Tag Archives: Reviews

Destination Hotels: The “Hotel Il Castelfalfi” Is 2700-Acres Of Scenic, Medieval Medici Heritage

From a Jetsetter online review:

Hotel Il Castelfalfi ItalyOnce owned by the Medici family, this 2,700-acre, 800-year-old medieval village in Montaione fell away from the public eye—that is, until lifestyle hotel brand TUI Blue saw its potential. With the help of the surrounding village’s government, the town has been resurrected into a sprawling five-star resort. Il Castelfalfi, the region’s first new-build hotel in years, offers suites with both sunrise and sunset patio views. Across the street, a disused tobacco factory is now an adjacent boutique hotel, ruinous farmhouses have become holiday homes, and acres of surrounding lands now make up Tuscany’s largest golf course.

The property feels miles away from anywhere thanks to the rolling hills that surround it on all sides, but the village offers a few quaint distractions including a small alimentari (grocery store) as well as a pizzeria, Il Rosmarino. At the entrance of the village is the tower of the ancient castle, La Rocca, now home to La Rocca di Castelfalfi, whose patio is a beautiful place to watch the sunset over Tuscan specialties like Ribollita and ravioli.

https://www.castelfalfi.com/en/il-castelfalfi-5-stars-hotel/il-castelfalfi/

To read more: https://www.jetsetter.com/hotels/province-of-florence-italy/montaione-italy/view/hotel-il-castelfalfi/

Restaurant Reviews: The “Pilar Cuban Eatery & Bakery” In Brooklyn – “Authentic Delicacies”

From a New Yorker online review:

Pilar Cuban EateryChief among these delicacies is Cuban lard bread, which is what inspired the opening of Pilar Cuban Bakery: Ricardo Barreras, the owner of Pilar Cuban Eatery, next door, decided to start baking it himself, using dough, shipped frozen, from a trusted supplier in Florida. When he realized that his kitchen wasn’t big enough for the operation, he figured he might as well open a second place.

On a recent morning in Bed-Stuy, a young boy pressed his face against the glass case at Pilar Cuban Bakery and began to moan. “Mom, Mom, Mooooom. I want this!” he declared plaintively, pointing to an enticingly glossy Key-lime pie, sliced into neat wedges. “And what about this?” he exclaimed, moving on to the coconut-chocolate bars.

To read more: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/the-auspicious-treats-of-pilar-cuban-bakery-and-win-son-bakery

Best New Books: “Ahab’s Rolling Sea – A Natural History Of Moby-Dick” By Richard J. King

From a University of Chicago Press review:

9780226514963A revelation for Moby-Dick devotees and neophytes alike, Ahab’s Rolling Sea is a chronological journey through the natural history of Melville’s novel. From white whales to whale intelligence, giant squids, barnacles, albatross, and sharks, Richard J. King examines what Melville knew from his own experiences and the sources available to a reader in the mid-1800s, exploring how and why Melville might have twisted what was known to serve his fiction. King then climbs to the crow’s nest, setting Melville in the context of the American perception of the ocean in 1851—at the very start of the Industrial Revolution and just before the publication of On the Origin of Species. 

Featuring a coffer of illustrations and an array of interviews with contemporary scientists, fishers, and whale watch operators, Ahab’s Rolling Sea offers new insight not only into a cherished masterwork and its author but also into our evolving relationship with the briny deep—from whale hunters to climate refugees.

Website: https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo27616248.html

Exhibitions: “Leonardo – Experience A Masterpiece” At The National Gallery, London (Nov 9 – Jan 12)

The secrets of Leonardo’s masterpiece are revealed in four distinct spaces. Each space invites you to look at ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’ in a new way.

Leonardo Experience a Masterpiece National GalleryThe mind of Leonardo

Start your journey in a landscape populated by the thoughts and ideas of Leonardo as he sets about painting ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’.

The studio

Discover the secrets only science and conservation can reveal in this projection-filled space which unlocks the mysteries of how ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’ was painted and reveals the lost composition hidden beneath the painted surface.

The light and shadow experiment

Take part in the room-sized experiment to discover the dramatic effects of light and shadow on Leonardo’s composition for ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’.

The imagined chapel

At the end of your journey, you will come face to face with the original masterpiece where it hangs on the walls of an imagined chapel for you to contemplate how ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’ might have appeared in its original setting as part of an elaborate altarpiece.

To read and view more: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/leonardo-experience-a-masterpiece#HighlightPaintings93395

Top Exhibitions: The Hudson River Museum Features Watercolorist James McElhinney

From a Hudson River Museum release:

The Hudson Museum James McElhinney ExhibitJames McElhinney: Discover the Hudson Anew presents the painter’s sketch books and prints related to the River in a comprehensive showing for the first time. A video program, animating turning pages, will allow visitors to see additional sketchbook paintings. McElhinney says he wants his art to demonstrate “that constructive dialogue between humanity and nature is alive and well, while underscoring how art provides durable and dynamic modes of engagement.”

Big ideas often come in small packages. James McElhinney has journeyed around the world with a pocket-size sketchbook and watercolor tin, communing with nature, and stopping to observe and record the glorious views around him. Fourteen years ago, during a period of convalescence, he used a sketchbook and watercolor to paint views from his hospital windows. That pragmatic decision was pivotal for the artist. He fell in love with the mobility and intimacy of this small-format media, which can be packed into the lining of a hiking vest, following in the footsteps of historical expeditionary artists. Since then, he has engaged in pictorial conversation with the Hudson River, always with materials on hand.

To read more: https://www.hrm.org/exhibitions/discover-the-hudson-anew/

Top New Travel Books: “Epic Journeys – 245 Life-Changing Aventures” (National Geographic)

From a National Geographic online release:

Epic Journey 245 Life Changing Adventures National GeographicTravelers are dreamers who act on their inspirations. The new National Geographic book Epic Journeys: 245 Life-Changing Adventures is for the people who go beyond their comfort zones to experience the wild beauty of the natural world. The book features adrenaline-fueled forays to all seven continents. (See the most breathtaking national parks around the world.)

While the spirit of exploration spans the globe, being an intrepid traveler doesn’t have to mean summiting Mount Everest or surveying icebergs in Antarctica. Some of the planet’s wildest places—launchpads for all sorts of discoveries about the world and yourself—are in North America’s national parks. We’ve selected 15 mind-blowing adventures to inspire your inner explorer.

To read more: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/15-epic-national-park-excursions/

New Camping Products: “Mock One” Portable Folding Hammock

  • Mock ONE V2.0 – Portable Folding Hammock with Stand
  • Use anywhere – No trees. No problem!
  • Includes sun shade, under basket and hammock carry wrap
  • Person weight limit: 250 lbs
  • Person height limit: 6’4″
  • Weight: 14.5 lbs
  • Opened Size:  67″L x 25”W x 31”H
  • Folded (carrying) Dimension: 11″L x 6″W x 33″H
  • Fabric: 210T parachute nylon (Stronger than 75D Nylon)
  • Frame: Durable Coated steel free standing hammock frame

Mock One Folding Hammock

Website: https://republicofdurablegoods.com/products/mock-one

Technology: “PrinCube” Is The World’s Smallest Mobile Color Printer

From a YankoDesign.com online review:

Princube Printer Smallest Mobile Color PrinterThe PrinCube sits on the throne of being the smallest (and the lightest) handheld color-printer. With a swift motion of your hand, the printer rapidly prints out one line at a time, measuring up to 0.56 inches in thickness. PrinCube’s multi-line feature lets you extend your prints by printing up to nearly 10 feet of content line after line. The wireless printer conveniently pairs with any device like your phone, tablet, or even laptop over a Wi-Fi connection, and each individual ink cartridge can handle approximately 415 A4 pages worth of printing before replacing. The battery on PrinCube’s pretty remarkable too, with the ability to print for 6 continuous hours before needing a recharge via the Type-C port in the PrinCube’s size.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/princube-the-world-s-smallest-mobile-color-printer#/

It looks like a block roughly half the size of a spray-paint can. In fact, that’s how you would hold the PrinCube too. Grab it with one hand and run it across any surface and the PrinCube performs a neat, seamless, colored inkjet-print on it. The PrinCube isn’t just small, it’s hand-held, wireless, and incredibly versatile. It can print on materials your desktop printer doesn’t even dream of. Paper, cardboard, wood, metal, cloth, working on flat, textured, and even curved surfaces. You could literally give yourself temporary tattoos too because the PrinCube even prints on the skin (it’s safe, if I may add).

To read more: https://www.yankodesign.com/2019/10/24/this-handheld-color-printer-is-literally-the-size-of-a-regular-printers-ink-cartridge/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+yankodesign+%28Yanko+Design+-+Form+Beyond+Function%29

Top Restaurant Chains: “Emmy Squared Pizza” Is Serving Up Nostalgia In Three Eastern States

From a Restaurant Business online article:

Emmy Squared Pizza and BurgerMost pizza places, Detroit-style places, the dough is sitting in a portioned-out container and it gets pressed into the pan. We let it rise in the pan. I knew from the beginning, that’s what’s going to separate our pizza. … It’s built in that we need larger walk-ins to have those extra pans. It’s just part of the plan.

When we run out of pans, we run out of dough. Some of our smaller restaurants have to have 500 pans because of the volume.

The backstory: Emily Hyland and Matt Hyland, who shared pizza on their first date, are the husband and wife team behind several restaurants in their Pizza Loves Emily group, including the growing concept Emmy Squared. They brought in industry veteran Howard Greenstone as a partner. Greenstone has been CEO and president of Rosa Mexicano and is currently a strategic adviser and partner with the Marcus Samuelsson Group.

To read more: https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/emerging-brands/how-growing-pizza-concept-embracing-nostalgia-drive-traffic

Top Art Podcasts: Harvard Psychologist Steven Pinker Analyses “Charnel House” By Picasso (BBC)

BBC Radio 3Today’s edition features Harvard professor Steven Pinker. As an experimental psychologist, Steven has written extensively about violence – and for his choice from the gallery’s collection he has selected two of Pablo Picasso’s most gruesome depictions of man’s inhumanity, Charnel House and Guernica, now housed in Madrid.

Charnel House by Picasso

Radio 3 presents a radiophonic art exhibition, as 30 of the world’s most creative minds choose a favourite work from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Ep5 Pinker and Picasso.

“The Way I See It” is a co-production of the BBC and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009d6q