The Travel Scribe Article Collection
2012
ABOUT CONTACT
The Travel Scribe is well versed in visiting places which will appeal to the global traveler whether for business, social or family vacations. The Travel Scribe’s has written for and continues to contribute to a wide range of print publications distributed globally.
Norah Bradford
Email: norah@thetravelscribe.com Website: thetravelscribe.com
The following pages are a collection of my published articles across many editorial platforms. Additional samples available upon request. Please enjoy!
epicurean life
a world of luxury...for those with discerning taste
summer 2012
Volume II / Issue V summer 2012 £6
a world of luxury...for those with discerning taste
HoNG KoNG – lIVING THe HIGH lIFe CoNrAD KoH sAmuI – IslAND PArADIse PATeK PHIlIPPe – PerFeCT TImING THe CHIC eAsY – 1920s FAsHIoN
NYC restauraNts The Darby
Live From
New York with Norah Lawlor
POWER BREAKFAST LoeWS reGeNCY HoTeL
The dining room at the Loews Regency on Park Avenue is the birthplace of the “Power Breakfast,” where New Yorkers of affluence and influence have long convened weekday mornings between 7:00 and 10:00 to see and be seen. Expect to see the black limos lined up in front of the hotel, and to spot the likes of Matt Lauer, Ivanka Trump, and former governors David Patterson and Haley Barbour. Hotel owners Steve and Jonathan Tisch are also part owners of the New York Giants, and are still celebrating their Superbowl win. A: 540 Park Avenue, NY, NY T: 212 339 4050 www.loewshotels.com/Regency-Hotel
BEST SUPPER CLUB THe DArBY
Nightclub kings Richie Akiva, Scott Sartiano, and Ronnie Madra knew what they were looking for when making New York’s most popular supper club. To set the tone for the ultimate dining experience, Executive Chef Alexandra Guaranaschelli brings a twist to the original American cuisine at The Darby. Honoring the tradition of musical performances characteristic of the location’s
6 OF ThE BEST FOR DINNER ACme
You no longer have to fly to Copenhagen to experience the world’s hottest restaurant, Noma. Instead, Executive Chef Mads Refslund has landed in New York and collaborated with Bob Pollack and Jean-Marc Houmard from the popular Indochine and Kittichai team to create this hip new downtown brasserie, Acme. The menu is unique and the best of New Nordic cuisine, featuring dishes like the chicken and eggs served in a clay pot with roasted mashed potatoes. Among recent celebrity sightings is Zachary Quinto aka Mr. Spock from the Star Trek remakes. A: 9 Great Jones Street, NY, NY T:212 203 2121 www.acmenyc.com
Acme
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former identity, Nell’s, The Darby combines culinary ingenuity with live music and interactive performances. The restaurant’s striking décor and design aim to restore a glamorous and energetic ambience of bygone days. Celebrity followers include John Mayer, Gerard Butler, Britney Spears, and Kanye West. A: 244 West 14th Street, NY, NY T: 212 242 4411 www.thedarbynyc.com
CroWN
Catch
CATCH
Catch is not your typical seafood restaurant. The ever-so-hip EMM team of Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm tapped Top Chef Winner Hung Huygh to create perfect seafood dishes that leave the palette craving more. This three-story seafood house is a haven to celebrities and industry folk including Russell Simmons, Nas, Sofia Vergara, and Molly Sims. Catch brings to life a delicious blend of old and new, with historical architecture and newly renovated cuttingedge interior design. The menu offers both small plates for sharing and traditional entrees, including elaborate eats worthy of Top Chef like dungeoness crab spaghetti served in an actual crab shell. A: 21 9th Avenue, NY, NY T: 212 392 5978 www.catchnewyorkcity.com
Owner and Executive Chef John DeLucie has done it again! Following his success with Graydon Carter at The Waverly Inn and on his own at the Lion, DeLucie’s current venue, Crown, is now an Upper East Side fixture. The room is larger than DeLucie’s hysterically loud, tightly packed operations downtown, but like them it looks like a Broadway set designer’s idea of what a grand New York restaurant ought to be. From the elegant glass-covered Atelier room in the back of the surprisingly large townhouse space to the walls of the main dining room clad in wood molding and stained soft shades of gray, the setting is a splendid complement to the contemporary French and American fare. Before its opening, Crown hosted the Met Gala after-party last summer, which included everyone from Blake Lively and Madonna to Beyoncé and Paul McCartney. A: 24 East 81st Street, NY, NY T: 646 559 4880 www.crown81.com
CoLiCCHio AND SoNS
Building on his success with his Craft restaurants, Craftbar, and other venues nationwide, Executive Chef and Owner Tom Colicchio has once again created something refreshing about settling into your table. Colicchio and Sons Tap Room is a restaurant
NYC restauraNts BEST BLIND DATE DANS LE NOIR
Probably the most atypical meal you’ll ever have will be at Paris import Dans le Noir, which serves every meal in sightlessness. Executive Chef Jean Carlos Briganti presents this unique dining experience in totally dark rooms with communal tables served by blind wait staff. It is suggested guests not wear expensive clothes or accessories, as the restaurant accepts no liability for injuries or lost or damaged items (guests must sign a release waiver). Also, diners are not permitted
Lavo to move from their seats without assistance. The menu is a surprise, and the experience a singularly unusual one, but diners do have recourse to panic buttons. In the first ten minutes you might be tempted to press it, but give yourself a little time and your other senses fill in. What may sound frightening up front proves to be uniquely exciting. A: 24 East 21st Street, NY, NY T: 212 575 1671 www.newyork.danslenoir.com Dans Le Noir
for grownups complete with a head sommelier (Ryan Mills-Knapp). With a floor-to-ceiling wine rack as a partition, the restaurant is divided into two spaces: the more formal dining room, and the Tap Room. The décor is casual and classy, the service friendly but totally professional, the music fun but not screaming loud, and the menu filled with interesting, fully-realized meals. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for Colicchio’s new Hamptons’ eatery and inn, the Topping Rose House, set to open this summer in Bridgehampton. A: 85 Tenth Avenue, NY, NY T: 212 400 6699 www.craftrestaurantsinc.com/colicchioand-sons
BRASSERIE PUSHKIN
Occupying several floors of carved wood and plasterwork in voluptuous 18th-century style, and sporting gilded sconces and a huge chandelier, this New York version of Russian decadence suggests Versailles rather than the Kremlin. Nevertheless, the caviar, vodka, and other trappings of a Russian dining experience are all available. Owner Andrey Dellos teamed up with Executive Chef Andrey Makhov to create the perfect traditional Russian meal with a hint of French accent. Brasserie Pushkin is a recreation of a 19th-Century Russian aristocratic home, and is said to be the “power lunch spot of choice” for Russian oligarchs, politicians, and clientele dressed
BEST BRUNCH PARTY LAVO
“Do you mind moving the eggs benedict? I’d like to dance on the table now” is nothing unusual to hear while brunching at LAVO on any given Saturday afternoon. With a simple nod, the waiter will whisk away your finished meal, drop off another bottle of bubbly, and even help you up onto the table at this upscale Italian restaurant with a Saint-Tropez vibe, which is exactly what owners Jason Strauss and Noah Teppenberg and promoter Jayma Cardosa were going for. From your new vantage point, you’ll be at eye level with half the packed room, and likely to see other wellheeled patrons also perched on their chairs, tables, and banquettes, including the Kardashians and Katie Holmes. A: 39 East 58th Street, NY, NY T: 212 750 5286 www.lavony.com
complemented by an impressive drink list and a special additional bar food menu for the complete bar dining experience with a gourmet twist. A: 104 North End Avenue, Goldman Sachs Building, NY, NY T: 646 747 1600 www.northendgrillnyc.com
Brasserie Pushkin head to toe in Chanel with Berkin Bags in tow. Don’t be surprised if you spot Vladimir Putin across the room. A: 41 West 57th Street, NY, NY T: 212 465 2400 www.brasseriepushkin.com
NORTH END GRILL
North End Grill is billed as “an update of the American bar and grill” located in the Goldman Sachs building. The bustling restaurant features a scotch and wine bar, an open-dining counter at the grill, and a vibrant dining room. Owner Danny Meyer and Executive Chef Floyd Cardoz present a perfect pairing menu featuring an alluring mix of fresh takes on classic grill items and mouth-watering seafood dishes. The grill is
North End Grill
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nyc RestauRants two CoMING SooN THE BUTTERFLY
Famed for his Italian cuisine, Executive Chef Michael White plans to return to his Midwestern roots with The Butterfly, “a mid-century style cocktail bar with a supper club feel.” The Tribeca venue will open this summer and serve traditional American classics — great steaks, burgers, fried chicken, etc. — with an array of cocktails appropriate to the ‘50s atmosphere and fresh mixological innovations provided by top-tier bartender Eben Freeman. The seating and the menu are said to be limited, but White’s Wisconsin-inspired comfort food and nostalgic atmosphere are sure to be worth a try. If his acclaimed Italian cooking is any indication, The Butterfly will be a culinary win. A: 225 West Broadway, NY, NY
HAKKASAN
London-based Hakkasan has opened in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. The London flagship regularly welcomes the likes of Lady Gaga, Princess Eugenie, and the King of Jordan. They opened their first US location at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, and have plans to open in LA and other cities later this year. Hakkasan is likely to quickly become one of New York’s new hot spots for a decadent dim sum dinner thanks to Chef Ho Chee Boon’s delectable Cantonese cuisine. A: 311 West 43rd Street NY, NY T: 212 776 1818 www.hakkasan.com/newyork
BESt-KEpt SECrEt LE BARON
New York’s best-kept secret hot spot! Swedish Graffiti Artist Andre Saraiva built a townhousestyle club with three floors, but since each is rather small the place has more of a cozy lounge feel with cool bordello-style decor inspired by 1970s Vietnam with a suitable dose of French style. The bartenders are very nice and the DJs outstanding. Le Baron has a tight door, but while difficulty getting in is the downside, the upside is a good mix of partygoers including cool celebrities, designers, and artists. A: 32 Mulberry Street, NY, NY
Hot LoUNGE THE DOUBLE SEVEN
New York’s Meatpacking District enjoys a new level of sophistication thanks to owners David Rabin, Jeffrey Jah, and Mark Baker. The blacklacquered bar, maximum of 120 guests per night, and European socialites and A-list actors make The Double Seven the place to be any night of the week, that is if you can get in. There is a master guest list of the owners’ friends and desirables. Otherwise, to increase your chances of swanning past the velvet serpent, strike a sartorial and attitudinal balance between entitlement and humility. Pair your Louboutins with a meekly bowed head. Stay sharp, though — Pierre Casiraghi (the Prince of Monaco and grandson of Grace Kelly) and Paris Hilton’s ex-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos both received a few blows in a brawl here in February. A: 63 Gansevoort Street, NY, NY T: 646 490 8925 www.thedoubleseven.com Double 7
3 for EXCLUSIVE partIES THE STANDARD HOTEL BOOM BOOM ROOM
Owners Andre Balaz and Kamil Parchomienko know how to throw a party. The Boom Boom Room at The Standard Hotel is split into two modern-retro rooms, but you’re going to want to start by setting up camp in the main area, filled with wavy cream-colored leather banquettes, golden fireplaces, and starburst chandeliers. The other, more intimate room is decked in black tiles and includes a mischievous, triangular hot tub right smack in the middle of the room. Don’t be surprised if you see fellow guests like Jason Sudekis, Olivia Wilde, Alan Cumming, and Sting. A: 848 Washington St, NY, NY T: 877 550 4646
THE ELECTRIC ROOM
Owner Nur Khan created this Britanniabedecked lounge beneath the Dream Downtown hotel. Its entrance, separate from the hotel, is actually an unassuming loading dock, but it’s one of the harder doors in town (on top of its exclusivity, the capacity is limited to 100). Inside that door and past blue velvet curtains lies a Britrock play pad with mirrored tables, graffiti walls, and a small central dance floor you’ll occasionally have to share with a few famous faces including Rose McGowen, Lindsay Lohan, and Jessica Hart. The scene doesn’t really heat up until the wee hours of the night, but when it does expect the crowd to regularly be one of the hottest. A: 355 West 16th Street, NY, NY T: 212 229 2559
SOHO HOUSE
Given the attention lavished upon it, you’d think Ron Burkle’s members-only British import was shrouded with the secrecy of a fight club or skull-and-bones society. While membership acceptance policies still carry some intrigue, plebeians can plunk down a chunk of change for a temporary entrée into high society. Visitors can reserve one of the Meatpacking District club’s 24 guest rooms, each featuring exposed beams and brick and equipped with plasma screens. Reservations can be tricky, as members are given preferential treatment when booking. Those who do manage to score a room receive access to all areas of the club including the bar, restaurant, game room, and famed rooftop pool. On the list of celebrity members are the Olsen Twins and Tom Hanks. Other locations in the US include Miami and Los Angeles. A: 29-35 Ninth Avenue, NY, NY T: 212 627 9800 www.sohohouseny.com
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VOLUME II / ISSUE VII WINTER 2012 £6
A WORLD OF LUXURY...FOR THOSE WITH DISCERNING TASTE
FABULOUS FERRARI – A DUTCH TREAT SOLDIERS AND THE CITY – TERRACOTTA ARMY NOT STRICTLY BALLROOM – FASHIONABLY STYLISH PURE GEMS – JEWELLERY & WATCHES EPICUREANLIFE.CO.UK
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NYC RESTAURANTS
1 OAK
1 OAK
NORAH LAWLOR ENJOYS
NEW YORK nights
1 OAK
Trends in New York City nightlife are often short-lived, but 1OAK lives up to its name proving to be it’s really one of a kind. Awarded Nightclub of the Year in 2012 by Nightclub and Bar National Awards, the intimate nightlife atmosphere is enhanced by surprise celebrity appearances and performances, as well as world-renowned DJs on rotation. 1 OAK’s owners Richie Akiva, Scott Sartiano, Jeffrey Jah and Ronnie Madra wanted to develop a venue that appeals to partygoers worldwide. With a list of high-end clientele, guests can expect to rub elbows with celebrities beyond the velvet rope such as Jay-Z, Russell Simmons and Rihanna, to name a few. Tables are arranged sparingly to allow for more dancing and mingling. The walls of the hallway to enter the club are engraved with cursive writing leading guests into the expansive room with a black and white zigzag floor and a ceiling comprised of raw oak slats. A black lacquered bar divides the room and offers guests with premium cocktails. Padded ostrich leather banquettes surround the room and a roaring fireplace sets the scene in the VIP section. The artwork displayed at 1 OAK by Roy Nachum is both noteworthy and memorable. 1OAK
1 OAK
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452 West 17th Street, New York, NY T: (212) 242-1111 www.1oaknyc.com
bar
Norah LawLor miNgLes with the jet set iN
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Le
Le taiwaNa
Sereno The Restaurant des Pêcheurs at Le Sereno Hotel believes in a dining experience that is simple and fresh created by Executive Chef Jean Louis Brocardi. The restaurant is inviting with an elegant yet relaxed atmosphere that can host a casual lunch or formal meal. Fishermen deliver the daily catch each day to ensure unbeatable freshness. With minimal manipulation, the chefs at Le Sereno prepare you fish exactly to order—whole or fillet, grilled, seared or whole fish en croute de sel. The best meats and fish are flown in from France to guarantee authentic dishes like the Bouillabaisse a la Ancienne.
Le Taiwana is the billionaire’s headquarters during Christmas and New Year’s offering visitors the best of the best. New owner, Emmanuel Aim ensures Taiwana to be one of the best spots on the beach to eat. The restaurant offers guests exquisite and original Caribbean cuisine and the restaurant’s open décor gives natives and guests of the hotel prime views of the Flamands Beach, which boasts the clearest waters in St. Barth’s. The lunch menu contains fresh seafood dishes such as grilled shrimp, langoustines, Brazilian lobster and fresh salads topped with the daily catch as well as their signature demi poulet
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grille, a half grilled chicken. The preferred spot for locals and tourist alike all enjoy a venue that transforms from a beach eatery during the day to a completely different restaurant at night. In the evening, enjoy the conversion into PaCri, where owner Pascal Ramette provides a delicious Italian menu and lively nightlife environment. Le taiwaNa
Flamands, 97133 Saint Barthelemy French West Indies (+590) 590 29 80 08 www.hoteltaiwana.com
Le sereNo
Grand Cul de Sac Saint Barthelemy French West Indies (+590) 590 29 83 00 www.lesereno.com