Sunday, July 19, 2009

Per Se Kitchen Hierarchy in NYMag


I have read many times about the magnificent kitchens and staff at Thomas Keller's establishments Per Se and French Laundry. In NYMag, there is an article about how the kitchen staff is setup and a description of each person's role. It is like a HR graph at some major corporation but about something more interesting. It is interesting that there is very specific job for each person at each station and that most restaurants have a form of this setup. The setup is called the brigade system defined at the Savoy Hotel in the 19th century and it was based on the structure created by European military cooks as far back as the 14th century. Of course, given the cost of a meal at one of these places (not including alcoholic beverages) is about $150-200 per person and requires you to call at 10am exactly X months from the day you desire to eat there in order to get a table, the kitchen better be military precise. The availability of tables could have improved as the economy is in the gutter now which is a good thing for us regular people who want to eat there if we can still afford to and a bad thing for the restaurant. I can't afford to travel to the restaurants nor could I afford to eat there even if I can travel to Cali or NY so I can't really know. However, both places are on my list of places I want to eat in the next 5 years.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Look of the Week


This design takes two trends I love right now (zipper and bows...so 80's) and puts it in one grey dress. I would definitely wear this but there's no bra which makes this kind of backless dress difficult for me. I love it so much, I don't even care that I wouldn't have any real support in the chest.

This bra dilemma reminds me of an article I read recently in NYTimes about new designers going out on their own. In the article, the designer, Joseph Altuzarra, lives in NYC but designs in Europe. He explained what the buyers at American stores told him will sell better: "They [the buyers] said American women won’t wear dresses without a bra. “The bra thing in America is huge, in comparison to Europe,” he said." This I believe to be true, women here have a much more modest sensibility than

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2009 RTW
Model: Chanel Iman
Photo: Marcio Madeira

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Look of the Week


This is one of the best outfits with shorts that I have seen. It's sleek and simple. It doesn't look like you are going to a bbq or the beach but it also doesn't look like one of those shorts that need to be pressed like dress pants. And the accessories are great. The graphic clutch and the pinky ring are so cute.

Dries Van Noten Spring 2009 RTW
Model: Sigrid Agren
Photo: Marcio Madeira

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Look of the Week


I love this party outfit. It is a unique color that few people would be wearing. Also the knots and folds standout but are too outlandish. It would definitely be the chicest outfit in the room with the best rock star shoes.

Lanvin Spring 2009 RTW
Model: Diana Farkhullina
Photo: Marcio Madeira