Artful Living Magazine | Spring 2012 by Artful Living Magazine

SPRING 2012

Lakes

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AN INVITATION TO CONSIGN JEWELS

Cover Image Artful Living’s Spring issue features photography by Tony Cenicola of The New York Times. The image showcases a jumble of treats from eight New York City macaroniers that excel.

Distribution Artful Living is mailed to a select group of homes and businesses in the Twin Cities. We also distribute Artful Living through a key number of advertisers including Land Rover/ Jaguar of Minneapolis, Neiman Marcus, Mulberry’s, International Market Square, Steele Fitness and Surdyk’s Flights. You can also purchase a copy at over 212 newsstands including: Lunds, Byerly’s, Kowalski’s and Barnes & Noble.

Artful Living Online

Artful-LivingMag.com | ArtfulLivingMagazine.tumblr.com Visit the Artful Living Magazine website and experience previous issues of Artful Living online while on your iPad, phone or computer. Check out our latest advertisers and learn more about the history of the magazine. With your NeoReader App, snap this image and instantly view this issue of Artful Living on your phone. Don’t have NeoReader? Go to NeoReader.com. . SOLD FOR US$134,500 FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION AQUAMARINE AND DIAMOND NECKLACE, CIRCA 1950 ESTIMATE US$60,000-80,000

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Food Issues

rowing up in rural Wisconsin, I rarely saw anything gourmet on the family dinner table. The best entrées included hot dish, thin-cut pork chops with a side of apple sauce or a hunk of frozen broiled torsk (poor man’s lobster) with drawn butter. Dinner usually started with iceberg lettuce smothered in salad dressing (think Thousand Island). That was as good as it got. My first real job out of college took me to San Francisco; I then discovered incredible food (and wine, too). Man, it was some of the best cuisine in the world, and I was hit right in my brainpan with how good food can be. I learned viscerally that there is something powerful about experiencing an amazing meal. My register has since become filled with some outstanding dining experiences from around the world. Welcome to the food issue of Artful Living magazine. Our feature by Alyssa Ford is an interview with four winners of the James Beard Award and proves that the Twin Cities has some of the finest restaurants in the Midwest. Our other feature, “High-flying Heidi” by David Mahoney, tells the remarkable story about cult winemaker Heidi Barrett. Special thanks goes to David for helping plan the content for this edition. Artful Living is brought to you by a collection of topshelf advertisers; please thank them with your patronage. Be sure to check out the outstanding properties available from Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty. May this issue of Artful Living broaden your food perspective and make you hungry for your next great feast. Bon Appétit,

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contents

spotlight 159 fashion

Inside the collections at New York Fashion Week

168 bistro

The Twin Cities’ top chef-driven eateries

176 love the lard

Salut’s ode to the Mangalitsa

182 epicurean

144

Meet Bill Niman, the man behind the meat.

191 back page

Wherein we realize that size really doesn’t matter

live artfully 23 what to

eat, buy, drink, watch, bake, mix, attend, treasure, read

collage 49 restaurant

Two Twin Cities eateries prove their organic prowess.

168

54 fromage

After a devastating fire, Shepherd’s Way Farms is reincarnated.

59 travel

home

64 wine

130 ims discoveries

Malbec’s great influence on Argentina

Kitchen finds at International Market Square

67 guide

137 remodel

75 tour

140 resale value

Argentina according to Rudy Maxa

Perfect picks for the choosy

Chicago, New York and Los Angeles at their best

84 design driven

A detailed redesign helps a wine cellar rise above the rest.

recurring

A modern Minneapolis home gets a makeover.

Upgrading a home’s entryways can greatly increase its value.

144 redesign

A clustered kitchen comes of age.

107 Property Gallery

148 Marketplace

159

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THE HOME YOU LOVE THE MORTGAGE YOU WANT

publisher+editor Frank Roffers

design Creative Director: Mollie Windmiller Assistant Art Director: Lacey Haire

managing editor Hayley Dulin

business manager Naomi Johnson

copy editors Kate Nelson, Fred Scofield, Micki Sievwright

contributors Writers: Tim Alevizos, Billy Beson, Carolyn Crooke, Hayley Dulin, Alyssa Ford, Ivy Gracie, Joe Hart, Brooke Helmer, David Mahoney, Rudy Maxa, Leslee Miller, Susan Pagani, Alecia Stevens Photography: Shawn Brackbill, Susan Powers, Jenn Cress Style + product coordinator: Jill Roffers

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Ketti Histon To advertise in this publication, please call 612.280.5144 ketti@artful-livingmag.com

customer service

For additional information on any items in this magazine, please call: 952.230.3133 To be removed from the mailing list, please e-mail “unsubscribe” in subject line to: naomi@artful-livingmag.com Lakes Artful Living is published by Roffers Group, LLC, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without permission. Roffers Group, LLC cannot be held responsible for any error or omissions. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully. Each Office is Independently Owned And Operated. ®, TM and SM are licensed trademarks to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. is Owned and Operated by NRT Incorporated.

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Contributors Tim Alzeois is a partner at Minneapolis-based

Intercom Agency and a creative consultant in the hospitality industry. He is also a foodie with a freakish ability to recall past meals.

Billy Beson is a daring, dynamic and dapper interior designer known for his risk-taking style and extraordinary creativity in both work and life. Alyssa Ford has been covering the architecture and design scene since 2004. She has written for Midwest Home, Minnesota Monthly, the Star Tribune and many other publications.

David Mahoney writes about travel,

wine and the environment for a variety of national and regional magazines. He is a former senior editor at Sunset and the former editor of Minnesota Monthly.

Rudy Maxa is host and executive producer of Rudy Maxa’s World on public television (maxa.tv) and a contributing editor with National Geographic Traveler.

Leslee Miller is a certified sommelier

and owner of the Twin Cities based wine consulting firm, Amusée. Her energizing personality and passion for all things wine are both contagious and invigorating, making her your perfect “go to” wine expert.

Carolyn Crooke is a freelance writer based in Minneapolis.

Ivy Gracie writes for publications in

the Twin Cities and Chicago. Her work has appeared in Minneapolis/St.Paul, Today’s Chicago Woman, Twin Cities Business, Twin Cities Statement and other publications. Gracie also hosts a blog at SkinnyPlus.blogspot.com.

Joe Hart is a freelance writer and editor based in western Wisconsin.

Brooke Helmer is an intern at Artful Living, working also as a contributing writer, blogger and fashion commentator.

Heidi Libera is a publication features producer, artist, designer and marketing director working with local and national clients in the arts, home and design industries.

Michael Nagrant is a Chicago-based

freelance food writer who contributes regularly for Newcity, CS and the Chicago Sun Times. He’s also the founder/editor of Hungry magazine (hungrymag.com) and a contributing author to the award-winning Alinea cookbook.

Susan Pagani is a freelance

journalist and the co-author of Minnesota Lunch, a book that tells the story of the state through 11 very tasty sandwiches.

Susan Powers is a food and editorial photographer who brings her passion for food to the print. She is based in the Twin Cities.

Alecia Stevens is a freelance writer and interior designer dividing her time between Minneapolis and New York. Her blog is at aleciastevens.blogspot.com.

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spring 2012

24 Eat 26 Buy 28 Drink 30 Watch

32 Bake 42 Treasure 36 Mix 44 Read 40 Attend

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| Spring 2012

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26 Artful Living

| Spring 2012

photography by noah wolf

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Needful Things Must-haves for the kitchen connoisseur | Produced by Hayley Dulin and Jill Roffers

Milk Bottle Measuring Cups

A space-saving, stackable set of measuring cups. Available at Anthropologie, $24

Peugeot Lacquer Paris U’Select Salt and Pepper Mills

Crafted of high-quality beech wood. Shown in red. Available at Sur La Table, $47.95 each

Farmer’s Market Basket

Crafted in stoneware from real containers. Small shown in yellow; large shown in blue. Available at Anthropologie, starts at $14

Farmer’s Egg Crate

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JENN CRESS

28 Artful Living

| Spring 2012

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Ale for Sale The Four Firkins treats beer with the respect usually reserved for fine wine. | by David Mahoney

ive years ago, Jason Alvey was scouring Twin Cities liquor stores for interesting craft beers to feature in a series of podcasts he had started producing with a fellow mountain-biking enthusiast. He found that stores tended to fall into one of two categories: large, warehouse-like places where no one knew anything about the products, and neighborhood wine shops where he had fantastic experiences (“I’d get to know the owner and they’d get to know me, and you’d walk out of there like you’d made a new friend,” he recalls) but that didn’t carry a lot of beer. I remember thinking to myself, “Why can’t we have that neighborhood wine shop experience but replace all the wine with beer?” says Alvey, with an accent that tips off his Australian origins. In 2008, he set out to answer that question by opening The Four Firkins, Minnesota’s first craft-beer specialty store. The enthusiastic response led him last fall to move into a much roomier space just west of Highway 100 on 36th Street in St. Louis Park. With its thoughtfully organized shelves of bottles from around the world and its knowledgeable staff, The Four Firkins may resemble a well-run wine shop, but Alvey insists there’s a key difference. “Beer is for everyone,” he says. “It doesn’t carry the elitism that wine has associated with it.” He takes pride in the fact that people who know very little about craft beer come in to look around and try something new.

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Food on Film A pair of epicurean moviemakers brings food to life with a weekly web broadcast. | by Joseph Hart

hanksgiving represents a time of warmth, love and good eats. So it’s fitting that the inaugural episode of the groundbreaking web series Perennial Plate focused on Thanksgiving dinner. In the 10-minute segment, chef and filmmaker Daniel Klein purchases a live turkey and fattens it up in the backyard of his Minneapolis home. Then he slaughters, plucks and cooks the bird — all on camera. Not all of the 89 episodes are this graphic. Others include a visit to a small, family-run vegetable farm, a trek with an obsessive morel hunter and a primer on backyard chickens. What every episode shares is a genuine delight in the world of food and an abiding respect for those who grow and produce it. “We don’t want to convince anyone to act a certain way, but we want them to think about the choices they’re making and the impact of those choices,” says Klein, who collaborates with girlfriend Mirra Fine on the series. The project, which is serialized on the Huffington Post, has struck a chord among a growing number of people who are concerned about their food choices and are trying to reconnect with farmers. For Klein, Perennial Plate marries his twin passions for food and filmmaking. His earlier projects include What are we doing here?, a critically acclaimed documentary about Africa. With the web-based series, he’s exploring new terrain. “I was frustrated on other projects by the length of time it takes for anyone to see your work, whereas on the Internet, it’s immediate,” he notes. The result is a unique and new format. Fine generally operates the camera while Klein handles the interviews. The first season focused on Minneapolis and the surrounding region, while the second took the show on the road across the country. The videos are supported by blogs and a Twitter feed. “It’s a very different format, and we work in a different style from television,” says Klein. “We don’t have any preconceived notion of what the video will be before we go into it, so we’re not setting up shots ahead of time. We learn while we’re taping, and the final video is crafted from the best and most genuine footage. It’s very real.”

epicurean adventures Chef and filmmaker Daniel Klein shines in his web series focused on sustaining the world of food. 32 Artful Living

| Spring 2012

Artful-LivingMag.com

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Uniquely You

The Bee’s Knees

The White House has a decidedly sweet spot for honey. | Hayley Dulin

ongtime White House carpenter Charlie Brandt started beekeeping as a hobby in 2006. But when buzz about this unique pastime reached the staff of First Lady Michelle Obama, White House Chef Sam Kass was quick to enlist Brandt’s expertise. Kass asked Brandt if his honey could be used in the White House kitchen, and the request was quickly granted. To the White House staff’s delight, Brandt became the official beekeeper of the grounds in 2009, tending a hive of some 70,000 bees. Located on the South Lawn, the hives house foraging bees that help pollinate the gardens and provide a sweet addition to White House cuisine. The honey is used for everything from diplomatic gifts to state dinners and is a key ingredient in the very first White House Honey Ale, a homebrewed beer made with a pound of honey per batch.

White House Pastry Chef, Bill Yosse’s Honey Cupcakes Makes 12 cupcakes.

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Cupcakes ¼ cup softened butter ¼ cup sugar ¾ cup honey 2 eggs ½ cup buttermilk ½ tsp. vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour

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1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake papers.

View our collection at: 50th & France, Edina 612-929-2279 www.rfjeweler.com

2. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in honey, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until blended, on medium speed. 3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dry ingredients into batter until just blended. Divide batter evenly

among prepared cups. 4. Bake about 20 minutes. Cupcakes are done when tops spring back lightly to the touch. 5. While cupcakes are baking, prepare icing: In a small saucepan, whisk together icing ingredients over medium heat until sugar dissolves; continue whisking to avoid clumps. Using a spoon, drizzle icing over cupcakes.

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If you’re searching for the perfect getaway, you’ll find the Bluefin Bay Family of Resorts the ideal destination. Whether you’ve got romance, relaxation, family time, or an outdoor adventure on your agenda, being this close to the majestic, rejuvenating waters of Lake Superior will amplify it. To enhance your next vacation experience, or to learn more about renting or owning at Bluefin Bay on Lake Superior, call 1-800-BLUEFIN (258-3346) or visit www.bluefinbay.com.

live artfully || mix

Better Bitters

Bittercube’s palette of flavor-filled potions adds punch to the average cocktail. | by David Mahoney

Captain Truman Here’s a riff on the classic French 75 cocktail that the Bittercube partners created for Eat Street Social. Harry Truman, stationed in France during World War I, used to sit at Parisian cafés sipping on French 75s, but he always substituted brandy (most likely a cognac). The Bittercube crew added ginger liqueur and bitters for depth of flavor. ¾ oz. fresh lemon juice ¼ oz. simple syrup 1 oz. brandy ¾ oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur 1 eyedropper Bittercube Jamaican #1 Bitters 1½ oz. sparkling wine lemon twist

rom behind the bar at Eat Street Social — or, to be exact, the sheet of plywood resting where the bar would soon be — Nick Kosevich squeezes a drop of lemon tree bitters on the back of my hand and instructs me to lick it Shake all ingredients except sparkling wine off. He informs me that it’s infused with three different and lemon twist with ice, then strain into a kinds of lemons: galangal (also known as Thai ginger), juniper champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine and and “every ingredient that has the word ‘lemon’ in it” (including garnish with lemon twist. lemongrass, lemon myrtle and lemon verbena). “This one is really nice and light, great for gin and tonics,” Kosevich says. “It’s great in vinaigrettes as well,” adds Ira Koplowitz, his business partner. Kosevich, who made a name for himself creating exceptional cocktails at Minneapolis’ dearly departed Town Talk Diner, and Koplowitz, who honed his cocktail skills at the renowned Violet Hour in Chicago, had each been making bitters at their respective bars before joining forces in Bittercube. The Milwaukee-based company produces a variety of small-batch bitters in addition to designing and implementing cocktail programs for bars and restaurants like the new Eat Street Social on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. They handcraft their bitters at a distillery in Madison, using only natural ingredients. For their cherry bark vanilla bitters, for example, they manually “decorticate” fresh vanilla beans from Madagascar, “which is time-consuming but worth it,” says Koplowitz. The grapefruit peel that goes into a batch of their Jamaican #2 bitters takes two people about 12 hours to peel. Each bottle of Bittercube’s eight varieties of bitters (two are limited editions, six are made year-round) is topped with an eyedropper to allow for greater accuracy in crafting cocktails. “We started a company where we sell things by the drop, which means we’re not savvy businessmen, I guess,” Koplowitz says with a laugh. www.poggenpohl.com “But it’s been really exciting to see people get excited about the products.” The wide range of flavors and aromas that the bitters offer allows the home bartender to concoct new cocktails with just a few drops. “That’s the beautiful thing about the bitters,” Kosevich says. “We tell people that there are no rules. You can make any cocktail with any of the bitters and have it be completely different.”

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Bittercube’s eight varieties of bitters come paired with an eyedropper to allow a perfected taste in each cocktail.

38 Artful Living

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ÂŠ2012 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Toshiba is a trademark of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. and all logos are trademarks of their respective companies. Screen image is enhanced for effect and screen shot simulated.

| Spring 2012

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Jackson Pollock, #21, 1950

Other paintings available by: Lucio Fontana, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, etc

For the Dogs The ADOGO Dog Park opens with a bark. | by Brooke Helmer

Helen Frankenthaler, Summer Core, 1968 SOLD-

Douglas Flanders & Associates 910 West Lake Street Minneapolis, MN, 55408 Tuesday-Saturday 11am-6pm or by appointment For more information please contact: Douglas Flanders doug@flandersart.com 651-213-2662 or japheth@flandersart.com genie@flandersart.com

n January 26, Jaguar Land Rover Minneapolis hosted a fĂŞte fit for furry friends and their owners in celebration of the ADOGO Dog Park opening (equipped, of course, with K9 Grass). The event attracted dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes: French bulldogs, dalmatians, Bouvier des Flandres, Maltese, West Highland white terriers and many more. Upon arrival, guests promptly were greeted with Yum! Bakery sweet treats and organic carob-chip baked biscuits, delicate bites of Crave cuisine, fine wines, and Crispin Cider. An informal fashion show featured ADOGO customers in the latest activewear from Hoigaardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Lucy, with their pampered pooches in tow. The evening came to a close with door prizes and a silent auction, all proceeds benefitting the Animal Humane Society, as well as a ribbon-cutting ceremony to cap the jubilant event.

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The Treasure Hunter One Twin Cities boutique owner scours the European market for truly one-of-a-kind finds. | by Ivy Gracie

ori Anderson might have one of the best jobs on the planet. As the owner of EuroNest, a Minneapolis homefurnishings boutique, she travels regularly to Europe, collecting antiques and one-of-a-kind pieces to bring back to her store. And after six years of hands-on experience, she’s an expert at finding the most rare and distinctive treasures to bring to the Twin Cities market. In Paris, flea markets are Anderson’s milieu of choice. “They’re great places to find unique things,” she says, adding that some of the best discoveries are made simply as a matter of chance. “Some dealers present things elegantly, and others are just digging meccas. You may [happen upon] the best find in the bottom of a box.” Anderson frequents two flea markets: Marché aux Puces StOuen de Clignancourt, which features 2,000 to 3,000 vendors and is the largest antique market in the world, and Porte de Vanves, a boutique-style street market with 300 to 400 dealers. Just outside the City of Light, Anderson hits the Maison&Objet show, the French equivalent of the well-known, super-sized New York or Las Vegas gift and home shows. “It’s held in January and September,” notes Anderson, “and it’s always fashionable.” In fact, it’s her favorite source for reproduction accessories. Heading north, Anderson pays a visit to Belgium. “It’s gorgeous to drive through the country to little barns and sheds and find unique antiques.” Throughout the Belgian countryside, she has relationships with dealers who source antiques, furnishings and collectibles from all over Europe. “Belgium is where a lot of dealers reside,” she explains. “They’ll go to Italy, Germany and Sweden to find things.” For Anderson, the thrill of the hunt is trumped only by finding unusual keepsakes and interesting conversation pieces to bring back to the States. “We keep looking for things that are unique for our customers because it’s not easy to do it yourself,” she explains. “I had a bookcase that came from a Belgian castle. It was only in that castle; then it went to my dealer, to my shop and to my client’s home. Every piece has a story. That’s the interesting part of why I do what I do.”

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Surf-worthy Sites The Internet intersection of food and style | by Brooke Helmer McDonalds French fries with black truffle shavings

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luxirare.com “Many creations are brought together into a singular vision through the lenses of both luxury and rarity.” Luxirare is a weekly webzine with two principle foci: subtle tastes of progressive fashion and fine cuisine. Amongst the herd of traditionalist bloggers, designer Ji Kim is a culinary tour de force. Kim’s well-crafted take on food and wearable art is meticulously prepped, branded and photographed for her mass of online readers. If not in her Manhattan studio generating siphoned coffee and molecular quail eggs over potato au gratin, she can be found shaving imported black truffle on a $2 order of McDonald’s French fries with a side of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin champagne.

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Organic Invasion Two Twin Cities eateries effortlessly marry healthful eating and eating well. | by Ivy Gracie

t’s 2012. We know more about healthful eating than ever before. Even so, there are more than a few holdouts who cringe at the very mention of the word “organic.” But two Twin Cities restaurants are helping evolve the idea of organic food beyond the mud-colored mush naysayers envision. Serving creatively crafted organic food and thoughtfully selected organic wines, French Meadow Bakery & Cafe in Uptown Minneapolis and Peoples Organic Coffee & Wine Café in Edina’s Galleria are proving that healthful eating and eating well can be one and the same and that organic wines can be as flavorful as their conventional counterparts. “When people hear the word ‘organic,’ automatically they think ‘no taste,’” says Lynn Gordon, owner of both French Meadow and Peoples Organic. “Or they think it’s dirty,” adds Juell Roberts, general manager of Peoples Organic. Gordon says it’s no different with wine; many popular wineries produce organic wines but don’t label them as such because of the misconceptions associated with the word. “There’s a stigma attached to it,” she admits. Even so, there’s a simple reason winemakers choose organic grapes. “They’re juicier [and] sweeter, and they produce a better wine,” Gordon declares, noting it’s the same with food. “Look at the chefs on TV. They buy organic fruits and vegetables because they taste better.” Taste has been Gordon’s top priority since she opened French Meadow more than 24 years ago; it continued to take precedence when she launched Peoples Organic in 2010. And while Gordon has made an indelible mark serving imaginative, refined food to the city’s vegan, vegetarian, locavore and gluten-free contingents, she’s never overlooked the mainstream audience. Even the most carnivorous organic-phobe would be hard-pressed to resist a juicy grass-fed burger or turn down a hearty Wild Acres turkey potpie. And oenophiles might be surprised to learn that favorites like Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc and Duxoup Syrah are organic wines

eco-friendly ABOVE Owner of French Meadow Bakery &

Café and Peoples Organic, Lynn Gordon relaxes at a sidewalk table. BELOW Beer flights at Peoples Organic offer the chance to compare and contrast five artisanal beers at a time. Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

| Spring 2012

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“People think organic and healthy foods aren’t exciting — that’s so far from the truth. We’re educating people, one by one.” — LYNN GORDON cloaked in conventional labels. Both French Meadow and Peoples Organic serve fresh, organic and locally-sourced foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner (not to forget the snacks and desserts). Each location offers organic wines and artisanal beers, and each presents its own version of happy hour. But that’s where the similarities end. French Meadow has a charming, shabby-chic vibe that transforms at 5 p.m., when it dresses for dinner, complete with candlelight, full table service, and a menu boasting surprisingly sophisticated fare like miso salmon, free-range chicken and scallops with wild-mushroom risotto. Peoples Organic is a study in sleek modernity and, much like the grand cafés of Europe that inspired it, its appeal is in its simplicity. “When I’m in Paris, I go to the same place for breakfast, lunch and espresso,” Gordon explains. “In the

afternoon, we meet there for champagne. Each experience is different, but it’s the same place.” No dramatic changes; just a solid selection of inspired offerings like an egg strata with Fischer Farms ham and gruyere, Asian ginger broth with seasonal organic veggies, and salmon in parchment with ginger and tamari. With menus that appeal to all palates, French Meadow and Peoples Organic are doing their part to foster peaceful coexistence between conventional and alternative regimens and to bring organic, healthful dining to the forefront. “The heart of Peoples Organic is about educating people,” Roberts recaps. “It’s about providing healthy and delicious food for the everyday diner.” Gordon finishes the thought: “People think organic and healthy foods aren’t exciting — that’s so far from the truth. We’re educating people, one by one.”

everyday ease The bar at Peoples Organic is a casually comfortable meeting spot for breakfast, coffee, lunch or dinner, or an after-work (or shopping) libation.

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40 years of keeping it fresh

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collage || fromage

The Long Return

ore than a decade ago, Jodi Ohlsen Read and Steven Read decided to cash in their careers and commutes for some farm land, a dairy ram and a small flock of ewes. They called the venture Shepherd’s Way Farms, and it flourished. In just a few years, Jodi’s handcrafted artisanal cheeses were winning national awards, and Steven was shepherd over one of the largest dairy sheep operations in North America. And then, in 2005, the unimaginable happened: An arsonist burned down the Reads’ animal barns, killing 500 East Friesian– cross ewes and lambs. The fire left the farm in a precarious situation — only a fraction of the flock left to produce milk, no proper barn for the animals and the enormous expense of recovery. Yet, when it seemed nearly impossible to make ends meet, their greater community reached out to help as both volunteers and financial supporters. The Reads invited folks to adopt a sheep or enroll in a community-supported agriculture offering monthly shares of the dairy’s beloved cheeses. Later, more serious investors joined Farm Haven LLC, a small group of individuals whose funding supports rebuilding Shepherd’s Way. It turns out people believe in local, sustainable farming and like the idea of investing in a business they can visit. In what has become a textbook example of the growing slow-money movement,

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NICHOLE DAY DIGGINS

A Twin Cities cheese maker and dairy recovers from a devastating fire. | By Susan Pagani

ROBB LONG

together the Reads and their community have raised more than $650,000 and saved the farm. “It’s so exciting to focus on the work, on making cheese, rather than on survival,” says Jodi. “It’s been a long road, but we are so grateful that we didn’t have to go it alone — being out on the farm can be isolating, but it’s different now, knowing how much of the community is standing with us. It’s not how we set out to do it, but we’re glad it’s part of our story.” It has been a slow but triumphant return. Last year, for the first time in six years, Shepherd’s Way resumed full production, and wheels of their cheese are now in shops and restaurants across the country. Jodi also won two more American Cheese Society awards and introduced Hidden Falls, a Brie-like blend of sheep and cow’s milk. They have nearly finished rebuilding a lambing barn and expanded their popular CSA to include lamb, pork and woolen goods. But foodies will be most thrilled to learn a new cheese is in the works — what it is the Reads won’t reveal, but keep your baguettes at the ready.

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Rudy Maxa’s Buenos Aires Our travel expert returns to one of his favorite cities and discovers a mansion turned into a hotel.

uenos Aires isn’t a city for the faint hearted. It’s an up-all-night, food- and fashion-obsessed place with extraordinary architecture that reflects strong European influences. Traffic rules seem optional, restaurants consider 10 o’clock the start of dinner and the best tango parlors don’t crank up until after midnight. I often recommend Buenos Aires to friends who’ve “done” Europe and want to visit somewhere closer than Asia. And while the city isn’t the bargain it was a couple years ago, it’s still one of the most vibrant capital cities in the world. Recently I flew south to check into a new hotel that’s the talk of the town. It’s the Algodon Mansion, a boutique hotel created from the bones of a belle époque mansion in Recoleta, the city’s most elegant neighborhood. A member of the Relais & Châteaux association of luxury hotels, it features 10 suites with high, high ceilings, huge marble and limestone bathrooms, fireplaces, and the kind of lavish appointments you’d expect in a hotel where rates start at $600 a night. (An iPod-synchronized hydrotherapy massage tub? Yeah, they’ve got that.) There’s a small rooftop pool with a teak sun deck, and a nearby health club is available for use by hotel guests. On the ground floor of the hotel, a cozy and sophisticated bar is off to the left, and the menu in the polished, small dining room to the right features organic vegetables, fruit and olive oil from the hotel’s sister estate in wine country. An outdoor terrace opens for dining when the weather is comfortable. The Algodon Mansion is within easy walking or cab distance of many of the city’s premier attractions. The magnificent Teatro Colón is open after massive reservations. A 10-minute cab ride puts you in Buenos Aires’ newest neighborhood, Puerto Madero, home of the stunning Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, a modern glass and steel museum built by Argentine’s wealthiest woman before her recent death. Works by the likes of Dali, Turner and Bruegel are displayed, along with paintings by Antonio Berni and other contemporary Argentine artists. And it’s an easy walk from the hotel to Recoleta’s famous cemetery with its elaborate crypts, including one in memory of Evita Peron. But wait, there’s more: The Algodon Mansion is just around the corner from one of the best ice cream shops in Buenos Aires: Arkadaó. Don’t miss it. algodonmansion.com

southern lights LEFT The Algodon Mansion exterior glows at

night. FOLLOWING PAGE Argentine spirits line the bar, the Algodon’s royal suite and Teatro Colón, the city’s main opera house.

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collage || travel

Buenos Aires Eats

Here are my current favorite restaurants. Reservations are recommended. For an elegant Italian meal, there are two Sottovoce restaurants in town — one on the water’s edge in Puerto Madero, another on Libertador Avenue. You can’t go wrong at either.

For an informal downtown place for a great salad or Argentine dish, try Dadá. The chalkboard

changes regularly, but the friendly staff at this small bar and eatery will guide you.

For a great date, ask for one of the high tables that overlooks the open kitchen at Sucre so you can watch the parade of grilled and roasted meats. For a very special evening, Experiencia Fin del Mundo is a sleek and sexy wine bar and restaurant in the Palermo Hollywood neighborhood. It’s affiliated with the Patagonia winery of the same name, which is a good thing. For an authentic, local lunch, El Preferido is a grocery store-cum-café with great paella, crispy chicken, and fabada asturiana, a casserole of creamy favas with blood sausage, pork, pancetta and chorizo.

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For your Home. For your Life. For our Environment Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living | Spring 2012 65

collage || wine

A Family Affair A Minneapolis man explains how malbec put Argentina — and his family — on the world’s map of wines. | by Leslee Miller

sk Twin Cities local Eugenio Meschini what he values most about his home country, and he’ll tell you: No. 1, Argentina creates a sense of time like no other culture; No. 2, the generosity of the Argentine spirit is incomparable; and No. 3, there are few that treasure the sense of family like the Argentines do. The words of a true Argentine, indeed. Meschini, a first generation Argentine, moved to the United States at age 20. Without his family for the first time, he was determined to learn the native language and make a good life for himself — just as he promised his father he would. His father, Pacifico, was the son of an Italian immigrant, Primo. Primo, the oldest of eight children, moved to Argentina in his early adolescence from his home region of Le Marche, Italy. At the age of 13, Primo began working as a tractor mechanic, learning the ropes of the agricultural industry. Between the railroad’s arrival in 1893 and the region’s pull for agricultural labor, many immigrants relocated to the area searching for work. Then, suddenly, with reliable transportation to larger cities like Buenos Aires, the wine industry carved way for many to work. William Butterfield of Manchester, England, Eugenio’s great-grandfather, also came with the rush of immigrants to make a career with the railroad. The diversity of people who immigrated to the region, destined to build a life around the industries that later strongly influenced Argentina’s most prominent agricultural product, is still very clearly felt today. It is no wonder Pacifico, who Eugenio describes as “explosively passionate,” then raised his three boys to succeed with the same work ethic that inspired their ancestors to survive amongst the arid South American landscape. Alongside his father, Pacifico mastered the trade of the agriculture industry. Primo and Pacifico

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hand-farmed more than 1,000 acres. They raised such crops as pears, peaches and apples — crops that were of significant value at that time. It wasn’t until the 1960s that they saw a turn in agricultural trends and decided to completely replant their orchards with grapes. Influenced by their Italian roots, they planted many grapes of Italian decent, including the dolcetto. Today, Eugenio and his brothers own a 110-acre parcel the family lovingly calls the finca (Spanish for “farm”). The land has been harvested by two generations of Meschinis and passed down by a generous spirit of hard work and tradition. Located in northern Mendoza and key to one of the most prominent grape-growing regions of the country, the farm is home to their Uco Valley Estates project. Uco Valley Estates is now divided into 22 lots, giving the public the opportunity to buy into the acreage and own their own vineyard, with space to build a home. In southern Mendoza, within the region of Agrelo, Eugenio and his wife, Teresa, along with other partners, also own a 65-acre property completely devoted to some of Argentina’s most prized grapes. Here, a variety of malbec, Cabernet, Syrah and Chardonnay are grown specifically for wine production. A portion of the grapes are used to produce the couple’s own label: Famiglia Meschini. Currently, the label is sold in the Meschinis’ home state of Minnesota. While the Meschini family heritage makes it easy to love the lay of the land, the people and its grapes, Eugenio shares another side of Argentina’s history that conveys the struggle of its winemaking industry. During the 20th century, the Argentines were busy growing grapes and making wine, yet they didn’t export much of the fruits of their labor. Looking back even into the early 1990s, wines from the region barely saw their way onto retail shelves in America. Argentina is known for sending malbec into other countries (like the United States) today as its major export. In the 1990s, Cabernet and

Chardonnay were the main exports. Malbec, in fact, was severely overlooked, many thinking it a grape that could not compete with the great wines of France and the United States. Yet, little by little, the grape kept proving itself withstanding. Once vinified, it produced bold, deep, purple-colored, juicy wines with unctuous character. Malbec, after all, was a grape that could endure the harsh, dry landscapes of the country’s wine regions and do well at higher elevations, too, unlike many other varietals. In fact, many of the malbec sites at the Meschinis’ Mendoza vacation home are planted at elevations from 3,000 to 5,500 feet. The varietal also proved it could produce large, full-bodied, well-structured wines at a higher tonnage per acre. While many French and American winemakers would contest, arguing that the best wines are made under less fruit per vine (thereby producing higher quality with less), ask any Argentine how they feel about malbec. It was, after all, a grape that won the hearts of American wine drinkers, making it one of the most coveted varietals exported to the United States by 2002. Things looked good for the Argentines in the mid to late ’90s. A recently implemented financial system made the Argentine peso equal to the American dollar, thus making grape growing profitable for the natives. The Argentine financial system looked healthy, communities were prosperous and the wine growers were making a profit. It wasn’t until the end of 2001, when the Argentine financial system caved under new direction, that the industry started to see dramatic change. As the peso became one-forth the value of the American dollar, the Argentines found themselves under an onslaught of specific demand to export. Foreigners were suddenly investing in large properties and setting up shop in the regions once owned by generations of Argentines. “Community” became a nonexistent word. People were fighting for themselves, protecting their families, land and money. Natives began burying money in their backyards and building walls around their land. It was every man for himself, leaving the door wide open for foreign

investors. From the Dutch to the Americans, many have since inhabited the Argentine wine regions, building their own wineries and producing gallons and gallons of the one grape that the world had already begun to love — malbec. Today, the landscape is just as beautiful as it was 30 years ago. Yet, instead of wide, open, tumbleweed-infested, boulder-laid fields, the spaces are now lined with gorgeous rows of grapevines all the way to the foot of the Andes Mountains. “This space here,” explains Andrés Fourcade, vineyard manager for the Meschinis, “was once a wide, open space. Now, I help to plant these vineyards [for new investors of the region].” When asked how he feels about that, Fourcade simply shrugs his shoulders and puts up his hands — life is what it is. For the Meschinis, who have been making wine from the Mendoza region since 2005 with winemaker Ruben Sfragara, it is a labor of love. Teresa, who manages to hold down a feisty household of four children, acts as the winery’s main sales rep in Minnesota. Eugenio travels the globe with a separate full-time career. The two are virtually superhuman. Whether you visit them in the picturesque front yard of their Minneapolis home to enjoy a glass of Famiglia Meschini malbec paired with a freshly made batch of empanadas or travel with them to Eugenio’s home country of Argentina, they always seem to create a “sense of time” that is superiorly its own. From the strength of Argentina’s culture and landscape to its most coveted grape, there is a raw surviving spirit that is all its own.

generations by the vine

In the 1960s, Eugenio Meschini’s family saw a turn in the agricultural trends of Argentina and decided to completely replant their fruit orchards with grapes — destined to become the ever-popular malbec.

Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

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Gifts for the Gourmand Perfect picks for the foodie in your life | Produced By Hayley Dulin and Jill Roffers

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Sub-Zero 427 Wine Storage

This unit stores up to 132 bottles and integrates seamlessly into your home dĂŠcor. As with all Sub-Zero wine storage units, the pullout shelves can store bottles, half bottles and magnums. Available at ALL, Inc., $7,025 Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

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Lacanche Cluny 1400 in delft blue with brass trim

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Eat. Shop. Sleep. Experience New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles the Artful Living way.

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Eat. Shop. Sleep.

spotlight || tour

NEW YORK SLEEP

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EAT

Easy as ABC Dining at this Manhattan home-décor haven is worthy of a visit all on its own. | by Michael Nagrant ABC Kitchen, 35 E. 18th St., New York, 212-475-5829 // abckitchennyc.com

Generally it’s been pretty tough to score a local, seasonal meal while shopping for religious statues or tufted, white sectional couches. But thanks to Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ABC Kitchen restaurant partnership with furniture store ABC Carpet & Home in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, that dream is now a reality. Like the light woods and glinting glass ABC Carpet sells, the restaurant décor — featuring dark wood timbers, dendritic tree-branch sculptures and white, recycled compressed metal and wood chairs — is clean, modern and naturalistic. The food at ABC Kitchen also follows that form. Servers never forget to remind you the fare is local, seasonal and sustainable whenever possible. Indeed. Fried organic chicken is wrapped in a crisp, schnitzel-like wrapper, nestled in the most mineral-rich nest of collard greens and accented by a touch of hot sauce butter that recalls a haute Buffalo Wild Wings. Flatbreads are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside in the very best Neapolitan way. The tastiest is a mushroom version topped with robust, earthy honshemeji, Parmesan, oregano and a creamy poached egg, which when breached creates a soulful sauce. Then again after a hard day lugging lampshades and rolls of tufted area rug, you might be looking for something light. Look no further than the crab toast, featuring briny shards of peekytoe crab on crispy toast drizzled with a bright, lemony aioli. The candy-striped heirloom beets tossed with perking chilis and basil would do, too. But if you’re not sure, the denim and canvas sneaker–clad servers are as informative as they are casual. They all have a favorite dish or two they’d like to share, and whether it’s refilling a water glass or bringing you a fresh batch of silverware, they’re incredibly attentive. In fact, they’re so good that you might be tempted to steal one to help you make a decision about taking home that funky Buddha statue you had your eye on before dinner.

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Luxury hotel accommodations, Asian style, arrived on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan in 1988 when The Peninsula New York opened in a stunning, 23-story Beaux Arts building. The pages — clad in crisp, white uniforms with matching caps — were familiar to regulars at the hotel company’s mother ship, The Peninsula in Hong Kong. Instead of Hong Kong’s Rolls Royce fleet in “Peninsula green,” a BMW 7 Series and a couple of bespoke Mini Coopers stand ready to ferry guests around town. (Guests in suites are entitled to a hotel car and driver three hours a day.) New York was home to the first Peninsula in the United States — the Beverly Hills and Chicago properties followed — and like Peninsulas around world, it immediately raised the bar of excellence. All crystal chandeliers and marble inside, The Peninsula New York remains a hotel against which others are measured. Every room has mood lighting, bedside electronic control panels and marbled bathrooms. In June, a renovated, 3,000-square-feet Peninsula Suite opens, complete with a baby grand piano. Guests who have never experienced the level of service routinely offered by grand Asian hotels will be dazzled.

Eat. Shop. Sleep.

NEW YORK

SHOP

Well Read New York City’s charming Crawford Doyle Booksellers offers the perfect escape — into a book. | by Alecia Stevens Crawford Doyle Booksellers, 1082 Madison Ave. (between 81st and 82nd streets), New York // 212-288-6300

Crawford Doyle Booksellers on Madison Avenue near East 81st Street, only a door away from the staid Frank E. Campbell funeral home and two blocks away from Mayor Bloomberg’s residence, does not have a website. I know this because I have been looking for one, hoping to cull a few basic facts for this article. Instead, it required some human interaction. You might imagine they aren’t cheering (or, quite the opposite, are worrying about) the rising tide of the e-book. Crawford Doyle doesn’t even sell at a discount. But the cozy shop, about the size of a Park Avenue apartment, is never without a loyal Upper East Side patron or European tourist perusing the tidy stacks of books, delighted to find this charming relic of the past. Crawford Doyle Books seems more a 21st-century version of Paris’ iconic Shakespeare and Company. You might imagine Sylvia Beach working the ledgers in the back room, Hemingway or Joyce lounging nearby, sharing a kernel of gossip. A bookstore has been on this block for decades, a cozy stop after a visit to the Museum Mile only a block away on 5th Avenue. Current owners John Doyle and Judy Crawford have owned this incarnation for 16 years. They are committed to faceto-face interaction with an intelligent, well-read staff only too happy to make a thoughtful suggestion from a carefully edited collection of books and journals that beg for browsing. Upstairs, in a room that can only be imagined as hiding the jewels, they house a section of out-of-print books. Each and every time I head to New York, I wander down 81st Street, where Crawford Doyle is one of my first stops. I browse then carry a small heap to the desk. I always ask a staff person about my selections. Their enthusiasm is contagious. I pay full price. I get a bookmark for each book and a sincere, “Enjoy your books,” as I make my way back into the 21st century, up the three flights of stairs to my apartment and into the imaginative world only a book can provide.

Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

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Eat. Shop. Sleep.

spotlight || tour

LOS ANGELES EAT

In Bloom Santa Monica’s Tar & Roses is equal parts comfort and chef’s ambition.

by Rudy Maxa

Tar & Roses, 602 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, 310-587-0700 // tarandroses.com Pedestrians passing by the big picture windows of the newly opened Tar & Roses in downtown Santa Monica have a clear look at the 50-seat restaurant. And most evenings, it appears lots of good friends have gathered in the warmly lit front room for some very good food — roasted chicken, its skin amber and crisp; bone marrow with a pickled-onion marmalade; a salad of charred lettuce with a gentle dollop of burrata, pickled sardine and Dijon dressing — all served in a modern room with polished concrete floors and a sleek bar. Tar & Roses is an agreeable combination of comfort food and high wirestyle cooking on the part of chef Andrew Kirschner, formerly of Wilshire and the TV show Next Iron Chef. Popped corn with flecks of bacon, caramelized in brown sugar with chili could be a 10-car pileup, but instead it’s addictive. The warm and runny duck egg paired with gigante beans, tomato and guanciale is a rich, scrumptious starter that could be a main course. And the five-star dessert? The strawberry ricotta crostata. P.S. Beer and wine only. Don’t miss the 30-seat patio in the rear of the restaurant with a retractable roof, should it ever rain in California.

SHOP

Full of Grace A Los Angeles design haven oozes comfortable elegance.

by Hayley Dulin

Grace Home Furnishings, 11632 Barrington Court, Los Angeles, 310-476-7176 // gracehomefurnishings.com

Next time you’re in Los Angeles, make sure a trip to Grace Home Furnishings is on the itinerary. Founded by designers Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker in 2000, Grace Home Furnishings has become a design mainstay for Angelenos and an interior-décor destination for any in-the-know designer coming through town. Offering high-quality home goods ranging from bed frames to glass knobs, the shop stays true to its Southern California roots, showcasing pieces that fit the comfortable vibe of the area while keeping it fresh with infusions of Hollywood regency and Nantucket charm. Ostrow and Stoker have combined their backgrounds in interior design, art history and furniture manufacturing to provide customers not only with exceptional pieces of furniture and home accessories but also with full-scale interior-design services. Their work has been featured in the likes of Traditional Home, House Beautiful and Architectural Digest, among other publications. And because no Hollywood tale would be complete without some star power, Ostrow and Stoker have been commissioned by a number of celebrities, including Madonna and Heidi Klum, to infuse their homes with Grace Home Furnishings’ comfortable elegance.

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Eat. Shop. Sleep.

LOS ANGELES

SLEEP

Fresh Air A California classic’s makeover marries modern amenities with its Hollywood heritage.

by Rudy Maxa

Hotel Bel-Air, 701 Stone Canyon Rd., Los Angeles, 310-472-1211 // hotelbelair.com The exterior is still pink, the swans still float serenely in Swan Lake and the Hotel Bel-Air is still a lush, canyon refuge tucked in the middle of the residential heart of Bel Air. But after a two-year renovation, the 65-year-old hideaway for the rich and famous has reopened with new accommodations, a new spa, an airy lobby and a main restaurant that spills into an outside courtyard. Is it better than ever? Guests with a long history with the hotel may miss the dark, woodpaneled bar that made you feel as if you’d been allowed into a private London club. The bar now has windows, and modern art adorns its walls. Fortunately the marble fireplace remains. And regulars may be startled by the reception area with its light, wood floors and its centerpiece: a gas fireplace with a gargantuan metal hood. The goal was to retain touches of Hollywood’s Golden Age but marry the interior design to the 21st century. So while room décor suggests earlier decades, present-day amenities (a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, La Prairie Spa) remind you Grace Kelly isn’t in the room next door. And the Hotel Bel-Air’s exquisite landscaping — 12 acres of roses, bougainvillea, jasmine and redwoods — as well as an attentive staff lift the place into the realm of the extraordinary.

Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

| Spring 2012

Eat. Shop. Sleep.

spotlight || tour

CHICAGO EAT

A Cut Above Chicago Cut just might be the Windy City’s best steakhouse.

by Michael Nagrant

Chicago Cut, 300 N. LaSalle, Chicago, 312-329-1800 // chicagocutsteakhouse.com

When it comes to food, Chicago is generally regarded as the deep-dish pizza and saladstuffed hot dog capital of the world. But we also have a solid claim as steakhouse sultans, too. In addition to historical local gems like Gene & Georgetti, where political bosses like the Daleys and entertainers like Frank Sinatra once sidled into cozy banquettes, we also have representation by almost every major beef-slinging chain in America. The problem, however, is too many of these places rest on the fact that Sinatra blew through 30 years ago and they serve substandard food or don’t treat normal folk like the stars they deserve to be on a special night out. Chicago Cut, which opened in 2010, is the antithesis to all those other places still resting on their wilting laurels. The wine list here is on an iPad. It’s fully interactive, meaning you don’t have to thumb through a dusty, War and Peace–sized book or rely on snooty sommeliers. Steaks, like the bone-in rib eye (aged 35 days), feature crispy, seared crusts and marbled, ruby medium-rare flesh. They’re clean and grassy, earthy and mineral-rich, and the meat near the bone bursts with salty, luscious, buttery fat. Then again lots of steakhouses serve a good hunk of meat. Chicago Cut’s secret weapon is Chef Jackie Chen, who was one of the bright lights in Chicago’s upscale Asian fusion venture Red Light. For those who don’t want to clog their arteries so quickly, her “golden wonton basket,” stuffed full of puck-sized, coriander-crusted, sushi-grade scallops swimming in a tiny lake of velvety, spicy curry cauliflower purée, is a much lighter ticket to culinary nirvana. Her signature “chocolate bag” dessert, filled with airy Belgian white-chocolate mousse, crisp, sweet berries and a swirl of tangy raspberry sauce, is a nice edible reminder of the shopping bags you may have schlepped on a glorious visit to the Magnificent Mile earlier in the day. Best of all, whether you’re a titan of industry or a suburbanite having a night on the town, the servers here will make you feel like royalty.

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Eat. Shop. Sleep.

CHICAGO SLEEP

The Public House A Logan Square pub and inn is reminiscent of the small, accommodating hotels of yore. | by Ivy Gracie Longman & Eagle, 2657 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, 773-276-7110 // longmanandeagle.com

Hop on the Blue Line from O’Hare or downtown Chicago and halfway between the two you’ll run smack dab into Logan Square, a dynamic neighborhood where indie cafes, boutiques and theaters attract a wide mix of professionals and creatives from diverse backgrounds. In the midst of it all is Longman & Eagle, a gastropub and inn that pays homage to an era when small hotels were peppered throughout the city and offered everything a weary traveler needed: food, drink and a comfortable place to sleep. The brainchild of four friends with a deep and varied pool of talents, Longman & Eagle’s appeal is rooted in its organic origins. “It wasn’t based on studies or trying to overthink it from a business sense,” recalls Cody Hudson, a partner in the venture. “It was about creating a place that we would want to frequent ourselves.” The result is a welcoming hang spot with a Michelin star–worthy menu (one was awarded in 2010), a head-spinning selection of whiskeys and a sixroom inn overhead. The restaurant offers a seasonal menu that sources food locally and changes frequently, but favorites like the wild-boar sloppy joe and beef-tongue hash get regular play. Look for gutsy uses of liver, heart and sweetbreads, or play it safer with creative pork, seafood, burger and fish entrées. “Whiskey for your mouth, not for our shelves” is the philosophy that fuels the bar, which offers 150 kinds and a program called “Whiskey for Drinking,” which offers 30 to 35 varieties at $3 a shot. The beer selection runs fairly deep, as does the wine list, and a wide selection of classic and cutting-edge cocktails will please hipsters and trixies alike. Upstairs, six guestrooms offer more than just a place to crash. Designed by partner Robert McAdams, every room is unique in size and style. All fixtures, tables and furniture are McAdams’ creations; Hudson and partner Pete Toalson designed the color schemes and original artwork displays. Make reservations early and remember: The bar is open until 2 a.m. every day except Saturday, when the doors close at 3 a.m. Bring your earplugs — or pack a Hefner-worthy robe so you can go back downstairs and join the party.

SHOP

Fashion Frenzy A Chicago shop moves into a gargantuan show room that is every shopper’s dream. | by Ivy Gracie Ikram, 15 E. Huron St., Chicago, 312-587-1000 // ikram.com Not all high fashion is found on the upper end of Michigan Avenue, nor is it limited to designer-dense Oak Street. In fact, Chicago’s most revered style center has taken a new address at 15 East Huron. After a decade on Rush Street, Ikram (named for owner Ikram Goldman) has moved to a new 16,000-square-foot fashion mecca with a screaming red, ultramodern façade, a gallery-like display featuring willowy, headless, partially clad mannequins and a roster of designers that reads like a who’s who (and, to the uninitiated, a who’s that?) of fashion. Long known by Chicago’s fashion-forward, financially favored crowd that frequents fundraisers, galas, openings and luncheons, Goldman’s status shot from guru to icon during an extended stint dressing First Lady Michelle Obama (think white, one-shoulder Jason Wu inauguration gown, for starters). But even before that, she was known for her uncanny ability to scope out the next fashion trend and make it relevant to a Midwestern audience. Elegantly minimalist, the show room presents a lucid mix of designers, including Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garçons, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo and Proenza Schouler, among many others. There’s also a drool-worthy selection of shoes, a sigh-inducing collection of vintage clothing and accessories, an eclectic home-décor collection, and an art gallery, which currently features photography from fashion shows around the world shot by Goldman’s husband, Josh. If that weren’t enough, the toniest place to make a fashion statement is home to the most stylish place to take a power lunch. Elegant in both furnishings and fare, the café at Ikram serves farm-to-table cuisine with produce and other foods sourced from the Green City Market (Chicago’s organic farmers’ market in Lincoln Park), other farmers’ markets and local vendors. Note: First try on clothes, then do lunch.

Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

| Spring 2012

Recipient of

9 awards in 2011

Design • Build • Architecture 84

952.224.1231 | www.jaquebethke.com Artful Living | Spring 2012 Artful-LivingMag.com

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol, John Wayne, unique print , 1986

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collage || design driven

Stellar Cellar A collaborative design effort results in the perfect place for storing — and tasting — wine. | By Interior Designer Billy Beson, ASID, CID

he definition of cellar is “a room for the storage of food, fuel, etc., wholly or partly underground and usually beneath a building.” If you envision a damp, musty room with cobwebs and darkness, have I got news for you. This wine cellar was part of a total renovation and a group effort. The team started with the ideal client and was rounded out by principal architect of TEA2 Tom Ellison, architect Andrea Swan from Swan Architecture (formerly of TEA2) and myself as the principal interior designer. Over the years, I’ve learned that the best jobs are a collaboration of creative minds. “This is a dark area of the house,” says Ellison. “It was important to have the lighting, the stained glass and all the special nuances of the space to create a destination.”

Over the years, I’ve learned that the best jobs are a collaboration of creative minds.

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Photography by Susan Gilmore Photography

The space, which displays approximately 250 bottles of wine and has crate storage below, is primarily made of natural stained walnut. The upper bottles displayed are at a specific angle to ensure the corks stay moist. “The preservation of the wine was paramount, and no detail was overlooked,” says Swan. “We used UV-protective lenses on all of the lighting to protect the temperature and quality of the wine.” A two-toned cork floor was specified to be soft underfoot and to quiet the acoustics of the cellar. We designed the center table for wine tasting. The cast limestone base features a custom-designed inlaid marble mosaic top. The table echoes the shape of the room and is supported by a medallion in the center of the floor. The walls are paneled in a scrubbed white oak finish and feature a hidden door to a private guest suite. The design of the space enriches the bouquet of the finest wines. À votre santé!

Minnetonka Travel

offers the best way to see the world. Nothing compares to the river. Where else, but on the river, can you journey into the heart of the world’s greatest cities and towns, and discover the true nature of the land? Comfortable and convenient, it offers a greater variety of destinations than you could encounter any other way. Spend less time getting there and more time being there. Little wonder that river cruising is the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry.

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The fully refurbished Viking Rurik will debut with all-new Suites, Jr. Suites and Veranda staterooms, joining sister ships Viking Helgi, Viking Ingvar and Viking Truvor—the best fleet in Russia.

Sail aboard the newest ship in China, Viking Emerald — a state-of-the-art vessel with the largest suites in river cruising and all-veranda staterooms with sliding glass doors for the best views.

To reserve your Viking River Cruises Vacation, Call Minnetonka Travel, your Local River Cruise Specialist:

T: 952-475-3500 Visit MinnetonkaTravel.com 415 East Lake Street, Wayzata, MN 55391

THE WORLD’S LEADING RIVER CRUISE LINE...BY FAR® Note: Cruise fares listed are for cruise and cruisetour only in U.S. dollars, per person and fares/discount offers are based on double occupancy. Cruise fares listed are valid for U.S. and Canadian residents only. Cruise ship fuel surcharge may apply. 2-for-1 fares are based upon published full brochure fares; cruise fares do not include pre-paid charges, optional facilities and service fees, and personal charges, as defined in the terms and conditions of the Passenger Ticket Contract. 2013 Early Booking Discount: 2-FOR-1 cruise and up to 2-FOR-1 international air (2013 Waterways of the Czars Viking Rurik departures from BOS, EWR, NYC, PHL or PIT and 2013 Imperial Jewels of China Viking Emerald departures from LAX, PDX, SFO or SEA; all other gateways slightly higher) are considered a single offer. Europe itineraries receive $550 off per person on international air. International air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. Must request offer 2013 EBD at time of booking and pay in full by May 31, 2012, or at time of booking if departure is within 90 days. Offers valid on new bookings only as of 1/1/12, subject to availability and may not be combinable with any other offers except Past Guest Travel Credit and Referral Rewards Credit, are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time without prior notice. Air promotion applies to economy, roundtrip flights only from select Viking River Cruises North American gateways and includes airport-to-ship or hotel transfers, air taxes and air fuel surcharges. Viking reserves the right to correct errors and to change any and all fares, fees and surcharges at any time. Additional terms & conditions apply. For Passenger Ticket Contract and offer restrictions, see Minnetonka Travel for complete details. Offer expires 2/29/12. CST#2052644-40

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Spring 2012 89

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“This is a new model home you do not want to miss.” Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living | Spring 2012 91

feature || Q + A

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Lenny Russo Photo Credit Shaun Liboon

JENN CRESS

The Power of the Beard Some of the Twin Cities’ most celebrated chefs get candid about the industry’s highest honor — the James Beard Awards. | by Alyssa Ford

Isaac Becker

Tim McKee

Lenny Russo

Alex Roberts

of 112 Eatery and Bar La Grassa (2011 Best Chef: Midwest winner)

of La Belle Vie (2009 Best Chef Midwest: winner)

of Heartland (two-time Best Chef: Midwest nominee)

of Restaurant Alma and Brasa Rotisserie (2010 Best Chef Midwest: winner)

e sat down with four famed local chefs at St. Paul’s Heartland Restaurant for a casual chat about the James Beard Awards — from star sightings to the Susan Lucci of Midwestern chefs. Our expert panel included; Isaac Becker, Tim McKee, Lenny Russo and Alex Roberts.

and they want to put the camera on her for like 10 minutes straight. So it’s really funny. My wife was like, “What was that about?” And I said, “Hey, we’re just the little people.”

Artful Living: The James Beard Awards are held each spring at a grand concert hall primarily inhabited by the New York Philharmonic. The awards themselves are the highest accolade for an American chef in food-dom. What’s it like to be there?

Isaac Becker: I remember when Tim [McKee] got his picture taken with Alain Ducasse. I thought that was pretty sweet. That was the one time I was seething with jealousy.

Lenny Russo: It’s pretty much overwhelming. I remember the first year I was there, my wife and I are standing in the plaza at Lincoln Center and I’m still not fully grasping the moment. I’m astounded that I’m here and that I somehow got invited in. I mean, nobody knew who the hell I was, but I somehow was in this clique. And then there’s this swarm of famous chefs. Last year we walked Jacques Pépin across the street and Danny Boulud was standing at the door and I thought “that doesn’t happen every day.” Alex Roberts: The mass of it is definitely cool. There is a red carpet outside and us little guys in our tuxedos. They’re like, “Come on, come on, move through,” because here comes Lidia Bastianich or somebody,

AL: Any close encounters with cooking royalty?

Tim McKee: Well, he’s one of the most important chefs on the planet, and he’s just standing there by himself. And I was wearing the medal, and I just went up and asked if I could get my picture taken. AL: So that was you being a little starstruck? McKee: A little bit. But the cooler thing was there was an after-party across the street at Bar Boulud — and Danny Boulud is one of my absolute favorite chefs in the country — and I was standing there and he comes walking in, and he had a couple of medals. I met him, like, once. I’m sure he would never remember that in like a million years, but he sees me with the medal and clinks the medals together and shakes my hand.

Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

| Spring 2012

feature || Q+A Becker: Who was it that came in when we there? [Jean-Luc] Boulay, right?

Becker: Four.

Russo: Yeah, he came in with his entourage while we were there having dinner. And we were like, shitfaced at 3 in the morning. We’d been drinking and celebrating Alex’s deal. Plus, we sat down and someone said, “You won!” and all this food came out. Remember that?

McKee: I think four as well.

Roberts: It’s really the perfect place to have the awards. Being in New York makes it really cool, especially for people from around the country who don’t get to spend a lot of time in New York. We all make plans to have special meals while we’re there. Maybe the density contributes to this, but when you have that medallion around your neck, a fair number of people actually know what it is. Russo: Yeah, the people at the desk at the hotel asked why I was in town, and I said the Beard Awards. And they said, “Oh, are you a nominee?” They knew what it was. Roberts: Not where I stayed they didn’t. AL: The awards themselves go on for three hours or longer.

“Well, just to win Best Chef: Midwest changed things. There’s a lot more focus on the Twin Cities as a food town. There’s a small number of people who actually take trips to eat at Beard Award–winning restaurants. We’ve seen some of that at La Belle Vie.” —Tim McKee

AL: Tell me about winning Best Chef: Midwest. McKee: If I had it to do over I might spend some time with Toastmasters or something. I pretty much crumbled. I seriously thought I was going to pass out. It’s the most intimidating thing I’ve ever been through in my life. Russo: You’re blushing now just thinking about it. McKee: It was hard enough to think about standing in front of all the guys in the industry who I have just huge respect for, and I finally do turn around and who’s in front of me? Thomas Keller and his entourage. It was just ridiculous. Russo: Who handed you your medal? [To Roberts] I think Wolfgang Puck handed you yours. Becker: I have no idea. I didn’t know who they were before they said my name. Roberts: For me, it was almost more of a relief to win than a thrill to win. Because you know, there are those people who get nominated a bunch of times and then that’s it. And you kind of would like that moment. Being nominated four times, you kind of think, Well, that’s why I’m here. AL: If you could turn back the clock to the year you won, what would you change?

What’s it like to sit in those seats when you know you’re a finalist?

Russo: [To Roberts] You had a baby with you.

Becker: The year [Alex Roberts] won, I sat next to Suzanne Goin, a big-deal chef out in California. Somehow she knew when my name came up on the thing that she was sitting next to me, and she went like this to me [crosses fingers]. And then when [Alex Roberts] won, the whole rest of the presentation she never looked at me again. (laughs) She didn’t want to deal with the uncomfortableness of the whole deal.

Roberts: Yeah, but that was actually one of the sweetest parts of the win. After you leave the pressroom, where they take a picture of you, you come out and it’s like going to the bathroom in the middle of class — all the hallways are empty and silent. And I came around the corner and there was my wife, and she was wearing this black dress and our newborn baby in this black wrap. And after four years and all the drama of it, it was actually a very sweet moment.

Russo: Last year my wife was like, “Oh, they sat you on the end. You’re sitting behind Rick Bayless.” And I’m like, I don’t think they engineer it like that. Like I’m going to tap Rick Bayless on the shoulder and go, “Rick, did I win?”

Becker: For me, the whole thing was great, but I kind of didn’t believe it, though. There were a few seconds when I was walking across the stage that I thought, did he actually say my name? I brought Nancy [St. Pierre, his wife and business partner] up with me, and that was really fun. Of everyone in my family, my dad’s been my biggest promoter. I mean, he does our website, and he follows my career closer than I do. And I called him right away and he was coming home from a trip; I could just tell that he was really pumped.

Becker: I will say there’s nothing in my mind that made me feel like it was my year last year. McKee: For me, some of the most stressful times ever [was] sitting in those damn seats. AL: How many times were you a finalist before you won?

AL: Wow, you’ve got such a thick Minnesota accent, it’s fun to think about you on the phone with your dad. Does he have a thick accent?

Roberts: Four.

Becker: Nah, not really.

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feature || Q+A Russo: So yes — yes, he does. AL: Does anybody wear their medallions long after everyone else has taken them off? Who sleeps in their bling? Becker: Who’s that big guy with the black beard? Drew Nieporent? The first year we were there, Nancy and I were by ourselves at Bar Boulud before the deal, and Drew Nieporent is in there wearing his medallion going, “You ever seen one of these before? You ever seen one of these before?” Russo: [Robert] De Niro’s his funding partner; I wonder if he goes around with his Oscar. AL: Do you think there’s any way to turn the tide in your favor, beyond just being a fantastic chef? McKee: I do think there could be a bit of strategy involved. Some guys are involved with events all over the country. Adam Siegel, Bartolotta’s chef who won in 2008, was the first to say that he spends upward of 12 weeks a year doing special events. Russo: Who has the time to do that? Roberts: It does make sense, though. If you do Miami and Aspen Food & Wine and you do a station there and you meet everybody and hobnob, then people are going to say, “That’s a good guy. I’ve had his food.” AL: The Beard Foundation adamantly denies that the chefs who put on dinners at the Beard House have a better chance of winning. But it doesn’t seem like it would hurt. Have any of you done a Beard dinner, held in New York to benefit the Beard Foundation? Russo: I think we’ve all been invited, but it’s a matter of whether or not you can afford to do it. McKee: I’ve cooked there a couple of times. AL: Is it a very limited budget? Russo: You are the budget. McKee: You have to buy all the food for 80 people for whatever you’re serving. You also have to assemble your crew, fly them out, put them up, and you’re probably going to go out to some dinners and carry on a bit. I would guess it averages about $10,000 to $12,000 to do a dinner there. AL: Wow. Becker: 112 Eatery got invited two years ago, and there was just no way. We’d have to close the restaurant just to have enough people. Russo: Even for us to take a vacation at the old place we’d have to close the restaurant. There are only 12 employees, and my wife and I were two of them.

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AL: Let’s talk about this year. Tim, you won Best Chef: Midwest in 2009, and now you’re a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, a national category. McKee: That to me is a little ridiculous. Russo: Why? McKee: Because I’m not a national player. Russo: Well, you know, that’s bullshit. Roberts: Your commitment to excellence is no less than any of those other people. Russo: Exactly. Roberts: Your chances to win are less because you’re from this market, though. McKee: But if you look at the guys on that list, those are the guys who are really making a difference on a national level. You read about them all the time. Russo: Well, José Andrés won last year, and he’s in D.C. McKee: José Andrés is the perfect example. Do you think he would have won if he hadn’t opened a restaurant in Los Angeles [The Bazaar] or Las Vegas [é by José Andrés]? Would he have been in the same consideration? Russo: No, but I don’t think he would have had the opportunity to do Los Angeles or Las Vegas if he wasn’t in D.C. They have a lot more opportunity than you have — or any of us have — to do more, and it’s because of the market. McKee: And they also put themselves in a position that I’m not going to put myself in. I have no interest in being on TV. I’m not going to do that, and that’s the difference. I’m interested in running a restaurant. AL: As far I know, no Minnesotan has ever advanced to the finals in a national category like Outstanding Chef or Outstanding Restaurant. What would that mean if Tim or someone did win one of those categories? Roberts: I think a better question is, what would it mean if one of the smaller markets got it — period? The answer is, I don’t know. McKee: Well, just to win Best Chef: Midwest changed things. There’s a lot more focus on the Twin Cities as a food town. There’s a small number of people who actually take trips to eat at Beard Award– winning restaurants. We’ve seen some of that at La Belle Vie. AL: You [Becker] won last year, you [Roberts] won the year before, and you [McKee] won the year before. So [Russo], you’re up, right? Russo: I wouldn’t go that far.

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AL: Well, they say the Beard Awards are pretty predictable. Russo: I have friends in other cities who have been nominated and made it to the finals two or three years in a row, and then all of a sudden they don’t even make it to the finals. AL: What about Colby Garrelts, chef at Bluestem in Kansas City. If he makes it to the finals, this will be his sixth year in a row. Russo: He’s like Susan Lucci. And now he’s got a new cookbook out that he hopes will put him over the top. Last year he told me, “I can’t keep coming back here.” AL: Who in the Twin Cities has never been a Beard finalist or semifinalist and really should be? Russo: Koshiki Yonemura at Tanpopo; she’s totally overlooked. Everything she makes is just killer. And Hai Truong at Ngon Vietnamese Bistro is turning out some awesome food. Roberts: The irony about Truong is that he was attempting more creativity and his business wasn’t going anywhere. And then he changed Ngon to focus on traditional food, and his business took off — but he won’t get noticed from awards like that. Russo: The best chef in the Twin Cities is probably some Mexican lady on the west side cooking out of the back of a truck. Choosing who’s the best at something like cooking … it’s really not an exact science.

Beef with the Beard

Like the Oscars, the Beard Awards get plenty of flack. Here’s what detractors say about food’s biggest badge of honor.

The James Beard Foundation Awards have been around for 22 years, but things didn’t really heat up in Minnesota until 2007. Why? Because that year the awards committee carved out the Great Lakes region and reformed the Midwest region to include Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Suddenly Twin Cities chefs, who had been competing with Chicago heavy hitters, were the new big fish. “No longer having to compete against Chicago essentially allowed us to get into the game,” says Tim McKee, chef at La Belle Vie and 2009 Best Chef: Midwest winner. With Chicago out of the running in the Midwest category, the Beard Awards cracked open like a coturnix quail egg. In the first contest since the changes, Minnesota claimed two of the top five finalist slots in the Best Chef: Midwest category. In 2009, McKee was the first Minnesotan to ever win the category outright, followed by Alex Roberts (Restaurant Alma) in 2010 and Isaac Becker (112 Eatery) in 2011. The 2012 Midwest region semifinalist list boasts six Twin Citians, making our lakes-centric metropolis the metro to beat.

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Some Beard watchers, such as Texas food writer Mike Riccetti, have criticized the new territories, noting that that population of the Southwest region, for instance, has 48 million people and six major metro areas, compared with 25.6 million people and just two major metros in the Midwest. “An award for Best Chef: Midwest … does not seem nearly as notable at Best Chef: Southwest,” he wrote in December. Like the Oscars, the award to which it’s most often compared, the Beard Awards have plenty of detractors and critics. Anthony Bourdain, the Jack Nicholson of the food world, recently grumped on his blog that the Beardies are a “self congratulatory goat rodeo.” (Goat rodeo?) Josh Ozersky, the gastronomy columnist for Time magazine, made a little more sense last spring when he worried that the awards have become little more than a litmus of buzz. “If you look at who wins most of the regional awards, they tend to be the places that get the most hype,” he wrote. “Everybody has heard of it. So it wins. Which makes it more famous and more successful. Meanwhile, some gifted schnook somewhere in South Bend, Ind., sighs, turns back to his stove and prepares a plan to escape his creditors.” An anonymous judge writing for the foodie blog Eater.com made a similar case last May, arguing that because the awards enlist more than 500 judges from across the country — most of whom have only eaten at the most hyped restaurants, the awards are thus based on a “statistical absurdity.” The Beard Foundation “could probably achieve the same results by counting restaurant mentions in magazines, newspapers and online,” wrote the judge. This argument perhaps goes a long way to explaining why Lucia Watson, the doyenne of local fare at Lucia’s in Uptown Minneapolis, was a finalist in 2004, 2005 and 2006 but has since fallen off even the semifinalist list. One frequent grouse among chefs, including California cuisine champion Jeremiah Tower, is that only those chefs who cook at the Beard House actually bring home gold-plated medallions. (Cooking at the Beard House in Greenwich Village helps raise money for the nonprofit Beard Foundation; chefs who participate donate their time, their crew’s time, food and airfare, often totaling many thousands of dollars.) Roberts and Becker can disprove that one: Neither has cooked at the Beard House under the mantel of Restaurant Alma or 112 Eatery respectively, and both have walked away with the bald visage of Mr. Beard.

My Brush with Beard Lenny Russo recounts one night at Heartland with 15 major food critics.

’m the first to admit that I get really obsessive compulsive in a kitchen. I like things a certain way. I want things done right. It’s not a bad thing to be obsessive compulsive when you’re a chef — it’s probably even an essential quality. But there was a time in my past when I needed ultimate control if I didn’t want an out-and-out anxiety attack. I used to be the guy who said, “Just let me do it” and “Just don’t touch anything.” I’ve worked hard to give that up, because I realized pretty quickly that a lot of people have just as much knowledge and creativity and you’re really losing something if you don’t mine that. That mantra tends to work great when I have people like Stephanie Kochlin (my former chef de cuisine) or Chad Townsend (my current sous chef ), who are just as meticulous and insane as I am. But the restaurant biz can get real very quickly when your sous and chef de cuisine haven’t bought into what you’re doing. In the fall of 2009, I hired a new chef de cuisine to replace Kochlin, who went out to find new adventures. This new chef came with a nice résumé, including a stint at a Michelin two-star in France. Almost immediately, though, it became clear that the chemistry — the food kind and the human kind — just wasn’t there. I cut him loose, but not before he spent two whole months at Heartland giving me acid reflux. There were the inedible experiments, like the soup that had to be pitched. There was the cloudy consommé, the dessert coulis with bits of fruit skin, the mousse that tasted dull and grainy because the liver was overcooked. There are memories that still get to me nearly three years later. Like when I asked him to use my recipe for Haralson apple mustard, which I wanted to serve with our house-made terrine. What I needed was a rich, slightly grainy mustard with bright notes of apple. What I got was a watery, acidic, horrible, hot, nasty mess. The same week as the apple mustard, he was dishing out a cream-based sauce, oblivious to the beady little eyes of butterfat separating from the sauce. “That sauce is breaking. Can’t you see that?” “Oh, I’ll fix it,” says he, and he comes back with a big box of cornstarch, guaranteed to squelch any subtle flavors that were trying to survive in the sauce. “What are you doing? Just leave it, just leave it!” At this point, I had completely abandoned that old mantra about not squelching creativity. This was about serving food that didn’t look like amateur hour. “Somebody go get me some cream from the walk-in,” I barked. On the fly, I reduced some cream to whisk into the sauce, urging it back into form. It had been a strange week, and on Friday, it just got stranger. At Heartland’s new 18,000-square-foot location in Lowertown across from the light rail, it’s not unusual for us to still be cooking at 11 p.m. or later. But back in 2009, at our 50-seat neighborhood spot in Mac-Groveland, 9:30 p.m. meant we were breaking down the line, cleaning up and

calling it a night. This night, though, the dining room was packed. I was at the sauté station working eight pans and eagle eying the window to see that each plate was going immediately to the table (I have a thing against heat lamps). When the fury died down about 10:30 p.m., I glanced around the dining room and caught the face of a middle-aged guy in glasses. I’m pretty good with faces, and his went ticking through my mental Rolodex. I got my match: James Oseland, long-time editor of Saveur magazine. I walked over to the reservation book, and right at the top was Providence Cicero, the restaurant critic at the Seattle Times. (That’s an easy one. I mean, who else has a name like Providence Cicero?) I looked a little closer at the people in the dining room, and names start clicking: Victoria Pesce Elliott of the Miami Herald, Andrew Knowlton of Bon Appetit, Phil Vettel at the Chicago Tribune. Here, sitting at Heartland at 10 at night, were three tables of people who actually choose the

My wife always knows the right thing to say. She just put her hand on my shoulder and said, “You’re better than you think you are.” semifinalists for the Beard Awards. But it was over. They were sipping coffee and leaning over to chat with people at other tables, taking quick peeks at the bill. I went to the tables to introduce myself and schmooze a bit, but whatever they thought of the food they weren’t saying — and I would never, ever ask. After they left, I sat a bit in the empty dining room. My wife came out, and I told her, “They were all here tonight, and we weren’t that good.” My wife always knows the right thing to say. She just put her hand on my shoulder and said, “You’re better than you think you are.”

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feature || winemaker

High-flying Heidi The Napa winemaker who sent Screaming Eagle soaring gets a bird’s eye view of her clients’ vineyards. | by David Mahoney

t’s the beginning of a typical Friday for Napa Valley winemaker Heidi Barrett. Leaving her home at the north end of the valley, she climbs into her favorite new work vehicle parked nearby, fires it up, and takes off — straight into the air. She guides her helicopter up the slopes of Howell Mountain to the airport at Angwin, more than 1,500 feet above the valley floor, where she is picked up by one of the Lamborn family and driven higher up the mountain to their eponymous winery. After checking on their Cabernet Sauvignon vines, she returns to her helicopter and takes off again, this time flying down the backside of the mountain to the Somerston vineyards, turning what would be more than a half-hour drive into a 5-minute flight. There, she hops onto an ATV to gather samples of her clients’ Grenache, Syrah, Merlot and Cab grapes. Then it’s back to the helicopter for a flight south along the ridgetop to Kenzo Estate before heading back up the valley to home. And that’s all before noon. Barrett seems to blend glamour and grit as seamlessly as she blends the components of the cult wines that have made her one of the most sought-after consulting winemakers in the business. In the 1990s, she crafted red wines for Dalla Valle and Screaming Eagle that earned 100-point scores from preeminent wine critic Robert Parker, rocketing the wines’ reputations and prices into the stratosphere. (Last year, bottles of the Screaming Eagle’s inaugural 1992 vintage sold for more than $6,000 at auction). Crowned “the wine diva of Napa” by Time magazine and named a “first lady of wine” by Parker, Barrett isn’t a movie star — though she did inspire one. In the 2008 movie Bottle Shock about the famous “Judgment of Paris” tasting, actress Rachael Taylor based the portrayal of her character — a fictitious intern at Chateau Montelena — on Barrett. Among her more recent accomplishments was earning her helicopter pilot’s license, which has allowed her to significantly cut her commute time between her far-flung clients. But for all of her high-flying success, Barrett retains a down-to-earth attitude and a healthy respect for the heavy lifting of winemaking. “It’s not an easy business,” she says. “You have to really be committed to it. You really have to love to work.”

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feature || winemaker

ith a scientifically inclined winemaker as a father and an artist as a mother, Barrett seems to have been predestined for a career that’s equal parts science and art. “It’s almost like I’m genetically bred for this,” she laughs. When Barrett and her sister, Holly (who became an enologist and chef ), were growing up in the 1960s, their father, Richard Peterson, worked at the Gallo winery. Barrett was fascinated by the sprawling, factory-like complex, complete with its own bottle-making plant. “It was like visiting Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory,” Barrett recalls. In 1968, her father moved the family to Napa Valley when he took over the role of Beaulieu Vineyards’ winemaster from the legendary André Tchelistcheff. As Barrett approached her teen years, her interest in wine grew. “My sister and I were tasting right along with our family, and we got introduced to pretty nice wines early on growing up,” she says. “That’s where my early interest came from — that was just normal. I thought everybody’s dad must be a winemaker. I didn’t think it was unusual at that time.” Her interest grew even stronger when her family moved again, this time to the Monterey area, where her father and some partners were starting the Monterey Vineyard. Working there during the summers, Barrett would make the half-hour commute each way with her father, which provided a golden opportunity to quiz him about everything she had observed that day. When it came time for college, she filled out only one application: to the University of California, Davis, home of the country’s preeminent enology program. She was accepted, although as a woman she was definitely in the minority. Of the 30 students she graduated with in 1980, “only four were women, and only two stayed in the business,” she says. Internships in Australia and Germany alternated with short stints working at Franciscan, Rutherford Hill and Bouchaine. Then, in 1983, Barrett was offered the job of winemaker at Buehler Vineyards. “At the time, I was only 25, one of the youngest [winemakers] to be in charge of a winery,” she says. “I was nervous about it. I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, I wonder if I’m ready.’” Apparently she was. During the six years she made wine for Buehler, production grew from 6,000 to 25,000 cases. It was a time of personal growth for Barrett, too. She married Bo Barrett, the Chateau Montelena winemaker, and they started having children. The desire to spend more time with her kids was what prompted Barrett to become a consulting winemaker. She made some calls to winemakers already doing that kind of work to let them know she was available. One of them passed along his client Dalla Valle, the fledgling winery owned by Gustav Dalla Valle, a wealthy Italian who had been a pioneer in the scuba-diving industry. In her first vintage working with Dalla Valle, Barrett put together a new proprietary blend of nearly equal parts Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from a special section of the estate vineyard. “The Maya blend was Gustav Dalla Valle’s idea and his dream,” she notes. “I just got to help him create that dream.” And what a dream it was. Four years later, the 1992 Maya received

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a perfect score from wine critic Parker. (“It is destined to be one of California’s legendary wines,” he extolled.) That same year, Barrett started making wine for Jean Phillips, a real-estate agent who had sold Dalla Valle his property. “He actually sent me down there to see if I could help her out,” Barrett says. That wine was Screaming Eagle, and Parker scored it a near-perfect 99 straight out of the chute. (Five vintages later, it secured its first perfect 100.) “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t decide which one I like better,’” Barrett recalls of her stellar ’92 wines. “They were both some of the best wine I’d ever made.” From then on, it was off to the races, with well-funded new wineries lining up to woo Barrett with the hope she could work her magic on their wines. At the same time, she began turning her talents to her own projects; she’s been making her own wine under the La Sirena label since 1994 and is involved in various partnerships. Her most recent, Barrett & Barrett, is a joint venture with her husband. Their inaugural offering, a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, was released last fall.

arrett’s success has allowed her to be selective in taking on new clients. “Honestly, life is short, it needs to be fun and it’s hard enough without having people that you don’t want to work with,” she says. “They also have to have the same sort of passion that I do to make something special. It’s not just making any wine — you want to make really delicious wine, really great wine.” Are there identifiable qualities that mark a wine as a Heidi Barrett wine? Barrett said she wasn’t sure herself until she attended a seminar where the organizers had assembled several of her clients’ wines. Although they were made from grapes of different varieties and appellations, and were all true to type, they did bear some resemblance to one another, she realized: “They flow like silk, there’s nothing out of balance, there’s no jagged edges — they’re really interesting and diverse yet they all have that silky elegance to them.” Barrett prides herself on making age-worthy wines that taste great from the outset. “It shouldn’t be something you have to wait for, something that’s really tannic that you have to wait 10 years to drink,” she insists. The secret, she says, is balance: “If the wine is bottled and it’s balanced, it will age in balance. It’s not like all of a sudden it’s going to wake up and be balanced. It just doesn’t work that way.” Balance seems to be something Barrett values in her own life. She’s comfortable with her current client list and is focusing more on her own brands. For efficiency, she’s arranging to have several of her projects clustered at a couple wineries. And though she’s appreciated the 100-points scores her wines have received, she’s not intent on chasing them. “I think that the glory days of that 100-point scale have sort of passed,” she says. “It is, after all, one person’s opinion, and I think more and more people are getting bolder and more confident with their own palates. And I’m delighted to see that.”

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Wooing the Wine Diva Since leaving Screaming Eagle — Napa’s cult wine brand par excellence — after its original owner sold it six years ago, Heidi Barrett has taken on only one new client. According to Duane Hoff, co-owner of Fantesca Estate with wife Susan (the daughter of Best Buy founder Richard Schulze), Barrett was initially reluctant to sign on as their winemaker because she was too busy and wanted to focus more on her own brand, La Sirena. They won her over, he says, by asking not what she could do for them and their wine but showing what they could do for her. “Heidi confessed that, like a lot of us in the wine business, she was struggling a little bit with the Internet piece,” Duane says. “I said, ‘If you’ll come help us make better wine, we’ll help you do a better job of presenting your brand and your image on the Internet.’” Having learned a few things about Internet marketing as executives at Best Buy, the Hoffs felt they could be of some service. To add some leverage to their efforts, they purchased the domain name heidibarrett.com to present to her as a small token of what they could bring to the table. The relationship appears to be a mutually productive one. Barrett uses Fantesca’s facilities on Napa’s Spring Mountain to make wine for two of her joint ventures, Amuse Bouche and Au Sommet. For Fantesca, she makes the only Chardonnay in her portfolio, from Russian River grapes, as well as an estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Having worked with Barrett now for four vintages, Duane has only the highest praise for her. “She’s phenomenal at what she does,” he says. “Heidi has these tremendously high standards, and she has such a gift for tasting young wines and knowing what they need to reach their best potential. And she really approaches it with an artist’s mindset. She’s elevated the quality of our wines tremendously.”

partners in crime

Duane and Susan Hoff convinced a reluctant Barrett to help with Fantesca Estate.

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twin cities gallery

|| alexandria area

This remarkable offering includes 4 distinct homes, luxurious lakeside main residence, beautiful lakeside guest house, another guest house set amongst the woods, next to the fully equipped 50’s style malt shop, along with a caretaker’s residence. Entertain your guests with all the sporting activities, theatre, billiard room, indoor pool, children’s school house, meditation and relaxation areas, and of course the sandy beach with multiple boat docks. An adjacent parcel of approximately 15.5 acres and 780 feet of lake frontage may be available. For details on all of the amenities offered, visit brentwoodlakeproperty.com.

Douglas County, MN Offered at $13,900,000 Smith + Roffers TEL: 612.867.5667

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3380 Julian Drive Chaska, MN

|| chaska + credit river twp + edina

Offered at $799,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Jim Schwarz TEL: 612.251.7201

8781 Canter Lane Credit River Twp, MN

6508 Nordic Drive Edina, MN Pending

4320 France Avenue S. Edina, MN

6566 France Avenue South #1109 Edina, MN

5440 Woodcrest Drive Edina, MN

3700 W. 55th Street Edina, MN

4617 Browndale Avenue Edina, MN Pending

5320 Kellogg Avenue Edina, MN

Offered at $929,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Seth Nelson TEL: 612.328.1825

Offered at $529,900 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

Offered at $724,900 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

Offered at $950,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

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Offered at $500,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

Offered at $545,000 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Offered at $879,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Offered at $995,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Rachel Rahn TEL: 952.220.2205

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Brownstones on France

|| edina

Custom built in the heart of Edina, blending classic elegance with timeless luxury and architecture, plus all the conveniences of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifestyle. These spacious residences showcase craftsmanship, exclusivity, security, quality and an unsurpassed attention to detail. Each home within the 20-unit development offers a homeowner his own opportunity to customize the interior living spaces to suit individual needs and wants. Visit Artful-Livingmag.com for a video tour of this home.

5200 France Avenue S. Edina, MN Starting at $975,000 (shell only) Open Sundays 12pm â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3pm Smith + Roffers TEL: 612.867.5667

Tour of the Brownstones

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The Woods at Riley Creek 9607 Sky Lane Eden Prairie, MN Offered at $1,295,000

|| eden prairie

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Robin Roberts TEL: 952.270.5370

The Woods at Riley Creek 9547 Sky Lane Eden Prairie, MN Offered at $1,300,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Robin Roberts TEL: 952.270.5370

The Woods at Riley Creek 9530 Sky Lane Eden Prairie, MN Offered at $1,370,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 Robin Roberts TEL: 952.270.5370

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Where Luxury Meets Location

|| edina

Remember the last time you checked into a luxury hotel and wished you could stay forever? Now that relaxing and enriching experience can be yours around the clock at the exclusive 82-unit Westin Edina Galleria Residences. Eleven sublime stories of private living atop a world-class Westin Hotel, with all its indulgent amenities, in the heart of Edinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier shopping district. A place where entertainment, sports and the airport are only a short drive away and the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lakes and walking paths are just a quick hike from your front door.

The Residences at The Westin Edina Galleria 3209 Galleria Edina, MN Offered at $400,000 to $3,600,000 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

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5413 Doncaster Way Edina, MN Offered at $1,150,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

|| edina New construction by Great Neighborhood Homes in Edina Highlands. A charming cottage-style home with shake exterior. Features a large kitchen with a 12-foot center island open to a great room. Dream master suite. Just a few steps to Highlands park and school.

5124 Indianola Avenue Edina, MN Offered at $1,495,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600 New construction in South Harriet Park by Great Neighborhood Homes. Great design, scale and attention to detail. Well-designed cottage style home with clean lines and modern touches. Walking distance to 50th & France district. Other sites available.

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5901 Lee Valley Edina, MN Offered at $1,750,000 Non-MLS

|| edina + minneapolis + minnetonka

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Smith + Roffers TEL: 612.867.5667

1922 W. 49th Street Minneapolis, MN Offered at $849,900 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Hertz & Gerberding TEL: 952.230.3173

13827 Wood Lane Minnetonka, MN Offered at $1,695,000 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 8 The Haas Team TEL: 612.968.4227

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5763 Long Brake Circle Edina, MN

|| edina

Offered at $1,050,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

5512 Oaklawn Avenue Edina, MN

5436 Oaklawn Avenue Edina, MN

4806 Sunnyside Road Edina, MN

4506 Browndale Avenue Edina, MN

5004 Skyline Drive Edina, MN

6509 Willow Wood Road Edina, MN

4402 Browndale Avenue Edina, MN

6604 Indian Hills Road Edina, MN

Offered at $1,199,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Offered at $1,350,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Offered at $1,489,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 Dan Hollerman TEL: 952.292.1200

Offered at $1,695,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

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Offered at $1,300,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Dan Hollerman TEL: 952.292.1200

Offered at $1,395,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 6 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

Offered at $1,495,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Offered at $1,850,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

twin cities gallery

7432 Shannon Drive Edina, MN

|| edina

Offered at $2,400,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

European country home in Edina’s Dewey Hill neighborhood. Incredible quality and attention to detail with a full stone exterior. Impressively set atop a 1.24-acre parcel, framed by majestic oaks.

3209 Galleria #1808 Edina, MN Offered at $3,600,000 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Top-floor penthouse at the Westin Edina Galleria Hotel & Residences. Incomparable 270 degree views for 50 miles. Enjoy all the amenities and services of the area’s finest hotel, including full-time concierge service and a secure environment.

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5224 Schaefer Road Edina, MN

|| edina

Offered at $5,850,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 6 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

One of the last great estates in Edina. Set on 8.63 acres with majestic oaks, a pasture, pond and stable, the property is stunning.Â This property offers potential subdivision or new construction.

9 Merilane Avenue Edina, MN Offered at $7,000,000 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 9 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

Landmark estate in Edinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unsurpassed Rolling Green neighborhood. This magnificent Country French home is sequestered among specimen oaks at the end of a winding drive.

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3340 Eagle Bluff Road Minnetrista, MN Offered at $899,000

|| minnetrista + new prague

Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Mike & Lisa Lynch TEL: 612.619.8227

25786 Cedar Lane New Prague, MN Offered at $825,000 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 4 The Haas Team TEL: 612.968.4227

25754 Cedar Lane New Prague, MN Offered at $970,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 The Haas Team TEL: 612.968.4227

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250 Interlachen Road Hopkins, MN

|| hopkins + minneapolis + wayzata + woodbury

Offered at $1,395,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 John T. Wanninger TEL: 952.240.7600

4812 Washburn Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN

110 Bank Street SE, #1401 L Minneapolis, MN

2514 Lake Place Minneapolis, MN

2702 Sunset Boulevard Minneapolis, MN

Offered at $850,000 .36 Acres Debbie McNally Group TEL: 612.388.1790

Offered at $879,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

1018 W. Minnehaha Parkway Minneapolis, MN

2505 Lake of the Isles Minneapolis, MN

392 Margaret Circle Wayzata, MN

11257 Stonemill Farms Curve Woodbury, MN

Offered at $475,000 Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Dan Hollerman TEL: 952.292.1200 Pending

Offered at $879,900 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 Anne Shaeffer TEL: 612.759.1846

Offered at $665,000 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 4 The Haas Team TEL: 612.968.4227

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Offered at $549,000 Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Hertz & Gerberding TEL: 952.230.3173

Offered at $3,750,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 6 Debbie McNally Group TEL: 612.388.1790

Offered at $649,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Michelle Fitzpatrick TEL: 651.324.9282

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Classic English Tudor

|| st. louis park

This estate-like property sits on a Âž-acre lot emitting charm and character, yet you are only minutes from downtown and the Minneapolis lakes, making it one of a kind. Highlights include updated kitchen with highend appliances, main floor vaulted family room with stone fireplace, hardwoods, and attached large screen porch with another fireplace overlooking large grounds and pool.Â The Mediterranean-style sunken living room has beamed ceilings, fireplace and large arching windows.Â Upper level offers a large master suite with fireplace and updated large master bath, along with another bed and bath.

2179 Glenhurst Avenue St. Louis Park, MN Offered at $789,000 Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 4 Smith + Roffers TEL: 612.867.5667

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Private St. Croix River Estate

|| troy township

Enjoy panoramic views on the bluffs of the St. Croix River. In the early 1900s this property was a summer camp called Ilwaco Springs and cost $7 for a weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stay. One-of-a-kind estate features custom-built two-story home, 1,680 feet of frontage on the St. Croix River, a grandfathered boathouse and 30 wooded acres.

218 Ilwaco Road Troy Township, WI Offered at $1,695,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 4 Smith + Roffers TEL: 612.867.5667

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Writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Retreat on the St. Croix

|| lakeland shores

Reminiscent of an English stone cottage, this sprawling home is perched high above the widest part of the St. Croix allowing for magnificent views and complete privacy. This home has provided inspiration for many years to best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner John Sanford. The main level offers stellar views, from the wood paneled library to the living room boasting a curved wall of windows, adjacent dining room with fireplace, along with a screen porch. Vaulted art studio offers more spectacular windows for light and inspiration. Large double lot with 300 feet of lakeshore, including 30-feet of sandy beach.

55 Lakeland Shores Road Lakeland Shores, MN Offered at $1,200,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 Smith + Roffers TEL: 612.867.5667

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On the Shores of Lake Superior

|| two harbors

Wonderful prairie-style twin home in the Silver Cliff development near Two Harbors. Beautiful open spaces with lots of glass to maximize the views of Lake Superior. Two-story living room with floorto-ceiling stone fireplace. Kitchen has plenty of cabinetry, breakfast bar and walk-out to four-season porch. More than 2,100 square feet and fully furnished. Former vacation home of Denny Hecker, now bank-owned.

1761 Silver Cliff Lane #1 Two Harbors, MN Offered at $589.000 Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 3 Smith + Roffers TEL: 952.237.1100

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Heaven on Earth

|| lutsen

This spectacular Lundie home has been totally restored with impeccable detail, creating one of the North Shoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most private and romantic residences. Situated on a profoundly beautiful piece of lakeshore, it embodies complete luxury. The main house has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, vaulted living and dining room with fireplace, all with beautiful views of Lake Superior. There is an adjacent pond with waterfall down the ledgerock to the guest house, simply stunning! Adorable garage looks like a cottage, making the property truly inspired in every way.

8424 W Highway 61 Lutsen, MN Offered at $1,200,000 8.46 Acres, 300 Feet of Lakefront Smith + Roffers TEL: 952.237.1100

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|| significant sales

Significant Sales A sampling of recent notable transactions in the Twin Cities

4877 Rolling Green Parkway Edina, MN

SOLD FOR $2,517,500 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 7 Listing Agent: Debbie McNally: Lakes Sotheby’s Int’l Realty Buying Agent: Barry Berg: CB Burnet

3209 Galleria #1502 Edina, MN

5012 Kelsey Terrace Edina, MN

2006 W 49th Street Minneapolis, MN

2323 E Lake of the Isles Pkwy Minneapolis, MN

SOLD FOR $1,279,891 Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 3 Listing Agent: John T Wanninger: Lakes Sotheby’s Int’l Realty Buying Agent: John T Wanninger: Lakes Sotheby’s Int’l Realty

SOLD FOR $775,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 Listing Agent: Garry Haas: Lakes Sotheby’s Int’l Realty Buying Agent: Peggy Watson: CB Burnet

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SOLD FOR $690,000 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5 Listing Agent: Smith+Roffers Lakes Sotheby’s Int’l Realty Buying Agent: Bryan Pogue CB Burnet

SOLD FOR $965,000 Bedrooms: 6 Bathrooms: 6 Listing Agent: Hornig & Associates: Lakes Sotheby’s Int’l Realty Buying Agent: Bruce Birkeland: CB Burnet

F eatured Properties Brownstones on France EdINA List Price for Shell $975,000

55 Lakeland Shores 300 FEET ON ST CROIX RIVER List Price $1,200,000

5901 Lee Valley Road EdINA List Price $1,750,000

218 Ilwaco 1,680 FEET ON ST CROIX RIVER List Price $1,695,000

2179 Glenhurst Road ST. LOuIS PARk List Price $789,000

1761 Silver Cliff TWO HARBORS List Price $589,000

8424 Highway 61 LuTSEN List Price $1,200,000

Brentwood GARFIELd List Price $13,900,000

R ecent Sales

3145 North Shore LAkE MINNETONkA

5012 kelsey Terrace EdINA

S M I T H + RO F F E R S

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THIS IS WHAT YOUR COUNTRY MANAGED TO PRODUCE

IN BETWEEN WINNING A COUPLE OF WORLD WARS.

★★★

Investment grade boats like the Gar Wood above are only becoming more rare and collectable. If you’ve dreamed of owning one, perhaps now’s the time. Freedom Boat Service is built around one idea: To make owning and operating the most beautiful boats in the world as pleasurable as the boats are seductive. Our team thrives on ensuring they are as reliable and safe to operate as their newer “plastic” cousins. Finding the right boat for your needs and buying it smartly is best accomplished when working with a market maker like Freedom. Visit us online and learn why wood boat owners nationwide trust us to find, restore and maintain these one-of-a-kind gifts from the past. Just a few of the great boats you’ll find at Freedom Boat Service. • 1932 28’ Gar Wood triple cockpit runabout, Scripps V-12 engine, beautifully restored and functional (pictured above) • 1938 28’ Hackercraft triple cockpit runabout, Scripps V-12 engine, rumble seat third cockpit, colorful history. • 1970 28’ Riva Super Aquarama, original 427 cubic inch, 320 hp engines, custom ordered, one-of-one in existence. • 1972 30’ Lyman, custom teak interior, total restoration, the perfect Lake Minnetonka boat. • 1915 35’ Ditchburn, a rare Canadian launch, magniﬁcent with canvas “roadster” top and Scripps engine. See even more great boats in our online gallery. w w w. Fr e e d o m B o a t S e r v i c e . c o m

Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota

home || ims discoveries An insider’s guide to the top in-home trends, all available at International Market Square in Minneapolis

Pendants with Personality Why I Love It: The pendants you choose for your kitchen island probably define the vibe of your room more than any other selection. Don’t be afraid to let your hair down and do something that makes you smile. GET THE LOOK: Inverted and striped South Beach pendant designed by New Orleans artist Paul Grüer for Flambeau

Recipe for Success Kitchen looks that really cook | By Sarah Michalowski and Laurie Butler, Certified Kitchen Designers at Sawhill & Bath Design

Commercial Flooring for the Kitchen

(LEFT)

Why I Love It: Commercial flooring has come a long, long way from the days of boring, beige-tiled hospitals and DMVs. Vendors are coming up with attractive, extremely durable options that work great in kid- and pet-friendly kitchens. GET THE LOOK: Wild Walnut commercial flooring by Amtico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Light Glazing (RIGHT) Why I Love It: A light glazing, added by hand, is more complex and interesting than simple paint. The natural attributes of the grain are allowed to shine through. It’s neutral but never drab. GET THE LOOK: Creamy opaque Cornsilk base coat with a brushed gray glaze, as seen in a recent Sawhill project

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“Jewelry” Hardware Why I Love It: Hardware is to the kitchen what a beautiful scarf or dangly earrings are to woman. To really bring the room together, we opt for solid, stunning hardware that will last for generations and look positively gorgeous. GET THE LOOK: Polished nickel pull from the Edwardian Collection by Top Knobs

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Incognito Storage (LEFT) Why I Love It: A savvy kitchen designer can build in storage in all types of places, even skinny newel posts and architectural features. You’ll be amazed at all the spices, towel bars and odd-shaped kitchen tools you can hide away. GET THE LOOK: Hidden towel bar with cleaning-supplies rack, as seen in a recent Sawhill project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dish Drawers (RIGHT) Why I Love It: Nothing breaks up the energy of a kitchen like a solid block of wall cabinets. That’s why we’re designing more and more custom dish drawers. They’re easy, they’re accessible and they’re better for families with kids. GET THE LOOK: Custom-designed dish drawers, as seen in a recent Sawhill project

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Custom Metal Accents (LEFT) Why I Love It: For that little something special, we often look to custom metal accents for our kitchen designs. Metal can be contemporary, transitional, traditional, and there are many talented metal smiths in Minnesota who can bring the vision to life. GET THE LOOK: Custom metal accent under the hood corbel, as seen in a recent Sawhill project

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home || ims discoveries

Hot for the Kitchen Cucina Accoutrements for the most important room in the house | By Jean-Claude Desjardins, CO-owner of Belle Kitchen

Organic Textured Cabinetry (RIGHT) Why I Love It: The Esprit cabinetry from Leicht is just marvelous to look at. It has a very subtle matte finish over undulating horizontal grooves that look like a kind of contemporary tree bark. Plus, the cabinets are available in the entire RAL spectrum that includes more than 1,700 different colors. GET THE LOOK: Esprit cabinetry from German kitchen design company, Leicht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Next-Gen Steam Ovens Why I Love It: You can proof and rise yeast breads, bake custards without a bain-marie, steam rice and quinoa, reheat leftovers, and even sterilize preserves and make yogurt. For someone who is serious about cooking, this is a seriously cool tool. GET THE LOOK: Combi Steam/Convect Oven by Gaggenau

Flexible Fridges (RIGHT) Why I Love It: Just five years ago, there were only two fridge sizes on the market: 24 and 36 inches. Now there are five different sizes. Plus all the big luxury vendors allow for fully integrated designs, meaning the fridge looks like a fine piece of cabinetry and not an appliance at all. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nice time to be a kitchen designer! GET THE LOOK: Custom Gaggenau

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right choice The

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home || ims discoveries

Complex Finishes (LEFT) Why I Love It: There’s a world of difference between the finest cabinetry and medium-grade cabinetry, and the same is true of cabinet finishes. Some of the most exceptional finishes are so complex and nuanced they make your cabinets look like furniture from Holly Hunt or Baker. GET THE LOOK: Walnut brownish-red Antique Sienna finish by Wood-Mode, made with a 26-step burnishing process

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Extreme-Function Sinks (RIGHT) Why I Love It: New tiered and multi-function sinks can completely eliminate the need for separate cleaning and prep sinks, especially in smaller kitchens. It’s hard to describe exactly how they work without a little video, but it’s quite amazing how rolling cutting boards, drainers and colanders can glide into place for a perfectly natural way of working. GET THE LOOK: Multiere stainless-steel sink with deluxe accessories by Mick De Giulio for Kallista

Semiprecious Sparkle (LEFT) Why I Love It: People will search all through a slab yard to find an exotic piece of granite from Brazil or Namibia. But the most dramatic line I’ve ever seen comes from a Spanish company that uses carnelian, labradorite, amethysts, petrified wood and other fantastic materials to make truly amazing (and durable) surfaces. GET THE LOOK: Prexury stone slabs from Cosentino with semiprecious stones, minerals and fossils

All items available at International Market Square, 275 Market St., Minneapolis, 612-338-6250, imsdesigncenter.com

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home || remodel

Gateway to Paradise A modern, mold-breaking home gets remade. | By Carolyn Crooke

odern architecture tends to garner no shortage of opinions, and often they’re passionate ones. The fabulous Gateway home, built by Vujovich Design Build in 2004, was the first modern structure on Minneapolis’ Lake of the Isles. Some neighbors embraced it; others felt it veered too far from the traditional architectural aesthetic of the area. And in the middle were those who felt it fit right in with the eclectic, even dizzying assortment of styles around the lake, from Mediterranean to Tudor to Victorian to Arts and Crafts. Seen from that perspective, the only style missing in the assortment was modern.

a view inside and out

ABOVE The main staircase was completely removed and replaced with an open riser structure of steel and Brazilian cherry. Neutral tones on the walls along with the cumaru and PetraSlate ebony stone flooring give the staircase a sculptural feel — perfect for the art-loving owners.

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home || remodel

Fast forward eight years, and it’s clear that modern architecture has found a home around Lake of the Isles, with a number of high-profile, contemporary homes going up. And now, the Gateway home has changed hands for the first time. To Vujovich owner Ed Roskowinski, that’s where the true test of a home like this comes in: not how it works for the homeowners who built it, but how it stands the test of time — whether it’s got what it takes to be cherished through the years by different owners with different needs and tastes. Whether, in short, the style is sustainable — as opposed to trendy. Sustainable style is something Roskowinski ponders quite a bit. To him, building or remodeling a home in a sustainable way — that is, in a way that will work for decades to come — is a matter of being true to a style of architecture instead of following a trend. It’s also about enduring quality and the use of materials that have been proven over the years. “Understanding a diversity of styles and knowing what’s appropriate and sustainable for a given home is the key to doing high-quality renovation, and it’s the key to new construction, as well,” he notes. Vujovich was commissioned to design and build a remodel of the home when it was purchased last year. The original owners, a family with young children, had wanted the home to feel nautical: something like a yacht blended with a lighthouse — complete with turret. They also liked plenty of private spaces, out of view of the lake. The new owners, avid art collectors, saw the home and thought art gallery and lake views. It took just a few modifications to fit the home to the new

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lake effect ABOVE The Vujovich team opened up the kitchen to natural light and stunning lake views. BELOW This striking contemporary look is achieved with a minimalist fireplace and bold strokes of color as well as a liberal use of rich woods.

COMING suMMer suMMer 2012 2012 tO Our heNNepIN Market

owners’ lifestyle and aesthetic. The Vujovich team worked with Taunya Nelson of Whitespace Architecture, who had partnered with architect Jerry Allan of Criteria on the original design. The team removed the main-level fireplace, replacing it with a minimalist, linear fireplace installed into a wonderful curved wall. This change, as well as the removal of a support column, opened up the spaces and dramatically increased the lake views. They also refinished the floors and dramatically transformed the stairway and master bedroom. With these tweaks and upgrades, the new owners fully realized their vision for spaces infused with color, art, natural light and dramatic views within the original structure. “When one person sees a home in a certain way and another person sees it as something else, that’s a hallmark of sustainability of design,” Roskowinski notes.

suite space ABOVE A remodel is often about priorities.

The new Gateway owners revel in views and unbroken spaces, which they got in abundance once Vujovich removed a walk-in closet, replacing it with mahogany builtin storage. The magnificent mahogany sliding barn door provides a more open floor plan for the suite as well as lake views from the master bath. 2440 Hennepin Avenue • 612-377-3448 • www.kowalskis.com

home || resale value

Door Décor Choosing the right exterior entrances can enhance a home’s appeal and value. | by Ivy Gracie

or most of us, exterior doors serve two purposes: welcoming people in from the outside and keeping people from seeing what’s behind them. But they do something else we might not be aware of; they offer glimpses into the personalities who pass through them every day. As telling as a handshake, a front door can be warm and welcoming, or cold and off-putting. And a garage door, for example, can speak volumes about a homeowner’s style, or lack thereof. It’s a simple truth — exterior doors call out the character of a home and the people who live there. “When you go to a house, what do you typically see first?” queries Ty Ostroviak, owner of the Great Northern Door Company, a Savage– based manufacturer of wood entry and garage doors. “The garage or front door. People aren’t looking at your window trim or siding. Exterior doors are a focal point of a home.” Not only do they enhance a home’s curb appeal, exterior doors add resale value as well. According to Remodeling Magazine, replacing entry doors can yield up to a 102-percent return on investment and updating garage doors will fetch roughly an 84-percent return. “If you want to sell your home and you want to change its overall look, the two things they tell you to do are to replace your entry door and replace the garage door,” Ostroviak reports. “And wood doors offer a whole different look to the home.” With a vast selection of design options, finding the right look is merely a matter of personal taste. The Great Northern Door Company’s vast menu offers a variety of woods, shapes and stains, plus complete customization is available as well. And all doors are handmade by skilled craftsmen. “We have a show room where people can see and feel the different woods, stains and styles,” Ostroviak explains. “You can choose any design, any type of stain or paint, and any type of glass. Or, we can work directly with your architect, builder or designer to create the custom doors you want. The sky’s the limit.” While some might consider wood doors a high-maintenance proposition, Ostroviak challenges the misconception. “It all depends on exposure, but if they’re given a fresh coat of stain every three to five years, that’s pretty much all you have to do.” Aesthetically and economically beneficial, wood exterior doors can add value while giving a home character, charm, warmth and polish. “They can change the entire look of your house,” Ostroviak declares. “I’ve never once had someone come back to me and say, ‘Man, I wish I didn’t do a wood garage door.’ But you do hear a lot of people saying, ‘Man, I wish I would have done a wood garage door.’”

style statements Wood garage doors add warmth and

depth to a home’s style statement. A front door’s arched, paned windows and paneled wood convey character and cordiality.

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Custom Townhomes

Brownstones On France AL WHITAKER

On 52nd & France Avenue

SMITH + ROFFERS

To better understand the many benefits of owning at Brownstones on France, attend an open house. Open every Sunday from Noon to 3pm. For a virtual tour of the development scan the QR code. 144 Artful Living

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Your Timeless Architecture. Your Urban Lifestyle. Your Custom Townhouse.

Building Classic Elegance with Timeless Luxury

The Brownstones on France offers a blend of timeless architecture and classic elegance with all the luxuries and conveniences of 21st century living. Conveniently located in the heart of the

PHOTO FAR RIGHT: KENDRA PETTIS

Edina neighborhood, a unique neighborhood featuring over 175 retailers and professional services; including 20 restaurants, an arthouse, movie theatre, and gourmet grocery store. These spacious residences showcase craftsmanship, exclusivity, security, quality and an unsurpassed attention to detail. We invite you to begin creating the home of your dreams.

Please call Smith + Roffers at 612.867.5667 for more information. 3,200 to 4,300 Square Feet. From $975,000.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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home || redesign

A Fitting Challenge A tiny, outdated kitchen gets fully equipped and fashionably updated in an extensive, inventive remodel. | By Ivy Gracie

hey say good things come in small packages, but sometimes fitting all those goodies into a tiny parcel is easier said than done. Such was the case in a St. Louis Park home, where a spatially challenged kitchen languished in a décor last seen in the early ’80s. Tired of its cramped quarters and ancient appliances, the owners turned to Ispiri, a Woodbury–based design-build firm, to bring the kitchen into the 21st century. With inventive ideas and innovative implements, the Ispiri team maximized the kitchen’s potential and created a space where modern-day efficiency and timeless design intersect. “I was intrigued by this project because it’s an older home, a very small space, and we were not going to be able to do an addition,” recalls Joseph Robbins, senior design consultant with Ispiri. “The longer you do this, the more intrigued you [are] by specific design challenges. Not everything that’s fun has to be huge and overly ornate.” And according to Robbins, there was nothing huge or ornate about the job. “It’s an older, two-level home that’s been cobbled together,” he says. “It’s had a lot of things done to it along the way.” But the kitchen hadn’t been touched since the end of the disco era. “It was a poorly functioning layout in a very tight space. They had the most basic of the basic: a range, a sink, a refrigerator and a microwave.” Outdated cabinets and laminate countertops completed the dismal look.

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Fit For the Task

Ispiri’s comprehensive design process helped identify and address the kitchen’s challenges. “We wanted [the clients] to start thinking about how they live in their kitchen,” says Bjorn Freudenthal, vice president of marketing, design and sales. “What are the shortfalls? What are the frustrations? In a perfect world, what would you like to accomplish? Are you left-handed or right-handed? How many cooks will be sharing the kitchen at the same time?” After extensive fact-finding, the Ispiri team formulated a plan for the kitchen and presented it in a 3-D format. “A lot of people look at a blueprint or floor plan and can’t picture what it’s going to look like,”

Freudenthal explains. “So we work with Chief Architect, a 3-D modeling software. We can walk through a space plan in 3-D on the screen. When people see it, they say, ‘I didn’t know this was possible.’” Beyond the virtual realm, Ispiri’s state-of-the-art show room offered a hands-on preview of what the clients could expect from their kitchen. “We have five kitchens that display all the newest materials and finishes,” Freudenthal notes. “Seeing and touching is so critical. The show room gives our clients an idea of what’s possible.”

Finding the Right Fit

Working within the kitchen’s existing footprint, Robbins transformed the suffering space into a high-functioning, highend chef’s delight. The work triangle (refrigerator, sink and stove) remained in place, revamped with a large farmhouse sink and stateof-the-art appliances. An ersatz pantry and cluttered desk area were repurposed as a bake center, complete with designated storage for cookie sheets and pie tins, a drop zone for pulling hot items from the oven, and a mixing center with enough space for rolling pie crusts or working with dough. And the range was converted from electric to gas. “It’s a wonderful gourmet move,” Robbins states. “You move closer to how a chef would cook.” An avid cook himself, Robbins channeled his love for all things culinary into the design. “I love to cook and am fairly well-versed,” he says. “I think it helps serve clients. You can have somebody that cooks primarily in a wok — that’s different from someone who’s classically trained and needs five burners. Any designer needs to understand his client.”

Fitting In

In an effort to blend the up-to-the-minute kitchen into a home that honors its 1940s origins, the design team let the 8-foot island set the tone with semi-custom cabinetry designed to resemble traditional furniture. Semi-custom, enameled white cabinets were chosen to maximize storage and impart a timeless feel, their crispness balanced by creamy-toned, gold-flecked, organic granite countertops and work surfaces. And new 1½-inch-wide classic flooring was matched to the existing red oak hardwood to maintain a consistent flow throughout the home’s first floor. Yellow walls and a coral-hued island were selected to resuscitate the formerly all-white space. “The family had been working with Suzanne Haugland of Decori Designs for years, so we worked with her on some of the details, like palette choices and finishes,” Robbins recollects. “The color is her selection. It has intensity.” Now a high-efficiency, high-energy gathering spot for the owners, their family and guests, the kitchen strikes a balance between modern and traditional in both form and function. “It was difficult to get this much out of the space,” Robbins admits. “But we went from what was a simple, range-only kitchen to having a bake center, a gorgeous new refrigerator, a farmhouse sink — really fun stuff. I’m not saying it’s a vintage kitchen, but it’s a classic. It’s a timeless design.”

design appeal Ispiri married the home’s 1940s charm with modern functionality.

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BillyB_ArtfulLiving_Winter2012_1/2PgV 12/1/11 12:18 PM Page 1

FIVE THINGS I LOVE abou t this room Billy Beson, ASID, CID

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cambria topped floating nightstands are light & airy yet extremely practical $1400. ea.

luxurious faux mink throw is perfect for cuddling when the sea breeze turns cool. $995.

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breathtaking vistas of the atlantic ocean & indian river, check them out here. free.

lunch, dinner, cocktails daily sat & sun brunch www.the-sample-room.com northeast mpls on the river 2124 marshall st 612-789-0333

GarlockFrench_Artful Living_4.2012:layout

3/19/12

4:13 PM

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marketplace

|| cabinetry

Artful Living Marketplace From homes to remodeling, Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty presents luxury products for sale or lease in Minnesota and beyond.

D I S P L AYS F O R S A L E

ONTARIO

ESSEX

Contemporary German Cabinetry From Leicht Mix of light and dark French cut oak, including:

Wood-Mode Display Perfect for butler’s pantry custom distressed vintage green inset cabinetry.

Wine rack, magic corner, built in sink and Elkay faucet with solid white countertop and stainless steel table

+ Premium granite countertop + True divided leaded glass + Designer hardware + Additional cabinetry available to match

Retail $35,000 Asking price $15,900

Retail $13,400 Asking price $5,900

ILVE Ilve Italian 5 Burner Gas Range 36” Ilve Italian 5 burner gas Range with stainless tepanyaki plate + Color: Burgundy Red

Retail $7,649 Asking price $5,949

FOR MORE INFORMATION C ALL BELLE KITCHEN 612-343-8889 150 Artful Living

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marketplace

OUr B O a T s B ECOmE YOU rs…

|| boat rental

W HEN YOU JOIN THE C LU B.

Reserve Your Membership Today You’ll have a luxurious fleet of boats to play on, complete with valet porters and concierge. Let us pamper you in style on a classic wood Skiff Craft or pull the kids tubing behind one of our sporty speedboats. Simply pick the boat that’s best for the occasion and indulge in hassle free entertaining.There’s no catch. We do all the work and you have all the fun.

CLUB mEmBErsHIPs | CONCIErGE

| CaTErING | VaLET POrTErs

Lake minnetonka in Excelsior 952-401-3880 st. Croix river in Bayport 651-430-3118 excelboatclub.com Artful-LivingMag.com Artful Living

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marketplace



|| boats

are on Lake Minnetonka and the Mississippi River!  Department Parties ● Client Entertaining ● Corporate Events ● Grooms Dinners Engagement ● Weddings ● Receptions ● Birthdays/Sweet 16’s ● Anniversaries & more!

 

Sightseeing & Lock ● Happy Hour w/Pizza ● Wine Tastings Friday Night Dinner ● Sunday Brunch ● Specialty Cruises



952.474.8058

TwinCitiesCruises.com

Current Jaguar Land Rover Minneapolis facility in Golden Valley on 394 and General Mills Blvd.

Original location on Hennepin & Washigton

marketplace

|| cars

Jaguar Land Rover Minneapolis. A tradition of quality and style since 1970. Classics available. From now. From then.

n 1970, Jaguar Land Rover Minneapolis (JLR) purchased the British Leyland Franchises from B&K imports and moved them to their newly constructed facility in downtown Minneapolis. This state of the art, all enclosed building, included two levels of show floors and three levels of service. JLR sold and serviced MG, Austin Healey, Austin Marina, Jensen, Triumph, Jaguar and Land Rover. In 1981 British Leyland stopped production on all models except for Jaguar and Land Rover. JLR was the largest British Leyland car dealer in the Midwest and continues to service and sell collectable English cars. JLR specializes in MG, Austin Healey, Triumph, Lotus, Jensen along with Jaguar and Land Rover.

Since 1970, JLR has been the leading authorized Land Rover, Jaguar and Lotus dealership in the Midwest, both in sales and in service. In 2007, JLR moved from their Downtown location into their new state-of-the-art facility in Golden Valley. With a steeped history of British automobiles, JLR has a staff of knowledgeable experts both in sales and service. JLR is one of the only Jaguar Land Rover dealerships in the United States to specialize in classic car sales and classic car service. You can buy a timeless piece of British automotive history with the confidence that your purchase will be handled by the Midwestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading expert in Classic British cars. JaguarLandRoverMpls.com JLRClassics.com

marketplace

|| car service

Corporate Car Service

Events

Airport Transportation

Accent Birthdays

Weddings

Ask for the Special Artful Living Reader Rate

6 Passenger Stretch Limo

Luxury Vehicles

12 Passenger Stretch 300 Chrysler

Town Car

14 Passenger Ford Excurrsion & Lincoln Navigator

AAccent Town Car & Limo Service

S T. PAU L ( 6 5 1 ) 6 0 4 - 6 6 6 6

SURBURBAN (763) 789-5466(LIMOS) M S P L I M O. CO M

MINNEAPOLIS (612) 581-0190

A N Y T H I N G

I S

P O S S I B L E .

REMODELING SEMINAR All homeowners considering a

information about the remodeling process. Get help thinking through all phases of your upcoming project. M|A|Peterson Designbuild reveals possibilities hidden inside every home. Our approach

For more information, including seminar dates visit:

emphasizes the quality of your experience as much as the quality of the final product. The result is

www.mapetersonseminar.com

a home that reflects your family and allows you to truly live as you desire. Seamless integration of services and improved communication allow intuition and imagination to freely express the full potential of your home. It’s a remodeling experience that must be felt to be fully understood.

Working Together. A R C H I T E C T U R E

| INTERIORS

| LANDSCAPE

952.925.9455 | BUILD

| REMODEL

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, 133 Lilu Interiors, 66 Love and Life Architects, 156 M|A|Peterson, 25, 153 Mall of America, 6, 7 Marquette Hotel, 188 Maserati Bentley, 95 Max’s OPM Boutique, 188 Melly, 61 Merrill Lynch, Boyd, Bencini, Gibbons & Associates, 55 Minneapolis Plastic Surgery, 27 Minnetonka Travel, 85 Monique Lhuillier, 9 Morrie’s Cadillac Saab, 95 Optum Health, 187 Outdoor Excapes, 66 Painted Ambiance, 56 Paradise Cruise, 150 Partners 4 Design, 52, 53 The Peninsula Chicago, 46, 47 Peters Billiards, 52 Pittsburgh Blue Steakhouse, 31 Poggen Pohl, 53 Prairie Vodka, 175 Private Jet Solutions, 41 Queen of Cakes, 174 Ramsey Engler, 103 reVamp! Salon, 181 Richard Merchan, 158 Robert Foote Jeweler, 32 Robin Roberts Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, 98, 99 The Sample Room, 146 Sanctuary Salonspa, 157 Sears Imported Autos, 29 SEVEN, 136 Scheherazade, 45 Skin Rejuvenation Clinic, 180 Smuckler Architecture, 179 Smith + Roffers Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, 127 Soprano’s, 173 Sotheby’s Auction House, 8 Sotheby’s International Realty, 106 Steele Fitness, 38, 39 Streeter & Associates, 17 Stonewood Refined Custom Homes, 74 St. Paul Foundation, 189 Surdyk’s Liquor & Cheese Shop, 185 Swanson Homes, 98, 99 Top Shelf, 129 Toshiba, 37 Tradition Capital Bank, 166 Tradition Mortgage, 166 Trump Chicago, 15 Twin Cities Automotive Minnetonka BMW, 11 Twist Interior Design, 48 Union Place, 166 Urban Eatery, 181 USON Design Studios, 100 Valcucine, 190 Viking River Cruises, 85 Vujovich Design Build, 93 Windmiller Distinctive Dentistry, 33 Wixon Jewelers, 2, 3, 4 Wood-Mode Fine Custom Cabinetry, 63

|| ad index + remodel + art

project are invited to attend. Gather valuable insight and

2nd Wind Exercise Equipment, 87 AAccent Town Car & Limo Service, 152 Accent Elegance, 86 Accounting Resource Group, 147 All Inc., 58 Ampersand Shops, 72, 73 Anchor Block, 48 Art Resource Gallery, 34 Astoria, 86 Belle Kitchen, 22, 63, 148 Billy Beson Company, 146 Bluefin Bay Resort, 35 Brownstones on France, 142, 143 Bruce Kading Interior Design, 57 BStyle, Inc., 104 Cambria, Back Cover Carl M. Hansen Companies, 51 Casa Verde, 43 Charles Cudd de Novo, 88, 89 Charles Stinson, 155 Chocolat Celeste, 173 Collection on 5, 187 Crave, 57 Crave Catering, 141 Crutchfield Dermatology, 13 David Heide Design Studio, 28 Destiny Homes, 44 Domaine Serene, 167 DOM Interiors, 190 Dr. Chu Vision Institute, 55 Earthscapes Stonework + Design, 105 Eminent Interior Design, 34 Erickson Outdoor Lighting Concept, 62 EuroNest, 61 Excel Boat Club, 149 Executive Title, 104 Filament Lighting, 154 Flanders Gallery, 40, 83, 179 Freedom Boat Services, 128 Garlock French Corporation, 146 Gianni’s Steakhouse, 129 Grand Oriental Rugs, 154 Gray Gardens, 133 Great Northern Door Company, 135 GT Move Concierge, 104 Hornig Companies, 181 Hubert White, 5 International Market Square, 20, 21 Indulge and Bloom, 43 InVision Distinctive Eyewear, 62 ISPIRI, 71 Jaguar/Land Rover of Minneapolis, Inside Front Cover, 1, 151 Jake O’Connor’s Public House, 83 Jaque Bethke, 82 J. Hilburn, 165 Jim Schwarz Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, 155 Jodi Ennen/US Bank Home Mortgage, 16 John Kraemer and Sons, Inside Back Cover J.W. Hulme Company, 185 Keenan & Sveiven Landscape Architecture, 10 Korta Katarina Winery, 19 Kowalski’s Markets, 139 Lady Jane Boutique, 174

marketplace

ADVERTISERS INDEX

A R C H I T E C T U R E LIMITED ADDITION BRONZE SCULPTURE Created in 1972 by renowned London sculpture artist David Rawnsley, who died in 1978. This is one of his last pieces and it stands 38 inches tall. An identical sculpture rests on his grave in Capri, Italy. Sculptor’s name (David Rawnsley), date of the creation (1972) and location of its twin replica (Capri) are etched on the back of the base. Rawnsley was the brother of Una Hanbury, a renowned Washington sculptress of horses.

Contact: 952-922-1624 $8,000

For more than 14 years Filament Lighting has developed illuminating lighting concepts and solutions for homeowners throughout the Twin Cities. As a premier, independent lighting showroom, Filament carries numerous residential lines for interior, exterior, landscaping and more.

www.filamentlighting.com

Illuminating lighting concepts

Charles R. Stinson Architects, LLC L OT U S L A K E NEIGHBORHOOD | Chanh a ssen An ARChiteCtuRAL neighboRhood in tune With nAtuRe Lakes Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international Realty invites you to visit world renowned architect Charles R. Stinsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lotus Lake neighborhood in award winning Chanhassen. only 4 beautiful wooded lots remain. Lotus Lake neighborhood is an innovative community of modern and contemporary homes. each custom home is a composition of horizontal and vertical planes that hug the topography while providing magnificent views of the outdoors.

Lots from $138,000 and custom home packages from $699,000. For more information on Lotus Lake neighborhood please visit www.theschwarzgroup.net.

Jim Schwarz | 612.251.7201 jim.schwarz@sothebysrealty.com

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Richard Merchán “Woman in green sofa” avalable at griffin gallerY (952) 844-9884 • griffingalleryfineart.com

spotlight || fashion All looks available at Mall of America, Bloomington, 952-883-8800, mallofamerica.com

The Collections Detailed dispatches from backstage at New York Fashion Week | By Brooke Helmer and Photography by Shawn Brackbill

01.

he mood at New York Fashion Week was very of-the-moment. At Calvin Klein, Francisco Costa showcased punches of melon amid a room of gray and black in tailored silhouettes. Lacoste offered a throwback to ’60s après-ski in sporty red, white and blue. Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs explored the finer things of millinery, creating storybook tales of the unexpected. Meanwhile, Ports 1961 departed from unassuming comfort to aspirational luxury. At Proenza Schouler, the

scene was “Asian in a New York state of mind” per designer Lazaro Hernandez. The collection at 3.1 Phillip Lim, entitled Duality, imparted wearable separates with a riff on “buy now, wear forever” logic. At the forefront, Narciso Rodriguez produced a full-on minimalist collection, foraying into modern handbags and footwear for the first time. And finally, Olivier Theyskens marked a progressive continuation of summer into autumn, embracing a more lyrical aesthetic compared to seasons past at Theyskens’ Theory.

Calvin Klein 01. The standard of American classic — Calvin Klein perfected an ode to the strong woman with subtle, ladylike charm.

Where to Buy

Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington 952-883-2121, calvinklein.com

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02.

Marc by Marc Jacobs 02. Part wistful innocence, part urban sophisticate â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the wayward Marc by Marc Jacobs girl is all grown up.

Lacoste 03. Cheeky skiwear was the name of the game for Felipe Oliveira Baptista, who looked to the alpine archives of the classic French label.

Where to Buy

Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington 952-883-2121, marcjacobs.com Lacoste, Mall of America, Bloomington 952-854-9944, lacoste.com

03.

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04.

Ports 1961 04. A smart use of luxurious textiles, leather and patchwork in exaggerated proportions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ports 1961 is the ultimate restrained luxury.

Marc Jacobs 05. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help but tip your hat to Marc Jacobs and his autumnal forest of proverbial magnificence.

Where to Buy

Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington, 952-883-2121, ports1961.com, marcjacobs.com

05.

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Proenza Schouler

06.

06. It was a full-on homage to Old World Eastern Asia iconography by way of origami cuts, poplin separates, pristine tailoring and silk embroidery prints.

Where to Buy

Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington, 952-883-2121, proenzaschouler.com

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spotlight || fashion

07.

3.1 Phillip Lim 07. Entering into no man’s land — 3.1 Phillip Lim is the shallow wade from menswear to women’s wear.

Narciso Rodriguez 08. A strong interplay of architecular lines, moody ’70s hues, and layers of flannel and tweed, the comprehensive collection speaks for itself.

Where to Buy

Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington, 952-883-2121, 31philliplim.com, narcisorodriguez.com

08.

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09.

Theyskens’ Theory 09. Hints of fool’s gold sparkle and sheer overlay make for a harmonious plateau to Theyskens’ otherwise contemporary palette.

Where to Buy

Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington, 952-883-2121, theyskenstheory.com

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In the Twin Cities, chef-driven dining is king. | By Susan Powers

Chef Culture

spotlight || bistro

Tilia

(ABOVE)

Chef Steven Brown’s deep belief in neighborhood and community is the cornerstone of Tilia. The dance between the purveyors and the patrons creates great food in a warm, vintage atmosphere. “Good food tastes good” is the motto, and Brown and his staff take good food to a whole new level with an emphasis on local, interesting and delicious. 2726 W. 43rd St., Minneapolis, 612-354-2806, tiliampls.com

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The Sample Room

(BELOW)

Chef Matt Paulson is excited about local beef, and diners will find some outstanding presentations of it at the Sample Room. They cut, grind and blend all of their offerings from scratch, and the charcuterie is hitting an all-time high. But the Sample Room is much more than meat; an exciting menu of innovative dishes will leave seafood lovers and vegetarians happy as well. 2124 Marshall St. NE, Minneapolis, 612-789-0333, the-sample-room.com

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spotlight || bistro

Victory 44 (BELOW) If one could capture the passion Chef Erick Harcey has for all things edible, they could change the world. That passion, combined with some amazing skills from his fine-dining background, provides Victory 44 patrons with some of the Twin Citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; most outstanding food in a casual atmosphere â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and at affordable prices. 2203 44th Ave. N., Minneapolis, 612-588-2228, victory-44.com

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Sopranos

JP Samuelson brings his exceptional taste and experience to the eatery— think old-school Italian meets the hip cool kid. Expect traditional Italian entrées, complete with JP’s touch, alongside contemporary, eclectic offerings. 5331 W. 16th St., St. Louis Park, 952-345-2400, sopranosmn.com

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spotlight || bistro

Urban Eatery With a focus on creating traditional comfort food with a twist, Chef Josh Voge has an interesting and innovative approach to comfort food, resulting in exciting, surprising flavor combinations. The food is as hip and happening as the atmosphere. 2730 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612-920-5000, myurbaneatery.com

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spotlight || love the lard

Hog Wild For connoisseurs de porc, Salut Bar Américain’s Tour de Cochon was one pig event. | by Tim Alevizos

ost foodies have their “once-in-a-lifetime” meal, whether preserved in memory or nurtured in fantasy. Perhaps you snagged one of the final reservations to Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli. Maybe you dined at New York’s Lutèce during its heyday or dream of eating at a Parisian three-star someday. For 50 fortunate Twin Citians, that experience took place March 21 at Salut Bar Américain’s simply named — and elaborately wrought — Tour de Cochon, a three-hour, 17-dish celebration of the fabled Mangalitsa pig. James Beard Award–winning chef Tim McKee, executive chef CJ Van Proosdy of Salut in Edina and

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Anthony Leonhardi of the restaurant’s St. Paul outlet collaborated on the event, with several chefs assisting. A heritage breed developed by the Habsburg dynasty in the 1800s, the Mangalitsa is porcine royalty: renowned for its tender, intensely flavorful flesh and its sweet, aromatic fat. Salut’s Mangalitsa was raised by two of the restaurant’s own, chef Stephen Jones and his wife, Cristina Cruz-Jones, at Provenance Farms, their homestead near Taylors Falls. Thirteen months old and 300 pounds at the time of butchering, the wooly pig spent nearly its entire life outdoors, foraging on Minnesota grasses and a diet of wheat,

pigging out Chef names left to right. Chefs CJ Van Proosdy, Graham Messenger, Stephen Jones, Anthony Leonhardi,

Adrienne Odom, Tim McKee and Matt Ellison were among the chefs who prepared the feast.

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spotlight || love the lard KATE SOMMERS

A heritage breed developed by the Habsburg dynasty in the 1800s, the Mangalitsa is porcine royalty: renowned for its tender, intensely flavorful flesh and its sweet, aromatic fat. barley, oats, nuts and vegetables. Never penned nor given antibiotics or hormones, the pig enjoyed an idyllic life, free from the stresses of factory farming. “It’s tremendously expensive to raise Mangalitsas as they were in centuries past,” says Jones, “but it’s the only way to allow their natural attributes to flourish.” What Jones delivered to McKee was a connoisseur’s dream — the equivalent of a bumper bluefin tuna flopping into the lap of a sushi chef. “The flesh is simply pristine, and we have the luxury of eating all of the pig, snout to tail and ear to foot,” says McKee. The tariff for Salut’s Tour de Cochon: $150 per person. “And it was the bargain of the millennium,” says McKee. “[More than] a dozen chefs participated in its preparation, beginning three days before the dinner. The last people who ate this well were the Habsburgs themselves.”

The Myth, the Mass, the Mangalitsa Often called the “Wagyu of pork,” the Mangalitsa is the world’s fattest pig breed in production, yielding rich, juicy meat, marbled with monounsaturated fat that melts on the tongue. “Feed them the right diet, and their genetics will take care of the rest,” notes chef Tim McKee. While foodies prize its fat, the extraordinary amount of it prevents large-scale production. “Mangalitsas yield half the meat of ordinary pigs and are so fatty they can’t even be butchered conventionally,” says McKee. “But the lard is ethereal — more like olive oil in its lightness, aroma and health properties. And the meat is, well, transcendent.” The Mangalitsa dates back to the 1830s,when the Habsburgs of Hungary developed it for lard. With the emergence of fastergrowing breeds and vegetable-based oils, however, the Mangalitsa fell out of favor. It had almost disappeared entirely before Hungarian animal geneticist Peter Toth rescued the final few from the stockyards. Today the breed remains rare, but the culinary cognoscenti seem to have secured its future. “As long as people remain passionate about pork — and can afford the very best — there’s no way it’ll return to obscurity,” says McKee. “The Mangalitsa is just too damned delicious.”

mangalista madness TOP Roasted pork loin with herbs

and baby peas and pistachio

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spotlight || epicurean

Meat that Matters Bill Niman and the food animals in his care lead the good life. | by David Mahoney

riving his truck through a pasture perched above the gleaming Pacific, with the hills of San Francisco visible to the south and Point Reyes jutting into the ocean to the north, Bill Niman pulls up next to a hulking black steer. “Dogie!” he shouts, hopping out to pat the animal on its flank. Returning to the truck, Niman explains that the steer was orphaned several years ago when he was just a few months old but refused to take a bottle, determined to tough it out on his own. “Now he weighs 2,000 pounds, maybe more,” Niman says, pride evident in his voice. It’s easy to see why he would respect his old steer’s resilience and determination. At an age when most people are thinking seriously about retirement, Niman (who looks considerably younger than his 67 years) is setting out to build a second brand in the natural-meat business, having At an age when most people parted ways a few years ago with are thinking seriously about Niman Ranch, the legendary company that still bears his name. retirement, Niman is setting out He recently added turkeys to his to build a second brand in the livestock lineup. And when he and his wife, Nicolette (an environmental natural-meat business. lawyer and animal-welfare activist who is, in fact, considerably younger), aren’t tending to their grass-fed cattle and heritage turkeys, they’re busy raising Miles, their 3-year-old son. While working to build awareness of his new brand, BN Ranch, Niman is also intent on providing a template for sustainable agriculture. “When I left Niman Ranch, one of the things I was passionate about was creating a model farm that other people could copy,” he says. Having served on the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, he had become even more aware of the glaring flaws in our food-production systems that Nicolette had been addressing in her work as an attorney for Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Waterkeeper Alliance. Together, he says, they decided they could promote positive change by becoming “missionaries for sensible food production.” If Niman’s past influence on how food animals in this country are raised is any indication, he’s likely to create a lot of converts.

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photos by Nicolette Hahn Niman

From Heartland to Headland Niman has come a long way — not just geographically — from his early days growing up in Minneapolis, where his father ran a small grocery store. He was finishing a degree in anthropology at the University of Minnesota in 1967 and facing the almost certain prospect of being drafted to fight in Vietnam when he learned he could get a deferment by teaching in a poverty-stricken area. He found a position teaching in a cotton-growing town in California’s San Joaquin Valley, as did a number of other (as Bill puts it) “alternative culture” types; however, his cadre of like-minded teachers was let go after that first year due to pressure from the town’s conservative old guard. After obtaining a credential from the University of California, Berkeley, Bill landed another teaching job in the coastal village of Bolinas, 30 winding miles north of San Francisco. Before long, he felt the pull of the back-to-the-land movement. “This subculture that I was part of decided we needed to raise our own food,” he says. “There was already a heightened concern about industrial food production and just being a self-sufficient community.” With his first wife, Amy, he bought an 11-acre parcel in 1971 and started raising goats, horses and chickens. Joined by writer Orville Schell, who lived in a converted chicken coop on their property, the Nimans eventually turned their attention to small-scale food-animal production. They started with pigs, which they fed on spent barley from San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing and

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expired Nancy’s yogurt from Oregon. They added beef cattle to their operation after Amy was given six Hereford calves as partial payment for tutoring the child of a ranch family a few miles up the road. Sadly, Amy didn’t live to see the herd these calves would ultimately spawn; she was killed in a horseback-riding accident on Christmas Day 1976. The following year, Niman and Schell bought a 200-acre property across the road from the original ranch and shifted their focus exclusively to cattle. Their reputation began to soar after some of the most respected restaurants in northern California — including Chez Panisse, Zuni Café and Cafe Beaujolais — began to not only buy their grass-fed beef but also identify it on their menus. Still, it wasn’t until the National Park Service bought their land in 1984 for an expansion of Point Reyes National Seashore and leased it back to them along with an additional 800 acres that Niman was able to quit the construction job he’d been working to make ends meet and devote full attention to cattle ranching. In the ensuing years, Niman changed business partners as his natural-meat business expanded to take advantage of other ranches and other types of livestock — most importantly, hogs. Niman Ranch formed a separate company to market pork from a nationwide network of family hog farms that raised their animals outdoors rather than in the warehouse-like confinement structures that have become the industry norm. Perhaps the clearest signal of the company’s success came in 2001,

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spotlight || epicurean

when the Chipotle chain of Mexican restaurants contracted with Niman Ranch to supply all of its pork. But as so often happens with visionary entrepreneurs after they bring in outside investors, Niman ultimately had a falling out with the management of Niman Ranch. In 2007, he formally severed his connections with the company.

Making a Model Farm Strolling past a flock of multicolored turkeys as they scurry around the yard making a joyous racket, Niman points out a Naragansett and a bronze. They represent two of the six breeds of heritage turkeys (sort of the poultry equivalent of heirloom tomatoes) that he and Nicolette brought back from Kansas as day-old hatchlings in the back seat of a rented car. An important part of running a model farm, Niman believes, is maintaining a diversity of animals. For a while, they kept a herd of goats, which eat weeds that can compete with grass in the grazing pastures. “My goal was to improve the ranch for the cattle, but in the process we got the goat-meat business going and developed some interest through my network nationwide.” When his former ranch managers relocated to Idaho with the goats, Niman decided to try his hand with heritage turkeys. “Heritage

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turkeys really cannot be scaled industrially,” he says, “so they provide an opportunity for smaller farmers to raise something that the marketplace recognizes has value.” As for his cattle, Niman is raising them the old-fashioned way: grassfed, without antibiotics or hormones. Unlike feedlot cattle, which can be fattened on grain based on demand, grass-fed cattle are dependent on the cycles of grass growth to be in prime condition for eating. “That’s the beauty of the animal — they can convert all this naturally occurring cellulosic material into wholesome and wonderful food,” Niman says. He knows he has his work cut out for him to bring beef lovers around to his way of thinking. “The way grass-fed beef is raised today, it’s not living up to consumers’ expectations, because it’s not done properly,” he notes. “What we’re trying to do is to produce grass-finished beef that tastes every bit as good or better than grain-finished. That’s what everybody did in this country up until World War II. It just takes having the right genetics and the time and patience to allow the cattle to get fat.”

back to the future

On the original Bolinas ranch where the pioneering Niman Ranch brand got its start, Bill Niman is now raising grass-fed cattle as well as heritage turkeys.

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collage || back page

The Proof As it turns out, good things do come in small packages. | by Alecia Stevens

’m going to settle this once and for all: Size doesn’t matter. children Will and Isabel, a friend of Will’s, my husband, Lee, and My friend Carrie is the single most prolific and generous me. There will be light appetizers waiting when we arrive, a fire cook I know. She feeds a family that includes three children in the fireplace, everyone in slippers, and tulips on the table. Joe ages 13 to 25, all still living in Minneapolis and wise to their will be marinating the lamb, stopping long enough to offer me mother’s culinary talents. Most times when I’m at their a glass of wine. He will have a gin and tonic standing by for Lee. home, there is a friend attached to at least one of her children. There will be linen napkins, a stack of white plates and beautiful She cooks lavishly for her family and friends. A vegetarian bottles filled with water. The tart is served on a cake platter, raised herself, Carrie lets her husband, Joe, prepare the accompaniments off the table to create the drama of varying heights. She will have — divine meats and fish. His specialty is lamb on the grill, added a wooden bowl filled with spinach, roasted pecans and dried marinated in oil, garlic, pepper and rosemary. I have the recipe cranberries tossed with a dressing she threw together at the last but not his touch. A meal at the Watsons’ is a table abundant minute. We will sit at the table and shake our heads at the bounty with courses to make everyone — from raw foodies, vegans and and beauty of the feast. We will drink and eat and laugh and say vegetarians to carnivores — at ease and satisfied. how delicious it all is. Lee will make a joke he has made 50 times: Today, her kitchen counter, a commercial stainless-steel table “Boy am I glad Carrie has finally learned how to cook.” We will all tucked against one wall and beneath three stainless-steel shelves, roll our eyes. is piled with the latest and most beautiful cookbooks, a tiered, After dinner, she will offer coffee, latte, cappuccino and tea. glass dish filled with fresh gingered lemon cookies, and Carrie’s Tonight, dessert is apricot cobbler with freshly whipped cream — cup of latte. She is considering a recipe for white-chocolate scones, a mountain of pleasure, a little something Carrie pulled together dozens of which she will bake after making the scones and and donate for a retreat a tart this afternoon. friend is sponsoring. White Here’s the thing. Carrie mixing bowls teeter one does this in a kitchen that is A meal at the Watsons’ is a table abundant inside the other, stacked so 8 feet by 10 feet. There is no high and in such a variety island, and the refrigerator with courses to make everyone — from of sizes as to create an is tucked around the corner raw foodies, vegans and vegetarians to architectural wonder. Mixing in the back hallway of their spoons and other tools of the 1914 South Minneapolis carnivores — at ease and satisfied. trade hang from a stainlessArts-and-Crafts home. The steel bar. A pile of papers from dishwasher is apartmentdaughter Isabel’s school sits sized at 18 inches. And yet nearby. Carrie is in charge of I have never once heard costumes for the seventh grade play, so while breaking the butter her complain about the working conditions or wax longingly for into the flour for the scones, she glances at the list of characters and a super-sized kitchen with the latest and greatest appliances. Last imagines what each will need. month, at a dinner party at the Watsons’, Joe announced that Carrie On the stove over low heat, onions are caramelizing for a tart was finally getting a Wolf range. A spontaneous applause broke out for tonight’s dinner. To stir them, Carrie simply turns, takes the among the crowd, with shouts of “Bravo!” wooden spoon from the sauté pan and gives the onions a swirl. To those who have a kitchen with wide, open spaces and About face and she is back at the worktable. Her hands form the assorted toys, I say, kudos for the privilege, the planning and the dough into a buttery mass and drop it onto the floured board. It’s cash it takes to create such a wondrous place. (I know because I then pressed into an organic form and cut into delightfully small design them.) For years now, the trend has been to enlarge the squares to bake in the preheated oven on a sheet of parchment kitchen and wrangle the family room into the plan. I know many paper, which sits ready and waiting on the cookie sheet next to the people who love their big kitchens, love entertaining in them, love stove. Eggs and cream sit on the counter nearby, warming to room that there is a place for everything behind closed doors. temperature. She will get to the tart once the scones are in the oven. But I also know that in a kitchen, size isn’t everything. The proof Tonight there will be seven at the table: Carrie, Joe, their is in the warm welcome — and in the pudding itself.

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collage || back page

After dinner, she will offer coffee, latte, cappuccino and tea. Tonight, dessert is apricot cobbler with freshly whipped cream â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a mountain of pleasure, a little something Carrie pulled together after making the scones and tart this afternoon.

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