Month: September 2017

See Luxury in a new Light With: James Truman

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Café is the place to find a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing their origin stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents. It’s guaranteed to be illuminating.  James Truman is the charming and erudite proprietor of Nix, a Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by Chef John Fraser that celebrates vegetables as a healthy, environmentally-conscious way of eating for the 21st century. With the belief that eating vegetarian or vegan should feel more celebration than sacrifice, Nix features dishes that are seasonal, shareable and highly flavorful. Innovative cocktails, house-made sodas and an affordable, adventurous wine list complete the menu, all served in a lively Greenwich Village atmosphere. Before launching Nix in February 2016, James Truman was the editor-in-chief of Details magazine, the long-time Editorial Director of Condé Nast, and a culinary consultant to hotelier André Balazs for restaurant Narcissa in the East Village and the Chiltern Firehouse in London.

Where Can One See the Pioneering Yayoi Kusama This Year?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Where can you see Yayoi Kusama this year? For starters, on Instagram. If you haven’t seen at least one Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror pic on Instagram this year, then you clearly have not been on Instagram this year. A blockbuster exhibition of works by the 88-year-old artist – one of Japan’s most celebrated – has been on tour since late February, and it has definitely become A Thing. If you weren’t already familiar with the work of the red-wigged avant-garde artist from her 2012 collaboration with Louis Vuitton, or her inclusion on TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People last year, you’ve surely heard about her by now. The Infinity Rooms are comprised of repetitive patterned objects: pumpkins, balloons, phallic objects and the like. When visitors step inside the mirrored spaces – the limit is three people at a time – they become immersed in a dazzling swirl of light and color, including images of themselves.

TWIST: What You Need to Know to Talk Sports This Week

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

You don’t love professional sports, but your livelihood and/or personal happiness depends upon your being able to converse intelligently about it. It’s a common dilemma with a simple solution: you need to learn a new language. You need to learn how to talk sports. And we’re here to help! The TWIST is our weekly Dandelion Chandelier guide to what’s happened on the field, on the court and on the ice. Every Sunday you’ll find the three (and only three) things you need to know this coming week to speak cogently about professional sports with the boss, the gang at the office, your barber, your barista, your secret crush, or your nephew or niece who dreams of being a professional athlete. Do the TWIST every week and we promise you’ll know how to talk about sports like a champion.

Where is the Best Luxury Wellness Retreat in the World?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Are you a Vanavasi? Should you be? These are pressing questions to ponder as we roll into the action-packed fall season. This time of year can bring stimulation, anxiety, excitement or stress – and sometimes all of the above, all at one time. As we head into the autumn, it seems fitting to take a look at a wellness retreat about which we’ve been hearing rave reviews from our jet set friends. A financier and close friend of our Paris Bureau Chief kindly agreed to share his inside views on Vana, an upscale wellness retreat located in North India at the foothills of the Himalaya. He shared his thoughts after returning from his third stay there.  Based on his report, we’re booking our visits right now. It is quite possibly the best luxury health and wellness retreat in the world.

Could the Future of Luxury Retail Actually Be Fun?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

We have seen the future of retail. And it’s fun. Literally. While old-line department stores and legacy brick and mortar retailers struggle to stay relevant and generate foot traffic, and launch somewhat far-fetched initiatives (we’re looking at you, Saks Fifth Avenue Wellery), on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, we stumbled across a small retail location that points a clear path to the future for traditional retail. And it’s all about entertainment and fun.