For nearly two years, the Brooklyn-based photographer Dean Kaufman has relished the simple pleasure of watching his son lose himself in a work of art. He began this series when Leo was 4 and started toting a small notebook on family trips to New York art museums. Leo would plunk down near whatever caught his eye and begin to sketch, while his father stealthily captured the moment. Kaufman says the activity — whether sprawling out in front of a Jasper Johns painting at the Whitney Museum of American Art (middle left), or carefully copying Chris Burden's tower of concrete bags at the New Museum (bottom center) — has nurtured Leo's love for drawing. Still, he hesitates to interpret the 5-year-old's curiosity as a sign of future art stardom. "He's got a limited attention span," Kaufman says. "He does the drawing and then he says, 'Let's go have lunch.'"
T Magazine: Document | About a Boy
Written By Unknown on Selasa, 06 Mei 2014 | 17.35
T Magazine: Food Matters | Sleeping Beauty
One of the oldest restaurants in the world, Turin's fabled but faded Del Cambio, has been revived and returned to its former glory, only this time with great food.
While del Cambio, which opened in 1757, was once a go-to spot for titans and kings, it was always better known for its clientele than its cuisine. As its name — meaning "the exchange" — suggests, the restaurant in Turin, Italy, held sway among the city's upper class and the occasional star passing through. Mozart, Nietzsche, Maria Callas and Audrey Hepburn have been among its two and a half centuries of boldface patrons, and members of Turin's Agnelli dynasty have been regulars for generations. Though Napoleon's regime briefly Frenchified its name as Café du Change, the original Italian had been reinstated by the time it became the unofficial dining room of the country's first parliament. But the fortunes of the restaurant were tethered to the city's: Turin's once-thriving industry tumbled in the 1980s and '90s, regaining some momentum when the city hosted the Olympics in 2006. The costs, however, left the economy limping. By 2012, the luster of Del Cambio had long faded and it was on the brink of bankruptcy, which is when the investor and Turin native Michele Denegri stepped in to buy it.
"When I was growing up in the '70s, this was a city for old people. And so was Del Cambio, with its horrible food and its staid interiors," he says. Today the city is having a renaissance — it's home to the original Eataly, and it's the capital of the increasingly influential Slow Food movement. Signifying true boom times, Turin-based Fiat gained full control of Chrysler this year and recently announced plans to increase the plant's annual production. Denegri wanted a restaurant worthy of his newly thriving city. Using Jack Clayton's "The Great Gatsby" and Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" as visual references, he enlisted the help of art dealer Franco Noero and interior decorator Marco Segantin to revamp the place.
A team of 100 restorers, carpenters and upholsterers rehabili-tated the main salon's 19th-century frescoes and regilded the boiserie. To inject modernity into the Old World space, Denegri commissioned the Israeli artist Izhar Patkin to graffiti 200 Sèvres platters. Through a grand passageway is a second dining room, paneled in artwork by Michelangelo Pistoletto. The London-based Italian designer Martino Gamper created round tables with modernist wood inlays and plush red velvet chairs. Up a new marble staircase lies Bar Cavour — named for the leader of the Risorgimento, another Del Cambio regular — a vaulted room decorated in a calligraphed mural by Venezuelan artist Arturo Herrera.
Despite the expense lavished on the interiors, Denegri intends to instill a sense of democracy in Del Cambio. His family would likely not have been regulars in the old days — he proudly notes that his grandfather drove a taxi in the city. While Denegri cites as inspiration exclusive spots like Wiltons in London and the Plaza Hotel in New York (before its 1999 renovation, he notes), he is quick to point out that the spirit here is not classist, and his staff will make everyone feel at ease.
Part of transforming Del Cambio from a symbol of the city's haute bourgeoisie into a true destination is the appointment of a great chef. Matteo Baronetto, 36, who had worked for nearly two decades under Milan-based chef Carlo Cracco — of "I Am Love" fame — agreed to come if Denegri would give him a custom French kitchen. Three days later he was in Turin.
The kitchen includes a dining area where guests can watch 14 cooks in action. Baronetto's menu features hazelnut consommé with steamed shrimp in an elderflower sauce, and an award-winning crème brûlée made with extra-virgin olive oil, vanilla pods and squid. His signature dish, though, is a lighter version of traditional la Finanziera (veal sweetbreads). Baronetto echoes Denegri when he explains Del Cambio's real draw: "the idea of returning to my own Piedmontese roots."
WHEN IN TURIN
ART
The Renzo Piano-redesigned former Fiat factory, Lingotto Fiere, includes a hotel, a restaurant and a museum, the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli. Via Nizza 230, lingottofiere.it.
GARDENS
The former palace Venaria Reale, on the outskirts of Turin, has gardens worth the visit, and inside the estate are exhibitions and performances. Piazza della Repubblica 4, Venaria Reale lavenaria.it.
SWEETS
The ruling Savoy dynasty bought their panettone and Turin's traditional Giandujotti chocolates from Stratta. Plaza San Carlo 191, stratta1836.it.
DRINKS
The wine shop and tasting venue Casa del Barolo showcases regional wines, including the best Piedmontese Barolos, as well as Nebbiolos and Barberas. Via Perugia 26, casadelbarolo.com.
PASTA
The local pastificio Savuré uses grains from Puglia and Piedmont to make some of the best spaghetti in town. Via Garibaldi 38, savure.it.
QUIRK
Science, art and produce come together in the work of Francesco Garnier Valletti, whose thousands of model fruits are on view at the Museo della Frutta. Via Pietro Giruia, museodellafrutta.it.
In Transit Blog: Outdoor Trips With a Fitness Focus
Travelers who can't sit still have a new outings option. Two high-profile brands in the active lifestyle and fitness worlds are teaming up to offer Reebok Fitness Vacations by Austin Adventures.
The inaugural vacation, a six-day trip in Montana this summer, includes hiking in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, trail running past hot springs, and kayaking Class II and III rapids under the shadow of the Absaroka Range.
Three itineraries are scheduled in 2014, with a full launch scheduled for 2015.
This season's trips include two Montana outings, two tours at Bryce and Zion national parks in Utah, and a November trip to Costa Rica.
In general, the vacations will include a wide range of activities such as biking, hiking, rafting, yoga, traditional and forest trail running, functional fitness classes, group fitness classes and obstacle racing.
Guests on some itineraries may engage a masseuse, yoga instructor or other fitness expert traveling with the group. Menus are intended to be nutrition-oriented.
Prices range from $2,498 to $3,898, based on double occupancy.
In Transit Blog: An African Safari for Families
Written By Unknown on Senin, 05 Mei 2014 | 17.35
Most safari camps in Africa either don't allow young children or they don't cater to their interests, but the New York- and Hong Kong-based outfitter Asia to Africa Safaris is offering a new family-friendly animal viewing trip.
The seven-day getaway begins with three nights in Cape Town and includes excursions to the top of Table Mountain and a tour of the Cape Town Peninsula to see the colony of African penguins and the Cape Point Lighthouse.
The next three nights are at Madikwe Game Reserve, a four-hour drive north of Johannesburg.
Parents and their children stay in the family suite, which has a private plunge pool, and can enjoy twice-daily family game drives.
In addition, children can participate in the junior ranger program, which includes activities like finding their direction in the bush, making a fire, studying animal tracks, identifying different wildlife and baking pizza and desserts.
"A safari is a special experience, and we wanted kids to be able to partake in it in a way that's fun and educational," said Edwin Gayla, the company's managing partner in New York.
Prices start at $2,300 a person for the week, which includes all internal flights and transfers.
In Transit Blog: Outdoor Trips With a Fitness Focus
Travelers who can't sit still have a new outings option. Two high-profile brands in the active lifestyle and fitness worlds are teaming up to offer Reebok Fitness Vacations by Austin Adventures.
The inaugural vacation, a six-day trip in Montana this summer, includes hiking in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, trail running past hot springs, and kayaking Class II and III rapids under the shadow of the Absaroka Range.
Three itineraries are scheduled in 2014, with a full launch scheduled for 2015.
This season's trips include two Montana outings, two tours at Bryce and Zion national parks in Utah, and a November trip to Costa Rica.
In general, the vacations will include a wide range of activities such as biking, hiking, rafting, yoga, traditional and forest trail running, functional fitness classes, group fitness classes and obstacle racing.
Guests on some itineraries may engage a masseuse, yoga instructor or other fitness expert traveling with the group. Menus are intended to be nutrition-oriented.
Prices range from $2,498 to $3,898, based on double occupancy.
T Magazine: The Scene | Shelter From the Storm
The seaside neighborhood of Rockaway, Queens, still piecing itself together a year and a half after Hurricane Sandy, has found its patron saint in Klaus Biesenbach, the most hospitable grill master in the art world.
On a warm afternoon late last summer, the party that Klaus Biesenbach threw at his home in Rockaway, Queens, was just like any other American cookout. The orange glow of the sunset bathed his moss-green garden filled with the sounds of chattering friends. The smell of grilling and American beer wafted through the air. The artist Terence Koh laughed with a male friend on the front porch of the house, itself wrapped in sun-faded yellow siding. The Visionaire magazine co-founder Cecilia Dean sipped from a plastic cup in the backyard, next to the musician and performance artist Casey Spooner, while Biesenbach, the Museum of Modern Art's chief curator at large and the director of its Long Island City outpost, MoMA PS1, manned the barbecue, handing out food and playing the role of host. The yard was filled with nearly 80 guests, a discrepant, boisterous mix of artists and curators, models, local surfers, stray celebrities and children. There was a hopeful, easy sense of fun that felt like some glowing charcoal briquette that could not really, truly, ever go out.
And yet for a time it had. Nearly a year earlier, in October 2012, a good deal of the vulnerable Rockaway peninsula was destroyed when Hurricane Sandy slammed into the region, sparking a fire that razed more than 100 homes and twisting the beloved Rockaway boardwalk into miles of Tinkertoy wreckage.
Biesenbach had first visited Rockaway around 2000 and was charmed by its shabby grandeur. When the 2008 financial crisis focused attention on the auto industry, he started thinking about the neighborhood as a miniature, beachfront analogue to Detroit. He struck up friendships with the locals, like David Selig, Dean's longtime boyfriend and the co-owner of the summertime hipster magnet Rockaway Taco, and brought friends like Patti Smith with him to look at real estate.
In the spring of 2012, he bought a place that was, for him, a modest refuge from the round-the-clock-and-world lifestyle that comes with his job. In keeping with his austere persona, he stripped the interiors of everything extraneous — which is to say, everything — combining three ground-floor rooms into one big space, opening up the kitchen and painting all of the walls white. He bought queen-size beds for the five bedrooms and covered them in plain white sheets. Also white: the window curtains, the shower curtains, the kitchen cupboards, the painted radiators and the banister that leads to the second floor. In fact, the only interior color comes from a mint-green picnic table that occupies a good chunk of space in the living room.
The morning after Sandy hit, Biesenbach began emailing his contacts, asking them for aid. Supplies were scarce; Cindy Sherman contributed 150 space heaters. Biesenbach's roster of performer friends — Madonna, Michael Stipe and Kim Cattrall among many others — visited the neighborhood and helped rally volunteers and enthusiasm.
Biesenbach continues to support local organizations, like the nonprofit Rockaway Artists Alliance. And he's turned his attention back to his garden, which had been ravaged by the storm. To his surprise, about half of the trees and plants — the magnolias, the red maple, the golden cedar, the rose of Sharon, the wisteria — recovered the following spring. He has added new plants and trees that are saltwater resilient: a golden dawn redwood, three willows, a bald cypress, a white oak, a live oak and bamboo.
But if he's managed to tame the garden's flora, the same cannot be said for the fauna who come from all over to attend his weekend parties. "I thought it was going to be my quiet spot, where I could come and read and be alone," he says, chuckling. "Somehow it's taken on a life of its own."
T Magazine: Women of the House
Photograph by Simon Watson. Styled by Malina Joseph Gilchrist. Hair by Ana Rodriguez at Green Apple Italia. Makeup by Erica Vellini at Green Apple Italia.ALL IN THE FAMILY The Ferragamo matriarch, Wanda, in blue, surrounded by her clan, from left: Chiara, Consolata, Wanda, Vittoria, Giovanna, Maria, Martina, Vivia, Fiamma, Fiona, Amelie, Olivia, Giulia, Louise, Fulvia, Angelica and Christine.A father who asks his teenage daughter to drop out of school should have a very good reason. Salvatore Ferragamo must have felt the pull of destiny, when in 1958 he begged Fiamma, then 16 and his eldest child, to join him in the family business.
"She was so gifted, she understood my father's creativity like no one else," Fulvia Ferragamo says, recalling how her older sister at first resisted their father's recruitment efforts but eventually caved. Fiamma's first footwear collection came out soon after, inaugurating 40 years of winning designs, including the iconic Vara with its grosgrain bow.
Fiamma was the first of many women in the Ferragamo dynasty to help shape and propel the company. When Salvatore died in 1960, his widow, Wanda, took control, and today she remains honorary chairwoman, showing up at the office every day. Daughters Giovanna and Fulvia followed Fiamma's path, taking on the design of ready-to-wear and accessories while still in their teens.
"We all found our own way of expressing our talents; we completed each other, like all sisters do," Fulvia says. She and Giovanna are now deputy chairs of the holding company and fashion label, respectively, while Fulvia's daughter, Angelica Visconti, is Ferragamo's retail director of Italy.
As Fiamma's name — "flame" — all but promises, her legacy burns bright 16 years after her death. A new handbag line named after her draws on decades of the house's heritage, from her own contributions, to Fulvia's silk scarves, to the label's signature Gancio lock.
Today, the sisters and their prodigious offspring, four generations of which are photographed here, still look to Wanda, 92, for guidance in life and in business. "She managed to continue what my father started, while always prioritizing her role as a mother," Giovanna says. Fulvia adds, "She is still able today to give us the ultimate advice on any matter, and keep her children together."
In Transit Blog: Outdoor Trips With a Fitness Focus
Written By Unknown on Minggu, 04 Mei 2014 | 17.35
Travelers who can't sit still have a new outings option. Two high-profile brands in the active lifestyle and fitness worlds are teaming up to offer Reebok Fitness Vacations by Austin Adventures.
The inaugural vacation, a six-day trip in Montana this summer, includes hiking in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, trail running past hot springs, and kayaking Class II and III rapids under the shadow of the Absaroka Range.
Three itineraries are scheduled in 2014, with a full launch scheduled for 2015.
This season's trips include two Montana outings, two tours at Bryce and Zion national parks in Utah, and a November trip to Costa Rica.
In general, the vacations will include a wide range of activities such as biking, hiking, rafting, yoga, traditional and forest trail running, functional fitness classes, group fitness classes and obstacle racing.
Guests on some itineraries may engage a masseuse, yoga instructor or other fitness expert traveling with the group. Menus are intended to be nutrition-oriented.
Prices range from $2,498 to $3,898, based on double occupancy.
In Transit Blog: An African Safari for Families
Most safari camps in Africa either don't allow young children or they don't cater to their interests, but the New York- and Hong Kong-based outfitter Asia to Africa Safaris is offering a new family-friendly animal viewing trip.
The seven-day getaway begins with three nights in Cape Town and includes excursions to the top of Table Mountain and a tour of the Cape Town Peninsula to see the colony of African penguins and the Cape Point Lighthouse.
The next three nights are at Madikwe Game Reserve, a four-hour drive north of Johannesburg.
Parents and their children stay in the family suite, which has a private plunge pool, and can enjoy twice-daily family game drives.
In addition, children can participate in the junior ranger program, which includes activities like finding their direction in the bush, making a fire, studying animal tracks, identifying different wildlife and baking pizza and desserts.
"A safari is a special experience, and we wanted kids to be able to partake in it in a way that's fun and educational," said Edwin Gayla, the company's managing partner in New York.
Prices start at $2,300 a person for the week, which includes all internal flights and transfers.
