44 minute read
Artifact A souvenir from the fi eld
artifact
The medieval city of Amsterdam is a vanguard of European culture. It’s also where you’ll fi nd De Ruijter chocolate.
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FEATURES
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LONG AND WINDING ROADS
Eleven great road trips on fi ve continents
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THE HEMI Q&A
Billionaire Mark Cuban goes maverick. By David Carr
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GRILL CRAZY
Travel around the barbecue world in 80 bites. By Chris Erickson
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THREE PERFECT DAYS: AMSTERDAM
Exploring the city of canals and cats By Adam K. Raymond
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM JULY 2010
PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY
90 MILES // The smooth strip of blacktop snaking along the Pacifi c Ocean may be the single most aweinspiring scenic road in the country, if not the world. Start your journey with a cappuccino on the sandy shores of Monterey, and then head south. Along the way, stop at Nepenthe Restaurant for its incomparable Ambrosiaburger, hit the Esalen Institute for a dip in the hot springs and a massage, browse the eclectic collection at the Henry Miller Library, go for a swim at Pfeiffer Beach (the magnesium content makes its sand purple), and fi nish the day by communing with walruses at the Hearst Castle.
Monterey
Carmel-bythe-Sea
Big Sur
San Simeon
MISTY MOUNTAIN STOP Highway 1 passes through the bluffs of Big Sur.
LONG AND WINDING ROADS
IN THE SUMMERTIME, THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE THE FEELING OF THE WIND IN YOUR HAIR AND THE OPEN ROAD UNFOLDING BEFORE YOU. HERE, OUR STREET-SMART GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S MOST REWARDING DRIVES.
MAPS BY PETER OUMANSKI
The airplane is the ultimate
tool for taking you from Point A to Point B—as close to a sci-fi -style teleporter as mankind gets—but sometimes the journey continues and other vistas beckon: Think bizarre magnesium-shaded purple sand at California’s Pfeiff er Beach or Costa Rica’s orchid-fi lled Paraíso garden. Of course, as rush-hour commuters know all too well, not all roads are created equal. Here, we steer you toward the world’s most breathtaking interstates, eye-popping thoroughfares and awe-inspiring byways, all guaranteed to take you somewhere spectacular. Drive safely, but travel without a care.
ROCKY ROAD The Fairmont Banff Springs
THE SPOKANE LOOP
845 MILES // Get into a meditative groove on this mountainous cruise from Spokane through Idaho and Montana to British Columbia, Canada. Stop in Wallace, Idaho, for a ride along the Hiawatha Mountain Bike Trail (rentals available at the trailhead), then stay the night at the elegant Whitefi sh Mountain Resort, in Whitefi sh, Montana. Afterward, check out the Buffalo Jump, a precarious cliff (never mind why they call it that), and fi nally get wet in some hot springs in Banff, Alberta, where you can lounge in pools that look out on the Canadian Rockies.
CANADA
USA
Spokane Calgary HOWDY PARDNER Experience the real wild west in Lake City.
Sawpit
Telluride Ouray Lake City
COLORADO’S OFF-ROAD MEANDER
100 MILES OF DIRT, 50 OF ASPHALT // You’ll want four-wheel drive to traverse the 100 miles of dirt road that wind out of Lake City, Colorado. Start at dawn in this sleepy town, then go west, young man, on Country Road 20, from Rio Grande National Park. There’s little out here but you and the great outdoors, so plan to stop often to soak in the scenery. In Ouray, wash off the dust in the sulfur hot springs, then head through the Uncompahgre National Forest to Telluride, where you’ll check into the Eurostyle Alpino Vino chalet for some victuals and shut-eye.
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM JULY 2010
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BLAINE HARRINGTON III/CORBIS (TOP), BY NEWSCOM (PORTAGE), BY DENNIS MACDONALD (THUNDER BAY) Truro
Halifax Cape Breton Island CAPE CRUSADE The seaside hills of Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island
THE MARITIMES 225 MILES // Fishermen have made the shores of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton home since the Basques fi rst arrived here in the 15th century in search of cod. The countryside is just as rugged now as it was then, but much more inviting. Travel a straight shot from Halifax to the bustling crossroads of Truro and sample the day’s catch from the Salmon River. Then cross onto Cape Breton Island, where you’ll pass through old Acadian villages before stopping for the night at the Keltic Lodge in Ingonish Beach. Here, you can sample a strong ale as a local combo unwinds the jig-and-reel.
VASTLY SUPERIOR The Grand Portage National Monument, left, and the marina in Thunder Bay
THE LAKE SUPERIOR CIRCUMNAVIGATION
1,210 MILES // The drive along the entire coast of this massive, picturesque and historically rich Great Lake takes you through two time zones and as many border crossings. Starting in Minnesota and driving counterclockwise, take a glass-bottom tour of early 19th century vessels wrecked along the shores of Munising, Michigan, catch a view of the Grand Portage National Monument, ogle the ancient Agawa pictographs and, before you reach the Lighthouse B&B in Two Harbors, descend the half-mile Alpine Slide.
Thunder Bay
RIBBONS OF HIGHWAY
Winding through the Sangre de Cristos; and opposite, Bilbao by night
SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS TRAVERSE 80 MILES //
The Sangre de Cristos— named for the reddish hue the snowcapped peaks take on around sunset— are among the longest mountain chains on earth. Luckily, you only have to drive around 80 winding miles to really experience them. Start in Santa Fe at the Tune-Up Café, with a breakfast burrito, and then head northeast toward Chimayo, a tony Spanishera town where you can pick up handwoven vests, handbags and rugs. The road sometimes narrows to one lane as it winds between the dozens of 13,000-foot peaks, but by the time you get to Taos, you’ll want to turn back for more.
Chimayo Taos
Rio Lucio
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM JULY 2010
San Sebastian
Pamplona
Barcelona
BARCELONA TO BASQUE COUNTRY 450 MILES //
Start in fashionforward Barcelona and trace the Mediterranean coast south to Tarragona before heading inland. The breadbasket of Spain awaits! Once over the breathtaking foothills of the Pyrénées, in the wine state of La Rioja, stop in tiny Paganos, where you’ll eat a 30 euro fi vecourse meal at Héctor Oribe restaurant before passing through Pamplona and visiting the famed corrida. Bilbao and its shimmery sea creature of a museum follow. Then snake through the harbor towns toward the French border until you arrive at glitzy San Sebastian. Have a delectably fi shy pintxo. You’ve certainly earned it.
Aomori
Morioka
Sendai
Fukushima
Utsunomiya
Tokyo
TRIP TO SHORE The Rikuchu seashore in Iwate BLUE HIGHWAYS The Great Ocean Road passes Australia’s Twelve Apostles limestone formations.
THE UPPER TOHOKU REGION, JAPAN
445 MILES // No need to linger in the fl ashy bazaars of Tokyo when the sparkling beaches and crisp mountain air of the upper Tohoku Region—the wild northern quarter of Japan’s main island—are calling for you. Wind along the coastal route’s seaside cliffs until you hit Miyako and munch on the freshest sushi in the world (hands down). Then turn inland and climb into the stunning Shirakami Mountains, where you’ll stop at Lake Towada for a dip before fi nishing at Aomori. Kunichiwah!
Ciudad Del Este
Corrientes
Posadas
Santa Fe
Rosario
BUENOS AIRES TO IGUAZU FALLS // 1,045
MILES // Start in the Parisian-style Argentine capital before making your way north into the jungle-lined roads toward Brazil. Stop in San Ignacio, and gaze at the ancient ruins of a Jesuit monastery. Pass through Puerto Iguazu, with its rain forest theme park. Come across Parque Das Aves, a zoo known for its giant walk-in cages holding toucans of every stripe, along with its caimas and slithering snakes, and soon you’ll come upon the roaring, mistenshrined colossus—actually 275 different waterfalls—that make up the mysterious Iguazu Falls.
Portland Melbourne
Torquay
THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD // 225 MILES
The Southern Ocean can be a bitter, windswept place. Luckily, you’re going to be on dry land, winding along the craggy, dramatic coastline along the southern edge of Australia. Start in the Victorian capital of Melbourne and roll straight to Geelong, where you can dip your feet into the waters at Eastern Beach. From here head west toward Portland, stopping along the way at whale lookouts, rain forests and the dozen gargantuan limestone formations known as the Twelve Apostles.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID WALL (2), BY KEITH LEVITT/PHOTOLIBRARY, BY SIMON ALBERTINI/PHOTOLIBRARY, BY JOHN WARDEN/PHOTOLIBRARY, BY JTB PHOTO/PHOTOLIBRARY IT’S A JUNGLE Bumping through the jungles of Costa Rica
COSTA RICA BY FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE
210 MILES // Some of the roads from San Jose, Costa Rica, to the Caribbean coastal town of Limón are bumpy, but the scenery is well worth the jostling. For instance, you’ll see the sublime beauty of Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago; the Lankester Botanical Garden in Paraíso, which houses 600 varieties of native orchids, various microhabitats and hundreds of birds; and Laguna Madre de Dios, one of Costa Rica’s only nesting sites for the rare Agami heron. There are also ziplines, jungles, jaguars, ocelots and quetzales galore, and, once you reach Limón, a leisurely swim on a white-sand Caribbean beach.
Santo Domingo
San Jose
Cartago
Paraiso Limon
THE HEMI Q&A: MARK CUBAN
BY DAVID CARR
The outspoken billionaire owner of HDNet, Magnolia Pictures and the Dallas Mavericks is something of a maverick himself—as observers of his sideline rants (and his rumba) are well aware. JULY 2010
ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFREY DECOSTER
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MARK CUBAN MAY PREFER T-SHIRTS AND JEANS to fl annel suits, and he may run a host of enterprises out of his home offi ce in suburban Dallas—the home is nearly 24,000 square feet, so there’s plenty of room to stretch out—but there’s nothing casual about his approach to work. He chews through hundreds of emails a day, keeps a close watch on the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA team he owns, and regularly crisscrosses the country in search of new business opportunities. But even if he sometimes seems to have the attention span of a gnat, he’s certainly got a bigger wingspan—a net worth of $2.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Born in Pittsburgh to a working-class Jewish family, Cuban, 51, got his start in business selling garbage bags door to door, an enterprise that met with success, as have many other business endeavors that followed, from his fi rst software company, MicroSolutions, which he sold for $6 million in 1990, to Broadcast.com, an online broadcasting platform geared toward sports, which he launched in 1995 and four years later, in a historic bit of market timing, sold to Yahoo! for $5.9 billion.
Sometimes the newly rich feel uncomfortable with wealth, but Cuban got the hang of it pretty quickly, grabbing a slot in the Guinness World Records book by buying his Gulfstream V for $40 million...online. Like a lot of rich guys, he coveted a pro sports franchise of his own, so he bought a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Ross Perot Jr. in 2000 for $285 million. He quickly became the most visible and vocal owner in the NBA, in part through his outlet, blogmaverick. com, on which he opines, settles scores and off ers business insights. Rarely at a loss for words, Cuban spoke to Hemispheres via email, his preferred format when dealing with the press. (He types fast and at length, so some of his responses have been edited for space.)
Some observers marvel at his successes, while others fi nd him impossibly smug. Cuban could care less. “When I die,” he says, “I want to come back as me.”
HEMISPHERES: The Mavs have won at least 50 games in each year of your ownership. What lessons did you bring from the executive suite that helped you lead a successful pro sports franchise? CUBAN: Everything. The skill set is not very diff erent. But most other owners seemed to look at running a basketball team as a unique endeavor. It’s not. In basketball you are competing with every other form of entertainment. So I try to make sure we are always improving our product and making it more aff ordable. HEMISPHERES: The team’s former owner, Ross Perot Jr., who remains a minority partner, sued you in May, claiming the Mavericks are being mismanaged and may be insolvent. CUBAN: We’re fi ne. I have plenty of liquidity and there are no issues. He is being who he is. HEMISPHERES: And what about your star power forward Dirk Nowitzki, who just became a free agent. Will he be a Mav next year? CUBAN: That’s the plan. HEMISPHERES: When all is said and done, would you rather be known as successful entrepreneur or a successful pro sports owner? CUBAN: As an entrepreneur who had an impact on several of the industries he got involved with, whether it’s being part of the fi rst company to propel audio and video on the internet and make it a mainstay, changing the distribution economics of fi lm or starting the fi rst all high-defi nition television network. HEMISPHERES: You’re describing HDNet. Now that high-def is everywhere, how do you stand out? CUBAN: High-defi nition was our diff erentiator early on. Now it’s about content. HDNet and HDNet Movies are two cutting-edge networks that I program exactly the way I like, with everything from Dan Rather Reports to mixed martial arts. They are the defi nition of independent networks. HEMISPHERES: Being on your own can be a challenge, too. CUBAN: No question that getting carriage can be diffi cult for an independent programmer. We don’t have a big media company behind us. We can’t require a TV provider to carry us, like the big guys can. Despite that, we have more than 18 million subscriptions in the United States and Canada. HEMISPHERES: With people dividing their time between TV, web, mobile and so on, which platform do you think stands to lose the most? CUBAN: Actually, everyone is gaining. The more people have access the more people want. Call it the Starbucks eff ect. You would think that with all the Starbucks around, they couldn’t all survive and all of their competitors would go out of business. The opposite happened. People bought more
THE CUBAN REVOLUTION // Mark Cuban; right, with HDNet’s Dan Rather, and cutting a rug on Dancing with the Stars. HEMI Q&A
coff ee than ever before. More access to video, particularly with the simplicity of multitasking using small screens, has increased consumption. HEMISPHERES: In the movie space, you’ve produced fi lms with Magnolia Pictures, purchased Landmark Theaters and pushed hard for the release of fi lms on-demand at the same time they show up in multiplexes. After some amazing early success, has the going gotten tougher? CUBAN: It started off far too easy for me. The fi rst movie I greenlit was Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I said yes to [director] Alex Gibney’s email proposal in about 12 minutes. That went on to be nominated for an Academy Award. Then we did Good Night, and Good Luck, with George Clooney, the next year, which was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Fortunately, I quickly wised up enough to realize that I didn’t have the touch in production to make and sell movies at a profi t, but with Magnolia Pictures and Magnolia Home Video and Landmark Theaters working together, we could turn the distribution model for independent fi lm upside down and make money. We decided to release fi lms to DVD, HDNet Movies and theaters at the same time. That model worked okay, but what really worked well was releasing our movies to video-on-demand three to four weeks before the theatrical release, which allows us to generate revenue, build word of mouth, and minimize our marketing costs. HEMISPHERES: Meanwhile, is it true that you were once a disco dance instructor? CUBAN: True. My senior year in college, I earned $25 an hour to go to sorority houses and teach them how to dance. Best job I ever had :) HEMISPHERES: And you relived the magic by competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2007, beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. but getting eliminated in round fi ve. CUBAN: I loved every minute of it and would do it again in a heartbeat. I got a fair shake on Dancing with the Stars. HEMISPHERES: You seem to prefer DWTS judges to basketball referees. The NBA has fi ned you more than $1.6 million for your critiques, chief among them that bad calls favor certain players. CUBAN: The No. 1 complaint I hear from fans is about offi ciating, and it was my No. 1 complaint as a fan before I bought the team. So it was natural for me to be inquisitive. All I can tell you is that based on all the data available, the problem does not even out over time. HEMISPHERES: Even with the fi nes, you tend to speak your mind. In fact, you blog almost every day. What’s the attraction? CUBAN: It’s interesting to me. Plus, putting myself out there gives me feedback on the ideas I have and makes me smarter in my businesses. The response to my latest blog post on Wall Street has been off the charts. HEMISPHERES: What is the one question you wish you’d get asked? CUBAN: Are you really the same person they show on SportsCenter yelling and screaming all the time? The answer is yes. For 48 minutes, during a game, that’s me. That’s my outlet. The other 23 hours and 12 minutes of that day, I’m pretty laid-back. But that doesn’t make for good TV. HEMISPHERES: You seem to enjoy yourself. CUBAN: I’ve lived my entire life not wanting to look back at age 100 wondering why I didn’t do something diff erent and have more fun. Like my dad has told me many times, “Today is the youngest you will ever be. Live like it.” For the record, my dad is 84 years old and plays and parties harder than anyone I know.
DAVID CARR writes about media and culture for The New York Times. He thinks Cuban was robbed on Dancing with the Stars. 73
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R GRI L C AZY
LEVERY CULTURE ON EARTH SEEMS TO HAVE ITS OWN DISTINCTIVE TAKE ON THE ULTIMATE SUMMER PASTIME—AND IN AMERICA’S MOST DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOOD, NEARLY ALL OF THEM COME TOGETHER. ONE REPORTER GOES AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BITES.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SASHA NIALLABY CHRIS ERICKSON
JULY 2010
“ HELP YOURSELF,” THE STRANGER SAYS. BINGO. I’m barely fi ve minutes into an odyssey of discovery through the grills of Queens, New York, and there they are, the words I’ve been hoping to hear.
In this case they’re coming from Xiaodong Zhang, who’s gesturing toward a plastic bag full of chopsticks as he and some friends cluster around a cast-iron grill plate sizzling with thin strips of marinated beef, chunks of sea bass and a heap of mushrooms, onions and cilantro. A small plate is off ered, and I take a bite.
For those unfamiliar with the territory, Queens, the largest borough in New York City, is statistically the most diverse place in the United States and very likely the planet. It’s less a melting pot than a kaleidoscopic jumble of cultures colliding and coexisiting—a place where well over 100 languages are spoken, half the population is foreign-born, and it’s not uncommon to see a Polish butcher shop, a Chinese herb vendor, a Mexican grocery, an Irish bar and a Greek gyro joint on the same block.
Love may be the universal language, but grilling runs a close second. Cooking meat over an open fl ame is an activity that has bridged cultural divides since the fi rst caveman dragged a wildebeest home to his Weber. So as outdoor cooking season arrived and my thoughts turned to what to grill and how to grill it, I had a thought: Why not pay a visit to one of Queens’ premier picnicking spots—a strip by a small lake at the southern end of Flushing Meadows Corona Park (home to the 1964 World’s Fair)—and see what’s cooking?
This is how I came to be crouching on the grass with a pair of chopsticks in hand, eating the aforementioned beef (remarkably tender, with a subtle heat) and learning a bit about Chinese barbecue. “It’s street food,” says Lei Liu, who is tending an adjacent grill stocked with skewers of lamb coated in cumin, red pepper and salt, a style common to China’s southern provinces. Hailing from the city of Chengdu, in Sichuan Province, Liu, 28, emigrated fi ve years ago to study.
Enjoy them I do, along with a taste of a purple sweet potato, roasted in aluminum foil.
Moving on, my eye alights on a distinctive grill—a boxlike stainless steel trough designed for skewers. Two men hover nearby, cooking chicken and beef kebabs alongside skewers of cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Approached by an inquisitive visitor, they immediately off er a tutorial.
“This is traditional Uzbek shish kebab,” says Anton Bulochkin. “This is No. 1.” As I start in with questions, he leads me over to a picnic table where some dozen friends and family members are gathered.
I spy a bottle of Johnnie Walker at the far end of the table, and I begin a quick calculation, weighing my reluctance to off end my new friend with my reluctance to pass out on someone’s picnic blanket.
As it happens, though, the beverages are quickly forgotten, and I set to swooning over the chicken kebabs, cubed on the bone, which are fabulously moist and fl avorful. I eat them with non toki, a crackerlike Uzbek fl atbread that is eagerly proff ered (“Try, try, try”) and some tangy marinated carrot salad. Another Uzbek specialty?
“Korean,” says Bulochkin, though he and the others brought a taste for it from their homeland, where a fair number of Koreans live.
I ask him what makes Uzbek kebabs so good.
“The soul of the people,” he proclaims. Good answer, but in pursuit of more tangible tips, I ask his friend Kobich (“only one name”), a shaggyhaired guitarist, what he marinated the meat in. Salt, onion and cumin, he says, plus—secret weapon alert—“a little seltzer,” for added tenderness.
Next stop, cow-crazy Argentina. I arrive there via a nearby grill loaded with heavy-duty slabs of beef, over which Claudia Mendoza sweats in the radiant heat as gaucho music plays on a nearby boombox.
“In Argentina, our favorite food is barbecue,” says Mendoza, a warm and youthful expat who works in the accounting department at Columbia University. She’s out to celebrate her husband Marco’s birthday with a dozen or so friends from disparate points on the globe, many of them fellow marathon runners. Her steaks have been custom-cut in Argentinean
COAL COMFORT // Claudia Mendoza dresses her ribs in kosher salt; right, Vernon Calloway mans the grill.
GRILL, INTERRUPTED // Clockwise from top left, the Khans’ Pakistani tandoori; Trinidadian skewers; Uzbek kebabs; Richard Koury’s dog Spot begs for a taste.
tira de asado style—a few inches wide and a few inches thick, and attached to a ladder of cross-cut sections of rib bone. She’s prepared them in the minimalist native fashion, with just an application of coarse kosher salt.
Indeed I do. Someone hands me a plate, while another friend pours me some red wine. Taking a hunk of beef along with a sausage link, I add a key adornment: Mendoza’s homemade chimichurri sauce, a ubiquitous Argentinean condiment. The results are amazing, the tangy sauce a terrifi c counterpoint to the beef’s dark salty char and its tender, fatty interior.
Thanking them and sauntering along the lake, I wonder if anyone will manage to challenge the Argentineans when it comes to primacy in the pit. I don’t have to wait long for an answer. Standing by a mound of mammoth skirt steaks, which are soon to feed a hungry soccer team, Mariano Brun presents a contender: the Uruguayans.
“We are the originals,” he declares. A gregarious, deliberate sort who left Uruguay to seek his fortune 21 years ago, Brun has prospered in the equities market and now supports new immigrants through the Maria Luisa de Moreno International Foundation, which sponsors the soccer team. “I’ll never forget, when I was eight or nine years old, one morning my grandfather called me over and said, ‘Bring me that cow.’” Brun watched as his grandfather dispatched the animal with a knife and used a horse to hoist it up with a rope and tie it to a tree. Then he lit a large fi re, and set to cutting the cow up into large sections.
The beef skirts—four or fi ve big slabs—aren’t yet ready, so he brings me a sandwich from a huge pile on an adjacent picnic table, a link of coarse chorizo, split down the middle and loaded with chimichurri sauce, on crusty bread. “It looks great,” I tell him, “but I’m a bit full, to tell the truth, so maybe just a little…”
He gives me a hard look, albeit not without a twinkle in his eye. “You gotta eat it,” he says. “If you don’t, you got problems.”
Remembering the fate of his grandfather’s cow, I comply. And with no regrets. I even manage to devour a plate of sweet natilla, a fl anlike custard made by some Colombians in the group, who’ve also contributed the plantains that lie on the grill. (That’s as far as Brun is willing to go in giving
THE HEAT IS ON // Clockwise from top left, Mariano Brun’s chorizo sandwiches; Claudia Mendoza’s ribs; Michael Cordero grills Filipino-style; Xiaodong Zhang’s handiwork
them grill privileges, though: “They know coff ee. We know meat.”)
I’ve consumed at least a pound of red meat at this point, so when I detect the aroma of seafood, I’m curious to know who’s laid out their grill with shrimp, mussels, squid and a whole fi sh, as well as hot dogs and slabs of marinated pork belly.
Welcome to the Philippines. “This is typical Filipino grilled food,” Michael Cordero tells me, as he sets about the delicate operation of fl ipping the fi sh. That includes hot dogs, which are also popular in his native country, as is practically anything else that can be prepared over glowing coals.
“On a day like this, Filipinos love to go to the beach or to the park and do some grilling,” says Cordero, a physical therapist and one of about 15 young Filipino friends—many of them occupational or physical therapists— who’ve gathered in the park. I eye the pork belly, which gleams alluringly. Cordero’s friend Edwin Gagaring marinated it in a mixture of pineapple juice, soy sauce and pepper, and the resulting salty-and-sweet glaze is terrifi c on the fatty pork.
It’s a side dish that puts the Philippines on my culinary map, though: Cordero’s “vinegar shrimp.” Shrimp sliced lengthwise and soaked in sugarcane vinegar with red onion and chunks of fresh ginger, it’s a tart treat reminiscent of ceviche that will be on the menu at my next barbecue.
After dropping in on an exuberant group of Trinidadians (jerk chicken) and some Ecuadorians—who speak little English but are quick to give me enough grilled pork and morcilla (blood sausage) to feed me for another day—the sun is dropping beneath the horizon and I’m about ready to follow suit. But spotting an orange glow atop a hibachi, I summon the energy for one more stop. Tandoori!
As Pakistan native Abid Khan mans the grill, his wife Iqra gives me the lowdown on her marinade, a bath of yogurt, vinegar, garlic, ginger, green and red chilis and masala spice. Pakistani tandoori is a bit more fi ery than its Indian counterpart, she says, and sure enough, the wonderfully moist chicken has an assertive, creeping heat. She has a favorite method for cutting the burn, she adds, off ering me a plate of…ketchup? Not a condiment Pakistan is known for, exactly. But as I spread some on the chicken, I’m reminded of something I learned from Brun about balancing tradition and assimilation. I’d asked why he used coals instead of cooking over wood logs, Uruguay-style.
“That,” he said, “we do Americanstyle.”
BOARDING PASS Rest up with extra legroom in one of United’s Economy
Plus seats, and feel refreshed and ready to explore NYC—the city that never sleeps. Brooklyn-based writer CHRIS ERICKSON is seriously considering going on the Master Cleanse diet. 79
Three Perfect Days
82 DAY ONE Shopping in Jordaan
86 DAY TWO Smelling the fl owers
88 DAY THREE Climbing a castle
AMSTERDAM
Encircled by canals and bursting with color, Amsterdam is a city of bike trails, tulip beds and 800 years of history. Start pedaling...
ROLLING ON A RIVER Above, inside and outside the Dylan Hotel; a pleasant canal view; and, opposite, a biker passes Cortina Papier. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS OPEN YOUR EYES in this 13th century metropolis and you’ll see that the bustling Dutch capital is alive with color, from the pink and purple tulips standing guard in front of canal houses to the dusty brown brick paths snaking between them. Look a little closer and you’ll see splatters of the bright orange representing the Dutch royal family, the blinding yellow of the city’s overfl owing cheese shops and the burnt sienna and glowing ambers favored by its most famous artists, Vincent van Gogh and Rembrandt van Rijn. There was a time when Amsterdam came in but two hues: the green of the rolling Dutch hills and the icy blue of the Amstel River. Eight hundred years ago, fi shermen dammed the river, giving the city its name and starting the transformation from small port village to global hub of business and culture. It has endured the rule of feudal lords and Spanish kings, fl ourished as a center of art and fi nance, and suff ered plagues brought by rats and terror wrought by Nazis. But a visit to present-day Amsterdam proves this city is a resilient one, maintaining its medieval charm while growing into one of Europe’s most forwardthinking and brightly colored metropolises.
1DAY ONE Pull yourself out of bed as the warm silver light creeps into the The Dylan (1), a dapper 41-room hotel with a staff that confi rms a widespread rumor about the Dutch— they’re extremely friendly. You’ve shrewdly booked the loft suite, a tranquil hideaway tucked under the building’s gable roof. After a moment of hesitation, you fi ght the urge to fall back into the marshmallow-soft bed and set out for the city below.
Passing through The Dylan’s stone courtyard, you fi nd yourself staring into the Keizersgracht, the widest and most handsome of Amsterdam’s canals. The name means King’s Canal, which is appropriate given the aristocratic feeling you have as you step into Bakery Paul Année (2), a cozy organic shop teeming with fresh-baked treats. Inside, you confront one of life’s ultimate dilemmas: bread, pastry or cookie? Sensing your indecision, the clerk points to a platter with a golden pastry on it. “You get the last one,” she says, handing you an apple date tart. One bite reveals why it’s sold out at 9 a.m. As you exit, you notice that you’re smack in the middle of the Nine Streets (3), the epicenter of Amsterdam cool. The streets straddle four canals and are dotted with designer boutiques, eateries and secondhand shops. Step into Cortina Papier (4) and grab a postcard to help you say hallo to those you left at home. After a visit to the nearby fashion emporium SPRMRKT (5), a former supermarket that gave up its vowels and victuals for postmodern designs and asymmetrical haircuts, you emerge the new owner
ROBERT RISTESKI // OWNER, DESTINATION SHOP // “The Restaurant As is a cool concept. It’s built in a church that used to be a techno club in the nineties. Now it has big communal tables and serves locally sourced food.”
THE BIG CHEESE
THE ALKMAAR CHEESE MARKET IS A DAIRY PARADISE // Wisconsinites may have claimed the nickname, but the Dutch are the true cheeseheads, and there’s no better place to sample their wares than the
Alkmaar Cheese Market. A short drive from Amsterdam, Alkmaar is a sleepy Dutch town best known for a cheese bazaar it has hosted for 400 years. Each Friday, men in crisp white getups pull wooden sleds stacked with golden wheels of gouda to the town square. The cheese is laid out in long rows, just like it was in the 1600s, when dealers from across Europe traveled here to snatch up cheese wheels. Today the market is just for show, but visitors can get their fi ll of edam and gouda from booths surrounding the square. The market is open from April to September.
of a leather jacket, and you continue your spin through the streets of the Jordaan until you stumble across Old Dutch Candy(6). Feeling disciplined, you ignore the chocolate and move on to the main attraction: licorice, or as the Dutch call it, “drop.” You rely on the expertise of the clerk, who hands you a Tootsie Roll–shaped piece of jet-black “drop” stuff ed with a creamy beige substance called salmiak. Eyes closed, you take a skeptical nibble, only to fi nd that the contrast of salty and sweet is not just tolerable, it’s delicious. Pocket bulging with candy, you make your way to the nearby Anne Frank House(7). The line outside snakes around the building, but the ticket you bought online allows you to head right inside. Along with the perfectly preserved secret annex where Anne Frank and her family lived for two years, the museum includes exhibits on persecution and discrimination around the world. Quotations from the 13-year-old’s diary line the walls of the space, reminding you that Amsterdam wasn’t always as beautiful as it is today. It’s lunchtime, and here that means pancakes. The Dutch version is large, thin and often savory. You ascend the astonishingly steep stairs at the Upstairs Pancake House(8),enter a homey dining room and order something “typically Dutch,” a pizza-size example with bacon cooked into it and a warm layer of baked apples on top. Ten minutes later you’ve paid the cook the ultimate compliment: a clean plate. As you head back to The Dylan to reacquaint yourself with the mattress, you pass through Boekenmarkt(9),a bustling used book store stocked with the latest bestsellers and dog-eared classics. You stumble across a copy of The Dutch, I Presume?, a book that attempts to explain the peculiarities of Dutch culture, and pocket it for some canalside reading. After a quick nap back at the hotel, it’s time for dinner. You hop the tram to the eastern edge of town, where you’ve made reservations at De Kas(10), a former greenhouse converted into a haute eatery. Enjoy an aperitif on the porch as chefs shuffl e past you to snip green herbs from the lavish garden. Once you’re seated, a server brings out a spread of fresh, in-season delicacies, including sliced turkey and pillowy roast pumpkin served with smoky bacon and jicama jus. The dessert, a sliver of white chocolate served with fresh rhubarb and pistachio ice cream, sends you home full and happy.
FLOWER TO THE PEOPLE The Anne Frank House and, above, tulips for sale at Bloemenmarkt
DUTCH TREATS Clockwise from top left, De Kas restaurant; inside the Old Dutch Candy shop; apple tart at Bakery Paul Année; the houseboat museum
PICTURE PERFECT Razor clams and lobster at Envy; Vermeer’s best at the Rijksmuseum; and, opposite, the Envy’s exterior, by Prinsengracht canal
COLLECTORS’ EDITIONS
// AMSTERDAM HAS A HOST OF STRANGE MUSEUMS // Plenty of cities boast art and history museums, but how many can claim entire institutions dedicated to cats, purses and houseboats? The KattenKabinet is a 17th century canal house that’s been transformed into a shrine to the
feline, complete with paintings and poems. Pay close attention and you may spot a few furballs lounging next to the exhibits. A few blocks away another stately canal house has been converted into the haute Museum of Bags and Purses, which celebrates fancy totes from around the world with a collection of 4,000 pieces. Finally, located on the Prinsengracht Canal in the Jordaan, one fi nds the Houseboat Museum, which invites visitors inside to experience what life is like on the water. Go ahead, get your feet wet.
2DAY TWO After yesterday, you’ve resolved to give your feet a break and get around on two wheels. The city’s pioneering free bike program has been discontinued, but there are plenty of bike rental shops in the city. You choose Frederic Rentabike (1), which rents “incognito” bikes to those who prefer to slip into stealth tourist mode. Unlike the big, garish red bikes from the larger rental companies, Frederic’s are decidedly low-key, just like the ones locals ride. Pedaling toward the center of town, you realize why 30 percent of Amsterdamers commute exclusively on bikes—it’s much faster than walking. You soon reach Oude Kerk (2), the oldest church in the city. Consecrated in 1306, it has seen dozens of renovations in the past 700 years, but the soaring wooden vault, the oldest in all of Europe, remains remarkably intact. Admire their sturdiness and then return to your wheels. Suddenly realizing you’re smack in the middle of De Wallen (3), the city’s notorious and somewhat rundown red-light district, you keep your eyes on the road and keep on pedaling. Heading south, you soon reach Vondelpark (4), a 120-acre tract that’s as green as it is big. You take the path that winds through the park, passing over footbridges and by fl ower beds that resemble thousand-count Crayola packs. Time for lunch. You make a beeline for the Albert Cuyp Market (5), a 100-year-old institution boasting an endless selection of Dutch street grub. Start at the western edge with smoldering fries topped with mayonnaise, sample some salted herring and potato croquettes, and then try a gooey stroopwafel (two thin waffl es with caramel in the middle). Ready for some culture, you head to Museumplein, Amsterdam’s museum district. Stop by the Rijksmuseum (6) for a peek at 17th century works by Dutch greats such as Vermeer and Rembrandt. Then move on to something slightly more modern 200 steps away at the Van Gogh Museum (7), which houses more than 700 works by the master, including his personal favorite, The Potato Eaters, and enough fl ower still-lifes to fi ll a large garden. After you return your bike, you amble back toward your hotel, pausing at Envy (8), a dimly lit eatery overlooking the stately Prinsengracht Canal. As you enter you notice chefs jumping from grill to cutting board to
ALLY DERKS // DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL // “The Tuschinski Theatre, which was built in 1921, is my favorite place in the city. D.A. Pennebaker, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman have all had premieres in the beautiful main theater.”
HAUS BEAUTIFUL Façades of some common Amsterdam homes; Room 5 at Seven Bridges Hotel; and Leidseplein after sunset
Boarding pass
Fly United to enjoy the Old World charm of Amsterdam’s cafes and shops. Visit the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, the infamous Red Light District and the city’s historic European-styled squares, museums and churches. sink in the open kitchen at the front of the restaurant. You get hungry just watching, but soon a plate of silky-smooth veal paired with mushrooms and creamed parsnips arrives at your table and makes that hunger disappear. Before turning in, take a small detour to Leidseplein (9), a packed square surrounded by bars, restaurants and clubs, where you sample a few local brews before deciding to leave the rest of the night to the more adventurous.
3DAY THREE Hankering for something a little more quaint, you’ve switched your headquarters to the Seven Bridges Hotel (1), a bed and breakfast that overlooks seven arched canal bridges. After feasting on a breakfast platter delivered to your antiquecrammed room, you set out with a stomach full of coff ee and a bag full of fruit left over from the generous spread. Your destination is Muiden, a waterfront hamlet 10 miles southeast of Amsterdam, home to Muiderslot (2), the most popular and well-preserved castle in the Netherlands. Built by Count Floris V in 1280, Muiderslot has been torn down and rebuilt several times, growing from a relatively modest single-story redoubt into the faded crimson behemoth it is today. As you stare across the slate gray Ijmeer Lake from a tiny top-fl oor window, you wonder what it would have been like to live in this glorious structure. Not half bad, you decide. Back on Muiden’s quiet main strip, you pass by enormous chestnut yachts docked in the harbor (and enormous strollers bumping down the sidewalk) on your way to Graaf Floris V Café (3), one of a handful of eateries in this tiny town. Order a broodje, or sandwich, layered with thinly sliced ham and several pieces of local gouda cheese, and enjoy an espresso so black it stains your glass. After hopping a train back to Amsterdam’s Central Station, you grab a taxi to Bloemenmarkt (4), the fl oating fl ower market on the southern edge of the Singel Canal. Technicolor tulips are the main attraction here, but if you look hard enough you can fi nd anything with petals. Dinner tonight is at Purimas (5), one the city’s best purveyors of rijsttafel, the Dutch version of a traditional Indonesian feast that pairs dozens of side dishes with bottomless bowls of rice. Your spread arrives, featuring chicken satay, spicy beef and curry pork, and you pack it away until you reach your bursting point, eventually opting to wave the white napkin of surrender. In that, it’s a little like Amsterdam itself—you can’t possibly take it all in at once.
Senior editor ADAM K. RAYMOND is still eating pancakes for lunch, along with breakfast and dinner. MARLOES VAN VUGT // OWNER, WALLS GALLERY // “I really love the Nine Streets. It’s full of boutiques, cafés, bars and all kinds of creative people. I still discover new things every time I go back.”
Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS
4
Westerstraat
6
Prinsengracht 7 Herengracht 1
Rozengracht5
Ljinbaansgracht 4 8
3
2 1
Leidsegracht 9
Damrak
Rokin
8
4
9 5
Vijzelstraat 1 3 2
6 7
Weteringschans
5 2 3
Amstel 10
THOSE THREE PERFECT DAYS
DAY ONE (1) The Dylan Keizersgracht 384; Tel: 020-530-2010 (2) Bakery Paul Année Runstraat 25; Tel: 020-623-5322 (3) Nine Streets Between Singel and Prinsengract Canals in Jordaan (4) Cortina Papier Reestraat 22; Tel: 020-623-6676 (5) SPRMRKT Rozengracht 191-193; Tel: 020-330-5601 (6) Old Dutch Candy Egelantierdwarsstraat 2; Tel: 020-420-7390 (7) Anne Frank House Prinsengracht 263; Tel: 020-556-7100 (8) Upstairs Pancake House Grimburgwal 2 (9) Boekenmarkt Het Spui (10) De Kas Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3; Tel: 020-462-4562 DAY TWO DAY TWO (1) Frederic Rentabike Brouwersgracht 78; Tel: 020-624-5509 (2) Oude Kerk Oudekerksplein 23; Tel: 020-625-8284 (3) De Wallen South of Oude Kerk (4) Vondelpark South of Leidseplein (5) Albert Cuyp Market Albert Cuypstraat (6) Rijksmuseum Stadhouderskade 42; Tel: 020-674-7000 (7) Van Gogh Museum Paulus Potterstraat 7; Tel: 020-570-5200 (8) Envy Prinsengracht 381; Tel: 020-344-6407 (9) Leidseplein Between Weteringschans, Marnixstraat and Leidsestraat DAY THREE (1) Seven Bridges Hotel Reguliersgracht 31; Tel: 020-623-1329 (2) Muiderslot Herengracht 1; Tel: 029-425-6265 (3) Graaf Floris V Café Herengracht 72; Tel: 029-426-1296 (4) Bloemenmarkt On the Singel Canal between the Koningsplein and the Muntplein (5) Purimas Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 37-41; Tel: 020-627-7627
BRIGHT Interiors
Bring the Home Away From Home Back Home
With just a month left of summer, the warm rays are still enticing us to travel to that magical oasis where we can escape and take pleasure in nature’s gifts. Don’t you wish you could bring that vacation feeling home with you? Well, just because you have to leave your favorite resort and come back to reality doesn’t mean you have to settle for less than the best. Maybe you can’t stop thinking about that comfortable bed that put your mattress to shame, or the color scheme that invoked paradise. Once home, why not continue the pleasure and customize your space into a personal sanctuary with a little home improvement? It’s amazing how the simplicity of fresh paint and a new color can transform a room from pretty nice to phenomenal. Not to mention, we all love that fresh paint smell, don’t we? Maybe you’ve been eyeing some rich Brazilian hardwoods that would add the fi nishing touch to your favorite room, or the couch in your living room has started to fade into the background, even though it seemed like destiny when you fi rst found it. You deserve to enjoy your morning coffee in a room that jumpstarts your day. And why deprive yourself of a full cinema experience when you can have your own home theater system, and watch your favorite movies from the comfort of a new recliner that’s so comfortable, it actually feels old. Don’t procrastinate, designate! If you’re short on time, just hire a designer who can create your perfect retreat in hours or days. We’ve already done some of the work for you, and have chosen a few companies that are ready to meet the challenge. Go ahead, sit back and let the creative juices fl ow as we tap into your right brain with the next few pages of new ideas.
16th Workshop
16th Workshop designs and builds hand-made modern furniture.
Hand-made and modern rarely coincide much less inspire one another to be better. Our work offers function as well as beautiful, quiet line and composition, while utilizing impeccably hand-crafted, time-tested joinery.
In so doing, it capitalizes on the fi nest qualities of each, making our work as much at home in the Farnsworth House as in the White House. Please visit our website and take a look.
www.16thworkshop.com
206.905.8662
SieMatic
SieMatic designs and manufactures premium kitchen cabinetry.
Whether transitional or contemporary, SieMatic kitchens are known for distinctive styles, elegant fi nishes, and manufacturing excellence.
The SieMatic BeauxArts kitchen collection (pictured) can be described as German engineering meets American tradition.
Visit your local showroom and discover why SieMatic is synonymous with unparalleled kitchen interior design.
Stephen T. Anderson Ltd
The American Hand Hooked Rug
The hand hooked rug considered by many experts to be one of the few crafts to have originated in North America and traveled back to Europe with the advent of pounced or printed patterns at about the middle of the 19th century.
Early rugs made of recycled clothing and fabric scraps cut or torn into strips and hooked into a loose weave base fabric, often burlap feed sacks or home spun linen. Inspiration of early rugs came from “fancy rugs” of the times, Aubusson and Bessarabian leaf and fl oral motifs. Pictorial images of animal and landscapes soon followed.
Stephen T. Anderson has taken hooked rug making – one of America’s only indigenous crafts – and moved it to the forefront of modern design. Anderson offers the fi nest, heirloom quality custom hand hooked rugs made in America today.
Each rug is prepared from wool fabrics, cut into strips, and hand hooked into a linen base by a team of skilled artisans in Stephen’s New York Studio. Refi ned, decadent and durably designed to be an exquisite addition to any home.
Clients are offered a high level of customization; each rug is designed specifi cally for the individual buyer. They are invited to choose a pattern from Stephen’s vast collection of new and antique rugs or to create their very own unique design. All rugs are custom sized from the quite small to the renowned “mansion size”.
Stephen’s work has appeared in some of the worlds fi nest homes and in the pages of Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, House & Garden, Town & Country, World of Interiors, Forbes FYI, The New York Times and on CNN.
