Known for its vibrant Latino culture, colorful murals, and hip, artistic spirit, the Mission is now experiencing a second coming with a new crop of restaurants, boutiques, and more. (Read More…)
Travel
Travel + Leisure
Exploring San Francisco’s Mission District
Published in Travel + Leisure, Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Travel + Leisure
The Ultimate Napa Itinerary
Published in Travel + Leisure, Saturday, October 1, 2011
California’s iconic Napa Valley remains the ultimate spot for travelers in search of rustic-luxe hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, and cult wineries.
Since 2005, Burgundy-born Gilles de Chambure, director of wine education at Napa’s Meadowood resort, has arranged vineyard visits and tastings for guests and nonguests alike. Arrive during the fall harvest or in early spring for fewer crowds, and don’t miss his top picks. (Read More…)
Dwell
Hecho en Oaxaca
Published in Dwell, Tuesday, July 19, 2011
An experimental shop in Oaxaca, Mexico, is resuscitating the region’s ancient crafts traditions and bringing indigenous artisans’ designs into the 21st century.
In 2006, inspired by Oaxaca’s plethora of indigenous communities, who, says industrial designer Gustavo Fricke, “inherit craft traditions that are older than Columbus,” Fricke opened blackbox. To stock the shop, located in a colonial house in downtown Oaxaca city, Fricke and other designers collaborate with local artisans to create stylish, contemporary objects in time-honored ways. By spotlighting native talent—from city and village alike—Fricke and shop managers Roberto Vega and Rosario Martinez Llaguno hope to provide a sustainable livelihood for Oaxaca’s underemployed artists and craftspeople and, as Fricke says, “push their work forward.” (Read More…)
Afar
Old Ways, New Path
Published in Afar, Saturday, January 1, 2011
On a wooden platform in the middle of the village, dozens of young women gather, dressed in intricately embroidered aprons and jackets—the traditional costume of the Dong, one of the many ethnic minority groups of southwestern China. Nearby, a large group of villagers huddles around a bonfire. Everyone in Dimen, this tiny town about 400 miles northwest of Hong Kong, is preparing to celebrate the inscription of the Grand Song of the Dong onto UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. (Read More…)
The New York Times Style Magazine
Style Map: San Francisco: Riding A Wave
Published in The New York Times Style Magazine, Sunday, November 21, 2010
Outer Sunset, just south of Golden Gate Park, is a quiet, atmospheric neighborhood where thick fog frequently obscures the trim pastel houses, Asian groceries and surfers cycling down to Ocean Beach. Until recently, you’d never call it cool. But a hip and quirky micro-neighborhood has emerged, its epicenter at Judah Street and 45th Avenue, with a clutch of locally owned businesses bolstering a sense of community and drawing style seekers citywide. (Read More…)
The New York Times
36 Hours in Salt Lake City
Published in The New York Times, Thursday, June 3, 2010
There’s a new party in Salt Lake City. Utah liquor laws were normalized last year for the first time since 1935, allowing patrons simply to walk into a bar and order a drink, as if they were in any other city. Add to that a budding film scene (a spillover effect from the nearby Sundance Film Festival), a fresh crop of indie galleries (Read More…)
The New York Times Style Magazine
The Place: Napa Valley
Published in The New York Times Style Magazine, Sunday, May 23, 2010
It’s been a long time since California’s most glamorous wine region felt like farm country. Today, the area buzzes with Michelin-starred restaurants, new hotels and shops, and nearly 150 tasting rooms. Some may grouse about commercialization — to say nothing of weekend traffic — but this is still America’s best answer to Provence. (Read More…)
The New York Times
Check In, Check Out: Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin, Texas
Published in The New York Times, Sunday, May 2, 2010
THE BASICS
Despite Austin’s self-professed wackiness, the city’s hotel scene is mostly a sea of cookie-cutter chain hotels. A rare exception is the funky Hotel San José, which opened about a decade ago in a restored motel.
(Read More…)
The New York Times Style Magazine
Malibu Wines
Published in The New York Times Style Magazine, Tuesday, April 27, 2010
“If anybody said this was Malibu, you’d say they were crazy,” says Richard Hirsh, the millionaire clothier-turned-vintner standing in the vineyards of his Cielo Farms estate.
Hidden in these canyons are not only A-list movie stars like Jennifer Aniston and Mel Gibson but also more than 40 vineyards. (Read More…)
The New York Times
36 Hours in Kyoto, Japan
Published in The New York Times, Friday, April 23, 2010
Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan, is a vibrant mash-up, an ancient city electrified by the breathtakingly new. Cruise the futuristic food halls of a department store, gaping at the perfect fruit and glistening sea creatures, before zipping up to the traditional floor, with its kimonos and tea (Read More…)