all ours

Rachel Kara - sweet bird of youth

I love having photographer friends.. Really, I do. Other than the fact that they sometimes try and snap pictures of me when they think I'm not looking, it's so much fun to go out with them and take your own inadequate happy shots and then to see much, much, much superior ones go up on their blogs days later. It's crazy to think that we were looking at the same things, the same tables, the same cafes, the same coffees, the same roads - and yet they made this and I only made that. It's exactly how you remember the day but better. Rachel's got the most incredible pictures of our days spent together in New York up on her blog - which is totally fantastic, by the by - and I can't help but share them. I know I didn't take the photos. But I was there!!! That counts, right? 

This morning at Cafe Gitane was perfect. We found ourselves there on the back of not one, not two but several recommendations from various locations - guide books, friends, blogging mates, and even the QANTAS magazine - and several recommendations from various locations simply cannot be ignored. What we found? Really good orange juice, baguette toast that was twice the size of the plate, hand-ground peanut butter and so much avocado we could have covered the baguette. Twice. But we didn't because it was Rachel's avocado and not mine. We also found several ridiculous waitresses who hovered by the side gossiping to the exclusion of all else. You can't have everything, can you? 

It's funny when you find something that a hundred, a thousand, maybe a million - but definitely, definitely the people who publish the QANTAS magazine, which kind of proves the point - have found before you falls into your path. Something that you stumble upon for the first time becomes your own in a way that it never belonged to anyone else. It didn't matter that people had recommended the avocado on toast to Rachel or that I had heard good things about the petit dejeuner complet, no-one else had had it quite like we had it. The best places are the ones that make you feel like that. The best places are the ones that make you feel like they're your own. It certainly helps going at breakfast time when the place is completely empty and you don't have to fend off locals for attention and the good tables. It's not hard to feel like a place is your own when you're the only ones in it. But we did, and we were, and it was. It's not like it was an out-of-the-way coffee house, a tiny little thing that had opened up the week before, a place you find when you're lost and you don't know where you are. Everyone knows about Cafe Gitane. Our recommendation is superfluous. But here it is anyway. Do try the avocado on toast. It's very, very good. 

Cafe Gitane, 242 Mott St, Nolita

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the tourist

There are times when you never want to look or be or act like a tourist. You don't want to be fumbling with maps, you want to be subtly consulting a square of directions tucked secretly inside your novel/moleskine/magazine. You want to be asked for directions by a jeune Parisian as you stroll down the Rue Debelleyme wearing tapered trousers and Isabel ankle boots. You want to be seated straight away without a minute's wait at Balthazar. But, you know, there are times when it's okay to pore over a map, and have locals glance at you up and down and wait in line at an overpriced restaurant. Sometimes it's okay to be a tourist. And one of those times is whenever you are in Hong Kong, and, after enduring a rickety few minutes up the historic tram service you arrive at the top, and you step out onto the old observation deck and you look out at the world - or such as it seems from those heights - from The Peak.

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sneak peek: bright and cheerful

There's no time like the present to embrace bold colours and bright prints and everything that's cheerful and fun about Summer. I'm not even the biggest print gal but I think it has something to do with wearing so much charcoal grey and navy while I was overseas. I don't want to see another dark colour for at least three months. Give me a blown-out digital print and a something a little eye-catching for now, please!

You can check out the entire post on the Corner Shop blog, here.

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ps. on wednesday they're going to start their spectacular sale, which are always fantastic and always deathtraps for credit cards. If you're in sydney check it out!

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that cake

The other day I spent quite a pleasant hour or two making one of my favourite cakes - the Ginger Root cake from Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet. It's ludicrously simple, which is good considering how easily I am led astray by recipes, and the end result is so delicious. It also only gets better with time, as the ginger flavours mature and gain a whole lot of warm spice. The premise of this cake is a marriage between the density of the "root" - Lepard suggests you use parsnips, turnips or swedes, but since all of these are winter vegetables and are rarer than gold here in sydney at the moment I used carrot and it's just as good - and the hit of ginger. I think that carrots work so well in baked goods (need I remind you of my, and the rest of the world it seems, obsession with the carrot cake from the Rose Bakery?). Another cautionary note - this recipe calls for the use of "stem ginger". I'm not really sure what that is, but the few times that I've made this cake I've used "natural ginger" which is like a crystallised ginger. The recipe asks for 4 nuggets of stem ginger - I normally add about 8 or 10 large-ish pieces of crystallised ginger, roughly chopped. And a sprinkle of cinnamon has never gone amiss with this cake. Okay, enough of that. You can get the recipe here.

This cake is so good, almost indecently, inappropriately good with this lemon icing. It's basically just icing sugar and lemon juice with a tiny bit of lemon zest added in. I'm not too sure of the ratios, but basically the icing should be thick enough that it will hold it's pattern across the top of the cake. The icing is so sharp and the cake has such a warm spice to it that it's the perfect combination. Let me know if you give this cake a try. I guarantee you that it will brighten days! It's good like that.

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the club

the sartorialist, vanessa jackman, my photo

At last! At long, long last. I'm joining such luminaries as Eva and Vilislava in the hat club. I imagine that people with the perfect hat meet up somewhere once a year and they smile ecstatically at each other and they eat really delicious things like seafood salads and eton mess and they drink Makers Mark on the rocks and they talk about Important World Issues and read Le Monde and listen to Etta James. This is a Theysken's Theory hat that I picked up in New York, thanks to a sweet recommendation from Jess. It's a perfect little thing, with a stiff, broad brim and a high top, and it's big, like real big so it fits my head and I wore it non stop in New York and I can't wait till the weather gets a little cooler so I can pop it on my head here. I think this is the start of something really special.

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Soho

one. when we were at Ruby's there was just a bunch of fresh chrysanthemums sitting on a table. It was comforting. That, and the Australian accents that swarmed all around us. two. still Christmas trees. three. gorgeous fresh flowers at Dean and Deluca. four. the in-store water feature at Me and Ro only added to the ambiance. five. land of the cakes. six and seven. Cafe Gitane is one of those places that is worth the wait for a table. Hand ground peanut butter and, on another day, a shredded carrot salad with iced hibiscus tea. Delicious. eight. streetscapes.

Soho is definitely one of those best of times, worst of times places. It’s got all the good shops and all the great cafes, but also crowds of people, wait times for tables and the constant fear that you will, at some point, hemorrhage money while you are there. Is that the price that you pay for spending time in this hip New York neighbourhood? Perhaps. 

All the best times that I had in Soho – consumed a petit dejeuner complet at Café Gitane with hand-ground Peanut Butter, enjoyed a three course lunch at Balthazar and an endless dinner of soft shell tacos, empanadas and ceviche at La Esquina brasserie. Shopped for presents for my mum at Purl Soho and Dean and Deluca. Spied Ruby Aldridge leafing through the racks at Zara. Celebrated a belated Australia day with vegemite toast at Ruby’s Cafe. Popped into Isabel Marant and Theory, 3.1 Phillip Lim and APC, Kirna Zabete and Opening Ceremony. Laughed away whole afternoons in nameless cafes over bottomless cups of coffee. Shared a bottle of wine and a mushroom pizza with a great friend at Rubirosa. Fell in love with beautiful slip-of-a-thing rings and necklaces at Me and Ro. Sat in starbucks and watched the snow fall one white afternoon. 

 All the worst times - you know, there really weren’t any. Even when I got lost wandering one afternoon and I had to draw my coat right up around me for fear of hypothermia it was alright, because eventually I found the Tribeca Taco Company street stand, and I bought some quesadillas, and I sat down on a bench with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and I read for a little until I had worked out what to do. Soho’s great like that. When it all gets too much it throws you a curved ball and wills you to catch it. And you do. Every single time. 

 Notes (for the record this includes Nolita as well. I just can’t be bothered to split them up, sorry!):

Lafayette House - 38 East 4th St (at Bowery)

The Bowery Hotel - 335 Bowery (at corner of East 3rd St)

The Smile -  26 Bond St (between Bowery and Lafayette)

 Peels - 325 Bowery (at corner of East 2nd St)

Bowery Coffee Company - 87 East Houston (between Bowery and Elizabeth)

Rag and Bone - 73 East Houston (between Bowery and Elizabeth)

Billy’s Bakery - 268 Elizabeth St (between East Houston and Prince)

Me and Ro - 241 Elizabeth St (between East Houston and Prince)

Le Llabo Fragrance - 233 Elizabeth St (between East Houston and Prince)

Steven Alan - 229 Elizabeth St (at corner of Prince)

Cafe Habana - 17 Prince St (at corner of Elizabeth)

A Detacher - 262 3Mott St (between East Houston and Prince)

Cafe Gitane - 242 Mott St (between East Houston and Prince)

Ruby’s Cafe - 219B Mulberry St (between Spring and Prince)

 Rubirosa - 235 Mulberry St (between Spring and Prince)

Lombardi's Pizza -32 Spring St (between Mulberry and Mott St)

McJs books - 42 Prince St (at Mulberry St)

Lafayette Smoke Shop (great selection of international magazines) - corner of Lafayette and Spring St

La Esquina - 106 Kenmare St (at corner of Lafayette)

Balthazar - 80 Spring St (between Broadway and Crosby)

Dean and Deluca -  560 Broadway (at corner of Prince)

3.1 Phillip Lim- 115 Mercer St (between Spring and Prince)

APC - 131 Mercer St (between Spring and Prince)

Barney's Co-Op - 116 Wooster St (between Spring and Prince)

Kirna Zabete - 96 Greene St (between Spring and Prince)

Isabel Marant - 469 Broome St (at corner of Greene)

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream truck - Corner of Prince and Greene st

Acne Studios - 10 Greene St (between Canal and Grand)

Jumelle - 55 Grand St (at West Broadway)

Lucky Strike Brasserie - 59 Grand St (at West Broadway)

Grandaisy Bakery - 250 West Broadway (at Walker) - kind of in Tribeca, I know I'm cheating haha

Theory - 151 Spring St (at West Broadway)

Opening Ceremony - 35 Howard St (between Broadway and Crosby)

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sneak peek: New York notes

I've got a big confession. I came back from New York with a couple of blocks of Mast brothers chocolate, some fashion week memories, and a massive, overpowering obsession with the 3.1 Phillip Lim 31 hour tote bags. Everyone was carrying them around fashion week, zipped up, folded open, two-tone, one colour, over the arm, in the hand, just basically driving me mad with how chic they were. Thank God that The Corner Shop has them in stock now so that I can fuel that obsession by visiting them frequently at their Strand Arcade store. And the clutches! The clutches are so great - two-tone in shades of lemon yellow or buttery tan. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Check out my post for The Corner Shop in full here.

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smalls

"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to me," I remarked. 

"Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it." 

 "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't observe. She had small round, hanging gold ear-rings, and a general air of being fairly well to do in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way." 

Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. " 'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details."

Arthur Conan Doyle, A Case of Identity

one. COS lace bra (thanks Talisa!)

two. BRVTVS necklace with three tiny oxidised beads. 

three. Urban outfitters lace bra.

four. small change, left over from Hong Kong.

five. the tiniest whispers of gold, catbird threadbare rings. 

six. Carine Roitfeld when she was small, from her tome, Irreverent. 

How good is Sherlock? Laying aside the adorable Holmes/Watson bromance - better than in the recent RDJ movies - and even the fact that I am hopelessly sherlocked on Benedict Cumberbatch, it's just a fantastic modern appropriation of what is the quintessential murder mystery narrative. How much do we all owe Sherlock Holmes? Without it, there would be no Law and Order, no NCIS, no Castle. There wouldn't even be street style photographers, yes that's right, the professionals who "never trust to general impressions" and who "concentrate on the details". For all this, we owe a debt of gratitude to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I've always liked the small details best. I'm not as good a noticer/listener/general pest as Sherlock, but I am a bit of a people watcher. Just a little. I like to notice small details. Maybe I'm not watching so closely as to notice lacy underwear - but these are two beautiful little bra-lets that I've picked up recently, the first Talisa brought back all the way from Paris for me, the wonderful COS number that I always use in my polyvore sets and another from New York. Some more delicate jewellery - three tiny little beads on a BRVTVS necklace and a few Catbird threadbare rings, still as gorgeous as ever. Those Hong Kong coins are the remnants of my holiday money... where did it all go? Where did it all go? And I love this picture of Carine Roitfeld with her father in Irreverent. I love the way that she describes him, "he wasn't my father, he was a god". That's no small way to talk about someone. The best thing, seriously, the best thing, is when you have just the right words to say what you want to say. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

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Sydney, I love you

one and two. the hedonist's guide to sydney. three and four. Room 10 exterior and that famous muesli. five.  bourke st bakery always has the best pastries. Peach and Raspberry galette? why not? six. I love bloodorange's beautiful sign. Pastabilities packaging. seven. my garden. my favourite place in the whole world. 

"Sydney is a shameless flirt," reads the first sentence of the newly released Hedonist's guide to Sydney. Well, I'm sad to say, I've been shamelessly flirting with some other cities this past month, flitting through Hong Kong and New York to see what it's all about. It's funny, you always appreciate home so much more when you've been away. And when you come back to find a guide book to your home town all wrapped up - all the way from London thanks to Marilyn at Hg2 - and sitting on your desk, it seems like there's no better time to rekindle that love affair with Sydney. It's funny looking at your city from a tourist's point of view, but then the hg2 guides are not really for your average tourists. All the recommendations feel like ones you could have received from the best of friends - the ones with wanderlust and great taste and that like all the same things that you do. There's a strong focus on eating and drinking (this is a hedonist's guide, after all!) with sections divided by activity "eat", "sleep", "snack", "shop" and colour-coded by region. I was so happy to see some of my favourites, like the Flinders' Duke Bistro, Miss Chus, Din Tai Fung and Toby's Estate pop up on the lists. It was also exciting to see a couple of places that I've been dying to visit pop up - like Burnt Orange in Mosman and Flying Fish - which only cemented my desire to go. I took the New York guide with me on my holiday and it was such a good decision. Along with all the helpful tips from friends, family and you guys I made a grand old list of thing to do and see and, let's be honest, most importantly - eat. I had such a wonderful, wonderful time (and I've got plenty more posts to come, don't worry!).

My only problem? The shopping picks... I always look forward to shopping sections and this one was so slim! And the information was a little bit out-dated, some of the brands listed are not stocked at stores anymore, and there were some major favourite stores left out, like the amazing Lands End in five ways. But they still had a great selection, including the fantastic bloodorange - the dictionary definition of small but perfectly formed - and, of course, that purveyor of isabel and phillip lim and all things good; The Corner Shop. I can't wait to see the second version with an updated shopping section.

So today, in honour of this fun guide, I decided to enjoy a day out and about in my beautiful city. I had a leisurely breakfast at Room 10 with Talisa - the fig granola, of course! - and then wandered around one of Sydney's most beautiful areas, Potts Point, visiting the new Bourke St Bakery outpost there, and then onto bloodorange, naturally, and then I grabbed some pastablities ravioli for dinner with my family tonight and then I sat in my garden for a little and did some boring computer admin stuff. I love my garden. It's the best thing ever. And you know, I love sydney too. Hopefully with a little help from this guide I'm going to venture to some new places in sydney this year..

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In the studio: BRVTVS

all photos by me

“I just love the stories of ancient Rome. People were so bloodthirsty back then.” Caroline Ventura of New York jewellery label BRVTVS is grinning in her West 24th street studio. Over her right shoulder hang several serious and technical-looking pliers and over her left, a splotchy, hand-painted water-colour artwork tacked up onto the wall with sticky-tape. We couldn’t be further from ancient Rome, or at least the ubiquitous one immortalised in Elizabeth Taylor films, grainy holiday snaps and dusty history books. And yet, there’s something about those hammered gold plates, suspended so gracefully from dainty gold chains. Something historic. Legendary. Mythical. 

“I love how Rome mixes the ancient with the modern,” Ventura says. “The way that I make each piece is a mix of the ancient process of jewellery making and modern design – all of the jewellery is made in a classic way, hand-hammered with artisanal levels of craftsmanship, but the designs and the shapes are modern.” 

This is just one of the dichotomies that characterise Ventura’s one-and-a-half year old line, BRVTVS. What began with “fancy friendship bracelets” featuring hand-dyed silk threads and crafted beads has evolved into a small, but perfectly formed, line of pure gold necklaces, earrings and rings with a charmingly feminine yet resolutely wearable aesthetic. These thin bracelets and spun-gold rings may be simple, but they hold their own against even the most severe of garments. “I have a very tomboy personal style,” Ventura says, “and I love menswear for clothing. But for jewellery I like things that are pretty and super feminine. I like that contrast between boy and girl.” 

Ventura is, as the best designers often are, her label’s best advertisement and biggest fan. Her casual everyday style of R.M Williams boots and oversized charcoal sweaters is offset perfectly by the stunning array of jewellery that she sports. In her right lobe are a few tiny emerald studs, in her left a plain gold sphere. A necklace, two bracelets and whole fingers full of stacked rings complete the look. Every design from BRVTVS (so called because she “thought it would be funny to name it after someone who was notoriously a bad friend”) is something that she would personally wear and test-drives herself, recalling the label’s early origins as her hobby and past time. 

“I couldn’t find things that I wanted to wear in the jewellery world,” Ventura says, shrugging. “Everything seemed to be statement pieces, super big and not my style at all. I wanted something really dainty that I could wear everyday. So I decided to make them myself!” A class in metal work and several instructive youtube videos later, Ventura created her label. “A lot of it is trial and error,” she admits. “A lot of the time I just sit here and hammer away at making shapes. It’s such a learning process and I don’t think I’ll ever not have something to learn.” 

Ventura’s design process is refreshingly organic. Whether physically molding shapes from metal or creating rough sketches on one of the many notepads that litter her studio, Ventura designs in the same unforced way that she approaches her business. The original collection revolved around the minimalist beauty of geometric shapes like spheres and cones. Now she is toying with the idea of natural materials such as wood and leather, especially for men’s jewellery. Ventura does have some experience designing for men – the matching wedding bands that both her and her husband wear are one of her own creations. But that doesn’t mean that she finds it easy to translate the particularly unique aesthetic of BRVTVS to menswear. “It’s tricky designing for men,” Ventura muses. “I think my designs are so dainty that it comes across too feminine.” She’s hopeful that a series of hand-dyed leather pieces with beads will appeal to the male customers that constantly request for BRVTVS to cater to their end of the market. 

One thing that will remain steadfast as the label grows is Ventura’s dedication to artisanal techniques. “In anything that I do I always want it to feel like there was some level of craftsmanship to it, that it wasn’t just a piece that was turned out or that everyone has the same copy,” Ventura says. At the moment every item is made to order by Ventura herself, with the result that no two pieces are identical. In the future she would like to pass production over to an assistant so that she can focus on design and other creative ventures, but for now she’s happy to maintain control over her burgeoning label. “I would love to reach a broader audience and it’s limiting when you are doing it all yourself,” Ventura says, “but it’s so important to me to maintain that artistry aspect.” No matter how big the company grows the jewellery will always be handmade. “I don’t want to move into a factory setting. Maybe in the future they won’t all be handmade by me, but they will be handmade by someone.” 

 The future is truly bright for this old-worldly jewellery label. Ventura has dreams of a multi-faceted lifestyle empire encompassing everything that she finds lovely, from artsy greeting cards to hand-mixed oils and scents. A store-front would be ideal, somewhere nice and big so that Ventura can display her pieces to a browsing public in the ceramic jewellery dishes that she makes herself, resting on top of the rustic furniture that she designs in tandem with her husband. “I think I would like to offer a lot of things to people that could reach different facets of their lives and not just pretty jewellery,” Ventura says. “In the end it’s all just stuff that I want and stuff that I do anyway and I would just love to offer it to other people.” 

You get the feeling that it all comes naturally to Ventura, one of those innately creative people who sees beauty in a grain of sand. Everything is effortless, without a single ounce of pretension. “Things will happen the way that they happen. I don’t want anything to feel forced because people won’t like – I won’t like it,” Ventura says. “Ultimately it’s all about me!” she adds, laughing. She’s certainly no gaudy, attention-grabbing Cleopatra, emerging triumphantly from a rug at Caesar’s feet, but this idea of fate and pre-destination? That sounds distinctly Roman to me. 

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Another studio visit! It was such a pleasure to meet the face behind one of my favourite labels, and to see that she is incredibly creative and just as passionate as her designs suggest. I'm lucky enough to own a couple of BRVTVS numbers and they are my favourite pieces of jewellery - beautiful gold and historic designs. If you have any questions or would like to place a (hand made) order, please check out their online shop or contact info@brvtvs.com. And if you want to read my first studio visit in New York, with jewellery designer Satomi Kawakita, click here.

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