Wag August 2019

ADRIENNE STERNLICHT Not horsin’ around EDOARDO BRANCA The man behind post-polo’s favorite sips INDRA NOOYI From corporate to cricket NAOMI OSAKA Tennis star’s next serve JENNA BUSH HAGER Local ties, international outlook WAG’S ANNUAL PRIVATE SCHOOL LIST

MARNI O’SHEherAin Don’t box JUDGED A

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Fascinating pastimes…

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CONTENTS AUGUS T 2019

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Leisure, the ancient Greek way

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Riding high in the saddle

22

From lobby boy to bar king

26

A tennis star at the crossroads

32

Dreaming big

36

Free fan fun at the US Open

38

Saluti!

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America’s original ballgame

68

COVER STORY Marni O’Shea – Punching in

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Perpetual motion

48

Sail on

50

Get your motor runnin’

54

Bringing home the Bacons

58

A shore thing

60

The Zen of the Japanese garden

62

Going to the mat

64

This boutique ROCKS

THIS PAGE:

WAG editor-in-chief Georgette Gouveia recently returned to Greece in pursuit of the meaning of leisure, which just happened to reflect this issue’s theme. Her many encounters included classical works such as this, a Parian marble statue of Aphrodite – a second century Roman copy of the Greek original, fourth century B.C. – that has dramatic pride of place in “The Countless Aspects of Beauty” exhibit at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Photograph by Georgette Gouveia.

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FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS

HOME & DESIGN 72 On the glorious waterfront 76 Summer-style entertaining 78 Stylin’ in the garden 80 Tantalizing turquoise 82 Game on

FASHION 84 Boldly onward 88 Monet for a rainy day

94

TRAVEL 90 Ah, back to Blantyre 94 Steel town reborn 96 Tastin’ Jamaican 98 Seaside Santa Monica

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FOOD & SPIRITS 108 Catching up with weatherman Pat Cavlin at Sam's 112 Pool parties 116 Simply bubbly

HEALTH & FITNESS 118 Pressing matters 120 Switchin' it up 122 Women only 124 Put your back into it 126 Transitioning from athlete to coach

PET CARE 128 Sweet William 130 On pets and grief

WHERE & WHEN 132 Upcoming events

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88

WATCH

136 We’re out and about

WIT

144 What do you do to relax?

ADRIENNE STERNLICHT Not horsin’ around EDOARDO BRANCA The man behind postpolo’s favorite sip INDRA NOOYI From corporate to cricket NAOMI OSAKA Tennis star’s next serve JENNA BUSH HAGER Local ties, international outlook WAG’S ANNUAL PRIVATE SCHOOL LIST

MARNI O’SHEA box her in

Fascinating pastimes…

Don’t JUDGED A

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MAGAZINE

IN NEW YORK STATE 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018

WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE AUGUST 2019 | WAGMAG.COM

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COVER: Marni O’Shea.

Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

See story on page 68.

AUGUST 2019

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EDITORIAL Bob Rozycki MANAGING EDITOR bobr@westfairinc.com

Georgette Gouveia EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ggouveia@westfairinc.com

Armonk, NY | $2,950,000 | Web# 4959740 5-BR, 4.3-BA | Approx. 7,325 SF | Approx. 2.1 Acres | Pool Nancy Strong M: 914.671.5784

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PHOTOGRAPHY Anthony Carboni, Sebastián Flores, John Rizzo, Bob Rozycki

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Some readers think WAG stands for “Westchester and Greenwich.”

We certainly cover both. But mostly, a WAG is a wit and that’s how we think of ourselves, serving up piquant stories and photos to set your own tongues wagging.

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A division of Westfair Communications Inc., 701 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604 Telephone: 914-694-3600 | Facsimile: 914-694-3699 Website: wagmag.com | Email: ggouveia@westfairinc.com All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff. No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $24 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call 914-694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Anne Jordan at 914694-3600, ext. 3032 or email anne@westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 1931-6364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO, dee@westfairinc.com

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As the Hospital continues to grow and evolve, we remain guided by our 126-year-old mission: to provide our community with nothing less than exceptional care, every day.

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WAGGERS

T H E TA L E N T B E H I N D O U R PA G E S

JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

PHIL HALL

ROBIN COSTELLO

GINA GOUVEIA

DEBBI K. KICKHAM

DOUG PAULDING

COVER STORY: GEORGETTE GOUVEIA, PAGE 68

JENNIFER PITMAN

JOHN RIZZO

GIOVANNI ROSELLI

GREGG SHAPIRO

MARY SHUSTACK

BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

JEREMY WAYNE

CAMI WEINSTEIN

KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

NEW WAGGER OLIVIA D’AMELIO, who joined Westfair Communications Inc. in May, is a recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing communications. After working for the French luxury beauty brand, Chantecaille Beauté, she discovered her passion for all things fashion and beauty and found joy in writing about those passions. Olivia is social media savvy and enjoys creating content people can connect with. She is in charge of web content, while dipping her toes into writing stories for WAG and will soon be running events for the company.

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MORE THAN TRAUMA CARE. TRIATHLETE CARE.

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EDITOR’S LETTER GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Editors are not supposed to have favorite issues of their magazines.

It’s like a parent having a favorite child, isn’t it? But as I’ve said before, I’ve always had a soft spot for the A and A issues — April, our annual animal issue, and August, in which we exhale (theoretically at least) with all kinds of leisure activities.

Leisure was on my mind when I took a rare two-week vacation to Greece on another “Legacy of Alexander the Great” trip, this time with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Arrangements Abroad. Could I refrain from turning it into another working vacation? With help from the philosopher Aristotle — courtesy of Edith Hall’s highly readable “Aristotle’s Way” — I discovered that true leisure, what Aristotle said was man’s highest calling, involves mind, body and spirit, as you’ll see in our opening essay.

I find I’m always apologizing for my fascination with the ancient Greeks and Alexander the Great in particular. But tourism is way up in Greece while Alexander is the subject of the Indian TV series “Porus,” available on YouTube, and Frank Miller’s graphic novel “Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander.” So Greece, past and present, is trending.

One woman’s leisure, however, is another’s career, as in the case of the sportswomen featured here. Cover subject Marni O’Shea has always been a woman with a dream of competing in a man’s sporting world, first as a player with the Hawks, a semipro football team in Danbury, and now as a boxer deciding between Olympic or pro careers. Another star on the rise is equestrian Adrienne Sternlicht, whom we visited at her Starlight Farms in Greenwich. Always a poised presence at the Spring Horse Shows and upcoming American Gold Cup at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, Sternlicht helped the American team to a historic gold last year at the World Equestrian Games.

The third of our female trio needs little introduction. Naomi Osaka burst to the fore of women’s tennis with a memorable win over Serena Williams at last year’s US Open that she cemented by taking the Australian Open women’s singles title this year. Our story, part of our US Open salute, finds her at the crossroads, however, as she aims to repeat in New York.

Title 9 has done much to give women athletes a leg up. (Consider the recent World Cup championship of the American women’s soccer team.)

But we don’t want to neglect the guys. Recently, Phil spent time with Jesse James Kosakowski in Waterbury. In the brutal world that is MMA (mixed martial arts), this otherwise gentle young man is beginning to make a name for himself.

As senior writer/editor Mary — herself a former sportswriter — observes, however, some people’s favorite sport is shopping. Mary goes for the gold (and the silver and every other metal) with her profile of Tanya Tochner, the elegant owner of the new ROCKS Jewelry Gifts Home in Chappaqua; a return visit to Ridgefield jewelry designer Amy Kahn Russell; and a look at some artful RainCapers that will keep you stylish and dry everywhere from the new Branca Bar at Greenwich Polo Club to the US Open’s Fan Week. (See related stories.)

While Mary shops till she drops, Jeremy also takes one for the team — talking cricket with former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi; work, walking and motherhood with “Today’s” Jenna Bush Hager; and weather with News 12 meteorologist Pat Cavlin in his delightful new “Table Talk” iteration of Wonderful Dining. That is when he isn’t having a “Masterpiece” moment at baronial Blantyre in the Berkshires or enjoying a cigar with Raju Mirchandandi, owner of Manhattan’s Bar & Books.

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My favorite time of day and place – sunset over the Thermaic Gulf, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Photograph by Chris Casullo.

Meanwhile, Olivia detoxes at Hourglass Women’s Wellness and adjacent Haas Juice Bar in White Plains; Debbi does Jamaican barbecue; Barbara vacations in ascendant Pittsburgh; Cami entertains outdoors in Montauk; Phil visits Stamford Yacht Club; Katie plays antique board games; Jenny considers turquoise, summer’s stone; and ArtsWestchester CEO Janet T. Langsam recalls her childhood on the beach in Far Rockaway as she helps debut a new art installation at Playland in Rye. Here Aristotle would say whom you spend your leisure time with is as important as how you spend it. When I think of summer, my mind drifts back to all those road trips I’ve taken in recent years with my sister Gina and her beloved feisty sidekick, Fausto, a Chihuahua mix. The little guy passed in June, and my heart is no less broken for his having been a four-legged friend instead of a two-legged one, as you’ll see in Pet Portraits.

However you spend your leisure time as summer wanes, may you share it with those you love.

A 2018 Folio Women in Media Award Winner, Georgette Gouveia is the author of the “The Penalty for Holding” (Less Than Three Press), a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist, and “Water Music” (Greenleaf Book Group). They’re part of her series of novels, “The Games Men Play,” also the name of the sports/culture blog she writes at thegamesmenplay. com. Readers may find her novel “Seamless Sky” and “Daimon: A Novel of Alexander the Great” on wattpad.com.

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Two views of beauty – a marble female head and a bronze youth, on page 16 – from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the largest collection of Greek antiquities in the world.

Leisure, the ancient THE WAVES DANCED ON THE THERMAIC GULF LIKE THE BEATING WINGS OF SEAGULLS, WHILE THE BIRDS THEMSELVES ENGAGED IN FRENZIED FLIGHT AMID THE TERRACED ARCADES OF ARISTOTELOUS SQUARE AS IF DRIVEN BY THE INEXPLICABLE LONGING IN THE MELODIES OF THE YOUNG STREET MUSICIANS BELOW. OR PERHAPS THE LONGING WAS MERELY MY OWN.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

I had returned to Greece on another “Legacy of Alexander the Great” tour to see if I could be another self, which is to say a better self. On the excellent New York Times Journeys’ tour, which I wrote about in the October 2016 issue of WAG, I had nonetheless been distracted by the demands of a first-time visit and an assignment about the perilous state of the Greek economy. Now traveling with The Metropolitan Museum of Art through Arrangements Abroad, I was determined to do something I rarely do — resist turning my vacation into a working one.

Which is not to say that I wanted to do nothing. Rather, I yearned to engage in something that was as intellectually stimulating as my work but at a different pace — affording me the time to think, read, shop, walk, sightsee, explore or merely gaze at the light-dappled sea from my balcony at the Electra Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki, Greece’s secondlargest city, and later wonder at the Parthenon from the Hotel Grande Bretagne’s Roof Garden Restaurant in Athens.

In this I was guided by the philosopher Aristotle — tutor of Alexander the Great, the Greco-Macedonian conqueror of the Persian Empire and disseminator of Greek culture whom I’ve been passionate about since I was a child. More precisely, I would be guided by Edith Hall’s recent book “Aristotle’s Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life,” in which she describes the Aristotelian idea of leisure as “the ideal human state,” one that encompasses intellectual activity for its own sake, R & R, exercise and entertainment as the means “in which our full potential for happiness can be realized.”

I encountered many of these facets of leisure on the 12-day tour, which swept us from Thessaloniki south by plane to Athens, with day trips by bus in between to such places as Pella, the second capital of Macedon, the northern Greek kingdom that was Alexander’s homeland; Vergina, Macedon’s original capital and burial place of Alexander’s father, Philip II, and son, Alexander IV; the seaports of Kavala and Nafplio, reminiscent of Monaco and Santa Barbara; and the equally picturesque village of Lydia in Kavala and Litochoro in the foothills of Mount Olympus. In a sense, The Met’s Alexander tour was the same thing only different. Our collegial group of 17 — led by Met lecturer Frank Dubell, an urbane expat Brit based in Rome whom some of the tour ladies took to calling Mr. Darcy after Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice;” tour director Manuela

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Solaro del Borgo, whose every elegant outfit we awaited each day; and local guide Maria Papadopoulou, a force of nature right out of the ancient myths — visited many of the same places I did in 2016, including Vergina. (It is a place of such power, wealth and death that it forces you to confront your own mortality. For many, it was once again the high point of the tour.)

But we also visited many sites we did not on the Times’ tour, had more time to explore on our own and lodged in far greater luxury, particularly at the Grande Bretagne, overlooking the Greek Parliament in the heart of Athens, where many of us were upgraded to suites. Despite some miscommunication and questionable restaurant choices and menus — a case of a too much of a good thing where lavish Mediterranean lunches were concerned — The Met tour was a superior experience.

WALKING WITH THE GODS Among the pleasures of the northern portion of our mainland journey was the archaeological site of Dion, in the shadow of misty, mythic Mount Olympus, home of the gods. Zeus and his fellow Olympians must have decreed the day themselves for despite the mid-90s heat and humidity that permeated the entire June trip, a breeze wafted through the site, whose ruins speak to multiple influences, including a small but choice statue of Isis, the Egyptian mother goddess; Greek stone columns and a brick Roman bath, complete with a square privy. What makes the expansive, relatively unattended Dion delightfully different from other sites — like Delphi, home to an oracle famously visited by Alexander and a disappointing tourist trap — is that it is fairly level for walking, with no soaring acropolis to climb and an abundance of plants that attracts flitting butterflies and warbling birds alike.

“You ladies look like a group of Arcadian shepherdesses,” Frank said to us women as we sat in a thicket, brimmed hats and parasols on display, as if we had stepped out of one of the many later paintings of ancient Greece’s pastoral past.

The tour did not pay homage to classical antiquity alone. After visiting Philippi — renamed

by Alexander’s father, Philip, and site of both St. Paul’s imprisonment and, earlier, an epic battle between Julius Caesar’s assassins and his victorious champions — we stopped briefly at the village of Lydia, named for the Jewish-sympathizing purple dye merchant who was baptized

by Paul, becoming the first European converted 16

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to Christianity. The Baptistery of St. Lydia that is part of the Church of Saints Lydia and Paul, built in 1975, is a little jewel, covered in gem-colored icons and gilt mosaics and overlooking an outdoor shrine and the cool stream that provided Paul and Lydia with the waters of rebirth. It was the kind of quiet, off-the-beaten path moment that defined the tour, exemplifying the refreshment of mind, body and soul that Aristotle spoke of as the essence of leisure.

SHOPPING TILL WE DROPPED Journeying south to Athens, we made the National Archaeological Museum our first museum stop. This is a cultural marvel, housing the largest collection of Greek antiquities in the world.

I, however, skipped the superb permanent collection to feast on two special exhibits. The first, on the Roman Emperor Hadrian, contained a superb bust of his lover Antinous, a Bithynian Greek youth whose drowning death in the Nile was probably an act of self-sacrifice to save Hadrian’s reputation. The second exhibit, “The Countless Aspects of Beauty,” was a sensuous tour de force with a dramatically lit Aphrodite (Venus) amid the male and female nudes, perfumes to scent and the melancholy melismas that define Mediterranean music.

On the same day, we visited and lunched at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture — based on the Benaki family’s eclectic private collection of icons, textiles, furnishings and jewelry, housed in their onetime home, whose tastefully curated gift shop reminded me of The Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan.

“I think you came back to Alexander’s Greece just to shop,” one member of the group teased me. And indeed many of us indulged in retail therapy, particularly at the Plaka — just “Plaka” to the Greeks — a 10-minute walk from the Grand Bretagne.

Plaka is a modern marketplace mix of boutiques, souvenir stalls and cafés nestled in the old city. (At one such shop, Ruby’s upscale jewelry store, my newfound friends dropped so much cash that I wound up with a free Greek-vanilla ice cream cone.) In Plaka, I was the proverbial kid in the candy store, snatching up Alex coins, jewelry, busts and statues that I crammed into a blue-gray floral “This Is Greece” hobo bag that I bought just for the occasion. Even a goddess of shopping, however, needs a break now and then so I settled down at the entrance table to a café — “You can be the greeter,” the owner said — to savor grilled eggplant stuffed with feta, tomatoes and onions and homemade lemonade garnished with mint as I watched the world go by.

At home alone in the world…and with others On Pentecost Sunday (June 16 in the East this

Tourists still flock to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, whose famed Oracle offered general predictions of the future that could not be discredited.

As Aristotle understood, Edith Hall writes, “who you spend your leisure time with is as important as how you spend it.”

year) as the gang climbed the Acropolis — whose crown jewel is the Parthenon, temple of Athena, goddess of wisdom, crafts and just war, for whom Athens is named — I took myself off instead to St. Dionysius Areopagite Cathedral, a Roman Catholic church, for Mass in the Eastern rite, complete with a pronounced use of incense and the Communion wafer dipped in wine. Afterward, I found nourishment of a different kind at the Grand Bretagne’s Spa, where I had a mani-pedi with organic products and a cup of rooibos vanilla tea amid a burbling fountain and a bust of the Apollo Belvedere.

I was reminded then about how much I relish my own company, even as I enjoy that of others. As Aristotle understood, Edith Hall writes, “who you spend your leisure time with is as important as how you spend it.” At our final lunch in Nafplio, Greece’s original capital, I sang “Maria” in honor of our birthday girl tour guide who had fought for our place in the sun at every stop, even going toe-to-toe with a police officer in Thessaloniki to ensure a place for our bus to stop. My rendition received a rousing ovation from the group and other patrons. I will always

remember that lunch along with our shopping expedition in Stavros, a resort where I bought a pink and cream striped dress in crinkly cotton that has become a favorite; and our drinks and dinner at the Grande Bretagne’s Rooftop Garden Restaurant, where the feta ravioli in bell pepper sauce was to die for.

At mealtime, we talked politics respectfully and also tried to avoid politics, commemorated the passing of Alexander (on June 11) — who, after all, had brought us together — and shared personal and professional losses. Travel, like tragedy, binds people. And those present remind you of those absent, who nonetheless make the journey with you.

I wasn’t prepared for such an intimate exploration of loss. Nor was I prepared for the bittersweet pang I felt in parting. Tour groups, Hall suggests, belong to what Aristotle would call utility friendships — mutually beneficial but limited and fleeting.

Yet even in loss, Aristotle says, we can take comfort, for we remain ourselves. And no one can take that or the relationships we have had away from us.

For more, visit metmuseum.org/travel and arrangementsabroad.com.

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Riding high in the

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI 18

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WHEN THE AMERICAN GOLD CUP MAKES ITS RUN SEPT. 11 THROUGH 15 AT OLD SALEM FARM IN NORTH SALEM, ADRIENNE STERNLICHT WILL ONCE AGAIN BE THERE. SHE HAS COMPETED IN THE EVENT — WHICH FEATURES AN INTERNATIONAL CAST OF AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL RIDERS OF ALL AGES IN ALL CLASSES — SINCE IT WAS FIRST HELD AT THE FARM IN 2011.

Adrienne Sternlicht gives Cristalline muchdeserved affection at her Starlight Farms in Greenwich.

“It’s definitely one of the more prestigious competitions in America,” Sternlicht says. “I’ve had some nice finishes there, nothing super-memorable to date,” although she remembers the first time she jumped there was on her young gelding, Quidam Mb. Mostly, she remembers the casual, countrified atmosphere, with its white-tented retail and dining boutiques.

“I love jumping at home as I often have friends and family watching me.”

“Home” is actually just across the Connecticut border in back country Greenwich, where she has a 15-acre spread called Starlight Farms.

“We were lucky to purchase the property next to the house I grew up in and where my mom still lives,” says Sternlicht, who also has an apartment in New York City. “You see it in a new way. And it’s fun to see your property from the family home.”

The farm is also home to about 10 equines, including the mini pony Taco, whom Sternlicht rescued — “he’s super-cute,” she says — and the retired horse Shannon. Sternlicht’s stable is a mix of mares and geldings, though she does have a young stallion, Shadowfax.

“You have to be more mindful with stallions,” Sternlicht says. “He definitely gets excited when he sees the mares.”

Nevertheless, Shadowfax remains a gentleman.

“He’s very well behaved,” Sternlicht says.

At home, Sternlicht works with the horses six days a week, with a minimum of one day of jumping. In competition — which involves clearing an obstacle course as fast and as cleanly as possible — it’s another story.

“We don’t jump courses in practice. What we do is simple, preparatory jumps a bit bigger to improve (the horses’) technique and stamina.”

In this, Sternlicht is guided by two-time Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward, with whom she has trained since 2016. A former number one in the Longines FEI world rankings and a perennial favorite at the Gold Cup and Old Salem Farm’s Spring Horse Shows, Ward resides at Castle Hill Farm in Brewster, where he stresses the relationship of

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The American Gold Cup, now in its 49th season, culminates in the $210,000 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping New York CS14*-W, a qualifier for the 2020 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final, to be held in Las Vegas April 15 through 19.

horse and rider.

“We owe them our lives,” he says on his website.

“They give us so much and they ask for only basic kindness in return.”

“McLain has played an instrumental role in my career,” Sternlicht says. “I believe in his philosophy of horsemanship. He’s also disciplined in everything he does. As a young professional individual, that gives you confidence.”

Discipline is not something that Sternlicht lacks. She runs several times a week — a day on, a day off — but also does cardio, yoga and barre.

“Because I am small in stature, it’s important that I’m really strong….I also don’t really have great balance on one leg. Yoga helps with that.”

It also helps her with the mental aspect of competition.

“I get anxious before jumping, and I’ve come to recognize that it’s because you wait around a long time to get on the horse….So I’ve established a routine, meditating for three to five minutes and having a sports performance drink. It’s a ritual that is comforting and familiar.”

Though she’s been riding since she was 9, Sternlicht and her family have always been interested in her having a well-balanced life. She skied and played squash and attended Brown University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy. Still, the pull of horses was strong. In 2016, the year she graduated and Ward began coaching her, Sternlicht also made another valuable connection, with the Bavarian Warmblood mare Cristalline, considered one of the top show jumping horses on the grand prix circuit.

It was aboard Cristalline that Sternlicht made her Nations Cup debut the following year at the FEI Nations Cup CSIO4* Coapexpan in Mexico, where they helped the U.S. team win the silver medal. Since then, she has been on several Nations Cup teams and posted many individual top placings. But her most prized accomplishment, she says, is a top-12 finish aboard Cristalline at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Mill Spring, North Carolina, where she, Ward, Laura Kraut and Devin Ryan won team jumping gold for the U.S., a first for the nation in this event after a 36-year drought.

Win or lose, it’s her relationship with Cristalline and company that matters.

“Just the camaraderie with the animal,” she says. “The more you give, the more they give back.”

For more, visit Starlight Farms LLC on Facebook and Instagram. And for more on the American Gold Cup, visit theamericangoldcup.com and oldsalemfarm.net.

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“The name is Mirchandani, Raju S. Mirchandani.”

From lobby boy to

BY JEREMY WAYNE

RAJU S. MIRCHANDANI IS THE UNDISPUTED BAR KING OF NEW YORK, BUT HE’S A REGENT WITH SO LITTLE SELF-CONCEIT, YOU WOULD BE FORGIVEN IF YOU’D NEVER HEARD OF HIM.

Mirchandani’s new memoir, “On the Back of a Napkin,” tells the story of his middle-class Indian upbringing after World War II, where he started his apprenticeship young. Not yet 10 years old, the eager Raju would act as his father’s “butler.” This involved pouring him his habitual evening drink — “two fingers of Scotch and one ice cube, no more, no less,” as well as making a “surgically” light cut on his father’s Dunhill Panatela. This was an age before the surgeon general had declared anything at all, and the young Mirchandani seems to have reveled in his early buttling duties.

His parents, he reminisces, were of the 1920s generation, where 200 years of British rule and influence had left their triumphs and tragedies. “Such were the times,” he muses not altogether ruefully, “that one might go to sleep in India and wake up in Pakistan, as happened in August 1947.”

The turning point for Mirchandani came when, aged 17, he “first tasted adulthood.” This came in the form of his first batch of homemade brew. He started his first (paid) hospitality job in London, before following his sister to America.

It’s amusing to think that the ineffably suave Mirchandani still, on occasion, instinctively reaches for his employee ID whenever he hears a revolving door make its turn — a sound that takes him back to his first proper job, lobby boy at London’s famed Dorchester Hotel.

Landing in New York in 1979, Mirchandani took a job in the Polo Lounge at the Westbury Hotel, then in its heyday. After working with the Park Bistro Group (where Anthony Bourdain headed up the kitchens at Les Halles,) he branched out on his own in 1991, opening the first of his Bar & Books cocktail bars on the site of the former La Bamba, a one-time gay bar and strip club that had, according to Mirchandani, “clearly seen more than just the day the music died.” Beekman Bar & Books and Lexington Bar & Books followed, in 1993 and 1994 respectively and, three years later, Carnegie Bar & Books opened as a bar lounge and event space in the CitySpire high rise “out the back door of Carnegie Hall.”

Then, in 1999, came Le Bâteau Ivre, on East 51st Street, the restaurant’s name an homage to Arthur Rimbaud’s eponymous Symbolist poem, the restaurant’s look and style an unashamed carbon copy of a simple French brasserie. Twenty years on, “Le Bat” remains true to its origins. When Mirchandani treated me to lunch there earlier this summer, the decoration, the smell, the music and the textbook-perfect confit de canard instantly transported me to the Left Bank in Paris.

A business attachment that turned into a romantic one led to the opening of Bar & Books in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2004. Continuing his affair with Eastern Europe, Mirchandani opened Bar & Books in Warsaw, Poland, 11 years later. They are still going strong and Mirchandani visits both every month, flying economy, he told me merrily.

The year, 2013, saw the opening, on 92nd Street, of the first Indian craft cocktail bar, with indecently long hours and a late-serving kitchen (like Le Bat). A second location opened two years later in November 2015 on 25th Street & Second Avenue.

Part of the joy of this short, often rambling, memoir are its photo-

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Diego Leon and Raju S. Mirchandani.

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graphs — ephemera such as old menus, bar lists, a snapshot of a restaurant sign, perhaps, or local street scene — along, of course, with people. The sense of the age is palpable, from the glorious 1970s when every male seemed to sport a Tom Selleck moustache (with a nod to the Village People) to the present day (better suits, better hair.)

One thing that hasn’t changed through the years, however, is Mirchandani’s own uniform — the double-breasted blazer, French cuff shirt and madder silk ascot he habitually wears.

The memoir takes its name from Mirchandani’s habit of writing on the back of a cocktail napkin, which is where he says his best ideas have been planned out.

A natural raconteur with a great capacity for evoking the era he is speaking or writing about, he neatly fuses New York social history with insights into the hospitality industry.

Politically incorrect and all the better for it, the memoir also celebrates Mirchandani’s hero, James Bond, whose films run on a loop in all branches of Bar & Books to remind people “how the evils of the world can be righted with the proper cocktailing, tailoring and lovemaking.”

Unlike Bond, however, Mirchandani says his favorite cocktail is not a martini, shaken not stirred, but a Papa Doble, also known as the Hemingway Daquiri. And while I could share the precise recipe here, I’m afraid I would have to kill you if I did. A visit to Bar & Books, or indeed any other of Raju Mirchandani’s establishments, would be a far more sensible alternative.

“On the Back of a Napkin” is published privately by H. A. Press, with copies available at branches of Bar & Books.

For more, visit barandbooks.cz.

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Naomi Osaka at last year’s US Open with the Women’s Singles Championship trophy.

Photograph Jennifer 26 by WAGMAG.COM AUGUST 2019 Pottheiser. Images courtesy United States Tennis Association.

A SOMETIMES IT’S MORE INTRIGUING TO CONSIDER AN ATHLETIC CAREER IN TRANSITION THAN ONE IN ASCENDANCE.

at the crossroads

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

At last year’s US Open, Naomi Osaka served notice that she was a star on the rise, displaying grace under pressure — along with an aggressive baseline game and a powerful serve and forehand — as she defeated a fiery, returning Serena Williams to win the Women’s Singles Championship. This past January, Osaka cemented the victory by winning the Australian Open in Melbourne. She garnered the number one ranking in the process, making her the first Asian singles player to do so. (Of Haitian and Japanese descent, Osaka holds Japanese and American citizenship.)

Since then, little has gone right. After the Australian Open, she split from coach Sascha Bajin, an architect of her success, which has left experts like NBC Sports commentator and former world number-one player John McEnroe scratching their heads. She failed to defend her title at Indian Wells, lost early at the Miami Open and was hampered by injuries at the Stuttgart and Italian Opens. She advanced no further than the third round at the French Open — the second of the year’s Grand Slam tournaments, after the Australian Open — then lost in the second round of Birmingham, the tune-up to Wimbledon, the third Slam. The Birmingham loss was significant: With it she dropped to number two in the rankings behind Ashleigh Barty, the eventual winner and newly minted French Open champion.

Wimbledon itself would hold more disaster, with Osaka being upset in the first round.

“It was like watching a different person,” veteran coach and observer — and sometime WAG contributor — Nick Bollettieri wrote on the website of Independent, a British newspaper.

Bollettieri cites Osaka’s backing off from her strong baseline game as the reason for her ills on the court. Off the court?

“I fear it’s a case of too much too soon,” he wrote. “In a very short space of time, Osaka has become a huge superstar, particularly in Japan. I think everything that has happened off the court might just have become too much for her to handle.”

Chris Almeida, writing on the blog theringer.com, agrees: “In a blink, the two majors, the top ranking, the commercials, the swoosh, the photos with LeBron ( James). For Osaka, a shy, goofy 21-year-old who Instagrams about watching (manga series) ‘The Prince of Tennis,’ perhaps the newfound global fame has been a little overwhelming.”

Asked about the price of fame at the press conference after her firstround Wimbledon loss, Osaka’s answer said it all while demonstrating the tenderness of youth: “Can I leave? I’m about to cry.”

It’s not just sudden fame that Osaka may be adjusting to but how she has become famous. Osaka didn’t just beat Serena Williams, returning from maternity leave; she beat a Serena Williams in full meltdown mode, whose dispute with umpire Carlos Ramos over whether or not she was receiving coaching from the stands (a no-no) became a cause célèbre in the media for days, including in The New York Times and on “The View.”

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“It wasn’t necessarily the happiest memory,” Osaka, known for her wry candor, later said.

After that, she flew to Tokyo for a tournament “and a week of craziness,” as then-coach Bajin put it. The Japanese media and public have always been particularly possessive of their celebrities.

But the biracial Osaka’s arrival on the global scene dovetailed with a new openness in what had previously been a strictly homogenous culture. She was born there in Chūō-ku, Osaka, to a Japanese mother, Tamaki Osaka, and a Haitian father, Leonard François, who took her and her older sister, Mari, to live in New York and then Florida so the girls could become tennis stars in the manner of Venus and Serena Williams. Japan’s Nationality Act requires dual citizens to choose a nationality by age 22, which Osaka will turn on Oct. 16. However, few think Japan is interested in forcing her to choose between her Japanese and U.S. citizenship.

Regardless of whether she chooses one or the other, Osaka’s identity as both an Asian and a black woman, a product of both the East and the West, remains. These are difficult divides to bridge in a world that is not always understanding of those who are not either/or but both or many. Sometimes when you try to bridge two worlds, you end up belonging to neither.

It’s a lot to place on youthful shoulders, but if anyone can carry the mantle, it is Osaka. She has

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Naomi Osaka after she won the 2018 US Open Women’s Singles Championship. Photograph by Darren Carroll.

demonstrated steady nerves and a stout heart before. And there is no reason, experts say, that she can’t do it again.

As Bollettieri observed in his column, “If I was working with Naomi, I would tell her: ‘This is all

part of becoming a top professional, but losses aren’t going to damage your career. You need to stay strong mentally and understand that there are a lot of pressures on your shoulders. Just try to settle back and play your game.”

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Indra Nooyi, International Cricket Club board director, promotes the ICC women’s T20 World Cup. 32

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Dreaming INDRA NOOYI LOVES CRICKET. SHE HAS BEEN CRICKET-MAD SINCE CHILDHOOD, GROWING UP IN MADRAS (NOW KNOWN AS CHENNAI) IN A CONSERVATIVE BRAHMIN FAMILY, STEEPED IN LEARNING AND EDUCATION.

BY JEREMY WAYNE

Nooyi, of course, is the former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, who joined the company in 1994 and saw the price of Pepsi’s stock rise 80% during her time at the helm. In 2015 she was ranked the second most powerful woman on the Forbes List of The World’s Most Powerful Women.

She arrived in America, totally green, in 1978, to attend the Yale School of Management in New Haven. “I didn’t have a clue about anything,” she recalls. “We were given a map and told to go to such and such a place to register.”

You can only imagine the culture shock and initial sense of loneliness and bewilderment, coming from a warm and close-knit family in India, but one where expectations were nevertheless extremely high. “If you didn’t get good grades in science and math — the only subjects which mattered — you got whacked.”

“My mother used to tell me, ‘Fly, dream big. You can do whatever you want.’ On the other hand, she also used to say, ‘Indra, you need to find yourself a man.’”

Her grandfather was a judge who often supervised her homework and discipline was strict. After she finished her assignments, he would give her additional ones of his own. The bar was high and there was no help if you couldn’t keep up. “No psychologists, no therapists,” comments Nooyi, not altogether regretfully.

She has tried to instil this sense of ambition in her own daughters, with limited success. “At family dinners I might say to them, ‘Make a speech saying why you would like to be prime minister and I’ll vote for one of you.’

They would reply, ‘Get a life, mom!’”

Nooyi has the special gift of imparting worldly wisdom through humor and subtle self-deprecation. In fact, if the corporate world hadn’t served her so well, she could have had a career in stand-up. (She has a fondness for karaoke, by the way.)

While she doesn’t necessarily approve or endorse her own strict upbringing, neither does she disavow it. As the product of a rigorous educational system, she has clearly seen the dividends this can pay. Nooyi has an unparalleled work ethic and you get the strong feeling it would not be wise to trifle with her. But she is also the caring CEO who had the old cobbles in front of PepsiCo HQ removed so that female employees could come to work in heels should they wish, without fear of taking a tumble.

“Bring your kids to work,” has also become something of a mantra with Nooyi, who just because she was in the privileged position (as CEO) of being able to bring her own kids to work if she wanted to, has always understood how important it is for all working mothers — and fathers — occasionally to be able to do the same. She wants to see women with degrees and the right qualifications deployed into the workplace

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and appreciates that bosses have to do all that’s necessary to make this possible.

“We should be worried about the technology coming out of China,” she warns. “Look, China is rolling out 5G on an epic scale, but in Greenwich, we can’t even get good cellphone coverage.” We should also be concerned, she says, about the new technology coming out of STEM education.

She believes we need to graduate far more students in these disciplines. “Take biology, for instance. We need to teach biology aspirationally, because of cell technology.”

It’s clear from hearing her speak — I caught up with her at a Greenwich Historical Society dinner — that Nooyi is passionate about work, friends and family. A workaholic who sleeps only four hours a night, she seems to find time for everything and everyone, the embodiment of the old adage, ‘If you want something done, ask a busy man’ (or woman.). She is also passionate about Connecticut, the state she calls home. “I’ve just been in Paris. I’ve just been in China,” she tells the smart crowd at dinner. “But when I come back to Connecticut, I feel it’s paradise.”

She is a big presence, strikingly dressed in red, and when she says, “Hello Jeremy,” it sounds as much an accusation as a greeting. The society was

presenting its History in the Making Award to honor Nooyi at a special evening at the Round Hill Club in Greenwich. Proceeds from the event were going toward supporting a major exhibition and public programs on the role of Greenwich women in the suffrage movement, planned to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the passage and ratification of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution (in 1919 and ’20, respectively).

“I’m so admiring of the Greenwich Historical Society,” she tells me in a snatched moment of conversation before dinner, “although I believe it is undersold.”

Indeed, it may be. Headquartered in the Bush-Holley House in Cos Cob, the Greenwich Historical Society is the primary resource for the promotion and preservation of history in Greenwich, the only organization focused expressly on preserving Greenwich history in all its diversity.

Later, to great applause, Nooyi tells the room, “I made my money in the state” — her salary with bonuses in 2018 was in the region of $28 million — “and I’m giving my money back to the state.” When she says she is “not bailing out” in retirement, she is not kidding. In 2019, Nooyi became the co-director of the newly created Connecticut Economic Resource Center, a pub-

lic-private partnership with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and will help draft the state’s new economic development strategy.

She is on the board of Amazon and also teaches at West Point 16 days a year. And then there is cricket, of course. In 2018, Nooyi joined the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board as its first independent female director. She has urged cricket fans to come in large numbers to watch the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final, which is scheduled to take place in Melbourne on International Women's Day next year.

Typically self-effacing, she says the cricket board doesn’t really mean anything, “except it gets me respect from Indians.” But, joking apart, there’s no question she’s serious about the sport. “If you’re not here at the MGC (Melbourne Cricket Ground) on 8th March 2020, watching the women’s final, you’re missing something incredibly special because it’s going to be a major turning point for women’s sport,” the ICC has quoted Nooyi, as saying.

Coming from Nooyi, it sounds more like a royal command or decree than simply an exhortation.

To disobey her, well, it just wouldn’t be cricket, would it?

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FREE FAN FUN AT THE US OPEN

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Rafael Nadal greets the public at Fan Week before last year’s US Open. Courtesy Getty Images.

The US Open officially gets underway Aug. 26.

But for many aficionados, the fun really starts the week before as tennis buffs have the chance to go behind the scenes and get up close and personal with the stars.

“Fan Week gives us the opportunity to invite everybody to come to the home of the US Open and experience for themselves, at no cost, the highest level of professional tennis alongside a variety of other activities,” says Stacey Allaster, chief executive, professional tennis, United States Tennis Association, headquartered in White Plains. “Stepping onto the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, you will be able to experience firsthand the excitement of this great event and be able to watch the game’s greatest stars — names like Serena, Roger, Sloane and Rafa — practice from 36

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just steps away, while also watching up-andcoming players battle in the US Open Qualifying Tournament for the chance to play in the main draw. We know that the US Open serves as our greatest platform to inspire people of all ages to play and watch this amazing game and, by opening our doors during Fan Week and by enhancing the celebration with everything ranging from musical acts to a Net Generation Kids' Zone, we are hoping to reach the next generation of tennis players and fans."

The Qualifying Tournament, in which spectators may be watching the stars of tomorrow, takes place Aug. 19 through 23. Meanwhile, today’s stars will be on hand for practice sessions (Aug. 20 through 25) as those of yesteryear participate in Legends Exhibition Matches (Aug. 21 through 23).

The next generation gets its due with Net Gen-

eration Kids’ Zone, which puts rackets in youngsters’ hands and sets them out on the courts.

But it’s not all fierce forehands and two-handed backhands. There are happy hours (Aug. 20 through 23), concerts (Aug. 21 through 23), a Queens Day salute to the borough that is home to the Open and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (Aug. 21), a 5K Open Run (Aug. 22) and Open Pride (Aug. 22), an event in which former athletes and other notables will comment on the role of sports and, especially tennis, in and on the LGBTQ+ community.

It all culminates in Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day (Aug. 24), with top stars, music and exhibitions in memory of Ashe, the pioneering African-American player and Armonk resident, before the tournament begins in earnest.

For more, visit usopen.org/fan week.

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Edoardo Branca. Photograph by Eugene Lee. 38

WAGMAG.COM

AUGUST 2019

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

WHAT IS THE BEST KIND OF PUBLICITY? THE KIND THAT COMES YOUR WAY WITHOUT YOUR EVEN TRYING. It was shortly after the release of “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) — the final installment in “The Dark Knight Trilogy,” Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman’s beginnings and “ending” — that Edoardo Branca’s phone rang at 5 a.m. It was the first of a series of well-wishers congratulating him on his good fortune. Branca’s family helms a company that makes Fernet-Branca, a historic bitter that Batman’s butler Alfred imagines himself sipping in a Florentine café. Friends teased Edoardo: How much did he pay for that sterling product placement?

Absolutely nothing. “It was just a beautiful thing that happened.”

Beautiful things have a way of happening to Fratelli Branca, the 174-year-old Milanese company that produces a variety of wines and spirits, including Fernet-Branca, a spicy, potent bitter; the vermouths Antica Formula, Carpano and Punt e Mes; the espresso liqueur Caffè Borghetti; and, coming to the United States this October, the brandy Stravecchio Branca.

We had a chance to sample a refreshing Carpano Bianco Spritz with grapefruit soda at the new Branca Bar at Greenwich Polo Club. There was also Fernet Buck, a cocktail made with Fernet and ginger beer.

“Ginger beer and Fernet go very well together, though I would recommend this at 4 or 5 o’clock,” says Edoardo, managing director of the new Branca USA. “Otherwise, it’s a little bit early — although for Argentines, it’s always time for Fernet.” (The global brand is produced outside Buenos Aires

AT THE BAR

RECIPES BY JUSTIN PASH OF THE CUP BEARER, COCKTAIL CATERERS IN STAMFORD. Palermo 0.25 part Brancamenta 1.75 parts bourbon 1 part lemon juice 0.75 part simple syrup Garnish with mint.

(Available at the Pony Bar and VIP Player’s Lounge Bar, Greenwich Polo Club). Photograph by Callow Lens.

Carpano Bianco Grapefruit Spritz 2 parts Carpano Bianco vermouth 4 parts Q Grapefruit Soda Build over ice and garnish with lime wedge.

(Available at the Branca Bar at Greenwich Polo Club) Photograph

by Ro Fernandez, Andes Visual.

AUGUST 2019

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as well as in Milan.)

For Argentines, it’s also always time for polo.

“I watch polo a lot,” Edoardo says. “I really like it.

It’s a relaxing game you can enjoy with the whole family.”

Because Fratelli Branca “always wants to give back in whatever city we’re in,” there is a free tasting Branca Bar at Greenwich Polo Club in celebration of the company’s return to New York. “We used to produce Fernet-Branca, which is made with 27 herbs and spices in Tribeca,” he says. That stopped after 9/11. Now with the new Branca USA, Branca and his wife and daughter are house-hunting in New York.

The affable Branca, who has a real passion for the family’s products, is the sixth generation to work in a business that began in 1845 when Bernardino Branca created Fernet as a medicine to stimulate the appetite of cholera patients in his native Milan. It became a liquor in the U.S. in the late 19th century and around the world after 1934, Edoardo adds.

His father, Niccolò, serves as president of

Fratelli Branca. But although Fernet would seem to be in his blood, Edoardo didn’t start out with the company. Raised in Milan and Florence — his grandmother, mother and wife are all Florentine — he studied at the European Business School in London and went into banking. It is, Edoardo says, “a less fun world” than that of Fratelli Branca. So he spoke to his father, who agreed: Enough with the banking. Edoardo joined the family business, learning all about the herbs and spices that go into the various products as well as accounting.

“My father said, ‘That’s all fine. Now you need to learn how to sell.’”

Fortunately for all concerned, Edoardo “fell in love” with the U.S. market and enjoys nothing more than people sipping a complimentary Fernet.

It’s one of those beautiful things that happens.

For more, visit brancadistillerie.com And for more on Greenwich Polo Club, including the East Coast Open (Aug. 25, Sept. 1 and Sept.

8), visit greenwichpoloclub.com.

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AMERICA’S ORIGINAL BALLGAME

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

The players faced off on an I-shaped ball court — two to four per team. Their objective — place a solid rubber ball (4 to 12 inches in diameter, 3 to 7½ pounds in weight) into an end zone or through a ring attached vertically high up on the court, the rules varying.

What remained consistent was the heavy padding the players wore around their hips in particular as they could only use their hips, shoulders and chest to maneuver the ball.

Equally consistent was the intensity of the matches, for the results determined not only bragging rights and wagers won but who should live or die, with the losers being sacrificed to the gods.

Though it may sound like something out of a Shirley Jackson horror story, the ballgame was played throughout Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America) by the Olmecs and subsequently the Maya and the Aztecs, dating from at least 1400 B.C. Indeed, variations of it — minus the ritual decapitation — are still played in Mexico, where it is known as ulama, and Central America, where it is call Pok Ta Pok. In May, Belize’s Black Jaguars — “Ek’ Balam” in Mayan — played their way through nine teams from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama to win the Pok Ta Pok World Championship in Salvador.)

By continuing the game, these teams are keeping faith with ancient civilizations, which did not see their blood sport merely as a way to sacrifice the vanquished. (The players were often captives of war.) Rather the game also explored Mesoamerica’s relationship with the cosmos. The Popol Vuh, a sacred Mayan text, tells in part the story of the Hero Twins, sons of the great ballplayer Hun Hunahpu, who was defeated and decapitated by the lords of the underworld, Xibalba.

The twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, traveled to the underworld to defeat the gods through many ballgames and trials, resurrecting their father and his brother, their uncle, before going off to rule the sun and the moon.

In death, Roberta H. and Peter T. Markman write in “The Flayed God: The Mythology of Mesoamerica” (Harper San Francisco, 1992), the losers of the ancient game were nonetheless beginning the hero’s journey.

Aztec ballplayers in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, captured in a 1530s. Drawing by Christoph Weiditz.

Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.

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A traditional indigenous ballgame is among the pre-Hispanic exhibitions at an eco-archaeological theme park in Xcaret, Mexico.

Courtesy Luis Acosta/AFP/ Images.

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Jenna Bush Hager at the Friends of White Plains Hospital Spring Luncheon.

Photograph 44 by WAGMAG.COM John Vecchiolla.

AUGUST 2019

Perpetual

BY JEREMY WAYNE

JENNA BUSH HAGER, WIFE, MOTHER, AUTHOR, TEACHER, CHAIR OF UNICEF’S NEXT GENERATION INITIATIVE AND NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT, IS BUSY. Last night she was on the red carpet at the annual CFDA Awards (known as the Fashion Oscars). This morning she has already conducted two interviews and wrapped up the fourth-hour segment of NBC’s “Today” show she co-hosts with Hoda Kotb, before heading up to the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison where she is the guest speaker at the Friends of White Plains Hospital Spring luncheon.

Exhausted? Not Hager. She steps out of the car four minutes late due to traffic on the Hutch but looking fresh as a daisy and without a hair out of place, although the briefest powdering of the nose is in order before she is officially greeted by the great and the good among the hospital’s friends.

Five feet 11 inches tall in stilettoes, Hager does not so much walk on heels as command in them. A crisp, long white jacket worn over a sleek, three-quarter length silk dress, she has — how should we put this? — presence. Just before lunch, a journalist steps in to ask how she balances all of her demanding roles, a question echoed later on, more or less verbatim, by a guest in the Q&A session after her keynote address. “I don’t like the word balance,” retorts Hager, the only time her Pepsodent smile cracks for even an instant. It’s clearly her bugbear. “Listen,” she says, the smile quickly returning, “We do what we do and we do the best we can.

But the word ‘balance’ at work has an elitist connotation. You can bet nobody’s asking my husband” (Henry Hager, a director at asset management company KKR) “how he balances everything he does.”

Although Hager now lives in Brooklyn, her ties to the region are unassailable. Her beloved grandmother, Barbara Bush, always referred to as Ganny, was from Rye and her grandfather, President

George H.W. Bush, born in Milton, Massachusetts, started his education at Greenwich Country Day School. Her grandparents were married at Rye Presbyterian Church, and she still has cousins in Greenwich. She serves on the board of the Greenwich International Film Festival.

When she talks about her grandmother — Ganny — she tears up.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “I’m very hormonal.” A few days before the luncheon, Hager announced she is pregnant with her third child, a boy.

“Though what I’m going to do with a boy, goodness knows,” she jokes.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize there would be men at this luncheon, and I can see some. One… two…,” she points a finger at random tables, “three… oh and another over there, four…” She is a master of timing and the comic pause. “Five…” To laughter and rapturous applause she returns to her theme.

The faux-anxiety at the arrival later this year of a son is because until now she has only had to deal with daughters, Mila, 6, and Poppy, 3.

But as a former teacher herself, at a charter school in Washington, D.C., and currently working as a part-time reading coordinator at the SEED Public Charter School in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as contributing a monthly news story about education for the “Today” show, there’s no question Hager really loves kids and young adults. At my table we all agree she must be one amazing mom.

Hardworking but cozy, as wholesome as cherry pie but with a good line in irony, she is not afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve. It is this very openness that continues to win her legions of admirers — 950,000 on Instagram and counting. If she has an edge to her, it is brilliantly well hidden. There is not a shred of self-consciousness and yet, at the same time, she feels curiously vulnerable. It’s an attractive mix.

The embodiment of public service and someone who believes passionately in giving back because of her own privilege, Hager has come

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The embodiment of public service and someone who believes passionately in giving back because of her own privilege, Hager has come to Westchester to share her personal experiences as a teacher, humanitarian aid worker and correspondent in hopes of motivating and inspiring guests to become more involved in their own schools and communities.

to Westchester to share her personal experiences as a teacher, humanitarian aid worker and correspondent in hopes of motivating and inspiring guests to become more involved in their own schools and communities. In a sense, she is preaching to the converted at the Harrison country club. At the spring luncheon, the Friends of White Plains Hospital were handing over a check for $1.3 million, money raised for the hospital in the last year. The hospital has just broken ground on a 252,000-square-foot, 9-story outpatient center for advanced medicine and surgery. Susan Fox, president and CEO of the hospital, took to the podium to explain how the new center is going to deliver a seamless patient experience, and how the hospital’s growth and vitality have been a key factor in attracting top medical talent from major teaching and research hospitals in New York City.

Hager believes everyone has the ability to have a profound effect on the lives of others, a conviction attested to by the huge turnout at the lunch and the ongoing work of the Friends group.

To a room where you could now hear a penny drop (even the men had stopped talking,) Hager shared Ganny Bush’s praise and admiration for “the good deeds of everyday people who do amazing things.” She, of course, is one of those very people, albeit with a touch more privilege than most. Hear-

ing her speak, you cannot help but feel how inordinately proud of her Ganny no doubt was.

“Study hard, work hard and play hard, too,” was another of Ganny’s sayings. It was something Hager and her fraternal twin sister, Barbara Pierce Bush, took to heart — Hager at the University of Texas at Austin, Bush at Yale University.

“I was 19 and already at college when my dad entered the White House,” Hager told the room, “so I already had my own life.” She tried to lead a normal life but admits it was “kind of weird” having Secret Service agents come with you on dates.

Knowing better than to inquire about “balance” in her life, I was nevertheless interested to learn what she did for relaxation. In the few moments I was able to snag alone with her, I asked (with WAG’s August recreation issue in mind), if she played a sport or perhaps had other ways of winding down.

Quick as a flash she was back at me. “Well, I won’t be playing any sport this summer as I’m pregnant.”

Ask a silly question, as they used to say in elementary school. But she went on to tell me that she is a great walker and loves to hike, especially in the warmer months. “At the end of a long day, walking clears my head,” she says.

And anyone who has met Jenna Bush Hager, or watched her on TV, would surely agree: she has a very clear head indeed.

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AUGUST 2019

SAIL ON

BY PHIL HALL

When the Stamford Yacht Club opened 128 years ago, its well-heeled membership was not eager to get their heels dirtied by the lack of paved access in the city’s Shippan section.

The solution?

“They had to build a wooden boardwalk to get them down from the horse trolley on Shippan Avenue to walk down to the club,” says Christopher J. Hynes, a Stamford attorney who is the club’s historian as well as a former commodore.

Today, the Stamford Yacht Club finds itself preserving its history and traditions while responding to contemporary values and perceptions with an array of offerings that range from tennis to aquatic activities.

Discussions on creating the Stamford Yacht Club began among 12 prominent residents, including state legislator Samuel Fessenden and future U.S. Rep. Schuyler Merritt, the namesake of the Merritt Parkway. The club opened in July 1891 and its original volunteer leaders took on the titles of commodore, vice commodore and rear commodore.

This Gilded Age-style title still remains, along with a set of governing rules written when the club was launched. Christopher Matteson, managing director at a New York City-based financial services consulting and advisory firm, is the club’s current commodore, which covers a two-year term.

“It is an elected position by the members,” Matteson explains, noting the club also has a fulltime general manager — a club industry management professional — in charge of its staff. “(Commodore) is a volunteer job — essentially, you are the person who chairs the board of directors and you are executive at the organization on the member side.”

Over the years, the club has seen several notable members. Perhaps the most gallant was Myles C. Fox, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps who posthumously received the Navy Cross for his heroism in World War II’s Battle of Tulagi and became the namesake of the destroyer USS Myles C. Fox. (A model of the craft is on prominent display at the club.) Walter Wheeler, the longtime CEO of Stamford’s Pitney Bowes, was a former commodore, as was architect Hiroshi Nakajima, who set sail this summer in the Transatlantic Race 2019 from Newport, Rhode Island, to Britain’s Isle of Wight. Marc Powers, a champion paddle tennis player, is an active member who once brought the annual Prentice Cup tournament between Yale and Oxford universities to the club’s courts.

Within the sailing world, the club is celebrated for its annual Vineyard Race, a 238-mile round-trip odyssey between Stamford and Martha’s Vineyard, and the Denmark Race, which stays closer to home and has attracted members of the Danish royal fam48

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AUGUST 2019

Courtesy Rick Bannerot of the Stamford Yacht Club.

ily as both observers and participants. This October, the club is hosting U.S. Sailing’s Championship of Champions race. Hynes says these events require a great deal of input from club members to succeed.

“The requirement for volunteers is huge,” he says. “We have to start a year ahead of time and it involves a lot of people working with each other, which solidifies the club socially.”

Matteson adds that being on the Long Island Sound has been advantageous for the club’s events, stating that it is “generally regarded as some of the best cruising ground in the country. If someone was coming from Europe and saying, ‘Hey, where are the three most interesting places to cruise in America?’, I would say the Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay and maybe Puget Sound. You have a variety of towns to stop in with marina facilities, and there is plenty of tidal activity. We get a spring tide in June, we could get up to 8 feet between high tide and low tide.”

Of course, there was too much high tide when Superstorm Sandy hit the region in 2012. But damage was relatively limited to the loss of a dock (since replaced with a stronger version) and some water seepage into the ground-floor area.

“Shippan has a peninsula that projects south and we’re on the western side,” Matteson says. “In a hurricane, it is blowing counterclockwise. So, we’re somewhat sheltered.”

But while the club might have been sheltered from Mother Nature, it faces a challenge from Father Time.

“We recognize that as a club, it’s not the 1890s,” Matteson acknowledges. “We are competing against, like it or not, a panoply of consumer choices. We owe it to our members to address their wants

and their needs to keep the place invigorating.”

Once strictly a private gathering place for the elite, the club’s picturesque setting lends itself today to some weddings, corporate and alumni events and private parties. The club also promotes itself as a good citizen serving the wider society. Since 2015, it has hosted weeklong visits by the United States Naval Academy and welcomed midshipmen as guests of the wider Stamford community. Matteson points out the club’s recently established the Sound and Shore Stewardship Committee, which focuses on the local ecosystem as it relates to the club’s footprint.

“We also have a strong relationship with Soundwaters,” he says, referring to a regional environmental nonprofit, “whereby we support their young mariners program by affording them logistical and other support to certain of their activities.”

Attracting young individuals and families to become club members has been a key goal of Matteson, who highlights the club’s Corinthian category membership for those in their 20s. Matteson stresses this membership level comes “at a relatively low cost” while attracting “a special element to the club — fresh faces, young people who can engage, volunteer, bring their friends and liven the place up a little bit. This year, we’ve admitted more Corinthian members than we have in a number of recent years.”

Club membership is still by invitation only, but Hynes acknowledges “the onus is a little bit more on us to go out to find people who don’t know anybody at the yacht club.” Having more members is essential, he says, in order to maintain the club’s heritage while ensuring its future.

“Those people gave us something wonderful to pass on to generations beyond us.”

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TO MAKE A CAR GO FASTER, IT HAS TO SHED WEIGHT. But that’s a bit difficult when super speed = big engine = big weight.

To go fast in the new T.50 Supercar, as a lucky owner (only 100 being made), you also would have to lose some weight in the wallet, at least 2 million pounds. (Depending on the currency rate that’s about $2.5 million.)

The T.50 — now being made in Surrey, England — will weigh 2,161 pounds, about the same as a moose (but more streamlined). A check on the average weight of supercars over the last 15 years came out to 1,400 kilos, about 3,086 pounds.

So says Gordon Murray. And he should know, as he’s the longtime (50 years) designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. The key to his T.50 Supercar light? Carbon fiber.

As a result, the T.50 supercar will weigh around a third less than the average supercar — making it, by far, the lightest supercar ever, according to the people at Gordon Murray Automotive.

The car is highly compact — smaller than the wheel-print of a Porsche 911 at just 172.4 inches long and 72.8 inches wide. (And in case you were wondering, a Porsche 911 is 178 inches in length and 73 inches wide.)

Inside it’s three seats with a center console (analog) for the driver.

The engine sits behind the back seats. And what an engine it is — a Cosworth-GMA 3.9-liter 65° V-12, a twin-cam naturally aspirated (no turbocharger) engine that produces 650 horsepower and revs to 12,100 RPM. Shifting into gear will be via a 6-speed H-pattern manual gearbox.

(If some of these details sound familiar, maybe you’re thinking of the McLaren Speedtail, which we wrote about in the January issue.)

How fast will it go? To paraphrase Murray, “speed schmeed.”

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Gordon Murray says his latest design is a “pure, driver-focused motorcar.” Images courtesy Gordon Murray Group.

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Or to quote him directly: “Just as with the F1, we have no specific targets for acceleration, top speed or lap times. The F1 was fast because it was light and relatively small. The T.50 will deliver performance and dynamic characteristics simply out of reach for other supercars not least because of its low weight.

Once again, I have focused on the complete driving experience, not horsepower or top speed.”

Murray adds, “The T.50 takes aerodynamics into a completely new domain. It will be absolutely the most advanced aerodynamics of a road car.” It borrows technology from his Brabham fan car, he says. That car had a fan placed in a sealed engine compartment that created such suction that the higher the engine revved, the more downforce was created, allowing it to take curves at a higher speed.

OK, so it’s not about speed it’s about giving the driver the best driving experience.

Murray calls it a “pure, driver-focused motorcar.”

According to the press release, “The T.50 is an ‘everyday supercar’ capable of GT-style cruising in spacious comfort with room for driver, two passengers and luggage.”

Make it for just a driver and his beagle and I’m sold.

Now, for that $2.5 million, do you think crowdfunding is reasonable for an ink-stained wretch?

For more, go to gordonmurraydesign.com.

The T.50 Supercar will be manufactured in Surrey, England.

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PRINCE WILLIAM HAS PRINCE HARRY, SNOOPY HAS SPIKE – YOU KNOW, THE BAD-BOY BABY BRO WHO’S A CHUNK OF CHARM AND A TON OF TROUBLE. That’s what WAG Weekly is to WAG. In our e-newsletter, we let down our hair (and occasionally, our grammar) to take you behind behind-the-scenes of the hottest parties and events, offer our thoughts on the most controversial issues of the day, share what couldn’t be contained in our glossy pages and tell you what to do and where to go this weekend – all while whetting your appetite for the next issue.

If you can’t get enough of WAG — or you just want to get WAG unplugged — then you won’t want to miss WAG Weekly, coming to your tablet.

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Kevin and Michael Bacon.

Photographs

by Jeff Fasano. AUGUST 2019 54 WAGMAG.COM

Bringing home the

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

THE BACON BROTHERS (ACTOR/MUSICIAN KEVIN AND COMPOSER/MUSICIAN MICHAEL) ARE NOTHING IF NOT VERSATILE. KEVIN’S FACE HAS BEEN GRACING SCREENS, LARGE AND SMALL, SINCE THE LATE 1970S WHEN HE FIRST APPEARED IN THE TV SOAP OPERA “SEARCH FOR TOMORROW” AND THE CLASSIC MOVIE COMEDY “NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE.” After that, his considerable acting credits include beloved films such as “Diner,” “Footloose,” “JFK,” “A Few Good Men,” “Apollo 13,” “Mystic River” and “Patriots Day.” Older brother Michael has been composing film and television scores for more than 30 years. When they aren’t hard at work in their individual fields, Kevin and Michael record (nine albums) and tour together as leaders of the band The Bacon Brothers. With a new summer single, “Play!,” currently in rotation, the Philadelphia natives were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedules to answer a few questions for WAG before their Sept. 21 gig at Ridgefield Playhouse: What can fans expect from a Bacon Brothers concert?

MB: “We have a six-piece band. It’s 90% original songs. We throw in a cover, once in a while, just for our own take. It’s fun doing covers. The orchestrations and arrangements are varied. They go from solo guitar and voice to full, all-out rock ’n’ roll. We have a new song called “Picker” where the part our guitar player put on just blew our minds. I think people are going to go, ‘Wow.’ I play the cello as well as electric and acoustic guitar. Kevin plays percussion, harmonica and guitar.

The guitar player (Tim Quick) switches off between electric and acoustic guitar and mandolin. The keyboard player (Joe Mennonna) also plays saxophone and accordion. It’s really all over the place. The songs dictate the arrangements, as opposed to a lot of bands who say, ‘This is our sound. Let’s make the songs fit into the sound.’”

So, you’re not replicating what’s the record, you’re giving songs a fresh, live sound.

KB: “Yes. We often do arrange things the way they are on the record. But, like Michael said, it’s really varied. There are so many instruments, because so many of the band members play other instruments. There’s a lot of switching off. Pretty much every song, somebody is switching something.”

What’s involved in the Bacon Brothers’ songwriting process?

KB: “We mostly write separately now, although we just started (doing) that. We started out writing together. Michael sent me a spoken lyric and gave me a little bit of an idea about what it should feel like, an up-tempo rock song. I wrote the music for it. Generally, we write separately. I don’t play the piano. For me, it starts with an acoustic guitar. I tend to write a lot with a drum idea.

I love drums and I used to play a little bit drums and I played percussion. I really like the idea of building the song as much around the drum groove as I do guitar. I’ll pull up a (drum) loop and start playing along with it and build a demo that way. I’ll send it to Mike and we start talking about how we might interface it with the band.”

How easy or difficult is it to schedule time to record?

MB: “Nowadays that whole geography component is not necessary. For our new single, ‘Play!’, we booked a studio for an entire day and we all went in and played and recorded all the overdubs, which is a great luxury.

Normally, you’re trying to get two or three songs in one day. It was nice because we didn’t feel rushed. A lot of

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our singles and CD cuts were just doing the demo ourselves, sending it to the drummer who puts the drums on and sends it to the keys guy who puts the keys on. He sends it to the guitar player, the bass player and so on. We might get together in the studio to do the background or lead vocals, but you don’t have to be in the same place anymore.

“I think the best thing to do is do it a bunch of different ways. You don’t have to say, ‘This is the method we’re going to use and we’ll never stray from that.’ The last record we did, which we released last summer, half of it was emailing around tracks and half of it we went into the studio for two solid days and cut the rest of it. I think it’s good to mix.”

What about finding time to tour with both of your schedules?

KB: “It’s hard. But we keep finding the time. For me, the challenge is that sometimes people will book a band (for a show) earlier than an acting gig, farther off the date (of the performance). I think, “Am I available in January 2020? I am right now, but I could be in Africa or something (making a movie).

That’s challenging, but we figure out a way to do it.”

What are some of your individual projects?

MB: “I just had a film, ‘Master Maggie,’ at (the Tribeca Film Festival),which I wrote the score for that I’m excited about. I always have projects in the background.”

KB: “I have a show that just went on Sunday nights on Showtime called ‘City On A Hill.’”

Did you each receive music lessons when you were children or are you self-taught musicians?

Kevin and Michael Bacon.

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MB: “I started music lessons when I was about 5 — the saxophone and then I went to the cello and then the banjo. My sister taught me how to play the baritone ukulele. Later, in high school, I did oboe.

I’m very much a trained musician.”

KB: “I’m really not (trained). I had a few quick lessons on the guitar with Michael. I guess there have been times in the past when I’ve had a guitar teacher for a few lessons. I’m like a chord book learner, like a ‘put your fingers on the dots’ type player. I still do that, actually.”

Who are some of your individual musical influences?

MB: “Mine are really vast. I have all of the folk musicians I was brought up with, The Weavers, Peter Seeger, who still is my idol. He wrote one of the most beautiful film scores ever, in the 1950s, for a movie called ‘Indian Summer.’ I can sit down now and play the whole thing, and I haven’t heard it in probably 30 or 40 years. When The Beatles came in, The Rolling Stones, (they) blew my mind completely. At the same time, being a film composer, you have to be accessing the likes of Stravinsky and Bartok and Strauss and John Williams and all these kinds of things. I have an eclectic hodgepodge of influences. If I decide to listen to something, it could be any one of hundreds of genres and styles.

That’s the way I like it.”

KB: “We have a few years difference (in age) and it’s either that I wasn’t that interested in it or they weren’t playing it as much, but I didn’t really grow up too much on the soundtracks and the classical stuff, or I wasn’t drawn to it. Maybe because I wasn’t

forced to play (an instrument) or take lessons. (For me) it was all about Top 40 and 45s (singles) and Beatles and Stones and Motown — staying in the pop, rock, soul, funk world. Philadelphia was a big music town and we were exposed to Philadelphia music. There were also places where you could go to play with other people and put a band together, to write and share songs.”

Are there places where your individual musical influences intersect and become shared?

MB: “I think we share a lot of common ground.

Of course, we also share a childhood where we played music together. The band is a pretty natural thing. We put a band together formally in 1995, but it’s really just an offshoot of what we were doing before that — trying to write music that people will like, later on writing music for Kevin’s films, which were all pretty much rejected. (laughs) I think we have a lot of common ground. We’re different types of songwriters and singers, but we come from the same place. That’s why the band sounds the way it does. We like natural, classic rock ’n’ roll instruments, but we’re not retro. I think we have an enormous amount of common ground. I think we also know good songs when we hear them.”

The world of the Broadway musical is rapidly evolving with recent winners such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” and singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s “Hadestown” as examples. What are the chances that the Bacon Brothers have a stage musical in the works?

MB: “We started writing a Broadway musical years ago. I was brought up on Broadway songs.

Richard Rodgers, to me, is the best as far as songwriters go. The mode of operating that I’ve seen for Broadway shows or for people I know who have done it, is that you get a partner and then you take all of your spare time and you devote that to writing this musical, and it’s going to take 10 years.

As much as I would like to do it, I’m not sure it’s one of the things that I’d be good at. I’m sure that I don’t have the spare time to invest in that kind of thing. I admire those people that have been able to do that. Maybe something someday will drop in our laps that we feel like we can somehow transfer the relationship that we’ve had as songwriters and actors and film scorers into something that might fit into that format.

KB: “If somebody wanted to give us a jukebox musical, that would be a different story. But I think you have to have (laughs) a jukebox in order to do that.”

The Bacon Brothers perform Sept. 19 and 20 at Sony Hall in Manhattan. For more, visit sonyhall.com. The brothers play Ridgefield Playhouse Sept. 21. For more, visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

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A SHORE THING

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI When Janet T. Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester, was a child, the beach was as much a part of her world as the arts were.

“I’m just a kid from Far Rockaway (Queens),” she says. “Growing up on the beach was a yearround experience.”

In the summer, Langsam and her family shared Rockaway Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the 5½-mile stretch that is its boardwalk, with tourists and residents seeking relief from the heat and humidity. In the other seasons, though, the family had the beach to themselves.

Langsam and her older brother would ride their bikes on the boardwalk. At night, their father would bundle them up and take them down to the beach until the echoing rhythm of the waves lulled them to sleep and they could fall into their somewhat sandy beds.

Langsam’s mother, however, made sure that there were also plenty of trips into New York City — to museums, Carnegie Hall and a dance studio in lower Manhattan.

So when Westchester County Executive George S. Latimer proposed an “Art on the Beach” project that would bring another artistic experience to historic Playland in Rye, Langsam was doubly enthusiastic. Not only did it bring back memories of her childhood by the sea, which she explored in a blog post on ArtsWestchester’s website; it also offered her another way to support one of her and the arts council’s central passions.

“This is another opportunity for Westchester to become distinguished for public art,” Langsam says.

The winning piece — selected from 54 entries that were whittled down to 10 finalists by a jury that included Meg Rodriguez, executive director of The Rye Arts Center; Michael Gitlitz, executive director of the Katonah Museum of Art; and Leigh Taylor Mickelson, former executive director of the Clay Art Center in Port Chester — is “Floating Forest,” a jellyfish fantasy

by Tatjana Kunst. But viewers don’t have to worry about being stung as they wander amid the

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ArtsWestchester CEO Janet T. Langsam (left) and Tatjana Kunst (above) in Kunst’s “Floating Forest,” the winning entry in the “Art on the Beach” initiative at Playland in Rye.

hanging “marine animals” in a 700-square-foot space near the Westchester Children’s Museum.

The umbrella-shaped bodies of these creatures are made of ombré ceramics while their tentacles are crocheted. The installation by Yonkers ceramicist Kunst — whose last name means “art” in German — is just one of the many delightful mural and installation proposals that ArtsWestchester received. (The call for artworks, which carried an honorarium of $5,000 for the winning

entry funded by the Westchester Parks Foundation, was limited to murals and installations as works on paper would be considered too fragile for the humid locale.)

Other finalists drew specifically on the Art Deco landmark that is the 91-year-old amusement park.

Mamaroneck’s Piero Manrique’s proposed mural “Out of the Box and Dragonland” took its inspiration from the park’s dizzying Dragon Coaster for a design with a fiery red and green Van Gogh palette

and more than a hint of Chinoiserie.

Brooklyn artists Elizabeth Newsomes and Michael Zelehowski proposed a library-like installation with hammocks that would’ve brought new meaning to the phrase “beach book.”

Isabelle Garbani’s “Beach Oasis” imagined the space as a seaside garden, while Stephanie Wenzel’s “The Wave is Mutual” envisioned it as waisthigh undulations made of cable spools and yoga mats. Langsam is hoping to turn some of these into a reality in two other Playland spaces, funding permitting.

Surely there is no lack of fervor for expanding the project. As County Executive Latimer initially said: “I have long been committed to the arts. I know firsthand the transformative powers of the arts and that’s why it was so important to me to bring an art installation to Playland for the public to enjoy. Art on the boardwalk is a natural fit, and I’m thrilled that it is happening this season. I want to thank ArtsWestchester for working on this project for the county, and I want to thank the Westchester Parks Foundation for financially supporting ‘Art on the Beach.’”

The project, which runs through August, is just one of the many public art initiatives ArtsWestchester is involved in. They include five sculptures for the pedestrian/bicycle path of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge; a $100,000 sculpture commission for 42 Broad St. W., a luxury residential building in Mount Vernon that is a venture of The Bluestone Organization and the Alexander Development Group; and a $120,000 sculpture commission for White Plains’ renovated Gateway Building, under the auspices of the Ginsburg Development Cos. ArtsWestchester’s Arts Exchange headquarters in White Plains will get into the act when it is wrapped Christo-like by fabric artist Amanda Browder next spring. Community volunteers are joining the artist during public sewing days, beginning this month, to create panels for this 7-story fabric sculpture.

“I think what we’re doing,” Langsam says of these projects, “is expanding the definition of art.”

For more, including information on how you can become part of the sewing project for the Amanda Browder fabric sculpture, visit artswestchester.org.

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This Tudor-style estate (opposite) – the former home of Michael Bakwin, a supporter of the New York Botanical Garden and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden – features magnificent landscaping, including this Japanese rock garden. Courtesy Daniel Milstein Photography.

THE ZEN OF THE JAPANESE GARDEN

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA It is a place that allows you immediately and continuously to exhale, offering refreshment for mind, body and spirit.

The Japanese garden is not like our traditional Occidental gardens. Where we might seek a profusion of greenery and a riot of color — carefully manicured, of course — with follies and ornamental sculpture in the grander designs, the elegantly spare Japanese garden draws on the basic elements of water, rock and sand, with curated flowers, trees and structures that speak to Buddhist teachings and a sense of the eternal.

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Among the best-known public Japanese-style gardens in our area is the one found at Kykuit, the historic Rockefeller family home in Pocantico Hills. Created over two years (1908-10) by architect William Welles Bosworth — who also did the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cambridge campus and the AT&T building in Manhattan — Kykuit’s Japanese Garden originally featured a brook spanned by two wooden bridges that fed a pond bordered by massive boulders and a mahogany teahouse nestled in a grove of blue spruces. In the 1960s, then-

Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, Kykuit’s last owner, had landscape architect David Harris Engel expand and renovate the site to include a new teahouse; stone paths, ornaments, lanterns and a bridge; dramatic water effects; an area of raked sand; a bamboo grove; and plantings of cherry trees, azaleas and moss, all traditional to a Japanese garden.

Farther up the Hudson River in Ossining you’ll find the former Michael Bakwin estate, which is now on the market. Bakwin, who passed away in December, was a supporter of the New York

Botanical Garden (NYBG), Brooklyn Botanic Garden and others. So it comes as no surprise that the 20-acre property is best-known for its gardens, including Japanese-style plantings and rock gardens, significant perennials, native and pond-side botanicals, sculptures and flowering trees and plants in various hues. There’s also an orchard fringed by vegetable and berry gardens. Horticulture enthusiasts have frequently sought out the private gardens for themselves, including Westchester County-based landscape designer Jan Johnsen, a NYBG instructor and student of the serene aspects of Japanese gardens, who wrote about the Bakwin property as a contributing editor of Garden Design magazine.

The gardens are rivaled by a nearly 9,500 square-foot Tudor-style mansion, which Bakwin’s parents built on a high point overlooking the gardens. Highlights of the home include a great room with a fireplace, a 40-foot vaulted, oak-beamed ceiling and towering glass doors as well as 11 bedrooms, a stately oak library and multiple dining areas.

A cobbled drive with stones salvaged from old Bronx streets leads up to the estate, which also has a lake with a boathouse as well as a pool, a tennis court and a guesthouse.

The estate is, it would seem, a perfect marriage of East and West.

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GOING TO THE MAT STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY PHIL HALL

When meeting Jesse James Kosakowski, it is easy to mistake him for a typically polite member of Gen Z. He is late for the interview and offers a profoundly sincere apology for his tardiness. His overall look — aviator eyeglasses and a hoodie-and-jeans outfit — give the impression of a student just arrived from a university lecture hall.

But put him within the caged ring of a mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament and things are turned around. Student is now teacher, giving powerful lessons to his opponents in the ring; the absence of eyeglasses unleashing a warrior’s gaze.

Jesse first stepped into the MMA ring in November 2015 and has amassed a 5-0 amateur record and a 4-0 professional record, coupled with an increasingly predictable habit of pulverizing his opponents into submission during the first of the three-round MMA bouts.

“It takes a special type of person to do this stuff,” Jesse says. “I’m not going to lie. When I am getting my hands wrapped, I’m like, ‘Why am I doing this stuff?’ But then I say to myself, ‘Snap out of it. You know what you’re here for.’ After you get the win and you celebrate with your team, you remember why you are doing it and what that goal is.”

Jesse turns 23 this month, but his road to the MMA tournaments was a long time happening. He began training around 5 focusing on the Jeet Kune Do school of martial arts popularized by Bruce Lee. The first to acknowledge his possibilities was his father, Ron Kosakowski, who has run Practical Self Defense Training Center in Waterbury since 1988 and gave his son his earliest lessons. Ron studied various martial arts techniques during his career and also participated in MMA bouts in the 1980s when the sport was an underground affair — including a match inside a ring set up in the back of a Waterbury bar. He was also an original investor in the United Fighting Championship (UFC) league in the early 1990s. But in his work as a martial arts instructor, he realized his son’s distinctive athletic talents.

“When he was around 10, we had a lot of people fighting for us at the time at the tournaments,” Ron says. “We all saw his potential. He was winning all of the tournaments he entered. He also started doing adult classes when he was 10. This is why when you see all of these giants fighting him today, it really doesn’t matter, because he is so used to it.”

As Jesse’s initial instructor, Ron marveled at how quickly his son learned different fight styles. “It comes natural to him,” he says. “I have some people that if I tell them to move the right hand, they move the left foot. Nothing against them, but they’re not going to be in a cage soon.”

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Jesse James Kosakowski and his father, Ron Kosakowski, at Ron’s Practical Self Defense Training Center in Waterbury.

The MMA world consists of several leagues, most notably UFC, Bellator and CES MMA. Jesse is currently an independent agent who goes between the leagues for matches. But word of his brutal prowess in the ring has created an interesting dilemma.

“Sometimes, people don’t want to fight you,” he says. “In my amateur years, I couldn’t get fights. So, I decided to go pro. But now with the pro leagues, it’s the same thing.”

Nonetheless, Jesse has devoted himself to a highly rigorous training regimen that keeps him in fighting form.

“As an MMA fighter, your training has to be very, very diverse,” Jesse says. “You have to be able to kick, grapple, trap and, on top of that, you have to have great strength conditioning. Swimming and running are among the things that I do, along with sparring, pad work and bag work. It is a big toll on the body. I would say the training camp is harder than the fight. You are more likely to get injured during camp than at the fight. The recovery is a big aspect of the game. I take ice baths, Epsom salt baths. I get massages and chiropractic treatment.

It is a pain in the ass to drive from here to there to everywhere to take care of your body.”

In pursuit of his sport, Jesse laments that his current financial rewards are not what many

people might assume would be a professional athlete’s income.

“You don’t make a whole lot right now,” he says.

“It’s sort of like, ‘Damn, I am barely getting paid for this and I am putting my life on the line.’ But I am working my way up to it, and that drives me.”

“Sponsorship is where all sports people make money,” Ron says, adding that a number of smaller Waterbury-area businesses are backing his son’s efforts. “Right now, it is just to take care of a few odds-and-ends, but some sponsors can buy a car or a home for the athlete they back.”

Still, Jesse perseveres, supplementing his income by training clients while keeping his own goals firmly in sight, with his next MMA bout scheduled for September. And, sometimes, he is surprised to be reminded that people are aware of what he has to offer.

“I had a fight in Bellator,” he says. “I was on top of the guy and punching him when I heard the announcer Big John McCarthy saying ‘Jesse James Kosakowski’ and talking about all of my stuff. And I’m just like, ‘Whoa, wait a minute! Is that Big John McCarthy talking about me?’ And then I was like, ‘Snap out of it!’”

And he did — scoring another first-round win, which leaves MMA fans with something more to talk about.

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Tanya64 Tochner, owner of ROCKS AUGUST 2019 WAGMAG.COM Jewelry Gifts Home in Chappaqua.

This boutique

FOR THOSE WHO CONSIDER SHOPPING THEIR SPORT OF CHOICE, ROCKS JEWELRY GIFTS HOME IN CHAPPAQUA PROVIDES QUITE THE SOPHISTICATED PLAYING FIELD.

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

Decorative goods at ROCKS Jewelry Gifts Home in Chappaqua.

The elegant boutique is quickly becoming a source for fine and fashion jewelry since opening just before Mother’s Day. That’s no surprise, considering the original ROCKS by Jolie B Ray continues to thrive along Main Street in Armonk. But the new boutique from owner Tanya Tochner offers much more than just the contemporary baubles ROCKS has come to be known for over the past eight years.

In this expansion of her business, Tochner finally found herself with the space to do what she’s long wanted — move into the lifestyle segment.

And she has done that with quite an assured hand, offering a wealth of modern hostess gifts, decorative goods, art and accessories that has been captivating her growing clientele.

Everything within the spacious Chappaqua Crossing boutique, which more than triples the size of the 500-square-foot Armonk space, has a clear point of view — and that is Tochner’s.

“People who assume I have great taste in jewelry assume I have great taste in home,” she says with a laugh.

Indeed, Tochner is not only the owner but also a designer. She creates jewelry for the shops and accepts custom jewelry orders.

And, she adds, “Now it’s the same thing on the home side… I’ve been going into people’s homes and accessorizing.”

It’s all come naturally to her, as she says.

“I went to business school, not fashion school,” adding that she worked for some 15 years in business, including human resources.

Being a stay-at-home mom once she relocated to Chappaqua was not for her.

“I had a need to go back and do something,” she says.

And that has led to today, when she’s working 80 hours a week — by choice.

“This, I’m passionate about. When I worked 80 hours a week at an office, I was resentful.”

Tochner says the new shop finds her with a hand in every aspect, from ensuring the construction — a crazed 10-week effort — was to her specifications to all the buying, from social media to, yes, re-stocking the shelves.

“I always joke now I’m the stock boy. I do everything.”

A GEM OF A SELECTION The new ROCKS carries not only jewelry designs by Tochner but also creations by some 20 handpicked designers, each piece selected for its individual look. She might purchase several styles from one designer but does not stock, for example, dozens of a particular necklace.

“We try to pick unique pieces… especially for fine jewelry. People do not want to buy something expensive and see it on their friends.”

(When it comes to home accessories, though, it’s more about the look of a piece — and multiples are certainly a way to go. “With home, a platter is a platter,” she says.)

The fashion jewelry, artfully displayed along one side of the boutique, ranges from around $25 to $200. The fine jewelry, displayed on the other side of the boutique, is housed in classic glass cases, starting with selections ideal for Sweet 16s or bat mitzvahs, popular categories

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and usually $150 to $500. The fine jewelry continues with an array of pieces, mostly modern but with a sampling of traditional. Prices vary with a standout an understatedly chic diamond necklace that’s $15,000.

“I try to tell a story in every case,” Tochner says, noting how one holds pieces featuring oxidized silver with diamonds and another, designs in gold and ebony.

She will work with customers to transform their own jewelry into something new, to design a piece from scratch or source something they want.

At the market every week, she tells her customers, “I can get it for them, and if I can’t get it, I can make it.”

ON THE HOME FRONT Tochner takes that same thoughtful approach to her expanded offerings.

“It’s been a nice transition into the home,” Tochner says, noting she’s been pleased to hear the store reflects her aesthetic.

“People who know me (say) ‘It has Tanya written all over it.’”

It’s all come together as hoped, she adds.

“We didn’t want just the items that we sold be beautiful. We wanted the space to be beautiful.”

The boutique is a welcoming space, with soothing gray tones, hardwood floors, modern built-ins and a large storefront bringing in light.

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It adds up to an understated backdrop for her design-forward offerings.

“I think it’s a creative experience,” she adds.

It all works together, though she declines to name any favorites.

“I love everything. That’s why I picked it,” she says with a laugh.

And she hopes customers will feel the same.

Some brands are well-known, such as Jonathan Adler’s playful interior accents, while Tochner also works to cultivate singular finds.

“The goal was that you walk into the store (and say), ‘I want that. I want that. I want that.’”

That is easy to do, with an array of vases and lidded jars, serving trays and wine decanters, agate coasters to what she calls “art pieces for your bar.”

The wall art is also modern, some pieces thematic, others signs that impart a bit of wisdom (“Real girls are never perfect and perfect girls are never real.”)

Everything comes back to Tochner.

“At the end of the day, I love design,” she says. “I think that translates. There were things I knew I had to have in here… As a home store, I needed hostess gifts. I needed candles, art on the walls.”

But it’s much more, from pillows to totes, sculpture to throws, including some from It’s A… Yummy, a Chappaqua-based company.

“I try to bring in local artists for both home and

design,” Tochner notes.

Though only open a few months, expansion is already planned.

“In the fall, we’re going to carry what we don’t have now — tabletop.”

And that means annexing unused space, a move she thought would come later rather than sooner.

She’s also happy to be working with designers, offering them a trade discount for their projects.

OFF THE CLOCK? These days, Tochner says, “I work seven days a week, even when I’m not in the store.”

While she has an office in the Chappaqua store, she will often go home — she’s been a Chappaqua resident some 18 years — and cook dinner for her family, complete her carpooling duties and then work a few hours from home.

Once autumn rolls around, she expects to settle into a more manageable routine — and get back to some of her favorite leisure pursuits.

“I was a big golfer up until this year,” she says. “I used to go to the gym, too… I had to give up something (but) I knew it was short-term.”

Then, she adds with a laugh, “I just can’t have as many bacon cheeseburgers.”

Something tells us the pace she’s working at these days, Tochner can eat just about anything she’d like.

For more, visit rocksbyjoliebray.com.

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Marni O'Shea.

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

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MARNI O’SHEA’S FIRST AMATEUR FIGHT – IN BERWICK, PENNSYLVANIA, IN MAY OF LAST YEAR – WAS NO CAKEWALK. AFTER JUST SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING, SHE NONETHELESS WOUND UP WITH A SPLIT DECISION. NOT BAD WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE NERVES THAT ADDED TO HER EXHAUSTION. “I’d never been in a spot before where someone was trying to hit me in the face,” she says.

But that didn’t dissuade the Danbury resident, who grew up in White Plains. “I’m a firm believer in following your dreams, no matter the adversity.”

Since then O’Shea has compiled a record of nine wins and six losses in 15 bouts sanctioned by USA Boxing, the national governing body for Olympic-style amateur boxing, overseen by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association. At press time, she was scheduled to participate in Christy Martin’s Title Invitational in Lillington, North Carolina, July 18 through 20. That’s provided she makes her weight goal, 125 pounds. At 5 feet, 3 inches and 141 well-muscled pounds when she started — which she whittled down to 132 — O’Shea has had to fight women who are taller than she is, with greater reach in punching and jabbing. Dropping down to 125 pounds means that she will be able to fight women who are similar in height and reach.

After the invitational — named for America’s most successful female boxer, now a fight promoter — O’Shea’s next big event will be the Eastern Elite Qualifier in Columbus, Ohio (Oct. 5-12), in which she lost last year. Then it will be time to consider if she stays with her amateur status — in the hopes of making the Olympic team and going to the Tokyo Summer Games next year — or turns pro.

“That is something we’re still discussing,” she says of her conversations with coach Frankie Cianciotto.

“If I make it, great. But I’ll have to train hard to make the USA team.”

Those who know O’Shea even casually are not surprised to see her succeed in what has traditionally been a man’s world. She grew up playing basketball, volleyball and soccer in a sports- and music-loving family, one of four siblings who include Lisa, a White Plains police officer; Michael, who works with sound systems; and Lucas, who helps special needs children and serves as one of Marni’s coaches. Their mother, Helen, is a teacher at Scarsdale’s Hitchcock School for 1 to 4 year olds.

Their father, Michael, is a retired electrician studying martial arts.

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O’Shea was playing running back and cornerback for the Western Connecticut Hawks, a women’s semipro tackle football team based in Danbury, when Cianciotto discovered her at SET Fitness Gym (which stands for Studio for Extraordinary Training). She says she remembers him telling her that she could make it either as a boxer or a body builder. She thought then, please don’t let it be boxing.

And yet, that sport ultimately seemed to fit better, she says. She liked the challenge — particularly from those who said girls shouldn’t be football players or boxers — and took to the training, which includes six days of cardio, hitting the bag, sparring, lots of arm movements and weightlifting. The last is a particular favorite, O’Shea says, as it breaks up all the cardiovascular work.

She also meditates and watches films of certain boxers like Rocky Marciano, the 1950s heavyweight champion, and controversial 1980s heavyweight champ Mike Tyson.

“I watch their films to see how they won and get in the frame of mind that if they won, I’ll be OK, too.”

Both boxing and football have come under increasing attack in recent years for the concussive effects that have been linked to neurological diseases, including CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).

O’Shea is aware of this but not particularly concerned. She wears a padded helmet that nonetheless leaves her face exposed. (Thus far, she has sustained only a little bruise under one eye.)

For her, boxing is a means to an end. She would one day like to be a singer and actress. Working with producer Skyee Barnes, O’Shea recently released a single — “Drown Me Slow,” for which she wrote the lyrics — on iTunes, Pandora and Spotify.

In the meantime, she hasn’t given up her day job at World Class Parking, a valet services company, adding that owner David Cheitel has been supportive of her boxing schedule.

In everything she does, O’Shea says, she believes that the big coach upstairs has been watching out for her. The O’Sheas are staunch supporters of the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in Hartsdale, as altar servers, ushers and Eucharistic ministers. Marni is no exception.

“It might sound silly, but I have strong faith in God’s protection and I feel safe,” she says, adding that right after she left the Hawks, the team began experiencing a number of injuries.

“It was as if God was guiding me out of there and on to the next thing.”

For more, visit marnitye on Instagram.

Those who know (Marni) O’Shea even casually are not surprised to see her succeed in what has traditionally been a man’s world.

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HOME & DESIGN

WAY

ON THE GLORIOUS WATERFRONT PRESENTED BY SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALITY

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4 BEDROOMS 5 FULL BATHROOMS 1 HALF-BATH, STUDY, PRIVATE BALCONY, BASEMENT, WINE CELLAR, SEPERATE STUDIO

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HOME & DESIGN A wraparound porch and views of the water: Could anything be more idyllic on a summer day? It can be yours yearround at this piquant shingle-style Colonial in Greenwich, overlooking Tower Island and Long Island beyond.

This 7,111-square-foot custom home, set on Byram Shore Road, offers fabulous waterfront views at every turn, from the deep-water dock that anchors the more than 1- acre, manicured property to the open first-floor plan that enables you to access the porch from most rooms.

High ceilings, custom windows â&#x20AC;&#x201D; some of them oval â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and antique chestnut floors create a traditional,

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maritime feel in a house that was built in 1998. A generous master suite spans the back of the house and includes a sitting room, study and private balcony.

Three other bedrooms, a separate studio, a wine cellar, five and a half bathrooms and an unfinished basement are just a few of the spaces that comprise this gracious, manageable getaway convenient to both downtown Greenwich and New York City.

The house is on the market for $8,995,000. For more, contact Heather Platt at 203-983-3802 and Fran Ehrlich at 203-249-5561 or 203-618-3164.

Contemporary Seafood Restaurant Causal Fine Dining Atmosphere Metro Chic Bar/Lounge Alla Fresco Dining Overlooking The Hudson River Private Parties from 15 to 200 Guests 1 Van Der Donck Street ] Yonkers, NY 10701 914.751.8170 ] www.dolphinrbl.com AUGUST 2019

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HOME & DESIGN

WARES

SUMMER-STYLE ENTERTAINING

BY CAMI WEINSTEIN

I love summer, and I love summer entertaining. There is a wonderful casualness about it, as it’s often an impromptu affair after a day at the beach. If the group is on the smaller side, I always use plates and glasses, not paper or plastic.

I love designing table settings and have an ever-growing selection of serving pieces and trays. My husband says I have never met a decorative serving plate that I could resist.

Although I am not a theme decorator, I do find myself collecting pieces that vary on a theme and then mixing them with my other decorative serving pieces. Mixing my serving pieces creates a casual atmosphere, particularly with platters that can be passed around or set up buffet-style.

When entertaining outdoors in summer, I like to use easy, breezy tablecloths and linen napkins. A vase of flowers is a must along with hurricane candleholders. The hurricanes keep the candles from blowing out in the wind. The flowers are picked from my garden or bought from one of the many nearby farm stands and set the tone for the evening. I use decorative trays to get everything in and out of the house and, depending on what I am serving, select from my serving pieces.

I have many “shell” designed pieces in porcelain, glass and ceramic that I use. I also collect brown and white transferware.

(I had to stick with one color as the plate collecting can get a little out of control.) I also use a lot of white serving platters.

Food always looks wonderful on white, and the white serving pieces mix easily with other colors and patterns of dinnerware that I have. I keep selections of both modern and vintage serving pieces, with the mood I’d like to convey determining which to use. Taking the time to care about the presentation lets guests know they are special and enhances the festive atmosphere.

Don’t forget to set up a drink station. I do love a stocked bar cart that can easily be moved around the patio or dining room.

But if you don’t have one, you can easily create a drink station.

Include an assortment of different glasses, cocktail napkins and snacks to accompany a signature drink that will set the tone for a fun summer evening. I also keep plenty of Rosé on hand, a summer standard.

Setting up a drink station away from the kitchen also moves guests out of the kitchen, at least momentarily. (Usually, guests drift back into the kitchen, because, hey, that’s where the food is and often the hosts.) Another of my favorite summer additions is to fill a large beverage dispenser with lemonade, ice tea or fruit-flavored water. A simple recipe is to fill the dispenser with water and ice, then add sliced oranges or lemons, fresh mint or watermelon for a cool, refreshing summer drink.

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I try to keep everyone’s dietary restrictions in mind and will include a platter of grilled veggies and gluten-free items so that everyone can have something they enjoy. We do have groups of friends with so many different eating issues that we often have potluck dinners. Everyone brings items they can eat and share. This takes a lot of pressure off the host and hostess, especially when there are multiple dietary issues in a group. It’s also really fun to try what everyone has brought.

Desserts usually include something chocolate – a cake and some cookies – and a bowl of fresh fruit. We often linger far into the evening and, when in Montauk, often set up a contained beach fire to roast marshmallows and sit around on the beach. Watching the sunset and sharing an early evening dinner party with friends that goes far into the night is a perfect way to spend a summer evening. We have spent many such nights with family and friends that have created memories that we will treasure forever.

For more, visit camidesigns.com.

Lunch set for two by the sea.

Deadline is J

uly 31

CELEBRATING A GENERATION By 2020, millennials will represent half of the workforce in the world. Many individuals from this generation are coming of age and establishing their place in society. The awards celebrate this new era in the workforce and recognize some individuals who are leaving their footprints in the technology and business communities of Westchester and Fairfield.

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The nominees that best fit the criteria will be honored at a cocktail reception and awards presentation.

AWARD CATEGORIES: Changemakers, Business Entrepreneur, Culinary Arts, Digital Media, Education, Economic Development, Journalism, Fashion, Film, Financial Services, Healthcare, Hospitality, Innovation, Law, Music, Social Entrepreneur, Real Estate, Engineering and Technology

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HOME & DESIGN

WARES

STYLIN’ IN THE GARDEN

BY MARY SHUSTACK

New designs from Munder-Skiles include, from left, the Nest Planter and the Mills Planter, which is shown with the Xylo Bench.

Photographs courtesy Munder-Skiles.

Those who like nothing more than spending leisure time in the garden will likely want to check out a new collection of planters from Munder-Skiles.

Faithful WAG readers may already be familiar with Munder-Skiles, introduced in our pages with a 2012 profile of company founder John Danzer and revisited when Danzer was honored with an Award of Excellence by The Horticultural Society of New York two years later.

The company continues to have its home office and Garden Showroom in an artistic setting along Route 9D in Garrison, a lovely destination in itself complete with a waterfall out back. Additionally, there is a showroom at the New York Design Center in Manhattan and representation in Los Angeles.

The big news this summer is the introduction of a collection of new planters from Munder-Skiles, the firm’s name a tribute to two of its founder’s great-grandparents.

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As Danzer has told us, his designs appeal to those he likes to consider “people who are interested in craftsmanship, interested in design, interested in history.”

And the new collection seems ready to follow the Munder-Skiles tradition.

The planters, which range in style from modern to traditional, are designed to look like real stone — but are instead, lightweight options that combine style and function.

They are made from a combination of fiberglass, ground shells and stone, making them suitable for year-round use. Available in four colors, the made-to-order collection is $525 to $1,800 (for the large Norwich Planter, which has a 51-inch diameter).

For more, call the Garrison showroom at 845-613-0060 or visit munder-skiles.com.

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HOME & DESIGN

WHAT'S COLLECTIBLE?

TANTALIZING TURQUOISE

BY JENNIFER PITMAN

“Turquoise is becoming on everyone. It lights up the face.”

So said American jeweler David Webb about one of his favorite gemstones. It certainly is the classic summer accessory, the color of the summer sky, along with the shade of Tiffany & Co.’s iconic blue box. But while we most often associate turquoise with the jewelry of the American Southwest, it actually has a much broader history that spans the globe.

The word “turquoise”, which has come to refer to a color itself, derives from the French turqueise, meaning Turkish — the region through which the mineral traveled to Europe from the Middle East. Turquoise is found in only a few arid regions, such as Iran, the Sinai, China and the American Southwest, where water trickles through host rock, depositing copper, aluminum and zinc. The copper determines the color of turquoise, which can range from pale blue to dark green.

Other materials in the host rock form a matrix, creating the desirable spider webs or blotches of black, brown and yellow color. The color, texture and matrix determine the value of turquoise and the most prized and valuable color of all is an even and intense robin’s egg or sky blue. The finest turquoise is referred to as “Persian blue,” referencing the region where the mineral has been mined for more than 2,000 years. The term is used regardless of where it is actually mined.

The first recorded use of turquoise is in Egypt, where the stone was thought to have protective powers. Mined from the Sinai region, turquoise was used in jewelry, amulets and beads and entombed as early as 5000 B.C. It was even used in Tutankhamun’s legendary gold death mask. Turquoise was also used extensively in Persian, Asian and Mesoamerican cultures.

Victorian turquoise and gold forget-me-not and serpent ring, symbolizing faithfulness and eternal love, sold for $813. Courtesy Rago Auctions.

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In the West, turquoise became highly fashionable during the Victorian era.

(Remember the coveted turquoise ring that Aunt March bestows on spoiled Amy in Louisa May Alcott’s 1868-69 novel “Little Women”?) It was typically cut as round or oval cabochons and was devoid of matrix. In an era known for great sentimentality and symbolism, turquoise was often fashioned as forget-me-not flowers in rings, bracelets and brooches. The simple five-petaled flower conveyed eternal love, remembrance and faithfulness for a departed loved one and was also used to express romantic love. Swallow or dove brooches were often pavéset with turquoise. The swallow symbolized faithfulness in the safe return of a loved one, while the dove signified peace, friendship and hope.

One of the most dramatic uses of turquoise was in the studded scales of serpent necklaces or coiled bracelets. In 1840, Queen Victoria received a snakeform engagement ring from Prince Albert, spurring a fashion for the motif. The serpent symbolized everlasting love and wisdom. As the Victorian era ended, there was a renewed fashion for turquoise, this time in the Egyptian style. This was likely spurred on by the French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt in her role as an elaborately costumed Cleopatra in 1890.

In the United States, the taste for turquoise was propelled by the development of turquoise mines in the Southwest in the 1880s, leading to a boom and subsequent bust in turquoise production. Turquoise was promoted by Tiffany & Co.’s renowned gemologist George F. Kunz as “gem quality,” and the firm is said to have acquired $2 million of the stone during boom times. Tiffany & Co. incorporated many gemstones of American origin, including turquoise, into its jewelry and silver. Some of its most exceptional pieces were displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition, including a turquoise and diamond tiara and a series of silver bowls inset with turquoise based on Native American baskets and pottery.

It was in the postwar era that turquoise became fashionable for both daytime and evening jewelry. In the 1950s and ’60s, turquoise was used extensively with yellow gold in spiral, corded or torsade designs for bracelets, necklaces and brooches to be worn during the day. Often the palette was monochromatic, complemented by sapphires or lapis, with diamond accents.

Animal-form pins made extensive use of turquoise and were produced by Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co., among others. In the 1950s, Van Cleef & Arpels designed a modestly priced collection of gold- and gem-set birds and other animals that became highly collectible. Donald Claflin’s designs for Tiffany & Co. depicted whimsical animals and characters from nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

Jean Schlumberger, the genius designer who also worked for Tiffany & Co., used turquoise in combination with the subtle green of peridot to a particularly elegant effect on his naturalistic creations. Without a doubt, though, it was Webb who was the most eager to exploit turquoise’s joyful nature, favoring the gemstone and coral as preferred “summer” jewels. Webb’s jewelry, always bold, oversized and brightly colored, incorporated many turquoise elements and has been widely collected and endlessly emulated.

For evening, bolder color combinations were employed. Cartier fashioned a turquoise and amethyst bib necklace for the Duchess of Windsor in 1947 and another dramatic necklace using the same color combination for Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1950. Turquoise set with diamonds was also popular for evening. One of the most exceptional pieces was a turquoise and diamond diadem acquired by Post. The diadem, or royal crown, was given by the Emperor Napoleon to his second wife, Marie Louise, in 1810. Originally set with emeralds, the diadem was acquired by Van Cleef & Arpels in the 1950s. The firm removed and sold the emeralds, replacing them with fashionable turquoise. Post acquired it and gave it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 1971 as the ultimate example of high-style turquoise jewelry.

Jennifer Pitman writes about the jewelry, fine art and modern design she encounters as Rago Auction’s senior account manager for Westchester and Connecticut. For more, contact jenny@ragoarts.com or 917-745-2730.

See Africa as only an insider can Bring your camera and learn how to capture some amazing moments.

10-DAY KENYA SAFARI, NOVEMBER 2019 johnrizzophoto.com

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HOME & DESIGN

WHAT'S NEW?

GAME ON

BY KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

Oh, the things we do for fun. There are games for every ability, age and interest, with new ones being invented all the time. The world of fun and games is ever-expanding, both in real life and online.

Poker, chess, bridge, checkers, baccarat, mah-jongg — the list is practically endless. There are games of pure chance, pursuits that demand pure strategy and everything in between. But the most popular pastimes the world over are board games — tabletop games that involve counters or tokens moved on a marked surface (the board) in accordance with a set of rules.

Board games have been around for thousands of years. Senet and backgammon were popular in Egypt and Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago. Chess and Pachisi (the American brand-name version is Parcheesi) were favorites in medieval India, while in ancient China the go-to board game was, well, Go. We love board games first of all because they’re enjoyable and sociable. (For the most part. Apparently, the British royal family stopped playing Monopoly at their yuletide gathering as things got a tad competitive.) Some board games challenge our brains and offer a real mental workout. Others are purely escapist, entertaining and relaxing.

There is another aspect to the appeal of board games, though.

That dimension is the desirability and collectability of antique and vintage game boards as folk art. Even people whose experience with the genre is a seemingly endless game of Monopoly, played on a long-ago, rainy afternoon, appreciate the visual effect of game boards.

Some of the most popular board games have been played in this country since colonial times. Many of the early settlers frowned on games that involved the use of dice or playing cards — “the devil’s pasteboards.” However, traditional favorites such as checkers (the English name is draughts), chess and backgammon continued to be popular and surviving boards are sought after.

The number of different games grew steadily as people gained more leisure time and faced fewer religious restrictions. Thus, board games can often reflect the social and political concerns of their times. In the 1840s, games frequently emphasized religious and moral ideas.

By the 1860s, capitalism and material success were the themes of many games like Game of the District Messenger Boy, or Merit Rewarded. Monopoly, the perennially popular financial game, came out in 1935 in the depths of the Great Depression.

The hot board games of 2019 also reflect contemporary popular culture and preoccupations. Espionage and shifting identities (Codenames); global disease control (Pandemic); adventurous travel (Ticket to Ride), and real estate speculation (Carcassonne) are the themes of some of today’s top sellers.

Many of the boards from the heyday of board games, the 1880s to the 1920s, are striking examples of commercial art. Mass production and the invention of chromolithography made colorful, inexpensive

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printed boards popular. Within a limited form and space — most boards are square in shape and less than 2 feet across — a lot of eye appeal could be created.

Particularly interesting are the unique examples created by do-ityourself artists who expressed their whimsical side through unusual color combinations, fanciful decoration and, in some cases, patriotic or political imagery.

Some games offer a wide scope for creativity in graphic design.

This is especially true of Parcheesi. The cross-and-circle layout of the board allows for multiple colors and creative variations in the geometric shapes. Another desirable game board variant is the “double-duty” board, designed for playing different games on the front and back. A frequent combination is Parcheesi on one side, checkers on the other.

The cribbage game board offers the greatest opportunities for imaginative shape and materials. The board holds the game pieces, pegs that keep track of the score. The play of the game itself involves cards.

One-of-a-kind cribbage boards display the artistry of the sailors, prisoners of war and Eskimos who used wood, walrus tusks and bone to carve miniature masterpieces of folk art.

Particularly prized are scrimshaw examples with decoration depicting life in the age of sailing.

Great graphic design is timeless. Like other examples of folk art, such as pieced quilts, the color and geometry of game boards, especially handmade versions, foreshadow the effect and fascination found in many examples of 20th century abstract art.

Displayed on the wall, eye-catching game boards are at home in any setting, from the strictly traditional to the minimalist modern and the robustly eclectic.

For more, contact Katie at kwhittle@skinnerinc.com or call 212787-1114.

Polychrome paint-decorated double-sided game board, late-19th century American.

Sold at Skinner Inc. for $10,455.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

BOLDLY ONWARD

BY MARY SHUSTACK

FASHION

Within moments of entering Amy Kahn Russell’s studio, we are once again swept into the dazzling world of the Ridgefield-based jewelry designer.

“These are all the new goodies that are going to our trade show,” she says, indeed surrounded by a dizzying selection of earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

She points out a tray of pins nearby, noting, “These are some of our big guys.”

And she’s not kidding. The palm-sized designs, a stunning jade in particular, are ideal for those who like their jewelry bold and beautiful.

“I want you to see these cameos we did that are amazing,” Russell continues, unwrapping pieces already set for travel to Atlanta. “I think they’re one of our prettiest collections ever.”

One thing we immediately note, Russell is as enthusiastic as ever.

We first met her for a story that ran in our December 2017 issue, exploring how art, nature and extensive travel influenced this lifelong artist whose jewelry designs are carried by museum shops, art galleries, boutiques, catalogs and specialty stores, in addition to her own website.

As we see on this return visit, her work has continued to evolve into intriguing new designs yet the core qualities remain — a devotion to vintage and nature-inspired elements and a commitment to creating work that reflects her passions.

Over the years, Russell has developed a network of sources and collaborators who provide her signature elements such as the commissioned cameos created by Italian master craftsmen and painted miniatures by Russian artists.

Garnering much attention today are the Zen-inspired designs, though they are not created, Russell says, as religious works.

“It’s more mindfulness, I guess you would call it. It’s more spiritual.”

When it comes to trends, though, it’s a “yes and no” as to whether she follows them. “We always stay mindful of trends,” she says, though quickly adding, “I always have my own creative juices that flow.”

That finds her mixing elements, choosing from opals and labradorite, turquoise (“always a hot ticket”) and malachite, and incorporating them into designs that include a new collection of hoop earrings. Russell is also expanding her methods, integrating repoussé, a metalwork technique that creates a hammered effect, into some pieces and continuing to design with layering in mind as many choose to wear multiple Russell pendants and necklaces to create their own look.

“It’s all about versatility,” she says. “I want people to enjoy their stuff, not put them away in the box.”

Russell says she especially enjoys working with museums and galleries that purchase her work to complement exhibitions.

“It’s fun for me to take on a theme and run with it.”

She is, it seems, never short of inspiration. The Louisiana-raised

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A selection of new jewelry designs by Amy Kahn Russell.

Photographs by Noelle Feucht and Cathlee Kessman. Courtesy Amy Kahn Russell.

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artist who would eventually land in Texas one day found herself living, for three years, in Hong Kong thanks to her husband’s work.

During that time, she traveled extensively and collected rare gems, minerals and antiques that continue to appear in her designs.

When her husband’s work brought the family to the metro area, Wilton became a longtime home until they moved to Ridgefield more than a decade ago.

Still, Russell is often on the road, traveling to Australia four times a year for home-shopping appearances to satisfy her avid collectors Down Under.

She also recently exhibited at a fine-jewelry show in Las Vegas.

“We had our diamonds and our high-end collection,” she says.

At the NY NOW trade show in Manhattan earlier this year, the lavish Amy Kahn Russell booth included some unexpected elements — a selection of her mosaic and stained-glass work, including wall hangings and mirrors. Those pieces, reflections of Russell’s ongoing artistry and a multimedia approach that yields one-of-a-kind creations, are being integrated into the AKR offerings.

“I’ve been doing art and combining antiques in my work for decades,” she says, showing off an array of works in progress.

“There’s minerals and little artifacts and some have antiques.”

We’re not surprised at the integration of so many elements, as Russell has previously told us she embraces the “more is more” approach.

Clearly, it’s still working for her.

For more, visit amykahnrussell.com.

Amy Kahn Russell in her Ridgefield studio. Photograph by Mary Shustack.

ARTSWESTCHESTER, THE CITY OF WHITE PLAINS & THE WHITE PLAINS BID

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• Melissa Aldana • Emmet Cohen • George Coleman • Jimmy Cobb • Pete Malinverni • Mwenso & the Shakes • Joel Ross • Camille Thurman For tickets & Concert info: artsw.org/jazzfest Sponsored by:

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LIVING WITH FTD IS HARD. LIVING WITHOUT HELP IS HARDER. THERE’S COMFORT IN FINDING OTHERS WHO UNDERSTAND. WE FINALLY FOUND A DOCTOR WHO GETS IT. I GOT SO MUCH ADVICE FROM OTHER CAREGIVERS. UNDERSTANDING MORE HELPS ME DEAL WITH HER SYMPTOMS. SEEING THAT OTHERS MADE IT THROUGH, I KNEW I COULD TOO. WE HONOR HIM BY ADVOCATING FOR A CURE. NOW I’M BETTER AT ASKING FOR HELP. NO MATTER HOW BAD IT GETS, WE KNOW WE’RE NOT ALONE. It can feel so isolating and confusing from the start: Just getting a diagnosis of FTD takes 3.6 years on average. But no family facing FTD should ever have to face it alone, and with your help, we’re working to make sure that no one does.

The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) is dedicated to a world without FTD, and to providing help and support for those living with this disease today. Choose to bring hope to our families: www.theAFTD.org/learnmore

FASHION

WEAR

MONET FOR A RAINY DAY

BY MARY SHUSTACK

We’ve all been there.

We’re out and about, enjoying a morning saunter through the botanical garden or an afternoon at a sporting event. Or perhaps it’s when you’re farther away from home, on a much-anticipated trip that you imagined being full of sunny moments…

Next thing you know, the sky turns dark, the wind kicks up and you’re suddenly in the midst of an unexpected pelting of raindrops.

If you’ve planned ahead, you can avoid scurrying to buy a bulky umbrella or one of those ubiquitous-but-ugly cheap ponchos and simply pop on your RainCaper.

What’s that? Glad you asked.

WAG first saw the RainCaper at the NY NOW trade show in Manhattan — the company’s booth filled with the colorful, artful and stylish travel capes, a clever alternative to a raincoat.

We would soon learn that RainCaper is a Pennsylvania-based company founded by the mother-daughter team of Jan Hartman and Lindsay Hagerman. Hartman, a designer, ran a destination retail shop where the pair offered distinctive gifts and accessories for nearly a quarter of a century. When Hartman retired to spend more time with her family, she realized there was a gap in the market for an accessory that was “more versatile than a rain poncho and stylish enough to wear both every day as well as for 88

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travel and special occasions,” as company materials share.

Hence, the creation of RainCaper, a lightweight, hooded, breathable and softy-and-silky design said to work in “drizzle or downpour.”

It’s easy to pack for a flight or cruise, to fold up in a museum or simply to grab when walking the dog or heading to the gym. They are machine-washable, water-repellant and reversible, with one size fitting most while also billowy enough to cover a designer bag or anything you might be carrying.

Martha Wright, director of marketing for RainCaper — and a former Danbury resident — says the design works not just for rain but “even if you’re in an overly air-conditioned environment.”

Along that line is the WarmCaper, the next generation of the company’s designs that reverses to a warmer side for cooler weather.

But when it comes to the RainCaper, function is only part of the story.

In addition to a selection of solid hues and prints such as paisley, plaid and leopard, garnering much attention is the RainCaper Fine Art Collection. Designed in collaboration with the entities that own the artwork, these selections reflect Hartman’s love of the arts, as she and her husband are avid collectors.

From left: The WarmCaper is a cooler-weather option from RainCaper. Here, a design based on Gustave Caillebotte’s 1877 work “Paris Street, Rainy Day; and two selections from RainCaper’s Fine Art Collection, the Tiffany Magnolia, a design based on the iconic work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and “Celia’s Garden,” designed in honor of Childe Hassam’s “Celia Thaxter’s Garden, Isles of Shoals, Maine, 1890.” Hassam was a member of the Cos Cob Art Colony.

Photographs courtesy RainCaper.

The RainCaper Fine Art Collection options are based on works ranging from Childe Hassam to Vincent van Gogh, Louis Comfort Tiffany to Maurice Prendergast, Edgar Degas to Wassily Kandinsky and William Morris to Claude Monet, among others.

“Jan (Hartman) really spends a lot of time making sure the colors are really true to the art,” Wright says.

And, as might be imagined, the RainCaper designs attract a discerning shopper, leading to them being carried by a number of sophisticated retail outlets. In our region, these range from the Museum Shop at the Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown to the elegant Turkey Ridge boutique in Ridgefield.

When WAG stops by Turkey Ridge on a recent day, Nadine Dolhy tours us through her RainCaper selection, noting they are not only “very pretty” and “very different” but also “very practical. They’re great for travel and they’re lightweight.”

And, she adds, “One of the features they have which sets them apart from other companies is the magnetic closure.”

Noting they make ideal gifts, Dolhy concludes that RainCapers are also perfect for suburbanites who are constantly “in and out of the car and never carry an umbrella.”

Sound familiar?

For more, visit raincaper.com.

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AH, BACK TO BLANTYRE

BY JEREMY WAYNE

TRAVEL

On a Monday night early in the season, when most country hotel dining rooms are quiet as dormice and the ice clinking in your bourbon on the rocks can cut through the stillness like an unwelcome expletive, the bistro at Blantyre is buzzing. There is none of the whispered sepulchral silence of other fancy hotels, no standing on ceremony, no grovelling before a sommelier whose encyclopaedic knowledge of wine can make one feel very, very small. Which is not to say that Blantyre lags in the wine department, by the way, because along with the perky Proseccos and the cheerful Chiantis, you can, if you wish, drink a Grand Cru Romanée-Conti 2010 for $20,000 from the hotel’s 7,000-bottle wine cellar, the excellence of which has been attested to by a Wine Spectator Grand Award.

A vast and imposing Tudor-style manor house built in 1902, Blantyre, a Forbes Five-Star property in Lenox, Massachusetts, is one of only 12 remaining Gilded Age mansions in the Berkshires, a distinguished but — heavens to Betsy, never stuffy — country house hotel, run with style and discernment, for people who know they have “arrived” without having to shout about it. It is the first United States property to be included in the prestigious Relais & Châteaux hotel and restaurant collection. I first visited Blantyre a little over 10 years ago and was bowled over by its sheer loveliness. Standing proudly on 110 acres of lawn and woodland, Blantyre has it all, from sumptuous guest rooms with exquisite furniture in the manor house, to magnificent public rooms with Murano glass chandeliers, to a superb fine dining restaurant and bistro. And if I was anxious that a change of ownership and recent renovation were going to change the look and tenor of the place — and I admit I was — then happily my fears were ungrounded.

Blantyre, I can report, is looking absolutely tops — spruce and spry after its recent “refresh,” but never, ever showy.

The grandeur of the house, slightly somber from the outside, with its great baronial fireplaces in the public rooms, along with working fireplaces in eight of the guest rooms, makes a nod — albeit an anachronistic one — to English literature. Mandalay in Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca,” Thornfield Hall in Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” or Wuthering Heights in Emily Brontë’s eponymous novel all spring to mind. Of course, where Blantyre parts company with the great houses of literature is that it is a very happy house, sunny in every sense. Its great hall and adjoining music room, where you could spend an afternoon, a day or even a week happily immersed in book, from Blantyre’s vast

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and beguiling collection, are both bathed in light.

Books loom large at Blantyre and so does music. Pianist Karèn Tchougourian plays the grand piano in the music room six nights a week, everything from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” (think “A Room with a View”) through the American songbook to Chopin and Rachmaninoff. And then, of course, there is Tanglewood, virtually on the doorstep, so that Blantyre and the festival have, over the years, become almost intrinsically bound up. It’s a rare night in July or August when a Tanglewood performer is not staying at Blantyre, rubbing shoulders with guests who are up in the Berkshires to hear them perform. And the Norman Rockwell Museum is in adjacent Stockbridge.

Between the art, the music, the literature (The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home is minutes away) and an all-round sense of

The stately Blantyre exterior.

Photographs courtesy Blantyre.

intellectual well-being — sitting on one of Blantyre’s terraces, sipping a Gilded Age cocktail in the early evening — watching a civilized game of croquet on the lawn, I catch myself having a Henry James moment. But Blantyre is not only an aesthetic, cultural experience, it can also be a sporty one, with its Olympicsize, heated outdoor swimming pool, open in summer and fall, and beautifully appointed tennis courts. Add to this hiking trails and nature walks, badminton, shuffleboard, kayaking on the nearby lake and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in winter, you’ll be glad to return to Blantyre’s cosseting comfort at the end of an active day, no matter the season.

The hotel’s spa, with five treatment rooms standing alongside the pool, punches well above its weight. Top of the line Circadia

by Dr. Pugliese skincare products are used, while Omorovicza

Main hall.

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products — the latter, a skincare range from Hungary, coming soon — will be exclusive to Blantyre. And along with the conventional facials and massage therapies, you can enjoy some exceptional treatments from the small band of highly professional therapists. My fave? The Signature Moor Mud and Hot Stone treatment, a detoxifying exfoliation using sea salt and Hungarian moor mud capsicum peptide, which is exceptionally relaxing and invigorating in equal parts.

Back at the manor, as the main house is called, the posh-option, fine dining restaurant, The Conservatory, is open Wednesdays through Sundays and the food is city-standard superb. You might follow an appetizer of Menemsha lobster (from Martha’s Vineyard), prepared with anise, Galia melon and finger lime, with Nantucket scallops and Jonah crab, or breast of Hudson Valley duck with citrus and rhubarb. Desserts are extravagant: chocolate yuzu mélange, for instance, or a heirloom strawberry confection, utterly delicious. Most of the food served is local, celebrating the bounty of New England and everything just sings with freshness. The adjoining, bistro is open all day, for zingy salads, local artisanal cheeses, the lightest spring pea risotto, a hamburger or a great steak.

Other eating and drinking options include the Dom Pérignon salon, which offers specialty Champagne selections from that celebrated maison, served exclusively at Blantyre, either in the speakeasy-like, brick-walled LaCave, or al fresco on the terrace.

Less ritzy but equally delightful, in the summer months, you can also eat around the pool from the snacky H2O menu. And staying in the Carriage House a few weeks back, where 11 of Blantyre’s 23 guest rooms and suites are situated, I broke with my

usual custom and ordered room service breakfast. It was terrific, arriving punctually, the oatmeal piping hot and served exactly as requested, and a beautiful blush-pink rose adorning the breakfast tray. But it was the tea that really got me — a properly brewed cup of English breakfast tea, with extra hot water, the best “cuppa” I think I have had in all the years I have lived in America. (Well, it is called New England.)

After all, it’s the little things that count because, God, they say, is in the details. In this little slice of heaven in western Massachusetts called Blantyre, all I can say is He must have been working overtime.

For more, visit blantyre.com.

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WANDERS

STEEL TOWN REBORN

BY BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

TRAVEL

Once a smoky city of heavy industry where the skies were darkened with soot at midday, Pittsburgh has emerged as a post-industrial metropolis committed to sustainability, green building and new urbanism. Creative Pittsburghers have redefined the city’s economy through technology, design and adaptive reuse.

Known both as “Steel City” for its more than 300 steel-related businesses and as “City of Bridges” for its 446 bridges, Pittsburgh is now defined as much by the arts. The city’s commitment to culture, paired with internationally acknowledged sustainable practices, is among the reasons Pittsburgh is recognized as one of the world’s best places to live and visit.

Indeed, Travel + Leisure has named the city one of the best places to travel. Zagat has rated it the nation’s number one food city and TripAdvisor calls it one of the top destinations on the rise. Worth checking out, I’d say.

Hometown boy Among this city’s biggest draws — outstanding attractions, amenities, award-winning restaurants, world-class accommodations, and affordability. Oops, one more, Andy (Warhol, that is), Pittsburgh’s very own son, famous for way more than just 15 minutes.

Whether or not you’re a fan of Warhol’s marriage of commercial and high art, the Andy Warhol Museum merits a visit. It is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and on its seven floors there are drawings, prints, paintings, sculptures, films and videos, as well as an extensive archive of ephemera, source material and other documents from the artist’s life. The Warhol Museum also features work by other artists, performances, special exhibitions, film screenings, lectures and concerts. Another provocative museum is The Frick Pittsburgh, where “A Sporting Vision” is on view through Sept. 8.

I followed my time at The Frick with a visit to the towering, elevated site of the Duquesne Incline that boasts “139 years and climbing.” At the top of Mount Washington there’s a cable car station with finely restored cars used by commuters since 1877. At this lofty perch one can experience the impressive Pittsburgh skyline and then smoothly descend to earth — up close and personal with the bustle and beauty of Pittsburgh today.

Gilt, glamour and gardens However, the Pittsburgh of early 20th century was pretty darn awe-inspiring, as well. The Frick Art & Historical Center is on 5 acres of beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens. I toured Clayton, the meticulously restored home of the Henry Clay Frick family, with an inside view of day-to-day life at the turn of the 20th century and a stunning array of decorative arts, of which more than 90% are original. A superb way to enjoy the grounds of The Frick is at one of 94

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its Summer Fridays. There are free performances in the gardens with such diverse programs as ballet, food trucks and a dance party. Isn’t summer swell?

Sports town And now a shout-out to sports in Pittsburgh, a place where it seems fans are just a wee bit more dedicated, a tiny bit crazier and above all, die-hard to the end. Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating from the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the “City of Champions” when the Pirates, the Panthers and the Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins.

These accomplishments and others helped Pittsburgh earn the title of “Best Sports City” from Sporting News. Sports writer Jeff Hartman defines a die-hard Steelers fan as someone who knows the team totally, can talk at length about the battle at right tackle, knows who used to play that position, their compensation and who is among those vying for the one vacant spot on the Steelers’ offensive line. Of course, the number of jerseys one owns, if you have a ton of Steelers garb on your vehicle, having a man cave with Steelers stuff in it or getting a Steelers tattoo also counts.

Green scene But Pittsburgh has also made environmentalism something of a competitive sport as well as an art, as the Re-NEW Festival showed in 2016. It was a citywide celebration of creative reuse, transformation and sustainability lasting a whole month. A key component of the event was the North American premiere of Drap-Art, the international festival of recycling art held annually in Barcelona, Spain. This set the stage for dynamic programming, including art exhibits within conventional galleries and alternative urban spaces, immersive public art and tours of reclaimed industrial sites. Markets of upcycled goods, films, performances and environmental trade expos showcased the festival’s themes of creative recycling and transformation. How fitting that this event happened in Pittsburgh, a notable and important expression of just how far this city — mighty and beautiful — has evolved.

For more, go to visitpittsburgh.com.

The Pittsburgh skyline from the North Shore at morning.

Photograph by Tim Tierney.

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WANDERS

TASTIN’ JAMAICAN

BY DEBBI K. KICKHAM AND WILLIAM D. KICKHAM

TRAVEL

What’s not great about Jamaica?

We recently undertook a brief stay at Sandals Montego Bay, where fun things abound. While we were there, we did a wealth of fun things off property.

Our latest-and-greatest excursion was at Yaaman Adventures, for a “Flavours of Jamaica Culinary Experience,” a tour in which we learned all about Jamaica’s rich heritage through its diverse culture. Yaaman Adventures offers numerous ways to indulge yourself in all things Jamaican and our cooking tour was just the start. We took a ride to a great house that is situated 1,100 feet above sea level, offering panoramic views. There, we and 10 others indulged in a terrific cooking class where we learned how to make jerk chicken. “I’m Chef Irie,” our chef said outside, where a steel-drum cooker reigned supreme. We donned aprons and hair nets. Our mise en place consisted of chicken breasts plus an array of 15 ingredients, including green onions, Red Stripe beer (“That’s motivation, right,” Chef Irie laughed) plus Scotch bonnet peppers. (A Scotch bonnet pepper, in case you don’t know, is a Caribbean red pepper — a variety of chili pepper named for its resemblance to a tam o’shanter cap.

This chili pepper is native to the Caribbean islands and Central America. And it is hot, hot, hot.)

We grilled our chicken, then added the ingredients and started on our jerk sauce. This is a mix of Scotch bonnets marinated in white vinegar, sugar, Red Stripe beer and ketchup. (You could add as much or as little of the Scotch bonnet peppers, depending on how fiery you wanted to make your meal.)

We were also given the ingredients for dough — flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cornmeal. We kneaded it all together and made it into any shape we wanted — little round balls, stars, half-moons, you name it.

We all then took turns putting them into the boiling water, where we made “Festival,” which are Jamaican cornbread fritters. Next, we made callaloo — bok choi with thyme, tomatoes, scallions, dry rub and bell peppers. We put into the sauté pan and made coconut sauce, using dehydrated coconut and water, onions, sweet peppers, scallions, tomatoes, butter, dry rub and thyme — and let it all boil down. This turned into a coconut cream sauce that was dreamy for the top of our bok choi.

The result? A delicious lunch that was healthy and full of Jamaican flair.

For dessert, our driver — a wonderful man named Willie Burgess — took us to the parish of St. Ann to see the “puddin man,” who is famous for his local puddings. (They are more like pound cake than pudding but equally delicious.) The sweet potato version is tasty, with, as they say, hell on top, hell on the bottom and a hallelujah in the middle. You can even see, outside, the Caribbean steel drums, covered with hot charcoal, in which they bake the puddings. A must-see — and a must-taste.

Yaaman, it was amazing.

All things considered, is it any wonder, then, that Trip Advisor ranked Jamaica the No. 1 Caribbean Destination in 2019?

For more, visit yaamanadventure.com, placesmap.net and visitjamaica.com.

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The island of Jamaica is famous for its sandy beaches, friendly people and luxurious resorts.

Courtesy Jamaica Tourist Board.

Chef Irie taught our Wanderers Debbi and William Kickham how to make jerk chicken. Bring out the Red Stripe beer. Photograph by Debbi K. Kickham.

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WANDERS

SEASIDE SANTA MONICA

BY JEREMY WAYNE

TRAVEL

Santa Monica is having a moment. The Pacific coastal city, bordered by Pacific Palisades to the north and Venice to the south, has long been fun central for a certain kind of beach-blond, surfer type — the city has been called Brooklyn with palm trees.

But along with its good-time image and 3 miles of beachfront, there has always been a certain frowzy aspect to Santa Monica, which perhaps has been part of its charm — the supersmart alongside the not so spiffy, with shabby pockets that were not always chic.

Now, to quote Bob Dylan — he owns a coffee shop above a boxing gym on 18th Street — the times they are a changin’. Two new hotels, Santa Monica Proper Hotel and Oceana, both just opened, have upped an already high hotel bar in the city, joining the likes of Shutters on the Beach, its sister property Hotel Casa del Mar and the elegant Viceroy Santa Monica, throwing the luxury hotel scene wide open.

Let's start with the Proper. The first new-build lifestyle hotel to open in Santa Monica in nearly 25 years, the 27-room Proper comprises a sleek, sweeping new construction, fused to a late-1920s Arthur E. Harvey-designed Spanish Colonial Revival building. The clever pairing has created — in the words of the Proper’s publicists — the city’s freshest, most invigorating luxury hotel. Well, invigorating may be pushing it, but the Proper is certainly a contender.

The historic building has been restored to its former glory, both inside and out and, if you fancy a trip to Spain without leaving these shores, the Proper is the place to head for. The Spanish architecture includes a great slew of gorgeous Moorish details, while local artists and designers have added a touch of contemporary Santa Monica cool — soft pastels and textures, natural sunlight and ocean breezes. It’s a winning combo.

In contrast, the new building is monolithic in nature. Celebrity designer Kelly Wearstler — whose other half is the hotel’s developer, Brad Korzen — has cleverly referenced the beach in her decoration, but it’s an organic beach, this one, full of natural colors, rather than traditional “beachy” shades. You’ll search hard for any stripy blues or

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A room at Santa Monica Proper Hotel. Courtesy The Ingalls.

candy-cane yellows at the Proper, but you won’t miss them.

“Earthy, raw materials, organic textiles and a layering in of art and landscape bring a rich sensory feeling into the hotel,” Wearstler says.

There is a lobby lounge, Palma, with a smallbites menu, already a magnet for the less shabby aspect of Santa Monica — indeed, a very glam crowd who seem to be packing out the space all through the day, throwing traditional cocktail times to the wind. And this being the Proper group, always ahead of the field, it’s no surprise they’ve snagged Jessica Koslow of Sqirl, the trailblazing Los Angeles café that has blown California cooking out of the water recently.

She heads up the flagship first-floor restaurant, Onda, along with Gabriela Cámara of Contramar in Mexico City fame. Up on the roof, meanwhile, as The Drifters would have had it, is Calabra, an indoor-outdoor bistro with Mediterranean food and California sunsets.

You work off all the excess California calories doing laps in the seventh-floor pool (the only hotel rooftop pool on the westside of LA), or working out in the 24-hour fitness center. So vast and mind bogglingly state of the art is the gym that when I first saw the renderings of it a few months ago, I grew instantly tired and could think of nothing except going back to bed (but that’s just me.) Taking refuge in the 3,000-squarefoot Ayurvedic Surya Spa, where nourishing, detoxifying and restorative treatments are offered, is the blissful alternative, although this being California, remember that even the art of relaxation is a serious business.

All in all, the Proper is a proper winner.

Oceana is a horse of a different color. A $25 million transformation of the former Oceana Beach Club Hotel, right across from the beach in Santa Monica, Oceana describes itself as a hideaway luxury hotel. And it is luxurious indeed — Hernando is nowhere in sight.

Where the Proper sends out a siren call to the beautiful and tanned, Oceana merely whispers its allure. It’s smaller of scale and more

Mediterranean in feel, with the fact that general manager, Anne-Juliette Maurice, has come from the Plaza-Athénée in Paris as clue to how the Oceana is run. With just 70 suites, this little jewel feels more like a private house — albeit quite a sizable one — than the grand hotel it is. Frills come thick and fast. There are house cars for private transfers, yoga on the lawn and some snazzy bikes to take you up and down the beachfront.

“A beachside home from home,” runs the bumf, and while my own home does not feature handtufted Nepalese rugs, Loro Piana bedding and Frette linens (in fact, the last time I looked in our linen closet at home, there were no linens at all,) the point is well taken. Rich velvet-upholstered sofas and four-poster beds complete the bedroom look.

The bathrooms aren’t half bad either — spainspired and crammed with Bottega Veneta products. You will need a large suitcase just to take them all home. (Naughty — but we all do it.)

Select suites come with ocean-view balconies and fully stocked kitchens and all rooms feature fine deluxe minibar cabinets, because as we all know, Lilliputian fridges are so over.

There is a pool, of course, intimately situated in the outdoor courtyard — shades of a Moroccan riad here — and a rather snazzy fitness studio with equipment from Peloton and Woodway. A mani-pedi station and a barber chair mean guests can be groomed to perfection without stepping outside the front door.

And the indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar, exclusive to Oceana guests — a little minimalist for my taste but firmly rooted in the California genre — is curated by the popular LA chef Raphael Lunetta, whose Westside restaurant JiRaffe was one of my favorite eateries out west, until it closed its doors in 2014.

So, there you have it, two contrasting hotels, which will bring the smart money back to Santa Monica, although some will contend it has never gone away.

For more, visit hoteloceanasantamonica.com and properhotel.com.

WAG COUNTRY'S PRIVATE & BOARDING SCHOOLS PREPARING THE NE X T GENER ATION

Spotlighting the most elite private and boarding schools in our region

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PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION

THE BI-CULTURAL SCHOOL 2186 High Ridge Road, Stamford, Connecticut 06903 203-329-2186 // bcds.org Top administrator: Jacqueline Herman

FAIRFIELD COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield, Connecticut 06824 203-254-4200 // fairfieldprep.com Top administrator: Rev. Thomas M. Simisky

BRUNSWICK SCHOOL 100 Maher Ave., Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 203-625-5800 // brunswickschool.org Top administrator: Thomas Philip

FAIRFIELD COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 2970 Bronson Road, Fairfield, Connecticut 06824 203-259-2723 // fairfieldcountryday.org Top administrator: John R. Munro Jr.

THE CHAPEL SCHOOL 172 White Plains Road, Bronxville, New York 10708 914-337-3202 // thechapelschool.org Top administrator: Michael Schultz

FORDHAM PREPARATORY SCHOOL 441 E. Fordham Road, Bronx, New York 10458 718-367-7500 // fordhamprep.org Top administrator: Christopher Devron

CHRISTIAN HERITAGE SCHOOL 575 White Plains Road, Trumbull, Connecticut 06611 203-261-6230 // kingsmen.org Top administrator: Brian Modarelli

FRENCH-AMERICAN SCHOOL OF NEW YORK Pre-school 85 Palmer Ave., Scarsdale, New York 10583 914-250-0521 Elementary School 111 Larchmont Ave., Larchmont, New York 10538 914-250-0469 Middle and High School 145 New St., Mamaroneck, New York 10543 914-250-0451 fasny.org Top administrator: Joël Peinado

DARROW SCHOOL 110 Darrow Road, New Lebanon, New York 12125 518-794-6000 // darrowschool.org Top administrator: Simon Holzapfel EAGLE HILL SCHOOL 45 Glenville Road, Greenwich, Connecticut 06831 203-622-9240 // eaglehillschool.org Top administrator: Marjorie E. Castro

GREEN MEADOW WALDORF SCHOOL 307 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, New York 10977 845-356-2514 // gmws.org Top administrator: Bill Pernice, pedagogical administrator GREENWICH ACADEMY 200 N. Maple Ave. Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 203-625-8900 // greenwichacademy.org Top administrator: Molly H. King THE GREENWICH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 401 Old Church Road, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 203-865-5600 // gcds.net Top administrator: Adam Rohdie THE GREENWICH SPANISH SCHOOL The O’Connor Center 6 Riverside Ave., Riverside, Connecticut 06878 203-698-1500 // greenwichspanish.org Top administrator: Rosario Brooks, director THE GUNNERY 22 Kirby Road, Washington, Connecticut 06793 860-868-7334 // gunnery.org Top administrator: Peter W. E. Becker

GERMAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL NEW YORK 50 Partridge Road, White Plains, New York 10605 914-948-6513 // gisny.org Top administrator: Ulrich Weghoff

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#IAMIONAPREP BEGIN YOUR COLLEGE PREPARATORY JOURNEY THIS FALL Contact Admissions@IonaPrep.org or visit IonaPrep.org Iona Preparatory Upper School 255 Wilmot Road New Rochelle, NY 10804 (914) 600-6154

Iona Preparatory Lower School 173 Stratton Road New Rochelle, NY 10804 (914) 633-7744

   

  @IonaPrep in/IonaPrep IonaPreparatory +IonaPreparatorySchool

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HACKLEY SCHOOL 293 Benedict Ave., Tarrytown, New York 10591 914-366-2600 // hackleyschool.org Top administrator: Michael C. Wirtz

JOHN F. KENNEDY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL 54 Route 138, Somers, New York 10589 914-232-5061 // kennedycatholic.org Top administrator: Father Mark G. Vaillancourt

THE HARVEY SCHOOL 260 Jay St., Katonah, New York 10536 914-232-3161 // harveyschool.org Top administrator: Bill Knauer

THE KARAFIN SCHOOL 40-1 Radio Circle, Mount Kisco, New York 10549 914-666-9211 // karafinschool.com Top administrator: Renee L. Donow

IONA PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Lower School, grades PK-4 to 8 173 Stratton Road, New Rochelle, New York 10804 914-633-7744 Upper School, grades 9-12 255 Wilmot Road, New Rochelle, New York 10804 914-632-0714 // ionaprep.org Top administrator: Brother Thomas Leto Westchester’s only all-boys, K-12 Catholic school has been preparing young men for success for more than 100 years. Rigorous academics with three levels of study, a personalized and comprehensive school counseling and college advisement program, unique Christian service and leadership opportunities locally, nationally and internationally championship athletics, and an array of activities provide students with the foundation for success in college and in life. Come for a visit and see the Iona Prep Difference for yourself.

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KIMBALL UNION ACADEMY

64 Main St. Meriden, New Hampshire 603-469-2100. // www.kua.org Serving grades nine through 12 and post-graduate, Kimball Union draws on its rich 200-year history to deliver a 21st-century curriculum that challenges students and prepares them for success in college and life in a friendly, holistic environment on its 1,300-acre campus in Meriden. Signature programs, including visual and performing arts, athletics, STEM, global and art scholar programs and 20 advanced placement courses provide students with opportunities to expand their learning beyond the classroom with innovative learning for inquiring minds,

KING SCHOOL

1450 Newfield Ave., Stamford, Connecticut 06905 203-322-2496 // kingschoolct.org Top administrator: Karen E. Eshoo, Ph.D. At King School, we seek more than achievement for our students. Our goal is to open minds and spark courageous thinking. Every day, our students discover and forge their unique paths to excellence, as we teach, guide and cheer them on. Because when we set better standards for both the experience and outcomes of education, students cultivate the insights and heart to own their future.

Open House: Grades 6-11: Oct. 6, 1 to 4 p.m.

PreK - Grade 5: Nov. 3, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

LÉMAN MANHATTAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL Lower School 41 Broad St., New York, New York 10004 Upper School 1 Morris St., New York, New York 10004 212-232-0266 // lemanmanattan.org Top administrator: Maria Castelluccio MAPLEBROOK SCHOOL 5142 Route 22, Amenia, New York 12501 845-373-8191 // maplebrookschool.org Top administrator: Donna Konkolics

Open minds.

Courageous thinking.

Dare to ask more of education.

Register for Open House Oct 6: Grades 6-11 | Nov 3: PreK-Grade 5 kingschoolct.org/openhouse

BE A SCHOLAR. BE AN ATHLETE. BE A VOLUNTEER. BE A LEADER. BE A PERFORMER. BE AN ARTIST. BE A GRYPHON! Learn more about what it means to BE A GRYPHON at our All-School Open House Saturday, October 19, 2019 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

2225 Westchester Avenue, Rye, NY (914) 967-5622 | www.holychildrye.org

AN ALL-GIRLS, CATHOLIC, INDEPENDENT, COLLEGE-PREPARATORY SCHOOL FOR GRADES 5-12 AUGUST 2019

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MARIA REGINA HIGH SCHOOL

500 W. Hartsdale Ave., Hartsdale, New York 10530 914-373-8191 // mariaregina.org Top administrator: Anna Parra Since its founding in 1957, Maria Regina High School has been a distinguished leader in education for young women, providing a rigorous learning environment and strong social and moral guidance in a faith-based tradition. Celebrating more than 60 years of excellence, MRHS is committed to the values of Scholarship, Service and Spirit. We challenge young women intellectually, spiritually, athletically and through extracurriculars. By embracing the diverse personal, cultural and intellectual backgrounds of its students, MRHS develops young women so that they can make a significant contribution to their community and society.

THE MASTERS SCHOOL

49 Clinton Ave., Dobbs Ferry, New York 10522 914-479-6400 // mastersny.org Top administrator: Laura Danforth The Masters School is a leading coed, five-day and seven-day boarding school for grades 5-12 that fosters active intellectual exploration through a vibrant convergence of ideas, cultures, arts and athletics. Masters’ students confidently find their own voices and emerge ready for success in college, career and life.

Located on a beautiful 96-acre campus, The Masters School is distinguished by its powerful and transformative approach to education featuring the renowned Harkness teaching methodology. Gathered

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around oval tables, students take an active role in their education, which builds confident, collaborative and poised scholars. Both day and boarding students benefit from learning in a boarding school environment, which includes the resources, diversity and activities of Masters’ vibrant seven-day campus, convenient access to New York City with a majority of faculty living on campus. To learn more about giving your child the Masters’ advantage, attend the fall Open House on Oct. 19 or Groups Tours on Sept. 19 and Oct. 3. To RSVP, contact admission@mastersny. org or 914-479-6420.

MILLBROOK SCHOOL 131 Millbrook School Road, Millbrook, New York 12545 845-677-8261 // millbrook.org Top administrator: Drew Casertano THE MONTFORT ACADEMY 125 E. Birch St., Mount Vernon, New York 10552 914-699-7090 // themontfortacademy.org Top administrator: David Petrillo NEW CANAAN COUNTRY SCHOOL 635 Frogtown Road, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840 203-972-0771 // countryschool.net Top administrator: Robert P. Macrae NORD ANGLIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL 44 E. Second St., New York, New York 10003 212-600-2010 // nordangliaeducation.com Top administrator: Adam Stevens, interim principal

NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL 220 Jefferson St., Fairfield, Connecticut 06825 203-372-6521 // notredame.org Top administrator: Christopher Cipriano OAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOOL 22 Spackenhill Road, Poughkeepsie, New York 12603 845-242-2340 // oakwoodfriends.org Top administrator: Chad Cianfrani REGIS HIGH SCHOOL 55 E. 84 St., New York, New York 10028 212-288-1100 // regis.org Top administrator: Father Daniel Lahart RIDGEFIELD ACADEMY 223 W. Mountain Road, Ridgefield, Connecticut 6877 203-894-1800 // ridgefieldacademy.org Top administrator: James P. Heus RIPPOWAM CISQUA Lower School 325 W. Patent Road, Mount Kisco, New York 10549 914-244-1200 Upper School 439 Cantitoe St., Bedford, New York 10506 914-244-12500 // rcsny.org Top administrator: Colm MacMahon RYE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 3 Cedar St., Rye, New York 10580 914-967-1417 // ryecountryday.org Top administrator: Scott A. Nelson

PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION

SACRED HEART GREENWICH

1177 King St., Greenwich, Connecticut 06831 203-531-6500 // cshgreenwich.org Top administrator: Pamela Juan Hayes Sacred Heart Greenwich provides an empowering learning environment for girls and young women from kindergarten through 12th grade to prepare them to become confident, intelligent and compassionate global leaders. The school offers a coed program for young children at the Barat Center for Early Childhood Education. Located on a beautiful 110-acre campus at 1177 King St., in Greenwich, Connecticut, Sacred Heart is an all-girls’ Catholic, independent college-preparatory day school that offers a rigorous academic program, which challenges students to take on a variety of leadership roles on campus and beyond.

SACRED HEART HIGH SCHOOL 34 Convent Ave., Yonkers, New York 914-966-3144 // sacredhearths.org Top administrator: Rev. Maurice Moreau SAINT BARNABAS HIGH SCHOOL 425 E. 240 St., Bronx, New York 10470 718-325-8800 // stbarnabashigh.com Top administrator: Theresa Napoli SAINT JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL 2320 Huntington Turnpike, Trumbull, Connecticut 06611 203-378-9378 // sjcadets.org Top administrator: William Fitzgerald

SAINT LUKE’S SCHOOL 377 N. Wilton Road, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840 203-966-5612 // stlukesct.org Top administrator: Mark Davis SALESIAN HIGH SCHOOL 148 E. Main St., New Rochelle, New York 10801 914-632-0248 // salesianhigh.org Top administrator: John Serio

SCHOOL OF THE HOLY CHILD

2225 Westchester Ave., Rye, New York 10580 914-967-5622 // holychildrye.org Top administrator: Melissa Dan A college-preparatory school for girls, fifth through 12th grade, that strives to develop “women of conscience and action.” Accomplished and dedicated faculty members foster the spiritual development, individual talents and interests of each student. This is realized through rigorous and comprehensive academic, art, athletics, service and global programs.

SOLOMON SCHECHTER SCHOOL OF WESTCHESTER Lower School, K-5 30 Dellwood Road, White Plains, New York 10605 914-948-3111 Upper School, 6-12 555 W. Hartsdale Ave., Hartsdale, New York 10530 914-948-8333 schechterwestchester.org Top administrator: Michael Kay

SOUNDVIEW PREPARATORY SCHOOL

370 Underhill Ave., Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 914-962-2780 // soundviewprep.org Top administrator: Ken Cotrone Soundview Preparatory School provides a rigorous, academic program in a supportive and caring environment that recognizes and values each individual. Our welcoming community is one that fosters self-confidence in an intellectually challenging, yet nurturing environment. We help students to find their voice through small classes with passionate, experienced educators who are deeply invested in the academic, personal and social-emotional progress of our community. Our rolling admissions accepts students in sixth through 12th grade.

THE SPENCE SCHOOL Lower School 56 E. 93 St., New York, New York 10128 Middle and Upper School 22 E. 91 St., New York, New York 10128 212-289-5940 // spenceschool.org Top administrator: Bodie Brizendine THE STANWICH SCHOOL 275 Stanwich Road, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 203-542-0000 // stanwichschool.org Top administrator: Charles Sachs

SCHOLARSHIP | SERVICE | SPIRIT

OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY. OCTOBER 26. 2019 FROM 12PM-4PM

500 West Hartsdale Avenue, Hartsdale, New York I 914.761.3300 I www.mariaregina.org AUGUST 2019

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THE STORM KING SCHOOL 314 Mountain Road, Cornwall-On-Hudson, New York 12520 845-534-7893 // sks.org Top administrator: Jonathan W. R. Lamb

THE URSULINE SCHOOL

1354 North Ave., New Rochelle, New York 10804 914-636-3950 // ursulinenewrochelle.org Top administrator: Eileen Davidson The mission of The Ursuline School, an independent, private, all-girls Catholic school is to educate, inspire and empower a diverse population of 780 young women in grades six through 12 with our college preparatory curriculum. Ursuline students learn 21st century critical thinking skills and engage in service opportunities both locally and globally. The school belongs to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association and has 35 teams in 13 sports. Open House Saturday, Oct. 19, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Middle School Information Night Wednesday, Nov. 13, 6:30 to 8 p.m.

WESTCHESTER HEBREW HIGH SCHOOL 856 Orienta Ave., Mamaroneck, New York 10543 914-698-0806 // whhsny.org Top administrator: Rabbi Jeffrey Beer THE WINDWARD SCHOOL Lower School 13 Windward Ave., White Plains, New York 10605

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Middle School 40 W. Red Oak Lane, White Plains, New York 10604 Windward Manhattan 202 W. 97 St., New York, New York, 10025 914-949-6968 // thewindwardschool.org Top administrator: John J. Russell

ments will be. Trinity-Pawling’s Center for Learning Achievement provides support services to assist students in reaching their academic potential. Specific instructional programs are available for students who have language-based learning differences and for students with executive-function difficulties.

THORNTON-DONOVAN SCHOOL 100 Overlook Circle, New Rochelle, New York 10804 914-632-8836 // td.edu Top administrator: Douglas E. Fleming Jr.

WHITBY SCHOOL 969 Lake Ave., Greenwich, Connecticut 06831 203-869-8464 // whitbyschool.org Top administrator: Simone Becker, head of lower school; Jonathan Chein, head of upper school

TRINITY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL 926 Newfield Ave., Stamford, Connecticut 06905 203-322-3401 // trinitycatholic.org Top administrator: Dave Williams

TRINITY-PAWLING

700 Route 22, Pawling, New York 12564 845-855-3100 // trinitypawling.org Top administrator: William W. Taylor The goal of a Trinity-Pawling education is to unlock the potential for greatness that exists in each boy.

The school pursues this goal through a vigorous, experiential learning environment that emphasizes innovation, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.

The Trinity-Pawling learning experience combines a timeless commitment to character with a dedication to prepare young men for an ever-changing world.

One of the school’s most distinctive programs is the Effort System — teaching boys that the more they invest of themselves the greater their accomplish-

WINSTON PREPARATORY SCHOOL

57 West Rocks Road, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851 203-229-0465 // winstonprep.edu Winston Preparatory School is an innovative day school for students in the fourth through 12th grade with learning differences such as dyslexia, nonverbal learning disabilities and executive-functioning difficulties. Our unique model of education for the individual provides intense-skill remediation while encouraging students to build independence, resilience, responsibility, self-awareness and self-advocacy. Visit winstonprep.edu/apply-now to sign up for an open house.

WOOSTER SCHOOL 91 Miry Brook Road, Danbury, Connecticut 06810 203-830-3900 // woosterschool.org Top administrator: Matt Byrnes

Boarding and Day for Boys - Grades 7-12 / Postgraduate

OPEN HOUSE OCTOBER14, 2019 R S V P AT

w w w. t r i n i t y p a w l i n g . o r g / o p e n h o u s e

or call 845-855-4825

We prepare our students to enter college and the world as confident, well-rounded young men who are in charge of their learning, eager for discovery, capable of innovation, and ready for leadership.

This educational experience could make all the difference in your son’s future.

Exciting Changes Happening at Soundview Prep!

Learn more about the benefits of a Trinity-Pawling education at www.trinitypawling.org

• Flexible Support Center – Helping Soundview Prep students with organizational skills, writing, note taking, homework and test preparation.

Exciting Changes Happening at Soundview Prep!

• Flexible Support Center – Helping Soundview Prep

• Music Production Recording Courses students withand organizational skills, writing, note taking, homework and test preparation.

• Senior Internship Program

• Music Production and Recording Courses

• STEAM Design Studio

• Senior Internship Program

• Science• Research Program STEAM Design Studio

• Expanded AP Course Offerings • Science Research Program • Expanded AP Course Offerings • Recently Renovated Campus • Recently Renovated Campus

370 Underhill Avenue, Yorktown Heights, • 914-962-2780 • Soundviewprep.org 370 Underhill Avenue, Yorktown Heights,NYNY • 914-962-2780 • Soundviewprep.org Independent co-ed day school for grades 6 – 12 • Picturesque Campus

Independent for grades 6 – 12 • Picturesque Campus 4-to-1 Studentco-ed Facultyday Ratioschool • Excellent College Placement • Rolling Admissions 4-to-1 Student Faculty Ratio • Excellent College Placement • Rolling Admissions JOIN US FOR AN OPEN HOUSE! - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 FROM 1 – 3 PM

JOIN US FOR AN OPEN HOUSE! - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 FROM 1 – 3 PM AUGUST 2019

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TABLE TALK

CATCHING UP WITH WEATHERMAN PAT CAVLIN AT SAM'S STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY WAYNE

FOOD & SPIRITS

“If I had a nickel for every time someone comes up to tell me I’m wrong about the weather,” says News12’s rising meteorological star, Pat Cavlin, “I’d be a very rich man.”

Today — sunny, 71 degrees, but showers expected later in the afternoon — Cavlin is my guest for lunch at Sam’s of Gedney Way, a White Plains institution since 1931. No song, no dance, no hype. Just Acker Bilk on the sound system and the hum of a brisk lunchtime trade, but Sam’s seems as fresh today as ever.

In an age where noise seems ubiquitous, Sam’s is an oasis of calm, with sympathetic acoustics, which mean you can hear yourself speak, vibrant contemporary art and properly dressed tables — white paper squares over white tablecloths and dinner napkins the size of pillowcases.

Cavlin is not a noisy type either. A certain nervous energy comes across as utterly charming. Amazingly grounded for one whose living is, so to speak, in the clouds, he is assured and down to earth. He has a pilot’s license too, which he got four years ago, though he doesn’t get to fly as much as he would like.

Ordering from Sam’s menu is straightforward. From the signature starters, classic onion soup — properly made with fresh herb crostini and melted Jarlsberg cheese — is hard to beat. Rhode Island crispy calamari also hits the spot.

Cavlin grew up in Brooklyn and on Long Island and now lives in East Meadow, in Nassau County. He has been at News12 for two years and is a standard-bearer for the brand. “News 12 was the first local news service in the country,” he tells me, “and it’s still hyperlocal.” Hyperlocal is something Cavlin says a lot, so much so I ask him if he gets paid a royalty fee every time he does so.

It’s a word that could be applied to Sam’s, too — a hyperlocal bistro, as local as local bistros get, to murder the News12 catchline. Then again, Sam’s is so sharp, so professional, it would not feel out of place right in the big city.

While we wait for our entrées, I ask Cavlin how it feels being recognized in public. “Here in New York, people say ‘Hey — nice to see you,’ if they say anything at all, and then leave you alone.”

Down in Macon, Georgia, just out of college and in his first weather job, it was another story. People wouldn’t leave him alone. “It was like I was Brad Pitt,” he says with a smile. “They’d want pictures, autographs, everything. I would say to them, “Look, I pull my pants on in the morning the same way you do.’”

Like Sam’s smiling waiters, he must as a weatherman appear cheerful and unruffled on duty. “There was this one time in

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Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of Gedney Way mural.

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Georgia,” he recalls, “and I was in the middle of a really bad breakup. I’d taken my car to the garage for repairs and this guy comes up to me and says, ‘Hey Mr. Weatherman,’” — he does the Southern accent with almost spooky accuracy — ‘what’s the weather going to be like today?’ I wanted to say to him, ‘Watch the freaking news, look at the freaking sky.’ But of course you can’t do that. You can’t have a bad day in public.”

In the many times I’ve visited Sam’s over the years, they have never had a bad day, or an “off” service either. Today, the seared, sesame-crusted tuna with its mango salsa and chilli lime sauce is as tangy as ever, a beautiful tranche of tuna cooked just right.

And the weatherman loves his grilled chicken and brie sandwich, with sliced pear and onions. To me, the components sound like strange bedfellows, but at Sam’s the whole is often greater than the sum of the parts. Cavlin likes the look of it so much he takes a picture of it. “I’m so millennial,” he says wearily.

Sam’s hardly ever changes, which is its strength, but what about climate change, I ask? “My golden rule is I never talk about it. When people ask me, I say I’m a meteorologist, not a climatologist.” By this account, I tell him, he’s also a diplomat.

Cavlin is neat and punctilious. Clothes are a particular interest. When it comes to dressing well, his secret weapon is Macy’s, “where everything is always on sale.” He buys good, inexpensive suits and gets them tailored. He believes in the importance of clothes in the workplace and laments how badly people dress in general. He gets especially irritated, he says, by the college kid looking for a job who wears

an ill-fitting suit and a clip-on tie. “It makes a very poor impression,” he sighs, an old head on young shoulders.

His dad is a retired police officer and the family has a home in the Adirondacks. But Cavlin is not a mountain person. “I prefer humidity to cold,” he says. “I must be the milkman’s son.”

He’s a cities and beach type of guy. He loves Florida and just spent time in Miami. Bucket-list destinations include Greece and the Amalfi Coast.

Does he use the weather app on his iPhone? “No,” he says.

“Actually I deleted it.”

Cavlin loves extreme weather but sees his role as managing viewers’ expectations. He strives to be accurate. “People are so graphic,” he says. “If they see a shower icon, they assume the whole day is a washout. I try to get across that it’s just a shower.

It won’t last the whole day. People also want quick and simple forecast, not a great long spiel. Attention span is short.”

In no time at all, lunch is drawing to a close — an elegant Westchester lunch, old-fashioned in the best sense, with attentive and thoughtful service. I’m heading back to work and Cavlin is heading to the studio on Long Island, though without a cloud in the sky and no sign yet of the showers that have been forecast, it looks like being an uneventful afternoon.

As for Sam’s, it has been calm and comforting, just animated enough to be interesting and with lots of natural warmth. One could ask nothing more of a restaurant, and certainly nothing more of the weather.

For more, visit samsofgedneyway.com.

Discover IL FORNO Italian Kitchen & Bar Where Good Vibes meet Italian Inspired Cuisine!

Enjoy a Classic & Crafty Cocktail.

Have your perfect experience!

LUNCH AND DINNER Tuesday - Sunday 343 Route 202, Somers, NY 10589 (914) 277-7575 www.ilfornosomers.com

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Private Events and Catering

E R OA R I N

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2 0’

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MUSCOOT

Voted!

TAVERN

One of New York States Top 15

Best Hole In The Wall “ Restaurants That Will Blow Your Taste Buds Away

”

Lea Monroe-onlyinyourstate.com

STEAK

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| SEAFOOD & RAW BAR

Stop in and experience the charm of this historic eatery, a neighborhood favorite since the Roaring ‘20s! Enjoy our cozy tavern where it’s always lively and cheerful or relax on our patio overlooking our horseshoe and bocce ball courts.

Live music on Saturdays and some Fridays On Sundays, enjoy outdoor live music from 4 to 8:30 Happy Hour Daily from 4-6 and again from 9-11 on Thurs, Fri and Saturday nights.

105 Somerstown Turnpike, Katonah, NY (Corner of Rt. 100 and Rt. 35) www.muscoottavern.com 914 • 232 • 2800

POOL PARTIES

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

FOOD & SPIRITS

One of the highlights of past social seasons in WAG country has been summer’s Poolside Pairing, a series of Thursday evenings featuring special cocktails and a chef’s choice menu set to music at the sensuous Pool & Grotto Bar of the Castle Hotel & Spa in Tarrytown.

“The Poolside Pairing events were a big hit when they began in 2015 and 2016,” says the Castle’s Alison Yassky. “While there was a short hiatus in these events ... we kept hearing feedback from guests that they missed them. As the new maître d’hôtel, I am excited about the decision to bring them back for another season and look forward to help making the Poolside Pairing events our biggest summer hit moving forward.”

Poolside Pairing relaunched on the Fourth of July with an “American Dream” of B and B (bourbon and barbecue) to a soundtrack by DJ Theo Phillip Entertainment, which will accompany all the events.

The evening was in part a benefit for Hope for the Warriors, an outreach organization that provides comprehensive support programs for service members, veterans and military families that are focused on transitioning, health and wellness, peer engagement and connections to community resources.

July Poolside Pairings took participants to Mexico, Tuscany and Spain without ever leaving the Hudson Valley.

August looks to be just as adventurous with a Moët & Chandon Ice White Party on Aug. 1 and a salute to the 1970s Aug. 8.

“Moët Ice White Party will be a classy and sophisticated affair just like the feature drink of the night,” Yassky says. “Moët Ice Champagne is perfect for summer with fresh fruits and garnish paired with an amazing seafood tower, hors d’oeuvres and white chocolate cupcakes.”

Then it’s Relaxation Day, featuring the hotel’s Sankara Spa Aug. 15, and tributes to the

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The Pool & Grotto Bar of the Castle Hotel & Spa in Tarrytown is the sensuous setting for its Poolside Pairing.

Photographs courtesy the Castle Hotel & Spa.

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Caribbean (Aug. 22) and the French Riviera (Aug. 29). The series concludes Sept. 5 with “Lost in Translation.”

“Lost In Translation, named after the famous movie of the same name filmed in Japan, will be an evening of sake and sushi pairings,” Yassky says. “This evening is a homage to the Castle Hotel & Spa’s owner, a very successful hospitality corporation (Sankara) from Japan. Guests will be enjoying assorted cold sake and a variety of sushi along with house red wine, white wine and sparkling wine.”

Sounds like a great way to “lose” yourself this summer.

Each Poolside Pairing, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., is $85 per person; $75 for Castle guests, except for the Moët Ice White Party, which is $115 per person, $105 for hotel guests. The Castle is at 400 Benedict Ave. For reservations, email Events@CastleHotelandSpa.com or call 914524-6366.

Annual Support-A-Walk For Breast & Ovarian Cancer Sunday, October 6, 2019 FDR State Park Yorktown Heights, NY

Support Connection is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization.

We do not receive funds from Relay for Life, Making Strides, Susan G. Komen, or any other national cancer organizations.

To learn about the Walk and our free services, visit supportconnection.org

Be a part of a community that cares!

Proceeds fund Support Connection’s free breast and ovarian cancer support services.

Bring help and hope to people fighting breast and ovarian cancer.

Contact us: 914-962-6402 or walk@supportconnection.org

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Camelia

Tapas Bar &Restaurant

Enjoy authentic Spanish & Portuguese cuisine in the cozy splendor of our little house on the hill

Private room for your special occasions

Private Parties • Anniversaries • Family Gatherings • Rehearsal Dinners Business Luncheons • Birthdays • Bridal/Baby Showers • Bar/Bat Mitzvahs

LUNCH

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DINNER

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BAR

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O U T D O O R PAT I O

OPEN- Tuesday - Sunday • 12:00 - 9:30 La Came lia Re staurant • 234 North Bedfo rd R d • Mo unt Kisco , N Y 1 05 49 www.lacameliarestaurant.co m • (914) 666-2466

WINE & DINE

SIMPLY BUBBLY STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH

BY DOUG PAULDING

FOOD & SPIRITS

There are countless ways to break into the world of winemaking. I know of some who started out at a winery doing chores and cleaning equipment and by determination and luck worked their way up the chain of command to eventual leadership positions. Others attend an oenological university to learn all the details of the career in a controlled, but costly setting. And many are born into it and early on are seduced into the life. Emilien Boutillat was born in Champagne. His father owned a Champagne-producing house and the vineyards where the grapes grew, so many of Boutillat’s earliest memories are in the vineyards and the winery right beside papa asking questions.

Boutillat worked and played and learned in the family business, all the while dreaming of oenology school, where he would learn how to bring his own accent and wine knowledge home to Champagne. He went to university in Montpellier in the south of France overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Upon graduation, ambition took over and he decided to participate in two harvests and two winemaking operations per year.

This, of course, requires northern and southern hemisphere destinations.

Boutillat started out working at Château Margaux, one of five first-growth wineries in Bordeaux. He spent nine months there, then went to New Zealand, then to California, Chile, California again and South Africa before returning home to Champagne. These professional paid externships must have been at least as important as his university time. In each place there is a unique winemaking style, specific grapes to work with and an opportunity to learn many trade secrets direct from the pros. Upon returning home he relaxed a bit, took stock of all had learned and experienced, and then the phone rang.

Heidsieck Champagne began in 1785, when Florens-Louis Heidsieck, enamored with celebratory bubbles in wine, started production.

His nephew eventually took over and invited Henri-Guillaume Piper to partner up to expand and extend the reach of their wines. A century later, with the world at war, the Marquis Jean de Suarez d’Aulan married the heiress of the house. The Third Reich was fond of French wine and occupied much of France. The Marquis hid weapons in the Piper-Heidsieck cellar to arm

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Emilien Boutillat, newly installed chef de caves for Piper-Heidsieck Champagne.

the French resistance. He learned of his imminent arrest and fled the country for North Africa, where he was killed in combat, fighting Hitler’s army. This alone, is a reason to drink Piper-Heidsieck.

So back to the phone call. It was the PiperHeidsieck people on the line and they had heard about a local boy with some history and big skills and they offered him the job of head winemaker for the brand, an offer he could not refuse. I had dinner with Boutillat recently in Manhattan and he is, indeed, what you would want in a career winemaker — professional, fun, engaging, multilingual, knowledgeable and young. At age 32 he is responsible for bringing four to six million bottles of bubbly to the market each year. PiperHeidsieck was looking for someone to maintain the house style — essentially with the same winemaking DNA as his predecessor, Régis Camus, who is still in house making the elite Rare Champagne series and is certainly available for advice.

We began with a Cuvée Brut attractively priced at $45. It showed a lively citrus and a lovely yeastiness, as in fresh-baked bread. Made from 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay, it emitted white fruit flavors of pear and apple. Our next glass was Rosé Sauvage, a beautiful and brilliant ruby colored Rosé that tasted of fresh strawberries and raspberries. Boutillat took a taste and exclaimed, “This really is a basket of fruit” — delicious! This Rosé has the same grape percentages as the Cuvée and retails at $60.

Next, we tried the Cuvée Sublime, which had a touch of dosage, or added sugar, to soften and smooth out the bubbles. It tasted of citrus and tropical fruits, specifically pineapple and orange.

And there was a frothy mouthfeel not evident

in the other Champagnes we tasted. Finally, Boutillat poured the 2012 Vintage Champagne of about half Pinot Noir and half Chardonnay.

Golden colored and silky smooth, it showed a creamy tangerine freshness with almond and delightful bubbles. The Vintage Champagne is only produced in a year when all the planets align for perfect grape production.

Piper-Heidsieck uses no oak in any of these wines, so expect a light, just-picked, freshness on a good acidic backdrop. They are certified sustainable, which means they are paying attention to nature and the beneficial insects of agriculture. Each Champagne house is responsible for declaring vintage years when the house thinks the wine of that year warrants it. Piper-Heidsieck declares a vintage wine about three or four times a decade. When no vintage is declared for a particular harvest, the house will blend with other vintages and you won’t find a vintage year on the bottle. Champagne can pair with virtually anything or nothing. It drinks beautifully by itself, the gentle “pop” inaugurating an evening or a party. Pizza, five-star cuisine, with dessert or as dessert: It all works.

Boutillat — through his birthright, through his diligence, through his education and through his passion —has landed himself in the very enviable position of chef de caves (cellar master) of a major Champagne house at a tender young age.

I expect decades from now he will still be there, perhaps with a bit of gray and a few kids running around. But by then, with his confidence guiding him, I’m guessing Piper-Heidsieck will give him free rein to establish his own house style.

Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

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WELL

PRESSING MATTERS STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY OLIVIA D’AMELIO

HEALTH & FITNESS

Juice bars are everywhere — popping up on every other street corner and producing organic, cold-pressed creations that provide us with healthy alternatives. With so many colorful concoctions to choose from, the options are endless. Even so, some stand out.

Recently, we spent an afternoon with Alvin Edersheim-Haas, founding chef of the new Haas Juice bar in White Plains, along with his partner, Reldon Caddy, sampling some of their best sellers. Theirs is an airy green space with an exposed ceiling and comfortable seating. We could’ve sat there in a hanging basket seat forever, a tribute to Edersheim-Haas’ desire to create a place where his customers can unwind.

The business partners first met at The Culinary Institute of America where Edersheim-Haas studied culinary management with a concentration in wine and spirits, while Caddy studied baking and pastry as well as food science. After school they wondered what was next. Talking to each other about their big ideas, they came up with Haas Juice and decided to go for it. So what makes their juice bar different from the rest?

“A great juice bar has a high-quality product that incorporates a taste component as well as a nutrition component as well has having the clientele for it,” Edersheim-Haas says. As far as clientele goes, the juice bar is connected to the new Hourglass Women’s Wellness. (See related story.) Smoothies and juices are consumed more by women, especially women who take their health and fitness seriously. These women now have easy access to grabbing an energizing juice before their workout and a postworkout smoothie.

The benefit that comes from the drinks is that they’re high in vitamins and minerals.

“Drinking juices could introduce extra nutrients into the body to boost overall health and are rich in antiinflammatory compounds that can boost the immune system to help you feel more energetic,” EdersheimHaas says. Juices can help flush toxins from the body and improve digestion by introducing healthy enzymes.

We got to sample all of the juices, including the most popular, Rise and Shine, made of raw pineapple, grapefruit and ginger. But if you are looking for more of a meal, you’re going to want to make your own smoothie out of greens, fats, protein and the right amount of carbs.

“What I recommend is kale and blueberry for the carbs and sugars, almond butter for the fat, and protein powder for the protein,” Edersheim-Haas says. “Personally, I like it with apple juice, but it works really well with almond milk or cucumber juice for a simpler option.” We got it with almond milk and it definitely filled us up for the rest of the afternoon.

More of a coffee person? Haas Juice does its own cold brew,

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which is not too heavy and dark, as some cold brews can be.

The juice bar uses organic fruits and vegetables for all its juices, smoothies and cleanses.

“In a perfect world, organic would be returning to this idealized version where crops are grown in a soil with no pesticides, no artificial fertilizers in an effort to let them be what they naturally were 110 years ago,” Caddy says. “The more you can find someone passionate about their food and animals, the more likely you are going to be eating better food.”

Looking to the future, the partners are planning on an extended food menu and licensing that will enable them to bottle and sell their products elsewhere.

“On the longer term, I’d love to go to gyms and places and set up little satellites,” Edersheim-Haas says. “We’re also working on a customer loyalty program and are always testing and creating new juices.”

For more, visit haasjuice.com.

From left, Reldon Caddy and Alvin Edersheim-Haas, partner and founding CEO of HAAS Juice, respectively.

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WELL

SWITCHIN' IT UP

BY OLIVIA D’AMELIO

HEALTH & FITNESS

Just off Greenwich Avenue, Myx Creative Kitchen is a family friendly, fast-casual restaurant redefining the farm-to-table movement.

Chef Fausto Mieres isn’t afraid to experiment with flavors, mixing cuisines from around the world with locally grown ingredients to create classic dishes with a modern twist. He earned his degree in culinary arts from The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, now the International Culinary Center. His work in Fairfield County includes the restaurants Oak + Almond and Bartaco before opening Anthony’s Deli in Stamford. In his current role as executive chef for Myx, Mieres is responsible for crafting the regionally acclaimed establishment’s daily and seasonal menus as well as its catering events, bringing passion to what he loves.

Recently, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dominique Pustay, marketing manager for Myx Creative Kitchen: What makes Myx stand out from other health-conscious food restaurants?

“Our creativity for sure. Chef Mieres’ mind works a million miles a minute and we just sort of run with it, and 99.9 % of the time it’s a hit.”

How did Myx Creative Kitchen come about?

“It was the idea of just being able to eat healthy on the go and ultimately making healthy easy. We wanted to be able to offer many options that you don’t get bored of. Healthy is sometimes repetitive and easy to get tired of, but you don’t get that with our food because of how often we add new items to switch up the menu while introducing seasonal options. On top of it everything is customizable.”

What are the best-selling items?

“For breakfast, definitely our avocado toast that comes on organic sprouted toast, or you could get it on multigrain or gluten-free bread.

We do other breakfast sandwiches as well, like almond butter toast and a Belgian waffle. We also have those famous acai bowls. There is a Grab & Go section with wraps, energy bites, fresh snacks or fruit for people in a rush and looking for a quick snack. For lunch/dinner, we have crafted salads, sauté bowls, cauliflower pizza and Myx plates that you can make your own.”

Is everything reusable/environment friendly?

“Yes. Even our pizza boxes are as well. We came out with environment-friendly retail products, too. We use reusable bowls and, if you buy that first bowl, we buy your lunch that goes into the bowl, and every time you bring the bowl back you get 10 percent off your order. The same deal goes for our coffee cups. Buy the first reusable cup, and we pay for coffee. Then every time you bring it back, it only costs you $1 (for an 8-ounce cup of coffee).

It cuts down on our products we bring in. We use paper straws and all products are recyclable. We try to be mindful and reduce the amount of waste that we have and make sure we’re on top of it being conscious of the environment. Our customers are happy and we’re happy that they’re happy.”

What does hospitality mean to you and serving your customers?

“Our hospitality is our customer service. Everyone is very friendly and happy. When you treat employees right, they will shine in the

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aspect of hospitality. A lot of our customers know our employees by name and have created great relationships with each other. Most times our employees will already know our customers orders, so it’s really cool to see that.”

Which person or establishment inspires you the most in this industry?

“It’s a combination of the fast casuals in the city that are doing somewhat of what we’re doing. For example, Sweetgreen has their salads and Dig Inn has their custom plates…They each do separate things and we’ve found a way to kind of merge it all together in one.”

Do you take online orders?

“Yes, customers can order online as well as on our app. We’re currently in the middle of an app redesign for a cleaner, sleeker appeal, making it easier to use and nicer to look at. You can order ahead through the app and skip the line. So if you order through it, you come in and there’s shelving on the side for pickups.

Customers don’t need to speak to anyone, they just walk in, grab their food and be on their way. You are able to customize your whole entire meal and it even tells you the amount of calories you are going to intake. It’s funny, we have one customer that comes in every single day and gets the same exact bowl. We’ve made it possible to simply ‘reorder’ any meal you’ve ordered before to make it super easy and enjoyable for them.”

You’re also coming out with a plant-based milkshake, correct?

“Yes, and it is sooo good. It’s a tahini, gluten-free, dairy-free, 240-calorie milkshake. It’ll be offered in three flavors — strawberry, chocolate and peanut butter (my favorite). It’s not too sweet and you feel like you having an actual milkshake with half the calories, which, I mean, who doesn’t want that?”

Are there future plans for expansion? More stores?

“Absolutely. We’re in the second year of business and it’s going great. We’re itching for it and really ready for it. It’s just the matter for where. I think we’ll stay locally for now in Fairfield or Westchester County. But it’s definitely in the works, location to be determined.”

For more, visit myxkitchen.com.

Breakfast Acai Bowl. Courtesy Myx Creative Kitchen.

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Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss the party on the weekend of Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11, 2019. Putnam County Wine & Food Fest returns for its straight 9th year!

A Tasting ticket gets you a souvenir tasting glass, program guide, sampling of ciders, spirits and wines. Rock to the beat of live music while dining on food as well as shopping at the various vendors. You can also have a cold glass of beer in the Beer Garden sponsored by Manhattan Beer. Face painting and more for the kiddies.

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WELL

WOMEN ONLY STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY OLIVIA D’AMELIO

HEALTH & FITNESS

Hourglass Women’s Wellness is fitness by women for women.

The 15,000-square-foot center, which opened six months ago in downtown White Plains, includes a gourmet café; a lounge; concierge services; body, age and metabolic testing; energy analysis; personal training; a medical spa; acupuncture; Thai hot stone massage; hot yoga; full-strength stretching and loads of cardio equipment along with a variety of programs and a boot camp. And that’s just the beginning.

“It’s not just a basic gym,” says Shpresa Villani, the center’s founder and creator. “Here it’s more than that.

It’s an extreme makeover internally and externally. It’s a one-stop shop for women only, creating change from the inside out.”

Villani has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years, opening her first gym in the Bronx at age 18. But she knew that women needed more than just a gym of their own.

With the help of her husband, Jerry, she sought out a space to take fitness to the next plane. The center, which draws clients from Westchester County, Connecticut and New Jersey, is Villani’s dream come true, which she credits to her husband.

Since establishing Hourglass, Villani has brought in two partners, Lisa Avellino and Tracy Tellian, who is also a trainer at the center.

Recently, we sat down with Avellino and Tellian as they described the ways you can customize your membership and talked about the professionalism of the staff, which includes male as well as female

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Hourglass Women’s Wellness Cycle Studio.

instructors with 10 years or more of professional experience.

Avellino says people who come to the center are looking for community, customizations and the highest motivation, along with energy and balance in their lives. Women are more educated to the importance of fitness and health, so it’s not just about weight loss anymore.

To this end, spinning continues to be popular. Spin class benefits everything from your legs to your core and is a significant lowimpact cardio workout. Because of this intense workout, you’ll burn a ton of calories, too. Tellian loves teaching her spin classes.

“Here, it’s not only the regular spinning like in classes but 10 steps above what the boutique studios are offering in terms of experience,” she says. “It’s a workout that you will come out of those classes completely drenched in sweat and feeling exhilarated at your accomplishments. You will get the results you need not only to feel good but continue to increase your fitness levels and beyond.”

As with all the services, the spin classes remain for women only.

“I love doing this exercise but I hate having someone watching me do it” is what most of the women who join say, Tellian says. Not worrying about others watching you work out — that means you, guys — or feeling intimated to do your workouts is a great relief. In the #MeToo age, Hourglass has tapped into the zeitgeist.

Having everything all under one roof comes in handy, too. If you need the support of a licensed chiropractor, nutritionist or a medical doctor, the system works synergistically, because “we can speak to the doctor and show you how to use a piece of equipment,” Avellino says. “It’s kind of like a dream team that you have the ability to go to a fitness space and nutrition and mindfulness. It’s not just, 'Oh, I have my workout.’ But it’s a wellness wheel.”

As far as nutrition goes, the new Haas Juice bar is in the lobby of the gym and can also make recommendations as to what’s right for you. (See related story.)

The wellness center — which is considering other locations in Greenwich, New York City and Florida — also offers day care and a full service salon.

“It’s a real time saver and people can get to where they need to go right from the gym,” Tellian says. “Instead of doing an hour at the gym and another hour leaving to get the next thing done, it is all here for you to access.”

The partners are passionate about helping women achieve their best selves.

“It’s the little moments when a client tells you how much you’ve changed their life, that make us continue to do it no matter the day we’ve had,” Tellian says. “Tomorrow if I hit the Lotto, I’d still teach.”

This fall, the center will begin a “Fit Kids” program. “Years ago, I launched a teen obesity campaign that helped over 60,000 teenagers across the country,” Villani says. “I believe in keeping your kids active and fit, while making it fun for them.”

But she is just as dedicated to helping the whole community get fit and stay strong. Villani is working on creating a nonprofit for people like her father, who has Parkinson’s disease, so they can come into the center to keep themselves active.

“You don’t realize how difficult it is for them to walk or hold a ball at the same time. Being patient with them and giving them love makes a big change. I don’t see enough efforts to help them, so I’m going to.”

Shpresa Villani offers everyone reading this article a tour and a free class of her choice. Stay tuned for new and upcoming events.

For more, visit hourglasswomenswellness.com.

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WELL

PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT

BY KALIQ CHANG, M.D.

HEALTH & FITNESS

It’s common that when back pain strikes the instinct is to lay down, move as little as possible and avoid physical activity. But the truth is that stretching and exercising can provide relief from back pain and also help to prevent flare-ups.

According to the National Institutes of Health, four out of five adults will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives. Therefore, it’s valuable to know what stretches and exercises can help you feel better.

Know that if you experience severe back pain that comes on suddenly, you should see a doctor. Another red flag is a “pins and needles” sensation down the back of your leg. In this case you may have sciatica — a condition you should also speak to your doctor about.

With low back pain due to typical muscle spasm or strain, gentle stretches and exercises can help the muscles supporting the lower spine. When muscles are more flexible and stronger, it’s likely they’re also less prone to injuries that can cause back pain.

REDUCING INCIDENTS OF BACK PAIN While some exercises like running, lifting weights or shoveling snow wouldn’t be among the types of physical activity recommended during a flare-up of back pain, other exercises can help stretch out tight back muscles and strengthen weakened muscles.

Among many good choices, I often recommend these moves to patients to help relieve lower back pain:

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• For stretching the lower back: Lying on your back, bend your knees and place feet flat on the floor. Keeping shoulders on the ground, roll your bent knees to one side, holding for 10 seconds. Return to your starting position and repeat on the other side. Do two to three series of these.

• For lower abdomen strengthening: Lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, bring one knee toward your chest and then return it to the floor. Repeat six to eight times for each leg.

• For deep abdominal strengthening: Lie on your back with a small cushion under your head and bend knees so feet are hip-distance apart on the floor. Keeping your upper body relaxed and chin tucked in, take a deep breath in. While exhaling, “pull” your belly button toward your spine and hold for five to 10 seconds. Relax your abdominal muscles as you breathe out and repeat five times.

• For mobilizing your lower back: On all fours, make sure your hands are directly under your shoulders and knees directly under your hips. Keeping your head in line with your spine, extend one leg and the opposite arm outward to line up with your spine. Hold for five to 10 seconds and repeat eight to 12 sides, alternating sides.

• For stretching hamstring muscles: These muscles, which run along the back of the thigh, are often quite tight when you’re experiencing back pain. Lie on your back with both feet on the floor and knees bent. Looping a towel under the ball of one foot, straighten your knee and slowly pull back on the towel. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat twice for each leg.

Be sure to warm up muscles before stretching them. Move slowly and gently and don’t bounce while stretching.

PREVENTING FLARE-UPS Continuing a stretching and exercising routine daily after an episode of back pain helps. People who exercise regularly typically have fewer episodes of back pain compared to people who aren’t as physically active.

Try these recommended exercises to keep back pain away: • Knees to chest: Lying flat on the floor with knees bent, pull one knee to your chest and hold for five to 10 seconds. Repeat five to 10 times for each knee.

• Pelvic tilt: Lie on your back and place a small cushion under your head.

Bend your knees and keep feet hip-width apart on the floor. Keeping your upper body relaxed and chin tucked in, gently flatten your lower back into the floor while contracting stomach muscles. Then tilt your pelvis toward your heels, feeling a gentle arch in the lower back and your back muscles contracting. Then return to starting position and repeat series eight to 12 times.

• Bridge: Lying on your back with knees bent and feet placed hipdistance apart on the floor, lift hips off the floor until shoulders, hips and knees are all in a straight line. Breathing in, lower hips to floor. Repeat eight to 12 times.

Kaliq Chang, M.D., is an interventional pain management specialist, double board-certified in interventional pain management and anesthesiology, in practice at Atlantic Spine Center. For more, visit atlanticspinecenter.com.

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WELL

TRANSITIONING FROM ATHLETE TO COACH

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI

“Being relentless means never being satisfied. It means creating new goals every time you reach your personal best. If you're good, it means you don't stop until you're great. If you're great, it means you fight until you're unstoppable."

—Tim S. Grover, World-renowned sports trainer

HEALTH & FITNESS

Elite athletes are visionaries. They are known for their innate ability to react, their confidence, their leadership and their fighting spirit. They climb to the top of their sport battling through many obstacles and eventually end up reaping the rewards with success in their given profession. They must also accept that this success is often met with age, injury and other circumstances.

Once retired from their sport, many athletes stay within the fitness industry and become coaches, trainers, etc. But going from top athletic performer to fitness professional may come with its own set of growing pains. What are some mistakes that athletes can make during this transition? Below is a list of some things to keep an eye on if you find yourself training with a former athlete. As a former WWE professional wrestler, I personally have gone through my own learning curve, which includes much of what is listed below.

1. The way this individual has trained as an athlete has been successful for them. Be aware that training you the same way may not yield the same outcome.

Just because the trainer has a routine that he enjoys and exercises that have been successful for him, doesn't mean that they will work for others and/or should be used on the clients. In addition, how this athlete trains himself or herself may not be optimal for accomplishing your true goals and needs. “I work out this way so you should, too” should not be the case. (In actuality you may need training that is quite different).

There are a lot of variables that would go into creating a specific program for an individual.

2. An athlete's priority is taking care of himself and his body to succeed in a given sport. A trainer needs to understand that to many, fitness is simply a part of the pie comprised of family, work, etc. Finding time to exercise may be a luxury, or may be difficult for some clients. What may seem inconsequential to an athlete can be very real to a regular (or irregular) gym-goer. This athlete turned trainer needs to be able to understand this, have empathy and create the best situations

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possible given the circumstances.

3. Successful athletes have great habits, unrivaled discipline and relentless mental focus. With these qualities, which are ingrained in athletes, it could be easy for frustration to set in when there isn’t as strong a discipline or focus found in the clients. Some may even end up blaming the client for a lack of success versus taking responsibility as the coach. This is why a thorough assessment is vital when beginning with a client and should be extremely helpful for both parties. The coach should be asking questions that allow him to learn what the client needs and what has been difficult in the past. Do you need help with nutrition? Has commitment been an issue in the past? Overtraining? Scheduling? Your obstacles should lead the coaching style. What may seem like a no-brainer habit for an athlete may very well be quite the challenge for you.

Now, this is also not to say that being a former athlete does not have its advantages when it comes to training clients.

Attention to detail, motivation, timeliness and respect are just some of the traits where an athlete will excel at based on their past experiences. By the same token, if you get the opportunity to train with an elite athlete, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.

High-level athletes are a special breed. All roads in their lives drive them to get to the top of their sport and stay there. They need to bring these same traits to their job by having a right attitude, being open to learning and having the passion and drive to work their way up this job ladder just as they’ve risen to the top of their sport.

Reach Giovanni on Twitter @GiovanniRoselli and at his website, GiovanniRoselli.com.

The author in his World Wrestling Entertainment days.

Courtesy WWE.

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PET CARE

PET OF THE MONTH

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William is a 1-year-old Maltese/Terrier mix who arrived at the SPCA as a stray. Surprisingly, no one ever came to claim this sweet boy, which is a shame as the playful, outgoing pooch loves everyone he meets. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just as happy playing fetch with his toys as he is cuddling up with his favorite person. William, who at 7 pounds is fullgrown, gets along well with dogs, cats and kids and will be a wonderful addition to a loving family.

To meet William, visit the SPCA of Westchester at 590 N. State Road in Briarcliff Manor.

Founded in 1883, the SPCA is a no-kill shelter and is not affiliated with the ASPCA. The SPCA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays.

To learn more, call 914- 941-2896 or visit spca914.org.

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PET PORTRAITS

ON PETS AND GRIEF

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

PET CARE

When someone dies, there are flowers and condolence cards, casseroles and Bundt cakes, religious services and burial rites.

But what happens when a pet dies? I am not suggesting an equivalence here. In the West, we are taught that humans have a soul that lives on after they “shuffle off this mortal coil.” Animals, not so.

Yet grief knows no boundary, two-legged or four. It is today, yesterday, tomorrow, never, forever. You hear a voice or a laugh.

Someone turns his head or you turn a corner. A familiar song plays. And you are plunged back into myth and memory.

My sister Gina, who contributes to this magazine, called June 22 to say Fausto, her beloved Chihuahua mix, had died. There was a tear in her voice that matched my own.

Fausto, 14, was not an easy dog to love despite an unparalleled ability to “play toys,” as my sister called it. (Possessed of a large vocabulary, he would correctly bring you the toy you requested, Lamby, a pooch-size iteration of Shari Lewis’ puppet, Lamb Chop, being a favorite.)

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Fausto at Four Columns Inn, Newfane, Vermont, in the room Mick Jagger stayed in, 2016. The little guy always lived large.

Photograph by Gina Gouveia.

Who knows, however, what abuse these rescue animals endure? They cannot voice it. Fausto was also a biter with separation anxiety issues, which my sister discovered only after adopting him from the Manhattan shelter where she volunteered.

He was, I told her, truly Fausto — Spanish for “lucky” — to have her in his life despite his vampire-like predilections. Indeed, a favorite parlor game among family and friends was to go around the room and count those happy few who had not been nipped by the little guy. I was among those who went unscathed, but I’ve often wondered if that was not a metaphor for my own selfprotective ability to keep life at arm’s length.

And yet, Fausto and I connected. When I think of him now, I think of our trips with Gina up and down the I-95 corridor to visit our sister Jana in suburban Washington, D.C. and Gina’s stepdaughter Lynn in suburban Boston. Or our adventures for WAG, covering Saybrook Point Inn & Spa in Old Saybrook or Four Columns Inn in Newfane, Vermont. With Fausto curled up on the back seat and Simon & Garfunkel and The Mamas and the Papas providing the soundtrack, Gina and I would hit the not-so-open road.

I see him, too, at my home — tiptoeing down the path we nicknamed Fausto Way, peeing on my rhododendrons (grrrrr), running circles around my coffee table, climbing up my legs, chomping on a Mini Snickers from the candy dish and, finally, jumping up on the couch to snuggle beside me. I didn’t dare move him, not that I wanted to.

When I think of Fausto, I also think of two very bad days in a very bad year, 2010. March 14 — the Sunday after Aunt Mary came home from a disastrous hip revision surgery and rehab that exacerbated her dementia and a tree fell on our house — Gina and Fausto arrived to help rescue me so I could start my new job at Westfair Communications, WAG’s parent company, that Monday.

I remember Gina parked her car at the top of the driveway.

Then I saw two little ears and a little face peeking up from the front passenger seat window and I knew everything would be all right.

I felt less reassured on Thanksgiving Day that year — possibly the worst holiday of my life — as I cared for Aunt Mary, now all but a ghost, and ate a miserable turkey pot pie, feeling sorry for myself at being alone.

But I wasn’t alone. Fausto was there with me. I carried him from floor to floor in his crate as I did my chores and tried to watch the parade and the National Dog Show. Fausto seemed unimpressed by the entries. Instead he just looked up at me when he wasn’t sleeping. Somehow, he understood.

Now he’s gone off to doggie heaven, I told Gina, to be with Duke, her gentle Rottweiler/Shepherd mix; Jana’s trio of Labs — Jilly, Trump and Pippa; and a host of childhood pets that included my mother’s whip-smart, high-strung, pampered poodle, Jacques; a series of canaries always named Yellow Bird; a Rough Collie named Lassie, of course, my first dog; the bulldog Frenchie; the Dachshund Booboo; the St. Bernard Brandy; two Yorkshire Terriers, Ragamuffin (Rags) and Tiger; the duck Teresa; the hamster Ophelia; assorted turtles and goldfish; and, finally, the feral cat Allie, my last pet — to date.

If it turns out that it’s not true that “all dogs go to heaven,” as Beth Brown’s book title suggests, one thing is certain: We humans spend our lives trying to control our pets, other animals and nature itself. But in the end, it turns out it was the other way around all along.

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WHERE & WHEN

Through Aug. 11 The Pelham Art Center presents a Student Showcase featuring works in all media created in the past year by its students. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, 155 Fifth Ave.; 914-738-2525, pelhamartcenter.org.

Through Sept. 1 Elisa Contemporary Art presents “A Visual Taste of Fairfield County,” a pop-up art exhibit at the Fairfield University Bookstore. It features the art and artists highlighted in the 2019 Connecticut Culinary Restaurant Guide book, “Entrée Nous.” 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays, Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road; 203-255-7756, elisacontemporaryart.com.

Through Sept. 14 The Clay Art Center presents its national juried exhibition, “The Emotional Animal,” featuring sculptural works that express human emotion through animal imagery.

This exhibition is part of the center’s yearlong focus, “Animal Instinct,” which explores the animal kingdom and how artists use anthropomorphism to convey messages about relationships. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 40 Beech St., Port Chester; 914-937-2047, clayartcenter.org.

Aug. 1 Jazz Forum Arts presents a free outdoor concert by Chilean singer-songwriter Camila Meza on the grounds of Lyndhurst mansion as part of the “Sunset Jazz at Lyndhurst” series. 6:30 p.m., 635 S. Broadway, Tarrytown; 914631-1000, jazzforumarts.org.

Aug. 2 The Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden presents a live performance by the Norm Hathaway Swing Band. Guests can picnic in the garden as Hathaway and his 18-piece band play jazz music by the big bands of the 1930s and ’40s. 8 p.m., 28 Deveau Road, North Salem; 914-669-5033, hammondmuseum.org.

Nina Bentley's "War Stories" will be featured during "A Visual Taste of Fairfield County."

Aug. 3

Aug. 6, 13, 20 and 27

“Scottish Tattoo” fundraiser for The Schoolhouse Theater & Arts Center. The Highland Divas will take to the stage with a musical journey that spans the folk music of Scotland and New Zealand and culminates in rock opera. Also featured are guitarist Peter Calo as well as Scottish dancing, bagpipes and a host of Scottish foods and whiskeys. 6 p.m., 3 Owens Road, North Salem; 914-277-8477, schoolhousetheater.org.

Music on the Hill invites choristers across the region to join in singing four different major choral works on Tuesdays in August. Scores will be provided. Aug. 6, it’s Mendelssohn's “Elijah,” Aug. 13 Mozart's “Requiem,” Aug. 20 Faure's “Requiem,” and Aug, 27 Haydn's “Lord Nelson Mass,” 7 p.m., Wilton Presbyterian Church, 48 New Canaan Road; 203-529-3133, musiconthehillCT.org.

Aug. 4 The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” under a tent on the baseball field adjacent to The Ridgefield Playhouse. It’s preceded by a “Green Expo,” featuring businesses that are making environmentally friendly choices. Green Expo - noon to 2 p.m., play 2 p.m., 80 E. Ridge Road; 203-438-5795, ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

Aug 2 to 11

Aug. 6

The White Plains Performing Arts Center presents “Tuck Everlasting,” a musical based on Natalie Babbitt’s best-selling novel. This story about eternal love and immortality follows Winnie Foster, who discovers the magical secret of the Tuck family and embarks on a journey that will change her life forever. 2 and 8 p.m. daily, 11 City Place; 914-328-1600, wppac.com.

The New Rochelle Public Library presents a performance by the Bokandeye African Dance and Drum Troupe. Directed by Anthony Wooden, the troupe will celebrate the cultural traditions of African villages through Djembe drumming, dancing and colorful costumes. 7 p.m., Ossie Davis Theater, 1 Library Plaza; 914-632-7878, nrpl.org.

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Aug. 8 Multiplatinum-selling singer and performer Gavin DeGraw will take the stage at The Capitol Theatre. The pop-rock musician rose to fame with the single "I Don't Want to Be." 6:30 p.m., 149 Westchester Ave., Port Chester; 914-934-9362, thecapitoltheatre.com.

The Greenwich Art Society’s annual Members Summer Exhibit offers a V.I.P. tour with the juror of the show, Hillary Reder, curatorial assistant at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. 5:30 p.m., 299 Greenwich Ave.; 203629-1533, greenwichartsociety.org.

Aug. 9 The Fairfield Museum’s free outdoor Jazz Friday series presents “The Greatest Jazz Saxophonists You’ve Never Heard Of,” featuring Jim Clark, saxophones; Will Comer, piano; John Mobilio, bass; and Jim Royle, drums.

6 p.m., Fairfield Museum and History Center, 370 Beach Road; 259-1598, fairfieldhistory.org.

d raft rs!

Riverside Crafts Fair

50th Anniversary Celebration!

60s-Inspired Activities & Music

70+ artisans & eats

August 17 & 18 10 am to 5 pm Adults $8, kids free on Garrison’s Landing Rain or Shine! garrisonartcenter.org

95th Annual

Yorktown Grange Fair September 6 — September 8

Grange Fairgrounds • 99 Moseman Road, Yorktown Heights

Rides ~ Exhibits ~ Livestock ~ Contests ~ Live Music Every Day! Produce ~ Flowers ~ Art ~ Baking ~ Needlework ~ Photography ~ Legos ~ Poultry ~ Rabbits New! it Rabb Show

Special Performance!

Saturday 8 p.m.

y Famil r o f n Fu All! Livestock Exhibits & Demonstrations

Fair Midway with Rides, Games & Food

New Low P ric $10 p e! e Carlo r ad

Antique Tractor Parade Saturday at Noon

yorktowngrangefair.org AUGUST 2019

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Camila Meza will perform at Lyndhurst mansion Aug. 1.

Photograph by Chris Drukker.

Aug. 10 and 24 Join Richard “Deej” Webb and Robert Steven Williams and the Westport Historical Society for “Destination Westport: In Gatsby’s Shoes,” a vigorous 120-minute walk where your guides will recreate the summer of 1920 and the sites and characters that influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” written when he and Zelda lived in an 18th-century Westport farmhouse. Reservations required. 9:15 to 11:30 a.m., Longshore Marina, 260 Compo Road S.; 203-222-1424, westporthistory.org.

Aug. 10 Danbury Music Centre’s Charles Ives Concert Series, produced in collaboration with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, concludes with "Transfiguration," a concert of works that transform sound or music in unique and fascinating ways. 7:30 p.m., The Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 E. Ridge Road; 203-438-5795, danburymusiccentre.org.

Aug. 11 Beechwood Arts and Innovation presents its annual popup Beechwood Open, an Arts Immersion Salon, open to all to register to perform, exhibit, bring a dish or sell creative wares. Tickets in advance only. 2 to 6 p.m., 52 Weston Road, Westport; beechwoodarts.org.

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Aug. 15

Aug. 23 through Sept. 8

Hear Dennis DeYoung, founding lead singer and writer on seven of STYX’s eight Top-Ten hits, in this live concert with a six-piece band, showcasing all of STYX’s greatest hits. 8 p.m., Levitt Pavilion, 40 Jessup Road, Westport; Tickets: 866-811-4111, levittpavilion.com.

The town of Ridgefield hosts its annual Art Walk, a two-week-long townwide party. During this free festival, the streets of Ridgefield turn into a strolling gallery with more than 50 restaurants, businesses and cultural venues showcasing the work of 70 artists in windows and on shop walls. On opening night at 5 p.m., each artist will be at the merchant he is paired with to exhibit his work. For more, visit the Ridgefield Guild of Artists, 34 Halpin Lane; 203-438-8863. rgoa.org.

Aug. 17 India Center of Westchester presents India Day, a celebration of the nation’s 73rd Independence Day. This cultural program will showcase various traditional Indian songs and dances. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Grinton I. Will Library, 1500 Central Park Ave., Yonkers; 914-418-5775, indiacenter.us.

Aug. 18 In conjunction with its exhibition “Sharks!,” the Bruce Museum presents another in its Science on the Silver Screen event with “The Meg.” Could the prehistoric megalodon still live deep beneath the sea? Watch this film along with a special guest scientist, who will lead a discussion about the science in the film. 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich; 203869-0376, brucemuseum.org.

Aug. 20, 22 and 24 The Taconic Opera summer program for emerging opera singers, New York Opera Conservatory, offers a free summer concert series. Audiences will have an opportunity to hear the upcoming generation of professional singers as they gain valuable experience perfecting their craft. 7 p.m., Croton Free Library, 171 Cleveland Drive; 855-8867372, taconicopera.org.

Aug. 24 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founder of the Moody Blues, Denny Laine, is in concert with “Songs and Stories,” at Norwalk’s restored Wall Street Theater. 7 p.m., 71 Wall St.; 203-831-5004, wallstreettheater.com.

Aug. 31 Untermyer Performing Arts Council’s World Fest series culminates with an outdoor performance of West African dancing and drumming by Sidiki Conde and the Tokounou Dance Company. Through Tokounou’s song, dance and musical arrangements, Conde celebrates the traditional arts of Guinea and chronicles his unique journey as a person with a disability. 7:30 p.m., Untermyer Park, 945 N. Broadway, Yonkers; 914-613-4502, untermyergardens.org.

Presented by ArtsWestchester (artswestchester.org) and The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (culturalalliancefc.org/FCbuzz-events).

Experience Something Real 2019-2020 OCTOBER 20 Flamenco Legends: The Paco de Lucia Project NOVEMBER Gina Chavez Live in Concert 8 10 Dorrance Dance 16 Chouk Bwa 23 Arch 8: Rising Tide 23 CMS of Lincoln Center DECEMBER An Evening with David Sedaris 7 13 A.I.M: An Untitled Love 15 Canadian Brass: Christmas Time is Here

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW

FEBRUARY 8 Orpheus Chamber Orchestra 8 Villalobos Brothers 14 Paul Taylor Dance Company 15 The Manhattan Transfer 23 MUMMENSCHANZ: you & me 28 Air Play MARCH 1 The Very Hungry Caterpillar 6 It Gets Better 14 CMS of Lincoln Center 14 Ballet Folclórico Nacional de México 15 A Cappella Live!

20 Mariachi Los Camperos 22 Treehouse Shakers The Boy Who Grew Flowers 27 Black Violin 28 Doug Varone and Dancers

Pictured: BAir Play © Florence Montmare

JANUARY 25 CMS of Lincoln Center

APRIL 18 RUBBERBANDance Group: Ever So Slightly 25 CMS of Lincoln Center MAY 2 Gravity and Other Myths: A Simple Space 5 Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza

914.251.6200 www.artscenter.org LUCILLE WERLINICH, Chair of Purchase College Foundation

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WOOFING IT UP

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Pet lovers from the area gathered at the Glen Arbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills to celebrate the eighth year of operation of ANCAR — A New Chance Animal Rescue. Dedicated to saving lives “one tail at a time,” the organization started in 2011 and is based on the foster-home model of pet rescue. It has helped more than 500 pets find their “fur-ever” homes with families in our area. The Wag, Woof and Wine Cocktail Gala is its largest fundraiser of the year. Along with dog-themed activities such as a dog-kissing booth plus live and silent auctions, the event recognized Sharon Silverman, Susan DiTomasso and Nora Bisignano for their efforts with the rescue group. Photographs

by Candy Higgins.

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Pup Trisha and Camille Branca Anne Alexander, Sue LaColla and Lyn Henderson Kate Galligan and David Menken Christine O’Leary and Doug Sarnoff Melinda Arkin and James Lanera Nora Bisignano, Sharon Silverman, Sophia Silverman and Susan DiTomasso Rob Jones Steve Martin Alex Hamer, Stacy Geisinger and David Laks Kristin Carollo and Cathy Shaffer Candy Higgins, Gernine Tuckner, Pamela Small and Alyssa Cohen Daniel Mond and Tanner Auction time.

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HILL AND BILL HONORED The Friends of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve presented the inaugural John D. Rockefeller Jr. Park Preservation Award to President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Friends annual gala at the Rockefeller estate in Pocantico Hills. Honored for their contributions and endeavors, including the Clinton Foundation, the Clintons carry out their longstanding work of safeguarding our natural resources and building a sustainable future. Residents of nearby Chappaqua, the couple can often be seen strolling the Rockefeller State Park Preserve’s charming carriage roads with their dogs and greeting other visitors. The Friends award reflected the extraordinary contributions that John D. Rockefeller Jr. made in the form of financing, maintaining and protecting the land that now comprises the preserve, enjoyed by more than 400,000 visitors each year. Photographs by Don Pollard Photography.

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DOCTORS IN THE HOUSE

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United Hebrew of New Rochelle brought to the stage a group of leading Westchester physicians to showcase their musical talents at a special performance of “Doctors in Concert,” featuring classical and contemporary performances on piano, violin, cello and guitar. Open to the public, the event featured more than 100 guests at Willow Towers, United Hebrew’s assisted living community. The evening performance was part of United Hebrew’s Centennial Celebration and benefited the campus, which provides supportive care to Westchester’s seniors.

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Ezriel Kornel Daniel Markowicz Alan Jaffe Melin Tan-Geller and Neil Prufer

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NETWORKING, MILLENNIAL STYLE Booked Parties, in partnership with The Jefferson Valley Mall, celebrated its launch event for their “Mini Movers and Shakers” series, highlighting the accomplishments of many of the area’s brightest entrepreneurs. Speakers included local jewelry designer Samantha Auburn Levine from Auburn Jewelry who began designing jewelry in high school and is now being featured in JCrew, as well as Octavia Ford, director of volunteer engagement and partnerships for the Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson. Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins also attended, praising the young business leaders for their ingenuity and creativity in starting their own businesses.

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AND THEY STILL RISE

Rising Ground, one of New York City’s largest human-services organizations, held its Spring Benefit on the Gramercy Park Hotel’s rooftop Terrace Garden in Manhattan. The event raised more than $74,000 for the worthy cause. Photographs

by Marco Sagliocco.

7. Josh and Michael Lamberg and Alan Mucatel 8. Carolyn Mandelker and Mitch Sacks

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DESIGNED TO DELIGHT

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It was a day of fashion and fun at the Bruce Museum’s “Art of Design Luncheon and Fashion-Focused Conversation” benefit event, which took place at the Greenwich Country Club. Founded in 2014 as a forum to provide fresh insight into the ever-evolving intersection of art and design, the luncheon brings together movers and shakers in the worlds of fashion, interior design and the media. This year’s event united clothing designer Dennis Basso in conversation with his friend Stellene Volandes, editor in chief of Town & Country magazine. The luncheon featured a runway show of Basso fashions with music provided by noted local DJ April Larken.

The benefit raised funds for educational programs held at the Bruce Museum.

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A model shows off a Dennis Basso design.

Chelsea Staniar and Claire Salvatore Dennis Basso and Scott Currie Erin Gaudreau and Melissa Rwambuya Guy Bedarida and Gloria Fieldcamb Geoff Aquino, Russell Pagliughi and PJ Pasqual Jeanine Kennedy, Lisa Lori, Kim Nichols and Kathy McCormack Jan Kniffen, Sachiko Goodman and Robert Wolterstorff Paige Rustum, Jenny Price and Shannon Henderson Kamie Lightburn and Felicity Kostakis Patricia Chadwick and Heidi Smith Stellene Volandes Pat Hamilton, Jennifer Freitag, Susan Mahoney and Shondu Pande

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DIONNE AT THE PALACE

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The Palace Theatre in Stamford welcomed five-time Grammy Award-winner Dionne Warwick in concert for the nonprofit’s 10th annual gala. The event, which is the Palace’s largest annual fundraiser, raised more than $120,000 to support the organization and its arts education programs. Photographs

by Happyhaha At Wahstudio.

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GOLFING WITH MARIANO More than 250 people — including iconic sports figures, broadcasters and celebrities — came out in force to support White Plains Hospital and the Mariano Rivera Foundation at the White Plains Hospital/Mariano Rivera Celebrity Golf and Party held at Winged Foot Golf Club. Some of the celebrity guests found on the links were Bruce Beck, Johnny Damon, Dylan Dreyer and others from ESPN, the New York Mets, the New York Yankees and the NFL, who joined Rivera for a gourmet breakfast, followed by golf at the Mamaroneck club. A cocktail reception and dinner capped off the fun-filled day. The annual event raised more than $800,000, which will be split between hospital, where the dollars will be used to improve access to health care for the underserved, and the foundation.

Photographs by John Vecchiolla.

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FORE' THE KIDS

A little bad weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm and cooperation of the participants as Andrus hosted its 15th annual “Golf Fore Kids’ Outing at the Ardsley Country Club in Dobbs Ferry. The event raised essential funds for the continued care of children and families who have survived childhood trauma and suffer from mental and behavioral health issues.

In addition they will expand Andrus’ Animal Assisted Therapy Program, which has proven to help the children learn and grow with the affection of the animals.

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Barbara Smith, Siobhan Masterson and Rosa Bautista Brianne Lynn, Fiona Wilkes, Stephan Spilkowitz, Juliana Fondacaro and therapy dog Teddy Romer Egglis Cepero, Belinda Caballero Brooke Baran and Eliette Cepero Jon Dorf Eileen Davis and Nancy Spensley

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COOKING UP INSPIRATION

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MGM Resorts, which recently acquired the Empire City Casino, is supporting Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE)’s new state-of-the-art learning space, the YPIE College Zone.

The new YPIE College Zone, is a 5000-plus-square-foot after-school learning space, that brings together hundreds of Yonkers public high school students each week to learn, be inspired and be part of a community on the path to college success. With funding from MGM Resorts, YPIE has included an industrial-sized, multipurpose kitchen in the College Zone that provides a space for students to connect and take part in culinary learning experiences.

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1. Wendy Nadel and Uri Clinton 2. Michael Sabatino and Sam Wallis

HAPPY 100TH

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More than 200 guests came to a decked-out Hudson River Museum for “The Gala of the Century,” a celebration of the museum’s 100th anniversary honoring members of the community and advocates for the arts. After the event, the museum held its gala after-party, which featured a DJ, dancing and specialty cocktails and desserts from X20, sponsored

by Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers and Cross County Shopping Center. Photographs by Lynda Shenkman.

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Thomas D’Auria and Lela Goren Masha Turchinsky and Anthony Viceroy Sabrena and Uri Clinton Karin Meyers, Martin Ginsburg, Irene Ginsburg and Burt Meyers 7. Jim Cavanaugh, Liz Bracken-Thompson, Geoff Thompson, Wilson Kimball and Shanae Williams 8. Erin Ward 9. George Latimer

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“I like to run and spend time with my children and pets to relax.”

“I exercise three times a week and meditate after work.”

“I dance since I am a certified Zumba instructor and meditate. I need to be physical to get to the state where I can relax.”

“I enjoy spending time with my very chatty husband, drinking wine and watching TV. I also love to go out to eat and spend time with my dogs to relax.”

“I listen to alternative rock music to relax.”

Grant Jednety

Barbara Mosca retired financial adviser Long Beach resident

director of risk management Yorktown Heights resident

therapeutic massage therapist Cross River resident

Lynda Williams

Cathy Young

hair stylist Cortlandt Manor resident

“I play video games, read, run and work out to relax.”

“I love to go down to Oakland Beach in Rye. It’s relaxing to sit and be out there when there is a little breeze.”

“I relax by taking naps, watching CNN, getting massages, swimming and going to the beach.”

“I meditate and take long walks in the woods.”

“I love to drink wine while watching TV.”

baristo Carmel resident

Carmel resident

Nyarumba Nota

*Reported by summer intern Madison Gross.

144

WAGMAG.COM

AUGUST 2019

Steve Gibson