WAG magazine - December 2015

BEA VALDES Filipino designer dazzles New York

ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY

Fashioning a grand life

SWEET LISA’S TAKES THE CAKE SARAH HAVILAND:

Artistry takes flight

ACCENT ON STYLE

Kenneth Jay Lane and Jeffrey Levinson

HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR GENTLEMEN

ENDURING passion JUDGED

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CONTENTS

WHAT’S INSIDE: 12 16 20 24 28 30 32 36 40 42 46 50 52 56

Queen of her own wild heart Cultivating his garden Exceeding his grasp Taking flight Big on small A twisting tale of love’s triumph Following your bliss on the hero’s journey The self-made domestic goddess A bridge to ending homelessness Lucky gents Vive la France Faux/real All you need is love COVER STORY: Bea Valdes – Forward-thinking design, time-honored tradition 60 Putting start-ups on a bigger stage 80 The sweet life 93 A little lamb makes a difference

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DECEMBER 2015

Bea Valdes models a necklace of her own design.

See story on page 56.

Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

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ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY

Fashioning a grand life

SWEET LISA’S TAKES THE CAKE SARAH HAVILAND:

Artistry takes flight

ACCENT ON STYLE

Kenneth Jay Lane and Jeffrey Levinson

HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR GENTLEMEN

ENDURING passion JUDGED

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Photograph by Bob Rozycki DECEMBER 2015

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the end, though, she proved a head-over-heart girl who kept that head squarely on her shoulders by putting her country first, making duty a delight. Almost a century earlier, Andrea del Sarto — the subject of exhibits at The Frick Collection and The Metropolitan Museum of Art — located his passion in his refined drawings One of my enduring passions has always been an and paintings along with his interest in the ancient Greeks, particularly Alexander beloved republic of Florence, the Great. Photograph by Bob Rozycki. perhaps sacrificing a career on WE RING DOWN THE CURTAIN a bigger stage and even his life for the eternal ideals of beauty and freedom.

ON A YEAR OF PASSION WITH Elsewhere in these pages, we bear OUR “ENDURING PASSION” ISwitness to André Leon Talley’s conSUE. And what a year it’s been as we’ve talked theater with James Naughton stant passion not only for fashion but and Patti LuPone; discussed politics and for art, literature, gardening — for life private lives with Congressman Sean itself. And we experience the indissolPatrick Maloney and his spouse, Randy uble joy international fragrance conFlorke; explored design with Lillian Ausultant Michal Gizinski shares for the gust; saddled up with the men of Greentheater as well as Houbigant perfumes, wich Polo; broken bread with Ruth Rethe persistent enthusiasm executive ichl; and caught up with globe-trotting chef Kristin Sollenne has for cooking, conductor Peter Oundjian. the endless love Giada Valenti finds in We’ve hit with the United States Tensinging and the perpetual zeal Oscar nis Association’s Katrina Adams; played and Nan Pollock bring to preventing ball with Bernie Williams; and marhomelessness among the working veled over Ralph Pucci’s mannequins poor through their Bridge Fund. and the way Ryan Reynolds balances These are people who have “followed movie stardom with life in the Westtheir bliss,” in the words of Audrey’s apchester ’burbs. preciation of mythologist Joseph CampBut passion is evergreen. And so bell, who coined the phrase. It’s a mantra we say not goodbye to this theme but that has been disparaged in some circles rather à bientôt — or “see you soon’’ as New Age-y. But basically it means — with a look at others for whom pas“follow your passion,’’ which, of course, sion also abides. must be tempered by reason and pragSurely this applies to cover subject matism, as in the case of Elizabeth. But it Bea Valdes, who integrates intricate cannot be denied, for where your heart beading and embroidery into her shimis, that’s where your happiness lies. mering line of jewelry and accessories.

That’s what Campbell said. That’s Yet as Mary and Bob discovered on one what our whole passion year has been of her recent visits from her native Maabout. nila, that quality is enhanced by her vivWe at WAG wish you all the joys of id words on a time-honored tradition. the season but especially joy in your It was like that everywhere we passion — wherever it may lead you. turned this issue: We encountered peoGeorgette Gouveia is the author of ple in person or on the historical page “Water Music” and the forthcoming for whom passion was no mere pass“The Penalty for Holding,” part of ing fancy. Elizabeth I of England was a her series of novels, “The Games Men hot-blooded, glamorous woman who Play,” which is also the name of the burned with love for her country and sports/culture blog she writes at theRobert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. In gamesmenplay.com.

QUEEN

OF HER OWN WILD HEART

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

THE CW’S “REIGN” — WHICH CASTS MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS AS AN INSIPID GOODY TWO-SHOES AND HER MOTHER-IN-LAW CATHERINE DE’ MEDICI AND RIVAL/COUSIN ELIZABETH I AS MEAN GIRLS — IS FILLED WITH ANACHRONISTIC HOWLERS. (Witness William Cecil, Elizabeth’s chief adviser, telling her that he knows how she hates the patriarchal system. Yeah, ’cause Renaissance queens really thought like that.)

But there was one moment recently that rang true. Cecil and the other members of her Privy Council urge Elizabeth to make her married childhood soulmate (and presumed lover) Robert Dudley ambassador to France, thereby ridding her of a sex scandal and them of a nettlesome political rival.

“I’ll take it under advisement,” she purrs, smiling sweetly — then proceeds to bind Dudley more tightly to her. Like her fictional counterpart, the real Elizabeth was determined to steer her own course through the tempest-tossed seas of sexual and political passion. “I will never be by violence constrained to do anything,” she told members of Parliament as they pressured her to marry or at least settle the succession.)

Hot-tempered — particularly when it came to rival ladies, unruly subjects and willful suitors — and hot-blooded when it came to dashing men, Elizabeth knew the heart was essential. But a shrewd head still ruled that heart.

Perhaps that was because she understood that for a female ruler, passion and reason were — fairly or unfairly — as entwined as gender and governance. As an unmarried queen whose choice of husband could affect the direction of her island nation and tip the balance of power in Europe, she was the body in the body politic. To keep a newly 12

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Protestant England safe and its continental Roman Catholic antagonists — Spain, France and Rome — off-balance, Elizabeth played the dating game for all it was worth, dallying with King Erik XIV of Sweden and Archduke Charles von Habsburg of Austria, among others, through the sexting of the day — letters and portraits. (Virtually no suitor would woo her in person for fear of rejection, just as she remarked that they might find her wanting.) And so Elizabeth flirted from afar, flitting away whenever the matrimonial flame burned too hot.

That’s not surprising given her family history. Her father, Henry VIII — he of the six wives — had beheaded her mother, Anne Boleyn. She had seen stepmother after stepmother divorced (Anne of Cleves), beheaded (Katherine Howard) or dead in childbirth (Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr). Her sister Mary had humiliated herself and thrown England into turmoil with a loveless marriage to Philip II of Spain. Their first cousin, once removed, Mary, Queen of Scots, had as the widowed queen of France made two disastrous unions that cost her the throne of her native Scotland and, ultimately, her head.

Small wonder that Elizabeth once observed: “Better beggar woman and single than queen and married.”

But her unique situation — married as she was to England — suited her temperamentally as well. Even if she weren’t an actual virgin — and there’s nothing to suggest historically that she wasn’t, despite such fanciful novels as Robin Maxwell’s “The Queen’s Bastard” and Philippa Gregory’s “The Virgin’s Lover — she was what Jungian analyst Esther Harding would later describe as a psychological virgin,

The ultimate in Photoshop - “The Rainbow Portrait” of Elizabeth I (circa 1600-02, oil) as glamorous allegory. Hatfield House, Collection of the Marquess of Salisbury.

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one in herself. As she told the ever-pressuring Parliament: “I thank God I am endowed with such qualities that if I were turned out of the realm in my petticoat, I were able to live in any place in Christendom.” Unlike many women, even today, she didn’t need a man.

Which is not to say she didn’t want one. Her love for Robert Dudley — once her childhood playmate and later her Master of the Horse and the Earl of Leicester — endured the suspicious death of his first wife, which cast their relationship in a sinister light; his secret marriage to his second, which enraged Elizabeth; his ambitions; her flirtations; and her serious in-person courtship by the much younger François, duke of Alençon, the last son of the French queen regent, Catherine de’ Medici. When Alençon and Dudley died — in 1584 and ’88 respectively — Elizabeth mourned them sincerely, writing to Catherine of her son: “Madame, if you were able to see an image of my heart, you would see the portrait of a body without a soul.” As for Dudley, she locked herself in her room for days and kept his final missive to her in a bedside treasure box, inscribing it, “His Last Letter.”

Yet when she had the chance to marry either, she demurred, composing this poem, “On Monsieur’s Departure,” when she broke up with Alençon in 1581:

I grieve and dare not show my discontent; I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate; I do, yet dare not say I ever meant; I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate.

I am, and not; I freeze and yet am burned, Since from myself another self I turned.

My care is like my shadow in the sun -Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, Stands, and lies by me, doth what I have done; His too familiar care doth make me rue it.

No means I find to rid him from my breast, Till by the end of things it be suppressed.

Some gentler passion slide into my mind, For I am soft and made of melting snow; Or be more cruel, Love, and so be kind.

Let me or float or sink, be high or low; Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant.

A Victorian view of “Elizabeth I and Leicester” (1865, oil), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.

By then, Elizabeth had transformed herself into Gloriana, England’s virgin goddess, who understood that when you belong to yourself or the world, it’s hard to belong to one other person.

If that made her a hybrid — a female prince; a nontraditional woman, so be it.

“She was,” William Cecil observed, “more than a man and, in truth, something less than a woman.”

Yet every inch a queen.

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C

AndrĂŠ Leon Talley at the Himmel Award and Lecture, held at the Morgan Stanley headquarters in Purchase. Photograph by Margaret Fox 16

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C

CULTIVATING

his garden ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY ON LIFE, GREEN SPACE, NARRATIVE AND WHAT EVERYONE WORE

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

“AS GRAND AS HE IS HUMBLE” WAS THE WAY ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY DESCRIBED HIS FRIEND AND MENTOR OSCAR DE LA RENTA AFTER THE KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTED TALLEY WITH ITS HIMMEL AWARD RECENTLY FOR HIS WORK AS A FASHION EDITOR, WRITER, CURATOR AND MENTOR.

But “grand” and “humble” might be words that you could apply to Talley as well. Fashionistas are well-acquainted with the grand part — the larger-than-life figure swathed in couture caftans and capes on the red carpet, the familiar face on such TV shows as “America’s Next Top Model,” the man who has the ear of first ladies and film queens alike.

He has been mentored by Diana Vreeland of Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Metropolitan Museum of Art fame; advised Anna Wintour, Vogue’s haut-influential editor-in-chief; and shopped with Diana Ross for diamonds in Paris, lunching with her at Maxim’s. (Oh, to have been along for that ride.)

But this is a man who also cherishes his quiet life in White Plains — nurturing his trees and savoring the familial atmosphere of City Limits Diner, where he is a regular — one who has never forgotten his roots in Durham, N.C., and the beloved grandmother who taught him that clothes are indeed part of what makes the man.

If Talley is equally at home in White Plains and Paris, in the magnificent gardens of the de la Renta abode in Kent and the vast reaches of Morgan Stanley’s Purchase headquarters, where the Himmel Award lecture and reception took place, that’s because he is always completely, utterly and totally himself.

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Top left, André Leon Talley with Oscar de la Renta, plus fashion images from “Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style” (Rizzoli), written by Talley. Photographs courtesy of Rizzoli.

“Don’t listen to anyone else,” he told the audience of about 200 at the Himmel presentation. “If you want to wear pajamas, wear them.”

And yet it is clear that he has made a career, in part, of others listening to him, whether it’s Wintour at Vogue, where he’s a contributing editor and writer, or supermodel Naomi Campbell or Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.

“In fact, a day for me that is one of pleasure is a day spent offering advice and counsel to women who seek my opinion on matters of dress,” he wrote in “Little Black Dress” — the delicious Skira Rizzoli companion book to his 2012-13 exhibit 18

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DECEMBER 2015

at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)’s Museum of Art, where the André Leon Talley Gallery opened in 2011. He went on to quote Oscar Wilde’s play “An Ideal Husband”: “Men are the only authorities on dress.”

“Of course, women are deep experts on fashion,” he added in an interview with WAG. “But men have a certain viewpoint they can contribute.”

What’s the chief fashion faux pas women make?

“Shopping on impulse,” he said without hesitation. “A woman should shop with a purpose. The only thing to buy on impulse are books and candy.”

While candy is “verboten” for the man who eats a plant-based diet, books clearly are not. Talley — who studied French literature as a graduate student at Brown University after attending the Rhode Island School of Design and tends to think of everything as narrative — happily dwells amid “islands of books” and is giving 15 boxes of them to the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Dispensing volumes or pearls about clothing and candy finds Talley wearing one of his most stylish hats — as mentor.

“A treasured friend and devoted SCAD advocate for more than a decade, Andre’s contributions to SCAD’s academic community can scarcely be enumerated,” Paula Wallace, the college’s founding president, wrote in “Little Black Dress.”

“It’s each generation’s responsibility to pass on the knowledge you have, just as you learned from your heroes,” Talley told WAG. In that interview, at the Himmel Award and in the pages of “LBD,” Talley movingly remembered his first hero — his grandmother Bennie Frances Davis, who raised him and worked as a maid for four decades at Duke University. Nonetheless, everything in the house was ironed and there was always food on the table, including her trademark biscuits.

“I thought she was special, because of her blue hair,” he told the Himmel crowd, referring to the rinse she used to keep her gray hair from dulling or yellowing.

Davis made her summer dresses in her bedroom on a Singer sewing machine, whose wrought-iron foot pedal Talley lovingly polished with furniture cream. Every week, she would consult the young Talley on the selection of her Sunday best and every week, a dry cleaning truck would pick up whatever had been worn and return it the following week. Talley recalled the black suit from the 1940s that his grandmother wore on special occasions. She wore the suit when she accompanied him on a trip to New York, just as he had once accompanied her on her annual shopping expeditions.

The other seminal female figure of his youth was Vreeland, for whom he volunteered at The Met’s Costume Institute after graduating from Brown and heading to New York.

“What she (Talley’s grandmother) and Mrs. Vreeland had in common was a holistic approach to fashion.”

If Davis taught him the intimate pleasure of helping a woman create a crisply tailored ensemble, Vreeland taught him to think of clothes as storytelling. A gold lamé gown from the 1934 film “Cleopatra” was not merely a gold lamé gown but the tale of an embattled teenage queen. Talley had the mannequin spray-painted gold. It was the beginning of heady days, covering the runways and couture houses for Interview magazine, Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue, and headier nights at Studio 54.

It was also in the mid-1970s that Talley met another great influence on his life, Oscar de la Renta, the subject of a recent SCAD Museum of Art exhibit curated by Talley and another sumptuous Skira Rizzoli book. (He is at work on a de la Renta show for San Francisco’s de Young museum, opening March 12.)

From de la Renta, for whom fashion, food, family, gardening and home design were all integrated, Talley learned about pruning his 130-year-old copper beech tree and cultivating life’s garden.

Quoting the last line of Voltaire’s “Candide,” Talley said, “We must all cultivate our gardens.”

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EXCEEDING HIS GRASP ANDREA DEL SARTO AT THE FRICK AND THE MET

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

20

WAGMAG.COM

DECEMBER 2015

At The Frick – Andrea del Sarto’s “Study for the Head of Saint John the Baptist” (circa 1523, black chalk), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Woodner Collection.

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At The Frick – Andrea del Sarto’s “Saint John the Baptist” (circa 1523, oil on panel), Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence. By permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo.

He was one of the finest artists you’ve probably never heard of.

Or maybe you know the work but not his name.

Or you remember his name from your school days as the title of a 19th-century poem by Robert Browning that has become synonymous with the gallantry of second-tier strivers. Surely, you know its most famous lines: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

Yet in the Renaissance, Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) was a titan whose name was uttered in the same breath as that singular and singularly named trinity — Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael.

“He was the most important and the most satisfying artist working continuously in Florence in the first decade of the 16th century,” says Andrea Bayer, the Jayne Wrightsman curator in the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

Now the artist is having another moment. “Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action,” at The Frick Collection in Manhattan through Jan. 10, features 45 drawings and three paintings in the first major American monographic exhibit on his art. Associate curator Aimee Ng — who coordinated the show, which originated at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — calls it “the overdue expression … of an interest in the artist 22

WAGMAG.COM

DECEMBER 2015

that has long been part of art historical discourse.”

It is accompanied by a small exhibit at The Met that juxtaposes two Andrea works — the museum’s “The Holy Family With the Young Saint John the Baptist” (circa 1528, oil on wood) and “Charity” (1528-29, oil on wood), on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. That Andrea — del Sarto was not his last name but a description of his father’s profession as a tailor, or sarto — isn’t better known in our culture probably says as much about fame, history, fate and our times as it does about the artist himself. Certainly, it’s not for want in the work.

“His drawing, use of color, sense of composition, feel for his subjects, choreography and harmony of figures — it all comes together,” says Bayer, a Pelham resident who co-curated The Met show with Michael Gallagher, the museum’s Sherman Fairchild conservator in charge, Department of Paintings Conservation.

The drawings — in which, Ng says, “his creative process is laid bare” and which make up the majority of works on display — are sublime examples of shadowing, shaping, sculpting, if you will, on paper that reveal the artist at the height of his experimental powers with red chalk. Andrea used hatching (closely spaced parallel lines), wet tips and brushes, stumping (rubbing with an instrument), a combination of red and black chalk — and even his own hands, Bayer says — to create such works as the exquisite “Study for the Head of Julius Caesar” (circa 1520). A preparatory sketch for Andrea’s monumental fresco “Tribute to Caesar” at the Villa Medici in Poggio a Caiano, the work offers us a chiseled profile of the doomed Roman consul that would not be out of place among contemporary men — his gaze at once fierce and introspective, a quality that permeates Andrea’s subjects.

It is not the typical, middle-aged, world-weary Caesar, but then, neither is Andrea’s painting of “Saint John the Baptist” (circa 1523, oil on panel), perhaps his greatest, most famous work, the prototypical “voice crying out in the wilderness,” wearing camel’s hair and living on locusts and wild honey.

Instead, he is portrayed as a tender youth, his nude, molded chest thrown into sharp relief by the scarlet cloak about him. John’s beauty makes his inevitable martyrdom that much more poignant and reflects the Renaissance love of the classical sculpture that was being unearthed during this period.

“Renaissance culture celebrated the human and thus the beauty of the human body in perfect harmony with Christian faith,” Ng says, “and a belief that humans were made in God’s image.”

The perfection of his “Saint John the Baptist” may explain why Andrea was eclipsed by more idiosyncratic contemporaries. So, too, does his insularity. Andrea’s world was one of family and Florence. His wife, Lucrezia, was his contemplative muse. Not for him the big career crisscrossing Italy.

It was to the republic of Florence that he was loyal, and it was to its ideal that he created “The Holy Family With the Young Saint John the Baptist” for the Florentine official Giovanni Borgherini and “Charity” for Francis I in the hope that the French king would come to the besieged republic’s aid against the Medici-allied Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. To no avail.

Charles’ troops swept in, bringing the plague and with it death to Andrea.

He comes back to us at a moment when our culture has a renewed interest in the Renaissance, albeit through woefully anachronistic TV series like “The Tudors,” “The Borgias” and “Reign.”

“The questions pursued and the avenues investigated by scholars tell us about our own culture,” Ng says. “This is why, in a way, there can never be ‘nothing left to say’ about an artist or period. Each new moment of scholarship brings a set of new perspectives and context to the object of study.”

For more, visit frick.org and metmuseum.org.

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23

TAKING FLIGHT

BIRDS INSPIRE THE LATEST PHASE IN SCULPTOR’S CAREER

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

“Aviary Journal,” aluminum mesh, 2015 248: Chinese WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER standing metal cage, book, pencil and moss.

SCULPTOR SARAH HAVILAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT NATURE AND THE FEMININE IN NATURE. In the 1990s, her superb goddess sculptures — such as “Kneeling Isis,” in which the abstracted figure’s mirrored “head” and raised “arms” allow the viewer to be one with the work — helped define the eco-feminist movement and brand the fledgling Peekskill Artist District as SoHo North.

Since then, the Cortlandt artist’s career has taken on an international dimension with an environmental installation in Taiwan. More recently and

closer to home, she exhibited her bird-women at BAU Inc. (the Beacon Artist Union) under the title “Aviary: Votives & Voices.”

The installation represented her “ongoing work doing bird figures, human-bird combinations, which have a basis in mythology.”

From harpies, sirens and sphinxes in ancient Greece to the Germanic origins of “Swan Lake” and its modern variations in the film “Black Swan” and TV’s “Once Upon A Time,” birds are often associated with women who are tragic victims, predators or both. Does Haviland see that connection?

“I do, because I’m female,” she says with a laugh.

Her birds are like small, turquoise sphinxes perched in open cages or winged spirits alighting on closed ones. If birds symbolize, for Haviland and for us, flight, freedom, escape and the spirit world, then a cage can be a cruel confinement, albeit one

with moss, stones and cinnamon sticks.

“The bird’s relationship to the cage is ambiguous,” she says. “A cage can be safe, too.”

These are accompanied by a soundtrack that melds birdsong and human voices in the manner of the Bird Market of Paris, which she calls an extraordinary place. Haviland collaborated on the soundtrack with her husband, Jonathan Blunk, a writer.

Birds were also the inspiration for an unusual project that took the artist to Asia this past spring. It almost didn’t happen.

“I heard about a residency in Taiwan with (curator) Jane Ingram Allen, but I teach art full time at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, which is part of CUNY, so I couldn’t apply. But then a new project came up with her, at the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology in Keelung, north of Taipei.”

The four-week residency, which included eight artists from around the world, drew on the themes of the ocean and sustainability. Haviland hit on the idea of the black kite, a seabird whose relationship to Taiwan is similar to that of the bald eagle to late-

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25

20th century America — symbolic and endangered.

She would craft a “Black Kite Bench” that would stand on a bluff overlooking the coastline in an old fishing village within Keelung in what became known as the “25-day challenge.”

It was a challenge in more ways than one. Haviland was working not only with a wrist fracture sustained in Taiwan but with materials that were new for her. For all her love of nature, her career had been shaped by steel, mesh, concrete, found objects — the manmade world.

Now she and her “crucial” volunteer assistants would be working with bamboo.

Haviland also had to reconcile herself to the idea that this work will disintegrate in time.

“As a sculptor, you’re trained to make things that will last,” she says. “It’s a mixed feeling but beautiful nonetheless.”

Haviland — who maintains a studio in Peekskill’s artistic Hat Factory and continues to exhibit with the 10-year-old Collaborative Concepts group on Saunders Farm in Garrison — says the Taiwan experience has only fired her for more public projects. (She has works in Pratt Institute Sculpture Park in Brooklyn and at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan and Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township, N.J.) “I feel my work and imagery has a flow, a continuity….It’s deepened in the time I’ve been here (in Peekskill). It’s real, real life.”

For more, visit sarahhaviland.com.

Sarah Haviland “Aviary 10: Gold Watch” (detail) 26

WAGMAG.COM

DECEMBER 2015

FOR LOUISE KRASNIEWICZ, IT’S A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL.

Big on small

MINIATURIST REVELS IN REMAKING CLASSIC MOVIE SCENES

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

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DECEMBER 2015

The Stamford native is not only an artist, but an anthropologist. And, she says, “If you’re an anthropologist, you’re always an anthropologist no matter what you’re doing. You never turn it off. …I’m always looking at how people build worlds.”

Krasniewicz — who teaches anthropology with an emphasis on film and other aspects of popular culture at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences — is terrific at building worlds herself, painstakingly recreating movies or scenes inspired by films, TV and popular fiction. It’s just that her worlds may be no bigger than 36 inches wide, 24 inches deep and 35 inches high.

Those are the dimensions of “Rear Window,” her miniature take on the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic, on display through December at D. Thomas Fine Miniatures in Hastings-on-Hudson, which was featured in last December’s WAG. “There are two connections,” she says. “Movies make use of miniatures.

But the real connection is that each creates a world. …Hitchcock creates stories with real basic themes: Everyone thinks you’re someone you’re not.

Identity is one of the major things for him, proving who you are, dealing with the big questions.”

In his “Rear Window,” he draws us into the decidedly claustrophobic world of a Greenwich Village apartment where globetrotting photographer L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) recuperates after sustaining a broken leg on assignment. The frustrated Jeffries passes the time watching his artistic neighbors across the courtyard through his and their windows, open to all in a New York heat wave. It’s like a bank of TV screens — television having just begun to have its effect on culture in the early 1950s — with each window offering a continuing narrative. There’s “Miss Torso,” a dancer who cavorts about her place in scanty

The “Rear Window” set in miniature. Photograph by and courtesy of the artist, Louise Krasniewicz.

attire; “Miss Lonelyhearts,” whose place settings for two invariably become dinner for one; a tortured composer who seeks solace in drink; a sculptress who’s hard of hearing; a young couple whose amorous goings-on are silhouetted against their blinds; a childless middle-age couple who dote on the little pet dog they lower to the courtyard in a basket to do his business.

More ominously, there’s the traveling salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr, far from his “Perry Mason” days) and the invalid wife who suddenly disappears. Has she gone to the hospital — or has Thorwald murdered her, as Jeffries suspects? It’s a hunch that will put Jeffries, his nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) and especially his fiancée, Lisa Freemont (Grace Kelly), in grave danger.

As with Hitchcock, Krasniewicz gives us this world from Jeffries’ perspective. We are Jimmy Stewart.

However, her insight is to render it not through the characters but through the remains of their days — the table set for two, the second-rate sculptures, the carnal silhouette, the music scattered beneath the piano bench, and, perhaps most tellingly, the abandoned handbag and wedding ring in the threadbare Thorwald apartment. It’s the small things that stop Jeffries, Lisa — and us — cold. “Yes, that’s right,” says

Krasniewicz, whose extensive research included some 30 viewings of the movie, “the small things.”

Working with a wooden box, Gatorfoam board, pink insulation board, brick plastic sheets, mortar and paint over the course of a year, Krasniewicz created virtually everything by hand. An exception — a sculpture of a horse and rider that she found in an old Monopoly game set and painted white. Such is her detailed craftsmanship that when you see photographs of the work, you think you’re looking at a still from the actual movie set. It’s no wonder it took first place and best in show at this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show.

This was not her first time at the rodeo, so to speak. She was a last-minute entrant to the 2011 Paris-themed show, nonetheless turning out a charming steampunk-style (think 21st century meets the Industrial Revolution) miniature of French science-fiction writer Jules Verne’s office and garden.

For the 2012 Hawaiian show, she created a murder-in-a-museum to be solved by Honolulu detective Charlie Chan. (Krasniewicz participates in a Charlie Chan chat room.) She took first prize and best in show for her 2013 version of The Herbology Greenhouse at Hogwarts. Last year she drew movie buffs into another Hitchcock film, “The Birds,” a favorite. (Other favorite movies include “The Thing

From Another World” and “The Wolf Man.”) The flower show got her back into miniatures, a love she discovered in the 1970s during a visit to Disneyland — “It has lots of miniatures and is itself a miniature of the world” — and Knott’s Berry Farm. (“I still have the miniatures I bought there,” she says.) But she has been an artist since her days at the now-defunct Sacred Heart Academy in Stamford. Back then, it was photography. That proved too limiting so she turned to multimedia in college. (She holds a B.A. in anthropology and an M.A. in educational media from the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University at Albany, SUNY.) “Rear Window” was her farewell to the Philadelphia Flower Show, but not to the world of miniatures. Already, she’s percolating with ideas for the antiques shop from “The Wolf Man,” a particular challenge as it is a black-and-white film, and, perhaps, for Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”

Will it be a room in the Bates Motel or the kitchen of the Bates’ Gothic house or both?

“Part of being a miniaturist is seeing the world differently,” Krasniewicz says. “The passion of miniatures is about reclaiming your imagination.”

For more, visit thewonderofminiatures.com and dthomasfineminiatures.com.

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a

twisting

tale of love’s

triumph

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Marcelo Álvarez as Calàf and Christine Goerke in the title role of Puccini’s “Turandot.”

30 WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015 Photograph

by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

GIACOMO PUCCINI’S SUMPTUOUS OPERA “TURANDOT” — which The Metropolitan Opera is presenting in Franco Zeffirelli’s shimmering production through Jan. 30 — fascinates for many reasons. It was the composer’s last opera, completed by his friend, Franco Alfano, working from sketches Puccini left behind. Indeed, at the 1926 premiere at La Scala in Milan, conductor Arturo Toscanini interrupted the production at the end of Act 3, Scene 1 and announced that it was at this point that the composer put down his pen.

What he created and Alfano finished — brutal and majestic — has not been without controversy, notably for what many have considered a stereotypical depiction of the Chinese that in turn played into Communist Chinese stereotypes of an untrustworthy West. China, however, has long since embraced the operatic chestnut, most notably in the titanic production staged in 1998 by Zhang Yimou and conducted by Zubin Mehta. (A film of “Turandot in the Forbidden City” was subsequently shown on PBS.) But among the intriguing questions that remain

is one about the story itself, which is: How does a Central Asian prince, Càlaf, wind up in China in love with the title princess, whose name, by the way, isn’t Chinese but also Central Asian? (Perhaps that’s too literal a question. This is, after all, opera, with everybody singing in Italian.)

The answer lies in the story’s complex history, which begins not in China but in Persia with “Prince Khalaf (Càlaf) and the Princess of China” from the collection “The Book of a Thousand and One Days” (as opposed to its more famous sister, “The Book of a Thousand and One Nights,”) translated in the early 18th century by the French diplomat François Pétis de la Croix. (Other sources include Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi’s 12th-century narrative work “Haft Paykars,” Carlo Gozzi’s sardonic commedia dell’ arte play “Turandot” (1762) and playwright Friedrich Schiller’s romantic reinterpretation of Gozzi’s work (1801).

What they all have in common is the riddle meme (boy meets girl, girl poses three tough questions boy must answer to win her heart) that Richard Stoneman, author of “Alexander the Great: A

Life in Legend,” says has been time-honored since the days of ancient Greece and the ancient Middle East, with tales of Oedipus and the Sphinx and King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Alexander, the real-life Greco-Macedonian conqueror of the Persian Empire, and the mythical Assyrian queen Semiramis find their way into the riddle literature in a medieval Greek poem that was discovered in the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, Egypt. The Alexander of legend presents himself to Semiramis as a suitor, just as Prince Càlaf does before the icy, man-hating Turandot. (She’s an ice princess with a cause — revenge for the defilement and murder of her revered ancestress Princess Lo-u-Ling at the hands of foreign invaders.)

Like Turandot, Semiramis warns her suitor that she will yield only if he correctly answers her impossible questions. In both “Turandot” and the Alexander poem, failure to do so will result in death.

Of course, the ardent suitors are brave enough — and smart enough — to risk all for love. Shouldn’t that always be the way?

For tickets and more, visit metopera.org.

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Following your bliss on the hero’s journey

BY AUDREY RONNING TOPPING

A sampling of Joseph Campbell’s works.

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DECEMBER 2015

JOSEPH CAMPBELL’S STUDY OF COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY OVER THE COURSE OF 38 YEARS TEACHING AT SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE IN YONKERS WOULD HAVE A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON POP CULTURE. Although his books cover many aspects of the human experience, from the accessible (“The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” which influenced George Lucas’ “Star Wars”) to the abstruse (“A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake,” with Henry Morton Robison,) his best-known credo can be summarized in three words: “Follow your bliss.”

It became a philosophy that resonated deeply with the American public – both religious and secular – even as some scholars criticized it as being too facile while others debunked it as the serene expression of a man of reactionary, even prejudiced views.

Campbell – who was born and raised in Westchester and Fairfield counties (White Plains, New Rochelle and New Milford) before going off to study at Dartmouth and Columbia – said that he derived his mantra from the Hindu” Upanishads,” although he was also influenced by the 1922 Sinclair Lewis novel “Babbitt.” In “The Power of Myth,” the PBS se-

ries and companion book he collaborated on with Bill Moyers shortly before his death in 1987 at his home in Honolulu at age 83, Campbell quotes from “Babbitt”: “I have never done a thing that I wanted to do in all my life.’ That is a man who never followed his bliss.”

In the series, taped at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, Calif., he elaborated on the origin of his philosophy.

“Now I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping off place to the ocean of transcendence – ‘Sat-Chit-Ananda.’ The word ‘Sat’ means ‘being.’ ‘Chit’ means ‘consciousness.’ ‘Ananda’ means ‘bliss’ or ‘rapture.’ I thought, ‘I don’t know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not. But I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being.’ I think it worked.”

Campbell saw “Follow your bliss” not merely as a mantra, although many use it during meditation, but as a guide to those on a spiritual quest or what

The hero’s journey is one of self-discovery, of finding and following your bliss. No one else knows what makes your eyes light up and your heart leap.

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DECEMBER 2015

“Bliss 2” is an abstract Photoshop expression by Audrey Ronning Topping which illustrates the feeling of enlightenment or Campbell’s Follow Your Bliss. The figure in the center is a Bhutanese Lama Dancer, called “Sunshine,” in search of enlightenment.

Image courtesy of Audrey Ronning Topping.

he thought of as “the hero journey that we all walk through life.”

His association with Asian thought began while sailing back from Europe with his family in 1924. On board, Campbell met the great Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti, who espoused an intriguing philosophy known as “truth is a pathless land.” Krishnamurti thought that truth could only be found through the mirror of relationships, through the understanding of your own mind and through observation, not intellectual analysis. This sparked a deep interest in Hindu and Indian thought in the young American. Echoes of the psychiatrist Carl Jung – whose idea of the collective unconscious draws on the similarities in world mythologies – and James Joyce, author of “Finnegans Wake” and “Ulysses,” can also be found in his work.

“The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” published in 1949, argued that hero stories such as those of the Hindu God Krishna, Buddha, Apollonius of Tyana and Jesus all share a similar mythological basis. It introduced the concept of the hero’s journey to comparative mythology – the study of the human impulse to create stories and images that though they are clothed in the motifs of a particular time and place, draw nonetheless on universal, eternal themes.

The hero’s journey is one of self-discovery, of finding and following your bliss. No one else knows what makes your eyes light up and your heart leap.

Take control of your own life. Reach for the stars.

Never give up. By actively imagining the possibilities for your future, you will begin to explore clues that your imagination holds about what you love to do.

Along the way you will create new habits and overcome hidden fears and false beliefs.

Once you find your bliss, write your ideas down so you can translate it into a dream job, hobby or life’s work.

Here are a few signs to help you recognize your bliss: Time ceases to exist.

You feel an inner peace.

You feel totally alive and comfortable, that everything is interconnected and in its place.

I say with Campbell: Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid.

Wherever you are, if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that shining passion, that life within you, all the time.

Kristin Sollenne Photograph

by Peter Rosa 36 WAGMAG.COM courtesy of Kristin Sollenne.

DECEMBER 2015

KRISTIN SOLLENNE THE SELF-MADE DOMESTIC GODDESS

BY DANIELLE RENDA

KRISTIN SOLLENNE GREETS TWO VISITORS TO BOCCA DI BACCO, A CHÍC ITALIAN RESTAURANT JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM TIMES SQUARE. With the warmth of a longtime friend, the self-made chef and rising Food Network star shows WAG around the establishment.

That warmth and her elegant appearance — Little Black Dress, crimson lipstick, softly coiffed hair — accompany a businesslike attitude.

“People ask me: ‘You’re so nice, but how can you manage a restaurant?’ Oh, trust me, when you have to get down to work, it’s serious time. And that’s what you do. You have to have your work side, your friend side, your professional side and your lay-downthe-law side,” Sollenne says.

Bocca Di Bacco is one of three New York City Restaurant Group establishments that Sollenne oversees as the executive chef, managing the kitchens and designing the menu. She’s also the author of a cookbook, the founder of a couture apron line and a

Food Network judge, having appeared on “Kitchen Casino” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” with plans to be a 2016 season-finale judge for “Worst Cooks in America.” She is a 2013 honoree of Zagat’s Top 30 Under 30 and has cooked for A-List celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and the cast of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

“If I really want something, I go after it and after it and after it,” Sollenne says. “I’m such a strong believer in never giving up. If you really feel that you’re meant to do something, then you have to keep trying until you achieve your goal.”

HER ROOTS, HER MUSE

Sollenne’s roots don’t lie in the Big Apple but just outside San Francisco. As part of a large Italian family that was “always in the kitchen,” Sollenne equates cooking with tradition and love.

“We spent pretty much every holiday or Sunday afternoon learning the secret family recipes,” she says. “I would say that when I was around 9 or 10, I developed a passion for it.”

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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But, it wasn’t until Sollenne’s father faced some health struggles that she became interested in the nutritional side of food.

“I took it upon myself to modify and change some of the traditional Italian foods that he was eating,” she says. “I would take into consideration sodium and portion sizes. Now he’s in the best shape of his life in his late 60s. That’s what really inspired me to move to New York and develop a career.”

Sollenne’s road to success started unlike many New York-based aspiring chefs. Without culinary school training, the then-22-year-old faced a lot of rejection.

“I didn’t have a job and I didn’t know anybody.

I just had it set in my head that this is what I was going to do. I hit the pavement running.”

Her big break came when she landed a job working for The New York City Restaurant Group’s Arte Café on the Upper West Side. She immediately began developing menus, creating new dishes and presenting them to the owners. Her persistence earned her the opportunity to open Vucciria in the theater district, later rebranding it to Bocca Di Bacco on 45th and 9th Avenue in Manhattan, followed by a third location in Chelsea.

“One of the best pieces of advice my dad gave me was, ‘Luck will never find you. You have to go

find your own luck. You have to make your own luck.’ So I made it a point to always make myself noticed.”

Sollenne’s philosophy for Bocca Di Bacco is Keep it simple and seasonal. (She refers to this as “KISS.”) Though the fall and winter seasons are associated with comfort foods, Bocca Di Bacco offers lighter dishes to leave the customer feeling satisfied but not stuffed.

“It’s about those great dishes that you’re dying to try but you’re going to leave feeling happy,” Sollenne says. “They’re kind of on the lighter side, but you won’t necessarily know it.”

While visiting Bocca, WAG had the pleasure of trying two perfectly portioned signature dishes — the Tortelli Ricotta e Spinaci, a heavenly pairing of fresh ricotta cheese and spinach tortellini with asparagus, Parmesan cheese and a butter sage sauce; and the Coda di Rospo Alla Livornese, a delicious seared monkfish cooked impeccably and topped with tomato sauce and kalamata olives.

BIG PLANS IN STORE

Sollenne released her first cookbook in September — “Domestic Chíc: A Fashionably Fabulous Guide to Cooking & Entertaining” — along with her couture apron line, CELLINI. Sollenne’s cookbook offers pre-planned menus

for special occasions and holidays by the season, along with décor tips and table-setting suggestions.

Her idea is to feature dishes that apply the same ingredients in different ways, resulting in a stressfree shopping, cooking and hosting experience.

“I was always told that sometimes you’re reading a recipe and it goes on for three pages, and you try to go to the grocery store looking for 50 different ingredients for two dishes,” she says. “Cooking should be joyful. When we think ‘cooking,’ we think holidays. I don’t want that to stress people out.”

Sollenne’s idea of updating the woman in the kitchen led to the creation of CELLINI. The line consists of eight designs of a luxury apron that feature a dress-like appearance.

“I grew up watching my mom, my aunts and even my friends dress in these unflattering pieces of cloth. It’s like, come on, we can be cute in the kitchen,” she says, laughing. “When we look good and feel good, we’re at our best.”

For the holidays, Kristin has released the Holiday Exclusive “Domestic Chíc”/ Cellini Box Set, which includes Kristin Sollenne’s cookbook and signature apron, Dolce, for $99. She plans to visit Bloomingdale’s White Plains in the coming weeks for a live cooking demo. For more, and to order, shop now at kristinsollenne.com. For Cellini, visit cellininewyork.com.

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WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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RIDGE B A to ending

HOMELESSNESS Nan and Oscar Pollock.

BY JANE K. DOVE PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN RIZZO

the Coalition for the Homeless in Westchester.

“He suggested the money currently being used for the homeless could be used in a more intelligent fashion,” Oscar says. “He also noted that Westchester County was spending an enormous amount of money on individuals who had been evicted and were then housed in hotels and motels at exorbitant prices.”

“And because there were no kitchens, coupons for meals had to be provided and some children taken back and forth to their original schools by taxi,” adds Nan, a former merchandising director for Seventeen magazine. “The cost was astronomical.”

Oscar says his group was impressed by what they had heard. Bertrand later joined them and said that instead of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars after evictions, donated capital in hand could be used instead to prevent homelessness.

The small group of determined individuals sprang into action and organized a program that soon had a significant effect on Westchester’s homelessness problem.

“As soon as the program got going in Westchester, the numbers of homeless started to drop,” Oscar says. “The program in Westchester remains the only one of its kind here.”

The Westchester program has kept 5,798 families in their homes through the end of 2014. This includes 14,546 individuals and 6,619 children. Total funding to achieve these results was a modest $5,405,649. Westchester numbers to date for 2015 show housing stabilization provided to 620 individuals.

The program model has since been replicated in Bridgeport and Boston.

WHY ON THE BRINK? PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS AMONG THE VULNERABLE WORKING POOR HAS BEEN A MAJOR FOCUS FOR KATONAH’S OSCAR AND NAN POLLOCK FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS. Realizing there are many hardworking families that face temporary financial difficulties they simply do not have the resources to overcome, the couple founded The Bridge Fund of Westchester in 1991, followed by The Bridge Fund of New York the next year. Both are based on an innovative approach — preventing homelessness before it happens.

“Many of the families we help do not qualify for any type of government assistance. They do not meet income qualifications, because they may still

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be working,” says Oscar, who has spent his career in finance. “This is where we come in. We stabilize working poor households in their existing housing by providing bridge loans to pay their rental arrears, thus preventing eviction. Nearly all of our funding is from private donors, foundations and partnering with other social service agencies, including churches and synagogues. We receive very little government funding.”

AN IDEA IS BORN The idea for The Bridge Fund was born in 1989 after he and a group of business friends and associates heard a presentation by Karl Bertrand, head of

The reasons for homelessness in Westchester are all too familiar, Oscar says.

“People might lose a job or may become ill and unable to work; face the desertion of a breadwinner; see a cut in benefits; or a rise in housing costs.

The reasons are many but the result is the same.

They can no longer pay their rent on time and eventually face an eviction action from their landlord.”

Many of the individuals The Bridge Fund helps have family incomes of only $20,000 to $30,000 per year, right here in affluent Westchester, he adds.

Because their jobs are usually low paying, they have little or no savings. If they miss one or two paychecks due to any turn of bad luck, things fall apart very quickly.

“In this case, if they are referred to us, we become their safety net,” Nan says.

Most of The Bridge Fund’s clients live in southern Westchester, but anyone in the county can receive assistance. Clients are referred to The Bridge Fund by a variety of social service agencies, churches and synagogues. “We also work in cooperation with the Westchester County Department of Social Services,” Oscar says.

The maximum amount of funding The Bridge Fund will provide to keep an individual or family in their home is $2,500, usually enough to bring the rent up to date.

“We check our applicants carefully to make sure they have, or are about to have, gainful employment or Social Security benefits and are not burdened by a lot of outside debt, like credit cards,” Nan says. “If more money is needed to pay rental arrears, we will work with other public or private sector groups to put a package together to meet their needs and keep them in their homes. Compare this with the $35,000 to $50,000 per year it costs the county to house a family in a hotel or motel. That is why prevention is so ad_2_landscape_portrait_WAG_V2.pdf key to our philosophy.”

4 11/17/2015

GOING FOR HELP Oscar says getting help from The Bridge Fund is simple and direct. “One of our caseworkers conducts an intake interview. We prepare a financial analysis and work with (the family) to develop a monthly budget after the rent is cleared up. We also have a large food pantry in White Plains with a full range of grocery staples donated by Congregation Kol Ami.” The Bridge Fund also informs clients of all the other benefits and social or legal services for which they are eligible and provides ongoing financial counseling to help them spend their incomes wisely. “We even refer them to free tax preparation services,” Nan says.

The Bridge Fund would help an individual or family more than once if the situation required, Oscar says. “We are f lexible and are willing to help clients that, in spite of good intentions, may have just had another round of bad luck.”

All monies provided by The Bridge Fund to stabilize families in their homes are transferred 2:49:20 PM directly to the landlord through a settle-

ment agreement. Clients are asked to pay back the funds they have been given over time and treat the funds as an interest-free loan. “This is a moral, not a legal, commitment,” Oscar says.

“A large majority pays back all or part of their loan and we use the funds to help other families in need.”

PREVENTION WORKS Coming full circle to the beginning of the discussion, Oscar says, “I can’t stress enough how important (prevention) is. We hope that your people will see the simple logic to this. In most cases, there is no reason to spend millions while disrupting families and negatively affecting children by moving them to shelters. The impact of simple prevention is staggering. We are always looking for private contributors who will see the great advantage of what The Bridge Fund is doing.”

Contributions may be sent to Barbara Hayes, CEO, The Bridge Fund of New York Inc., 217 Madison Ave., Suite 907, New York, N.Y. 10016. For more, visit thebridgefund.org.

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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Salvatore Ferragamo gifts for men at Neiman Marcus include stylish ties and sunglasses. Photograph courtesy of 42 WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015 Neiman Marcus.

Lucky

gents NEIMAN MARCUS OFFERS LUXURIOUS GIFT OPTIONS

ANYONE WHO THINKS A TIE MAKES FOR A BORING HOLIDAY GIFT DOESN’T KNOW SALVATORE FERRAGAMO’S TIES — LUXURIOUS SILK CREATIONS WITH FLAIR TO SPARE. IT WAS NO SURPRISE THAT WE CAME ACROSS THEM WHILE LOOKING AT THE LATEST OFFERINGS FROM NEIMAN MARCUS. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THERE WERE ENOUGH OPTIONS TO FILL A BOOK.

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MELAMINE & QUALITY STAINED WOOD SYSTEMS

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Actually they do fill The Book, NM’s periodic catalog, whose holiday edition bursts with options ideal for the men on your list, from husband to son, father to brother.

Sure, the luxe retailer’s fantasy gifts always garner the most attention — but we know most of us will end up shopping from the rest of The Book, including for the men in our lives.

So we checked in with our sources at Neiman Marcus Westchester, who happily supplied us with complete details.

Catching our attention are quite a few things, particularly selections in The Man’s Store from Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci and Shinola.

When it comes to Salvatore Shinola leather accessories for men at Neiman Marcus include a backpack, passport wallet and watch.

Ferragamo, standouts include Photograph courtesy of Neiman Marcus. tortoise shell/red acetate sunglasses with brown lenses ($260) and those previously mendark brown leather briefcase ($395)? tioned printed silk ties, Horseshoe in He can sign on the dotted line with red and Gancini in blue ($190 each).

Dunhill’s black resin and palladium Gucci puts a pair of brown calfskin plate Sentryman ballpoint pen ($530). lace-up wing-tip shoes ($850) in the Out on the town? The Stefano Ricci spotlight, accented with its green/red cranberry/blue windowpane cashsignature web and gold embroidered mere and silk jacket ($6,375) is parbee ($850). ticularly striking. Add that finishing Shinola’s stylish leather accessories touch to any ensemble with the Eton include The Runwell backpack ($995), black silk bow tie ($98), which will available in navy, black or brown; a carry your guy throughout the holipassport wallet ($150) that comes day season in fine style. in navy, black, natural or orange; or At the end of the day, he can unThe Runwell stainless-steel watch wind in UGG Australia’s select signawith rose golden PVD-plated case, ture sleepwear that includes a red/ navy dial and oxblood leather strap black plaid cotton and polyester robe ($600). (The guy on the go might also ($155) or the black leather Ascot slipenjoy a TUMI bag. The black carbon per with off-white UGGpure wool linfiber collection includes the Watkins ing ($160). backpack, $995, and the Donington One gift, two gifts… Only you can wheeled carry-on, $2,495.) decide just how good he has been For the Mad Man in your life, what this year. about Filson’s tan twill and brown/ For more, visit neimanmarcus.com.

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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VIVE la France Celebrating the style of

‘THE PARISIAN GENTLEMAN’

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY THAMES & HUDSON

46

The sculpted Belphegor bespoke shoe by Pierre Corthay. © Andy Julia.

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DECEMBER 2015

A Parisian casual outfit: bespoke jacket, cardigan and shirt by Cifonelli; travel bag Pauline by Moynet; Big Pilot watch by IWC. © Andy Julia.

Paul “Paulus” Bolten colors a leather hat in his tiny Parisian workshop. Bolten is a great figure in the Parisian “patina” world and an indisputable shoe-shine artist. © Andy Julia

Cover features a photograph of the lightest tuxedo in the world, crafted by Francesco Smalto in 1975. It weighs less than 400 grams (14 ounces) and is made of crêpe-de-chine. © Andy Julia.

Women around the world look with envy to the Parisian woman, that eternally chic creature.

But, it must be noted, the men of Paris are far from slouches when it comes to style.

It’s something Hugo Jacomet — founder of the cult Parisian Gentleman website — knows quite well.

His chronicling of the French capital’s sartorial flair has been expanded into a book, one that would make an ideal gift for any man on your holiday list — or the perfect splurge to skim through on a winter afternoon yourself.

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“The Parisian Gentleman,” (Thames & Hudson, $75), out Dec. 7, is written by Jacomet, with photographs by Andy Julia.

The luxurious hardcover edition is filled with more than 350 illustrations over more than 250 pages.

Travel along to meet 20 leading men’s style-makers, from the most hidden ateliers and tucked-away studios to those more familiar names, including shirtmakers Charvet, shoemakers Berluti and the recently revived trunk-makers Moynat.

The book is an ode to history and craftsmanship, capturing fading traditions and celebrating a bygone approach to fashion that’s once again earned its moment in the spotlight.

As Jacomet shares in the preface, “Following the lead of a few tweed addicts, a bunch of Milanese buttonhole devotees and a small community of shoe aficionados, men seem to have awakened from thirty years of stylistic lethargy and rediscovered the pleasure of beautiful clothes and elegance as a way of life… After the success of such television series as ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ the ‘sartorialists’ created a global movement devoted to classic men’s style.”

For more on “The Parisian Gentleman,” visit thamesandhudson.com. For more holiday-gift ideas for gentlemen, see Chic Choices on page 72.

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Faux/real

Kenneth Jay Lane’s ‘secret ingredient’ sparkles on

BY MARY SHUSTACK

ANY JEWELRY LOVER WORTH HER ARMOIRE FULL OF TREASURES KNOWS WELL — AND QUITE LIKELY OWNS — PIECES BY KENNETH JAY LANE. For some five decades, the famed designer has been bringing his signature bold touch to the international fashion stage.

His vibrant brooches, earrings, bracelets and rings have adorned socialites and celebrities, notables and neighbors.

A Kenneth Jay Lane piece makes a statement – and has been doing so for much longer than the term statement necklace has been around. Just consider his client — and inspiration — list which has evolved from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Diana Vreeland, Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diana to Lady Gaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, Laverne Cox and that always-chic media darling, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (who hit the scene as Kate Middleton).

Lane’s medium since his company’s 1963 launch has been costume jewelry, that sparkling category where you get all the dazzle

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and much less worry. Sure, his pieces are prized, but they were never made as part of what’s termed fine jewelry.

Collectors, though, have long thought otherwise. His vintage pieces are now featured at leading auction houses, while his new couture fashion jewelry continues to appeal to admirers drawn to its look, its price and its ease.

Capitalizing on his widespread appeal, Lane teamed up with Jardin Jewelry of New York back in 2009 to launch the CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane collection. Since then, it’s grown into a most successful licensing collaboration, a true fashion-jewelry success story.

The launch itself marked Lane’s earliest work with cubic zirconia (CZ), having previously focused on crystals, pearls and the most colorful of enamels.

The CZ line was created with several factors in mind, combining an industry icon’s eye for classic styling and timeless beauty with a

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Above: The Royal Crest Drop Earrings ($475) from the CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane collection feature resin, cubic zirconia and rhodium-plated brass.

Opposite page: CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane’s Celestial Cuff ($439) features a resin cuff with cubic zirconia and rhodium-plated brass. Photographs courtesy of CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane

well-respected company to craft unique pieces that would notably feature quality manufacturing and an awareness of trends.

CZ jewelry is nothing new, of course. Offering what’s been called affordable luxury — and a most practical option when traveling — CZ’s greatest strength is having properties similar to precious gems.

CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane, in particular, features the finest CZs available, hand cut and hand set by jewelry experts who use the same techniques for precious stones.

For the collaboration, a design team under Lane’s direction creates styles that break boundaries, offering pieces notable for their artistic details. Discerning customers delight in Art Deco-inspired cocktail rings and the most delicate draping necklaces, bold jaguar-themed brooches and chandelier earrings in a rainbow of hues.

For those interested in the specifics, the CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane creations, some of which reach into the four-figure range, are molded and manufactured from brass (not base metal), each CZ hand cut and hand-prong set (not glued) with precision. Settings are then rhodium plated for a tarnish-proof shine. Box clasps and safety chains, elements that echo fine jewelry manufacturing, create a secure fit.

The collection is available around the world — and close to home. It was, in fact, featured during a recent trunk show at Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains.

With selections in categories that include vintage, special occasion, statement and the basics, the collection’s broad reach can take you from resort to restaurant, wedding to work.

CZ by Kenneth Jay Lane pieces can not only brighten up the holiday season — but will no doubt earn their place among your go-to finishing touches, selections that will continue to shine for years to come.

After all, as Lane himself has said, “Elegance, luxury and good taste never go out of style.”

For more, visit czbykennethjaylane.com.

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Giada Valenti on stage, in a gown designed

by Antonia Sautter.

Photograph courtesy 52 Valenti.

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015 of Giada

All you need is love

BY BOB ROZYCKI

IT MIGHT BE CHILLY THIS EARLY NOVEMBER MORNING, BUT LOVE IS IN THE AIR WHEN GIADA VALENTI SLIDES INTO A CORNER BOOTH AT THE COZY SANT AMBROEUS IN THE WEST VILLAGE. The love of her life, her husband as well as her manager, JJ Pouwer of One West Concerts, takes a seat at an adjoining table, proferring, “I’ll just let her talk.”

And she does, as well as touch and laugh. She keeps the interviewer engaged, just as she does her audience.

It’s always amazing to meet someone in person who you only know by their singing. In meeting Giada, I’m taken by her petiteness — and I tell her so. (She laughs.) Packed in this Venetian’s small, tight frame are a set of lungs and a voice that ignite romance. She has seen firsthand from the stage how a song such as “E Mi Innamorerai” can get a couple to touch hands.

“We’re so busy and stressed today,” she says. Through her singing “I try to bring joy and love” to those in the audience.

She also knows from personal experience what happens when eyes lock across a room. “I believe in love at first sight,” she says.

It was while performing in Switzerland that she spotted JJ in the back of the room. They met. They talked. It was love. So much so, she wrote “But Beautiful” for JJ, which she included on her album “Italian Signorina.” The song opens with “It was love at first sight.”

All good love is enduring, they say, and for Giada she found how loving JJ is when she ended up spending June of 2012 in a bed at Mount Sinai Hospital. She says she had been suffering from low blood sugar for a while. Then she started to faint — on a daily basis. She got to know EMS crew members quite well since they took her to the hospital so often.

She wrote of her experience on a blog: “I was brought to the emergency room one day after fainting again and they told me I could not leave or I would die because my sugar was not able to stabilize.”

Ten days later researchers at Mount Sinai would find three tumors on her pancreas. It was called insulinoma. All through her ordeal, JJ was there, she says. I look over at JJ and he nods, his expression saying it all.

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After surgeons removed half of her pancreas, she was reinvigorated. The month in the hospital “changed my life,” she says. “I was blessed by God” for giving her a great team of doctors.

Two months later, she invited the surgeons and nurses who cared for her to her first post-op concert. “They knew me inside out, literally.”

YOUNG START Giada was born in Portogruaro, Italy, near Venice.

She started to sing when she was 7 years old. She remembers being admonished by her grandmother when she started to change the lines of the classic Italian songs. She saw no harm in it.

She kept singing and by age 12 she was in a band that included her cousin. Then she was off to music school in Venice and the Conservatorio di musica Giuseppe Tartini in Trieste in northeast Italy where she earned her music degree. She was off and running, garnering success for her interpretations of love songs, most of which she sang in Italian.

Next came London where she wrote songs for independent publisher Right Bank Music. She at-

tended a writing session in Denmark called D-Pop, where she had to write a song a day for different artists. But it just wasn’t write the song, it had to be sung and produced by day’s end. She says it was so enjoyable she ended up writing two songs a day.

It was there that two fellow writers suggested she record a song in English. The result was “Italian Signorina,” which caught the ears of some music executives who invited her to New York City.

In 2005, she came to New York.

“It was magical. It was the holidays. It was just spectacular.”

In December 2005, Giada self-released her “Italian Signorina” CD. The song “Caruso” caught some buzz and she sang it on the red carpet at the New York City Columbus Day Parade in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Since coming to New York City she expanded her reach by networking with Italian-American groups.

Her first concert was at the Dicapo Opera Theatre, which is on the lower level of St. Jean Baptiste Church on East 76th Street.

She quickly realized that in order to help pro-

mote herself she needed to improve her English.

The best way to do that she says, was the way she did it in other countries — watch children’s programs on TV. And in New York she turned to programming on PBS. So, it’s not surprising that she and JJ contacted PBS to take a look at a production they put together with financial backers called “From Venice With Love.”

The concert was shot at the Madison Theatre on Long Island. Bonus footage on a DVD features Giada giving a tour of Venice. The performance will be shown several times on ThirteenWNET. (For specific times, visit giadavalenti.com) To promote the performance, Giada and JJ will be visiting a number of PBS stations across the nation, starting with Nashville. And speaking of Nashville, the home of country music, Giada says she hopes to do a duet with Rascal Flatts.

One incentive that has gotten Giada this far in her life is “You have to dare to dream.”

And we would like to add from The Beatles, “All you need is love, love is all you need.”

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Bea Valdes models a necklace of her own design on a Manhattan rooftop.

Bea’s balance COMBINING FORWARD-THINKING DESIGN WITH TIME-HONORED TRADITION

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

AS SHE SPEAKS, A SMALL GROUP CONTINUES TO GATHER AROUND BEA VALDES AND THE SHOWCASE OF HER ONE-OF-A-KIND ACCESSORIES. Valdes is a study in effortless style, her elegant sleeveless dress providing the ideal backdrop for one of her own necklaces.

The venue is AsiaStore, the eclectically artistic retail spot nestled in the lobby of the Asia Society on Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Valdes, a designer in from Manila whose first name is pronounced Bay-a, captivates those in attendance not only with her vibrant, intricate handbags, necklaces and vests but also her vivid words and charmingly soft-spoken delivery.

She apologizes at first, saying she will be reading from prepared remarks but will indeed meander off-script as she takes us along on an abbreviated journey through her life. We hear of her earliest design inspiration — a tablecloth, no less, in her native Philippines — all the way through her contemporary work as a designer making strides on the global fashion stage.

It all comes back, though, to her heritage and long having been an “admirer of embroidery and WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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People always ask what’s your favorite piece, and I say ‘the next one.’

— Bea Valdes

Bea Valdes, sporting a favorite BEAVALDES necklace, explains the intricate work that goes into one of her company’s beaded bags.

beadwork,” she says at one point.

And while BEAVALDES hand-beaded and embroidered pieces shine with evident artistry, it is the story behind the work that shines most brightly.

It’s an unwavering commitment to time-honored traditions and fine craftsmanship — “We speak through needle and thread,” she notes — that forms the most lasting impression.

Anne Godshall, chief merchandising officer for AsiaStore at Asia Society, first came to know Valdes some 10 years ago during travels for the museum and proudly features her designs.

As she tells us, “I was captivated by Bea’s work when she was just starting out, but am now truly amazed at the depths of her artistic vision and inspired that she continues to shine a light on the Philippines as a design hub as she supports local artisans and their craftsmanship.”

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AROUND THE WORLD Valdes just has that something special.

“Bea’s creative aesthetic is immediately recognizable,” says Godshall, who splits her time between Manhattan and her home in Fairfield County. “She has a distinctive design sensibility that has captured the attention of a global audience.”

Indeed, BEAVALDES designs have made the pages of outlets ranging from Philippine Tatler to Forbes, plus Vogue, Allure, Essence and People Style Watch, not to mention countless runway and celebrity sightings.

But throughout the process, ties to the Philippines remain integral, as the Asia Society so clearly demonstrates in “Filipino Design Now.” BEAVALDES creations are featured in the pop-up exhibition showcasing “works by top designers who embrace the rich and colorful craft traditions of the Philip-

pines.” It’s also a celebration of how these designers — including past WAG cover subject Josie Natori — draw on indigenous materials and techniques as they employ their decidedly modern approaches.

And, in a most fitting way, visitors can also trace the historic elements of Valdes’ story by wandering through “Philippine Gold: Treasures of the Forgotten Kingdoms,” which like the pop-up continues through Jan. 3.

A couple of days after the trunk show, WAG has the pleasure of sitting down with Valdes at JUJÚ The Showroom. The Chelsea space is filled with a wealth of BEAVALDES designs, including selections from her SS ’16 collection.

As we await Valdes’ arrival, we are dazzled as we look around, eyes darting from one bold bag to another striking necklace.

It’s a mix of styles, materials and techniques rarely found within a single collection. Valdes’ jewelry might include crystals, satin, tiger’s eye, druzy and resin, while the bags can also feature leather, silk, metal alloy, suede, plastic, cork, crystal, tulle and more.

Time and again, the seemingly disparate elements come together in the most artistic manner.

HONORING A TRADITION Valdes says she was quite pleased with the appearance at the Asia Society.

“I think it was special for us because of the context,” she says, settling in to chat.

It also gave her pause to reflect on how her company, in 10 years, has grown from working with one artisan to now supporting a workshop of 45 in a very hands-on collaboration.

“I don’t sketch,” Valdes says, “What I do is I actually have to sit beside them.”

This one-on-one work yields both busy days and one-of-a-kind creations that are shown in two collections each year. She shares that she is currently creating oversize embroidered panels for a new hotel in Manila, an example of her ever-expanding reach and custom work for private clients.

“It really is bespoke — projects or events,” Valdes says.

Allowing Valdes to forge ahead with confidence is the presence of her equally striking sister Marga, here on this day as at the Asia Society. She handles much of the business end of BEAVALDES. Their connection is palpable — they agree, with only a few giggles, that they don’t fight — with Marga’s firm guidance clear.

“We’re all trying to get to the same place. We keep our eye on the ball,” Marga says.

That inherent trust also means that Valdes can devote her energies to design, letting inspiration come and ideas play out.

“It’s very loose,” Valdes says. “And, I think Marga would attest to this, I’m playing around.”

The process though is no game, Valdes notes.

“It’s hard work, anything that’s worked by hand.

We don’t do a lot of metals. It’s a lot of embroidery.”

By example, she holds up a clutch, pointing out its intricate elements.

“It might take say four or five hours just to do the edges,” with all the countless, “small details.”

With that observation, Marga adds, “That’s also what we consider luxury. It’s the time to create the piece.”

EVERYTHING AS INSPIRATION Valdes, whose family has a three-generation history in the world of fine jewelry, draws her inspiration more from personal experience than precious gems.

She remains influenced by her studies of creative writing — she has written for newspapers and

magazines — and interior design. Through the latter, she says she realized the power of layering and that “You can mix materials.”

She doesn’t monitor fashion trends, though.

“I don’t follow fashion very much, only because I find you might reference it and the work belongs to someone else.”

This tends to keep her focus fresh. An example: Not many designers would incorporate the simplest of shoelaces picked up on a routine shopping trip into their work, as she has been known to do.

“I said ‘I can use these. I just don’t know in what form.’”

That ingenuity is seen at every turn, notably in the seemingly simple warrior-vest design that yields pieces that would elevate anyone’s beloved basic black into something memorable.

“We like to bead things but we don’t necessarily know how to make clothes,” Valdes says with a gentle laugh.

AN EYE TO THE FUTURE For Valdes, it’s always about looking ahead as she continues to create what she hopes will be considered heirloom-quality work.

“People always ask what’s your favorite piece, and I say ‘the next one.’”

It’s a sentiment that seems to translate into her own life, one that seems to be in constant motion.

Her time in New York has included a family wedding — a brother and another sister are now based here — and plenty of artistic inspiration.

Her showroom stop will be followed by a museum visit later that afternoon — and then a family excursion deep into the Hudson Valley, with the Storm King Art Center the destination for the following day.

New York, it seems, has been a success.

“I think we’re always going to be building. I think in just all ways I’d love for the collection to become more visible,” Valdes says.

And in doing so, she also shines a light on her own heritage and its time-honored traditions.

As Valdes says, holding up another of her creations, “If you look at it, a lot of things before were made this way. I think it would be a pity if it were completely lost.”

With Bea Valdes around, it seems like there’s little chance of that happening.

For more, visit beavaldes.com, asiastore.org or asiasociety.org.

BEAVALDES creations include, from top, the Wiki and Torque bags and the Blitz and Indus necklaces. Images courtesy of BEAVALDES.

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Putting start-ups on a

BIGGER STAGE STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY COLLEEN WILSON

MEET JENNIFER GABLER AND JANIS COLLINS. They are the co-founders of The Refinery, an accelerator growth program in Westport that is helping women-led companies throughout the Northeast go from unique product idea to disruptive global trend (think edgy, attention-grabbing, game-changing); a handful of employees to a financial advisory board; $3 million valuation to $20 million.

“What we are doing is working with these great ideas that are already cooking, already working and looking at how they really can be high-growth companies,” Collins says.

The way Gabler explains it: “We’re taking them from Point B to Point C.” The Refinery is wrapping up its first year, during which it has completed three of its 12week programs, graduated 19 companies and raised more than $3 million in investment funding.

The way it works is Gabler and Collins typically recruit entrepreneurs and companies with a woman in a leadership position to apply to The Refinery program. Then they vet the applications. Which businesses have the potential for fast, high growth? Do they have good team leadership in place? Are they coachable?

Willing to take risks?

Anywhere from six to 10 companies are chosen to participate at a f lat cost of $2,500.

Once a week, the participants commute from Connecticut, Philadelphia, Boston and other places up and down the Atlantic Coast to meet at the Westport Public Library.

There, the group holds workshops and presentations on business practices and strategies while meeting up with mentors who have been assigned to guide the businesses through the program.

“You need to do all the components,” Gabler says. “It’s not a buffet. You go to some accelerators and you can opt in or opt out of some of the ses-

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Jennifer Gabler

Janis Collins

sions. We really feel like you need to do all of them.”

And Gabler and Collins know what they’re talking about. Before starting The Refinery, both women were in business.

Collins started her first company 25 years ago, helping tech businesses get off the ground. She was also the director of the incubator LabMorgan at JPMorgan, which would invest in technologies and companies that could connect with JPMorgan customers.

“We use that same process here,” she says.

“What are those concepts, ideas that are disruptive? What is it that’s different and unique in what they’re doing? We think that by making some kind of investment around it and connecting with potential customers it could really be a big company.”

Gabler has worked as a chief financial officer for numerous venture-backed and start-up companies.

“I met Janice three years ago and we started working together serially on individual companies, mentoring them and we worked well together,” Gabler says. “We thought it would be more efficient to do it in a program format where we could put multiple companies through and really leverage the extensive network that she and I have.”

What Gabler and Collins have done is create an ecosystem, as Collins put it, which so far includes 70-plus mentors and a diverse network of companies with growth potential.

The companies that have participated in The Refinery represent all types of businesses. They include allergy detection technology, an online marketplace for buying and selling home décor, dating apps, catering companies, men’s sports underwear and an online master calendar application.

“They have passion and commitment to what they’re doing and a belief that they will make a difference,” Collins says. “What we are helping to do is to back that belief, bring all the resources to bear so that they can achieve their goals.”

For more information, visit refineryct.com.

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S L E E K sophistication JEFFREY LEVINSON DESIGNS AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY

BY MARY SHUSTACK

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A clutch bag designed by Jeffrey Levinson. Photograph courtesy of Jeffrey Levinson.

J JEFFREY LEVINSON’S IS NOT THE STORY OF A DESIGNER WHO SPENT HIS EARLY DAYS WORKING ON FASHION SKETCHES OR STUDYING FABRIC SWATCHES.

In fact, the self-proclaimed “Philly kid” — who launched his eponymous accessories company in 2014 — brings experience as unique as his inaugural collection of clutch bags, recently featured in a trunk show at Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains.

Completing an education that touched on environmental science and marine policy and includes an MBA, Levinson would go on to a professional life in fields including scientific advising, marketing, strategy and corporate finance.

Every step, he says, influenced the next.

A stint in the auto industry that took him to Detroit and Southern California while working for the Ford Motor Co. and then Jaguar Cars Ltd.? Pivotal, he says, in fine-tuning his appreciation for “sculptural beauty.”

Through the years, no matter the field, it has always come down to what Levinson says keeps him excited — “pushing boundaries, looking for new opportunities, growth, product launches.”

Levinson is, he says, drawn to the “fast-paced, high-end, product-development” aspect of the fashion world, which he entered almost by accident when projects “fizzled” and he took the raw materials in another direction.

“I liked the idea of creating. I liked the idea of building something,” he says. “I did not come up

with business ideas with the intent of being in fashion.”

But that’s where Levinson is today, building his Philadelphia-area brand through his inaugural collection, the Elinaclutch. The name Elina, which Levinson translates as “ray of light,” is a nod to a style reflecting a timeless beauty.

The clutch is a sleekly sophisticated bag imbued with a certain organic appeal. It’s a look at once edgy while also somehow familiar, a reflection of an approach that seems to come naturally to Levinson.

“Let me just put it this way: Design and art have always been a part of who I am.”

With an award-winning architect (and watercolor artist) for a grandfather and an aunt whose sculpture is part of the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Levinson says there is a real “interest and talent, arguably,” in his blood, a particular skill set “kind of cooked-in.”

Levinson sums up his design philosophy or aesthetic as something that’s “very honest but with a little kick, with some sparks.” He’s committed to creating enduring objects that carry a “very truthful sense of the form.”

“It’s important to me that it also has something unusual about it.”

And the Elinaclutch’s primary material is just that — Levinson is working with aerospace-grade aluminum that is then given a highly hand-polished finish capped by a “very durable, protective” coating.

Artistry and sourcing, he adds, are integral to creation.

Levinson’s business card carries two words — American Accessories — under his logo and name, recognizing that each clutch features components custom-designed in the United States, where they are also handmade.

“One of the things that I would just tie back to Jaguar and my time at Jaguar is understanding material selection,” he says.

All bags feature a lining handmade out of Italian lambskin, while a patented ring-bale clasp, inspired by a 19th-century wire bottle-stopper, offers a visual connection to America’s design history.

The bags are singular, with some sporting a solid hue. Others evoke a textured finish or feature an intricate pattern, with all sharing a common element.

“The artwork on every one, whether is has

Jeffrey Levinson’s clutch bags are designed to fit an iPhone 6. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Levinson.

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Design and art have always been a part of who I am.

— Jeffrey Levinson

the leopard spots or the dragon, is original and hand-painted,” Levinson adds.

At minimum, he says, creating a bag takes “about 20 hours of handwork,” with fine details sometimes doubling that time frame Striving for recognition is a constant, with Levinson already breaking through in the Hamptons, Palm Beach, Chicago and Dallas, with social-media

Jeffrey Levinson visited White Plains for a trunk show at Mary Jane Denzer. Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

outlets, particularly Instagram and Facebook, furthering the reach.

Customers, he says, should know he wants his bags to stand out for more than just their looks.

“I like the idea of using the latest and most cutting-edge technologies that are relevant, and I really am drawn to solving challenging problems.”

He uses the “cracked porcelain”-patterned bag to explain a key challenge overcome. He points to a photograph that demonstrates it not only fits the iPhone 6 but, in a patented move, does more.

“We have the technology integrated into the design that allows the phone to work,” he says, noting it’s not a given when working with metals.

At the end of the day, there is a lot that goes into a Jeffrey Levinson bag that he hopes will connect with his ideal customer, a woman he envisions through attributes rather than demographics.

She is, he says, “… somebody who has a lot of confidence, her own sense of personal style and (is) willing to embrace a brand that’s lesser-known” because she appreciates the design and materials.

“That personality,” he says, “is not defined by age.”

Something any WAG reader would tell you is most certainly true.

For more, visit jeffreylevinson.com.

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DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM THE PAST with an eye to the future is the philosophy of New York City-based designer Brett Heyman, founder of Edie Parker. Modeling her acrylic clutches after the trendy purses of the 1960s, Heyman has become a favorite of celebs like Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Roberts and Solange Knowles.

What’s so special about Heyman’s work?

A better question may be, “What isn’t special about it?”

The former director of public relations for Gucci

began collecting vintage pocketbooks as a hobby, soon realizing that acrylic styles had been long discontinued. In 2010, she began remaking them, naming her brand after her 5-year-old daughter.

Edie Parker the company features handcrafted, pearlescent purses whose designs can resemble mosaics. Some are decorated with fun, flirty sayings and whimsical caricatures, while others are accentuated with color. There are even clutches available in 18 karat- gold plated metal, exotic skins, embroidery, leather and velvet.

However, the Edie Parker bespoke collection has attracted the most fashion buzz. Launched in 2012, it allows consumers to personalize their bags by customizing the shape, color, clasp, font and other details — essentially designing their accessory from start to finish. For Heyman, the clutches are a blank canvas — a way for today’s and tomorrow’s customers to connect to the recent past for a vintage look.

How will you style your Edie Parker bag?

For more, visit edie-parker.com or neimanmarcus.com.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Houbigant’s enduring

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB ROZYCKI

Michal Gizinski with Houbigant’s Cologne Intense at Neiman Marcus Westchester.

68 WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

LIKE FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN, MICHAL GIZINSKI IS A POLE WITH SOUL, ONE WHO ULTIMATELY JOURNEYED TO PARIS TO PURSUE HIS ART. ONLY UNLIKE CHOPIN, GIZINSKI’S ART IS PERFUME. AND, LIKE OTHER ART FORMS, IT IS PROUSTIAN IN ITS EFFECT. “When you smell a scent, it brings out such strong emotions,” says Gizinski, international fragrance consultant for historic Parfums Houbigant Paris and Perris Monte Carlo, both owned by the Perris family and distributed by Norwalk-based Exclusive Fragrances & Cosmetics Inc. For Gizinski, perfume is much like his adored theater. (Anton Chekhov is his favorite playwright and “The Cherry Orchard” his favorite play.) “A person can choose many fragrances for many moods.”

He is speaking with great passion — gesturing and emphasizing certain words with a charming, French-laced accent — on Level One of Neiman Marcus Westchester in White Plains, where Houbigant, featured in last December’s WAG, has just launched the universal fragrance Cologne Intense. Despite its name, it is not a cologne but an eau de parfum and a parfum — eau de parfum containing more essential oils than cologne and parfum, the most essential oils.

So why is this called Cologne Intense? Because it is a modern homage to the city of Cologne, Germa-

ny, where the Italian Johann Maria Farina created a scent redolent of sun, sea, lavender fields and citrus groves in 1709. French soldiers returning to the court of Louis XV from the Seven Years War introduced this “Eau de Cologne” there.

Cologne Intense is a mélange of Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian lemon, Paraguayan petit grain, Moroccan neroli, Indian jasmine, incense, mate, patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum, amber, lavender, estragon and pink pepper that can be worn by a man or a woman.

Gizinski describes it as “smelling citrus but through a leather bag.” It comes in a square glass bottle embellished with “Ts” that is based on a Lalique design.

At the same time, Perris Monte Carlo has launched its Black Collection, featuring four of its fragrances in redesigned, more concentrated forms — Rose de Taif, Oud Imperial, Ylang Ylang Nosy Be and Patchouli Nosy Be. Just how concentrated are these fragrances? As Gizinski says of Rose de Taif — named for the Saudi Arabian city that is the highest place on earth where rose essence is extracted: “We are not smelling a rose. We are being entertained by one. This is a rose fragrance that could’ve been worn by Mae West.” But the San Francisco-based Gizinski also knows a Bay Area baseball player who wears it. “Certain fragrances can be male or female.”

But then there are some that can only be worn

by a woman, like the light, luscious Quelques Fleurs L’Original, Houbigant’s signature; Quelques Fleurs Royale; Orangers En Fleurs; and Iris des Champs, whose scent is extracted from the root, a costly challenge. Houbigant is still offering the trio of Quelques Fleurs L’Original, Quelques Fleurs Royale and Orangers En Fleurs in a limited edition set of hand-painted, 18-karat gold-embellished porcelain flacons designed by creative director Elisabetta Perris and realized by Manufacture de Monaco.

Whatever your scent or scents, keep them in a dark, cool place, Gizinski advises, just as you would put wine in a wine cellar.

For that is what perfume is — wine for the nose.

Cologne Intense retails for $600 (3.3-ounce parfum) and $190 (3.3 ounce eau de parfum) at Neiman Marcus Westchester. For more, visit neimanmarcus.com. The Perris Monte Carlo Black Collection — $350 for a 1.67-ounce parfum; and $180 for a 3.3-ounce eau de parfum — is available at select Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus stores. The Limited Edition Parfums Houbigant Paris set (Quelques Fleurs L’Original, Quelques Fleurs Royale and Orangers En Fleurs) retails for $2,000 at select Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue stores. For more, visit houbigant-parfum.com.

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WANDERS

The Florida

Poolside Bar at the Marker.

eys:

WHERE IT’S ALWAYS A HOLIDAY

BY JEREMY WAYNE

CAN I OUT MYSELF AS A FLORIDAPHILE? I think I can.

I’ve been up and down and diagonally across, from Spanish St. Augustine to neat St. Pete’s, feasted in Sarasota crab shacks and stooped for Sanibel shells. I’ve been dazzled at Canaveral and fleeced in Palm Beach, done the theme parks, peddling 70

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their rictus smiles and happy-ever-afters, sweltered in Naples and survived South Beach. From the Apalachicola River in the Panhandle to the Alligator farms of the Everglades, I’ve covered the state. And I love it.

And yet I could happily leave all of continental

Florida behind if you’d just let me keep the Keys.

Connected by the Overseas Highway, these heavenly microdots begin 15 miles south of Miami and stretch out in a gentle southwesterly arc, ending at Key West, which was once the most heavily populated town in the state.

The Keys are the land that time forgot, laid-back and slow-paced — American, obviously, and yet not entirely. For one thing they are tiny, some barely larger than a dinner plate, and while ‘big’ is always an American trait, sympathy of scale is not, which is another reason to love them.

Where do I stay? At Cheeca Lodge & Spa on Islamorada — the “purple isle” of the Upper Keys, which was originally opened in 1946, when the first guest was none other than President Harry S Truman and where in recent years the Bush clan has come to fish and to chill, if Bushes ever really do chill. Not for nothing is Islamorada known as the sportfishing capital of the world. Cheeca may be the grande dame of the Keys, but that’s not to say it’s remotely stuffy. On the contrary. Developed over the years, the place has more than held its own with the giant Florida resorts to the north.

You can snorkel here and parasail, take out a Hobie catamaran, tee off on the Jack Nicklaus-designed nine-hole course or play tennis in one of six floodlit courts. And as for the food, it’s terrific — Italian at Limoncello, Japanese at Nikai Sushi, you name it, and all of this against a backdrop of electric blue sea and sky, which could melt even a heart of stone.

Then there’s Tranquility Bay Beachfront Hotel & Resort on Marathon in the Middle Keys. Developed by Pritam Singh, who is currently not only the most upscale but also the most prolific builder operating in the Keys, Tranquility Bay is also as far from a typical Florida resort as you can get. On a beach of blinding white sand, Tranquility Bay’s essence is in its name. Yes, there are Jet Skis and kayaks, if you really must, but basically this is a place to unwind in beautiful surroundings.

Iguanas roam the property as if they own it, which in a sense, of course, they do; coconut palms abound; and the turquoise sea sparkles. Accommodation is in one-, two- or three-bedroom cottages — some of them right on the beach, with the crispest white linens on the beds and each with its own top-of-the-line kitchen, which makes you pretty much self-sufficient. The only real activity is rolling out of bed, climbing on to a chaise lounge and soaking up the sun.

Bring the kiddies by all means, but don’t expect waterslides or Disney-type diversions or armies of patient child-minders to keep them entertained.

Tranquility is about having the time to do nothing except read a good book. TJ’s Tiki Bar at the water’s edge serves oversized rum punches and is where the “action” is, but action is not really the right word, because any more than six people at the bar constitutes a crowd, and that’s the joy of the place.

Beware though, because Marathon, like many of the Keys, is changing and not always for the better.

Entrance to The Marker.

King bedroom at The Marker.

A new Hyatt Place, near Tranquility, is to my mind cookie-cutter and unimaginative, and Marriott, ho hum, is also on the way in. Let’s hope it does better.

On the plus side, Pritam Singh is developing Marathon’s old trailer park, which looks out across the breathtaking Seven Mile Bridge, and he almost certainly will — do better, that is.

Less than an hour from Marathon, where the USA almost literally ends, the Casa Marina in Key West was built by the railroad magnate Henry Flagler as an oceanfront property in which to accommodate his Overseas Railroad guests. Now a Waldorf Astoria resort, with an open-all-day restaurant serving fresh and wholesome food and a very pretty if compact little beach, this is my choice for a family hotel if you want to stay in the heart of KW, which though lively year-round and not short of bars, restaurants and tourists, is not always the most family-friendly of towns.

A couple of blocks from Duval Street, meanwhile, on the site of another old RV park, is The Marker Waterfront Resort, which opened just over a year ago, the first new-build hotel in Key West

in more than 20 years. With its (local artist) John Martin sculptures, Key West aloe products in the bathrooms, two small but gorgeous swimming pools and its jaw-droppingly lovely harbor view rooms, The Marker is altogether a very sophisticated proposition. It’s also what Key West really needs, a step up from the down-at-heel and sometimes actually quite seedy inns and guesthouses which for so long have been part of what you might call the Hemingway factor.

Look, I’ve nothing against Papa — indeed, I strive for “grace under pressure” as much as the next coward (or frustrated writer). But just because you like the great outdoors, big- game hunting and possibly a bit of rough and tumble, doesn’t mean you should settle for bad hotels. Luckily, in the Keys, you now have plenty of choices.

Happy Holidays, as they say in these parts, no matter the time of year — and barman, make mine a double.

For more, visit cheeca.com, tranquilitybay. com, casamarinaresort.com and themarkerkeywest.com.

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Chic CHOICES

1

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GIFTS AND NEW PRODUCTS IDEAL FOR ANY OCCASION COMPILED BY MARY SHUSTACK

ETERNAL STYLE – WITH ATTITUDE [1] In the world of style, the name Ralph Lauren carries not just a little weight. Season after season, the designs of the fashion icon continue to dazzle. For the holidays this year, the selections are as luxurious and splurge-worthy as ever — and sometimes just plain playful. Catching our eye on that last note are the Ralph Lauren Bulldog Needlepoint Slippers ($695) and the ideal-for-stocking stuffer Ralph Lauren Bear Socks ($22). On a more traditional note, why not opt for the Ralph Lauren Suede Weekender Duffle ($1,250)? Your recipients will thank you.

2

For more, visit ralphlauren.com.

Photographs courtesy Ralph Lauren

UP IN SMOKE [2] For those who consider a good cigar the ultimate luxury, a new release might make an ideal gift. “The Ultimate Cigar Book” by Richard Carleton Hacker (Skyhorse Publishing, $24.99) is back in print, and this, the fourth edition, is revised and packed with nearly 400 pages of most everything a cigar lover might want to know, from cigar making to selection, whiskey pairings to smoking techniques.

For more, visit amazon.com.

Photograph courtesy Skyhorse Publishing

PRE-HISTORIC PRESENT [3] One of WAG’s favorite jewelry designers, Samantha Levine, keeps those fun and funky styles coming, and her Mount Kisco-based Auburn Jewelry is always expanding its line of custom creations for men with tie tacks, key chains and those ever-popular cuff links. Give your man of style — and good humor — a little smile with the T-Rex Cufflinks ($145), a sterling-and-enamel design available in 18 colors.

For more, visit auburn-jewelry.com.

Photograph courtesy Auburn Jewelry

YO HO HO – AND A BOTTLE OF RUM [4] Holiday entertaining and not sure what to pour? Or perhaps you have a rum connoisseur on your shopping list? Then maybe it’s time to look to Rum Diplomático. The Venezuelan rum brand produced by Destilerías Unidas S.A. combines traditional methods with modern technology to produce an award-winning rum noted for its aromatic complexity and elegant balance. With notes of maple syrup, orange peel, brown sugar and licorice, Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva ($40 for 750-ml.) prompted our in-house reviewer to call it “one of the smoothest rums I’ve ever had.” Sounds like a solid gift idea.

3

4

For more, visit rondiplomatico.com.

Photograph by Bob Rozycki WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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Spread love, peace and cheer!

Happy Spalidays.

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GET AN EARLY START THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH AN AWNING FOR NEXT YEAR! With Spring right around the corner, now is the time to start thinking about purchasing a shading product from Gregory Sahagian & Son, Inc.

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THE sweet LIFE

Just one of the many cakes Lisa Maronian has designed.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

IT’S A SUNNY TUESDAY MORNING ON FIELD ROAD IN COS COB. THE QUIET AND CALM OF THE RESIDENTIAL STREET BELIES THE BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITY BEHIND THE FRONT DOOR OF THE TWO-STORY WHITE COLONIAL THAT IS HOME TO A COLLECTIVE “FAMILY” OF BAKERS WHO CREATE WONDER UNDER THE NAME OF SWEET LISA’S EXQUISITE CAKES. In a kitchen of stainless steel, a large metal whisk dances in a deep bowl of batter, twirling to the hum of the commercial mixer. Circular pans of baking cakes fill the air with a hint of chocolate. The phone is ringing. Gingerbread is being cut along a template to create walls for a holiday house. An assortment of Walkers shortbread cookies in varying shapes are being set with a sugary mortar to recreate the Scot80

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tish castle from the “Outlander” TV series.

Tuesdays are supposed to be quiet, Lisa “Sweet Lisa” Maronian tells a skeptical visitor.

A typical week starts off with planning on Tuesday and then, as the week goes on, builds and builds — literally layer by layer — until the cakes are delivered on Friday and Saturday.

But, no, this week is a bit different. There might be 35 cake orders to be completed by Saturday, but today is the day that 20-odd flourless chocolate cakes (all donated by Sweet Lisa) must be sliced, packed and delivered for a big fundraiser by the American Diabetes Association at the Greenwich Country Club.

There are 280 guests who must each get a slice of this flourless and near-sugarless (honey was used) creation that will be topped with fresh crème anglaise.

Lisa’s on the phone when I arrive. She smiles and offers a welcoming arm sweep for me to enter her work area. She’s off the phone and springs past me to the oven where she removes four chocolate cakes.

No timer needed. She’s done this since she graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1986. (It’s at that same Hyde Park campus where she met her husband, Stephen. “He’s a savory chef who does intimate gatherings.”)

Lisa checks on her mom, Philomena, who is preparing gingerbread for untold dozens of miniature houses that will serve as centerpieces in clients’ homes for the holidays.

It’s this hyperactivity that is the answer to the question: How can you maintain a petite figure while sampling your decadent, delectable delights?

Lisa Maronian and her mom, Philomena.

Lisa takes on each client’s unique dreamy desires — “anything you can imagine” — with a foundation rooted in the strict disciplines of the CIA. “Steve and I are chefs at heart,” she says. Her “we approach everything from the inside out” is the reason her cakes not only look great but taste great as well.

Fondant made in some factory? Uhuh. Not for Lisa. Everything is made in house with the finest ingredients. Her signature triple chocolate cake uses chocolate from the famed Belgian manufacturer Callebaut.

Her creations are far from simple.

From the sugar flower petals on a wedding cake to a 4-foot-long pirate ship enveloped by a kraken, it’s all natural. “I’m not a proponent of plastic and foam” to fill or prop up a cake, unless it’s needed for, say, a 5-foot-tall rotating carousel cake for a lucky girl celebrating her bat mitzvah.

Cakes are not the only delights coming out of the oven. There are cookies, but they’re far from simple as well. We’re

talking hand-painted miniature works of art that give one pause before taking a bite.

And the same goes for her cupcakes.

Just because they’re small doesn’t mean Lisa and her team of seven assistants scrimp on the details. After 23 years in the business — 18 years at the Cos Cob location — she knows the proof is in the presentation and taste.

In need of a wedding cake? You have to place your order three to six months in advance. There are no pre-made cakes. Every one is a special order and that’s the way Lisa intends it to stay.

And when this dynamo is not creating in her kitchen, she’s teaching students basic baking at Norwalk Community College. Does she rest? Yes, only a halfday of work on Christmas Eve and then it’s two weeks of R&R. The phone is ringing again and the queen of the beehive is buzzing.

Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes is at 3 Field Road in Cos Cob. For more, visit sweetlisas.com.

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 each Friday a.m.

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WONDERFUL DINING

THE SEA COMES HOME to 251 LEX

BY DANIELLE BRODY

CHEF CONSTANTINE KALANDRIS HAS STAKED HIS CLAIM AT YET ANOTHER ADDRESS. The chef-owner of 8 North Broadway in Nyack and 273 Kitchen in Harrison opened 251 LEX in Mount Kisco in late September.

Located in a century-old Victorian with ample parking on the corner of Lexington and Moore avenues, 251 is welcoming and quaint from first approach. On the inside, white brick and tiles, repurposed wood and royal blue accents suggest the colors at a casual coastal spot on the Mediterranean and reflect the raw bar and grill menu.

Like Kalandris’ other restaurants, 251 of-

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fers a prix-fixe menu with three courses and dessert, plus à la carte options. The Mount Kisco spot is the largest of the chef’s restaurants with about 35 seats in the main dining room, a 30-seat outdoor patio with a spit roast and some 70 seats upstairs in a space that is available for private events but was not yet open when we visited.

The restaurant combines familiar Mediterranean ingredients (fish, lamb, pita bread, olives and other vegetables) in unusual recipes on a locally sourced menu that changes daily. In a cozy spot for two near the kitchen and the bar, we sampled a variety of small plates from the menu. Every plate that came out of the kitchen popped with color from the white dishware or sizzled on entrée-sized skillets.

Our first bite, a single oyster served in a steel bucket with a delicate arrangement of greens, was a well-seasoned introduction to 251’s seafood fare. After, we tried warm octopus with marinated chickpeas and seared bass, which packed a tangy punch.

The seafood and other dishes went swimmingly (pun intended) with the wines our waiter suggested from 251’s extensive list. At around 7:30, the bar became crowded with multiple generations, bringing more energy to the previously quiet area. The staff was working hard, quickly shuttling dish after dish, yet was still attentive and friendly to the patrons who filled the small main room on a Wednesday evening during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.

While the dishes from the sea are a standout, you won’t want to miss the meat. A classic — steak and potatoes — was unexpected at a Mediterranean restaurant but was perfectly tender.

My favorite dish was a cassoulet of lamb shank with orzo pasta. The seemingly everyday ingredients melded together for a rich and comforting dish, hitting the spot on a fall evening.

Besides cassoulet, I also learned about gnudi, the dumpling-shaped form of gnocchi. The restaurant served doughy and creamy gnudi with feta. I ate only one dumpling but could have easily had many.

Crudo platter. Photographs courtesy of 251 LEX

Mezze platter.

Another interesting dish was a creamy, cool-green artichoke soup. The flavors were present but would have been accentuated had the soup been hotter.

When it comes time for dessert, you can’t go wrong with the whipped yogurt and honey if you’re health-conscious. It’s what yogurt should taste like — natural and creamy.

For those with a sweet tooth, the chocolate pot de crème is a decadent delight.

The restaurant has something for every-

one, whether it’s raw fish or a hearty meat dish with Mediterranean flair. I’d return dressed in jeans with a friend for a few small plates and a cocktail, or dressed up with a date for a three-course meal, with wine, of course. Look for new menu items, lunch and brunch (likely available next year), and outdoor dining that won’t be quite like a coastal, breezy Mediterranean spot but will certainly bring you there in taste.

For more, visit 251Lex.com.

u Red snapper with farm vegetables.

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WINE & DINE

Quinta da Lixa, a winery in Portugal’s Vinho Verde country.

ARE WINE LOVERS READY for a new Vinho Verde?

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG PAULDING

SO, THERE’S A BATTLE RAGING IN NORTHERN PORTUGAL, OR, SHOULD I SAY, GENTLY AND PLEASANTLY SIMMERING. VINHO VERDE DESCRIBES A WINEMAKING STYLE AND A REGION IN THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF PORTUGAL, STRETCHING FROM THE SPANISH BORDER TO THE DOURO RIVER. For generations the region has been known for making simple white wines with different degrees of spritz for easy lakeside drinking. Historically, the wines have been low in alcohol and high in citrus flavors, often with sugar (to offset the acid) and carbon dioxide added just prior to bottling to contribute to that fresh, youthful, “drink now” quality.

There are winemakers in the region who want to keep producing vintages just this way, products their ancestors would’ve recognized and enjoyed.

And there are those who want to lower crop yields to enhance flavors, diminish or eliminate the micro effervescence for which the region is known and make wines that can compete with the better whites of the world. Of course, producers in the region also make sparkling wines in the traditional method, as in France’s Champagne country. And they make red and Rosé wines for a complete portfolio.

The debate doesn’t fall along typical fault lines. This isn’t a young versus old discussion. There are elders and juniors on both sides of the debate. Nor is it liberal versus conservative or mega-producer versus 84

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boutique-style producer. It is more an individual debate on what style the particular winery or winemaker likes to produce and drink. Additionally, it’s about what that winemaker thinks he or she is capable of selling and where he would like to see Vinho Verde wines move toward or remain.

Vinho Verde wines tend to be simple, rustic and very affordable, easily found in the U.S. at or around $5. With discounts and sales it would be easy to find a case of Vinho Verde for the price of a single bottle of California Chardonnay or German Riesling.

If you’re buying for an indiscriminating group for an afternoon social, this may be the way to go. But Vinho Verde producers wanting to make a higher quality, better-drinking wine, find price increases are necessary and inevitable. Making higher quality wines requires reducing grape yields, changing their ancient trellising systems, harvesting and using grapes from the better select vineyards and then hand-selecting the grapes, removing any stems, leaves and bad grapes. A winemaker told me, “One bad, sour grape can negatively affect maybe 50 good grapes.” And some Vinho Verde grape varietals like Azal can be finicky, only growing in certain areas to ripen properly.

Some producers are starting to experiment with oak-barrel aging, unthinkable just a generation ago.

And many producers are vinifying indigenous single

varietal grapes such as Alvarinho, Loureiro, Arinto, Azal, Trajadura and Vinhão and then bottling as a single varietal or working a blend to enhance and complement the unique flavor profiles of each grape.

All of these things take additional money and additional time in the cellar. It remains to be seen whether buyers will be willing to pay double or even triple what they may be used to paying for a Vinho Verde.

I certainly would pay a premium for a much better wine-tasting experience.

So, how do you find a well-made Vinho Verde? Antonio Monteiro of Quinta Das Arcas in Porto (the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon and famed for its Port wine) said, “If you want a good Vinho Verde, insist on a vintage-dated bottle.” Bottles without the vintage date usually indicate a bulk producer that blends more than one vintage where you can expect higher carbon dioxide bubbles. Pricing is also an indicator. Most producers want to bring a wine to market at an attractive price. But better production methods require higher pricing structures. The region is in a state of flux and that’s a good thing. Until recently, Vinho Verde has never been a wine to age. At various quintas, we tasted many wines of older vintages that were still fruity, fresh and nuanced. Modern, high-quality production methods allow for age-ability. The times, they are a-changing.

Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!

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WHETTING THE APPETITE

EVIE’S CARNE ASADA (SPANISH POT ROAST )

BY JACKIE RUBY

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 pounds rump roast pot roast • Onion salt • Garlic salt • Salt and pepper • 1 jar green olives • 6 to 8 14-ounce cans Del Monte tomato sauce • 3 teaspoons oregano • ¾ cup Chianti • 3 teaspoons olive oil • 4 white potatoes • 1 clove garlic

DIRECTIONS:

Photograph by Bob Rozycki Plate courtesy of Casafina

• Season the meat with onion salt, garlic salt and salt and pepper.

• Brown meat in olive oil on all sides.

• Add red wine and reduce 3 minutes.

• Add tomato sauce.

• Add garlic and oregano.

• Cook on stovetop at medium heat for 2 hours and remove meat from pot.

• Chop potatoes into 1-inch cubes and add to sauce.

• Add olives to sauce.

• Cut meat into bite-size pieces and put back into pot.

• Cook another 2 hours or until tender.

• Serve over rice.

A DISH — AND MEMORIES — TO WARM YOUR DECEMBER For more, contact the Saucy Realtor at jacquelineruby@hotmail.com.

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When I was growing up, I had a best friend whose mom, Evie, was of Spanish descent. On Sunday evenings, she would make Carne Asada – Spanish pot roast. I was used to Irish pot roast, which I just adored. So I thought I knew what to expect. What a surprise when I tasted this delightful dish. I went crazy for it.

Neither of her daughters ever got the recipe. But I did. One day in my early 20s, I went over to the house and Evie was making it. I jotted down the recipe on a small piece of paper. Every time I make it, I think of the wonderful lady who taught me this dish, and it brings back such fond memories of her.

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PRIMAVERA RESTAURANT & BAR 592 NY-22, Croton Falls, NY (914) 277-4580 primaverarestaurantandbar.com WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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TOOTSIE NIRVANA

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

THIS PAST MAY, THE ELIZABETH ARDEN RED DOOR SPA AT THE WESTCHESTER IN WHITE PLAINS REOPENED AFTER A $2 MILLION FACELIFT THAT REFURBISHED THE SIGNATURE LOBBY; OPENED UP THE SPACE OF THE HAIR SALON; ADDED A TREATMENT ROOM, BRINGING THE TOTAL TO NINE; AND RENOVATED THE RELAXATION ROOM, WITH ITS SOOTHING EARTH TONES AND WOODWIND SOUNDTRACK. The overhaul was designed to underscore what patrons already know and first-time clients soon discover — “It’s a little oasis in the mall,” said general manager Alisa A. Oliver.

WAG got a taste of that recently when the spa, which offers a full complement of services, invited us in for the seasonal Brandied Pear and Marshmallow Melt Manicure & Pedicure. Yes, we know: It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to take a hit for the team. Our expert guide for the morning was Katherine Alegre, who’s been doing nails more than 10 years, having been trained as a teenager by her mother, also a nail

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technician. With Red Door for 18 months, Katherine has been with the White Plains locale since the grand reopening. Before that, she was with the Red Door in Union Square in Manhattan. (There are seven in New York state, including the Fifth Avenue flagship, and 32 nationwide, with corporate offices in Stamford.)

First we selected two polishes from the Essie collection — the popular Ballet Slippers, a pale pink that wouldn’t show the chips that are inevitable on fingernails, which get a workout; and Luxedo, an edgy black cherry for the tougher, more protected toenails. Then we slipped off our panty hose and slipped into a comfortable custom chair with a foot bath beneath a movable foot rest and soaked our feet in an antiseptic while our neck was swathed in a pillow (red, of course) containing cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The Proustian effect had us longing for grandma’s apple pie and ghosts of Christmases past.

Having established that we had no health issues or concerns, Katherine went to work. The old toenail polish came off with an acetone re-

Recent renovations to the Elizabeth Arden Red Door at The Westchester in White Plains included the refurbishment of the signature lobby.

mover, which may be more drying but removes the polish better than the nonacetone removers people tend to use at home, Katherine said.

She filed our already trim nails, pushed back the cuticles with the blunt edge of a metal cuticle stick and smoothed the rough edges and calluses.

(All implements are either disposable or meet the standards of medical-grade sterilization to prevent infection.)

Then it was time for the fun stuff. Katherine rubbed our feet with Farmhouse Fresh’s Brandy Pear Sea Salt Body Polish, which contains antioxidants (the brandy, who knew?) and vitamin K (the California Bartlett pears). This was washed off and followed by the Marshmallow Melt, actually a shea butter cream heated to luxuriousness. But the best was yet to come: Our feet were swathed in paraffin-filled plastic bags that enveloped us in warmth. Once the residue was wiped off, our skin glowed.

Now it was time for the toenail polish. A tip on application: Katherine said start in the middle of the nail working toward the cuticle so you

establish an edge then come down to the tip. Repeat on both sides of the nail. The only time you can’t do this is with the topcoat. For that, start in the middle at the cuticle and work toward the tip. Repeat on both sides.

Wearing toe separators and disposable thong sandals, we hobbled to a manicure stand to repeat the whole process. Katherine explained that a nail gel — as opposed to polish — would make the manicure last two weeks instead of one and require no drying time. But it would also have to be removed at a salon or it could peel the top layer of the nails. (Gel is also set by UV lighting, the equivalent of putting your fingers on a tanning bed. The Red Door uses LED lighting instead.)

We chose to stick with Ballet Slippers polish and to wait out the drying period in the relaxation room where we ran into Gina Tighe, a homemaker from Cornwall, Katherine’s next client.

“I love coming here,” she said. “There are no cell phones and it’s complete relaxation. This is why I come.”

For more, visit reddoorspas.com.

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WELL

Not another

‘BAH HUMBUG!’

fitness article

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN when someone like me writes an article about your health this holiday season. Don’t worry, I won’t be telling you to get another exercise DVD that will only collect dust in your stocking. I’ll try not to give the same advice you hear year after year (and usually end up dismissing).

You want to be healthy so you can enjoy time with the ones you love. You may be busy thinking about holiday parties, preparing and enjoying delectable meals and checking lists, so may not be spending time taking care of yourself. Besides getting another workout DVD, the last thing you want to be doing is reading another fitness article overloading you with the same advice yet again.

COMMIT TO THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM You don’t want to be told what to do so I won’t tell you to eat less or hit the gym. Let’s have you decide what to do — but I need you to be honest. There’s a good chance you will fall into the same traps this year that you fell into in the past. Ask yourself a few questions: Am I happy with my current state? What have I learned from the past? Can I anticipate the obstacles that I’ll face this season? The biggest mistake you can make is making the same mistake again.

Now answer this question: What is the biggest challenge you will face, the obstacle that you know will be there? Do you eat too much too fast? Do you drink too much alcohol? Do you find every possible excuse

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not to exercise? Whatever it is, just focus on that and set a small, attainable and realistic goal for yourself. It’s when we feel defeated after trying to control everything that the wheels start to fall off. This is when we say, “Forget it,” and fall back into unhealthy patterns. “I already messed up, so I might as well go all out.”

TAKE CONTROL So just choose one aspect of your health and wellness: “I will limit myself to one glass of wine at the holiday parties I attend.”

“I will chew my food slowly instead of eating too fast and getting overstuffed.”

“I will add in 10 extra minutes of exercise per day to help with some of the extra calories.”

This doesn't seem like much, but that’s the point. You need to find some behaviors that you can manage realistically. It’s when we set too many unattainable goals that we can’t achieve any of them.

Additionally, keep in mind that there are many ways to eat nutritiously, exercise properly and live healthfully. Be suspicious of people who tell you that “This is the best way” or “You have to do this, because it works the best.” What may work for some people may not necessarily work for you and you may not even have a lot of interest in it. Be especially cautious if additional costs are involved.

Truth is, there are a lot of good ways. You just need to find the best way that works for you and your current lifestyle.

Giovanni Roselli. Photograph by Bob Rozycki.

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING Send me your goal for the holiday season and I will choose one lucky reader to receive a complimentary Tier 4 assessment at the exclusive E club at Equinox Greenwich. Tweet me at @GiovanniRoselli or go through the contact page on my website GiovanniRoselli. com. How’s that to kick-start your holiday fitness plan?

The best gift you could give and receive during this holiday season is knowing that you and the people you love are happy and healthy. Find the one thing that is glaring but that you can control, own it and then go out and enjoy the holidays.

Start wherever you are. Use whatever you have. Do whatever you can.

Happy holidays!

WELL

Threading the medical insurance minefield for others

BY ADRIA GOLDMAN GROSS

OFTEN WHAT YOU SUFFER IN THIS WORLD CAN OPEN THE DOOR TO FULFILLMENT — FOR YOU AND OTHERS. Three decades of charting a course through epilepsy — along with my experience in the insurance business — have enabled me to help others navigate a sea of red tape, particularly the less fortunate.

And it all began one day in the 1960s when I — a blooming teen in the age of Flower Power — fainted in religion class.

When I woke up in the hospital, my family and I were told I had epilepsy — and it would be with me the rest of my days. I was going to have to watch my diet, take medication and try to sense when a seizure was about to hit. Life as I had known it had taken an unexpected turn.

Happily for me, all was not lost. Avoided by “normal” children, I became a confidante of two other girls on the outside looking in — one was black, the other blind. In our own small circle, we accepted one another’s differences the same way the “normal” kids accepted themselves. We certainly made a curious trio at the senior prom.

I went on to college, where compassionate students were willing to room with me despite my medical condition. After graduation, I found understanding employers and work in Manhattan’s Garment 92

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Adria Goldman Gross. Photograph by Kathy Kahn.

District. But the seizures continued — sometimes as many as 20 a day, with some lasting a few minutes, others an hour or more.

After years of seizures and taking 32 pills a day to control my condition, I started researching a surgery where the part of the brain that caused the epilepsy — in my case, the left frontal temporal lobe, which is involved with cognitive and language functions — could be removed. The operation had a 60 percent success rate, but my desire for a life without worry was stronger than my fear of the operation. Mom was my rock and, thanks to her support, I found a specialist, had the surgery — and waited to see if I would be in the 60 percent.

Six weeks after the surgery, the right side of my brain took over for my diminished left hemisphere.

No more seizures, no more massive doses of medication. I could drive a car. I could walk down a street with confidence. I could go to work without worrying. Maybe meet someone to love? Have children?

I did indeed get married and adopt two wonderful children from Vietnam. My new job became that of a full-time mom — baking cookies, going to play groups and cleaning up toys. When I put the children on the school bus, it was time to go back to work.

Since many of the jobs in the Garment District had been shipped overseas, I applied for a position with an insurance company, where I was trained to reject claims automatically. As my career flourished, I learned the ins and outs of the business. First and foremost, the goal was to get rid of the claimant.

But a friend asked me to help with a claim that got rejected. All the knowledge I had gained enabled me

to get his bill down to 80 percent of its original total, saving him several thousand dollars.

That was a light-bulb moment. Could I do what I had done for my friend and make money doing it?

With help from SCORE (score.org), a retired professionals mentoring group, I walked through the steps that allowed me to open my own business.

MedWise Billing Inc. was born in 2006. My clients trickled in but soon become a steady stream.

Anyone — and, it seems these days, almost everyone — has had a standoff of some sort with an insurance company, whether it is an incorrect charge or a rejection of a claim. Navigating the insurance system can be a hair-raising experience, especially when you are not feeling your best.

Four years ago, I added another component to my business, MedWise Insurance Advocacy, in which I act on behalf of patients who are in distress both physically and financially. Often, they are facing foreclosure. MedWise Insurance Advocacy has given me an outlet to give back the blessing of all the people who helped me along my journey. It’s also inspired my new book, “Solved! Curing Your Medical Insurance Problems” (Outskirts Press, $13.95, 108 pages).

Such advocacy is probably the most emotionally rewarding part of my business.

Today, the years of being on the outside looking in have taught me a valuable lesson: You never know a person until you’ve walked in his shoes. Walking in mine has allowed me to help others reach their destination, which makes me love what I do all the more.

For more, visit medicalinsuranceadvocacy. com.

A little lamb makes a difference

BY REECE ALVAREZ

NICK KATSORIS, A LAWYER FROM EASTCHESTER, WENT FROM WRITING CRIME THRILLERS TO PENNING A BELOVED CHILDREN’S BOOK SERIES THAT HAS GALVANIZED THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO TAKE PART IN A NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE. How exactly did a lawyer aspiring to be the next John Grisham come to do this?

“One step at a time,” he says.

With his crime writing failing to take off and the birth of his son around the corner, Katsoris took a different approach and decided to write an encouraging children’s book.

“The more we can teach our children about doing good at a young age, the more it will follow them throughout their lives,” he says.

Self-publishing his first book in 2005, Katsoris hit the literary jackpot with a series revolving around a little lamb named Loukoumi (after a popular Greek candy also known as Turkish delight). The first book sold out in its first printing, garnering coverage in The New York Times and ranking fourth on the Barnes & Noble best-seller list.

“Before I knew it, I was doing book signings,” he says.

The increasingly successful series — which included “Loukoumi’s Good Deeds” (2009), narrated by Jennifer Aniston — led to the creation of the nonprofit Loukoumi Make a Difference Foundation, which has partnered with USA Today’s National Make A Difference Day -- held every year on Oct. 24, United Nations Day — for the Make a Difference with Loukoumi Project.

This year, Katsoris helped rally 50,000 people across the country for the event. Locally, he filled a bus with dedicated Loukoumi fans, about 50 children and parents, and visited a number of organizations, including the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in New Rochelle, the Philoptochos Chapter of the Greek Orthodox Church of Our Saviour in Rye, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Club at Fordham University and The William Spyropoulos Greek-American School of St. Nicholas in Flushing, Queens.

Across the various locations, children made contributions, including assembling baskets for homeless veterans transitioning to permanent housing, making cards for children with cancer at

St. Jude, hosting coat drives for those in need and raising money for shelter animals.

“The beauty of this project is that it encourages children to make a difference in their own special way, through projects that they enjoy, benefiting charities and organizations that mean something to them,” Katsoris says.

Perhaps the most notable of the stops was the first at the Westchester Children’s MuseMake a Difference With Loukoumi supporters sell bracelets to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Photograph by Jillian Nelson. um in Rye, where the LoukouCourtesy Nick Katsoris. mi foundation presented the museum with a check for a Celebrities such as Morgan Freeman, John forthcoming Make A Difference with Loukoumi Aniston and Olympia Dukakis have narrated exhibit that will focus on literary awareness and books in the series, while a lengthy list of notables appreciation. has contributed to “Loukoumi’s Celebrity Cook“It really has become a movement,” Katsoris book,” which features dishes like Rachael Ray’s says. “It is growing and catching on not only here French Toast Cups, Oprah Winfrey’s Corn Fritters, in but in other parts of the country where kids just Ellen DeGeneres’ Vegan Sliders and Beyoncé’s love doing this. This is the way it should be. This is Easy Guacamole. what kids should focusing their time on.”

“Kindness is contagious,” Katsoris says. “The Under the foundation, Katsoris also runs Loukmore you do, the more people want to do. When oumi’s Dream Day, a contest program which supyou are doing good, I always find that people will ports children’s career aspirations by giving them support you and people will want to get involved.” daylong experiences with professionals in their Despite the foundation’s success, he has no desired careers. plans to rest on his laurels.

Winners of the foundation’s Dream Day contest In October 2014, the Loukoumi foundation prohave been given incredible access, from watching duced a national TV special, “Make a Difference the Phoenix spacecraft land on Mars in 2008 with With Loukoumi.”

NASA officials to more terrestrial pursuits, such as Katsoris credits the TV appearance with much playing with professional sports teams and cookof the current year’s success and now plans to ing with celebrity chefs. expand his TV presence to a 10-week series, fea“My dream of becoming a writer came true turing animation and live footage of Loukoumi in a way I never expected,” Katsoris says. “That’s children and their good deeds. why I wanted to then encourage kids to follow He is in the midst of raising funds for the series their dreams. A lot of kids get discouraged by and is in talks with networks. certain dreams that they have that are a little “Our schools do a great job teaching our kids out of the box. If you encourage them and show about reading, math, social studies and science, them that other kids can achieve what they but what also needs to be taught is how to make want to do, and if they work hard and believe in a difference and how to be good people,” he themselves, then there is no better gift you can says. “The more kids see these great good deeds give to a kid than that.” that are done, then they’ll want to do a good Katsoris acknowledges that he has been blessed deed that means something to them.” with some high-profile support, which has helped For more, visit loukoumi.com propel his books into the national spotlight.

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

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PET OF THE MONTH

Cool

Kaly Ah, kids: They keep us young, don’t they?

Meet 9-month-old Kaly, a Cattle Dog mix who’s a ball of fire and smart as a whip. She likes to spend her days running around and playing with her peeps, so she would do best in a lively household with no children. Not that she doesn’t enjoy downtime. Then Kaly will curl right up on your lap and finish the day off with kisses.

She is good with other dogs as long as they don’t mind an enthusiastic playmate.

Kaly still thinks of herself as a pup, so she’ll need someone who can continue her obedience training. But with a little schooling, she’ll blossom into an amazing companion.

To meet Kaly, 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- 9412896 or visit spca914.org.

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WAGMAG.COM

DECEMBER 2015

Holiday delivery

PET EXTRA

THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR FOR PACKAGES — Cyber Monday, ordering online and the mailbox and door stoop overflowing with packages from near and far.

Here at WAG, we have a trio of playful Westies that visit us on many a day, as our publisher is fond of bringing her canine companions in to work.

Here, our Willy takes a turn in the mail bin, making a pretty cute “Special Delivery.”

And our other WAG Westies, from left, Sollo and Brooke.

Photographs by Robin Costello.

ay Parties Cafe ctivities Birthd and Sto ms and A re a r g o r P y l i Hands-On Exhibits Da

Stepping Stones Museum for Children

SCHOOL HOURS: Tuesday – Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

November Calendar Highlights NOW THROUGH DECEMBER Broken? Fix It! SPECIAL EXHIBIT SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7 Around the World: Creative Kids

2:00 pm

H WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11 – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 Holiday Happenings Cards for Soldiers

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15 Guinness Book of World Records Day

11:00 am – noon

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 Around the World: Performance Series

2:00 pm TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29 Holiday H Closed Thanksgiving Day

Happenings

Shine! – Creative Dramatics and Talent Show 11:00 am – noon WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Closing 3:00 pm Closed

steppingstonesmuseum.org

Mathews Park, 303 West Avenue • Norwalk, Connecticut • Exit 14N or 15S off I-95 • 203 899 0606

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

95

ROB MATHES THE

HOLIDAY CONCERT December 18 & 19, 8pm

ALSO IN DECEMBER

Rob Mathes photo Š Roman Dean

5 A Chanticleer Christmas 6 Ray Chen, violin

COMING IN JANUARY 2016 23 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 24 NTL: Coriolanus 31 Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

For event details and tickets, call 914-251-6200 or visit

WWW.ARTSCENTER.ORG THANK YOU

Rob Mathes Holiday Concert Media Sponsor

THROUGH DEC. 20

David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center,

“The Space Between,” a solo exhibit

Manhattan; 212-496-0600, davidhkocht-

of paintings by Manhattan-based art-

heater.com

ist Diane Green. The exhibit highlights



Green’s paintings from 2010 to ’15.

“Westchester’s Winter Wonderland”

10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays–Saturdays,

Take a stroll through Kensico Dam Plaza

Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, 37 Popham

on a beautiful crisp evening with the illu-

Road, Scarsdale; 914-723-8738, made-

minated spectacle of “Candy Cane Lane”

lynjordonfineart.com

and a musical light show. Meet with New

WHEN & WHERE

York Rangers’ alumni and enjoy outdoor

THROUGH JAN. 3

ice skating at “RangersTown” on a temporary rink or bring the kids to visit with

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Mu-

the “Big Man” at the Santa Experience.

seum holiday exhibit traces the devel-

Join other shoppers as they browse the

opment of Christmas traditions during

artisan craft village for that perfect gift or

the Victorian era in America. Visitors will

treat. Then top it off with a meal or bever-

see the season’s evolution from 1850

age at the food court. Kensico Dam Plaza,

to the 1900s, from small tabletop trees

Park Drive West, Valhalla; wwinterwon-

with edibles and handmade ornaments

derland.com

to lavishly embellished trees that stood on the floor and almost reached the ceil-

THROUGH JAN. 17

ing. Noon-4 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays,

“Dancers Among Us” features pho-

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum,

tographs by Jordan Matter. Dancers

295 West Ave., Norwalk, 203-838-9799,

leap and move in everyday settings in

lockwoodmathewsmansion.com

an exhibit grouped into three themes



— Soaring, Stretching and Serendipity.

The holiday season in New York wouldn’t

Noon-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays,

be the same without the New York City

Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton

Ballet and George Balanchine’s “The

Ave., Yonkers; 914-963-4550, hrm.org

Nutcracker.” Highlights of this holiday chestnut include a one-ton Christmas tree that grows from 12 to 40 feet, swirl-

THROUGH JAN. 18

ing snowflakes and hundreds of elaborate

“The Holiday Train Show,” with New

costumes, including one for Mother Gin-

York landmark replicas made of all nat-

ger that measures 9 feet wide and weighs

ural materials — nuts, bark and other

85 pounds. The production’s grand finale

plant parts. This year’s exhibit has an

involves one million watts of lighting, the

additional 3,000 square feet of space,

most used in any City Ballet production.

making room for dozens of new trains, bridges and tracks and a salute to the 1964 World’s Fair. New York Botanical

THE NUTCRACKER DEC. 5 AND 6

Garden, Southern Boulevard, Bronx; 718-817-8700, nybg.org

DEC. 4 The First Tombolo Gala Fundraising

town New Canaan transforms itself

event celebrates the holiday season and

into something out of a Dickens’ story

“Nativity Scenes from the Americas” —

the opening of its “Presepio Napletano,”

book. Festivities kick off 5 p.m. Friday

These nacimientos (Nativity scenes) from

an artisan-made Nativity scene. The

with the arrival of Santa Claus, the

different countries in Latin America, the

evening features Italian wine and theme

lighting of the trees, carol singing and

Caribbean and the American Southwest

cocktails, live music, a dinner buffet,

live entertainment while the stores

blend pre-Hispanic elements, Colonial

a silent auction and prizes. 6:30 p.m.,

stay open late and offer refreshments

heritage and contemporary components

Westchester Italian Cultural Center, One

and holiday cheer. Starting at 10 a.m.

to illustrate how artists and artisans have

Generoso Pope Place, Tuckahoe; 914-

Saturday, events include pictures with

depicted the birth of Jesus. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

771-8700, wiccny.org

Santa at Santa’s workshop, holiday

DEC. 1 THROUGH JAN. 10

Tuesdays-Fridays, noon-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Castle Gallery, The

KENNY ROGERS DEC. 11

characters strolling the streets, more live entertainment and a Gingerbread

College of New Rochelle, 29 Castle Place,

DEC. 4 AND 5

New Rochelle; 914-654-5423, castlegal-

The 11th annual Holiday Stroll &

2004, newcanaanchamber.com/holi-

lery.cnr.edu

Tree Lighting Ceremony — Down-

day-stroll

House Tour. 91 Elm St.; 203-966-

WAGMAG.COM DECEMBER 2015

97

DEC. 5

The Rye and River Towns’ congregations

original members Tito, Jackie and Mar-

Grammy-Award winner Sarah McLach-

of Trinity Presbyterian Church present

lon Jackson and includes all of their

lan’s “Shine On” explores her personal

their 21st annual Christmas concert, “A

songs as well as those made famous by

journey of love, loss and change. A dollar

Westchester Christmas.” The concert

the iconic Michael Jackson and holiday

from every ticket will go to her nonprofit

features a string orchestra performing

favorites. 8 p.m., Ridgefield Playhouse,

Sarah McLachlan School of Music, which

selections by Bach and Handel along with

80 East Ridge Road; 203-438-5795,

provides music instruction at no cost to

jazz and pop compositions by John Pati-

ridgefieldplayhouse.org

underserved children and youth. 8 p.m.,

tucci, David August and Gary Adamson,

The Capitol Theatre, 149 Westchester

as well as congregational singing of tradi-

Ave., Port Chester; 914-937-4126, thecap-

tional Christmas carols. 4 p.m., Concordia

DEC. 18 THROUGH JAN. 10

itoltheatre.com

College, Sommer Center, 171 White Plains

“Tarzan - The Stage Musical” – The

Road, Bronxville; trinitychurch.cc

king of the apes swings onto the stage



From Grandma Rose to a gangster



in this musical adaptation of the Disney

named Mikey Napp, all the characters

WSPK, K104.7 Hudson Valley presents

film, which also features songs by rock-

from Anthony’s past help him figure out

its annual “Not So Silent Night” concert

er Phil Collins. White Plains Performing

that life is hard, but… “Pressure Makes

at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. This year,

Arts Center, 11 City Place, Third Floor,

Diamonds!” It’s a new multimedia, one-

K104.7 presents R. City, Tori Kelly, The

White Plains; 914-328-1600,wppac.com/

man show written, directed and per-

Vamps, Becky G, Charlie Puth and more. 6

shows/tarzan

formed by Anthony J. Valbiro. 8 p.m.,

p.m., 14 Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie;

The Veterans’ Memorial Building, 210

845-454-5800, k104online.com

Halstead Ave., Harrison; 914-630-1089, harrisonplayers.org

DEC. 5 AND 6

THE HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW THROUGH JAN. 18

Greenwich Ballet Academy presents its



DEC. 20

The Abbott House 2015 Dignity of

The Westchester Philharmonic presents

Family Life Award Dinner will honor

its annual “Winter Pops!” concert fea-

former New York Knick Allan Houston

turing Broadway’s Ashley Brown. 3 p.m.,

and his family. There will be a silent

The Concert Hall at The Performing Arts

auction. 6 p.m., Crowne Plaza, 66 Hale

Center, Purchase College, 735 Anderson

version of “The Nutcracker,” with per-

ry A. Kissinger at its annual “Pulse of the

Ave., White Plains; 914-365-6715, abbot-

Hill Road; 914-682-3707, westchester-

formances at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2

City Gala.” 6:30 p.m., The Plaza, Fifth

thouse.net

phil.org

p.m. Sunday, White Plains Performing Arts

Avenue at Central Park South, Manhattan;

Center, 11 City Place, White Plains; 914-

646-434-4690, pulsegala.org

DEC. 13

DEC. 23



Violinists Alexander Abayev and Ben-

“Bolshoi Ballet in HD: The Nutcracker”

Kenny Rogers’ “Once Again It’s Christ-

jamin Hellman perform Bach’s Double

— The Russian ballet company’s take

mas Tour,” featuring Linda Davis — The

Violin Concerto when the Symphony of

on the E.T.A. Hoffmann story of the

“Purchase Jazz Showcase” — The

country music legend is setting out on

Westchester presents its all-Baroque

bewitched Nutcracker Prince and the

17-piece Purchase Jazz Orchestra per-

his annual holiday tour to celebrate the

concert. 3 p.m., Iona College Christopher

girl whose love transforms him, with

forms jazz ranging from Duke Ellington

release of his first Christmas album in 17

J. Murphy Auditorium, 715 North Ave.,

Tchaikovsky’s soaring score, of course.

and Count Basie to modern works by

years. Rogers will also perform many of

New Rochelle; 914-654-4926, thesym-

8 p.m., Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East

some of today’s composers. Also on the

the classic hits that made him one of the

phonyofwestchester.org

Ridge Road; 203-438-5795, ridgefield-

bill is the Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra. 7

best-selling music artists of all time. 8

p.m., Purchase College Performing Arts

p.m., Westchester County Center, 198

Center, 735 Anderson Hill Road; 914-251-

Central Ave., White Plains; 800-745-

6000, purchase.edu/music

3000, countycenter.biz

305-4377, greenwichballetacademy.org

DEC. 9



The Trans Siberian Orchestra returns

playhouse.org

DEC. 14 Westport Country Playhouse presents a

DEC. 31

Script in Hand play reading of “The Last

Check out the “New Year’s Eve Family

Night of Ballyhoo” by Alfred Uhry. In

Spectacular” in White Plains, Westches-

1939 Atlanta, a family prepares for Bally-

ter County’s answer to the Times Square

with “The Wizards of Winter,” a new

DEC. 12

show featuring original music from its

Ossining’s “Breakfast with Santa” —

hoo, the cotillion ball for Southern Jew-

ball drop. The revelry includes live music

new album and a bigger stage produc-

The village of Ossining invites youngsters

ish socialites. 7 p.m., 25 Powers Court,

and a midnight fireworks display. Main

tion. 8 p.m., Ridgefield Playhouse, 80

ages 1 to 12 to meet and enjoy breakfast

off

Street between Court Street and Renais-

East Ridge Road; 203-438-5795, ridge-

with Santa. Get a small gift and turn in your

westportplayhouse.com

fieldplayhouse.org

wish list to the Jolly Old Elf from the North Pole. Annie and the Natural Wonder Band

Route 1, Westport; 203-227-4177,

sance Square. 

We here at WAG wish our readers and ad-

will also be on hand to entertain guests.

DEC. 16

10 and 11 a.m. seatings, Joseph G. Caputo

The Jacksons 50th Anniversary and

We hope you have enjoyed our Year of

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation

Community Center, 95 Broadway, Ossin-

Holiday Show — A night of hits, includ-

Passion and be sure to stay with us as we

(CRF) will honor former U.S. Secretary of

ing; 914-941-3189, villageofossining.org

ing “ABC,” “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be

celebrate 2016 with the best and brightest

There,” and more. The show features

that this area has to offer.

DEC. 11 State and National Security Adviser Hen-

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WAGMAG.COM

DECEMBER 2015



vertisers a healthy and Happy New Year.

RP Wag ad dec.qxp_Layout 1 11/16/15 11:41 AM Page 1

Tickets Make Great Gifts!

THE RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE for movies and the performing arts

Non-profit 501 (c) (3)

Give The Gift of Live Music!

Gift cards available

ETHAN ALLEN HOTEL PRESENTS

The Grammy-Nominated Cuban Jazz Stars

Holiday Show & 50th Anniversary Special

December 17 @ 7:30PM

December 16 @ 8PM

A holiday show with one of the hottest Latin bands

Original members with mega hits “ABC,” “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be There,” ““Shake Your Body” and more!

today & a free wine tasting in the lobby at 6:15pm!

Kenny G Holiday Show

Mark Farner

A night of hits & holiday music with the

January 20 @ 8PM

December 8 @ 8PM

of Grand Funk Railroad

Grammy Award winning sax player. Enjoy a

Get up close and personal with pioneering singer-

wine tasting before the show!

songwriter, guitarist and former frontman of Grand Funk Railroad.

The Wizards of Winter December 9 @ 8PM

With original members of Trans-Siberian Orchestra A brand new show featuring original music from their new album!

The Who’s Tommy January 22 @ 8PM

In Concert

Where Rock and Roll and Broadway Collide, starring some of Broadway’s hottest stars.

New Riders of the Purple Sage

The Australian Bee Gees

December 27 @ 8PM

A multimedia concert experience and nostalgic trip

Legendary country rock jam band returns, featuring Dave Nelson & Buddy Cage.

Travs Tritt

January 14 @ 8PM

An intimate, solo acoustic performance – playing his songs like you’ve never heard before!

January 23 @ 8PM

through the legacy of the Bee Gees.

The Cowsills

January 31 @ 8PM

With their hit songs “Hair,” “The Rain, The Park & Other Things,” “Indian Lake,” “We Can Fly” and many others, it’s a fun night of oldies!

Bob Marley’s

Phil Vassar

January 16 @ 2PM & 4:30PM

With Special Guest Jessica Lynn

Three Little Birds

A New Reggae Children’s Musical based on the story by Cedella Marley.

February 12 @ 8PM

Country music’s leading piano man with his hit songs “Carlene,” “Just Another Day in Paradise” and “Six-Pack Summer.”

Tickets on sale now! (203) 438-5795 • ridgefieldplayhouse.org

WATCH

A DISTINCTIVE AFFAIR

Doctors were in the house Oct. 29 for the 2015 Doctors of Distinction awards held at The Bristal in Armonk. The six winners were honored for their dedication, expertise and accomplishments in their respective fields. The event was founded by the Westchester County Medical Society, Citrin Cooperman and the Westchester County Business Journal. The guest speaker was Sherlita Amler, Westchester County commissioner of health.

Photographs by Bob Rozycki.

1. Sherlita Amler and her husband, Dr. Robert Amler 2. Jackie Ruby and Dr. Lopa Y. Gupta 3. Jack, Lori and Megan Lahn 4. Joel Seligman and Dr. Damon DelBello 5. Lori and Mark Baumblatt and Scott Mikos 6. Guy Leibler and Dean Bender 7. Christine Sapka 8. Mary Spengler presents the DOD Community Service Award to Michael Lahn 9. John Pilkington presents the DOD Lifetime Achievement Award to Scott Hayworth 10. Alan Badey 11. Daniel Angiolillo presents the DOD Excellence in Medical Research Award to Robert Gary Josephberg 12. Suzanne Brill and past winner Avraham Merav 13. Mary Ellen Pilkington, John Evanko and Lauri Walsh 14. Dean Brown 15. Art Baron and Virginia Yee 16. Kevin Conroy, Anita Nordal and Jeremy Boal 17. Elaine Healy presents the DOD Leadership in Medical Advocacy Award to L. Mark Russakoff 18. Joseph Tartaglia 19. Kira Geraci-Ciardullo presents the DOD Humanitarian Award to Craig Zalvan 20. Andrew Kleinman accepts the Medical Advocacy Award.

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EXCEPTIONAL

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BUILDING THE

HOSPITAL FOR THE FUTURE

BIG 10 FOR SAN MIGUEL

Vanessa Williams, a longtime supporter of San Miguel Academy of Newburgh, joined with hundreds of the academy’s friends for the “Defying the Odds” celebration dinner at the Westchester Country Club in Harrison. Greg Kiernan, financier and founder of Sonostar Venture Capital Partners, was honored with the annual Miguel Award for a decade of leadership that has brought the school to its “Ten Years Strong” milestone.

WATCH

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TOP DOGS

More than 350 people and 50 canines gathered at The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester in White Plains recently for the 13th annual SPCA of Westchester gala “Top Hats & Cocktails.” The event raised more than $250,000 for the no-kill shelter in Briarcliff Manor. In addition to rescuing more than 2,000 animals a year, the SPCA of Westchester is responsible for enforcing all animal cruelty laws in the county and offers low-cost spay/neuter and wellness services for pets in Westchester.

Photographs by Simon Feldman.

1. Father Mark Connell, Vanessa Williams and Greg Kiernan 2. Vanessa Willliams with students of San Miguel Academy

3. Paul and Nina Warren and Suzanne and Greg Carlock 4. Peter and Susan Chatzky and Lauren Kraft-Greene and Robert Greene 5. Shannon Laukhuf, Maria Maldonado, Deborah Mehne, Rachel Gumina and Barbara Kobren 6. Eric and Lara Trump 7. Kipton Cronkite and Alex Hamer 8. Kim Charlton and Stephen Meringoff

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A MASTERFUL

NEW HEALING ENVIRONMENT

STEPPING BACK IN TIME

More than 130 guests recently celebrated the opening of the 2015 fall season at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk with “The Stairs Below Gala.” Volunteers greeted guests as the museum opened the servants’ quarters to the public for the first time in the building’s history, which dates from the 1860s.

The event raised more than $75,000 and featured writer and actor Drew Denbaum portraying onetime mansion owner LeGrand Lockwood.

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Photographs by Sarah Grote.

1. Neil and Sharon Esposito and Janet and Pat Conte 2. Kristen and Douglas Adams 3. Susan Gilgore, Richard Blumenthal, Lucia Rilling, Patsy Brescia and Harry Rilling 4. Gail Candlin and Amy Kule

ALL ABOARD FOR RESTAURANT WEEK

Foodies turned out for the launch of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week recently at Iron Horse in Pleasantville.

Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino joined Janet Crawshaw – publisher of The Valley Table and founder of Restaurant Week – to make the announcement, along with Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer and Iron Horse owner Andrew Economos. Guests enjoyed a fall menu that included a savory-sweet butternut squash soup, a smooth-as-silk chocolate mousse and, the pièce de resistance, the “Astorino Burger” — a hamburger on a gluten-free bun, topped with lettuce, tomato and guacamole.

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Photographs by José F. Donneys.

5. Robert P. Astorino, Janet T. Langsam and Peter Scherer 6. Andrew Economos 7. Judith Economos

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WHITE PLAINS HOSPITAL’S

NEW PATIENT TOWER Is Being Unveiled exceptionaleveryday.org

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WATCH

UNDER THE SEA

It was a night of aquatic enchantment as Greenwich Hospital held its annual gala fundraiser, “OCEAN.” More than 350 supporters turned out at Greenwich Country Club for the marine-themed event, which raised more than $900,000 for the hospital’s oncology services. Journalist and cancer survivor Joan Lunden emceed the evening, during which hospital President Norman G. Roth presented Terry Betteridge with the President’s Award for his service to the hospital and the community.

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Photographs by Elaine Urbina.

1. Terry and Diane Betteridge 2. Mary Rolla, Sabrina Raquet and Jennifer Seidel 3. Richard Blumenthal and Melanie and Laurance Baschkin 4. Caye and Paul Hicks 5. Edie and William Martimucci and Stephen Carolan 6. Andy Bronin, Jeanette Wallace, Barbara Ward and Lisa Weichmann 7. Ash and Shaila Narayana, Sung Lee and Alissa Greenburg 8. Simon and Juliet Teakle 9. Norman Roth, Joan Lunden and Jeff Konigsberg

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Some 200 fashionistas and arts lovers turned out at Morgan Stanley in Purchase Nov. 8 for the Katonah Museum of Art’s Himmel Lecture and Award honoring fashion editor, writer, curator and mentor André Leon Talley. The Award is named in honor of Betty Himmel, who has been instrumental in defining the direction and mission of the Katonah Museum and has served as an arts advocate and community leader for many years. (See story on Page 16.)

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Photographs by Margaret Fox. 10. Darsie Alexander interviews André Leon Talley 11. Deborah Mullin 12. La Ruth Hackney Gray and Marilyn D. Glass 13. Janet Langsam and Betty Himmel

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MAKE YOUR GIVING MATTER MORE. Establish a donor advised fund or a permanent fund with the Westchester Community Foundation and bring your philanthropic legacy to life.

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WAGMAG.COM

DECEMBER 2015

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To learn more, please contact Laura Rossi at (914) 948-5166 or lrossi@wcf-ny.org.

210 North Central Avenue Suite 310, Hartsdale, NY 10530 www.wcf-ny.org

THERE’S STILL TIME TO SIGN UP FOR 2015-2016 TOURS

LAOS/CAMBODIA, JANUARY 6-15, 2016

TANZANIA, DECEMBER 8-17, 2015

MYANMAR, OCTOBER 7-16, 2015

ETHIOPIA, NOVEMBER 18-29, 2015

Travel with us in small group photo tours and Workshops to: ETHIOPIA, MYANMAR, LAOS/CAMBODIA, TANZANIA AND INDIA Working in the field, learn photojournalism, portrait photography, location lighting, editing and workflow with new topics daily and personal attention. Updated 2015 dates, itineraries, testimonials and tour fees are posted online at www.johnrizzophoto.com SHWEDAGON PAGODA, YANGON “As the Director of the Foreign Press Association, I have worked with many photojournalist, but none have measured up to the outstanding work done by John Rizzo. I first met John after Sept. 11th and his photos of that disaster attest to his remarkable skill and sensitivity to the subject. He is an artist in his field.”

— Suzanne Adams, Director Foreign Press Association, New York

“John Rizzo has brought some of the most dazzling photographs to the pages of WAG. He’s an artist who brings the vanishing cultures of the world to our eyes” -Dee Delbello, Publisher, Westfair Communications & WAG Magazine

“Being a student of John Rizzo has been one of the greatest learning experiences in my life. I am glad I got to learn from John as the quality of my work has grown leaps and bounds because of his guidance.”

— Allen French, New England School of Photography

John Rizzo Photography | 624 White Plains Rd. #144, Tarrytown, NY 10591 | (646) 221-6186 worldwide mobile | www.johnrizzophoto.com

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BCA’S 20/20 VISION

“Thank you for sharing our vision” the tag on the pink reflective sunglasses said. For 20 years, thousands of women — and more than a few good men — have been sharing the vision of the Breast Cancer Alliance, notably at the annual Benefit Luncheon & Fashion Show at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich.

Twenty years — and more than $20 million awarded in grants.

(This year, the nonprofit plans to award a record $2 million in grants.) “You are my inspiration,” Anne Thompson, NBC’s chief environmental affairs correspondent, told the BCA leadership. “You lift us up when we’re down.” This was Thompson’s second turn as keynote speaker. (She addressed attendees in 2008.) Pinch-hitting for her good friend and NBC colleague Andrea Mitchell – who had to cover Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony on Capitol Hill and spoke of her disappointment in missing the event via video — Thompson chronicled her own battle with Stage 3 breast cancer with humor and hope. Told by an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering that it was fate that she should live in the neighborhood of the cancer treatment center, Thompson shot back, “No, fate is George Clooney and two airline tickets to Rome. That didn’t happen either.”

The resulting laughter came amid sobering news — new, controversial guidelines that have upped the recommended age of a first mammogram to 45. “If you’re a woman, you’re at risk for breast cancer,” Thompson told the throng of 900 strong, many of whom nodded in assent. And indeed, during the moving Survivors’ Fashion Show — presented by lead sponsor Richards, celebrating 10 years with the event — the big screens flashed bios that told of women being diagnosed at 32, 38 and 39. Having successfully battled breast cancer, Thompson said the disease brought two gifts, “that of listening to your body and the gift of time,” with its corresponding impatience with nonsense. “Life’s BS,” she said, “has no place in my life.”

— Georgette Gouveia

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Photographs by Robin Costello.

1. Dr. Steve Lo and Russel Taylor 2. Susan Davison, Marge Geraghty and Ann Heck 3. Kim Augustine and Juliana Belcastro 4. Shannon Portell and Catherine Juracich 5. Scott Mitchell 6. Erin Wash, Mary Henwood and Christina Curtin 7. Elizabeth Lake, Nicki Rose and Catie Salyer 8. Susan Bevan and Susan Alisberg 9. Jennie Stehli, Jill Coyle, Anne Thompson, Yonni Wattenmaker and Meg Russell 10. Caroline Brecker, Tesa Van Munching and Mia Hargadon 11. Leslea Walker, Jeanne Hansford, Wendy Siegel and Erin Waterman 12. Stephanie Sucic, Geordan Mandell, Patty Steele and Terry Lacey

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WATCH

IN RELIEF FOR EDUCATION

It was a great night for Latino culture and scholarship at the C.V. Rich Mansion in White Plains as Latino U College Access honored legendary New York Yankees’ closer Mariano Rivera’s foundation and Steve and Silvia Ohler for their work with the organization, which helps Latino students become the first members of their families to go on to higher education. Joe Torres was the master of ceremonies for the evening, which featured Talisman Latin Jazz and Flamenco and a host of sweet and savory dishes from a variety of Latin-American cultures.

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Photographs by José F. Donneys.

1. Joe Torres 2. Meliy Bonita, Shirley Acevedo Buontempo and Charlotte Steverson 3. Byram Suqui, Bing Morris and Denise Velasquez 4. Mike Lawler, Lisdy Contreras Giron, Kevin J. Plunkett and Michael Kaplowitz 5. Felix Flores, Robin and Ariana Thomas and Kevin Bencosme-Abreu 6. Betty Roberts and Angela Ruta 7.Shawn Edwards, Paulina Ribadeneyra and Al Guitierrez 8. The Sandman himself, Mariano Rivera

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CELEBRATING WESTFAIR’S MILLI AWARDS About 250 people gathered to pay tribute to millennials who are having an effect in their communities as Westfair Communications presented its first Milli Awards Nov. 17. The 22 winners, who represented an array of industries, inspired the audience with their passion at the event, held at Chelsea Piers Connecticut.

Guests enjoyed a cocktail hour, goodies from sponsors and supporters and a photo booth. The multimedia award ceremony featured a skit and a keynote speech from Britta Mulderrig, marketing manager at Uber.The event benefited Community Plates, a nonprofit whose mobile application, GoRescue, enables volunteer “food runners” to connect with places that have leftover food, then distribute it to those in need.

– Danielle Brody

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Photographs by Bill Fallon.

1. From left, back: Ken Jacobi, Christina Dufour, Jason Fiore, Wesley Carpenter, Faraz Kayani, Nathaniel Mundy, Christopher Sugar, Jessica Rice, Anthony Pili and RJ Mercede.

From left, front: Samuel Ambroise, Kristina Benza, Tom “Sarge” Barzelatto, Jason Fisch, Max Fanwick, Caitlin Krueger, Angela Moore, Joyce Ramirez, Lexie Leyman and Alyssa Kranzamann 2. Steven Heffer 3. Danielle DiMartino and Lara Sullivan 4. Andres Guerrero and David Morrissey 5. Ready for the guests to arrive 6. Christina Dufour proudly shows off her Milli award 7. Friends, family and colleagues celebrate entrepreneurial and innovative millennials’ success 8. Westfairt staff enjoying the step and repeat wall 9. Mauro Adornetto and Hiral Shah 10. 3D printed Milli awards given to the winners

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SALUTING NURSES, EMERGENCY DOCS

NewYork-Presbyterian/Hudson Valley Hospital recently held its 55th annual Fall Gala Celebration honoring Magnet Nurses and Emergency Medical Associates. Held at Lyndhurst Castle in Tarrytown, the event featured the contemporary American cuisine of Chef Peter X. Kelly of Xaviars Restaurant Group.

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1. Former Gov. George Pataki, Libby Pataki, Darlene Rodriguez, Roger Ailes and John Federspiel 2. Dr. Ron Nutovits, A. Bonnie Corbett and Kathy Webster

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A NIGHT FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

More than 700 business and political leaders turned out for The Business Council of Westchester’s 2015 dinner recently at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook. Mark Halperin, whose best-selling book “Game Change” became an award-winning HBO film, was the main speaker. He was joined by Leonard Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and County Executive Robert P. Astorino.

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11 3. Marsha Gordon and Tony Justic 4. John Ravitz 5. Joseph Apicella, Tara Rosenblum and Terrence Murphy 6. Jon Dorf, Jamie O’Connell and Stephen Jones 7. Kenneth Theobalds and Joseph Simone 8. Wilson Kimball, Jim Cavanaugh and Shelly Mayer 9. Robert P. Astorino 10. Jerry McKinstry, Bill Mooney III and Dr. Robert Amler 11. Mark Halperin, Jean Marie Connolly and Liz Bracken-Thompson

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WIT WONDERS:

WHAT’S BEEN YOUR MOST PASSIONATE PURSUIT THIS YEAR?*

Robert P. Astorino

Susan Davison

Kim Augustine

Catherine Juracich

“Playland (Amusement Park).

Finalizing Playland and working out the transaction with a private company to partner with and ensure $50 million in investment.”

– Robert P. Astorino,

Westchester County executive, Mount Pleasant resident

“Mine has been the perfect college for my high school-age daughter.”

– Kim Augustine,

“CEO of the house,” Greenwich resident

“Finding out the next chapter.”

– Caroline Brecker,

Greenwich resident

Caroline Brecker

Dr. Steve Lo

Frank Corvino

Shannon Portell

“Enjoying retirement. I was president of the Greenwich Hospital board for 27 years. Trying to balance going 24/7 and moving from that to everyday retirement – traveling, running my own consulting business and serving as chairman of the Greenwich Hospital Foundation. The thing about retirement is that I’m in charge of my time.”

– Frank Corvino,

chairman of the Greenwich Hospital Foundation, Naples, Fla., resident

“It’s got to be Restaurant Week.

Fortunately, this is a passion I get to pursue twice a year. It brings out new restaurants and chefs and the best in the restaurants and chefs.”

– Janet Crawshaw,

publisher of The Valley Table and founder of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, Newburgh resident

“I think the big thing for me was I got my nursing certificate.”

– Christina Curtin,

Janet Crawshaw

Hope Salley

Christina Curtin

Peter Scherer

“I got my Life Master in bridge. It’s a challenging game. Come play.”

– Susan Davison,

writer, Manhattan resident

Russel Taylor

“Solo travel. I went to New Orleans and Florida and I always go to Martha’s Vineyard. I learned a lot about myself in the process.”

– Hope Salley,

“I’m very involved in New York City parks. They build community.”

senior account executive, Thompson& Bender, White Plains resident

– Catherine Juracich,

stay-at-home mom, Manhattan resident

“To become a better husband. It’s an answer for my wife.”

– Dr. Steve Lo,

oncologist specializing in breast cancer, Bennett Cancer Center, Stamford Hospital, Stamford resident

“My third baby, so now I have three girls.”

– Shannon Portell,

stay-at-home mom, Manhattan resident

“My most passionate pursuit has been the rehabilitation of the former (Medical Laboratory Associates) lot on Maple Avenue into the new national headquarters for Henckels, a cutlery firm, and also the kickoff of the Toll Brothers residential project.”

– Peter Scherer,

mayor of Pleasantville

“To improve my golf handicap.”

– Russel Taylor,

guest lecturer, The College of New Rochelle School of Nursing and expert in emotional intelligence, Greenwich resident

nurse manager, Stamford Hospital, Stamford resident

*Asked at the Breast Cancer Alliance Benefit Luncheon & Fashion Show and the launch of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week at Iron Horse in Pleasantville.