of Sea Bass generously topped with lump crab meat.

IT: For a dramatic finale, order Bananas Foster, cooked tableside by my man Kendell- with great pizzazz!

Best place to lay your head while you groan, “Why did I eat all that whole slice of Mississippi Mud Cake?”

Southern hospitality is alive and well at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Las Vegas Bellagio’s charming, more subdued, little sister property. Offering tastefully appointed guestrooms, ove-rsized Italian marble bathroom with soaking tub and separate shower, a gorgeous pool and lounge area, full-service spa and a perfect beachfront location, make this a perfect home base for grazing the Gulf Coast.

IT: They also have a state-of-theart fitness center...I’m just sayin’.

When you go

Be sure and check out the informative Mississippi Gulf Coast site, which is chock full of helpful information. www.gulfcoast.org/

Why Cruise Sh Offer Dining Alternatives W

e cruise a lot. For me, it is one of the most relaxing ways to clear my head and I’ve found Holland America Line (HAL) an excellent five-star choice for running conferences. Since 2009, I’ve arranged three conferences on its ships and am currently planning another. That means I’ve taken the time to check out many various details and the focus

By Maralyn D. Hill

of this article is going to be its dining choices.

line and have sailed it at least once a year during the past seven years.

offered and this is quoted from Holland America directly:

Years ago, when cruise lines first started offering alternative dining choices, I just viewed it as another way for them to add revenue. It is, but revenue that is well earned. The best way I can think of to explain some of the reasoning is to help you look behind the scenes on HAL. I know this

HAL offers an extensive range of superb cuisine, from regional specialties to itinerary based dishes and traditional favorites, prepared by a dedicated culinary staff.

As You Wish® Dining Choice of traditional, pre-set seating and dining times or completely flexible dining schedule.

What Everyone Can Enjoy As standard fare, the following are

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Main Dining Room Deluxe dining at its best, sophisticated décor, Rosenthal china,

Cuisine

hips crisp linens, silver service. Five-course menus: classic dishes and regional favorites, plus vegetarian, Greenhouse Spa cuisine, Healthy Life Style and Comfort Food options. Daily Alternatives menu: simple preparation of fresh fish, chicken or steak.

Flexible/open dining from 5:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily on one tier of the twotiered dining room. Extensive global wine selection served by sommeliers.

The Lido Casual, upscale buffet dining open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Large salad selection and carving stations serving U.S. Choice beef, poultry and seafood. Pasta, sandwich and dessert stations featuring fresh, cooked-toorder dishes.

Waiter service available at dinner; choice of Lido or Main Dining Room menus.

Late-night in the Lido: self-service with different themes each night (such as Chocolate Extravaganza), beginning at 11 p.m.

On the Lido deck for breakfast, I’m partial to the Beni station, where I’m able to indulge in my own combination of a poached egg on spinach, with crab, mushrooms

and hollandaise. I’m partial to eggs Benedict, but two are too many and I do like the Florentine and seafood combination. Having just one takes the guilt of my indulgence away.

gourmet hamburger and hot dog area offers guests freshly made hand-formed burgers and Nathan’s famous all beef hot dogs, complete with a selection of fries.

Plus, HAL has 24/7 complimentary stateroom service and other specialties you can enjoy: Master Chef’s Dinner, Captain’s Dinner, Indonesian Lunch, mid-morning icetea on Caribbean itineraries, hot chocolate on the deck on Alaska itineraries, after-dinner cappuccino and espresso in the Explorers Lounge (extra charge), Afternoon High Tea, Royal Dutch High Tea, Indonesian Afternoon Tea,Chocolate Dessert Extravaganza, ice cream bar and vegetarian, diabetic, gluten-free, Kosher and health conscious dining meals arranged upon request with the Ship Services Department at least 90 days prior to departure.

The second is Slice with hand-tossed, Southern Italian-style pizzas, available by the slice and 12-inch gourmet pie--10:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. on the aft Lido deck of ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Eurodam, ms Veendam, ms Oosterdam and ms Rotterdam.

Master Chef Rudi Sodamin serves as culinary consultant for HAL’s entire fleet of five-star ships. He spearheads a new line of signature menu items, as part of the line’s Signature of Excellence initiative. Every season, I look for the changes that Chef Sodamin has implemented.

So my initial thought years ago was, “Who needs more than this?” It is not necessarily true that everyone needs more, but some guests may want more.

They may want a special experience they could never have on land, or prefer to dine in a smaller intimate environment. Whatever the reason, all guests deserve options and HAL keeps increasing what they are offering.

As much as we enjoy high tea, the only days we opted for it were when we were dining late. Otherwise, I simply was too full. However, I find relaxing with afternoon tea a delight and welcome it, even if I do not partake in the full service.

Two new features introduced include Dive-In at the Terrace Grill. This new

So Why Do More and

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What’s the Difference?

When you think of HAL’s beautiful dining rooms, as delicious as the food is, it is being prepared and served for a large number of guests at one time.

When dining in the specialty restaurants, they are small and intimate and prepared to order. It is an elevated level of dining and service.

Possibly, you could compare the main offerings as a wonderful banquet as opposed to those from an intimate restaurant.

Let’s start with the Pinnacle Grill and its transformations.

These are all by reservation.

We’ve experienced the Pinnacle Grill on six different ships. Each one is intimate with elegant décor, Bvgari china, Frette linens, and Riedel stemware. The Pinnacle Grill features Pacific Northwest-inspired cuisine, Sterling Silver beef, and wonderful fresh seafood. Its extensive wine list highlights Pacific Northwest vineyards. It is open for lunch ($10 p.p.) and dinner ($29 p.p.).

An Evening at Le Cirque

Outside the Pinnacle Grill on the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, there is a circular area with a lounge and chandelier that is a replica of the New York skyline

Cuisine Tamarind and the Silk Den

right side up and upside down. After sharing a glass of Champagne and picking out the skyline buildings, it is easy to imagine you are walking into New York City, when you start your evening at Le Cirque in the Pinnacle Grill. We have been fortunate to experience this on other HAL ships and you still feel the transformation.

I just happen to love the chandelier on the ms Nieuw Amsterdam and feel it adds just a little more glamor.

At least one night per sailing on all 15 ships, Pinnacle Grill transforms to create a legendary Le Cirque-like atmosphere. Since we’ve dined at Le Cirque, we can appreciate the care that has been taken to recreate the experience. Menu offerings, wine selections, table decorations and restaurant setting are tailored to create an authentic Le Cirque dining experience, featuring French Continental Cuisine. Dinner is ($49 p.p.). I’m quite partial to the china and wall coverings, which do so much in the transformation.

This Pan-Asian restaurant features reservations-only lunch and dinner.

Its complimentary lunch menu is dim sum (Asian dumplings) soup, salad and dessert.

Dinner is Asian-inspired cuisine from menu or Rijsttafel, a Dutch adaptation of the traditional Indonesia dinner of rice, and more than a dozen intriguing side dishes ($20 p.p.). Since I am quite partial to Rijsttafel, I thoroughly enjoy this experience and wish it was on all the ships. However, it is only on Signature-class ms Eurodam and ms Nieuw Amsterdam.

The Silk Den is an adjacent lounge offering signature Asian-themed specialty cocktails and Sakétinis.

When you visit Tamarind or the Silk Den, you feel as if you have been transported to Asia. Every aspect of service matches its environment and theme.

Another Reason Why for Alternatives?

Inquisitive as I am, I dug below the surface to discover that contract between HAL and the restaurant took several years to iron out and is quite lengthy. In addition to purchasing Le Cirque china and décor, the staff had to go through Le Cirque training and Le Cirque gets a percentage of the additional charge. I think it is 50%, but that I do not have confirmed.

HAL has a large percentage of repeat passengers on every cruise. Many are booking suites which give them access to the Neptune lounge. For repeat passengers and new, HAL continues to raise the bar of service to exceed expectations.

In the beginning, we wouldn’t consider alternative dining. Now, neither of us would want to miss out on the enhancement it adds to our cruises.

Why would HAL bother? To provide its guests a unique and outstanding experience they may otherwise be unable to enjoy. Many do not have the opportunity to visit New York, let alone get reservations at Le Cirque.

HAL is committed to excellence and has been honored by too many awards to mention. For one, it took top honors in the World Ocean and Cruise Line Society’s category for HighDeluxe, 5-Star-Plus, Large Ships: “For the same prices, and often less, than those being charged by other cruise lines Holland America continues to provide its passengers with an Old World ambiance, friendly yet excellent service, fine food and many extra touches that passengers do not expect and do not get on other lines within this category. Also adding to the sense of value is the strong consistency of the product that Holland America delivers across its entire fleet.”

Taste of De Librije

Once per cruise, on the on ms Rotterdam and ms Eurodam, the Pinnacle Grill transforms into De Librije, featuring the cuisine of Culinary Council member and Michelin Star Chef Jonnie Boer. This is a five course menu, showcasing a selection of starters, soups, entrées and desserts from Boer’s land-based eatery and is ($69 p.p.) including wine pairings. We’ve not experienced this yet, but my guess is the contract negotiations were similar to Le Cirque.

Canaletto

www.hollandamerica.com/

This family-style Italian dinner menu features favorite Italian entrees that rotate nightly ($15 p.p.). This is in a section of the Lido deck that gets transformed into an Italian Bistro. You really don’t realize you are on the Lido deck. Reservations are encouraged, but walk-ins are accepted.

Photos by Maralyn D. Hill

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For the record, only one of our cruises was comped and that was in 2011.

When either Norm or I write, it is based on our experiences and because we want to share our thoughts.

The Art of Spa in Santa Fe

By Dena Roche

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Wellness

S

anta Fe, the second oldest city in the land, is known as an art Mecca. All the walking from gallery to gallery on iconic Canyon Road, coupled with visits to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and the Museum of International Folk Art, will have your back and tootsies screaming for relief. Now it’s time to experience the “art of spa.”

La Posada

Perhaps the most logical place to begin is at The Spa at La Posada.

La Posada, which just became a part of the Luxury Collection of Hotels, is known as the art hotel. This historic property has its own art curator to manage its eclectic collection of over 600 works by over 40 living American artists.

The hotel is quite literally a gallery, and collectors in the know come there to buy art at studio, not gallery prices.

When I arrive at the property, I’m offered something I’ve never been offered at any hotel or spa; a hit of oxygen! Because of Santa Fe’s altitude of over 7,000 feet, guests sometimes experience symptoms of altitude sickness. This 15-minute oxygen treatment is designed to stop it in its tracks. Admittedly, I felt more like a geriatric patient than a spa diva with the air tube in my nose, but I didn’t have any altitude issues during my stay.

An ounce of prevention...

While the spa is known for its Santa Fe Chocolate Chile Wrap, using local Chimayo red chile and chocolate, I opt for an indulgent 80-minute deep tissue massage to work out some of the knots I acquired during my stressful week leading up to my trip.

Ten Thousand Waves

The following day, I continue to chip away at the tension with a visit to the spa that Santa Fe is probably best known for, 10,000 Waves. This Japanese inspired retreat located,

ten minutes outside of town, is a mixture of Zen and hippie, and is a surprising sanctuary nestled in a forested landscape.

The stand-out feature of the spa is its many hot tubs. Some are communal, some are gender specific and some can be booked for private couple time. There are also shared cold plunges and saunas. For a more upscale experience, book one of the premium hot tubs like Waterfall, where the experience is like bathing in a hot spring in the woods and includes a private sauna and cold plunge with a waterfall. Or opt for a spa suite like Ichiban, featuring two hand-thrown ceramic baths, seated showers, sauna, and something described in the brochure as the “an amazing Japanese toilet that does almost everything for you”. Hmmmm.

I decide to try the spa’s newest treatment, the 80- minute Shiatsu Deep Tissue Massage. My therapist Faith tells me that the staff trained on the massage with Masanori Uchida, a shiatsu master for over a year before the service was put on the menu. The version of shiatsu here is different than most shiatsu massages in the U.S. It is almost more like a Thai massage in that I wear loose fitting clothes and no oil or lotion is used. While we often think of shiatsu as a pounding and kneading technique, this shiatsu is gentler, using rocking , pulsing and kneading along the body’s energy channels to encourage “stuck” muscles to relax and let go. While the pressure is deep, the massage is also relaxing and I felt the tension melt away.

inspired things like the Blue Corn and Honey Renewal wrap, which uses these indigenous ingredients to moisturize and soften the skin, to Ayurvedic rituals like the Ayurvedic Attunement.

The latter service, which I opt for, The service includes the quintessential Ayurvedic massage, the Abhyanga. This classic treatment uses warm oil pressed into the body to dissolve toxins during the massage. The attunement service also includes energy work in the form of Chakra balancing.

Santa Fe is the ideal place to find and enjoy unique art and to treat your own body like a canvas with some pampering along the way.

The Four Seasons Santa Fe

Also nestled outside the city is the Four Seasons Spa with 15 treatment rooms and a spa suite. The spa is the most luxurious of the three I sample and I like the private casita feel to the rooms. The spa offers a wide variety of services, from regionally

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Diamonds Or Is It Jewelry Is Forever

By Maralyn D. Hill

ALL PHOTOS BY LEAH WALKER.

R0041 - Ring in Diamond and Pink Tourmaline - $12,000

1

Design E0058 Earring in Diamond & Aquamarine $7,500

XXX_86 Necklace in Diamond & Sapphire Beads $9,000

A

s someone who has a substantial amount of jewelry, on rare occasions I’ve said, “Oh, I really don’t need any more.” Need and want are two different words.

R0514 - Ring in Diamond & Ruby - $8,000

Songwriter Gordon Martin stated it so well when he wrote, “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend,” which Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell sang in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”

He was also wise enough to include “expensive jewels” in the song.

E0051 Earring in Diamond & Sapphire $6,500

For those who have and love jewelry, you may hit a weak moment, when you say you have enough. But then a talented new designer or trend will capture your eye and heart and the acquire desire is rekindled.

Luxe Beat Magazine was recently introduced to The Jewelz, that creates vintage and fine jewelry for retailers and individuals across the globe. This firm has established its reputation as a renowned wholesale diamond and gold jewelry manufacturer. The Jewelz caters to the woman who appreciates luxury with exquisite, elegant and contemporary jewelry and designs.

Naturally, it provides accessibility to a wide variety of precious metals and jewels. The Jewelz also specializes in customized jewelry, which is made with the expertise of its talented designers.

tools, skills, technology and craftsmanship.

harmonious combination of personality, elegance and a royal touch.”

“Beauty has always inspired me and I’ve always believed that crafting jewelry is an art whose beauty reflects rare jewels, fine workmanship and utmost quality far above and beyond any official standard,” says Founder and CEO Vishal Dixit. “My passion for this art inspired me to launch The Jewelz – exclusive creations that are understated, timeless with a

Dixit prides herself on being involved from the original sketch through every process of the creation, keeping the focus on quality. Dixit feels that with quality the number one goal, it is the best strategy for success. This encompasses the finest

B0010 - Bracelet in Diamond & Ruby - $35,000

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The Jewelz produces both vintage and fine jewelry, including rings, earrings, pendants, bangles, bracelets and necklaces.

When I look at these designs, it reinforces what I know, diamonds and jewelry will always have a place in this woman’s heart.

THE JEWELZ is located at: 2W 46th Street #1201 New York, NY 10036 www.thejewelz.com/

W

hen it comes to luxury designers, Kara Smith is the cream of the crop.

Her style is classic and modern and her clients keep coming back for more. The LA-based interior designer has 14 years under her belt with SFA Design, and as the president of company, she has been able to grow the international recognition of this boutique firm. Her ideas are progressive and she’s involved with all aspects of SFA’s design practice.

She is the go-to designer for commercial and residential properties, catering to celebrities and other A-List individuals that want the ultimate in luxury design.

Interior design has always been a prevalent aspect of Kara’s life. Her mother was an interior designer, but the real catalyst for her love affair with interiors was travel. Kara says, “I visited many places around the world that exposed me to a large spectrum of different styles, each so extraordinary. Before I became President at SFA Design, I had started a woman’s contemporary collection, called Karanina. In designing fashion, I was very inspired by vintage - honing in on the lifestyle of an era and reinterpreting it to be very current. When I shifted my career into interiors, focusing my efforts on luxury market was a natural profession. The same approach I used when designing fashion was ever so applicable and really works… I love understanding era’s, styles, vintage pieces and really working them in a very modern and new way.”

Kara Smit of Hollyw Best Se

Kara prefers to work with residential clients. She says, “I love the ability (and challenge) to create a space that speaks to the owners’ personalities and is a true representation of who they are.”

With design being an interpretive art, she says it takes an incredible amount of collaboration. Kara works very closely with each client, from inspiration to design vision, from selection to installation. Mood boards and color boards are staples in her design process and helpful in stewarding the process and making sure everyone is still on the same page, throughout each project.

One of my biggest questions for an interior designer is how they draw the line between their own personal style and the taste of the client. “It is definitely a challenge. My approach is always about getting in the mindset of my clients and collaborating to bring life to their

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Design

th One woods t Kept ecrets

By Sherrie Wilkolaski

vision. However, each interior I craft is a reflection of where I am at in regards to design taste, style, current preferences,” said Kara.

When approaching a new project, she first focuses on getting to know who the client is to gain an understanding on how they truly use space she’ll be working on and what inspires them. She is very visual in planning stages and always collaborative. Her ultimate goal is to create a spectacular space that is also functional. Once she has identified the taste of the client and what they love, the fun begins. She keeps baskets around her office holding different items, a variety of things she can draw bits of inspiration from to help develop mood boards. It helps articulate better her vision for the space. She will pull images from from magazines to the ever fruitful Pinterest. She can capture the client’s inspiration, and develop her interpretation and overall vision for the space. After a round of refining her selections, the design concept takes on a much more concrete form and the hunt for perfect pieces begins.

Her overall design methodology is simple and she has three simple steps that help her achieve continued success: Listen to the Client. Listening provides the opportunity to understand their vision or inspiration fully, their style preferences and aesthetic tastes, their lifestyle and how they use the space

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Devil is in the Details. Once she understands a client’s likes, dislikes and personalities, it’s time to turn all that into her own inspiration and conceive a more concrete design vision for the space Managing Expectations – Whether it’s between Kara and the client, or the designers and vendors – keeping the doors of communication open is key to developing creative and unique solutions for clients, and ensuring that SFA delivers a luxury design that checks all of their boxes, that they love.

She describes her design style as classically chic with a bit of eclectic and vintage style in a very clean way.

A European warm contemporary is one way of putting it and she likes to use neutrals with a pop of color and then throws in a bit of 70’s influence. She likes neutrals, ranging from blush to black, not too many bold colors. It’s all about great patterns, animal prints and metallics, but only in small doses.

She feels a good flow of energy in a space is crucial to high-quality design. She doesn’t focus too much on feng shui guidelines when determining spatial layouts. Instead, she will view the space through a lens of her client’s lifestyle and function of the room. She says, how you arrange furniture is essential in achieving an inviting, functioning space.

Kara’s clientele primarily comes through referrals or word of mouth from past clients. “Sometimes, people have been in a home that we did, saw our portfolio online, or saw one of our projects featured in a magazine. And, we are lucky enough to get a lot of repeat

business from our clients. Working on both residential and hospitality sides of the spectrum, we have additional exposure to our target clientele through luxury hospitality projects that we execute. That additional crossover between segments definitely helps build our brand awareness.”

SFA Design is active in their business development efforts as well as aggressive with their media outreach.

Kara is a person who absolutely loves her job. The perfect mix of creativity, constant change and business, provides her the opportunity to meet a variety of interesting people that continues to inspire her work. Her taste continues to evolve with each and every client.

Her favorite project was designing for Caroline and Lucian Grainge and feels it is her best work. She says about this project, “Gorgeous work, very different yet current. And as

PHOTOS: KIMBERLY GENEVIEVE

The one piece of furniture she says no one should be without is ART! Kara says, “Great art is the key to a finished space. Most of my clients already have incredible art collections that we work with, but I love the challenge of helping a client start or build their collection and discover their personal tastes. It’s especially interesting when a client’s taste in furnishings is the complete opposite of their taste in art – I love to pair traditional interiors with contemporary paintings or place a classical sculpture in a modern room.

On a personal level, I am obsessed with discovering new artists and exquisite, affordable art for myself and my clients.”

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Design clients, they are what you hope for - very creative and love the finest things. They have a European sensibility with a very modern twist.”

So why should someone hire Kara Smith? Her passion for creating exclusive designs tailored to suit the needs of each client is what it is all about. Each project has her signature style that somehow feels like just what the client envisioned and more. Her ideal client aspires to an ideal design, and has great sense of culture and design with forward taste that cares about every last detail. Of course, having a budget to match makes all the difference.

If they show up with a great art collection, then it is the perfect situation. When asked if she has to turn away clients, she says, “Yes, it all depends on the scale and timeline of the project, and what my staff can handle at the time. You need to be honest, and sometimes you know it’s just not going to go well and you need to be careful not to suck your energy.”

Kara has incredible style and my last question to her was inquiring about any plans to write a book. She says she has thought about it because she enjoys writing and loves to articulate her ideas on paper, but finding free time, given her hectic business schedule, is a definite problem. I get the impression, she’ll have a book out at some point in her career. She has the drive and expertise to make it happen.

Kara Smith is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets and if you’re not on her calendar, you had better book early, she is in high demand.

To learn more about Kara, go to sfadesign.com/.

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wo of my favorite pleasures in life are music and wine.

The third might actually be marketing, and when I stumbled upon David Pack’s Napa Crossroads CD, I found all three bundled into one. David Pack, is a musical trailblazer and the more I have gotten to know him during the interview process, the more impressed I become.

David is a Grammy Award-winning musician and producer. He began his career as the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock group Ambrosia, popular in the 1970s and 1980s, with top hits like You’re the Only Woman (You & I) and my personal favorite Biggest Part Of Me. He has sold over 40 million units worldwide as both a performer and producer combined. He’s produced for incredible artists like Wynonna, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and Kenny Loggins, to name only a few.

He served as music director/producer for former President Bill Clinton’s inaugurations in January 1993 and 1997. This guy has been making and driving the most popular music we’ve been listening to for decades.

David Pac Napa Crossr a Toast to M

By Sherrie Wilkolaski

Somewhere in between his top 40 hits and Grammy Awards ceremonies, he’s found the time to enjoy wine.

I mean really enjoy wine. He takes as much pride in his music as he does in being an oenophile. Out of his passion for both art forms blossomed the Napa Crossroads project. Here is what he has to say about the venture.

“Napa Valley and me are old friends.

The grapes speak to me, the land soothes me, and the people move me like nowhere on earth. This project is my love letter to Napa Valley. Every song was written and recorded there.

The primary inspiration is my five winery partners who contributed greatly to make this happen. We worked joyously to weave their life-stories into these songs and create a time capsule to preserve the memory of friends and a time that will never again be.”

The CD is a compilation of 15 songs, performed by David and other talented musicians such as Alan Parsons, Bela Fleck and Todd Rundgren to name a few. I had seen the list of performers on the cover, but decided that I didn’t want to go through the song list, that I would just listen. It was just about cocktail time, so I called a dear friend of mine to get together for a drink, as I wanted to get the full experience.

I poured myself a glass of my favorite Napa Valley chardonnay and my friend Carol a glass of Pinot

Tap to play a song from David Pack’s Napa Crossroads

my love for the music became deeper.

I started off asking David about where his love of wine came from. It turns out a fellow musician got him hooked with a bottle of French wine.

Grigio. She typically drinks an Italian varietal, but we grabbed her second favorite, which is from Napa, to stay with the theme. We touched our glasses together and made a toast to Napa Valley and hit play. We were not disappointed. It is perfect mood music, from start to finish.

“Alan Parsons introduced me to French wine in the mid 70s when he was involved in both mixing and producing our first two Ambrosia

As I learned more about the project,

1

albums. Then he was producing Al Stewart’s ‘Year of the Cat’ record, asked me to sing on it, and Al turned out to be ‘the man’ when it came to collecting, and extolling the virtues of the best of French wine–including La Tache, which he bought caseloads of yearly.

“That awakened me to the ‘fine art’

Music

ck’s roads Music

say making a hit record is like capturing lightning in a bottle, and in wine making I say creating that perfect 100 rated vintage is like capturing a bottle full of lightning.

“I am captivated by the art of the winemaker and of viticulture itself. I’m not into ‘vanity wines’ with photos of recording stars, or old movie stars, or the ‘in-crowd-trendy wine thing to have’. I’m deep into the real thing, and same with music making. When you realize the ‘final blend’ of a Cabernet can be from 60 different lots of grapes all with differing characteristics, and the winemaker must decide which percentage of each of the 60 lots gets blended in--then how long in the barrel, and what kind of Oak, American, French? And what kind of toast to the oak...then they have to imagine how this ‘living substance’ will evolve and taste in 5, 10, 30, 50 years.

“That is magic. In music we create the mix the final project and that is ‘it’. It’s mind-blowing to me to create something that would keep changing, growing, evolving, picking up different shades, layers of taste on the palate.

“So to answer your question, if I could ‘marry’ the concept of music, changing, growing, and evolving as a living substance, as wine does, that would be the ultimate grafting of a root-stock! Look out maybe this is my next APP. But short of that...I created, over five years, my life’s greatest work: Napa Crossroads CD.” When I listened to the album, I just put it into the CD player and pressed play. I didn’t want to look at which artist was playing along with David on each track. When I got to Track 2, I knew it was Ray Manzarek of The Doors. I am a huge fan. Here is what he had to say about working with him on this project and about the making of “Silverado Free”.

Pack explained, “This became my favorite and most meaningful track on the CD. I wrote this song for Ray Manzarek. Little did I know it would be his final great performance of a lifetime, and final narration.

of wine making. Then I had my first California Cabernets, BV Private Reserve, but then...while in Napa in early 80s I had the epiphany with Silver Oak and bought my first ever three cases!

“It was vintage 1978 and I actually still have three bottles left.

“Around the same time I fell in love with Napa Valley. The vineyards whispered to me. I noticed the light seemed “magic” in that valley, as all of photos would come back with this indefinable light source that I sensed was heaven-like. So there the seeds were planted.”

This CD project is more than just

tracks of music, it’s more than just wine, David has taken as much care with this, as a winemaker does creating a new varietal. There is a deeper relationship here, so I asked him, how his love of wine marries with his love of music. David said, “They are both complex but parallel art forms. You have to pay your dues from the ground up with both. They

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“Ray lived for over a decade in Napa... how could I not write the ‘wizard of the valley’ a song for this project?

We met around 2008 at Trefethen Auction dinner, he had his keyboard on the grass and after we had dinner together he said ‘why don’t you sing some Doors songs with me?’ We rocked it and that’s when I made a serious connection to this genius and globally beloved artist.

“He was a little grumpy about driving all the way up Spring Mountain to the top where I was recording at Pride Mountain Vineyards’ Red House-family guest house. But once he got there, he was gracious and no BS, and was like ‘let’s dig in and do this!’

“We are working on a video to go with this song as a tribute to Ray, and Doors manager Jeff Jampol has kindly been helping us behind the scenes not only with the video but in giving us advice re: building out our Napa Crossroads CD project and future lifestyle brand. Great guy, and I feel like he could be Ray’s brother, they are so much alike.”

SW: How did you select the five winery partners for the project?

DP: They were all friends or people I’d performed for or with. It started with Jeff Gargiulo of Gargiulo Vineyards who invited me to his Harvest Jam called “Oakville Sessions” in 2005. He is so great! He indulged my dream to meet the great winery owners and winemakers and I indulged his: I wrote a song with him for his daughter April’s 2006 wedding, called April Born In May,

with country star Billy Dean helping too...and now that song is on the Napa Crossroads CD. Jeff introduced me at that first Harvest Jam to David Duncan, CEO of Silver Oak--and I just knew I’d met a life-long friend and someone who was already writing poetry and playing music in a sort of folksy bluegrass ensemble, but also a lover of Stones, Dead, Doors, Who! And he loved the idea of co-writing with me songs that were real parts of his and my life. David and Jeff were the first two to come aboard. And it grew to become 5 great wineries and great people.

I literally felt like I was in a heaven on earth scenario, having these winery owners as my partners on a once-in-a-lifetime project like this.

SW: How did you select the individual artists that play along with you on the album?

DP: Again, friends and “casting” the right friends to play on the right songs.

That’s what a producer who knows his craft does. He “casts” the musicians, the engineers, the singers, just the right way. Quincy Jones taught me a lot about this, and he is one of my real life mentors in this area.

It also comes from a lot of experience in the studio and the true blessing of having these kinds of artist friends. I do the same favors right back for them when they need it. We all pull together.

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Music SW: Are the other artists also wine enthusiasts?

SW: “Napa Crossroads” what does the title mean to you?

DP: Many, yes. We all bow to Al Stewart, who spent most of his royalties for 30 years on buying great wine, and sharing it, as he is so generous. Mick Fleetwood, Jonathan Cain of Journey, and even Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn has a Tennessee winery, and of course my dear friend Alan Parsons, to name a few.

DP: The intersection and first-ever coming together of the culture of fine wine and fine music making, the blending of these great arts and artists; a place where people share each other’s passion for these arts by actively collaborating in creative co-op type environment. It’s an attitude, a state of mind, and so much more.

Robert Schwartzman, who sings “Full House Full Heart” on my Napa CD, was raised in Napa Valley at his uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s winery. Robert kindly introduced me to Bret Lopez, the owner of Scarecrow winery, who bought his property from Francis and then made some of the most sought after and successful current wines in the world.

Then there’s Pink, who I’ve learned from Jeff loves his Gargiulo Vineyard wines. Lil Wayne shows up a lot at Pride Mountain and so does actor Will Ferrel. There’s an artist-wine loving sub-culture out there and I probably shouldn’t go name dropping too much out of respect!

And we are starting to define that by doing private events as well as public events. How do we scale it for club or for a “Google convention?”

No one’s ever done anything like this, so we are--in our own happenstance way--blazing our own way. And it’s also a wonderful payoff for the “fruits of our labor”!

SW: Are you enjoying having the music out to the world to enjoy?

DP: I am enjoying it, yes. It’s just not easy to break through the clutter with a Napa Crossroads concept project like this. You think Starbucks would jump on this, but alas, it’s all political.

That’s why, five years later, I have had the realization that it must go on, and grow into something larger where more collaboration happens, more “co-opping” of wine, music, and lifestyles.

SW: This project took years to pull together. It seems like you’ve put so much into it, along with so many amazing people, do you miss working on it?

There’s fierce positioning for those precious four CD’s you see there.

Yet, Starbucks is starting to sell wine at various new outlets...so, C’mon S’bucks, your customers will LOVE this!!

DP: I do miss the fun creative part for sure, the camaraderie. But now the even “funner” part happens: Napa Crossroads Live! How do we stage something this huge? It’s a real fun challenge.

Thankfully, I actually befriended the President of Whole Foods Southern Pacific, who lives near me and is an artist himself, Patrick Bradley. He was so gracious in helping to get our CD in most of their American stores.

It helps that he makes his own superfine CD’s too, you should check it out next time you’re in the WF check-out line!

Distribution for music CDs, in case you haven’t noticed, is worse than it’s ever been. Where does anyone buy CDs these days? How can you discover a Napa Crossroads CD? I mean even Costco has relegated music CDs to a couple of lowly boxes. Why? The people who hear our CD are almost deliriously thrilled with the music--no one expects it to be this good, is what I constantly hear, and that is the ultimate payoff-- if we could sell a few hundred thousand CDs, that too would be really nice!

But the truth is: we honestly didn’t do it expecting it to be commercially released. It was only going to be sold at the five wineries. It’s almost a fluke that a major label has released our CD. SW: Are you planning on another project like this?

DP: Yes, and was just in the studio the last two days, writing and recording what I think is a killer new song for Napa 2. And like Napa Crossroads, this new song is based on reality.

SW: You can only bring one bottle of wine with you on a dessert island...what do you bring? (Yes, readers...I misspelled desert and David ran with it...thanks, David!)

DP: On a “dessert” island? Is that a mis-print ? If not, I guess I’d bring a great Far Niente desert wine Dolce! to go with my island of “just desserts”...and all of my friends, before the ice cream melts.

If you meant, is there one bottle?

Maybe, but I’ll never tell! It’s yet to be bottled :) Hats off to David on the collaboration and his passion for music and wine, makes the marketing strategy simple. It’s overall brilliant.

I can’t imagine how much fun these musicians and winemakers had putting this all together. They had a great coach in David Pack and the only question that has been left unanswered is, “How much wine drinking do you think went into this project?”

To learn more about David Pack’s Napa Crossroads project go to www.napacrossroads.com/.

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Three Artists Find Their Places in the World

By Renee Phillips

Gaia Orion, Equilibrium, oil on canvas, 24″ x 24″

Gaia Orion, Our Journey, oil on canvas, 24″ x 24″

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n my view the most extraordinary works of art are those produced by artists who strive to communicate some deeper truth than what is seen by the casual observer. To achieve this remarkable feat they must seek an ideal environment that nurtures their creative potential.

This means, literally and figuratively, they need to find their ideal place in the world. While some artists feel the urgency to continually explore many destinations others have no desire to leave their place of origin.

We may also say where artists choose to live and the thoughts that reside in their minds have as much influence on them as the medium

they choose.

Three artists – Gaia Orion, Bren Sibilsky, and Keith Morant – have chosen different locales -- both geographically and aesthetically -- where they excel in expressing their unique voices, with truth, authenticity and purpose.

Young Friesian Stallion, bronze on granite, 15″ x 8″ x 5″

Gaia Orion – Geometric Forms That Embrace Positive Universal Themes

Gaia Orion was born in Paris, France.

She graduated with honors from Ecole des Beaux Arts as an architect.

Although she pursued a fine art career her innate sense of design and education imbue her art with an internal order that complements her artistic innovation.

Bren Sibilsky, Aphrodite (two views), clay for bronze, 67″ x 24″ x 20″

The artist creates compelling geometric patterns with bold colors.

She brings a powerful new contemporary aesthetic to the mandala which has its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism. In part, the generic term “mandala” is used to describe a plan or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically.

Orion left bustling Paris in order to live in the quiet forest by the river in Ontario, Canada. As she explains, “In the quest to understand myself and life I came to realize that there is a healthy, pristine, naturally intelligent state of living.”

Her tranquil lifestyle choice has positively impacted her art work.

She states, “What manifested and is continuing to arise are universal, unifying themes in archetypal, geometric, and colourful oil paintings. The images that have flowered have subsequently assisted my own personal development.”

Orion has also found fulfillment by participating in many worldwide projects that strive for positive change. Her universal themes that embrace love, unity, equality, and

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harmony have led to numerous international exhibitions and have attracted many awards and collectors.

Global art projects have provided her with opportunities to encounter like-minded people who share her vision. For instance, she participated in Les Arts de l’Eveil (Arts of Awakening), an association from France whose mission is, “to bring beauty, joy and meaning to the lives of people and society”.

She explains, “In sharing the artwork and connecting with others I discovered that these transformational images are part of a larger visionary movement that is active in society today -- those of ecology, social justice, conscious politic, alternative economy, and so on.”

To view more of Gaia Orion’s artwork visit artbygaia.com

Bren Sibilsky – Sculptures That Unify Her with Nature

Bren Sibilsky was born in Green Bay,

Wisconsin and moved 35 miles away to Algoma where she lives with her husband. She exudes reverence and gratitude for the land she lives on and her many animals -- including her beloved horses.

Completely content to live in a rural community, in a city with slightly more than 3,100 residents, Sibilsky enjoys the solace and inspiration she requires to create art. As she states, “We can find truth in nature.”

A master of sculptural form and classical realism Sibilsky is equally proficient in creating full standing figures, equestrian statues, portraits, and small scale reliefs.

Whether she is sculpting a horse or a portrait she relates to her subjects very personally and imbues her art with a poetic sensibility.

Despite spending most of her time in Algoma, the full-time artist has enjoyed an international reputation.

She has submitted her art to juried competitions and has received several awards from leading art critics and curators in major cities.

She has also attracted many collectors from North America and Europe.

As a leader in the art community Sibilsky is the founder and an instructor at the Algoma Atelier of Sculpture and Art. She enjoys sharing her artistic skills and philosophy with her students.

Sibilsky has created series of mythological figures that includes “Aphrodite”, an idealized figure that symbolizes love, balance, beauty, and femininity. This exquisite work of art exudes an undulating crescendo of power and exaltation.

Keith Morant, New Fruit, mixed media on canvas, 24” x 36”.

“Aphrodite” was selected for the “Love” exhibition sponsored by the prestigious National Sculpture Society, in New York, NY. It also won two Manhattan Arts International “Best in Sculpture” awards.

and the phenomena of nature, I seek to create beautiful works with lasting and permanent messages.”

The artist shares her vision: “My artwork is driven from a need to be one with the force of nature and the world in which we live. As a seeker of wisdom, I am powerfully motivated to understand mankind’s place in the universe and the meaning of our existence. I use the myths, legends and stories of mankind, journeying into our inner darkness in search of the blinding light of our truth. Using symbolism

Keith Morant – Abstract Paintings That Externalize His Journey of Discovery

To view more of Bren Sibilsky’s artwork visit www.brensculpture. com

Born in England, Keith Morant exhibited in London until 1973 when he moved to New Zealand and settled in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of this country.

The internationally acclaimed artist always seems to be in constant motion. He has had exhibitions in New York, Miami, Toronto, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Melbourne, Istanbul, Valencia and many parts of Italy, where he has won several awards.

In 2013 he received The “Peoples Choice Award” at the International exhibition ‘Little Treasures’ in Bologna, Italy. In 2014 he looks forward to having exhibitions in New Zealand, Nepal, Bologna and Venice.

Keith Morant, Music Of The Spheres, mixed media in canvas 36” x 36”.

Morant’s oil and mixed media abstract paintings reflect his persona and vibrate with vibrant color and movement. Armed with a life-long, self-defined “obsession” with drawing and painting and superb classical training, he produces compositions with unique juxtapositions of colors, shapes and symbols.

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The artist describes his preoccupation with art this way: “For me, a painting must always be positive and optimistic. It must communicate on a universal level as an uplifting element of nature or fine music. Surprise and elation are all that is worth trying for.”

Important to Morant’s creative process is acquiring a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. “In trying to come to terms with my compulsion to paint I have read deeply on the subjects of art, artists, philosophy, psychology and human creative history in general. It has been my desire to comprehend not only the multi-fold meanings of art, but also, more importantly, the reasoning behind my own innate desire to create.”

He adds, “My art is always a journey of discovery into the essence of being. It is an effort to externalise the truth of my own existence on as many levels as possible and communicate a greater awareness of the quality of life.”

To view more of Keith Morant’s art visit www.keithmorant.com The next time you visit an art exhibition or an artist’s studio or view your own art collection you may want to take time to contemplate the artist’s intentions. You might ask: What do I know about this individual who created this work of art? What is their origin and source of inspiration? I’m certain the answers will increase your viewing pleasure and appreciation for the art.

Darlene Kaplan Imbues Her Oriental Brush Paintings, Workshops And Tea Tastings With “Chi”

By Renee Phillips

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riental brush painting is one of the oldest continuous art forms in history. Some of the earliest practitioners were highly disciplined monks trained in the art of concentration, clarity, and simplicity. Special brushes, techniques, inks, colors and papers are required. One of the distinctive characteristics is the use of an inscription or seal which consists of the artist’s name and the date, which is considered an integral part of the painting.

For many years, Darlene Kaplan created realistic paintings in oils before making the change to oriental brush painting. As the award-winning artist and instructor explains, “Studying martial arts -- Tai Chi’ -for years inspired me to try this medium, which I fell in love with right away.”

The artist, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, has been painting with Chinese watercolors for more than 40 years. She also teaches Chinese brush painting in her studio in addition to being a martial artist who teaches Tai Chi. As the artist reminds us, “The energy ‘chi’ is also essential in Oriental Brush Painting.”

Darlene Kaplan presents Chinese Tea Tastings in her studio

Darlene Kaplan, Hey Georgeous: Peacocks Courting, Oriental Brush Painting. Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper, 37″ x 26″

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All of Darlene Kaplan’s extraordinary nature-inspired art is derived from life — never from photographs.

Darlene Kaplan has won numerous awards for her paintings, including having her art recently selected by Lilly Wei, art critic for Art in America magazine for the Manhattan Arts International “Celebrate The Healing Power of Art” exhibition.

She has had many exhibitions including those at Ratner Museum, Bethesda, MD and Bodzin Fine Arts Gallery, Fairfax, VA, among others.

She is represented in the curated Manhattan Arts International Featured Artist Program. Her art is in numerous collections worldwide.

RP: What are your earliest childhood memories that inspired your art?

DK: I grew up in the country in Tennessee and all of my spare time was spent walking in the woods searching out bugs, plants and anything else that was alive. Those childhood days spent with nature is brought alive every time I put a brush stroke down on paper.

All of my paintings are derived from nature.

RP: How do you begin a painting?

DK: Before I begin a painting, I have a vision in mind. The mind has the plan and the hand follows. Once started, the brush and ink require full attention. The calming effect of grinding the ink before painting, the energy that is put into throwing ink on paper is just the greatest of pleasures that only this style of art allows me to feel. Without the mood, brush and ink do not have anything to attach to; without brush and ink, the mood cannot be expressed. These are inseparable elements.

RP: What is your intention as an artist?

DK: I believe that an artist is a person who can see something within the mind that can be brought into reality where it can be enjoyed by all of the senses. I strive to express the purity of snow, the brightness in the moon, the fragrance in the flower, and the sound in the waterfall. I think of my art as part of Chinese medicine which constantly uses Yin and Yang.

It is relaxing yet focused, serene yet energetic; always creating the movement in the art that calms the heart and relaxes the mind.

ABOVE Darlene Kaplan, Me and the Bees, Oriental Brush Painting. Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper, 13” x 27” LEFT Darlene Kaplan, What?, Oriental Brush Painting.

Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper, on acid free rice paper, 29″ x 18″ FAR LEFT Darlene Kaplan, Colors of the Rainbow, Oriental Brush Painting. Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper, 27” x 18”

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Art

ABOVE Darlene Kaplan, Pheasants in Wisteria, Oriental Brush Painting.

Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper, 27″ x 29″

Kaplan’s paintings range from having simplified brush strokes that depict an orchid to more intricate yet tranquil landscapes about which she states, “Your eyes can take a journey up into the mountains and off into the mist before returning home.”

RP: Darlene, where can we see your art work now?

DK: My Oriental Brush Paintings are on view in Building 16 at the Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA, and at my Soft Brush Studio in Alexandria, VA. RP: Can you tell us about your Chinese Tea Tastings?

DK: I present Chinese Tea Tastings, Gong Fu Style in my studio. This ceremonial tea drinking style is meant to focus one’s attention and relax the mind and spirit in a convivial, shared experience. Guests are served up to 8-10 different Premium or Estate Teas that include Oolong, Pu-erh, Green, White, Organic, and Blooming Tea, among many others. These teas come from around the world: Sir Lanka, Japan, China, Tibet, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, and other origins. Guests learn how the tea is harvested, what makes tea green or black, and the many health

benefits of tea. For example, Pu-erh has been medically proven to lower cholesterol. They also learn how to steep each tea for maximum flavor.

RP: When is your next workshop?

DK: I am presenting an Oriental Brush Painting Workshop August 11-16, 2014, using Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper in the Lingnan style. I will be teaching students the fundamental theories underlying Chinese brush painting to include proper use of brush, proper use of ink and color, and the techniques of using “Chi” creating the perfect balance for a good composition. I tell my students, “This will teach you to notice nature.”

On Darlene Kaplan’s website, you can watch a YouTube video of her step-by-step painting demonstration of Japanese Koi. It was produced as part of her appearance as a guest of Charles Mills from the Virginia Time Travel, TV channel 10 & 69.

Information about Darlene Kaplan’s art, workshops, group ceremonial tea tastings and more may be found on her website: www. darlenekaplan.com.

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BELOW Darlene Kaplan, Gentle Waterfall, Oriental Brush Painting. Chinese mineral colors on acid free rice paper, 24" x 14"

Decision Serge Marshennikov 20” x 17” Signed and numbered giclee print on canvas

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Aristotle A Man For All Seasons And Centuries

By Norman Hill

School of Athens

by Raphael, Plato (left) Aristotle (right)

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As a Greek who worked extensively in Athens, Aristotle was at the forefront of the acknowledged foundations of Western civilization.

These Greeks are credited as the first to “think about thinking.” In the 5th and 4th centuries B.C, Athens and a few other Greek city states get the credit for these achievements. But it

IMAGES PROVIDED BY HALKIDIKI MARKETING

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oday, it seems that Aristotle’s status and prestige in the Western world are slowly increasing. They are still, regrettably, behind Plato’s.

Also, most academic philosophers, as such, give short shrift to any ancient intellectuals who developed complete philosophical systems.

Nonetheless, his recognition seems to be slowly improving.

History Statue in Aristotle’s Park Stagira

became his teacher and mentor.

After Phillip conquered all Greece, the two became quite close.

When Alexander, becoming known as Alexander the Great, began his military campaign to go east and conquer Persia and the known world, he carried Aristotle’s (by now) considerable volume of written works with him. For centuries, Aristotle remained a prominent, if not the number one, philosopher and scientist, first in the eastern Hellenic world legacy of Alexander, and then in the Arab Islamic world, centered in Baghdad and Damascus.

Crusading Christians, around 1100 A.D., discovered some of Aristotle’s works, many of which may have been in the form of student notes, and returned them to Europe.

After Plato’s death, Aristotle returned to Athens and founded his own Academy, called Lyceum. When word reached him that Alexander was claiming divine status for himself, Aristotle denounced him for what he considered as a breach of a reason and logic base.

No direct connection has been found between this feud and Aristotle’s hurried departure from Athens.

Evidently, some influential Athenians accused Aristotle of irreverence towards the Greek Gods. Potentially, this could have been a capital offense. But Aristotle said he had no intention of becoming a philosophical martyr like Socrates. He closed Lyceum and returned to his native northern Greece. Aristotle died shortly after in 322 B.C.

Details of Aristotle’s Work

It is estimated that only about one

should be remembered that at least one other Greek city state, Sparta, was a very negative military dictatorship, with similarities to modern totalitarian models.

Aristotle was born in northern Greece in Stagira in 384 B.C. He was not a Macedonian, but initially lived not too far from Macedonian Greeks who would later play a key role in his life. At a young age, he moved to Athens and entered Plato’s Academy.

At that time, Plato was considered the preeminent philosopher in the Athenian world. Aristotle at first adhered to Plato’s philosophical system, but later broke with his mentor and developed quite different ideas.

Both Aristotle and Plato were the first to develop philosophical systems. These were a hierarchy, consisting of views on metaphysics (“What is it,” i.e. what is reality?) to epistemology (“How do you know this?”) to ethics and politics (“So what?”). At some point, the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, evidently published many sayings and observations, which, in their own context, had some value. But he never consolidated these into a complete philosophical system.

Alexander the Great

After Aristotle left the Academy and returned to northern Greece, he came into contact with Philip II, King of Macedonian Greeks. His oldest son, Alexander, was considered a prodigy and Aristotle

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third of his total works have as yet been recovered. He wrote and researched prodigiously on virtually every topic then known to man.

Besides his philosophical system, he wrote on biology, zoology, astronomy, psychology, botany, esthetics and other topics.

A summary of his philosophical system is: Metaphysics There is one universe and man can potentially know it all. This universe

exists independently of man, not inside his head. Plato, on the other hand, said that this world is only semi-real and a reflection of true reality, the World of Forms.

Epistemology His greatest achievement is the view that the universe can be known by us through exercise of reason and logic.

Every human achievement, before or since, scientific, artistic, or other, stems from employment of reason and logic. Plato, on the other hand, said that knowledge of true reality could only be obtained through a mystical experience.

Ethics and Politics Aristotle said that ethical guidance should be obtained from observations of wise Athenians. Plato, on the other hand, advocated a strict dictatorship, with a hierarchical structure to society. On top would be the dictators, the philosopher kings, and below them would be the soldiers and farthest down would be farmers and tradesmen.

Why, then, didn’t Aristotle’s philosophical system prevail as number one in the world? His views contained weaknesses, some of which may have stemmed from when he was still aligned with Plato.

Metaphysics—An entity known as the “Prime Mover” seemed to have the function of holding the earth together. This entity did not interfere in earthly affairs and did not possess what we consider as God-like characteristics.

Epistemology—Later philosophers attacked reason and logic as qualities that could not be proven.

Evidently, Aristotle never invoked the doctrine of self evidentially.

Reason and logic are not provable, since any attack on them involved the attacker’s acceptance and use of reason and logic in his assertions.

Aristotle’s theory of Universals was quite flawed. This pertains to what is “man-ness”, “horsiness”, etc.

Statue in Aristotle’s Park Stagira

He claimed that every living entity contained two types of literal material elements, a “particular part” and a “universal part.” Antagonists replied rightly that, upon dissecting any living entity, only particular parts existed. In other words, the entity’s species, sex, height, weight, etc. were all unique.

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On ethics, Aristotle advocated a “Golden Mean”, to result from observing wise Athenians. In other words, the right amount of golden mean of “courage” was the mean between two extremes, cowardice and foolhardiness. Similar golden means were developed for all virtues.

As Rome conquered Greece and much of Europe, it is uncertain if they even knew of Aristotle. In any event, Romans and later Christian philosophers, especially the latter, adhered to Plato’s views.

Statue of Aristotle (1915) by Cipri Adolf Bermann at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau

When returning Crusaders brought much of Aristotle’s works back to Europe, one European monk studied them in detail. Thomas Aquinas, in the 13th century, concluded that Aristotle could be completely reconciled with Christianity (he failed). Yes, there was one world and it was knowable to Man. Earth was the material part and Heaven was the spiritual part.

Reason and logic could be employed to understand all about Earth, although faith was still required for the Heavenly portion.

By making reason and logic respectable and not subject to condemnation by the Catholic Church, Aquinas paved the way for the Renaissance. Once again, after centuries of the Dark and Middle ages, scientific inquiry and artistic and architectural achievements began.

In the minds of many, Aristotle’s philosophy became tied to the philosophy of the Catholic Church.

Later philosophers such as John Locke and the Founding Fathers of the U.S. all relied on reason and logic in developing their great political theory of individual rights. But they didn’t give Aristotle his due. Today, all of Western civilization relies, usually implicitly, on his teachings to reach current knowledge and our standard of living.

On a lighter note, Aristotle’s theme park is located in Stagira. During the summer, if the weather cooperates, can see some of the monasteries on Mount Athos. It prides itself in including a series of instruments.

When they are properly played, they reinforce the phenomena of nature.

The instruments include: solar, lens, Pentaphone, Optical Discs, Pendulum, Water Turbine, Inertia sopheres, Parabolic reflectors and Telescopses and they do make music.

His approach suffered from an obvious lack of objectivity in defining what were the ends around such Golden Mean. Also, just who were these “wise Athenians?”

These flaws all served to keep Aristotle’s philosophy from dominance in the Hellenic and Arabic worlds. He did, however, retain prominence and respect.

There have been accountings that Aristotle loved the honey of Hakidiki. It is based on the climate and edaphic conditions and flora of Halkidiki. This region was also known for its wine wine and still is. The say Aristotle’s favorite was “limnio.”

All things considered, we owe a profound debt of gratitude today to that singular Greek, Aristotle.

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Filippos B Kozani

Debi Lander

By Maralyn D. Hill and Sherrie Wilkolaski

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ebi Lander is a freelance travel journalist, photographer and seasoned international traveler who hails from St. Augustine, Florida. She has a keen interest in soft and active adventure, food and wine, history and culture. Her work has been published in Visa Black Card and Islands magazines, AOL Travel, FoxNews, Automotive Traveler, Business Jet Traveler, Taste of the South and many online publications.

Debi is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association. She maintains a website with a travel and food blog at www.bylandersea.com.

Ms. Lander, a former personal fitness trainer, completed 11 marathons including: Athens, Greece; Bordeaux, France; Big Sur, California; Marine Corps in Washington, DC; Cincinnati; New York City; Disney World; and Jacksonville, Florida.

She has four grown children and is Grandmother Mimi to seven (soon to be eight) grandchildren.

How did you discover your love for travel writing?

I’ve always had a dream to travel but didn’t get my very far until adulthood. To celebrate my 50th birthday, I decided to challenge myself to running a marathon. I choose to make it a real adventure and picked the original course in

Athens, Greece. At the time I was writing a fitness newsletter and everyone told me they loved reading about my trip to Greece. That sparked the idea of becoming a travel writer.

Which are you more passionate about writing or photography?

I am more passionate about photography because when I stand behind the lens, I can go places I wouldn’t otherwise. The camera removes any shyness. People have a way of responding to a camera, which became very evident in India- my latest trip. The kids were so excited for me to shoot them and then wanted to peek at their photo on the digital playback.

I was delighted.

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Photography also helps remind me of details and the camera often sees things I don’t notice at first glance. I adore sunrise and late afternoon sunlight.

What is the writing process like for you?

My writing process is painful; it doesn’t come easy. Getting the first draft from my head to the computer is a chore, but once I get that accomplished I am happier. Editing becomes almost fun, trying to find the right words to convey the meaning. I edit my articles numerous times and never feel I am really done.

When you get the chance to pick your travel destination, where do you go?

Featured Contributor

If I am given the chance to pick a destination, I make it an adventure.

I always look to connect with a place, be that going on a hike, taking a dip in the pool, a cooking class or tasting street food. I have a great desire to visit Easter Island, the Galapagos, and the pyramids of Egypt. I’ve never been to China or Thailand and would jump at the chance. In the United States I am especially fond of National Parks. I’d also love to live out a Medieval or Renaissance theme and spend the night at a castle in Europe with all of my grandchildren.

If you could be anyone else, who would it be?

I’d love to tag along with “Where in the World is Matt Lauer,” but I’d most like to be a great photographer, one

of the professionals hired by National Geographic. When I am out on a photo shoot I lose track of time and am simply dissolve into the moment.

To be able to produce a photo that moves people would be rewarding.

What motivates you to be a luxury journalist?

While I love adventure, who doesn’t love luxury? I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to experience hotels and meals fit for a king. I constantly pinch myself with wonder. A night in a five star hotel is a gift, a pleasure that everyone should enjoy at least once. Going behind the scenes as a journalist is a real bonus.

Tell us about a memorial time from one of your trips.

I once had a falconry lesson in Ireland which gave me my best ever connection of man, bird and nature.

Afterward I wrote: When I extend my arm, quick as a flash, Liffey (the hawk) plummets for the food I am holding and my heart rate accelerates to hummingbird-speed. Whoa–what a thrill. I forget to be frightened, watching the hawk greedily snatch the lure with his sharp talons, feeling the pressure through my glove. I am Mother Nature with a haughty grin; I feel powerful. Yet Liffey is in control, trained to follow his instinct for food; he merely permits me to enter his world.

of some type or meeting artists or chefs. To me, these are important ways of connecting with a place. A luxury hotel must offer top of the line rooms, bedding, etc. but having a concierge service that has great contacts is vitally important.

Is there a meal that stands out in your mind above others?

I once had a meal at the Four Seasons in Prague that is such a fun memory. I asked my host to let me sample local foods and wine and each course became an amazing surprise. But, at the end of the night they came out and covered the table with a nonstick tablecloth. A chef then drizzled a sweet red liquid in an abstract design and scattered candied orange and lemon rind around the delicacy, followed by candied kumquats. Rolled pieces of whiskey truffle bonbons were strategically placed as we witnessed a masterpiece sculptured before our eyes. A small rectangular slice of frozen chocolate mousse was added near the center along with a triangular Earl Gray gelato, further garnished by seductive frozen jasmine foam dollops. Delectable spoonfuls of a chocolate hazelnut blend known as a croccantino adorned the whole along with sprinkled pistachio nuts. Lastly, the lively artistic creation was topped off with warm and heavenly chocolate sauce.

Edible art!

In your hometown of St. Augustine, what do you recommend for a new traveler to experience?

If you came to St. Augustine, I would first take you to the Castillo de San Marcos, our original fort dating back to xxx, and a National Park site. We would then go the Pirate Museum (as St. Augustine really was sacked by pirates.) For lunch we would go to the Columbia Restaurant because they feature traditional Spanish food. St. Augustine maintains a rich history from Spanish settlement. In the afternoon we would visit Flagler College and see the former grandeur of Hotel Ponce de Leon built by Henry Flagler who was so instrumental in making Florida a tourist destination. We might take in the Lightner Museum, the Lighthouse or the Alligator Farm depending on the interest of my visitor. Cocktails would be outdoors, perhaps across the Inter-coastal Waterway at Caps on the Water and dinner at Collage, my favorite high end restaurant. My choice for lodging would be the five star Casa Monica Hotel or one of our fine B& B’s like the Saint Francis Inn or the more modern Casa de Suenos.

What do you do in your free time?

I almost always begin my day with a morning walk through the historic district of my hometown, St. Augustine, Florida. The tiny alleys, cobbled streets and bay-front remind me of Europe. I walk around the Castillo (fort) and think of the thousands of people who have visited and the history that has happened in this place.

I also enjoy yoga, movies, and visiting my grandchildren, who sadly all live far away.

What are your thoughts on luxury travel?

The luxury traveler is able to indulge in the extras that make a place so special. Be that hiring a private guide, nabbing tickets to a performance, taking an after hours tour, a lesson

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If you were stranded on an island, name one person and three items you would bring.

If I were stranded on an island I would hope for a guy like MacGyver from that old TV show. I would also want a WiFi connection for my laptop, lots of good wine and bug spray. I seem to be a magnet for mosquitoes.

What are three necessities you won’t travel without?

I must have my iPhone, my cameras and a jacket that folds up in a zippered pouch. I use the pouch as a lumbar cushion unless I get cold and need to put it on. Being a Floridian, I tend to get cold!

What does Luxe Beat Magazine mean to you?

I love being able to write and share my stories and photos with readers.

I’d like to think that I encourage people to leave their comfort zone and go somewhere new.

Debi Lander debilander@gmail.com www.bylandersea.com

Dining at the T

his month we join Chef Moeller as he steps through the swinging door into his first job interview in a “real French kitchen.” Over the next two years he will win high accolades as he progresses from a regional bistro in Dijon, through a fine dining restaurant and on to a lauded restaurant run by Chef Bernard Loiseau, who was the Gault Millau magazine Chef of the Year, and that was striving to move from two-star Michelin to three-star.

Dining at the White House—From the President’s Table to Yours

Les Vendanges in Dijon (continued)

At the end of September, JeanMarie helped to arrange my first job in France.

One evening, while his family dined at a brand-new restaurant nearby, JeanMarie mentioned to the owner that he knew “an American guy who wants to cook.” The owner was interested enough to meet me, so I picked a night and stopped by the restaurant to meet him. He had worked in England, and his English was excellent. We got acquainted over drinks, and I learned that his restaurant had been open for a month. We talked about my background, what I wanted to do, and what I hoped to accomplish in the future. The dinner rush began to let up, and he looked around and said, “Just a minute — let me go back and talk to the chef.”

He left me at the bar with my thoughts (and my single-malt Scotch) and disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned a few minutes later, he said, “All right, come on back with me. The chef wants to see your face.”

I stood up to follow him, thinking, All right, John, this is what you wanted, an entrée into a “real French kitchen.”

PAR T2 We stepped inside, and before the doors stopped swinging behind me, my experience told me exactly what the chef was thinking: We’ve only been open a few weeks. We’re still getting organized, and I’m buried in work. I need real help, and this guy brings me an American chef?!

At the cutting board, the chef, whose name was René, noisily chopped some vegetables, and then glanced up at me, a hint of contempt in his eyes. “American, huh?” His French accent was thick. He lowered his gaze. Chop, chop, chop, chop! He looked at me again. “American, huh?

Hamburger? You hamburger, huh?”

Chop, chop, chop, chop!

Feeling awkward, I replied, “Yeah, yeah... American hamburger... yeah, yeah.” I tried to say something to him in French, but my language skills were still a bit shaky. It felt like one of the worst interviews ever, but to my surprise, he invited me to come back on Friday night.

“You’re welcome to come and help us out. I can’t pay you anything right now,” he cautioned, “but I can feed you and maybe give you a couple drinks at the end of the night.”

L’Estancot

Our relationship felt a little rocky at first, but we found ways to make it work. My French was rudimentary, but the chef patiently took time to help me with the language, and I continued to improve. I didn’t have a regular schedule, and I wasn’t

getting paid, but as the place got busier we found a pretty good working rhythm. After a month or so, the owner approached me again.

“John, the chef says he likes you, and asks if you’d like to start working regularly on Fridays and Saturdays.

I can pay you a little — on the side.”

L’Estancot was a typical French country bistro, tucked away in a back street behind Place SaintMichel in Dijon — not at all touristy — the type of place where the locals would go to eat. Right away, I found myself cooking things that I had not seen before. Cris de canard (a piece of duck with the leg and thigh combined; l’onglet frites (hanger steak and fries; hanger steak comes from up underneath the rib and is not commonly available in the States); Poulet de Bresse, a breed of chicken that originated in eastern France between the Rhone River and the French Alps, and has a unique and exquisite flavor; and our customers liked Charolais beef, a light-skinned breed that originated in the Bourgogne Region of France.

Wine was very popular, of course, and the patrons would drink vin ordinaire, unlabeled local wines, served in pitchers or unlabeled bottles that had four stars molded into the glass around the neck.

My strategy was paying off: through patience and hard work, I now had a real part-time job. After a while it became full-time, and that busy little bistro became my genuine introduction to French cooking — and my first connection with the French culinary community. René was generous to a fault. On Mondays, when the restaurant was closed, he often invited me to go with him to the countryside. We would go fishing or visit with some of his friends.

He showed me the area surrounding Dijon and introduced me to more foods and wines. In the end, René and I ended up working very well together, and he taught me the basics that I needed.

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Though this was at the bistro level, it was still a step above many of the things I’d been working with back in the States. I wanted to absorb everything I could from René, and once we got the communication down and I was able to start conversing with him, I discovered the calendar at the end of the cooking line. At the top, the calendar had a picture of France, and the entire country was broken down into what is called departments (basically another word for states), and they showed pictures of different foods and where in the country they originated. Sometimes, if we were working with something I wasn’t familiar with, René would bring me over to that picture of France and show me that this ingredient had come from this area and this from that area. Without that simple direction from him, it would’ve been just another mushroom on the cutting board, but he helped me understand the importance of where it came from; that is, if you go to that part of France, it would not have the same flavor and they might do things very differently there than where we were.

French cuisine is very regional.

You travel 200 miles in France, and you’re in a totally different area, preparing totally different dishes in entirely different ways, and even drinking different kinds of wine. The norm in Dijon isn’t necessarily the norm elsewhere.

You go down to Lyon and find that what they’re doing in bistros there won’t be the same as what goes on in Dijon. The people who lived there said they could never do what I did, just leave their home province and travel around. The people were as regional as the cuisine. René lived his whole life in Dijon. He told me, “I hardly ever went anywhere.” In fact, after I had moved on and we had stopped working together, I went back for a visit, and he said to me, “John, you won’t believe what I’m going to do.” “What’s that?” I said.

Book Excerpt

White House He replied, “The owner of a restaurant where I used to be a chef now has a place in Costa Rica. He wants me to come down there and work for him. A year or two ago, I would’ve said, no way! I never would’ve done it, but because I met you, and saw what you went through to learn the French language and a whole new cuisine, I told myself, ‘I can do that, too!’ ” With a smile, he looked at me and said, “I’m going!”

I had actually inspired this fifty-fiveyear-old chef to pack his bags and leave his homeland for the first time.

Unfortunately, after I left that day, and René went to Costa Rica, we never had contact again, but I think of him often.

It made me feel great that my example helped him decide to take that trip. I hope he’s well, and I’m sure he’s loving the fishing down there. René taught me how to cut up the different types of meat, such as l’onglet, that we didn’t have over here in the States. We’d get produce in, and I would trim it down to make the portions for the restaurant menu. In a couple of months I was becoming proficient. Did I already have some knife skills? Did I know how to cut a piece of meat? Yes — but not the way René wanted it!

That’s part of cooking, too. Every restaurant and hotel and country club you go to, there’s a different way of doing things. You’re always going to walk away from anyplace having learned something different — something that you didn’t see anywhere else. In France, I went from just cutting meat to really learning the subtleties of how to prepare it, and a lot of that came later, especially as I moved on to Chez Camille and then to Bernard Loiseau’s Hotel de la Côte d’Or. In France, all of our fish arrived whole, never as ready-to-cook fillets.

They had the heads and gills and guts and fins — everything. We had to break them down altogether. One of the worst things I had to work

with was quail. We’d get these whole little birds in, that still had the feathers, and I had to eviscerate them. Cleaning out these delicate quail wasn’t easy, especially if you’ve got big hands like mine. Chicken was different, but I still had to be careful. If the knife slipped while I was removing the liver, I might pierce the gallbladder and spill bile on my cutting board. The bittertasting bile would ruin everything, and I’d have to start all over again.

When I was done, I’d have one pile of all the innards and outers, as we called them, and then a plateful of the final product, the trimmed-out chicken parts ready for cooking.

This was all part of the difference between cooking and cheffing: knowing how to prepare all these meats rather than just using commercially available products.

René also taught me how to break down a rabbit. One day, he and I were at his girlfriend’s farm for a huge party that lasted from one in the afternoon till almost midnight.

Before dinner started, there were some rabbits that needed to be prepared for cooking, so René grabbed a live rabbit and we went out to the barn. He killed and skinned the animal, and started to break it all down. That was the first time I’d ever seen the whole process, and I was intrigued by it. Whether you’re looking at a rabbit, a lamb, a calf, or a cow, it’s all the same layout. The carcasses may be bigger, but everything’s in the same spot, and you can make all the same cuts.

I continued with René through the end of the school year, but having completed my language studies, I had started to feel that it was time to move on again. And, once again, the family provided me with the opportunity. Catherine had a friend who had been taking a hoteliers course at a local college where she had met the head chef at a finedining restaurant who was looking for an experienced chef, and she set up an interview for me.

The owner at L’Estancot was very disappointed that I was leaving — he had been setting up paperwork for me to be able to work there permanently. René was also sorry to see me go, but he said, “J’ comprends — I fully understand.”

Chez Camille

Chez Camille was a quaint country inn located in Arnay-le-Duc in the Burgundy hill country west of Dijon.

The ten-room inn featured a small dining room, and I learned traditional Burgundy-style cooking from M. Poinsot, one of the best chefs I’ve ever known.

At Chez Camille, a case of chickens came in one day. They still had the guts in them, still had the heads and feet on, they even had the pinfeathers on. The first thing I had to do was run the whole bird over a fire to burn off the pinfeathers.

And at eight o’clock in the morning, the last thing you want to smell is burning feathers. It’s not appetizing at all, and it’s even worse if you’ve had a couple of drinks the night before. At first, it took me a long time to break down a case of chickens, because I had to dissect every one of them, remove all the guts and heads and feet and feathers, and then portion them out.

Just preparing a chicken for cooking is completely different there than it is here in the States, where it usually comes prepped by the factory.

As a chef, once you’ve worked with a particular animal enough times, you understand the anatomy that’s beneath all the meat, so when you go to stick your knife in, you know exactly where to put it. You think, I’ll run it alongside this bone, so I can get this portion. I’ll punch it through here this way to get that one. Every time I look at a carcass, I envision it with no meat on it, so I always know where to put the knife. That’s how I view it, and that’s how I teach it. The way I cut up a chicken is different from how it is usually done. When I demonstrate

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how to cut up a chicken, people say they’ve never seen it done that way.

I don’t smack it and bang it with a cleaver — I disarticulate the whole chicken and never crack a single bone. I teach the technique of how to pop a joint, run a knife through here and through there, and boom — you have the whole thing.

One of the lessons that I learned was to always keep the knife pointed toward the bone, so I cut, cut, cut, but I’m hitting the bone each time.

I never have the knife pointed toward the meat. If, instead of going against the bone, the knife slices into a quality piece of meat, the meat is ruined, so whether it’s rabbit or chicken or anything else, you always point the knife toward the bone. That way, it doesn’t matter if you slip and hit the bone. But if you hit the money part of the meat and cut into it, you ruin what that piece of meat can offer, by bleeding out juices or by spoiling the presentation when you slice it after cooking.

Aside from damaging the meat and spoiling the presentation, one problem of using a cleaver is that it smashes bones and leaves the bone chips behind. Throughout the process, you use your sense of touch, which becomes refined over time. I run my hand across it, so I know it’s just pure meat and also to make sure that the final product I’m going to serve has no shards of bone or cartilage or anything that someone could choke on or experience as unpleasant.

The step I had made from L’Estancot to the kitchen at Chez Camille was huge. For one thing, the chef had a lot of young apprentices, and he had one or two people who were a little more experienced, so he was there from morning till night almost every day of the season — he rarely took a day off.

He had a very calm personality, a quality uncommon among chefs.

One evening, as we worked together behind the line, he took his torchon (dishcloth) and snapped it on the

back of my calf. I looked at him and said, “Chef, what are you doing?” and he replied, “I have to start giving you some bruises, so when you go back to America you can say, ‘Yeah, I worked at a French restaurant!’ ” That gentle joke exemplifies what an even-tempered guy he was.

I never saw him get flustered.

Years later, in 2004, I took a trip to France with my family. As we went through Arnay-le-Duc, we came down an alleyway next to the back kitchen area. I was going to go in the front but I said, “I’ll just try the door I used when I worked here.” I knocked, and a guy came to the door. I said, “I’m looking for Chef Poinsot. Is he here?”

He replied, “Yeah — he’s around back.” I saw that the kitchen had been expanded, and was different from the kitchen I’d worked in. They had added an extra prep room in the back, so I went around a corner — and there was Poinsot!

He came over and looked at me and said, “Comment ca va?” (How are you?)

I said, “I used to work for you back in 1984.” He looked at me and said, “Yeah, I remember you — the American guy.” The next thing out of his mouth was “Tu est toujours en cuisine?” (Are you still in the kitchen?) I said, “Oui.” At that time I was still working in the White House, and I started to tell him about it. He was very, very happy.

I had left my wife and kids in the car, because I hadn’t wanted to bring my entire family in the back door.

Poinsot said, “Well, who are you here with?” I said, “Oh, with my family.

We’re actually staying across the street in that little hotel there.” He replied, “Actually, I own that place now.” We chatted awhile, and then he said, “I invite you and your family to come back for lunch tomorrow as my guests.” And we did. We had planned on going back down to Dijon, but I said, “We’re going back there for lunch!”

Everyone was delighted, and Chef Poinsot just kept bringing out dish after delicious dish. Then he went down to the cellar and brought up a fabulous pinot noir. He referred to me as an ancien, meaning an old one — an old crewmember, which was exactly what happened again when we went to Meursault, where I had worked les vendanges. We were driving through Meursault trying to find the Domaine Michelot vineyard, and I was looking left and right because all these old towns look

identical in a lot of ways. I looked up and saw an old man step into the street. I hit my brakes, and as he crossed, I said, “That’s M. Michelot, the winemaker I worked for!”

you can stay here and I’ll feed you.”

I pulled up a bit and said, “Monsieur Michelot?” And he said, “Oui?” I said, “M. Michelot, I worked for you, cutting grapes back in 1984 and ’85.”

And he said, “Oh... I’m an old man. I’ve had so many people work for me that I don’t remember them all.”

“Well, I was the American guy.”

“Ah, the American guy — yes, I remember you now!” Then he turned and yelled to the porch where his wife, Genevieve, was seated, “Genevieve! Nous avons un ancien!

Allez! Genevieve, we have an old-timer coming in! Open the gates!” To me, he said, “I invite you and your family to come in for a wine tasting.” So we all made our way down to the old part of the cave, including my two boys, who sat down to their first wine tasting.

Thanks to my improved conversational skills, along with his exceptional patience, M. Poinsot and I worked very well together through the summer of 1985. Then, late in August, he startled me by saying, “You know, John, it’s time for you to go.”

I looked at Chef Poinsot and didn’t know what to say. He continued, “You need to go out and see more of the culinary world. I’ll write you a letter of introduction and give you a list of restaurants and chefs to visit.”

He helped me understand how important it was to broaden my cooking repertoire while I was young, and he saw that I needed to make the most of my time in France.

Hotel de la Côte d’Or

Basically, the letter that he wrote said, “Here I present this young guy who worked for me this summer.

Please speak to him and give him a chance.” I headed to the Côte d’Or region of Burgundy and started to work down his list. Côte d’Or means “hills of gold” and is named because of the magnificent color from the grapevines that cover the hills in every direction as far as the eye can see. I stopped in at the Hotel de la Côte d’Or. There I met with Bernard Loiseau, showed him the letter, and asked him if he was looking for anyone. He said, “The season is starting to wind down, but I could take on another stagiaire (trainee).”

Immediately after that, he said, “Je ne payer pas (I won’t pay you), but

Room and board, and that was it, so I had to do some hard thinking.

I needed money to survive, but the real reason for my journey to France was to work in a restaurant of this caliber, two-star Michelin striving to become three-star. As it turned out, it took ten more years before Chef Loiseau got that third star, but in 1984–85 when I was there, he was already a rising star — he was chef of the year in the Gault Millau magazine and had been written up in several other magazines. I asked myself, Well, should I just suck it up and live cheap for a couple of months? There’s nothing wrong with that, everyone should do it once in a while, just to understand living within your means. I decided, “Let’s give this a try.” And so I accepted.

I had two weeks off between leaving the job at Chez Camille and when I needed to report to Chef Loiseau, so I decided to call Monsieur Michelot at the vineyard in Meursault and ask about working the grape harvest again. He welcomed me back, and as a “veteran,” I got to stay at the house this time. The extra money I earned made a nice addition to the couple of hundred dollars my folks sent to me, and helped me get by while I worked at Hotel de la Côte d’Or. After those two weeks in the vineyard, I started work at Bernard Loiseau’s place at the beginning of October and worked there through April. This was a whole other grade of cuisine! It was astounding just to see the level of cooking and how many cooks were in the kitchen — how many people it took to do everything. I benefited from it, without a doubt. I learned how to work with ingredients I had never seen before, and I got to be a part of the restaurant’s effort to achieve its three-star Michelin status.

It was very exciting to watch what was being done. The restaurant managers and the servers would come back to the kitchen with a ticket and say, “Très soigné,” by which they meant, “This is for a very important guest.” The chef de cuisine kept a small box in the kitchen. He’d take an index card, write on it what they were serving to that particular guest, and file it under his name, so whenever that guest came in, we never served him the same thing we’d given him before. At times a guest might say, “I’ll be happy with whatever you’d like to prepare for me,” so we’d look at the index cards, see what he or

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she had eaten the last time, and create something different. Learning how to treat VIP guests was a priceless experience for me.

One day, the President of France came in for lunch. I happened to be working the meat station, and I made the filet that went on his plate.

I found that very exciting, little knowing that a couple of years later I would be cooking for presidents and heads of state every day!

Loiseau’s place was also where I came to fully understand the importance of impeccable presentation. If we were dicing a tomato, for example, the dice had to be perfectly square. All our cuts had to be precise and uniform, without compromise. Everything had to be just right — a tomato, a slice of onion, the chopped chives we might sprinkle on top of something, or a sprig of herb used as a garnish — everything exactly the same each time. We’d pick through a whole bunch to remove any second-rate ones and to make sure that we selected the one that was first-rate, the one worthy of being on the plate that was going to represent us when it went out to the customer.

I was becoming accustomed to French culinary tradition and ingredients and a way of life, spending eight or nine months at one restaurant and then moving on to the next. I was starting to realize what valuable experience I was accumulating. Each time, as I went to the next level, I could really see the difference in the quality of ingredients I was using.

It always comes back to the ingredients!

At Loiseau’s, we worked mornings and evenings, took a break between 2:00 and 2:30 in the afternoon, and came back at 5:30 for the dinner service.

One day, I came back into the kitchen a bit early. I was the first one there, and as I walked in, I smelled something and thought, What in the world is that? I’ve never smelled anything like it in my life. As I followed my nose all over the kitchen, it brought me over to a table that had a very small balsawood box — like a miniature crate — five inches by five inches, sitting on it. There was white paper inside it, and I moved it aside, and there sat the first fresh truffle I’d ever come across. It perfumed the whole room; you couldn’t escape it — it was intoxicating. In that special moment, I had one of the best experiences you could ever have with a black truffle. I mean, here in the

Book Excerpt States, yes, I’d opened a few cans of truffles (we didn’t even have frozen truffles back then). They were the only truffles I’d ever seen back in the early 1980s, and their quality was minimal. Nowadays, you can buy frozen truffles, and you can get fresh ones, too — they cost a fortune, of course. But that afternoon, walking into that kitchen and experiencing that aroma, I was in awe. It was a culinary first for me: to see a truffle in its raw state. I know now, of course, that using a perfect fresh truffle like that, instead of using a canned truffle, makes all the difference in the world. Superiorquality fresh ingredients inspire a chef to experiment, to reach out and create innovative new dishes.

It was fantastic to work with Loiseau, who used all of the local ingredients and transformed them into his interpretation of regional Burgundy cuisine. Escargot, for example. Usually, people open a can of snails, put some garlic butter on them, stick them in the shells, and everyone goes wild. At the Hotel de la Côte d’Or, local people would bring in boxes of le petit escargot fresh, and we cooked them from the raw state.

We’d open up the refrigerator and find them stuck on the inside of the door. They were crawling out and trying to get away. I think they knew what was going to happen as soon as they started smelling the thyme and bay leaves. You can’t produce quality like that when it comes from a can.

kitchen had to be perfect the first time out. There was no second chance. Absorbing that sense of commitment to such a high level of quality was invaluable in my development. Later, it was one of the deciding factors in my being brought on board at the White House.

That très soigné VIP experience at Loiseau’s was what I later recreated every single day at the White House, whether I was serving the President and the First Lady a casual dinner upstairs, or if the President of France was downstairs for a working lunch, or preparing a state dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan.

I had been working with Chef Loiseau in Saulieu for just seven months when circumstances found me on the move again. An officer approached me as I was entering my car outside the restaurant one afternoon, and asked me in French, “What nationality are you?” He demanded my papers, looked at my passport, and saw that I had overstayed my visa, so he ordered me into his police van. We sat at a little table in the back, and he grilled me about what I was doing, why I was there, and what my plans were.

Finally, the policeman wrote me up as an illegal and told me I had to report to the prefecture in Dijon the next day — some ninety kilometers away.

Before making that drive, I tried to figure out what to do. I assumed I was going to have to move, but where? Then I remembered a friend, Jean-Yves Crenn, a chef from Cléder, in Brittany, near the English Channel.

All in all, my progression through the restaurants, from bistro to Michelin, couldn’t have gone better if I’d planned it. From beginning to end, it was absolutely perfect. And back in the States, it turned out that the whole French experience in general, and particularly my time at Loiseau’s, was an important factor in finding work. Having VIPs come in there on a daily basis, I had to produce a first-rate product all the time.

Everything that left the

Before I left for Loiseau’s, he had told me, “If you ever need anything, give me a call.” So I rang him up and said, “Hey, I think I’m in trouble here,” and explained my immigration difficulties.

“Look,” he responded, “my busy season is about to begin, and I could use some extra help, so just jump on a train and come up here.” I agreed to give him a call after my trip to the prefecture.

The next day, I drove to Dijon and reported to the prefecture. The officer took me to an interrogation room and started grilling me all over again. He launched into a tirade — all in French — about how I had overstayed my visa and was working illegally. He went on and on, stressing how serious it all was. “Don’t you know,” he yelled, “I could throw you in jail — or put you on the next plane back to America?”

Finally, he stopped yelling. He looked at me like he was sizing me up, and continued in a calmer voice. “And you — what are your plans now?” “Well, I’m planning to leave town.” What else could I say?

“Okay, then,” he warned. “But if I see you around anywhere, I’ll have to take you into

4

custody, and you’ll be on the next plane back to America!”

I left the prefecture and immediately found a phone to call Jean-Yves up in Brittany. He reassured me, “Relax.

Just come on up here.”

I boarded a train for Cléder the next day, and was soon working at his restaurant, another small, but upscale, country restaurant — this time in Brittany.

Those six months introduced me to yet another style of regional cooking, further broadening my culinary repertoire, but I began to feel that (immigration troubles notwithstanding) it was time to head back across the Atlantic. My short backpacking trip to Europe had grown into a two-and-a-halfyear odyssey! Without having a real agenda, I had lived day to day, barely aware of how much time had passed.

Looking back over those days — the people I met along the way, and the experiences and opportunities that presented themselves — I suddenly realized that I had accomplished my goals. My ambition had been to experience cooking in France and to earn credentials as a French chef.

I knew that I was ready to move on and use what I had learned.

It was time to head back home to the United States.

About the Author

Chef John Moeller is a member of an elite corps of chefs who have served in the White House preparing très soigné cuisine for three Presidents, First Families, and their guests, including world leaders like Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela, and for famous guests like Julia Child and Sophia Loren.

Over the course of his 13-year career in the White House, he focused on creating unique and one-of-a-kind dishes that featured his trademark use of fresh, seasonal ingredients inspired by his classical French training with an American twist.

To learn more about Dining at the White House visit diningatthewhitehouse.com Reprinted with permission from LifeReloaded Specialty Publishing lifereloaded.com. All materials copyright ©2013 LifeReloaded Specialty Publishing LLC and John Moeller.

Chapter One Harvard Yard

Wednesday, August 26, 1914 It was said that heroic architects didn’t fare well in Harvard Yard. If you wanted haut monde, move past the Johnston Gate, preferably to New York. The Yard was Boston’s: energetic, spare, solid.

The Yard had evolved as a collection of buildings, each with its own oddities, interspersed among large elm trees and tracts of grass.

The rich red brickwork of Sever Hall stood apart from the austere gray of University Hall. Appleton Chapel’s Romanesque curves differed from the gabled turrets of Weld and the sharp peaks of Matthews. Holworthy, Hollis, and Stoughton were as plain as the Pilgrims. Holden Chapel, decorated with white cherubs above its door and tucked in a corner of the Yard, looked like a young girl’s playhouse. The red walls of Harvard and Massachusetts halls, many agreed, could be called honest but not much more. The massive new library had been named for a young man who went down on the Titanic two years before. There were those who would’ve had the architect trade tickets with the young lad. At least the squat form, dour roofline, and grate of Corinthian columns did indeed look like a library.

The Yard had become not a single building demanding the attention of all around it but the sum of its parts: its many irregular halls filled with many irregular people. Taken together over the course of nearly three hundred years, this endeavor of the Puritans was judged a resounding success by most. In fact, none were inclined to think higher of it than those forced to leave Harvard, such as the bespectacled Wilhelm von Lützow Brandl, a senior and the only son of a Prussian countess, at that hour sud- denly called to return to Germany.

A soft rain fell in the Yard that day, but Wils seemed not to notice.

His hands were stuffed in his trouser pockets; his gait slowed as the drops dampened his crested jacket, spotted his glasses, and wilted his starched collar. The dying elms, bored to their cores by a plague of leopard moths, provided meager cover.

He looked out to the Yard. Men in shirtsleeves and bowler hats carried old furniture and stacks of secondhand books into their dormitories. This was where the

The End o poor students lived. But the place had a motion, an energy. These Americans found no man above them except that he prove it on merit, and no man beneath them except by his own faults. They believed that the son of a fishmonger could match the son of a count and proved it with such regularity that an aristocrat like Wils feared for the future of the wealthy class.

He sighed, looking over the many faces he would never know. Mein Gott. He ran his hands through his short blond hair. I’ll miss this.

His mother had just wired demanding his return home. He pulled out the order from his pocket and reread it. She insisted that for his own safety he return home as soon as possible. She argued that Boston had been a hotbed of intolerance for more than three hundred years, and now news had reached Berlin that the American patriots conspired to send the German conductor of the Boston Symphony to a detention camp in the state of Georgia. That city was no place for her son.

She was understandably distressed, although he was certain the reports in Germany made the situation sound worse than it was. The papers there would miss that Harvard was welcoming, for instance. If the front door at Harvard was closed to a student due to his race, class, or nationality, inevitably a side door opened and a friend or professor would haul you back inside by your collar. Once a member of the club, you stuck together.

But Boston was a different matter.

Proud, parochial, and hostile, Boston was a suspicious place filled with suspicious people. It was planned even in pre-Revolutionary times to convey—down to the last missing signpost—“If you don’t know where you are in Boston, what business do you have being here?” And they meant it. Wils kept his distance from Boston.

Wils crumpled the note in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket, then walked slowly to his seminar room in Harvard Hall, opened the door, and took an empty seat at the table just as the campus bell tolled.

The room was populated with

twenty young men, their books, and a smattering of their sports equipment piled on the floor behind their chairs. After three years together in various clubs, classes, or sports, they were familiar faces.

Wils recognized the arrogant mien of Thomas Althorp and the easy confidence of John Eliot, the captain of the football team. Three others were in the Spee Club, a social dining group Wils belonged to. One was a Swede, the other two from England.

The tiny, bespectacled Professor Charles Townsend Copeland walked to the head of the table. He wore a tweed suit and a checked tie and carried a bowler hat in his hand along with his notes. He cast a weary look over them as he placed his notes on the oak lectern.

The lectern was new with an updated crest, something that seemed to give Copeland pause. Wils smiled as he watched his professor ponder it. The crest was carved into the wood and painted in bright gold, dif- ferent from those now-dulled ones painted on the backs of the black chairs in which they sat. The old crest spoke of reason and revelation: two books turned up, one turned down. The latest version had all three books upturned.

Apparently you could—and were expected to—know everything by the time you left Harvard.

It would take some time before the crest found its way into all the classrooms and halls. Yankees were not ones to throw anything out, Wils had learned. He had been told more than once that two presidents and three generals had used this room and the chairs in which they sat.

Even without this lore, it still wasn’t easy to forget such lineage, as the former occupants had a way of becoming portraits on the walls above, staring down with questioning glares. They were worthy—were you?

Professor Copeland called the class to order with a rap at the podium.

“You are in Advanced Composition.

If you intend to compose at a beginning or intermediate level, I recommend you leave.”

He then ran through the drier

110

details of the class. Wils took few notes, having heard this speech several times before.

“In conclusion,” Copeland said, looking up from his notes, “what wasn’t explained in the syllabus is a specific point of order with which Harvard has not dealt in some time.

This seminar started with thirty-two students. As you see, enrollment is now down to twenty, and the registrar has moved us to a smaller room.

“This reduction is not due to the excellent quality of instruction, which I can assure you is more than you deserve. No. This new war calls our young men to it like moths to the flame. And as we know moths are not meant to live in such impassioned conditions, and we can only hope that the war’s fire is extinguished soon.

“If you do remain in this class, and on this continent, I expect you to write with honesty and clarity.

Organize your thoughts, avoid the bombastic, and shun things you cannot possibly know.

“Mr. Eliot, I can ward off sleep for only so long when you describe the ocean’s tide. Mr. Brandl, you will move me beyond the comfort of tearful frustration if you write yet another essay about something obscure in Plato. Mr. Althorp, your poems last semester sounded like the scrapings of a novice violinist.

And Mr. Goodwin, no more discourses on Milton’s metaphors. It provokes waves of acid in my stomach that my doctor says I can no longer tolerate.”

Wils had now heard the same tirade for three years and the barbs no longer stung. As Copeland rambled, Wils’s mind wandered back to the telegram in his pocket. Though a dutiful son, he wanted to argue against his mother’s demands, against duty, against, heaven forbid, the philosophy of Kant. His return to Germany would be useless. The situation was not as intolerable as his mother believed. These were his classmates. He had good work to accomplish. The anti-German activity would abate if the war were short— and everyone said it would be.

“Brandl!” Copeland was standing over him. “Sir?” “Don’t be a toad. Pay attention.”

Literature

of Innocence “Yes sir.”

“Come to Hollis 15 after class, Mr. Brandl.” Thomas snickered, “German rat.”

Wils cast a cold stare back.

When the Yard’s bell tolled the hour, Professor Copeland closed his book and looked up at the class. “Before you go—I know some of you may leave this very day to fight in Europe or to work with the Red Cross. Give me one last word.”

His face, stern for the past hour of lecturing, softened.

He cleared his throat. “As we have heard before and will hear again, there is loss in this world, and we shall feel it, if not today, then tomorrow, or the week after that. That is the way of things. But there is also something equal to loss that you must not forget. There is an irrepressible renewal of life that we can no more stop than blot out the sun.

This is a good and encouraging thought.

“Write me if you go to war and tell me what you see. That’s all for today.”

And with that the class was dismissed.

Wils opened the heavy green door of Hollis Hall and dutifully walked up four flights of steps to Professor Copeland’s suite. He knocked on a door that still bore the arms of King George III. Copeland, his necktie loosened at the collar, opened the door.

“Brandl. Glad I saw you in class. We need to talk.”

“Yes, Professor. And I need your advice on something as well.”

“Most students do.”

The professor ushered Wils inside.

The smell of stale ash permeated the room. The clouds cast shadows into the sitting area

around the fireplace. Rings on the ceiling above the glass oil lamps testified to Copeland’s refusal of electricity for his apartment. The furniture—a worn sofa and chairs— bore the marks of years of students’ visits. A pitcher of water and a scotch decanter stood on a low table, an empty glass beside them.

Across the room by the corner windows,

Copeland had placed a large desk and two wooden chairs. Copeland walked behind the desk, piled high with news articles, books, and folders, and pointed Wils to a particularly weathered chair in front of him, in which rested a stack of yellowing papers, weighted by a human skull of all things. Copeland had walked by it as if it were a used coffee cup.

“One of ours?” asked Brandl, as he moved the skull and

111

papers respectfully to the desk.

The severe exterior of Copeland’s face cracked into a smile. “No. I’m researching Puritans. They kept skulls around. Reminded them to get on with it. Not dawdle. Fleeting life and all.”

“Oh yes. ‘Why grin, you hollow skull—’” “Please keep your Faust to yourself, Wils. But I do need to speak to you on that subject.”

“Faust?”

“No, death,” said Copeland.

His lips tightened as he seemed to be weighing his words carefully. His face lacked any color or warmth now. “Well, more about life before death.”

“Mine?” asked Wils.

“No. Maximilian von Steiger’s life before his death.”

“What the devil? Max...he, he just left for the war. He’s dead?”

Copeland leaned toward him across the desk. “Yes, Maximilian von Steiger is dead. And no, he didn’t leave. Not in the corporeal sense. All ocean liners bound for Germany have been temporarily held, pending the end of the conflict in Europe.”

Wils’s eyes met Copeland’s. “What do you mean?” “Steiger was found dead in his room.”

“Fever?”

“Noose.”

Wils’s eyes stung. His lips parted, but no sound came out. “You are sure?” As Copeland nodded, Wils suddenly felt nauseous, his collar too tight. He had known Max nearly all his life. They lived near each other back in Prussia; they attended the same church and went to the same schools. Their mothers were even good friends. Wils loosened his tie. “May I have some water, please, Professor?” Wils finally asked in a raspy voice. As Copeland turned his back to him, Wils took a deep breath, pulled out a linen handkerchief, and cleaned the fog from his spectacles.

The professor walked over to a nearby table and poured a glass of water. “How well did you know Max?” he asked, handing the glass to Wils.

He took the tumbler and held it tight, trying to still his shaking

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Literature hand. “We met at church in Prussia when we were in the nursery. I’ve known him forever.”

“Did you know anything about any gaming debts that he’d incurred?”

Debts? “No.” “Do you think that gaming debts were the cause of his beating last week?” asked Copeland, sitting back in his desk chair.

Wils moved to the edge of his seat.

The prügel? Last Wednesday’s fight flashed into his mind. There had been a heated argument between Max and a very drunk Arnold Archer after dinner at the Spee dining club. Max had called him a coward for supporting the British but not being willing to fight for them. It wasn’t the most sensible thing to do given Archer ran with brawny, patriotic friends. On Thursday at the boathouse Max had received the worst of a fight with Archer’s gang.

“It was a schoolboys’ fight. They were drunk. Max was beaten because Arnold Archer was mad about the Germans beating the British in Belgium. Archer couldn’t fight because America’s neutral, so he hit a German who wouldn’t renounce his country. These fights break out all the time over politics when too much brandy gets in the way. People get over their arguments.”

“Didn’t Max make some nationalistic speech at the Spee Club?”

Wils’s back stiffened in indignation.

“If Max had been British it would have gone unnoticed. But because he was German, Archer beat him.” He paused. “Max was going to tell the truth as he knew it, and thugs like Archer weren’t going to stop him.”

Copeland tapped a pencil against his knee. “How well do you think his strategy worked?”

Wils’s eyes widened. “Being beaten wasn’t Max’s fault, Professor. It was the fault of the person who used his fists.”

“Wils, Arnold Archer’s father is coming to see me this evening to discuss the case. His son is under suspicion for Max’s death.”

“I hope Arnold goes to jail.”

“Arnold may not have been involved.”

Wils set the glass down on the wooden desk and stood up. “He’s a pig.” “Wils, according to Arnold, Max tried to send sensitive information about the Charlestown Navy Yard to Germany.” A faint tinge of pink briefly colored the professor’s cheeks. “Arnold said he knew about this and was going to go to the police. Max may have thought that he would go to jail for endangering the lives of Americans and British citizens. And if what Arnold said was

right, then Max may have faced some very serious consequences.”

“America’s not at war.”

The professor didn’t respond.

“Why would Max do such a thing then?” asked Wils curtly. “Arnold says he was blackmailed because of his gaming debts.”

“What could Max possibly have found? He’s incapable of remembering to brush his hair on most days.”

Copeland threw up his hands, nearly tipping over a stack of books on the desk. “I have no idea. Maybe America’s building ships for England.

Maybe we’ve captured a German ship. Apparently he found something.

Sometime later, Max was found by his maid, hung with a noose fashioned from his own necktie. His room was a wreck.” Copeland looked at him intently. “And now the police don’t know if it was suicide or murder. Arnold might have wanted to take matters into his own hands—as he did the other night after the Spee Club incident.”

Wils ran his hands through his hair.

“Arnold a murderer? It just doesn’t make sense. It was a schoolboys’ fight. And Arnold’s a fool, but much more of a village idiot than a schemer.”

“Don’t underestimate him, Wils.

He’s not an idiot. He’s the son of a very powerful local politician who wants to run for higher office. His father holds City Hall in his pocket.”

“Are you speaking of Boston City Hall?” “Yes.” “I could care less about some martinet from Boston. I’m related to half the monarchs in Europe,” Wils sneered.

“City Hall has more power over you right now than some king in a faraway land,” said Copeland.

“Arresting another German, maybe stopping a German spy ring—that would be exactly the thing that could get a man like Charles Archer elected to Congress. I’d recommend you cooperate with City Hall on any investigation into Max’s death. If you have information, you will need to share it.”

“If Arnold killed Max—” He stopped, barely able to breathe. Max dead by Arnold’s hand? Unthinkable. “Was there a note?”

“No, nothing. That’s why the Boston police may arrest Archer even if his father does run City Hall.

Either it was a suicide and it won’t happen again, or perhaps we need to warn our German students about... a problem.” Copeland’s fingers brushed the edge of his desk. “That was the point of my summoning you here now. It could’ve been suicide.

Therefore, the police want to talk with you before innocent people are accused, and I’d recommend you do it.”

But Wils had already taken the bait.

“Innocent people? Arnold Archer?

Is this a joke?” asked Wils.

“He may not be guilty.”

Wils paused. “I’m not sure how much money his father’s giving Harvard, but it had better be a lot.”

“That’s most uncharitable!”

“And so is the possible murder of a decent human! Where’s Professor Francke? I’d like to speak with him.

He is a great German leader here on campus whom everyone respects.

He’ll know how to advise me.”

“You are right. Professor Francke is a moderate, respected voice of reason. But he’s German and the police questioned him this morning.

He is cooperating. His ties to the kaiser have naturally brought him under suspicion. City Hall thinks he could be a ringleader of a band of German spies. The dean of students asked me to speak with you and a few others prior to your discussions with the police. They should contact you shortly regarding this unpleasantness.”

“If that is all—” Wils bowed his head to leave, anger rising in his throat from the injustice of what he’d heard. First murder and now harassment were being committed against his countrymen, and somehow they were to blame for it?

Not possible. Professor Francke was one of the most generous and beloved professors at Harvard. Max was a harmless soul.

“Wils, you had said you wished to ask me about something.”

Wils thought back to his mother’s telegram. Perhaps she’d been right to demand his return after all. He looked up at Copeland, sitting under an image of an old Spanish peasant.

He seemed to have shrunk in his large desk chair.

“No, Professor. Nothing at all.

Good day.”

Copeland didn’t rise as Wils turned to enter the dimly lit hallway. As his eyes adjusted, a famous poem Copeland had taught him in class came to him. Wils turned back to his teacher and said: “For the world, which seems To lie before us like a land of dreams, So various, so beautiful, so new, Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; And we are here as on a darkling plain—” Copeland brightened. “Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night,” they finished together.

113

Wils nodded, unable to speak further.

“Matthew Arnold has his moments.

Do take care, Wils. Stay alert. I am concerned about you and want you to be safe. The world is becoming darker just now. Your intellectual light is one worth preserving. Now please close the door from the outside.” Copeland looked down again, and the interview was over.

The rain had driven the students inside their dormitories and flooded the walkways in Harvard Yard. As Wils left Hollis Hall, he removed his tie and pushed it into his pocket. The damned Americans talk brotherhood, he thought, but if you’re from the wrong side of Europe you’re no brother to them.

Max dead. Arnold Archer under suspicion. And what was all of that ridiculous nonsense about the Charlestown Navy Yard, he wondered, deep in thought, nearly walking into a large blue mailbox.

He crossed the busy street and walked toward his room in Beck Hall.

In his mind, he saw Max trading barbs at the dinner table and laughing at the jests of Wils’s roommate, Riley, an inveterate prankster. And how happy Max had been when Felicity, his girlfriend from Radcliffe College, had agreed to go with him to a dance. But he’d been utterly heartbroken when she deserted him last year for a senior.

This past summer Wils and Max had walked along the banks of the Baltic, when they were back in Europe for summer vacation. He said he would never get over her and he never really had. So what had happened to him?

Anger at the injustice of Max’s death welled up inside Wils as he opened the arched door of Beck Hall and walked quickly past Mr. Burton’s desk. The housemaster didn’t look up from his reading. Wils shut the door to his room behind him. His breath was short. His hands hadn’t stopped trembling. He had to find Riley and discuss what to do about Arnold.

What was happening to his world?

His beautiful, carefully built world was cracking. Germany and Britain at war? Max dead? Professor Francke hauled in and questioned?

Wils felt a strange fury welling up inside of him. He wanted something to hurt as badly as he did. He picked up a porcelain vase and hurled it against the brick fireplace. It crashed and shattered, the blue-andwhite shards scattering over the crimson rug.

To learn more about the author go to www.allegrajordan.com.

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