All posts tagged: APPETITE

The Luxury of an Autumn Vegan Feast at Millennium

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Steak or salad? Or to be more precise, steakhouse or vegetable-forward? Which provides the most luxurious experience? Sure, in the past, steakhouses were the ne plus ultra of fine dining – martinis, jumbo shrimp cocktail, a huge hunk of charred beef, and creamed spinach. That was what you ate if you were in the global power elite, circa 1980. But what about now? With so many vegan, vegetarian and vegetables-first gourmet fine dining establishments having opened up shop in so many of the world’s glittering cities, here at Dandelion Chandelier, we decided to go on a quest to answer this pressing question. Our first field report was from Restaurant Nix in Greenwich Village. It’s the only vegetarian restaurant in the US with a Michelin star, so we thought that would be a good place to start. And it was.

Is Nix Really the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in New York?

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

In the not-so-distant past, “sexy vegetarian” would have been an oxymoron. However, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Woody Harrelson, Ariana Grande, Liam Hemsworth and Natalie Portman have definitively proven that such creatures exist and freely roam the earth. PETA even names the two “sexiest vegetarians” annually. But a sexy vegetarian restaurant? Extremely hard to find in the precincts of Manhattan until very recently. During the dark days of 2016, an annus horribilis if ever there was one, at least one bright spot appeared on the horizon: restaurant Nix opened on February 29th. Perhaps not since the Garden of Eden has being surrounded by plants been so interesting. The restaurant, located on University Place in the Village, is the brainchild of James Truman and Chef John Fraser. Truman is the urbane and insightful former editor-in-chief of Details magazine and longtime Editorial Director at Condé Nast. After a hiatus in the art world, Truman turned his formidable talents to the restaurant world, first as a culinary consultant to hotelier André Balazs at restaurant Narcissa in the …

Private Around-the-World Jet Trip Is the Latest Luxury

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

If money were no object, how would you choose to see the world? Would you do it “all in one go” on the luxury trip of a lifetime? Or would you spread it out over several years and multiple journeys, so that you could absorb and appreciate everything that you experienced? Would you travel with strangers? With just one other person? Or with 50 of your closest friends? It’s a champagne dilemma. And one that the uber-rich are increasingly faced with. Taking a Grand Tour of the civilized world was a cherished ritual of the wealthy in the 19th century – the trips lasted for months, sometimes years, and were an important facet of becoming a sophisticated adult in high society. Fast forward to today, when such a trip can be completed in a matter of days if you have the right budget. New York, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, Jaipur, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Sydney – if you’ve got a couple of weeks and lot of stamina, you can check all of these destinations and more …

The Best Winery on the North Fork: Bedell Cellars

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

There’s a lovely little Napa Valley equivalent only 90 minutes from Manhattan on the North Fork of Long Island. And the best winery among the 40 or so that you can choose to visit? For our money, it’s the highly-acclaimed Bedell Cellars. Don’t just take our word for it: their 2009 Merlot was served at the Inauguration of President Obama in 2013.

Luxury Secrets of the North Fork of Long Island

Published by Pamela Thomas-Graham

Have you ever visited the North Fork, known by the in-crowd as the “the Brooklyn of Long Island?” The locale’s street cred as the weekend getaway for Brooklyn hipsters was fully solidified when an episode of the dearly-departed “Girls” took place on the North Fork. If you haven’t been, or haven’t been recently, you need to get yourself there as soon as possible. You’ll find a magical place of makers and artisans of all sorts, incredible farm-to-table restaurants, wineries, craft breweries and distilleries, charming roadside farm stands, and the essential scents of summer in the air everywhere you go.