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. First up? Trent Preszler, CEO of Bedell Cellars and Founder and Owner of Preszler Woodshop.
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.
Is there any conceivable reason to pay $100,000 for a canoe? Seriously? Dear reader, the answer is yes, if it’s made by Trent Preszler, the Founder of the Preszler Woodshop on the North Fork of Long Island. His canoes are objects of great beauty, made from hundreds of layers of sustainable timber, and his story is one that will inspire you to find the maker that lives inside us all.
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.
Facing an historic number of retail shopping offerings, consumers today have begun to purchase more consciously with respect to quality, value and, for a number, sustainability. Artisanal, handcrafted, locally designed and/or sourced are the buzz…and the heart of New York Makers Marketplace and Magazine, a passion project of mine that has been a joy and delight (along with much hard work!) to bring to life. When I had the honor of serving as First Lady of New York, I spent time in all 62 counties, simultaneously appreciating both the untapped economic potential of local makers and wishing all New Yorkers (and others!) could know about and appreciate fully the state’s remarkable richness and opportunities for culture, adventure, and excitement. What many of us seek in world travel can be found right in our own backyard. As the Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy learned, “There’s no place like home” — Coincidentally (or not?), the Wizard’s author, L. Frank Baum [www.allthingsoz.org] was born in Chittenango, New York, which features a yellow brick road or two, the All Things Oz Museum and a …
