Search results for

Since launching her handbags and accessories line in 2008, accessories designer Clare Vivier has mastered the delicate combination of Parisian chic, American prep, and California cool. While her brand has spread to seven boutiques across California and New York, her flagship shop in Silverlake may best personify her brand. Two walls of windows let the California sun stream in each morning and afternoon, and shadowboxes designed by local architect Barbara Bestor hold the goods that lure passersby along Sunset Boulevard. Technicolor best sellers such as the La Tropezienne, Simple Tote, and coveted Foldover Clutches may sit on copies of the most recent Paris Review or Louis Vuitton City Guides, which are also for sale. Everything in the well-rounded space has a connection to France, Los Angeles, or Vivier herself. The shop stocks jewelry by her friends Annie Costello Brown and Grace Lee, for example, along with French Veja sneakers and candles from West Hollywood’s iconic Chateau Marmont. Pro tip: Head here for a last-minute gift—clutches and other leather items can be monogrammed on the spot.

Café Du Monde is always open; it’s the clientele that changes—from visiting families and local pensioners early in the morning, to couples in the evening, to Bourbon Street refugees looking for coffee and ballast in the night’s thinnest hours. This huge coffee stop is a rarity—a tourist trap that locals actually love (although they will rarely wait when lines are long). It’s been around for more than a century, and basically serves two items: beignets and café au lait. The beignets are similar to Spanish buñuelos, fried fritters of dough, and are one of those French traditions that’s survived here more durably than in France. While probably not on anyone’s diet list—they come piled with powdered sugar—they’re surprisingly light, and an order (which equals three beignets) disappears with unusual haste.

24/7 is fine dining in the exclusive LaLiT Hotel near Connaught Place. It is also the only space in the city where you can order drinks at any time of day or night - hence the name 24/7. A buffet is offered during breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a-la-carte options served the remainder of the day. Cocktails served anytime, including during Sunday brunch.

Perhaps the most famous artwork in the archipelago is God, our Father, on the Rainbow, by Sweden’s most popular sculptor, Carl Milles (1875–1955). It depicts God standing on top of a 23-meter-tall (75-foot-tall) water spout. The work was designed in the 1940s and intended to stand in New York outside the United Nations. That plan was not realized, but in 1995 this version was installed at Nacka, just outside central Stockholm. Milles’s home and studio can be found on the nearby island of Lidingö and is a fascinating place to visit on a sunny day when you can wander through its sculpture garden.

Making a new luxury lodge in Africa stand out is challenging, but Xigera Safari Lodge, on the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana, hits all the high notes as the shiniest new offering in a rising African destination. Run by the Travel Corporation’s Tollman family, the sustainably built lodge has design inspired by the Okavango Delta spearheaded by Toni Tollman, director of design, and the first Tata Harper spa (known for nontoxic and organic products) in Africa. Each of the 12 suites—including one two-bedroom family suite—and public areas will feature artwork by leading African artists. The entire property will sit on two small islands, floating slightly above lily-filled lagoons. And the Tollmans really do take sustainability seriously—they built the Xigera Energy Centre to meet more than 95 percent of their energy needs. The Travel Corporation, today with 42 travel brands, including Red Carnation and Contiki, started in Africa, and it has been the Tollmans’ lifelong dream to open this lodge—a full-circle coming home story for the family and brand. International air travel will open to Botswana as of December 1, and travelers must present a negative COVID test taken within three days of arrival.

Bufalina owner Steven Dilley once lived in New York City, where he taught himself how to cook pizza in his subsequently overheated apartment. He was a good teacher and a good student. The University of Texas alumnus became one of the early movers in the Neapolitan pizza game in Austin and now operates two Bufalina locations. The igloo-shaped stoves that turn out charred and supple pizzas never would have fit in that old apartment, but they have become the centerpieces of his Austin restaurants. The menus celebrate local bounty with a couple of fresh salad options, and the daily pasta is always a must. Dilley has also put together one of the city’s most intriguing wine lists, an unexpected page-turner for restaurants the size of Bufalina.

For centuries, Rajasthan—and Jaipur in particular—has served as the epicenter of India’s gemstone industry; as far back as the early-1700’s, the skilled craftsmen of this region were cutting, shaping, and polishing about 90 percent of the stones used by the country’s jewelry makers. This legendary Jaipur shop has been witness to nearly all that history, with the founding Kasliwal family serving as jewelers to the Maharajas of the Mughal empire—followed by a long list of international royalty, presidents, and celebrities; they’ve even been granted honors by the British Crown, and their pieces have been exhibited at London’s Somerset House and New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Stop in to ogle the glittering goods—which are available in traditional, modern, and vintage-inspired styles—and learn a bit about the expert artistry and craftsmanship that goes into creating them. Prices run the gamut, so there’s something for most budgets, but be warned that most of the pieces are designed to dazzle. There are also Gem Palace outposts in luxury hotels throughout India (including some Oberoi and Taj locations), as well as a few partner boutiques outside of the subcontinent.

Built in 1863, Magnolia New Orleans is classic in decor—especially in the marbled lobby with its antique furnishings and Renaissance murals—but with all the up-to-date amenities you’d expect: Rooms and suites have flat-screen televisions and Nespresso coffeemakers, and there’s a small but well-equipped gym on-site and a rooftop sundeck with a Jacuzzi.

One of the largest urban parks in the world, Munich’s English Garden was founded in 1789, when Elector Carl Theodor ordered a public park to be built along the Isar River. Having undergone many alterations over the centuries, it now offers a slew of contemporary leisure activities. Cyclists, joggers, and rollerbladers make use of almost 50 miles of pathways, while less-active visitors head to the Japanese teahouse (opened in 1972) or one of several beer gardens (the one next to the Chinese Tower is Munich’s second largest, with seating for 7,000). Additionally, there’s a man-made lake, soccer fields, a small amphitheater, a carousel, a Greek temple, and even a popular surfing wave on the river. The park’s large meadows are ideal for picnicking, barbecuing, and sunbathing, making the English Garden one of Munich’s most popular hangouts in summer. That said, autumn is also a spectacular time to stroll the grounds and peep all the changing leaves.

Formerly Las Alcobas, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Napa Valley.

Located just a short walk from the downtown area of the charming small town of St. Helena, Alila Napa Valley blends old and new in totally indulgent ways. The center of the 64-room property is a Victorian-style mansion that dates back to 1905. The house has been renovated and is now home to Violetto, an intimate, fine dining restaurant led by award-winning Executive Chef Thomas Lents. The nightly tasting menu, inspired by Northern Italy and Southern France, highlights local ingredients from Napa with items like homemade pastas, fresh salads, and duck confit. Guests can also join for a la carte snacks in the lounge and bar or on the beautiful, wrap-around veranda (don’t miss the chickpea panisse).

Behind the old mansion is the spa, whose building was designed to replicate an old barn with clapboard walls and high ceilings. The vibe is distinctive yet without pretense. Angled around these buildings are stand-alone, three-story structures that house the majority of the guest rooms. Featuring a warm, minimalist aesthetic that highlights, rather than distracts from, the beautiful vineyards it overlooks, each of the spacious guest rooms are decked out in natural materials such as oak, jute, and Carrara marble. Rooms come with cozy bathrobes, well-stocked mini-bars, and inviting balconies with fire pits that will make you want to lounge and linger.

All of this is centered around a large, open-air bar, event reception area, and swimming pool. Though compact, the pool is nestled in an exquisite setting with vineyard views. If you can manage to peel yourself away from the hotel, the property also has bicycles that guests can use to get around town or pedal around the newly built Napa Vine Trail. Or, simply walk a few hundred feet to the winery next door, Beringer, for a sampling of their world-renowned wines. Whatever you choose to do—be it lounge with a glass of wine at the new poolside bar, or retreat for a massage in the on-site spa—you can’t go wrong at this beautiful Napa wine country resort.

This stylish wine bar, bottle shop, and all-day restaurant is the brainchild of two food and wine world forces: Jessi Singh, the chef from San Francisco and New York City’s acclaimed Babu Ji, and James Beard Award–winning sommelier Rajat Parr. Opened this year, Bibi Ji, which takes its name from an Indian term of endearment, pays tribute to the women in the cofounders’ lives who cultivated their love for food and hospitality. The seafood-focused menu with Australian and Indian influences changes regularly, depending on what’s available at the Santa Barbara farmers’ market. Oysters are accompanied by pickled green mango butter, sea urchin is featured in the uni biryani dish with fried rice, and the seafood coconut curry can include prawns or vegetables. The presentation is almost so pretty you don’t want to disturb it, but let that moment pass and dig in. Pair your meal with any of the limited-run, small-keg draft beers; the rotating new beers in the beer fridge; wine from the bottle shop—or surrender to the experts and let them do the pairing for you. Whether you sit indoors or outside, the California spirit blends with Singh’s and Parr’s beloved India, making the restaurant what the owners call a “good-time place.”

The McGuire Moorman Hospitality group has proven time and again that it knows how to develop a concept and deliver it in a stunning thematic package—from the coastal seafood vibes of Perla’s to the handsome brawn of Lamberts Downtown Barbecue. For June’s All Day, the team has blended elements of a French bistro, a New York City wine bar, and a quintessential American diner. The menu, which ranges from chilled artichoke and croque madame to a fried chicken sandwich and cheeseburger, straddles the Atlantic. The restaurant’s namesake, June Rodil, is one of the country’s few female Master Sommeliers, and the smart and engaging wine list, highlighted by more than 30 white and sparkling options, invites guests to stay and sip.

First opened in 2004 in a former office building in the Central Business District, the Loews New Orleans Hotel completed a $4 million renovation in November 2014. The new look is modern, but with a nod to the Big Easy: rooms and suites (which, by the way, are among the most spacious in town) are done up in soothing blues and grays, and feature local photography on the walls, and the carpets have a wrought-iron fence motif. Large picture windows afford vistas of the city or the Mississippi River.

Run by the legendary Brennan family and named after the vivacious Adelaide Brennan, the hotel restaurant also got a makeover—think canary-yellow seats, teal tufted banquettes, and Andy Warhol–esque pop art of its namesake.

Before lobster rolls were trendy in New York, there was Pearl Oyster Bar. Open since 1997, this tiny, no-reservations restaurant still has a solid 45-minute wait for a table on any given weekend night. But those who have eaten here will tell you it’s worth it, whether you dine at the namesake bar or in the cozy adjoining dining room (this is not a place to take big groups). Of course the fresh oysters and lobster roll are sure bets, but don’t overlook whatever whole fish they are serving that day, which can be enjoyed pan roasted or grilled.

Lenbachhaus is Munich‘s premier art gallery. It reopened in May 2013 after a four-year renovation of the original building (a late-19th-century Florentine-style villa for painter Franz von Lenbach), plus the addition of a modern wing designed by Norman Foster. The exterior of the new wing features striking, golden tubes. For Norman Foster fans, the museum’s new exterior is iconic—a beautiful play on color, pattern, and geometry. Try to see it at sunset, when the tubes are seemingly more golden, rich, and alluring. The Lenbachhaus redesign marries the old with the new, especially in the triple-height, sky-lit lobby atrium. Immediately upon stepping into the museum, your attention is drawn to what appears to be an enormous hanging icicle, which is in fact a specially commissioned work by Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson called Wirbelwerk. The new wing serves as a “jewel box” for the museum’s best-known works, the “Blue Rider” collection of 20th-century Expressionist art. There is also a new garden and a restaurant with an outdoor terrace. With the addition of new galleries and a bold redesign, Lenbachhaus further cements its reputation as one of Bavaria’s leading cultural centers.