Tag Archives: Reviews

Trends In Food: 5th Annual “Blended Burger Project” Celebrates Five Winning Chefs On Oct. 23

From a JamesBeard.org release:

James Beard Foundation Blended Burger ProjectThis year, the Foundation is pleased to once again partner with the Mushroom Council to host the Blended Burger Project*, which encourages chefs to create a healthier, more sustainable, and tastier burger that can be enjoyed by consumers across the country, while also educating diners about the many benefits of The Blend and the future of food. 

Through our Impact Programs, the James Beard Foundation has become more involved in the conversations around health and sustainability in our food system. The Foundation is proud of its work on the Blended Burger Project™ along with our other programs including the James Beard Foundation Food Summit, the annual Leadership Awards, and the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change.

The five fabulous winners of the 2019 contest are:

  • Meredith Manee, Ritz-Carlton’s Burger Shack, Kapalua, Kapalua, HI
  • Justin Medina, Playalinda Brewing Company – Brix Project, Titusville, FL
  • Robert Repp, Hops at 84 East, Holland, MI
  • Eric Rivera, Vintage Year, Montgomery, AL
  • Jacqueline Sampson, Pompano Grill, Cocoa Beach, FL

Blended Burger GraphicTo read more: https://www.jamesbeard.org/blendedburgerproject

 

Top Art Exhibitions: “Homer At The Beach: A Marine Painter’s Journey” At The Cape Ann Museum

From a Wall Street Journal article:

Winslow Homer’s Sunset Fires (1880) PHOTO THE WESTMORELAND MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ARTThat’s how I felt while visiting “Homer at the Beach: A Marine Painter’s Journey, 1869-1880,” an intimate exhibition at the Cape Ann Museum. The show is handsome, historically rich and perfectly positioned here at this harbor venue, which devotes galleries to regional maritime and fishing artifacts, local decorative arts, Gloucester sea captain Elias Davis ’s house and the works of the renowned illustrator and marine painter Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865), a Gloucester native with whom Boston-born Winslow Homer (1836-1910) had much in common.

An illustrator and painter, Homer is chiefly celebrated for his mature paintings of life on or near the sea. “Homer on the Beach” was never intended to be a gathering of Homer’s greatest maritime works. Therefore, it does not contain those revered later masterpieces such as “The Life Line” (1884), “The Herring Net” (1885) and “The Gale” (1883-93), but it lays their foundations and illumines the first leg of his voyage. Curated by William R. Cross, a museum consultant and chairman of the Advisory Board of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, the show focuses on Homer’s artistic formation as a marine painter.

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/homer-at-the-beach-a-marine-painters-journey-1869-1880-review-flotsam-jetsam-handsome-11567249200

Top Mobile Houses: Land Ark RV’s “Draper” Is Optimally Functional, Sophisticated Travel

From LandArkRV.com website:

Land Ark RV Draper InteriorOptimized for an individual or a couple, this mid-century modern design delivers a functional layout in a sophisticated package. The mud room entry features a 7 ft.+ width wardrobe, a separate W/D utility closet and a nook with a bench and cubbies. Connecting this space to the rest of the interior is a gallery with recessed lighting and clerestory windows. From the gallery, ascend up the custom designed oak ladder into the sleeping loft enclosed with large windows. A compact, yet surprisingly luxurious bathroom features a vanity, wall-hung toilet and a full size, walk-in shower with recessed lighting and a window. Flooded with natural light, the main living area opens up to a large galley kitchen and a convertible U-sofa that transforms into a queen bed for the occasional guest. Living extends outside through the sliding patio door onto a large hardwood deck that can be raised and closed for transport.

Website: https://landarkrv.com/models/draper/

Technology Innovations: Inmergo Headphones By Rocco Giovannoni – “Like You’re Inside The Song”

From a Dezeen.com online article:

Immergo Headphones Rocco Giovannoni websiteGiovannoni describes it as “immersive omnidirectional” sound with richer bass. “It feels like you’re inside the song,” says one wide-eyed subject in Inmergo’s user testing video.

Water rather than air carries sound in designer Rocco Giovannoni’s Inmergo headphones, which promise rich audio even for people who are hard of hearing.

A 2019 graduate of the Royal College of Art’s MA in Design Products, Giovannonidesigned the soft silicone headphones to improve upon current bone-conduction audio technology.

To read more: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/09/01/inmergo-headphones-rocco-giovannoni-design/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Dezeen&utm_content=Daily%20Dezeen+CID_ea960a6d9fc2f1bafc2e4790608c91f1&utm_source=Dezeen%20Mail&utm_term=Water-filled%20Inmergo%20headphones%20by%20Rocco%20Giovannoni%20allow%20immersive%20listening

Top Restaurants: Winvian Farm In Connecticut Is “Seed-To-Table Dining”

From the Winvian Farm brochure:

Each dining area is dramatic in contrast and each is designed to harmonize with thecuisine created to suit that space—breakfast on the sunny Terrace, tasting menus in the Private Dining Room, light snacks in the casual Solarium to name a few. The Seth Bird House and The Smith Ell are freely accessible to all of Winvian’s guests, whether to play some games, sit by the fire with a hot toddy or chat with like minded souls.

Winvian Farm Restaurant Connecticut exterior

Far from the madding crowd, in the Litchfield Hills, lies a quiet getaway. Set on 113 acres and bordering extensive woods and lakes, Winvian was created to recharge and indulge. A place like this is difficult to describe for it lacks nothing. Winvian aspires to host you with no airs but graces, no extravagance or opulence, only warmth and treats. The  cuisine, the wines, the spa and the team are as unexpected as the experiences that
one ultimately enjoys.

Website: https://www.winvian.com/

Top Wine Bars: Absinthe Brasserie & Bar In San Francisco Is “Glamorous, Buzzy And Special”

From an SFBayTimes.com online article:

Absinthe Brasserie San FranciscoWhat makes this brasserie so popular? “A culture of hospitality comes from the top down,” explains Absinthe General Manager Brian Gavin. “Bill (our owner) is very gracious and the tone he sets makes everyone feel welcome.”

An homage to all things French, Absinthe is still one of my favorite places to eat in the city. Why? It’s a buzzy destination that feels glamorous and special, evoking a one-of-a-kind feeling of Belle Epoque-era Paris. It’s not just where I dine before the opera, symphony, ballet or SFJAZZ, but it is also where I always take out-of-towners, business associates, clients and staffers.

http://absinthe.com/

Absinthe Brasserie San Francisco Red Burgundies

To read more: http://sfbaytimes.com/little-slice-paris-hayes-valley-absinthe-brasserie-bar/

 

Culinary Profiles: The History Of Italy’s Oldest (And Most Famous) Cheese “Pecorino Romano”

From an ItalyMagazine.com online article:

Pecorino Romano Cheese - Italy MagazinePecorino Romano today is still made from rich sheep’s milk (pecorino comes from the Italian word for sheep, pecora) and the cheesemaking process closely follows the traditions of the ancient Romans. But most of it is now produced on the island of Sardinia, rather than in the countryside around Rome and Lazio. So why the shift? 

Millennia before cacio e pepe became one of the Eternal City’s trendiest pasta dishes and a social media sensation, its starring ingredient graced the tables of Roman emperors. Cacio refers to Pecorino Romano in Roman dialect, and its origins go back to the aged sheep’s milk cheese that was prized by the ancient Romans. They depended on it as an important source of nourishment for legionnaires—its nutritional value and ability to endure on extended marches made it an ideal food for the soldiers, who were allotted a daily ration of 27 grams.

To read more: https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/pecorino-romano-story-behind-one-italys-oldest-and-most-famous-formaggi

New Historical Fiction: “To Calais, In Ordinary Time” By James Meek Is “Inventive And Original”

From a Canongate.co.uk online release:

to-calais-in-ordinary-time-hardback-cover-9781786896742.600x0“Fans of intelligent historical fiction will be enthralled by a story so original and so fully imagined. Meek shows the era as alien, which it is, and doesn’t falsify it by assimilating it to ours. But his characters are recognisably warm and human”
HILARY MANTEL

“An inventive and original novel that captures the distant past and pins it to the page”
The Times, Book Of The Month

Three journeys. One road.

England, 1348. A gentlewoman flees an odious arranged marriage, a Scots proctor sets out for Avignon and a young ploughman in search of freedom is on his way to volunteer with a company of archers. All come together on the road to Calais.

Coming in their direction from across the Channel is the Black Death, the plague that will wipe out half of the population of Northern Europe. As the journey unfolds, overshadowed by the archers’ past misdeeds and clerical warnings of the imminent end of the world, the wayfarers must confront the nature of their loves and desires.

https://canongate.co.uk/books/2764-to-calais-in-ordinary-time/

Top Museum Exhibits: “Buried by Vesuvius – Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri” At Getty Villa

From a Wall Street Journal article:

Getty Villa Buried by Vesuvius - Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri…the Getty Villa, despite some anomalies and insertions, is considered a strong likeness, which makes it a powerful locale for “Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures From the Villa dei Papiri,” the first major exhibition of works discovered in the Roman residence. The show includes Weber’s 1758 architectural map—used to build the Getty Villa—along with some of the approximately 90 sculptures pulled from the site, showing athletes, philosophers, rulers, poets and mythological figures. The exhibition also displays findings from the recent excavations.

The idea was half-mad: building a museum to look like an ancient Roman villa that was buried under 75 feet of debris when Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79 and had never really been seen since. But J. Paul Getty made his immense fortune by bringing ancient subterranean material (i.e. oil) to the surface, so he must have felt similar excitement in exhuming this villa, in concept if not reality. It opened as the home for his eponymous museum in 1974; now called the Getty Villa, and located in Los Angeles, it holds the institution’s Classical collections.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/buried-by-vesuvius-treasures-from-the-villa-dei-papiri-review-a-homecoming-of-sorts-11566941174

Consumer Issues: Many Products Designed For Older People Are Just “Brown, Beige And Boring”

From a MIT Technology Review online article:

Engaging older people in designing for older people “is a good thing,” says Smith. “Because younger people do tend to have this picture of designing things that are functional for older people, but not really understanding what makes them happy.” Presented with products that are “brown, beige, and boring,” many older people will forgo convenience for dignity.

MIT Technology Review why are products for older people so uglyIt’s a familiar tune to engineer Ken Smith, director of the mobility division of the Stanford Center on Longevity. He says one of the biggest mistakes designers make is to assume that around the age of 60 people lose interest in aesthetics and design. This can have dire consequences for products meant to help people with their health. No one wants to stick a golf-ball-size hearing aid the color of chewed gum in their ear, any more than they want to wear a T-shirt that reads “SENIOR CITIZEN.”

To read more click on the following link: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614167/why-are-products-for-older-people-so-ugly/?utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=76169117&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_dlTg24O7Cr_1b5J4cniKFvi74Dmh8Fm3nuJVTbblAB8Z3fna_Rj6WoV6M6aodqOVSJnh603-liOHFgjAr_EQEh9sVQw&_hsmi=76169117