February 2014 by Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia

THERE ARE THOSE OF US WHO LIKE TO VENTURE

TO THE UNEXPLORED. TO SEE THE BEAUTY

IN THE STRANGE AND UNKNOWN. THOSE OF US WHO GO OUT THERE WITH A SENSE OF

WONDER.

BRIDGING WORLDS,

CULTIVATING OUR CURIOSITY

AND FINDING DELIGHT IN OUR DIFFERENCES.

IF YOU’RE ONE OF US, AND YOU WANT TO EXPLORE MORE OF THIS GREAT PLANET, WE’RE READY TO TAKE YOU THERE.

IT’S TIME.

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Volume 08 / Issue 02

Contents

February 2014

C H R I S C A L D I C O T T/ C O U R T E S Y O F G A N G T E Y G O E N P A L O D G E

A glimpse of Bhutan from Gangtey Goenpa Lodge, page 58.

58 T+L Design Awards 2014 A Bhutanese lodge; a Copenhagen restaurant; a suitcase, camera and more—innovative design makes travel better, and our distinguished jury chose the best of the year.

Plus The T+L Design Champion.

Features 68 Suit and Thai Bangkok’s brands are lighting up the

streets and the runways. joe c um mings explains why a trip to this evolving fashion capital should be on every sartorial shopping list. pho t ogr a phed by t h a r at hor n sit t hit h a m . st y led by w in n y y . gu ide page

Walkabout Through Time There’s so much more to the land down under than its glittery

cities and famous beaches. These five sweet spots will transport you to another era. st ory a n d pho t os by i a n lloy d n e u bau er

84 Ultimate Paris In a grand apartment on the Place des Vosges in the Marais, k at e be t ts indulges in a singular fantasy—living like a local in very high style.

90 Romantic Rooms Looking to turn up the heat on your next trip? From secret city cottages to a yacht or island of your own, these are the region’s most seductive suites. 100 The Food Lover’s Essential NYC America’s most delicious city is being reinvented and revitalized. by a da m sachs .

pho t ogr a phed by célin e

pho t ogr a phed by noe

cl a n e t

de w it t . gu ide page

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106

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Contents

dest i nat ions

28 Flying Footloose A seaplane pilot in the Maldives tells m er r it t gu r le y about living the dream. 32 Wild West Timor suza n cr a n e enlists the help of a prince for a royal tour of West Timor’s mountainous interior, empty beaches and fascinating tribal culture. 36 The Bieber of Brunei The sultanate’s top pop singer shares his favorite spots in town with di a na h u bbell .

Trip Doctor

49 The Fix How far in advance should you buy a plane ticket? 52 Tech The best new adventure apps. 54 Deals An artistic escape in the Maldives; an all-inclusive spa retreat in Cambodia; a cultural tour of Bangkok; and more. Plus Packing tips for your next business trip; and more.

No two rooms are the same in Iniala, Phuket, page 38.

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Point of View

46 Isn’t It Romantic? Not really. pe t er jon lin dberg takes a look at some common well-meaning hotel blunders. Decoder

112 Tokyo j en n ifer flow er s checks out Japan’s high-tech capital, with its futuristic skyscrapers, centuries-old temples, sophisticated hotels and enticing restaurants.

On the Cover Enjoying a fresh juice mocktail at Point Yamu by COMO, Phuket. Photographer: Brent T. Madison. Hair, styling and make up: Lisa Allen. Model: Kat Felton. Kaftan top by Just Cavalli; under bikini by River Island; skirt by Primark; jewelry by Diva; shoes by New Look; sunglasses by Zara.

pho t ogr a phed by t e tsu ya mi u r a

Last Look

118 The ‘Stans

m a r isa

m a rchit elli explores four

wildly diverse central Asian nations.

B R E N T T. M A D I S O N

38 Prêt-à-Phuket simon ost heim er checks out the island’s newest designcentric hotels.

Plus A hip new ChineseAmerican restaurant in Shanghai; literary festivals across the region; swimwear for every destination; and more.

Departments 12 14 … i n b o x 16

e d i t o r ’s n o t e

contr ibu tors

Radar

10 …

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Destinations

February 2014 123

PA RI S 100

N E W YORK

112

TOK YO

106 36

BRU N E I 32

W EST TI MOR

BY RON BAY

DESTINATION

PAGE

WHEN TO GO

WHAT US$5 BUYS

WHO TO FOLLOW

Brunei

Temperatures are fairly consistent yearround, but February through May is driest.

Savory snacks at Pantai Serasa’s Sunday market.

@TheBruneiTimes

Byron Bay

Best surfing season is February and March. April through September brings cooler, milder weather—perfect for exploring the outdoors.

A flat white from one of the area’s many cafés.

@TourismAus

New York

100

Whenever. Parks and cafés fill up in spring; on deep-summer weekends the city empties and you’ll have it to yourself; fall is all farmers’ markets and fashion; hectic winter holidays are magical with twinkling lights and trees.

A slice of pizza at the famed Di Fara in Midwood, Brooklyn (plus a possible two-hour wait).

@NYMag

Paris

There’s a reason for that romanticized trope about springtime in Paris. Stroll the grand boulevards and parks after winter skies clear but before all the summer tourists descend.

Cost to participate in The Other Writers’ Group, a Saturday night drop-in workshop at Shakespeare & Company bookstore.

@Time_Out_Paris

Tokyo

112

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the most pleasant weather-wise, but watch out for hordes of cherry-blossom gawkers in March.

A day pass on the city’s metro system.

@Visit_Japan

West Timor

Late April through July, when it’s dry season and the trade winds make good surf swells.

The Kupang airport landing tax on an average-size surfboard.

@amazingindo

Long Weekend

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Beach

Active

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

Food+Drink

Shopping

Arts+Culture

If you’re searching for a resort that looks like no other, then cast your gaze to Phuket. That’s what we’ve done this month in our annual Style+Design issue and the results are out of this world (“Prêt-àPhuket,” page 38). Forget kitschy takes on Thai motifs—the three hotels we visit showcase mind-bending designs that will make you want to head back to the popular island as soon as possible. A cornerstone every year in this special issue is the T+L Design Awards (page 58), which is always an eye-opener. The mere mention of Hyatt’s Thomas Pritzker is equated with forward-thinking, excellent design, so this year we single him out for his leadership. Global by nature, the awards also focus on everything from a four-in-one power adaptor to carry-on luggage, and everywhere from rural Bhutan—where the Gangtey Goenpa Lodge discreetly takes its place amid a remote location 2,750 meters above sea level—to the Reality Lab Issey Miyake retail space in urban Tokyo. The Japanese capital is always offering up an intriguing take on just about anything you can imagine, and we revel in the bold and bizarre there as part of this month’s Decoder (page 112). Think of a kaiseki restaurant serving a salad that also contains a crushed plastic bottle and a crumpled newspaper and you’ll get my drift. Whether it’s the Maldives, Vietnam, the Philippines or big-city Asia, we’ve got a memorable collection of “Romantic Rooms” (page 90) to help your February plans with that special someone. Of course, the City of Light represents romance incarnate, even, or perhaps especially, on your own. If you tend to be wary of revisiting a favorite destination so as not to sully perfect memories, then “Ultimate Paris” (page 84) is a must-read. Kate Betts returns to the French capital in order to finish a memoir about the city and comes away with a fresh take on, not only Paris, but why we love to travel in the first place.—chr istopher k ucway

Where to find me chrisk@mediatransasia.com @CKucway on Twitter

Our Next Stops

India Hangzhou Battambang St Petersburg

The T+L Code Travel + Leisure editors, writers and photographers are the industry’s most reliable sources. While on assignment, they travel incognito whenever possible and do not take press trips or accept free travel of any kind. 12

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N A P AT R A V E E W AT

Editor’s Note

Contributors

Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Céline Clanet

Joe Cummings

you paint australia as quite the melting pot Society has assimilated around immigrant cultures, best evidenced in the dining scene with everything from Peruvian to Nepalese and lots of hybrids—run and staffed by all ethnicities. The chef at Sydney gourmet burger spot Oportos is Indian, while the Indian restaurant down the road is owned by an Englishman. best sydney getaway The historic village Braidwood in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. Have breakfast at Dojo Baker, a ploughman’s lunch at the Old Cheese Factory and a roast dinner at Braidwood Hotel. other gems down under Where can I start? There’s Yamba, the Mornington Peninsula, Margaret River, Mataranka… And the whole of Tasmania—it has so much variety of terrain; I call it Australia’s Australia.

your quintessential paris After a late dinner with friends, taking a taxi home along the empty streets of Paris and talking with the driver about love and politics. favorite spot in the city The Nation quarter, where I live. I have the company of the Eiffel Tower at my window. When I work late at night, and see its lights shutting down at 1 a.m., I know it’s time to go to sleep. The area also has one of Paris’s best bistros: Chez Prosper. It gets so packed, and the tables are so close, that everyone eventually starts talking to one another. It’s perfect. what’s next? My book about a remote valley in the French Alps— Les Chapieux—debuts in February!

thai style can be described as... Whimsical and inwardlooking. you’ve been in bangkok forever. how does the fashion evolution fit into the cultural development overall? I see parallels in music, design and contemporary arts here, where creative work has progressed from imitation in the 70’s, to awkwardly conceived innovation in the 80’s, a sincere exploration of creativity in the 90’s, and finally a coming of age in the 2000’s, where Thai fashion design has finally become internationally competitive. favorite looks on the streets today In women’s fashion, there’s a 60’s Jane Birkin look going around, with short, high-waisted dresses. That I like a lot. For men, the vest, shirt and jeans look is probably just about over, but it’s practical and flattering.

SALA Samui Resort & Spa Choengmon Beach, Samui Telephone: (66) 77 245 888 info@salasamui.com - www.salasamui.com

Photographer “Ultimate Paris” (page 84).

Writer “Suit and Thai” (page 68).

‘The Nation quarter has one of Paris’s best bistros: Chez Prosper. The tables are so close that everyone starts talking to one another. It’s perfect.’— céline clanet

F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F I A N L L O Y D N E U B A U E R ; C O U R T E S Y O F C É L I N E C L A N E T; C O U R T E S Y O F J O E C U M M I N G S

Writer “Walkabout Through Time” (page 78).

Inbox

Beyond Backpacking I’ll admit to being a snob about travel. When my friends went to Koh Phangan a few years ago, I teased them for getting up to full-moon-party shenanigans. But when they returned, they enthused about the calm and beauty and empty beaches and relaxation. I was intrigued. That’s why I was so excited to see your story (“Wild at Heart,” November 2013). Vindication by Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia! Anh Nguyen

saigon

DALI If the town center feels crowded, make the trek up the Cangshan Mountains for stunning vistas.

PAI This once remote town outside of Chiang Mai is no longer a well-kept secret. Find locally made batik fabrics at the markets or stop by for farm-fresh food at Om Garden Cafe.

LUANG PRABANG Backpackers still flock here, but there’s charm to spare in this boutique-dotted riverside oasis.

VANG VIENG SOI KHAO SAN, BANGKOK Where many backpacker journeys begin, this bizarre microcosm of debauchery has little in common with its city.

SIEM REAP Step away from the slightly rowdy main drag and check out local artisans at Theam’s House. SIHANOUKVILLE Still crazy after all these years, Cambodia’s seaside town continues to dodge gentrification.

KOH SAMET This tiny island contains both extremes: bucket bars and fire shows on Tub Tim, all-villa resorts and white sands by Ao Wai.

NEGOMBO These increasingly upscale shores are the perfect place to soak up the sun.

KOH PHI PHI Blame The Beach. The Leonardo DiCaprio 2000 film about a freewheeling hippie community turned this stunning coral island into hostel-central.

BORACAY

p h o t o -i l l u s t r at i o n s by wa s i n e e c h a n ta ko r n

PHU QUOC If the Khai Hoan Fish Sauce Factory is too pungent for your nose, take a day trip to the An Thoi Islands.

GEORGE TOWN, PENANG Skip the banana pancakes outside the reggae bars and head straight for the oyster omelettes on Chulia Street.

JE ZPER / DRE AMSTIME.COM

The Banana Pancake Trail

KOH PHANGAN

Forget what you’ve read about some of Southeast Asia’s sketchier spots because they’re growing up on us. Diana Hubbell takes a closer look at backpacker destinations, as they mature from full-moon party mayhem to upscale sophisticated sanctums.

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The Cat’s Meow

I love cats. My husband is allergic so I can’t have one in my house. My friends spend so much time playing with them in Cataholic Café here in Bangkok that we sometimes say maybe we are addicts! Now I know there are many more cat lovers just like us all over the world (“Cool Cats,” January 2014). Maybe I will go meet some in London. Ploi Maartens bangkok

CONTACT INFO

Correction In “Isle of Inspiration” (December 2013), the Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards winners and runners-up were inverted in a few cases. The list should have read: Best in Community Engagement Winner: Lisu Lodge, Thailand Runner Up: Bali CoBTA, Indonesia Best in Protection of Natural Areas and/or Wildlife Conservation Winner: Scuba Junkie, Malaysia Runner Up: Ranweli Holiday Village, Sri Lanka Best in Resource Efficiency Winner: Heritance Kandalama, Sri Lanka Runner Up: Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa Most Inspiring Responsible Tour Operator Winner: ViaVia Jogja, Indonesia Runner Up: Papua Expeditions, Indonesia

tleditor@mediatransasia.com, travelandleisureasia.com, f facebook.com/ TravelLeisureAsia or @TravLeisureAsia.

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TRAVEL+LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA VOL. 8, ISSUE 2 Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia is published monthly by Media Transasia Limited, Room 1205-06, 12/F, Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2851-6963; Fax: +852 2851-1933; under license from American Express Publishing Corporation, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Produced and distributed by Media Transasia Thailand Ltd., 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, 75/8 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoeynue, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel: +66 2 204-2370. Printed by Comform Co., Ltd. (+66 2 368-2942–7). Color separation by Classic Scan Co., Ltd. (+66 2 291-7575). While the editors do their utmost to verify information published, they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy.

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For your favorite hotels, spas, airlines, cruise lines, travel companies and destinations you love—in the only truly global travel survey that matters! Dear Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia readers, We trust you. We trust your judgement. That’s why we want you to rate our global travel experiences for us, in the 2014 Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, now through April 1, 2014. These awards are recognized as travel’s highest honor, so it’s time to give back to those hotels, resorts, spas, airlines, cruise lines, travel companies and destinations you love the most. Readers of all global editions of Travel + Leisure will participate in the awards, so this is your chance for Southeast Asia’s voice to be heard. So visit www.tlworldsbest.com/intl and tell us exactly what you think. The full global results will be published in our August issue. Christopher Kucway Editor-in-Chief

Radar On Our

News. Finds. Opinions. Obsessions.

the moment

RAJA AMPAT ISLANDS, INDONESIA 4:07 p.m.

A view of Tiger Blue, a yacht available for charter in eastern Indonesia.

Photographed by Chris Caldicott

It’s the colors that strike you first. Above your rattan lounge chair on Tiger Blue, a wooden schooner sailing through Indonesia’s West Papua province, blood-red sails billow against the sky. Luminous green forests seem to glow on shore. All around, the water glistens azure, turquoise and, in the shallows, a pale crystalline aquamarine. You’ve already hiked island slopes and snorkeled with sea turtles and manta rays, so perhaps it’s time for a nap in a shaded hammock? This evening, you’ll moor alongside a sheltered beach for a lobster barbecue; later, though there are four spacious cabins aboard, you might sleep on linen-covered cushions under the stars. And why not? Other than the crew, it is just you and the sea. tigerblue.info; daily charter from US$4,400 for seven guests. — lisa grainger T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

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Radar events

Get Lit

The glut of literary festivals across Asia is a feast for bookworms. Sylvia Gavin digs in. Southeast Asia boasts a literary landscape every bit as lush as the tropical surroundings, so it is no surprise that the region is home to a number of world-class literary festivals, with new countries like Burma jumping in the mix each year.

A colorful kick-off in Ubud.

irrawaddy literary festival irrawaddylitfest.com The lifting of Burma’s long-held censorship laws in 2012 was a cause for much celebration among literature lovers all over the country. To mark the occasion, the country held its first international literary festival the following year. Presided over by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Irrawaddy Literary Festival featured a host of acclaimed authors, such as Vikram Seth, Jung Chang and William Dalrymple, as well as almost 60 leading Burmese writers. The 2014 festival is due to take place in Mandalay on the grounds of the Kuthodaw Pagoda, said to be home to the world’s largest book, an impressive tome written on 729 marble tablets. No doubt Kipling would approve. melbourne writers festival August 21-31, 2014

mwf.com.au Book lovers abound in Melbourne, a unesco city of literature. The city’s excellent annual Writers Festival bills itself as a “two-week collaboration for writers, readers and thinkers” and definitely does not disappoint. London mayor Boris Johnson opened the 2013 fest with characteristic flourish, and the line-up of literary illuminati included Colm Toibin, Tavi Gevinson, Junot Diaz and Teju Cole. We wait with baited breath for the announcement of who will be on the podium this year. 22

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Outside at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

hong kong international literary festival (hkilf) October 3-12, 2014 (TBC)

festival.org.hk Every autumn, amid the high-rises of Hong Kong island, a packed program of literary lunches, readings, workshops, lectures, debates and book signings takes place over 10 days as part of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Founded in 2001, the celebration makes a point of featuring both established and emerging writers from around the globe. The caliber of past hkilf authors is impressive, including Nobel Prize winners Seamus Heaney, Louis de Bernières, Colm Tóibín and Yann Martel. ubud writers and readers festival

October 8-12, 2014

ubudwritersfestival.com Set in and around Bali’s undisputed capital of culture, the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival is heading into its 11th year. The stunning backdrop of lush

T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

The Grimstones marionettes, at Singapore Writers Festival.

green hills and paddy fields makes it no surprise that international and Indonesian literary luminaries such as Sebastian Faulks, Lionel Shriver and Jeffrey Eugenides flock to this Balinese paradise. Anthony Bourdain and Nick Cave have also made appearances in recent years. The fair’s popularity is growing every year so make sure to book your accommodation ahead of time. singapore writers festival

October 31–November 9, 2014

singaporewritersfestival.com This multi-lingual jubilee celebrates work in all of Singapore’s official languages—English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil—and is feted for bringing emerging Singaporean and Asian writing to the attention of an international audience, while at the same time introducing some of the world’s major literary talents to Singaporeans. The 2014 line-up will include the poet Paul Muldoon and sci-fi writer Stephen Baxter. ✚

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P : © S TA N N Y A N G G A / U W R F ; C O U R T E S Y O F S I N G A P O R E W R I T E R S F E S T I V A L ; C O U R T E S Y O F M E L B O U R N E W R I T E R S F E S T I V A L

February 14-16, 2014

Radar st yle

Going Swimmingly

F L I P - F L O P S AT B O T T O M L E F T: YA S U + J U N K O . A S S I S TA N T M A R K E T E D I T O R : C O U R T N E Y K E N E F I C K

Whether you’re sunning next to Indonesian glamazons or Bangkok bombshells, destination-appropriate beachwear is key. By Mimi Lombardo

Koh Samui, Thailand Bikini by Lilly Pulitzer; sunglasses, Thierry Lasry; freshwater-pearl and shell necklace, Roberta Freymann.

Palawan, Philippines Swimsuit by Tommy Hilfiger; sunglasses, Illesteva; straw hat, Tory Burch.

Bondi Beach, Australia Bikini by Dolce & Gabbana; sunglasses, Illesteva; resin-and-silver cuff, Miriam Salat; sandal, Jimmy Choo.

Bali, Indonesia Bikini by Mara Hoffman; gold-plated necklace with ribbon, Venessa Arizaga; nail polish, SpaRitual.

Shore Things We love Valentino Garavani’s new limited-edition flip-flops, made in partnership with Havaianas. Adorned in studs and camo (left) or a little crocodile skin, they’ll have you strutting across the sand. Photographed by Tom Schierlitz

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The classic game gets a maritime twist thanks to Brooklyn-based designers Fredericks & Mae. Nautical flags representing the numbers zero to six are silkscreened onto Baltic birch, proving the game is not always so black-and-white. US$100; fredericks andmae.com. —brooke porter k atz

Clockwise from above: Lam, in check shirt, and family at their No. 1 Chinese Kitchen in 1980’s New Jersey; inside Fortune Cookie; crab Rangoon.

r e s tau r a n t s

Chop Suey

An American-Chinese restaurant in China? Jeninne LeeSt. John heads to Shanghai to scoff up a taste of, er, home. Some fortune cookies contain prophesies, others wishes. Fortune Cookie restaurant in Shanghai is the granted wish of expats in China ironically longing for the kind of deep-fried, sweet-sauced Westernized Chinese food from home. A pair of Americans, David Rossi and Fung Lam, sate those cravings with their kitschy-cool, upscale low-brow spot serving the recipes Lam’s family has perfected over three generations, at 15 restaurants in four states starting with Grandpa Lam’s Kum Kau Kitchen in Brooklyn, which he opened in 1969 after arriving from Hong Kong. “As soon as I was tall enough to reach the phone, I was taking orders at my dad’s take-out shop,” Lam says, “and running the cash register”—which is just where we met him in his sixmonth-old meta eatery.

Combine waving, golden lucky cats and imported craft beers and the result is a welcoming, modish dive. So, the Chinese staff was first “confused,” says Lam. “They were expecting to cook pasta and burgers. They didn’t know what American Chinese food was.” Now the local chefs sport baseball caps in the open kitchen, frying moo shu pork and the French-Polynesian-San Franciscan, decidedly not Chinese, crab Rangoon, to which actual Chinese folks—now a quarter of the clientele— have taken a liking, too. (Get General Tsao’s chicken for a spicy sample of the mall food court of your teens.) The nostalgia and quality grub merit the high prices—just hope you don’t crack open your cookie and get the fortune reading, “Thanks for paying for dinner.” 4F, 83 Chang Shu Lu; 86-21/ 6093-3623; dinner for two RMB180.

r ec o n

This month’s need-to-know openings Hotels The Ritz Carlton Kyoto (ritzcarlton.com; doubles from ¥53,000) is swinging open its tony doors on the 7th, bringing the meticulous eye of designer Peter Remedios together with the smooth harmony of Japanese style. + Oh, you like clamor? 25Hours Hotel Bikini Berlin (designhotels.com; doubles from €89), in the reemerging City West area, lures arty types with its industrial-chic look. Restaurants In Sydney, Da Orazio Pizza & Porchetta (3/75-79 Hall St., Bondi Beach) is an Italian spin-off of Bondi fixture Icebergs, serving Neapolitan pies and roast pork. Culture The Liang Yi Museum (liangyimuseum.com) opens in Hong Kong this month, with a 6,100-meter exibition space showcasing well-curated antiques, from ancient Chinese furniture to bejeweled clutches, that reflect the city’s melting pot history.

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C L O C K W I S E F R O M B OT TO M : © V I C TO R P R A D O ; C O U R T E SY O F F O R T U N E C O O K I E (3)

DOMINO EFFECT

Radar cool jobs

Flying Footloose Andrew Farr, preparing for take off.

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“Passengers, we’ll have to postpone take-off because, as you may have noticed, a pod of dolphins has surrounded the plane.” Sound familiar? No? Those of us bogged down in life on land may be more accustomed to dreary issues like idling for two hours on the tarmac, but dolphin greetings, avian stowaways and whale-shark sightings are all fairly standard for the fleet of seaplane pilots flying for Trans Maldivian Airways (tma.com.mv). Captain Andrew Farr says it is, predictably, amazing. “It is like going on an all-expense-paid vacation—I can’t believe I get paid to do this.” While you may be thinking, “Sign me up!,” landing this gig is no easy feat—Farr’s journey to becoming a pilot in the Maldives was four decades in the making. His father, also a pilot, paid for his first flying lesson on a floatplane across a lake in Haliburton, Ontario, as a present for his seventh birthday, and just like that he was hooked. Around that same time, he came to another life-shaping realization when his parents took a trip to Florida during the dead of winter in Canada and came back with dark golden tans. “I couldn’t believe that it could be summer somewhere else in the world,” says Farr. “I made the decision then that someday I would live and work in a warm country.” Moving to a tropical locale was easier said than done. First Farr had to earn his stripes as a bush pilot in northern Canada, which meant severe terrain and facing his dread of the cold. “In the winter the floats are traded in for skis and we land on the ice on top of frozen lakes,” says Farr. “I wasn’t a big fan of the winter operations where the temperature was an average of minus 30 to minus 40 centigrade.” So when a

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Your dream vacation in the Maldives is just Andrew Farr’s regular nine to five. Merritt Gurley talks to the seaplane pilot about flying atoll to atoll in this elite holiday spot.

Clockwise from top left: Say hello to Farr’s cockpit dashboard doll; sunset landing; the first flying lesson for Farr (on left); a typical view from the plane.

friend told Farr about Trans Maldivian Airways he heard the siren’s call of the warm sea breeze and responded right away. And then again. And again. And again. “I sent my resume every year for many years until they finally decided I had the experience they were looking for,” he says. And it was worth the wait: “My first impression was that I so made the right decision coming here. This job is so me!” Farr was a fast fit in a team of laid-back aviators that, despite running on a schedule as pressurized as a jetliner cabin, relishes the benefits. “We often get to see pods of whales, or dolphins or manta rays or whalesharks, and we can deviate our flight path to fly over them,” Farr says, adding, “we get to stay in gorgeous guest rooms, eat in some of the most amazing restaurants in the world,

swim in the crystal-clear water and walk on the most beautiful beaches anywhere.” But for Farr, the biggest bonus of his work is a little more pedestrian. “We fly barefoot,” he says with delight. “I’m sure the guys and girls flying the big metal don’t get to kick their shoes off.” You need to hang a little loose on a job that starts just after sunrise and ends at sunset, with 10 to 15 flights of 14 to 15 people a day, shuttling between the airport in Malè and resorts on neighboring atolls. Though the islands are dotted across 764 kilometers of the Indian Ocean, most of Captain Farr’s flights are just 30-minute hops, so he’s off to Malè and back again in about an hour, sticking to a tight turn around. The plane lands, is tied up, passengers disembark, the engine is fueled, windshields are washed and the pilots

down a coffee—all within 15 minutes. “With over 40 planes constantly coming and going, the organization of this little dance is amazing to see. It is almost like a Formula 1 pit stop sometimes,” Farr says. Jumping from sports to soaps—“You know the show Fantasy Island, where that little man in the white suit, Tattoo, would say ‘Boss, boss! De plane… de plane!’? It is like that, but on steroids,” Farr says. In addition to the stunning seascapes, another perk of the job is being the guy who zips travelers to their honeymoons and fantasy vacations. “The great thing about this industry is that we’re dealing with people who are excited to see us,” he says. “I couldn’t imagine being a bill collector.” Although the price tag of trips to the Maldives probably means he’s shuttling a few their way too. ✚

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with impeccable service, and Fida General Trading (971-4/ 344-4008), a trimmings store that stocks everything from glue guns to underwear. Always haggle; prices can come down quite a bit.”

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Global Tastes

Floor on which the Burj Khalifa observatory is set.

Dubai is home to hundreds of international communities, so you can taste nearly every cuisine, from French to Filipino. Sally Prosser (@mycustardpie), who writes the food blog mycustardpie. com, reveals her top dishes:

→ Shakshuka “The original Dubai version of this specialty (eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce) is at Baker & Spice Dubai (bakerandspiceme.com). It comes with a stack of toasted French farmhouse bread.” → Pani puri “A riot of flavors: a crisp shell filled with sour tamarind water, potatoes and date sauce. Find a delicious version of it at Rangoli (Bur Dubai).”

Meet the Locals

Mohamed Parham Al Awadhi (@peetaplanet), producer and cohost of travel TV show Peeta Planet, recommends heading to the ever-lively and energetic Karama souk, where there are dozens of tiny, immigrant-run mom-and-pop restaurants packed wall to wall with tables. “Chat up the owners,” he says. “They’ve been in Dubai a long time and have wonderful anecdotes.”

Modern Moments locafile

Insider’s Dubai

How do you find the authentic side of the Middle East’s most cosmopolitan city? Six in-the-know residents give us the download. By Vinita Bharadwaj A Walk Through History

Visit the old quarters to find the trade outposts that made Dubai Dubai. Samantha Wood (@foodivaworld), blogger at foodiva.net, suggests: “Start off with a stroll through Al Fahidi’s narrow streets and past wind towers (a centuries-old form of air-conditioning). And don’t miss a ride along Dubai Creek in an abra, a traditional wooden boat.” + Also in Deira: the age-old Spice Souk. “It’s touristy, but I

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love inhaling exotic scents from around the world,” Al Awadhi says. + Across the creek in Deira, Al Gurg recommends a visit to the glimmering stalls of the Gold Souk, where “the sheer volume of what’s on display is amazing.”

→ Chicken achari “You’ll find this slightly sharp, stewlike curry from Pakistan at Ravi’s (971-4/331-5353), in Satwa.” → Shawarma “The Arabic lamb sandwich—with tahini, hot sauce and sometimes fries inside—is the ultimate snack. The best is at Anwar Cafeteria (Umm Suqeim).” → Crispy hen’s egg “My favorite item on the tapas-style menu at Table 9 (table9dubai.com). It’s poached, breaded and served with house-cured pancetta and shimeji mushrooms, then drizzled with maple syrup.”

Shopping Secrets

Simone Heng (@simoneheng), creator of Dubai-based style blog cheapnchic.net, shares her go-to fashion resource: “When Dubai’s World Cup horse race nears, the well-heeled crowd rushes to Satwa, an area famous for its textile and tailoring shops. They’re among the oldest businesses in Dubai. My picks: Nippur Trading (971-4/349-2446), a beautifully organized clothier

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Emirati retail executive and social media star Muna Al Gurg (@MunaAlGurg) knows Dubai inside and out. Her tips: → “Switch Restaurant (meswitch.com) has futuristic, glowing interiors by Karim Rashid. The camel burger is the best in town.” → “Before a beach day, check out Emirati designer Suhail Matar’s line of funky men’s shorts, Velorum, at O-Concept Store (Saladicious, Jumeirah).” → “Sure, the observatory at the top of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, is packed. Go, but make it a more edifying experience by visiting the nearby Ara Gallery (thearagallery.com) to see the latest in Middle Eastern contemporary art, including the work of such rising talents as photographer Abdulla Bin Touq.” ✚

Quick Getaways Explore beyond the city limits, Al Awadhi says. “Just outside Dubai, the landscape changes to sand, mountains and sea.” + Digital consultant Abha Malpani (@abhamalpani) likes Bab al Shams Resort (meydanhotels.com), in the desert 40 minutes from town. “You can take a camel tour of the adjacent bedouin village.”

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Wild West Timor

Suzan Crane enlists the help of a prince for a royal tour of West Timor’s mountainous interior, empty beaches and fascinating tribal culture.

From left: Oelekam cultural chief clad in a traditional ikat and bell-anklet; Oahalla Falls; catch of the day at Oinlasi market.

If you don’t mind sliding off the grid, set your sights on West Timor. This region, stretching nearly 16,000 square kilometers in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province, is not to be confused with Timor-Leste, its independent neighbor. You won’t find über-posh resorts here, although the bustling seaside capital of Kupang has a few comfortable options and enough sightseeing to keep you busy for several days. Outside of the relative buzz of Kupang, the rest of the island is the very picture of peaceful, which suits the 1.8 million inhabitants—most of Malay, Papuan or Polynesian descent—who subsist on fishing, timber harvesting and slash-and-burn agriculture just fine. And when you peel back the rugged veneer, you’ll discover a rich heritage that harkens back to antiquity, scenic landscapes dotted with beehive huts, and waterfalls cascading through 32

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verdant forests with the fury of an ancient power. The palm-fringed beaches of Lasiana, Gurita Bay and Semau Island promise tranquility while trekking Mt. Mutis, West Timor’s highest peak, delivers views extending to Darwin. Of course uncovering these hidden gems can prove tricky for tourists, so why not recruit royalty to lead the way? On my trip I was lucky enough to rustle up the services of prince Pae Nope, who cites a regal lineage that dates back to the 16th century. With a tiered administrative and social structure defining the culture here, it’s a little confusing to decipher the hierarchy. But it goes something like this: West Timor is split into five legislative districts, within which there are a total of 18 kingdoms. Each kingdom is made up of smaller villages run by chiefs, who answer to the king. Nope’s kingdom, Amanuban, is West

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Timor’s largest, spanning more than 2,000 square kilometers and containing 118 villages and 150 clans. His father was Amanuban’s 13th king and his eldest brother, the successor, served until his death two years ago. The current monarch is Nope’s half brother who will likely be followed by another relative instated by the clan chiefs. In general, Nope says every king must possess a maternal royal bloodline and such requisite qualities as “wisdom, charisma, sufficient wealth and knowledge about the kingdom.” Imperial glory aside, Nope notably hosted Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall in the 1990’s and is one hell of a tour guide. He ushered us through West Timor’s tribal corridors where crimson-stained betel nut smiles greeted us at every turn, and his pedigree opened many gilded doors. The first of these doors opened

Photographed by Pedro Valcaneras and Coloma Palmer

two-and-a-half hours from Kupang in Tetaf village near Soe—a launch point into the indigenous interior—where the wizened blind chief of the None warrior clan and his revered midwife spouse welcomed us in a smoke-tinged beehive hut dripping with dried corn and crude wicker baskets. Smudgefaced children appeared from seemingly nowhere to parade us over cracked dirt trails into sacred enclaves holding keys to just some of the mysteries of this non-industrialized civilization. Later we even shared tea with a chief beneath mounted monkey skulls that whispered of a headhunting warrior past. Further north in Oelekam village, we were given a crash course in less menacing ancient customs by a Lasfeto clan cultural attaché who, clad in traditional ikat (sarong) with bellencircled ankles, proudly demonstrated time-honored dance moves. Within the hallowed walls of Nope’s ancestral palace in Niki Niki, Amanuban kingdom’s cultural hub, the present queen swathed us in intricate multi-hued hand-woven garments known as buna. Set on sprawling grounds where generations of noble family members are buried amid thickets of banyan trees, this palace bears no resemblance to Europe’s imposing royal residences, but has an ornate charm all its own.

It is this living taste of the past, the tang of the undiscovered, the inimitable culture, and scenic splendors unique to West Timor that beckon the intrepid traveler. So channel your inner swashbuckler and visit before the masses uncover its many treasures. Getting There

Daily direct flights from Denpasar, Bali, or one-stop flights from Jakarta on Garuda, Lion Air/Wings and Merpati Nusantara. TransNusa, Citilink and Sriwijaya also fly. Indonesia’s national shipping company Pelni operates passenger ships throughout the archipelago (pelni.com). Guides

It’s possible to explore West Timor on your own, but remote locations and 14 dialects make hiring a multi-lingual guide advisable. For the royal treatment, contact Pae Nope. westtimortor@yahoo.com; 62-82/339111937; 62-81/3391-41576; US$100 for guide, car and driver per day. ✚

Clockwise from top: Mounted monkey skulls whisper of a headhunting warrior past; working the loom; typical beehive huts; roof-riding on the bus.

WHERE TO STAY Hotel La Hasienda Near Kupang’s airport, this homey new hotel offers free airport shuttles and reasonably priced transport into the city. Jln. Adi Sucipto, Penfui, Kupang; 62-380/8004333; hotellahasienda.com; doubles from US$35. Hotel On The Rock Stylish 84 room sea-view property in Kupang is the newest addition to the Prasanthi Hotel chain. Jln. Raya Timor No.2 Kelapa Lima, Kupang; 62-380/858-6100; ontherockhotel.com; doubles from US$55. Hotel Bahagia II Soe’s most comfortable option features fan or air-conditioned rooms and on-site restaurant. 2 Jln. Gajah Mada 55, Soe; 62-38/821-095; doubles from US$30. Grand Royal Home Stay The newest facility in Kefamenanu offers pleasant fan or air-conditioned rooms. Jln. Kartini, Kefamenanu; grandroyalhomestay.com; 62-38/831-880; doubles from US$25. Alor Eco Dive Resort 62-38/821-154; alor-divers. com; six-night diver packages US$1,334 per person.

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HAUTE TEA

The Pop-Up Charcuterie Room in Bangkok.

Temporium Store, an ode to Singapore’s eclectic side.

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Gone in a Flash

Pop ups are all the rage—don’t miss your chance to catch some of Southeast Asia’s hottest. By Diana Hubbell Red jamón Ibérico streaked with white fat, translucent slices of speck coiled around plump olives, exposed brick walls around a rough-hewn wooden table—this might well be your favorite hole-in-the-wall in Barcelona, but it’s not. In fact, it’s not even a proper restaurant. Roughly three months after opening this month—check with the hotel for exact dates—the Pop-Up Charcuterie Room (fourseasons.com) in the Four Seasons Bangkok will be dismantled, so hurry. This is just one of a slew of shortterm projects around Southeast Asia. Over in Singapore, one of the hottest spots in town is the aptly named Temporium (temporium.com.sg; until

Confessions of an Historical Re-enactor Hear ye, hear ye! A Boston tour guide loosens his waistcoat— and tells us what it’s really like to work the Freedom Trail.

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March 8), a six-month-long ode to the Lion City’s creative side. A partnership between Breezeway, a heritage-centric boutique group, and Tofu, an ambitious design studio, this funky space incorporates art exhibitions, workshops, eclectic cuisine, and locally designed crafts and clothes, all served with a specially designed ceramic mug of artisanal coffee from Papa Palheta. Meanwhile in the Philippines, Manila Pop Up (manilapopup.com) launches regular events such as food truck rallies, impromptu flea markets and even a “recess” themed event dishing out sophisticated, grown-up renditions of childhood favorites. Nothing like nostalgic noshes.

I wear a cocked hat, breeches and stockings, so people are always yelling “Hey, Paul Revere!” It’s worse for the girls, who get called Betsy Ross or even (ugh) Little Bo Peep.

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Back in the day, walking sticks were very popular with fashionable gentlemen. Fun fact: the amount of heckling I receive every day is reduced considerably when I carry one. I can’t imagine why.

Looking to make that proposal, or toast a milestone anniversary this Valentine’s Day? Then zoom up to the Lounge and Bar on the 102nd floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong to sample “The Most Fabulous High Tea in the World,” served within a luxury treasure trunk alongside US$20 million worth of jewelry from Graff Diamonds, which guests can try on and—if the mood strikes and the credit card swipes—buy. Your personal butler will bring luxurious bites including Osetra caviar, smoked salmon, roses and foie gras apples, all paired with flutes of the finest champagne. Nothing goes with bubbly like sparkly and, after a few glasses, that diamond necklace might just seem like the perfect purchase. After all, raising your pinky looks so much more refined when it is bedecked in jewels. The Lounge and Bar, Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong; 852/2263-2270; HK$10,880 for two. Make reservations a week in advance.

Luxury trunk with your tea?

Every once in a while, I have to break character to take a call on my cell phone. But when guests use theirs, I’ll yell “Fie, ye spoilsport! Not sharing your magic gewgaws!”

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Step aside Breakfast at Tiffany’s—high tea at the Ritz just might out-bling you. By Helen Dalley.

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The Bieber of Brunei

The sultanate’s biggest heartthrob tells Diana Hubbell his favorite ways to shake things up.

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Do “I like going to the Meragang Beach because

it’s a public beach, but it doesn’t feel very public.” + “If you’re looking for a family beach, go to Mora, but if you want to socialize and be a part of the scene, Pantai Serasa is better.” + “Wedding Crash. Weddings are the epitome of what Bruneian culture is all about—family, friends and food. And these reunions can take from seven days to two weeks. Honestly, when you throw a wedding in Brunei, you expect lots of uninvited guests. If you’re

polite, you can usually just walk in and you’ll be treated like family.” Stay “Number one is Empire Hotel [Lebuhraya Muara;

673/241-8888; theempirehotel. com; doubles from B$260], with Pantai restaurant serving up fresh seafood barbecue.” + “Check out Mangrove Paradise Resort

[Simpang 912 Kg Sungai Belukut, Jln. Kota Batu, Bandar Seri Begawan; 673/278-6868; doubles B$100] for a toned down boutique in a different setting—you can even go fishing right there— and Ulu Ulu National Park Resort [Ululu Temborough; 673/244-1791; uluuluresort. com; two-day, one-night packages from B$290 per person, inclusive of meals and guide] for a refreshingly remote locale.” Eat “For brunch with friends, head to Atrium Café [The Empire Hotel; brunch for two B$80].” + “For Bruneian food, I’d go to Aminah Arif [Unit 2 & 3 Block B GF, Bangunan Hj Abd Rahman, Simpang 88, Kg Kiulap Bandar, Seri Begawan; 265-3036; dinner for two B$25). Ambuyat (sago starch served with a variety of savory sauces) is kind of an acquired taste, but if you like it, you love it. It’s what people have every Sunday. It’s close to how our mothers would cook.” ✚

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Clockwise from top: Singing in the rain; nightmarket shopping; Ulu Ulu National Park Resort; living luxe at Empire Hotel.

Without nightclubs or record labels, Brunei isn’t exactly known for its burgeoning music business. Yet it does have its own rising star. After nine years of crooning his soulful, R&B-style tunes, Fakhrul Razi has made an album, titled Absolutely, and a name for himself—not only in the tiny sultanate, but also in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and even Hollywood, where he placed in the top five in the World Championship of Performing Arts. Though his brief stint in L.A. made him a local legend, he’s rather humble about the experience. “Music in Brunei is not an industry; it’s a scene,” he says. “It’s about how you represent yourself. If you’re good, people will call you.”

here are a thousand things to do at our island hideaway. Or nothing at all.

At The Racha, the island is your playground. For starters, the five-star Racha Dive Center provides personalized scuba instruction and trips to the Andaman Sea’s most beautiful sites. Energetic guests may choose to kayak, snorkel the island’s famed house reefs, learn Thai boxing, attend yoga class, ride ATVs or hike the island. Cooking and batik painting classes are offered to guests who wish to take thai culture home with them.

For those preferring serenity, guests might wish to stroll the resort’s twenty-acre grounds, swim in three ozonated pools, peruse the library, or indulge in treatments at the famed Anumba Spa. Or simply watch the world go by. www.theracha.com

X O

P R I VAT E

Book your getaway for January 11th - April 30th 2014 at www.theracha.com Enjoy Early Bird Special Rates for reservations made 30 days in advance*

A menber of Small Luxury Hotels of the World

85 luxurious villas • 3 ozonated pools (excluding private ones) • 3 signature dining establishments & bar

world-acclaimed anumba spa • club del mar for chilling • personalized sea and land experiences • to-die-for-views complimentary tel: 66 76 355 455 fax: 66 76 355 637 email: reservation@theracha.com

www.theracha.com

* terms & conditions apply

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Spaceship or luxury villa? Iniala will keep you guessing.

hotels

Prêt-àPhuket

Simon Ostheimer checks out the island’s newest design-centric hotels.

Lobster traps become lights at Point Yamu.

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Three new resorts are giving the island’s shoreline a run for its money when it comes to jaw-dropping beauty. Travelers looking for their own private patch of Phuket will appreciate the intimacy afforded by these stylish retreats. Here we get the backstory and inspiration behind the bold and spectacular designs. Iniala Beach House

Looking for a boutique stay? You’d be hard pressed to find a more superlative example than this 10-room property crafted by 10 different designers to create 10 very different bedrooms and living spaces. Located just north of Phuket, on sunny stretch Natai beach in Phang Nga, Iniala brings together design, art and gastronomy. According to the founder and owner, Mark Weingard, the vision was to build something completely unique, to “reflect some of the best design in the world, from some of the most inspirational architects and craftsman of our age.” He raves about how the different contemporary designs from all over the globe—including Spain,

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Ireland, Russia, Brazil, the U.K. and the U.S. (Weingard is especially pleased with the work of Irish wood craftsman Joseph Walsh, and the Brazilian Campana Brothers)—work together in harmony. Speaking of mellifluous blending, Aziamendi, the signature restaurant from Basque-born, threeMichelin star chef Eneko Atxa, mixes traditional Spanish techniques with Thai ingredients. In another Thai touch of hospitality, every villa comes with a built-in spa room and therapist. Says Weingard, “It is a truly bespoke holiday experience.” 40/14 Moo 6 Baan Natai, Khokkloi, Takuathung, Phang Nga; iniala.com; villas from US$3,250. Point Yamu by COMO

Perched high on a peninsula in the northeast corner of Phuket with 360-degree panoramic views of Cape Yamu bay and the unesco World Heritage Site of Phang Nga Bay, the much-anticipated Point Yamu by COMO features a COMO Shambhala Retreat spa, as well as the Italian restaurant La Sirena and its Thai counterpart, Nahmyaa. The interiors Photographed by Brent T. Madison

are the work of renowned Italian designer, Paola Navone, who brings contemporary aesthetic to the distinctive elements of Thai culture, heritage and design, while simultaneously reflecting the immediate rustic locale, still home to traditional villages. Ascribing the resort “a different, fresh aesthetic,” James Low, general manager of Point Yamu, explains that “throughout the whole design project, Paola’s approach has been very thoughtful and sensitive to the destination, whilst retaining the signature style she is known for.” Taking inspiration from the dramatic setting among the bay’s famed limestone karsts, Navone has peppered many Thai aspects throughout the property, using shades of orange taken from a monk’s robes and repurposing elements of lobster traps to fashion light fixtures in the lobby. 225 Moo 7, Paklok Thalang; comohotels.com/ pointyamu; doubles from Bt9,000.

A curved wooden bed at Iniala, inspired by seashells.

Private dining, Point Yamu.

The Naka Phuket

Want to prop up your pillow in the clouds? Cantilevered out over the hillside, every room in The Naka Phuket has a “matchbox-style structure [that] offers our guests the ultimate experience of sleeping in the air,” says general manager Sawai Sombat. The entire resort revolves around a philosophy of equilibrium, where two natural settings, beach and hill, are in complete balance with one another. The property was designed inside and out by award-winning Thai architect Duangrit Bunnag, resulting in modern and stylish spaces with character: the open-air lobby and restaurant make use of the natural ventilation of the mountainous location. Aside from the 94 pool villas, there are four public buildings that house the lobby, restaurants, wedding chapel and spa. “They share one crucial character in their architecture,” Sawai says, “that is to bring exclusivity and privacy to guests and have the resort be the destination itself.” That said, if you do need a taste of nightlife, Patong is just 10 minutes drive on the other side of the bay. 1/18, 1/20 Moo 6 Kamala, Kathu; 66-76/337-999; thenakaphuket. com; villas from Bt28,000. ✚

“Matchboxes” at The Naka Phuket.

Blending with the scenery at The Naka Phuket.

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Radar From left: Le Bar by Le Beaulieu; Bangkok boutique, Ariyasom Villa.

7.00 pm 12.00 am

a f t e r da r k

Dream Dates bangkok 7 p.m.: Sip a glass of bubbly at Le Bar by Le Beaulieu. (66-2/168-8220; le-beaulieu. com/lebar; champagne for two Bt1,500), the first Veuve Clicquot champagne lounge in Thailand or, if you are feeling frisky, try one of bartender Mathieu Lapi’s deadly bourbon-based Creole Old Fashioneds— they pack a punch. 10 p.m.: Spice things up at Le Du (66-81/562-6464; ledubkk.com; four-course set menu Bt990), where two local chefs back from stints in the States are putting a molecular spin on Thai soul food. Seasonal produce is wizarded into inventive dishes such as grouper with compressed celery and puffed rice. Midnight: Sated and buzzing with love (and bourbon) head to Ariyasom Villa (66-2/254-8880; ariyasom.com; doubles from Bt5,353), a quiet, coollooking boutique hotel set in 40

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a leafy garden that feels worlds away from its corner of central Bangkok. But if you need a decadent breakfast to refuel after a long night of romance, note that their poolside fare is vegetarian. saigon 1 p.m.: Board the love boat from the main pier in District 1 to check in to An Lam Private Residences

(84-6/5037-8555; anlam.com; doubles from US$280), just a 20-minute speedboat ride but total escape from hectic, honking downtown Saigon. The 15 teak and bamboo rooms, all butler-served, include a penthouse with a rooftop plunge pool. 5 p.m.: Take in the sunset from a spa bed overlooking the Saigon River at Liberty Central Hotel Spa (848/3827-1717; libertycentral hotel.com; one-hour couples massage from US$50). After a fabulous rub down in a private room, snuggle into

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the bathtub together for a relaxing soak as you peer out of the floor-to-ceiling window 24 floors up. The view will be as intoxicating as the company. 8 p.m.: Skip to the French countryside at Trois Gourmands (84-8/37444585; 3gourmandsaigon. com; set menus from US$35 per person). Book a poolside table at this villa, pick from the impressive wine list and wait for the delightfully moustachioed Chef Gils to come by to discuss the set menus—the crayfish ravioli is especially delicate. After your meal, he’ll deliver you a bounty of his handmade cheeses, including a truly divine goat’s milk/truffle oil taste explosion. singapore 1 p.m. Ditch the main city for Sentosa, where the Resorts World (rwsentosa. com; adult tickets S$38) hosts the world’s largest aquarium. More than 800

species of marine life call this place home, meaning you and your oh-so-special someone can watch bottlenose dolphins play and sharks swim overhead in one of the massive tanks. 7 p.m.: Nobody does romance like the Italians, so head to Cicheti (cicheti.com; dinner for two S$60) for the flirty flavor of old Napoli. This converted shop house is so enchanting, you’ll find yourself humming “That’s Amore” while you dine on homemade pasta. 10 p.m.: It’s the best-loved, worst-kept secret in town, but 28 HongKong Street (65/6533-2001; drinks for two S$40) retains its air of speakeasy cool. There’s no sign or windows, but knock and the elegantly attired staff will whisk you into the sexy interior, where you can canoodle over cocktails and, when craving a late-night bite, indulge in snacks like mac n’ cheese balls. 65/65332001; drinks for two S$40. ✚

t r av e l e s e Preparanoid (adj.): Fearful that even the most obsessive pre-trip planning will not suffice. Symptoms: suitcase packed two weeks ahead; travel agent on speed dial.

F R O M L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F A R I YA S O M ; C O U R T E S Y O F L E B A R

As we near the day o’ love, here are three swoon-worthy dates sure to have your Valentine seeing hearts. By David Ngo and Diana Hubbell

Radar the view

Scene in Sydney

What T+L spotted from the Harbour Bridge’s 88-meter-high viewing platform overlooking the Rocks and Circular Quay. By Frances Hibbard

café nice Serving classic Provençal dishes—including a niçoise salad mixed right at your table—this new brasserie brings a sliver of Côte d’Azur cool to Sydney’s harbor. fratellifresh.com.au.

st. george open air cinema No cineplex can compete with the waterfront backdrop at this outdoor theater in the Royal Botanic Gardens, where you can now catch first-run screenings. stgeorgeopen air.com.au.

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bulletin place A den of locally sourced iniquity: fruit-driven cocktails are made with the best of the day’s produce. Try the nectarine rickey or white-grape collins. bulletinplace.com.

rockpool Chef Neil Perry was a culinary icon of 1990’s Sydney. Now he has moved his original Rockpool restaurant to the heart of the financial district—and weekday power lunches are back on the menu. rockpool.com.

museum of contemporary art australia Fresh off a US$50 million renovation, MCA presents “War is Over! (if you want it),” a Yoko Ono retrospective, on view through February 23. mca.com.au.

Photographed by Petrina Tinslay

Radar trending

Digital Detox

Sometimes a vacation from your job isn’t enough—you need a break from your gadgets too. By Merritt Gurley

Back to basics at Chiva-Som where gadgets are banned in common areas.

Beijing, China. Worried you

Kerala, India. Say bye-bye to Wi-Fi at Serenity Kanam Estate (malabarhouse.com/

your WhatsApping out of your system before you arrive at Chiva-Som (chivasom.com; three-night retreat from Bt66,000). This beachside retreat is designed to help you disconnect with a mobiledevice ban in public areas

serenity-kanam-estate; doubles from €150). There’s no Internet at all, so you’ll be forced to rely on archaic forms of entertainment— like conversation.

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won’t be able to resist checking in on Facebook? Head to China where the access to the addictive social media site is banned entirely. At Mountain Yoga (86-10/6259-6702; mountainyoga.org; doubles from RMB800) retreats, ye olde pursuits like calligraphy and musical workshops may distract you from all the memes you are missing, or at least inspire a few creative new status updates for once you’re back home.

Hua Hin, Thailand. Get

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that extends to even e-readers, so better bring an actual... what are those things with papery pages called again? Fethiye, Turkey. Getting

the sweats from picturing a selfie-less sojourn? Time to go cold, ahem, turkey. Take to the seas with Olympos Yachting (olymposyachting. com; €350) for an eight-day sail from Fethiye to Kekova and back. Koh Totang, Cambodia.

There is no electricity or running water at Nomads Land (nomadsland cambodia.com; doubles from US$90), the only guest house on Koh Totang island. The solar panels that power lights, and vats of rain water for showers add small comforts to a no-frills backto-nature experience. ✚

One Off In Bali this month Digital Detox Asia is hosting a three-day event including yoga sessions; swimming, art and writing workshops; cooking classes; and a diet of low-fat vegetarian meals. Phones and Internet are strictly banned at this retreat, challenging participants to face to their fears of e-mail pile-up. February 21 to 23; facebook.com/ digitaldetoxasia; US$550 per person, including two nights in a luxury villa.

C O U R T E S Y O F C H I VA-S O M (2)

The cold chill that runs down your spine when your phone dies may mean you are little too plugged in. Hotels are getting wise and rolling out new programs to help you break through your device dependency. There’s nothing like spectacular scenery to help ease world-wide-web withdrawal, so to kick-start your digital detox (a phrase added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online just last year), here are a few worthy stops on a tech-free tour of Asia.

A MODERN TRADITION OF ASIAN HOSPITALITY Designed in the style of a traditional Malay village, Meritus Pelangi’s 355 guestrooms and suites are housed in wooden chalets that are spread across 35 acres of lush landscaped gardens along a stretch of white sandy shores. Be ushered into a world of ethnic charm and tropical tranquility at this award-winning resort! LEISURE FACILITIES Relax with refreshing and rejuvenating beauty and massage therapies at exclusive Pelangi Spa, or pick from land or sea excursions and water sports activities readily arranged for you. You won’t be able to resist taking a dip or simply lazing around the resort’s outdoor free-form swimming pools with water cascades. For the fitness enthusiast, rev up at the gym equipped with steam and sauna. The resort also offers squash, tennis, archery, mini golf and bicycles, amongst a smorgasbord of fun activities!

Pantai Cenang, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia T (60 4) 952 8888 I F (60 4) 952 8899 E pelangi@meritushotels.com I Room Reservation (60 4) 955 1866 I E resvn.pelangi@meritushotels.com Enjoy Best Rate Promise at www.meritushotels.com

Point of View

Isn’t It Romantic? Not really. What hotels have to learn about romance could fill a 1,800-liter bubble bath. By Peter Jon Lindberg entrée, or the moth in your water glass. You could ask for another, but your server is 100 meters up the beach, the kitchen even farther. The wine is warm, the grouper is cold, the night is interminable. It starts to rain. Couples massages

“We’ve booked you two in our Spa Romance Suite, where you can enjoy your treatments side by side!” the receptionist chirps, handing you robes and slippers. Oh, boundless joy! Now you get to spend the next 85 minutes trying not to listen as your partner whimpers, gasps and moans “Me encanta, me encanta!” while her strappingly fit masseur grunts in tandem. Oh, endless joy! Rose petals in the bed/bath

friend and her husband just returned from an African safari. The trip was fabulous on all counts, save one: on their final night, the lodge arranged a “sleep out” under the stars, on a special bed set up in the bush. The brochure promised “unparalleled romance”; the reality was something else. A cold wind swept in from the plains, but under their tarplike waterproof duvet (“it felt like vinyl siding”) they were soon engulfed in sweat. At 2 a.m. a biker gang of mosquitoes roared through and terrorized them mercilessly until dawn. “The only stars we saw were from slapping ourselves in the head,” she recalls. 46

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Hotels and resorts spend countless hours devising bigger, bolder, everswoonier “romantic moments” for guests. Yet so many of those moments backfire. If love gurus paid attention, they’d see we’re not batting our lashes, we’re rolling our eyes. So, at the risk of sounding like a crank—hey, why stop now?—here are a few romantic “surprises” that beg reconsidering. The private dinner on the beach

This age-old trope sounds perfectly delightful—so much so that you’ll fork over an extra hundred bucks for the privilege. Here’s the actual scene: Your chair is permanently tilted at 45 degrees in the cool, damp sand. Beach fleas nip at your ankles. It’s too dark to read the menu, let alone make out your

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Sure, it looks sensational: a trail of crimson flowers leading to a foamy tub. Except the bath was drawn hours ago, so now you’re shivering in a chilled fruit salad of soggy rose petals clogging up the drain. When you give up and get out, you navigate a perilous path of wet flowers across a marble floor. (A rose is a rose until it’s a banana peel.) The bed, too, is covered in crimson petals. All night they cling to your skin. When you wake up and throw back the sheets, it’s like the horse-head scene from The Godfather: you’re left with linens stained a garish bloodred, and a sense that something’s gone terribly, terribly wrong. I’m not even going to get into the whole plastic-sheets-on-the-bed-so-you-canmake-naughty-sundaes-together thing. Call me vanilla, but really that was just lunacy. ✚ Illustrated by Zohar Lazar

your travel dilemmas solved ➔

50 …

52 …

Trip Doctor pa c k i n g

a pps

de a ls

by Amy Farley

search between five and two months out, when they usually appear, Seaney says. The best plan for long-haul shopping: search for fares early to get a general sense of prices and sign up for a fare-watching service— Airfarewatchdog, CheapAir and FareCompare all have good ones. You’ll know to book when the right price comes along. Summer trips to Europe

Q: HOW FAR IN ADVANCE SHOULD I BUY MY AIRLINE TICKETS?

— mark hastings, san jose, calif.

ANDRE W KOLB / GE T T Y IMAGES

A: When to book flights is a question that torments even the most experienced of travelers. Who hasn’t sat in front of the computer wondering: Do I wait for a better deal, or is this the best I’m going to see? There are no hard-and-fast rules for hitting the right booking window. A recent report from online travel agency CheapAir found that, historically, the lowest average fares have been available seven weeks before departure. Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), which manages airline ticket sales for U.S. travel agencies, conducted a similar study and located the best airfares six weeks prior to flying. But that window changes

dramatically depending on where you are traveling— and when. Perfect Timing

“There’s such a thing as booking too early,” says Rick Seaney, CEO and cofounder of online research tool FareCompare. “Airlines don’t really begin managing their domestic flights until about three months in advance—that’s when they start releasing the more affordable seats.” The sweet spot, he says, lies between

three months and six weeks in advance. Whatever you do, don’t wait until the last week, when prices shoot up—by about 25 percent, according to Kayak. For long-haul tickets, start your search even earlier. Kayak’s data located the best average fares to the U.S. from Asia a full eight to nine months out; while closer destinations hovered around three months. If you’re hoping to catch a fare sale to a farther-flung destination, focus your

You’ll have to plan in advance to get the best tickets to Europe. Seaney recommends beginning your search around four to five months out. (That means now.) And don’t get caught in magical thinking: sales on summer airfare to Europe are rare. According to Jeff Klee, CEO and cofounder of CheapAir, they usually occur when there’s an increase in capacity (i.e., new flights or routes). But if you can’t be flexible about your dates or destination, you likely won’t be able to take advantage of these deals. If you do have some flexibility, the booking window decreases and the fares drop for travel in the spring or fall—outside of the school holidays. Of course all of these booking windows are estimates, not the rule of law. As George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog, says: “If there were an established best time to book, airline would identify it and hike fares accordingly.” Consider yourself warned. ✚

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Packing

by Mimi Lombardo

Q: I TAKE A LOT OF BUSINESS TRIPS. WHAT PIECES TRAVEL BEST? A: For a classic shape,

Plus: Our Secret Weapons

↑ Roll-on fragrances are ideal for your carry-on. Try Elizabeth and James’s Nirvana Black (US$22), with sandalwood and vanilla; Kate Spade’s citrusy Live Colorfully Eau de Parfum (US$24); fresh and woody Marchesa Parfum D’Extase T+L (US$25); or Tory Pick Burch’s namesake scent (US$25). The Esteam → by Jiffy Steamer (US$75) is the T+L style department’s de-wrinkler of choice. The best part? It heats up in less than two minutes. ST Y L ED BY JI L L EDWA R DS/H A L L E Y R ESO U R C ES. S K I BAG: C OU R T ESY O F PA R K AC C ES SO RIES.

we love the wrinkle-free shirtdress (US$330) from 1 Elizabeth Roberts— the fabric is nylon, so it’s lightweight, dries fast and is virtually indestructible. Knits tend to stay wrinklefree— 2 this knee-length skirt (US$445) and top (US$195) by Wolford will take you through all manner of meetings. A sheath is fitting for day-to-night negotiations; roll up the cherry-red stretch version (US$415) from 3 David Meister for extra packability.

Q: Any advice on flying with skis? —hitomi ueda, via e-mail A: Most airlines treat a collection of sporting equipment as a single piece of checked luggage—so your skis, poles and boots count as only one item, not three. We recommend Park Accessories, a new line of bags made with Italian coated canvas. Shown at right: the Northern Lights, which holds two pairs of skis (US$1,150; parkaccessories.com).

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Photographed by Victor Prado

Tech Have a travel app you want to share or a tech question? Tell us at tleditor@mediatransasia.com.

BEST NEW ADVENTURE APPS These mobile tools—each vetted by techie Tom Samiljan— will help you get closer to nature without cutting the (phone) cord.

Listen to birdcalls for nearly any species you see.

Zoom in on a planet (or star) for extra details.

POCKET UNIVERSE

THE SIBLEY EGUIDE TO BIRDS

→ This stargazing app sees the sky through your camera and instantly annotates the applicable constellations. Location-specific animations tell you when you might see certain stars based on where you are anywhere in the world. The best part: this pocket astronomer works seamlessly without data roaming. US$2.99, iOS.

→ In addition to colorful images, detailed descriptions, and habitat maps for more than 800 bird species, the Sibley eGuide—a mobile version of David Sibley’s popular print encyclopedia—provides birdcall recordings to help you identify rare sightings. For novices, there’s a free version (with sample content). US$20, Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Kindle Fire, Nook, Windows Phone.

Moonrise is automatically added Find scenic lookouts along your hike.

EVERYTRAIL PRO → Input your preferred activity, such as mountain biking or hiking, and EveryTrail offers a list of local routes. Included are maps, trail suggestions and, in some cases, audio guides that highlight nearby sights in real time. The “Pro” version works without a network connection and keeps track of your exact location using GPS. US$3.99, Android, iOS.

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T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

Learn how to start a fire without a match.

SAS SURVIVAL GUIDE → Former British Special Forces officer John Wiseman’s 500-page survival bible has long been invaluable for adventurers; now it’s an offline app. Included are expert tips that range from first aid to emergency foraging. Also useful: a modern-day SOS alert that converts text messages into Morse code light signals. From US$3.49, Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone.

Illustrated by Jameson Simpson

Deals

Thailand

Bt6,999 per night

A jungle view at Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.

THAILAND

Romance

What Tour of Thailand from Four Seasons (fourseasons.com). Details Four nights in any combination of Four Seasons Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Tented Camp Golden Triangle, including at least two consecutive nights in two or more properties. Highlights A US$300 gift card to be used during your stay, plus extra perks such as half-day mahout training program and spa treatment at Golden Triangle. Cost From Bt27,960 (Bt6,999 per night)— rates vary significantly depending on which hotels are selected— double, through November 30. Savings 15 percent.

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MALDIVES

What Phantasy Fairytale come true at Niyama (niyama. peraquum.com). Details Four nights in a Beach studio. Highlight Complimentary admission to view Niyama’s limited time surrealist photography and CGI exhibition by Andreas Franke; one complimentary bottle of champagne and canapés for two at underwater nightclub, Subsix; plus one combined snorkeling trip to Walla and a marine lab tour with the resort’s resident marine biologist. Cost US$3,532 (US$883 per night), double, through May 31. Savings 20 percent.

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CHINA

What Enduring Romance at The St. Regis Shenzhen (starwoodhotels.com). Details A stay in a Deluxe City View room. Highlights One complimentary romantic candlelit dinner for two at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Elba; a complimentary in-room rosella-scented bath; complimentary breakfast for two at Social restaurant; and a special surprise gift upon departure. Cost From RMB2,999, double, through December 31. Savings 25 percent.

KOREA

What Babymoon Retreat at Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul (banyantree.com). Details A stay in a Deluxe room. Highlights One complimentary 60-minute Tender Massage suitable for mothers to be, a specially designed baby gift set, a babymoon scrapbook for your stay, a healthy set dinner for two, a voucher for a maternity photoshoot at Chung Studio, and complimentary daily buffet breakfast for two. Cost W790,000, double, through December 31, 2015. Savings Up to 25 percent.

COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS

Culture

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

TIME FOR BINTAN

The getaway that has it all

This year, Bintan should be on your travel radar. The island, only 45 minutes by ferry from Singapore, takes on a whole new look with the addition of Lagoi Bay, which sees the opening of several facilities, including beach and lakeside resorts; upscale residential clusters; Bintan’s first beach village mall; and state-of-the-art recreational amenities. Set amidst a hillside location on Lagoi Bay is the Alila Villas Bintan, a 14.4 ha development opening in late 2014, comprising 12 three-bedroom beachfront residences and 52 one- and twobedroom villas. Step beyond the luxury boutique accommodation and you’ll discover The Village, a four-hectare hub for arts, culture, culinary and wellness activities. This holistic experience is one of the main ingredients that make this a one-of-a-kind resort. Natural spa treatments, yoga, and meditation and nutritional well-being are some of what will lure you here. A gourmet cooking school, tea house, museum and boutiques all focus on celebrating Asia’s rich arts and cultural heritage. But that’s only part of the change Bintan is undergoing this year. Evoking the romance of another era, opening in April, the Sanchaya

will offer nine luxurious colonial suites and 19 palatial villas, between one and four bedrooms in size, as well as an oversized infinity pool. A beachfront resort, The Sanchaya will also offer guests an Indonesian sense of seclusion with its lush gardens and waterfalls. If a condo-style resort is your thing, then look no further than the Grand Lagoi Swiss-Belhotel, with 196 well-appointed rooms, a rooftop pool and shopping outlets opening at the end of the year. Pantai Indah, Bintan’s first seaside residential estate, is spread across 13 hectares of lush tropical land and flanked by stunning seaside views. Close by will be Bintan Marketplace, a 1.6-ha site with 41 shop houses and an F&B enclave. It broke ground in March 2013, along with 180 serviced apartments adjacent to the Marketplace, and is expected to be ready by end 2014. There will also be an upscale food court, one that offers sweeping views of the surrounding seas. For the adventurous, head to the Air Adventures & Flyboyz Bistro, Motorsports Adventure Park or the marina pontoons here. As different hotel concepts and projects unfold, Lagoi Bay is set to become the “Next Big Thing” in Asia, and not to be missed the next time you plan your getaway.

g r a n d L ag o i , SwiSS- B eLhoteL .

the

L ag o i B ay . a L i L a Vi L L a S B i n ta n

B i n ta n M a r k e t p L ac e .

●

● www.facebook.com/bintanresorts ● www.youtube.com/bintanresorts Twitter: @BintanResorts ● www.pinterest.com/bintanresorts ● www.bintan-resorts.com

p a n ta i i n da h .

Deals

CAMBODIA

What Journey to Revive at Song Saa (songsaa.com). Details Seven nights in a Jungle villa. Highlights Inclusive of all meals; inclusive of all activities; one complimentary 60-minute Chakra Massage, Karuna Kaya Massage, Body Bliss Renewal Scrub and Indian Head Massage; consultation with the head of wellness; a Honey-Rose facial; three private yoga sessions; complimentary manicure and pedicure; one 90-minute Metta massage; one 120-minute Bio-rhythms Spa Ritual; and roundtrip speedboat transfers. Cost From US$4,676 per person (US$668 per night), through February 28. Savings Up to 53 percent.

City THAILAND

What Fifteen Facets at The Peninsula Bangkok (peninsula. com). Details Four nights in a Grand Deluxe room. Highlights Daily breakfast for two, one complimentary poolside lunch for two, one private dinner for two at the exclusive Paribatra Aviation Lounge, one Herbal Discovery spa experience for two, one Chefsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Table dining experience for two at Mei Jiang, one complimentary yoga lesson, one complimentary Thai cooking class, one tuk-tuk tour of Klongsan, one guided boat tour of Asiatique The Riverfront, one tour of old Bangkok with Thai puppet show, late check-out until 6 p.m., fast-track welcome at airport and roundtrip transfer by BMW limousine. Cost Bt77,150 (Bt19,288 per night), double, through March 31. Savings Up to 42 percent.

Complimentary Wi-Fi and daily minibar. Cost From S$210, double, through December 31. Savings 35 percent.

MALAYSIA

What Suite Temptations at Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur (mandarinoriental.com). Details Four nights in a Park suite. Highlights Complimentary daily breakfast for two, Club Lounge access, complimentary US$50 spa credit, and a complimentary fourth night. Cost From RM6,897 (RM1,724 per night), double, through December 30. Savings 30 percent.

Beach VIETNAM

What Short Breaks Special at Anantara Hoi An (hoi-an. anantara.com). Details Two nights in a Deluxe room.

SINGAPORE

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INDONESIA

What Festive Holiday at Montigo Resorts Nongsa (montigoresorts. com). Details Two nights in a Hilltop villa. Highlights Guests receive a complimentary S$50 voucher for each villa occupied during stay. Cost From S$442 (S$221 per night), not available on Saturdays, double, through March 14. Savings Up to 25 percent.

Island INDONESIA

What Upgrade Now at The Westin Resort Nusa Dua (westinnusaduabali.com). Details A stay in a Westin suite. Highlights Complimentary welcome drink. Cost From US$210, double, through June 30. Savings 20 percent.

THAILAND

What Regent Indulgence at Regent Phuket Cape Panwa (regenthotels.com). Details A stay in a Pavilion. Highlights Complimentary daily breakfast for two at The Restaurant, complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi, four complimentary pieces of laundry daily, non-alcoholic mini-bar, and access to the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club. Cost From Bt8,724, double, through March 31. Savings Up to 30 percent.

In-villa dining at Montigo Resorts, Batam Island.

What Mystery Deal at Royal Plaza on Scotts (royalplaza.com). Details A stay in a Superior room. Highlights

Highlights Complimentary daily breakfast for two, one signature cocktail per stay, complimentary late check-out until 4 p.m., a 20 percent discount on dining throughout stay, complimentary room upgrade upon availability, and a 20 percent discount on select spa treatments throughout stay. Cost From US$304 (US$152 per night), double, through December 31. Savings 18 percent.

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COURTESY OF MONTIGO RESORTS

Spa

DISCOVER. EXPERIENCE. LUXURY. ILTM Asia is the leading ‘by invitation only’ showcase for the luxury travel community of the Asia Pacific. Bringing together the world’s most sought after collection of luxury experiences for the most discerning Asia Pacific luxury travel buyers, ILTM Asia offers you unrivalled business opportunities. If you are an international luxury travel supplier or buyer operating in the Asia Pacific region register your interest in attending this exclusive luxury travel event at www.iltm.net/asia

This year’s T+L Design Award for Best Restaurant: Höst, in Copenhagen. See page 60.

A Bhutanese lodge; a Copenhagen restaurant; a Long Island museum; a suitcase, camera and more—innovative design makes travel better, and for T+L’s 10th annual competition, our distinguished jury chose the best of the year. PLUS The T+L Design Champion.

MARTIN K AUFMANN

T+L DESIGN AWARDS 2014

this year’s jury Mary Margaret Jones Senior Principal and President, Hargreaves Associates

Thom Browne Designer, Thom Browne New York

Landscape architect; designed the London 2012 Olympic Park and the forthcoming Penn’s Landing Park in Philadelphia, among others; also chairman of the Board of Trustees for the American Academy in Rome.

Men’s and women’s ready-to-wear designer with custom collections. Winner of the 2013 and 2006 CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award and the 2013 Pratt Institute Fashion Visionary Award.

Ilse Crawford Founder, Studioilse An interior designer whose projects include Soho House New York, Ett Hem hotel in Stockholm, and Duddell’s restaurant in Hong Kong, as well as a collection of objets d’art for Georg Jensen.

design champion

Thomas J. Pritzker

G E O R D I E W O O D (6) . G R O O M I N G B Y R E G I N A H A R R I S . D E S I G N C H A M P I O N : C O U R T E S Y O F S B E

Executive Chairman, Hyatt Hotels Corporation He is the leader of a family that has long played a preeminent role in both travel and design, and if there is a reason for this it can be found in Chicago. Hyatt is headquartered in the shadow of Louis Sullivan and Mies van der Rohe skyscrapers; architecture is in its DNA. When the company opened the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, in 1967, the hotel’s light-filled atrium was a revelation, and an inspiration for future properties from Hyatt, and other companies as well. “It changed the experience of our guests and our

employees,” Pritzker says of the Atlanta atrium. “It was as if we had found a key to happiness and optimism.” That key was excellent design, and can be seen and felt in all the company’s properties— from Andaz Papagayo, in Costa Rica, to the hugely anticipated Park Hyatt New York—and in his family’s creation and support of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. For all of these reasons, for his vision, ambition and generosity, we honor T+L’s 2014 Design Champion, Thomas J. Pritzker.

Morris Adjmi Principal, Morris Adjmi Architects Established his own firm in 1997, after working with Italian architect Aldo Rossi. Specializes in the repurposing of industrial spaces—the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn among them.

Jerome Griffith President and CEO, Tumi

Kathy Halbreich Associate Director, Museum of Modern Art

A global retail executive who has helped such iconic brands as Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and Esprit achieve unprecedented growth; joined Tumi in 2009.

Joined MoMA in 2008 in a newly created position that focuses on the promotion of contemporary art; previously served as director of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

—LUK E BA RR

T+L Design Awards jury moderated by Chee Pearlman + Text by Heather Smith MacIsaac + Edited by Luke Barr + Reported by Katie James, with Sara Greenfest, Stirling Kelso, Courtney Kenefick, Mimi Lombardo, Mario R. Mercado and Tom Samiljan.

To see a slideshow of all the winners, including honorable mentions, go to travelandleisure.com/designawards.

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DESIGN AWARDS 2014

best cultural space

Elena Garro Cultural Center, Mexico City Fernanda Canales + Arquitectura 911sc

In more ways than one, the Elena Garro Cultural Center has turned on a bright light in one of Mexico City’s oldest neighborhoods. The architects chose to preserve an early-20th-century house by encasing it in concrete and glass, thereby creating a new forecourt that frames the restored masonry façade of the older building and glows like a lantern at night. New reading rooms and a lush exterior garden, designed by landscape architecture firm Entorno Taller de Diseño, honor the Mexican poet and author for whom the center is named—as do floor-to-ceiling walls of books, visible from the street. elenagarro. conaculta.gob.mx.

best restaurant Local, organic, sustainable— the prime ingredients of New Nordic cuisine are also the hallmarks of Höst, designed by Norm and the design brand Menu. Rough plank ceilings and tables, gypsum brick walls, recycled windows, cutting boards as wall art and furry hides bring farm to table—literally. Spindle chairs in three variations and dinnerware, all in a palette of white, gray and black, introduce a purity of form as clean-lined as the food on the plate. In a thoroughly urban setting, rustic and modern find kinship. newnorm.dk. honorable mention Lobster Bar, Paris, designed by Mathieu Mercier.

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F R O M TO P : J A I M E N AVA R R O ; M A R T I N K A U F M A N N

Höst, Copenhagen Norm Architects

best bridge

Høse Bridge, Sand, Norway Rintala Eggertsson Architects

At the request of the citizens of Sand, Norway, who wished to connect their town to a vast woodland, architects Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Vibeke Jenssen devised a deceptively simple link. The rigorous steel structure is as tough as the bedrock to which it is anchored, but stretches of wall are, by turns, panels of solid Cor-Ten and sheets of porous stainless-steel mesh. The effect of closed and open space over rushing water delivers, in a span of 21 meters, a uniquely varied audio and visual passage— and an elegant interplay of the man-made and natural.

best hotel

F R O M T O P : D A G J E N S S E N ; S I M O N W AT S O N

100 or more rooms London Edition Yabu Pushelberg/ ISC Design Studio

The newest collaboration between Ian Schrager and Marriott International epitomizes modern luxury. Behind the handsome Georgian façade of the former Berners Hotel lie public spaces whose architectural grandeur is accentuated by magnificent fixtures and strategic lighting, yet tempered by modern, low-slung, monochromatic furnishings. Ornately framed photographs and paintings hang, gallery-style, along paneled walls in Berners Tavern. Guest rooms are walnutor oak-lined cabins of calm—peaceful retreats from the hubbub of the city. edition-hotels.marriott.com.

DESIGN AWARDS 2014

best travel clothing Adidas by Tom Dixon From $168; eastdane.com

best headphones Plantronics BackBeat Go 2 $180; plantronics.com best luggage Victorinox Travel Gear Spectra 2.0 Dual-Access ExtraCapacity Carry-on $350; victorinox. com

best camera Canon PowerShot N $300; usa.canon.com

best travel bag Quiksilver Travis Rice Platinum Pack $120; quiksilver.com

best watch Samsung Galaxy Gear $299; samsung.com

best speaker Mini Jambox by Jawbone $180; jawbone.com

best travel beauty product Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels $30; skyniceland.com

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*All prices are listed in US dollars.

P H O T O G R A P H E D B Y YA S U + J U N K O . S T Y L E D B Y J I L L E D W A R D S . O P P O S I T E : M A S AYA Y O S H I M U R A / C O U R T E S Y O F I S S E Y M I YA K E

best travel accessory Flight 001 4-in-1 adapter $25; flight001.com

best retail space Reality Lab Issey Miyake, Tokyo Tokujin Yoshioka

Tasked with showcasing the work of a group of young in-house designers for Issey Miyake known as the Reality Lab, Tokujin Yoshioka has succeeded in creating an interior that is as innovative as the work on display. The space is influenced, in part, by the fact

that Yoshioka formerly designed accessories for the brand and is a longtime collaborator of Miyakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Clinically smooth, pale walls and aluminum bands in bright blue and green contrast with rough concrete, referencing the science and artistry that fuel any lab. Like 3-D expressions of a

physics problem, steel display stands and tables strike cantilevered poses. A long, low, blue display shelf allows the In Ei Issey Miyake collection of collapsible paper lamps to strut the runway like the supermodels of lighting that they are. isseymiyake.com/en.

DESIGN AWARDS 2014

best transportation TAM Airlines First Class Cabin Priestmangoode

Present in this design are all the notes one associates with a luxury class of travel: spacious seats that extend into beds, individual monitors and tailor-made reading lamps. Priestmangoode deviates from the norm, however, in devising a cabin that aims to dispel claustrophobia. The four-seat arrangement is more domestic living room than airline cabin, with sofas replacing standard footstools to enable more natural socializing among those traveling together. Warm materials, including wool, leather, suede and zebrawood, maintain a feeling of homeyness.

best hotel

fewer than 100 rooms Gangtey Goenpa Lodge, Gangtey Valley, Bhutan Mary Lou Design

Taking its cue from the 17th-century monastery a quick walk from its front door, Gangtey Goenpa slips discreetly and respectfully into its remote hillside location. Composed of two traditional farmhouse-style buildings connected by a single-story hall, the lodge incorporates Bhutanese textures and patterns. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the main lounge frame a spectacular vista; soft leathers bring warmth to the 2,750-meter elevation, as do individual fireplaces in the 12 guest rooms. honorable mention Freehand Miami, designed by Roman & Williams.

F R O M T O P : C O U R T E S Y O F P R I E S T M A N G O O D E ; C H R I S C A L D I C O T T/ C O U R T E S Y O F G A N G T E Y G O E N P A L O D G E

honorable mention CitiBike, New York City.

best museum

Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York Herzog & de Meuron

In the land of riches that is the East End of Long Island, the Parrish is a building brave enough to be humble. Harking back to the agricultural structures that once dominated the landscape, the museum’s shape evokes that of a barn, if an extraordinarily long, twin-gabled, and finely detailed one. The line it draws in an open meadow is striking in its simplicity; inside, the central corridor is flanked by galleries, while a wide, covered terrace at one end extends a friendly invitation to step into a world of American art. parrishart.org.

O P P O S I T E , F R O M T O P : I W A N B A A N ; J O S É C U N H A / C O U R T E S Y O F P E D R A S S A L G A D A S S P A & N AT U R E P A R K .

honorable mention Musée Louvre-Lens, Lens, France, designed by Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa/ sanaa.

best resort

Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park, Portugal Luís Rebelo de Andrade for Arquitraço

The 13 cottages and tree houses of this resort step lightly on the land, the latter stretching their long forms out into the forest like elegant praying mantises, the better to bask in and honor a pristine environment of centuriesold trees and hot springs. The wood-and-slate modular structures, assembled on site to adjust their footprints to the individual terrain, are otherwise generous in design. Large plate-glass windows pitch guests into the treetops, while skylights above beds perfectly capture the stars. pedrassalgadaspark.com. honorable mention Hotel Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, designed by Federico Rivera Río.

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February 2014

In This Issue

MORGAN OMMER

68 Thai Fashion 78 Australia 84 Paris 90 Romantic Rooms 100 New York

Overhanging the South China Sea at Amanoi, in Vietnam, page 90.

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Glamming up the heart of Bangkok in dress and hairpiece by Kloset.

p h oto g r a p h e d by t h a r at h o r n s i t t h i t h a m s t y l e d by w i n n y y m o d e l : p o l ly p u n i k a k u n su n to r n r at 68

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Suit and Thai M A K E U P : V E E R AYA P A ( V I C K Y ) . H A I R : T R I N D I N . P H O T O G R A P H E R ’ S A S S I TA N T: N AT P A P H AT AT H I P T R A K U L

BANGKOK BRANDS BOTH BIG AND BITTY ARE LIGHTING UP THE STREETS AND THE RUNWAYS. JOE CUMMINGS BROWSES THE RACKS, AND EXPLAINS WHY A TRIP TO THIS EVOLVING FASHION CAPITAL SHOULD BE ON EVERY SARTORIAL SHOPPING LIST.

FROM LEFT: Shopping design

mecca Siam Center in dress and bag by Kloset, necklace by Sobasiz; Rotsanuyom accessories.

for one, expanded from Senada to coutureoriented Senada Theory, with elaborate pieces mixing Indian, Thai and Chinese patterns and fabrics that have found their way to shows and boutiques in all the fashion capitals. Stalwart brands like these paved the way for, by now, two subsequent generations of innovative designers.

Never Obvious, Often Grinning

The fashion label Senada was named for a possibly mythical Bavarian composer who developed the Theory of Obscurity, which says that a true artist can produce pure art only when the expectations and influences of the outside world are ignored. Founded by designer Chanita Preechawitayakul, whose penchant for the quirky and eclectic leads to intricately crafted bohemian-luxe collections, the brand and its eponym precisely capture today’s zeitgeist of Thai fashion. Ascendant with an intense inner-focus that has paradoxically begun to draw the outer world, this unique culture of creativity is turning Bangkok into a capital of cool. From “whimsicouture” to hand-stitched one-offs, young Thai designers are following a muse that seems to speak only to them, creating alluring detonations of color and pattern linking the past to the future. Head to Singapore or Hong Kong to stock up on big-name international brands; you can find them in Bangkok too, but the real story is in the idiosyncratic local labels. If you had to argue for a historic turning point in the Thai fashion industry, the 1997 Asian financial crisis would be it. With a steeply devalued baht, loads of rack space became available in Bangkok department stores that had to be hung with something other than imported clothes and baubles. (The nation saw parallel movements in other creative industries, including its cinema.) In the four years that followed the crash, local fashion designers steadily came into their own. After all, the foundations were already in place. Bangkok has long held a reputation for quality tailoring at bargain prices, while the countryside is a rich source of hand-woven silk and cotton textiles. By the beginning of this century, Thai labels such as Greyhound and FlyNow began to experience a swelling local demand. Chanita, 70

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Virtually unnoticed by many Bangkokians until their disposable income no longer bought them foreign clothes, the small, pioneer operations fast became respectable labels. By the time Thailand had recovered economically, Thais no longer aimed beyond their own borders to satisfy fashion cravings. And the appeal of Thai looks and styles is spreading, drawing shopping tourists and celebrities impressed with the Bangkok-based brands on the pages of influential fashion magazines. The backbone of this industry could be considered born-in-the-1980’s Greyhound, where on-trend basics lie somewhere between Banana Republic and Ted Baker. Relying on his advertising and graphic-design background, Greyhound founder Bhanu Inkawat began with a focus on men’s clothing, and his simple, clean silhouettes in black, white and gray hues created a bare-bones cool that was perfect for the austere times after the economic crisis. Bhanu says his minimalist approach is a response to Bangkok’s “beautiful chaos,” and it’s a choice that remains solid to this day. Capitalizing on a similar simplicity is Muse by Good Mixer. Over a few women’s collections, Chaichon Savantrat has perfected a palatte of white, black and primary colors in flowy fabrics with discreet flair. Veering less casual, Asava and Wonder Anatomie represent another major trend in Thai design: shiny separates in eye-popping colors and patterns that implausibly work well both in corporate offices and cocktail bars. Wonder Anatomie is known for its crazy animal-

and-anatomical prints on exaggerated silhouettes, while Asava is more geometrics, color-blocks and Lichtenstein-esque. The latter’s designer, Polpat Asavaprapha, has worked with Marc Jacobs, Isaac Mizrahi and Giorgio Armani, and doesn’t fool with high-minded couture, preferring to create day-to-night outfits for this city where audacious frocks and stacked heels are the norm no matter how early the hour. Another new norm here: whimsy. The originally rocker-chic ladies’ line FlyNow has worked its way up from a small collection in 1983 to a widely popular brand with 10 stand-alone shops in Bangkok and more than 60 outlets around Thailand. Headed by Chamnan Pakdeesuk, creative and fashion director at

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Kai Kaewthing presides

over his boutique; Rotsaniyom in Siam Square; Chatuchak Weekend Market at night..

Rocking hard-core cute in dress and cap by Wonder Anatomie, necklace and ring by 77th. OPPOSITE The sartorial obstacle course that is Siam Square.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT

Monella clutch at Liberty Area One; Muzina golden booties also at Liberty Area One; Rotsaniyom owners Thita Kamonnetsawat (left) and Pongsak Kobrattanasuk.

Harper’s Bazaar Thailand, the label has diversified to several spinoff lines catering to a variety of fashion tastes—including the decided sense of whimsy that pervades Thai culture. Several internationally known brands fall in this genre, proving just how adept their designers are at straddling that razor-thin line between charming and too-cutesy. Take Kloset, founded in 2001 by Mollika Ruangkritya. As a young girl, she made her own toys and dolls. She became one of the first of a new generation who leaned on traditional Thai design and manufacturing to create something altogether new. Hand-stitching, embroidering, lace and ribbon take center stage in her clothing and accessories, and are beloved by Bangkok celebs and high-society women. The brand has achieved global popularity precisely because its soul is rooted in Thai identity, Suphakanya Tripwatana, one of Kloset’s main designers, says: “We draw differently, we see differently as Thais. This Thainess is buried in our minds and souls. So that is obviously reflected in our designs in one way or another.” This playful sophistication also bursts through from those schooled in design abroad. Sretsis is a 12-year-old label that embodies the collective spirit of its three founding sisters, Pim (a graduate of New York’s Parsons School of Fashion Design), Kly and Matina Sukhahuta. “It’s all about whimsical prints, nostalgic details with a modern-day attitude,” Pim says. “We don’t believe in locking up clothes only for special occasions. We want girls to experience the regular joy of dressing up.” Inspired by classic romanticism, the sisters at Sretsis (their familial relationship spelled backwards) work with silk, chiffon, satin and large prints to evoke a femininity that works just as well at a private dinner as on the red carpet. Just ask Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel, Leighton Meister, Rachel Bilson or Paris Hilton. Or the disappointed shoppers who have turned up at Sretsis’s flagship Gaysorn store only to find it closed to prevent stock from selling out. (The sisters have stockists in the U.S., United Arab Emirates, Australia, France, Kuwait, Singapore and China, and plan to open a shop in Tokyo.) Lead designer Pim interned with the everplayful Marc Jacobs before conjuring a brand philosophy to “shine brightly through dreamlike silhouettes and dark-humored prints disguised as a wide-eyed innocent take on age old femininity. Never obvious, often grinning.” So it adds up that Pim’s favorite items to design are rompers, playsuits and mini-dresses. With bows, capelets and Peter Pan collars, Sretsis

pieces are an ultra-feminine fantasy, and lines bear names like Make My Heart Melt to match. Likewise, the “flirty in design and luxurious in fabrication” Disaya toes the “whimsicouture” line with bold flounces, well-placed pleats, jacquard prints and French phrasing. After launching in 2007, London-trained Disaya Sorakraikitikul’s ready-to-wear clothing and jewelry is now in more than 20 countries at such esteemed retailers as Henri Bendels, Harrods and Harvey Nichols and on celebrity clients including Jennifer Lopez. The brand’s flagship store, also in Gaysorn, was designed by Italian architect Paolo Giachi, who has developed showrooms for Prada, Tod’s, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Pucci and Jimmy Choo.

Beautiful Chaos

For shoppers on the hunt, the Bangkok fashion trail is easy to follow. Designers just starting out take a stall in the sprawling Chatuchak Weekend Market—you can often find them hand-making their creations, everything from proper oxford shirts to upcycled vintage wear to bronze pendants, in the back of their cubby-hole shops surrounded by piles of supplies. The next step is Siam Square, a maze of narrow lanes lined with tiny glass boxes where designers sew and show, followed by the labyrinthine second and third floors of the more upmarket Terminal 21. Cool kids dominate Siam Center; the haute, Gaysorn. Getting picked up by big Thai and international department stores is the dream for designers— and, of course, for time-crunched consumers looking for one-stop shopping. The poster-child for this upward mobility is Rotsaniyom, whose reputation has spread with impressive alacrity. Founded in 2008 by Pongsak Kobrattanasuk and Thita Kamonnetsawat, both of whom studied locally, the label started with two stalls in Chatuchak packed with retro and pan-Asian ethnic styles. They added dresses, skirts, trousers and bags, until business became too much and they expanded to Siam Square. When Rotsaniyom exhibited at Vienna Fashion Week 2013 with Malai (meaning “Garland”), their most ambitious collection to date, the heavily Thai motifs including Thai silk skirts topped with white blouses inspired by Victorian-era Rama V styles led fashion blog Life & Style Madrid to name the brand its favorite for the “romantic, showy” women’s wear and “soft, soothing” runway presentation. Rotsaniyom is available at Zen Department Store and at Liberty Area One, a small but influential boutique in the Bangkok’s wealthy Ekamai neighborhood—as well as their original Chatuchak stalls.

‘WE WA NT GIR LS TO EX PER IENCE THE R EGUL A R JOY OF DR ESSING UP’ —PIM SUK HA HUTA FROM TOP

Commuting in a jumpsuit by Senada and bag by Kloset; Kokainkate skull ring at Liberty Area One.

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In fact, several brands try to keep it real and maintain their underground image at the market long after they’ve hit it big. Painkiller Atelier still has a stall there despite holding court in Siam Center, presenting “alternative menswear that is not overly masculine nor too feminine, neither trend-follower nor boring.” Siriorn Teankaprasith established the brand in 2005 during her last year of menswear design study at esmod Paris. After graduation, she teamed up with her two brothers, architect Poomsak Teankaprasith and graphic artist Terawat Teankaprasith, and soon was exhibiting in Paris and Berlin. For male hipsters with money to spend, Painkiller’s fall/winter 2013 collection, All About Punk, was a solid hit. The line included T-shirts, vests, sweaters and tartan blazers and trousers. Another Chatuchak baby, Dry Clean Only, has gone global. “I came across Dry Clean Only at a fashion boutique in Tokyo, and loved the style,” says Nod Nuanwa Tatong, owner of Liberty Area One. “I was surprised and proud to find out the label was Thai, as I’d never heard of it.” Dry Clean Only has since become one of the hottestselling brands in her shop. Founder Best Chaipukdee started out by taking vintage T-shirts and adding feathers, beads, studs, slashes, sequins and embroidered patterns, to create one-off pieces for his first market stall. Taking the concept a few steps further into a recycled Road Warrior fantasy world, Best pulls old tees apart and sews pieces from several shirts together into a new one, using crewneck collars as cuffs, for example—but always leaving original labels in place and sewing the Dry Clean Only tag underneath. “I want something that’s one-of-a-kind, but don’t want to start making clothes the way most people do—buying fabrics and making patterns,” Best says. “It’s a problem-solving strategy.” That’s actually the whole point of Liberty Area One: Nod meticulously curates what she thinks are the best up-and-coming Thai designers and one-of-a-kind creations so her clients don’t have to. A label hanging from Nod’s uncluttered rails, and one she says rivals Dry Clean Only for sales is TandT, whose garments often feature non-traditional materials, such as chalk-blue neoprene for bulging waist-length jackets. And lovingly ensconced in glass-andwood jewelry cases was a heavy signet-style “LBGT Memorial Ring” by Vasutida and, from Goth/punk-inspired Kokainkate, highquality spiked bangles and skeleton rings. “With every new designer generation,” Nod says, “the ideas become richer, the imagination travels further and the quality rises.” A one-man embodiment of this trajectory is Somchai “Kai” Kaewthong, a 45-year veteran who was inspired to pick up scissors after seeing an outfit designed by Pierre Balmain for Queen Sirikit. In 1969 he launched with eveningwear and bridal dresses for CEOs, debutantes and royalty. In 2010 he added k and i, a ready-to-wear line that’s “a modern interpretation of Kai boutique haute couture gowns”—laces and silks mixed with studs and zippers, sexy and edgy but versatile. The same could be said of the consumers driving Thailand’s fashion evolution. Once they acquired a taste for fine local cuts, Bangkokians bit in with gusto and have developed a seemingly bottomless hunger for new sensations, chasing after the latest, striving to be among the first to be seen wearing a new designer’s creations. This has resulted in a frenzied competition that is only good news for fashionistas. “It’s important that they compete against themselves,” Kai says of those following in his footsteps, “not against the market or other designers.” Because, if the Theory of Obscurity has taught us anything, it’s that when art is pure and expectationfree, the outside world will come calling. Cash in hand. ✚ 76

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WHIMSICOUTUR E PROVES HOW A DEPTLY THA I DESIGN ER S STR A DDL E THAT R A ZOR-THIN L IN E BET WEEN CHA R MING A ND TOO-CUTESY

T L Guide

FROM ABOVE In a Muse by Good Mixer dress and a necklace by Muscovy; Nod Nuanwa Tatong curates all the goods in local-focused Liberty Area One.

DESIGNER OUTLETS IN BANGKOK Asava 1F Siam Paragon; 1F Emporium; 2F Central Chidlom; asavagroup.com. Disaya 2F Central World; 1F Siam Paragon; 1F Emporium; 2F Central Chidlom; disaya.com. Dry Clean Only 2F Trash Palace, Zen Central World; Liberty Area One; drycleanonlybkk.wordpress. com. FlyNow III 3F Siam Center; 2F Gaysorn; 1F Central Pinklao; 1F Promenade Central World, Atrium; 1F Emporium; 1F Siam Paragon; 1F The Mall Bangkapi; 1F The Mall Bangkok; 1F Paradise Park; flynowiii.com. Greyhound 3F Siam Center; 1F The Mall Bangkapi Department Store; 3F Zen Central World; 2F Central Ladprao Department Store; 3F Emporium; 1F Siam Paragon; greyhound.co.th. Kai 2F Peninsula Plaza; 1F Siam Paragon; 1F The Emporium; GF Central Chidlom; kaiboutique. blogspot.com. Kloset 3F Siam Center; 1F Siam Paragon; 2F Central World; 2F Central Chidlom; 2F Central Ladprao; klosetdesign.com. Muscovy Jewelry and accessories. Cloud 9, 2F Gaysorn; G by Jee at Grand Hyatt Erawan; oninstagram. com/maisonmuscovy. Muse by Good Mixer 1F Siam Paragon; 3F Gaysorn; 66-2/6561111. Painkiller Atelier 3F Siam Center; 126-127, Section 24, Chatuchak; painkillerbkk.com. Rotsaniyom 555, Section 2, Soi 40, Chatuchak; Siam Square, Soi 5; facebook.com/therotsaniyom. Senada Theory 3F Siam Center; 2F Central World; 1F Siam Paragon; 1F Emporium; senadatheory.com. 77th Jewelry shop and jewelrymaking classes. 3F Siam Center; 2F Emporium; 66-8/5666-4191; seventy-seventh.blogspot.com; Little77th@hotmail.com. Sobasiz Jewelry. G by Jee at Grand Hyatt Erawan; 66-2/2528786; facebook.com/gbyjee. Sretsis 2F Gaysorn; 2F Siam Center; 1F Emporium; 1F Siam Paragon; sretsis.com. Wonder Anatomie 3F Siam Center; facebook.com/ wonderanatomie.

THAI DESIGN-CENTRIC SHOPPING CENTERS Siam Center This is where it all started, and it’s still the epicenter for local designers who have “made it.” Three of Siam Center’s four floors are dedicated to fashion. The first houses Bangkok flagship stores for globally famous brands. The second floor mixes international and local designers, and the third boasts the most comprehensive collection of midand high-range Thai designer brands in the country. Rama I Rd.; siamcenter.co.th. Liberty Area One Nod Nuanwan Tatong is tireless in her search for one-of-a-kind pieces from the latest young Thai designers for the cleanly laid-out racks in her shop in Ekamai. Sukhumvit Rd. Soi 63, Ekamai Soi 10; 66/8670-23565 or 66-2/381-5922; facebook.com/ LibertyAreaOne. Terminal 21 On the middle floors of this large but quirky mall connected to the Asoke BTS stop, dozens of up-and-coming and lower-budget Thai designers, including a few that moved here from Chatuchak Weekend Market, maintain small shops. Look for Tip Dejaturat, a U.K.-returned designer who specializes in vintage styles in light, natural hues; and Adhoc & Simon’s Sister, a favorite stop for hipster gear. Sukhumvit Rd. Soi 19; terminal21. co.th. Gaysorn The super-rich make personal appointments to try or view pieces from top-end local designers Disaya and Sretsis. Smaller Thai designers come and go, depending on the season, but most other fashion boutiques here are international. 999 Ploenchit Rd.; 66-2/656-1149; gaysorn.com. Chatuchak Weekend Market Spread over 14 hectares, with up to 200,000 shoppers converging on more than 8,000 vendor stalls, the sweltering, crowded Chatuchak experience is shopping as survival of the fittest. Find original Thai designers in the western aisles of the market along Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road, in the semi-air-conditioned sections along Sois 40 through 47, an area sometimes referred to as Chatuchak Plaza. Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Kamphaengphet MRT or Mo Chit BTS; 66-2/272-5382.

Thanks to Digital Gateway at Centerpoint Siam Square, Bangkok, for their help with logistics.

C O U R T E S Y O F D E S T I N AT I O N N S W

Surfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up at Lennox Head Beach, just south of Byron Bay.

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BYRON BAY, NEW SOUTH WALES

For picturesque shores polished by the tides of time For nearly a century, it has withstood the charge of interlopers: sand miners in the 1920’s; meat workers and an abattoir that stank up the entire beach in the 30’s; and a second wave of sand miners again in the 40’s. Then came whalers in the 50’s; long-boarders in the 60’s; the flower-power brigades of the 70’s; developers in the 80’s; trancemusic junkies in the 90’s; and speculators in the aughts, who proceeded to drive the price of realestate sky high. Despite them all—or perhaps because of them, for its denizens range from retirees to yuppies to former backpackers brought together by their love for the sea and distaste for multinationals like McDonald’s and KFC, whose repeated attempts to open shop here have been stymied by unrelenting protests—Byron Bay has retained its knockout natural beauty. Credit the animal magnetism of this beach-resort town on the northern coast of New South Wales to its position on the easternmost point of the Australian mainland. This is a subtropical pocket endowed with staggered mountains, waterfalls, epic surf beaches and green rolling hills. Think long, lazy morning walks up to the lighthouse; perfectly shaped waves; rambunctious drinking and dancing; and endless, uninterrupted Pacific sunsets. STAY Gaia Retreat & Spa Olivia Newton-John’s luxury wellness retreat in Byron’s hinterlands. 61-2/6687-1216; gaiaretreat.com.au; two-night spa and yoga package with gourmet organic meals A$1,145 for two. EAT Rae’s Fish Café Overlooking the sea with poolside and private dining options. 61-2/66855366; raesonwategos.com; three-course Thai seafood banquets A$80 per head.

There’s so much more to the land down under than its glittery cities and famous beaches. Here are five sweet spots that will transport you to another era. Story and photos by Ian Lloyd Neubauer

HEPBURN SPRINGS, VICTORIA

For stately spa-ing (and an a-maze-ing garden)!) In the mid-19th century, thousands of Swiss-Italians joined the great global migration to the Australian goldfields. When the precious metal ran out, these natives of Ticino and Graub端nden, of Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria and Piemonte settled in Hepburn Shire, 100 kilometers northwest of Melbourne, where they went from sifting through pans of gold to serving up plates of pasta, artisanal cheese, salamis and vegetables. Reminders of their influence can be found everywhere in the village of Hepburn Springs: the Old Macaroni Factory on Main Road, The Savoia Hotel, the Palais Theatre, and at Villa Parma, a stately rose-colored two-story residence and maze garden built in 1864. These old-world treasures might have been left to stately decay if not for the Melburian sybarites and members of its gay community whose tourist dollars paid for their architectural restoration. Visitors flock to this bucolic area to indulge in not just culinary delights but corporeal ones as well: Hepburn Springs has the largest concentration of subterranean mineral springs on the continent, and 50-odd day spas, making it the spa capital of Australia. The seat of its capital is Hepburn Bathhouse, an aquatherapy theme park cut straight out of the The Jetsons. Rising phoenixlike from a clearing in the forest, this hermitically sealed triangle, made of glass and steel, houses relaxation pools, spa couches, aroma steam rooms, salt therapy pools, monsoon showers and more.

From top, all at Villa Parma in Hepburn Springs: an Italian mosaic; organic eats; the estate turns 150 this year. Opposite: The White House, Hahndorf.

STAY Peppers Mineral Springs Retreat A grand old guesthouse reborn as a luxury retreat with hotel suites and Art Deco villas with rolling country views; 61-3/5348-2202; peppers.com.au/ springs; doubles from A$300 per night. INDULGE The Spa @ Hepburn Bathhouse Offers mineral-based body therapies, massages and scrubs, and steams; 61-3/5321-6000; hepburnbath house.com; two-hours from A$269.

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COURTESY OF SOUTH AUSTR ALIAN TOURIST COMMISSION

HAHNDORF, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

For serious wines and toasting to the good ol’ days This fairytale village in the Adelaide Hills was one of 69 places in South Australia whose name was Anglicized (in this case, to Ambleside) as a consequence of anti-German sentiment during World War I. Nearly two decades would pass until the original name was restored to this settlement founded by Prussian craftspeople in 1839 and whose ancestors still live and work here.

Their influence permeates the entire the village to this day: in the fachwerk or timber-frame architecture of Hahndorf’s cottages and churches, and in the Swiss-Germanic cuisine sold in the delis, bakeries and groceries of Main Street. Winding country roads lead in every direction to the vineyards of the Adelaide Hills, one of the most diverse New World wine regions on earth. It’s home to more than 90 labels and 48 cellar doors where viticulturists in gumboots spend weekends hawking their versions of the area’s signature Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and

Viognier, plus varietals Trollinger, Gewürztraminer and Blaufrankisch. STAY Hahndorf House Immerse yourself in colonial grandeur at three period cottages with open fireplaces and manicured gardens. 61-4/1201-4217; hahndorfhouse.com.au; two-day midweek stay with cooked breakfast, chocolates and champagne on arrival A$480. SHOP Beerenberg Family Farm Australia’s oldest jam factory run by sixth-generation jam-makers. 61-8/8388-7272; beerenberg.com.au; pick fresh strawberries from October through April for A$7.50 per kg.

STRAHAN, TASMANIA

For a wild boat ride to an ancient harbor town There are few places on earth more wild or remote than the west coast of the island state of Tasmania. On one side, the jagged rock meets waves up to 20 meters high; on the other sits 1.6 million hectares of inhospitable mountain terrain. The only respite from the geological interment is Macquarie Harbour—an Edenicescape estuary that provided shelter for sailing ships at Strahan Harbour, a former end-of-world trading post. Today Strahan is a quaint little tourist town with public bars, restaurants, cafés, galleries and guesthouses catering to travelers who come with one thing in mind: a journey into the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. This World Heritage-listed wilderness is so vast and thick the only way in or out is by boat—your own, a charter, or the Lady Jane Franklin II passenger catamaran—via the Gordon River. A serpentine body of water famed for its chrome-like surface, it cuts through a temperate rainforest to swaths of Huon pine, one of the longest living trees in the world, and endangered wildlife like the Tasmanian devil, eastern quoll and orange-bellied parrot. STAY Strahan Village A collection of cottages and hotel suites with 180-degree harbor views. 61-3/64714200; puretasmania.com.au; rooms from A$139 a night. SHOP Tasmanian Specialist Timbers Purveyor of legally harvested Huon pine used to craft exquisite furniture, musical instruments and boats. 61-3/6471-7190; tasmanianspecialtimbers.com.au.

From above: Quad biking through Mount Mulligan Station; the billabong right outside the door of the homestead. Opposite: Strahan at sunset.

MOUNT MULLIGAN, QUEENSLAND

For a bucolic taste of the cowboy dream Chinese, English and Irish miners… more than 10,000 of them were, within five years of the 1875 discovery of gold here, living in Mount Mulligan—if you can call spending every waking hour of the day taking a pick or shovel to rock-hard clay “living.” Fossicking for gold is now but one of a range of adventures at Mount Mulligan Station, a working cattle ranch and

homestead set on half a million glorious hectares of privately owned bushland on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland. This fertile plateau can be explored on quad or dirt bikes, in 4WDs or, for those with time, on a mustering experience. Ranging from four days to a month, musters let visitors drive cattle along dusty red tracks and ancient gullies on horseback, dine on “damper” bread and lamb shanks, and sleep in “swags.” Seeing a stockman on a quad bike knock a one-tonne bull on its back, leap into the air and wrap a

leather belt around its hind legs is a highlight of this tour—as is sitting around the campfire at night under a candelabra of stars listening to stories about prospectors who struck it rich at Mount Mulligan, those who died trying, and the ghosts in between. STAY+DO Mount Milligan Station Basic farm-stay accommodation in an old homestead by a billabong. mtmulliganstation.com.au; camping A$10 per person per night, A$50 for airconditioned dorm, half-day horse riding or quad biking for A$125. ✚

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Riding through the Place des Vosges, in the Marais. Opposite: The salon dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;hiver in the apartment the author rented on the Place des Vosges.

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ULTIMATE PARIS In a grand apartment on the Place des Vosges in the Marais, kate betts indulges in a singular fantasyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;living like a local in very high style. photographed by cĂŠline clanet

ast fall I was struggling to finish writing a book about Paris, a memoir recalling five years in the early 1990’s when I lived and worked in the great city on the Seine as a reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, the fashion trade publication. My editor was kind enough to give me an extension when my deadline whizzed by in September. “Go to Paris,” she said. “It will put you in the mood.” Paris is always a good idea, of course. As a magazine editor I used to travel to Paris four times a year to cover the fashion collections, always staying in the same Left Bank hotel. When generous expense accounts allowed, I moved to grander accommodations in the Ritz, the Meurice or the Crillon. All of these places captured the spirit of the city in different ways, but secretly I harbored a fantasy about doing exactly what my editor had suggested: reconstituting my life in Paris by living like a Parisian again. I wasted lots of time scanning websites that advertised apartment rentals. And then, as luck would have it, an old friend resurfaced in connection with my book research. Nikki and I met in Paris in 1986 and kept in touch long after we both returned to our home cities—she to Sydney and I to New York. Over the years we sent each other news of engagements, weddings, careers and kids. Then Nikki told me about her apartment. After an 11-year hiatus, she had returned to Paris with her then-fiancé, taking him to see the place where she had lived on the Île St.-Louis, in a sixth-floor walk-up. While strolling down the street, she spotted the advertisement for an apartment at 23 Place des Vosges in the window of a real estate agent. It was the answer to her lifelong dream. She sold her Sydney house to buy the place. Then she went one step further—she is that kind of person—and hired the renowned French decorator Jacques Grange to work his magic on what she would call the Pavillon de Madame. “Just take it for a week. You can write there,” Nikki said on the phone. It was summer and hot as hell in New York City. Nikki, who still lives in Sydney, rents out the Pavillon de Madame, but she promised to block out a week for me in the fall. By mid-July, I was counting the days until October. Part of the fun was the anticipation. At a cocktail party for a magazine launch, I whispered to a colleague about my Paris apartment plans. She laughed, giddily. “I must see a photo of the view over the linden trees,” she said, barely able to contain herself. I could barely contain myself. In 25 years I

had never dreamed of staying on the Place des Vosges, the 17th-century model of urban planning built by King Henri IV beginning in 1605. I had lived in beautiful places in Paris—an 18th-century apartment on the Rue de Grenelle, a studio beneath the Eiffel Tower on the Rue St.-Dominique—but to live in a piano nobile apartment with 6-meter ceilings and views over the pristine red-brick façades and slate mansard roofs is the ultimate in Parisian luxury. On the morning of my arrival, I pushed open the heavy wooden door at No. 23 and was greeted in the cobblestoned courtyard by Christine, the property manager. She helped me lug my bag up the carved limestone staircase. As I gaped in awe at the voluptuous balustrades and newel posts of carved cherubs, I tried to imagine Victor Hugo finding inspiration for Les Misérables in such surroundings (he had lived at No. 6, just across the square). Christine opened the front door to the apartment and I peered down the enfilade of rooms, past the Venetian mirror and the glittering, glamorous chandelier in the entryway to the salon and the view of the square beyond. There were the famous linden trees. I looked up and saw the original 17thcentury hand-painted beams, which had been restored, their colorful motifs brought back to life. The décor was the epitome of exquisite French taste, a perfect paradox: both intimate and grand. Taffeta curtains the color of late autumn skies—the gray that Parisians call grisaille—nearly matched the velvet sofas and the walls. The ceilings were painted Fragonard blue. The walls of the salon d’hiver were lined in silk. Nikki had stocked the apartment with all the conveniences of a luxury hotel: a refrigerator filled with mineral water and fresh fruit; healthy snacks in the cupboard; Illy coffee. There was free Internet phone service, HDTV, and a maid who came each morning to clean. She ironed the linen sheets. I thought of my colleague back at the cocktail party in New York, giggling about the view over the linden trees. What would she think of pressed linen sheets under the taffeta canopy of a lit à la polonaise?

Opposite, clockwise from top left: The entry of 6 Place des Vosges, once home to Victor Hugo; Eux dans l’Eau, a nearby hat shop; an intricate 17th-century staircase leading from the courtyard to the apartment; on the Rue de Birague; a view of the square from inside the apartment; the apartment’s salon d’été; fresh produce at a local market; the apartment’s master bedroom. Center: Strolling under the arches of the Place des Vosges.

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HOW TO RENT AN APARTMENT IN PARIS When it comes to location, amenities and price, T+L editors give these five rental agencies top marks. GUEST APARTMENT SERVICES PARIS Fifty carefully chosen properties, many on the ÎIe St.-Louis. The ultimate piedà-terre? A town house in the Marais, complete with a private butler and indoor pool. guestapartment.com. HAVEN IN PARIS Since opening in 2006, this agency has built an archive of listings ranging from a cozy studio in Montmartre to a modern twobedroom in St.Germain-des-Prés to a Haussmannian four-bedroom near Canal St.-Martin. haveninparis.com. PARIS PERFECT We’re partial to rentals in the Seventh Arrondissement, some of which feature unobstructed views of the Eiffel Tower, original parquet floors and spacious wraparound balconies. parisperfect.com. PARIS LUXURY RENTALS Fashion editors stay in the Triangle d’Or during the shows. Their pick (and ours): the two-bedroom George V Suite—with crystal chandeliers and Louis XV–style furniture. parisluxury rentals.com. VILLE ET VILLAGE Want a chic studio near the Centre Pompidou or a quiet three-bedroom on the Rue Jacob? You’ll find it here. villeetvillage.com.

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Under the linden trees in the Place des Vosges.

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As I walked from room to room, I searched for a desk, thinking in the back of my mind that, yes, I was here to work. But this apartment had not been designed with work in mind. Taking in each luxurious room—a grand salon with deep velvet sofas, three bedrooms with marble bathrooms, the salon d’hiver with an enormous fireplace, a kitchen with a Lacanche stove, a laundry alcove—I realized that the Pavillon de Madame could easily accommodate a family, but in fact it was conceived for romance. The French have a way of living the past in the present so effortlessly, and the fact that No. 23 Place des Vosges was originally inhabited by Marie Touchet, the mistress of Charles IX, had not been lost on my friend Nikki. There was no desk. I settled instead for a cobbledtogether work space with a small 18th-century marbletopped table and a spindly chair beneath the living room window, overlooking Paris’s most perfect square. During the day, as I worked, I listened to the excited shrieks of children playing in the park, swinging on the rope jungle gym as halfhearted joggers loped by. I watched as tourists entered the iron gates, lurching forward toward the fountains to discover, what? It’s just a square, but what a marvelous symmetrical thing of beauty! Could they see what I saw from my singular vantage? Did they notice the two fleur-de-lis pediments perched on the top of the northern mansard roof? Down in the park, lovers on a bench embraced, oblivious to the raindrops falling through the leafy canopy. When I lost focus with the distractions below my window, I wandered out to the nearby Marché des Enfants Rouges to buy pasta and salad for dinner. My friends Domitille and Vincent—both Parisians—had never seen an apartment on the Place des Vosges. It was the ideal excuse to cook on the Lacanche stove (a luxury that’s not offered by even the grandest hotels). So I pulled a shopping trolley from the kitchen up the Rue de Turenne and filled it with wonderful fresh produce from the market. Late October is the season for hard cheeses from the mountains. In honor of my stay I bought a Tomme des Vosges. “Do you even realize that France is in a terrible crise économique?” my friend Vincent asked, jokingly, as he admired the view across the square. We sat at the kitchen table, feasting on homemade pasta with truffles and talking late into the night, remembering our days in Paris 25 years ago when we did virtually the same thing, in more modest surroundings. Sipping a bottle of chilled Brouilly, talking to my old friends, I felt free and elated and lucky—exactly how I had felt when I first moved to Paris after college.

very day I sat and wrote and watched the cottony gray clouds gambol across the Parisian sky. It was hard to resist the life of the square. When I’d had enough of my own voice, I would grab the brass ring of keys and head out for a walk, exploring narrow streets I didn’t know, shopping for olive oil or a bottle of Brouilly on the Rue de Bretagne, taking pictures of the handsome weathered blue doors and cobblestoned courtyards along the Rue des Minimes, and marveling at the

DOWN IN THE PARK, LOVERS ON A BENCH EMBRACED, OBLIVIOUS TO THE RAINDROPS FALLING THROUGH THE LEAFY CANOPY way Parisian café owners provide customers on the terraces with neat plaid blankets to ward off the fall chill. By the end of my week at 23 Place des Vosges, the tops of the linden trees had begun to turn gold. On my last day I rose early to get a photo of the sun coming up over the square. Hélas, there was no sun, but a bluish-gray light settled over the trees, turning the curlicue wrought-iron lanterns into mysterious stick figures punctuating the square. I took one more walk around the arcade of arches and thought about the world Nikki had opened up for me by handing over her big brass key ring. Living at 23 Place des Vosges was a once-in-a-lifetime splurge. And yet, Paris was now ruined for me forever. How could I return to the life of a tourist in the great city on the Seine? How could I ever contemplate another view? Then I realized as I gazed over the linden trees that even as a visitor I would forever hold the image of the square in my imagination, along with the knowledge that my love of Paris comes from its inimitable juxtaposition of grandeur and intimacy. It was the best kind of souvenir. ✚ 23 Place des Vosges, Third Arr.; www. pavillondemadame.com; weekly rentals with maid €8,400 for one bedroom, €9,000 for two and €9,200 for three.

Romantic Rooms

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Made in the shade times two, at a Grand Hyatt Erawan i.sawan spa cottage. Clockwise from below: Soak in the view at Song Saa Resort & Spa; clifftop at Amanoi; a sea plane propels you to Beach House Iruveli; sleep well at The Farm in San Benito; the Rodman, an Aqua Voyage charter yacht.

LOOKING TO TURN UP THE HEAT ON YOUR NEXT TRIP? FROM SECRET CITY COTTAGES, A WELLNESS RETREAT AND A SECLUDED, EXCLUSIVE SEASCAPE, TO A YACHT OR EVEN ISLAND OF YOUR OWN, THESE ARE THE REGION’S MOST SEDUCTIVE SUITES. PLUS EXPERT IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE THE NEXT IDYLL EXTRA-APHRODISIACAL.

Infatuation Island

govvafushi, maldives sunbeds, umbrellas and hammocks all inviting you to pick your favorite magical spot to sun, or follow the best patch of shade. After a bespoke dinner in the fading light of the famous Maldivian sunset, you’ll go almost au naturel under the gentle light of battery-powered lamps and in the cool ocean winds (read: there is no electricity or airconditioning). Sprawl across your 2-meter circular bed in an open-air gazebo, with a view of the stars, the sea and the inky night sky stretching infinitely before you. If this island’s rocking, don’t come a-knocking. 96/332-1943; beachousecollection.com; Govvafushi private island US$1,100 per night for two.—m e r r i t t g u r l e y

The private views of a Water Villa.

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C O U R T E SY O F B E AC H H O U S E . O P P O S I T E : C O U R T E SY O F T H E FA R M I N S A N B E N I TO. P R E V I O U S PAG E S C LO C K W IS E F R O M T O P L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F T H E F A R M I N S A N B E N I T O ; C O U R T E S Y O F A Q U A V O YA G E ; C O U R T E S Y O F G R A N D H YAT T ER AWA N; C O U R T ESY O F SO N G SA A R ESO R T & S PA ; M O R GA N O M M ER; C O U R T ESY O F B E AC H H O US E I RU V EL I

Nothing says do not disturb like secreting away to a hidden island. From Beach House Iruveli—where the stilted Water Villas are decadently private —you’ll set sail for Govvafushi, a tiny private isle, and be left there to spend the night with your main squeeze in utter seclusion. Want to run laps around the 1-square-hectare beach in the buff? Go for it! Slightly more intimate endeavors in mind? Well, don’t worry about waking the neighbors—there aren’t any. The nearest human is a boat ride away from your personal playground, made all the more frolicsome by the pods of dolphins that regularly visit. Spy on them from any of the island’s stretches of beach; each is decked out with

The jungle shades a Narra Pool villa.

Living and Loving Well batangas, philippines

The golden-lace patterns the setting sun creates in the jade canopy of the jungle, with the soundtrack of the gentle rustling of leaves and harmony of birds, is best taken in with your chin nestled in your crossed forearms at the edge of your heated, hydro-jet 24-square-meter pool. Here on the San Benito ridge, there are no distractions, nothing superfluous, just nature, you and your partner. And a new Narra Pool villa at The Farm in San Benito combines with the resort’s philosophy to reprogram your chi. The Farm is famed for its many cleansing programs; worldclass spa that uses only natural, handmade products; yoga

and meditation classes; and signature vegan gourmet cuisine. (Tip: If you can’t fathom pasta without Parmesan, ask the waiter to sprinkle yours with the GM’s special shaved coconut.) Toast to your collective vim and vigor with biodynamic wine or organic craft beers on the veranda of your tropical-Asian villa. Surrounded by lush vegetation, each has an inviting king bed dressed in Quivera cotton sateen linens and a bathroom complete with a large tub and two private toilets—you know, so you can keep the mystery alive. 63-2/884-8073; thefarmatsan benito.com; doubles from P16,000.—s t e p h a n i e z u b i r i

Seductive Seclusion

vinh hy bay, vietnam prefer swimming laps, or holding hands, in your own 16-meter pool at Pavilion 17. This most private of rooms straddles the northwestern tip of the bluff, boasting views of a fishing village cove from the edge of your infinity pool and the basin of your big bathtub, and of islands and ocean from your front deck—and from your rainshower, which opens to the elements. Nudge each other awake in time for sunrise yoga in the sala floating in the lagoon, followed by a private Pilates class in the custom-built studio. After an evening of couple’s treatments in one of the outsize spa villas—complete with soaks in side-by-side stone tubs—the lantern-lit paths that wind through the resort make even the stroll home romantic. 84-68/377-0777; amanresorts. com; doubles from US$750.—j e n i n n e l e e - s t . j o h n

BAC HIR SA R EH @ LIT T L E O DYSS E Y

Snuggled into a paradisiacal promontory jutting out into the South China Sea, the newly opened Amanoi is, at a distance, indistinguishable from its jungly surrounds in Nui Chua National Park. From the gorgeous approach along a twisty cliff face, you have to peer closely, looking past the colossal boulders that seem propped on precipices as if placed there by giants, for a roof peak here or a pool edge there, to realize just how close you are to Eden. That sense of subtlety carries onto the grounds of the sprawling property, where secrets lie around every corner, where each of the 36 guest pavilions is different and cloistered from one another behind foliage and down hidden walkways. There are two resort-wide pools, one high on the hill summit and the other fronting the beach, but you might

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Pavilon 17â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pool rivals the resortâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cliff pool for its length and view.

A Boatload of Romance batam, indonesia

Breezy, open waters and an air of adventure; brilliant orange-red sunsets over the South China Sea… this is the stuff of liveaboard bonding. Charter a private yacht with Aqua Voyage and set sail from Singapore to the sparkling white, über-luxe Montigo Resort, where you can spend the day on the beach or in the thatched spa compound. In the evening, retreat to your yacht for a night being lulled by the waves. The sleek Sunseeker is especially popular because it comes with a kitchen for your personal chef— who can whip up local delicacies like gado gado (traditional Indonesian salad) or ayam panggang berempah (roasted chicken marinated in local herbs)—and a full entertainment system. It also has a super fly flybridge for sunbathing and stargazing, as well as plenty of heartfelt

Dive into the Sunseeker’s cushy bed.

deep-and-meaningfuls as you explore the islets of the surrounding Riau Archipelago. Dive in and snorkel hand-in-hand in the sparkling waters. You’d be forgiven for not wanting the adventure to end, so after a night (or two) at sea, go ahead and recall your inner landlubber and check in to one of Montigo’s plush, spacious pool villas with uninterrupted panoramic oceanic views. In this romantic haven that echoes your regal cruise, private chefs will sizzle up a barbecue on your villa’s sky terrace—definitely a one-up from the typical candlelit meal. Aqua Voyage: 65/6505-9373; aquavoyage.com; Sunseeker eight-hour slots from S$5,300; two-day, one-night “A Night to Remember” package S$9,800. Montigo Resort: 62-77/8776-8888; montigoresorts.com; doubles from S$330.—m e l a n i e l e e

C O U R T E S Y O F G R A N D H YAT T E R A W A N . O P P O S I T E : C O U R T E S Y O F A Q U A V O YA G E

Busy Bangkok lies just beyond the i.sawan spa cottages.

Urban Affairs

bangkok, thailand So you two need to head home via Bangkok, but aren’t quite ready to come down from the lovers’ high of the luxe time you just had on one of Thailand’s beautiful beaches? The Grand Hyatt Erawan’s i.sawan spa cottages will more than cushion the blow. Hidden in the corners of the hotel’s pool garden, these six villas comprise a true urban oasis you’d never guess is sitting right at the apex of one of the city’s busiest intersections. Who wants a skyline view when the emphasis here is on drowning out all that bustle? The efforts begin with the daily spa treatments for two included in the rate, and in the room: massage and scrub tables and a steam room are built-in. After the best kind of

couple’s therapy, your caregivers will discreetly draw you a rose-petal bath, light candles and skedaddle. Towel off and head out robed to your tree-lined patio; it’s a serene setting for a butler-served dinner or your complimentary cocktails or breakfast. Tell the overindulgent staff it’s a special occasion and prepare for sweet surprises, like a chocolate fountain with fresh strawberries or a freezer of homemade sorbets. Spoonfeed each other the icy mango by the hotel pool, to which you’ll enjoy front-door access. We can’t think of a better place to extend your vacation—or conjure a seductive staycation. 66-2/254-1234; bangkok.grandhyatt. com; spa cottages from Bt21,700.—j e n i n n e l e e - s t . j o h n T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

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The Love Doctors

Having checked into more than 1,000 hotels together, U.K.-based boutique travel experts Mr & Mrs Smith (mrandmrsmith.com) know romantic getaways. They founded the global travel-booking service and publisher a decade ago after one too many disappointingly chintzy weekends away in Blighty, and have been on a mission to upscale—and steam up— our vacations ever since. “First, leave nothing to chance. Spontaneity is all in the planning, so do things like book spa treatments in advance so you don’t get left the lunchtime slots. Make getting there as fun as the stay itself by hiring a super or vintage car,” the couple says. “Find out what the hotel can do for you, be that a private tasting in the wine cellar, a tour around the kitchen garden with the chef or an intimate meal somewhere in the grounds.”

Don’t be shy, even when it comes to demanding privacy: “Always tell the staff if it’s a special occasion and ask them to reserve a cozy corner in the restaurant,” says James, who advises that you take control of elements that may spoil an otherwise dreamy dinner. “I regularly ask restaurants to turn the lights or music down, and usually they’re fine with it.” While butler service in-room or elsewhere private can be satisfyingly indulgent, it can also be intrusive. Ask if your hotel has walkie-talkies—many do, the couple says—so you can be left alone and radio in for more drinks. Rather than an off-the-shelf romance package, organize a bespoke itinerary based on your personal tastes and interests, for example, a catamaran sail to a sandbar where you can picnic and snorkel. But it doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. “A great

Six Senses Ninh bottle of wine or Van Bay, above. candlelight is always seductive,” Opposite, clockwise from the pair adds. top left: Alila Despite their Villas Soori; at emphasis on The Upper House; pre-planning, the Cocoa Island by COMO; Song Saa couple stresses Resort & Spa. that some of the most romantic moments are pure serendipity. James discovered this when he proposed to Tamara in Reykjavik, where the two stayed at boutique bolt hole 101 Hotel Reykjavik (101hotel.is; doubles from kr39,900). “The big idea was that it would be under the Northern Lights… but there was a blizzard,” James recalls. “We went off-roading and ended up on this black lava beach; there was a break in the clouds that lit up the icebergs, and it seemed like the perfect moment to propose.”

COURTESY OF SIX SENSES

Boutique travel experts and founders of Mr & Mrs Smith, James Lohan and Tamara Heber-Percy gave Helen Dalley their prescriptions for passion

Mr & Mrs Smith’s Five Favorite Va-Va-Va-Rooms

C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T: C O U R T E S Y O F A L I L A ; C O U R T E S Y O F T H E U P P ER H OUS E; C OU R T ESY O F C O M O; C OU R T ESY O F SO N G SA A R ESO R T & S PA

OCEAN POOL VILLA Alila Villas Soori. Bali, Indonesia “The Ocean Pool villas here beat the Beach Pool villas because their elevated setting gives you a more jaw-dropping view of the sea. Design is sleekly modern and embraces the outdoors. The volcanic, black-sand beach is pristine and empty—very romantic. Interiors are sleek and contemporary, decorated with natural materials and a muted color scheme.” Banjar Dukuh, Desa Kelating, Kerambitan, Tabanan; 62-36/1894-6388; alilahotels.com/soori; doubles from US$779.

WATER VILLA Six Senses Ninh Van Bay. Nha Trang, Vietnam “The blissful Water villas are set right on the edge of the ocean, overlooking the crescent bay’s coral reef. Perfectly positioned for days spent sunbathing or snorkeling, these villas also have a private deck and plunge pool, and are accessed by a private hillside staircase.” Ninh Van Bay Ninh Hoa, Nha Trang; 84-5/8372-8222; sixsenses.com; doubles from US$1,235.

ONE BEDROOM VILLA Cocoa Island by COMO. Maldives

PENTHOUSE The Upper House. Hong Kong

“Plucked from dreams of desert-island dwelling, crystal-blue waters and swaying palms, these villas resemble Keralan boathouses—albeit ones graced with teak flooring and white-on-white interiors. They also have direct lagoon access, so you can take advantage of the world-class diving opportunities for unrivaled liquid thrills.” Makunufushi South Malé Atoll; 96/0664-1818; comohotels.com/ cocoaisland; doubles from US$1,600.

“A style-high haven in the heavens, The Upper House Penthouse lets you alternate between admiring what’s outside—the city skyline and Victoria Harbour— and what’s inside: freestanding limestone bath, tactile art and sculptures, and a finger-tingling collection of cultural books, technology and treats.” Pacific Place, 88, Queensway, Admiralty; 852/2918-1838; upperhouse.com; doubles from HK$4,500.

JUNGLE VILLA Song Saa Resort & Spa. Koh Rong Islands, Cambodia “Song Saa Private Island is an eco-luxe escape spread over a pair of pristine isles. These rain forest rooms feature magnificent ocean views, best enjoyed from the private pool. Choose between east-facing sunrise villas or west-facing sunset villas (both guarantee good Instagrams). Being green-minded has never been so glamorous.” Krong Preah Sihanouk; 85-52/3686-0360; songsaa.com; doubles from US$1,613. ✚

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L A I T N E S S E S â&#x20AC;&#x2122; R E V O L D O O F THE

The most delicious c it a da m s a c h s reveals y in America is bein g reinvent the 24 bes ed and rev t new rest italized. aurants in p hotogr a New York p h e d by n r ig o e d e w it t ht now. 100

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Bartender Charles Hardwick at Betony, in Midtown. OPPOSITE Steamed black bass with shellfish and bouillabaisse jus at Lafayette, in NoHo.

C Y

Clockwise from top left: Sipping cappuccinos at the cafĂŠ at Aska; an Asian-inspired play on pigs in a blanket, made with Chinese sausage, at Alder, in the East Village; the restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neon sign; dining at Estela; hay-baked pear served with bread sorbet at Aska, in Williamsburg; Aska chef Fredrik Berselius prepares dessert; pork with figs and farro at Estela, on Houston Street; the bar at Lafayette. Opposite from top left: Outside Lafayette, in Nolita; Charlie Bird chef and co-owner Ryan Hardy; Duck-egg spaghetti with sea urchin at Charlie Bird, in SoHo.

E R E H W E M N O Y S L K O O R B N I there’s a tented tiki bar next to a secret garden strung with party lights. Sunflowers sway on the roof of a repurposed shipping container and the icy drink machine is churning frozen apple cider with rum. It’s a bracing night, the first true chill of the season. Huddled laughter rises from low-lit picnic tables; logs crack and hiss in their campfire pits. On the stereo, a velvety voice is singing “I love Juanita, my sweetheart from Venezuela.” There are skateboards mounted above the bar. A framed portrait of Sanford & Son. A sticker that reads life . sausage . death . I order a plate of crisp pig’s ears and a plastic cup of the spiked cider slush. A plane flies overhead. I track it across the glassy, star-speckled sky and try to remember what flight delivered me here. When did I arrive? What happy country is this? But I didn’t take a plane at all. I hailed a yellow taxi (miraculously) outside my house, 5 kilometers away in another part of Brooklyn. Yet tonight this place—a scrappy garden party in the back of Roberta’s, the hipster-homesteader pizzeria in not-quite-post-wasteland Bushwick— feels enchantingly far from home. Maybe it’s because I’m alone and am long-conditioned to dining solo while reporting in other people’s cities. Or because I’ve got a toddler

and a five-month-old asleep in their beds and am simply deranged at the joy of being sprung for the night. Whatever the cause, this welcome buzz of disorientation is only heightened when I’m collected fireside and shown through a gate into the bright and capacious world-within-a-world that is Blanca, a tasting-menu-only atelier run by Roberta’s chef and co-owner, Carlo Mirarchi. Stepping from Roberta’s into Blanca is like finding a secret door in a bric-a-brac shop that leads to a space station—one designed by a rich bachelor with a thing for Electrolux combi ovens and swivelly captain’s chair stools in buttery old-baseball-glove leather. On an otherwise bare wall hangs the mounted head of a 300-kilo tuna. In its previous life, this space was an auto-body shop. Now it’s a psychic fix-it clinic for people with too many dining miles on them: hoist yourself up on a barstool and submit to a restorative, 20-plus-course culinary tune-up. T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

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P H O T O C R E D I T T E E K AY

TO T N A T S N O AC S I E R E H T F I ING N I D E H T S I D, T E I L , C K R A T O N Y E T W NE ST, A V S ’ E N E C S G N I V L O V E S ETERNALLY EVERYTHINGNES

P H O T O C R E D I T T E E K AY

Charlie Bird, on Sixth Avenue, downtown. Opposite: Chef-owner Wylie Dufresne (right) of Alder, with some of the kitchen crew.

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NYC EAT E HER NOW New York’s 24 best new restaurants— and the brilliant minds behind them.

THE AUTEURS-GONE-CASUAL ALDER Were it run by anyone else, Alder might be just another cool East Village joint in the modern mold (small plates; artisanal cider on tap; exposed beams). But this is the à la carte outpost of Wylie Dufresne (WD-50), where he and executive chef Jon Bignelli offer inspired reinventions of things-you-know: French-onion-soup rings; rye pasta with shaved pastrami.

157 Second Ave.; aldernyc.com; $70. THE ELM The boneless, fatty and deeply, movingly lamb-y roasted lamb neck with charredeggplant purée is reason enough to cross the river to Williamsburg, where the brooding Paul Liebrandt does his brainy thing at this accessible if slightly cold-feeling restaurant in the King & Grove hotel. 160 N. 12th St., Brooklyn; theelmnyc. com; $100.

THE INNOVATORS BL ANCA Carlo Mirarchi’s 20-odd-course menu is one of the most inventive and enjoyable in the city. 261 Moore St., Brooklyn; blancanyc. com; tasting menu US$195. ATERA A flurry of finely constructed tastes, served at an elegant counter in TriBeCa, from Mugaritz alum Matthew Lightner, whose food is serious but never pedantic. 77 Worth St.; ateranyc.com; tasting menu $150.

THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS NOMAD The second, looser-butstill-lovely opening from the genius pair behind Eleven Madison Park is famous for its truffleand-foie-stuffed chicken for two, but we like it best for chefowner Daniel Humm’s creative way with vegetables and the stylish embrace of the (many) dining rooms. 1170 Broadway; thenomadhotel.com; US$150.

THE LITTLE EMPIRES MONTMARTRE Gabriel Stulman goes old-school French— pâté grand-mère; coquilles St. Jacques with crème fraîche and Gruyère—in a sweet space in Chelsea. 158 Eighth Ave.; montmartrenyc. com; $110. CHEZ SARDINE This quasi-izakaya epitomizes the Stulman approach: keep it small and stylish, be nice, and offer plenty of well-named cocktails (like You and Me and 686 Dancin’ Fools).

183 W. 10th St.; chezsardine.com; $80. CARBONE Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi are at their suave best here, channeling memories of meaty, muscular red-sauce Italian. 181 Thompson St.; carbonenewyork.com; $140. ZZ’S CL AM BAR Torrisi and Carbone’s newest has great cocktails, astoundingly addictive roe toasts and an astronomical price tag. 169 Thompson St.; zzsclambar.com; $200.

POK POK NY Portland, Oregon’s Andy Ricker brings his authentic northern Thai cooking—laap pet isaan (chopped duck salad); Vietnamese fishsauce wings—to waterfront Brooklyn. 117 Columbia St., Brooklyn; pokpokny. com; $70 WHISKEY SODA LOUNGE NY Just next door, Ricker’s new bar is ideal for pre– or

post–Pok Pok drinks and salty-spicy snacks. 115 Columbia St., Brooklyn; whiskey sodalounge-ny.com; $50. MISSION CHINESE FOOD Oklahoma native turned San Francisco hipster hero Danny Bowein isn’t hung up on authenticity: he wears shorts with his chef’s jacket and cooks pastrami kung-pao style. Bowein’s brainobliteratingly spicy food is the most fun to be had on the Lower East Side in forever. 154 Orchard St.; missionchinese food.com; $60.

THE OENO-PRENEURS CHARLIE BIRD A tiny but lightflooded wedge of SoHo with an Italian-ish menu, boom-box art on the walls, and a buzzy, wine-soaked vibe, courtesy of sommelier Robert Bohr and chef Ryan Hardy. 5 King St.; charlie birdnyc.com; $120. PEARL & ASH Great wines, upscale bar food and rocking 80’s power-jams on the Bowery draw a fun, late-night food-industry crowd. Patrick Cappiello’s

wine list is fairly priced and full of cult finds, while Richard Kuo does assured takes on such classics as steak tartare. 220 Bowery; pearland ash.com; $100. ESTEL A Ignacio Mattos’s personality and particularity come through in every dish—nearly all of them hits—and Thomas Carter will help you find just the bottle you were seeking. 47 E. Houston St.; estelanyc.com; $80.

THE NEOCLASSICISTS L AFAYET TE A traditional French brasserie menu from Andrew Carmellini and a grand dining room by Roman & Williams make this the splashiest downtown opening of the year. 380 Lafayette St.; lafayetteny.com; $140. BETONY Eamon Rockey and Bryce Shuman dazzle midtown with grown-up glamour, polished service, and an amazing foie gras, studded with ham hock and served with black garlic and consommé. 41 W. 57th St.; betony-nyc.com; $130.

THE NORDICS ASK A Everything a serious Brooklyn restaurant should be: tiny (just 18 tables), thoughtful and tucked in back of a bar-cum–art gallery in Williamsburg. But Aska also has Swedish-born Fredrik Berselius, a chef with a truly personal take on the New Nordic

approach to food. 90 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn; askanyc. com; tasting menus from $79. LUKSUS A 26-seat Scandiinspired restaurant inside a Greenpoint beer bar, from Danish brewing phenom Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergspø and chef Daniel Burns (actually from Nova Scotia, but close enough), who has cooked at the Fat Duck and the Momofuku test kitchen (and formerly ran the pastry program at Noma, in Copenhagen). 615 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn; luksusnyc. com; tasting menu $95.

Blanca is a restaurant stripped of nearly every tiresome restaurant ritual: menu mulling, enforced server chitchat, all the shucking and jiving, French-inflected formality that was, until very recently, accepted as necessary for the procurement of a good meal. You make few decisions at Blanca beyond the decision to go or not to go. Dinner is a long-form, choreographed chef’s tasting menu and costs $195. It does not suit all moods or moments, and it is not for everyone. (Among those not accommodated: vegetarians, the gluten-intolerant, latecomers and chronic food-photographers.) But tonight—feeling exploratory, open to surprises—I feel it is very much for me. The meal starts with a tiny piece of wild kiwi set atop a delicate Marcona-almond “curd:” roasted, smoky almond milk that’s reduced with a bit of honey to a mousselike texture. Next, a house-cured prosciutto that melts meatily on my tongue. (Server: “And by ‘house-cured’ we mean in Carlo’s dad’s basement. Can’t do it here—that’d be illegal!”) A tangle of thinly sliced, nearly raw, just-seared Wagyu beef arrives with a brown kohlrabi broth of incredible smoky depth. Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting)” is playing loudly on the stereo. You’re not supposed to use your cell phone at Blanca, but I furtively type notes on mine as a record of the onslaught. What I write for this course is: Brown broth holy shit Salty deep rich yes yes

THE OTAKU ENABLERS K AJITSU Enlightened Japanese vegetarian cuisine comes at Ryota Ueshima’s serene temple. 125 E. 39th St.; kajitsunyc.com; tasting menus from $55. SUSHI NAK AZAWA Daisuke Nakazawa is an acolyte of Jiro Ono (star of Jiro Dreams of Sushi). That means long lines for the 10 seats at his counter, as well as exceptionally beautiful fish and rice. 23 Commerce St.; sushi nakazawa.com; tasting menu at counter $150.

THE BROOKLYN “IT” COUPLES NIGHTINGALE 9 Arkansas-born chef Robert Newton and partner Kerry Diamond brought enlightened Southern food (and cult fried chicken) to Carroll Gardens with Seersucker. Now they’re putting a Southern inflection on Vietnamese cuisine, inspired by their travels in Southeast Asia. 345 Smith St., Brooklyn; nightingale9.com; $60. REYNARD The married pair behind Diner and Marlow & Sons—which helped define rustic,

twee Williamsburg chic—recently opened this airy, Frenchinspired bistro in the Wythe Hotel. 80 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn; reynardnyc.com; $90. MARCO’S Francine Stephens and Andrew Feinberg go regional Italian (with great cocktails) in the exposed-brick space that formerly housed Franny’s, their beloved pizzeria (now relocated down the block). 295 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn; marcos brooklyn.com; $140.

Prices throughout are in US dollars, and in the guide are for two.

I call Mirarchi the next day to discuss the meal in more sober terms. “The broth is just vegetables,” he reports, to my sustained amazement. “Kohlrabi and some turnips. We caramelize them pretty hard, then cook it for hours and hours, until 20 liters gets cooked down to twelve bowls.” Musing over those many liters lovingly reduced to just a few unaccountably meaty spoonfuls, I am again transported. And not by accident. “The idea we had for the place,” Mirarchi says, “is that once you get comfortable and the meal starts to flow, you’ll forget where you are. It might not feel like New York, or even the United States.” He’s right, of course. Yet Blanca also feels very much like New York feels right now. Which is to say: like nowhere else in the world. When I got the assignment to eat my way around town, I didn’t have to pack a suitcase, but I did need to put away the baggage I brought to the subject, my old habits and outdated assumptions. I travel a lot, trying to divine truths about foreign places by the food I’m served there. Between trips, I cave to the great nesting urge to stay in, to cook T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

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for friends at home. Or I fall victim to the entropy of sticking to familiar places, restaurants I know well that satisfy but seldom surprise. If there is a constant to New York, it is the dining scene’s vast, tentacled, eternally evolving everythingness. I set out to tackle the monster, one meal at a time. What I found was a city more receptive to experimentation and quirky selfexpression than I’d remembered. A city that celebrates deliciousness in all its forms. To make sense of it, I narrowed my scope to places that opened in the past 18 months or so. I picked spots representative of what’s happening here, grouped like-minded and restaurateurs and chefs, and drew up a kind of taxonomy of tastemakers. (The full list appears on page 106.) 108

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Under the banner “The Innovators,” I’ve lumped Blanca’s Mirarchi in with brainy Matthew Lightner of Atera and the guys from NoMad and Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant that’s so committed to constant reinvention it almost counts as a new opening. “The Out-of-Towners”— Andy Ricker (Pok Pok NY and Whiskey Soda Lounge NY) and Danny Bowein (Mission Chinese Food)—get my and everyone else’s vote for most welcome newcomers: Ricker for his vibrant, regional Thai menu, imported from Portland, Oregon, and Bowein for his San Francisco– bred brand of stoner-surrealist Chinese-takeout remixes, like Sichuan catfish stew with Tennessee bacon and an incendiary kung pao pastrami that sets your mouth numb and your brain on fire but you still find yourself wanting more, more, more. In another camp are chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi and their business partner Jeff Zalaznick, who made a big splash with smallformat places, first at Torrisi, on Mulberry Street, and then next door at Parm, their ode to the great Italian American sandwich tradition.

Clockwise from top left: Foie gras with baked kale at Betony, on 57th Street; grazing at Brooklyn’s Whiskey Soda Lounge NY; the Blueberry cocktail, with 5 Island Rum and blueberry preserves, at ZZ’s Clam Bar, in the Village; sea urchin toast at ZZ’s; Betony general manager Eamon Rockey at the restaurant’s bar. Opposite: Thomas Waugh manning the bar at ZZ’s.

Last year they opened Carbone, a perfectly conjured tribute to the Italian red-sauce joints of our collective imagination. I’ve paired them with Gabriel Stulman, another sultan of the small-scale, who recently added two new joints (Chez Sardine and Montmartre) to his six-restaurant, West Village–centered Little Wisco syndicate. Little Wisco refers to the Madison, Wisconsin, alma mater of Stulman and many of his colleagues, but it also describes the kind of low-key Midwestern mind-set that Stulman pioneered here. I call these “The Little Empires” because they’re young and expansionminded, and are mapping out distinct pockets of downtown in their image, in much the same way Mario Batali and Keith McNally did a generation earlier. ONE NIGHT I MET UP WITH STULMAN, who wears a rakish, soft-brimmed hat and an inky black beard as thick as ermine fur. He looks a little like the comedian Aziz Ansari, if Ansari were Jewish and

of Moroccan descent and ate like Stulman. I’d arranged for him to take me out for a typically Stulmanesque evening. The night started with caviar toasts and cocktails (including the Japanese-whiskey-based “Cousin Scotty Fails His Driving Test”) at Chez Sardine, his diminutive, izakaya-ish supper club in a woodshuttered glass box on West 10th Street. Then we took a taxi down to Pearl & Ash, on the Bowery, which isn’t one of Stulman’s restaurants but is the kind of place people who run them like to come to when they get off work. We put ourselves in the hands of Patrick Cappiello—wine director, partner, obsessive collector of vintage rock T-shirts—who rewarded our trust with a mind-alteringly good bottle of

From left: An assortment of sushi (including hamachi with chicharrones) at Chez Sardine, in the West Village; owner Gabriel Stulman outside the restaurant; Yam plaa meuk, a salad of poached squid, chili and Chinese celery at Whiskey Soda Lounge NY.

Domaine du Closel, a Savennières from the Loire. We ate a tartare of hanger steak bound with spicy harissa, set over an orange smear of just-cooked egg yolks and scattered with cacao nibs and black lava salt. Then we polished off most of the rest of the menu, along with a second bottle (an ethereal 2002 Clos Roche Blanche Cuvée Gamay that Cappiello considers himself lucky to be able to secure a single case of each year but puts on his spectacular list for only $36 because that’s the kind of guy he is). Much later, our night ended with tongue tacos from a truck parked by Jeffrey’s Grocery (a Stulman restaurant), followed by sandwiches of duck confit and mayonnaisey gribiche, expertly improvised by Stulman in the kitchen of his bistro Fedora, long after closing time. What struck me about our outing—besides how good duck confit is with gribiche—is the fact that not long ago it simply couldn’t have happened in this city. Cappiello himself represents an interesting generational shift in the restaurant wine business. Along with Pearl & Ash, two of the year’s most exciting new openings have sommeliers as partners and driving forces: Charlie Bird, a narrow woody sliver of happiness on Sixth Avenue at King Street in SoHo opened by wine veteran Robert Bohr and chef Ryan Hardy; and Estela, a funky, warmhearted little spot above a dive bar on Houston Street, where Thomas Carter, late of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, pairs amazing wines with Ignacio Mattos’s freestyle cooking. “Wine is cool again!” Cappiello says.

And so is pretty much everything about Pearl & Ash, which draws a strong industry following for chef-partner Richard Kuo’s menu of elevated bar food, served in a kind of permanent party scene fueled by 80’s power ballads and Cappiello’s French-focused list of affordable treasures. “We selfishly built this place around ourselves,” Kuo says, noting that he, Cappiello and general manager Brendan McRill came up through what is still quaintly called “fine dining.” “There’s always been this stigma that a certain level of execution has to come with a big price tag. But there’s nothing stopping us from doing great food without charging a lot for it,” Kuo says. “Something new is definitely happening in this city—the idea that people can serve this level of food, stay focused enough to do it right, and still have fun.” Look at one of the things Kuo does right: a seemingly simple plate of bread and butter. The butter is whipped with rendered chicken fat and maple syrup—Kuo’s homage to fried chicken and waffles, his guilty pleasure. The bread is made from flour he smokes over hickory and applewood chips. “I got the idea from working with Paul Liebrandt at Corton,” Kuo tells me. “We did a pasta made with smoked flour and served it with truffles and beurre monté.” Corton recently closed, despite two Michelin stars and a loyal following, and Liebrandt—a moody English artiste with moody 80’s English-pop-star hair—crossed the East River to open the Elm, a slightly more accessible but still brainy restaurant in Williamsburg. But meanwhile, his smoked-flour technique survived, migrated to the Bowery, and met a schmaltzy butter inspired by chicken and waffles. You could write a whole graduate thesis on the mutability of culinary influence and the merging of high and low in this one $4 dish. Charlie Bird occupies a funny, shallow wedge of a space, feeling bigger inside than it could possibly seem when viewed from the street. And it pulls off the even bigger trick of being both an insider watering hole for high-stakes wine collectors and a cheerful neighborhood joint, with bright yellow banquettes and a brief but solid hit list of Italianinspired food (farro salad; long-stewed, tomatoey tripe; suckling pig with pepper mostarda).

Before joining the general migration to Brooklyn, I used to live down the block. I spent most of a recent evening at Charlie Bird lamenting that it hadn’t arrived earlier. Maybe I would’ve stayed. The drink coasters look like old LP record labels; the name is a hybrid tribute to Charlie Parker, early NYC hip-hop, and...it’s kind of a long story—you’d better ask Bohr to explain. The net result of wine guys going into business for themselves, Bohr says, is more interesting, better-priced wines for everyone. “When sommeliers open their own restaurants, they can make their lists much more personal than if they’re just working for someone else. You can build a list around what’s important to you,” Bohr says, noting a kindred spirit in Estela and Pearl & Ash. “Ten years ago, you could count on one hand the restaurants here that had full-time sommeliers,” Bohr says. “In five years I think you’ll have 30 former somms turned restaurateurs, rather than just a few of us.” “NEW YORK IS A HARD, AMBITIOUS, stubborn city. It commends its heroes and is tough on outside talent,” Jon Bignelli says, full of respect. Bignelli is the executive chef at Alder, Wylie Dufresne’s East Village avant-bistro, a more casual and approachable follow-up to his celebrated WD-50. Dufresne is a hero among chefs, Bignelli his trusted sidekick. Much of the food at Alder is his. Man and menu alike are an interesting mix of brawn and brains, engaging and funny. Pigs in a blanket are reimagined as Chinese sausages with Thai chili sauce and hot mustard in deep-fried Pepperidge Farm buns. The truth is, New Yorkers haven’t always been comfortable with envelope-pushing modernist cuisine. This isn’t Boise, but it isn’t quite Barcelona or Copenhagen or London either. Alder—like Liebrandt’s Elm—casts the auteur chef in a kinder, gentler light. “At the end of the day, food has to taste good. New York is absolutely a delicious city,” Bignelli says—as much a vow as an observation. ON THE SUBJECT OF DELICIOUSNESS AS ENDGAME, let us now discuss the trout-roe toast at ZZ’s Clam Bar, the newest entry from Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi. Full disclosure, it probably won’t make much sense written down, but let me try: a little round of blini-ish toast topped with bordello-red trout roe, truffle honey, and a flurry of pencil-shaving-thin black truffle. That’s all. Pure stickysweet-salty-fishy-earthy-funky sexiness, the thing is diabolically tasty, heartbreakingly expensive ($30) and instantly addictive. ZZ’s is a clam bar with a bouncer. It clocks in at a mere 14 seats. But where Blanca is airy and earnest, ZZ’s is dark, shrunken, seductive. It’s the Boom Boom Room in a broom closet. The bartender—spindly, lushly bearded Thomas Waugh—is costumed in a white dinner jacket with enormous peaked lapels. A goblet in the form of a golden pineapple is set down on one of the four marble-topped tables. Nobody here would flinch at the sight of an opium-tasting menu or a silver cart of flambéed monkey brains. ZZ’s is a frank expression of louche exceptionalism—not for the majority, by design; flattering and indulgent for the few lucky souls inside. And, like nearly everything dreamed up by the Carbone/Torrisi gang, it manages a cinematic, better-than-it-actually-was gloss on vintage New York glamour. I don’t know if I completely approve of the place, but I do know the trout roe is indulgently delicious. So are the sea-urchin toasts. And in my new role as collector and categorizer of New York tastes, I can’t stop now. So I go up the street to Carbone. Here you don’t so much walk to your table as float toward it—like Harvey Keitel in the famous dolly shot from Mean Streets—buoyed along by a back-slapping, winky,

welcome-back-great-to-see-you bonhomie (even if it’s your first time here). Maroon-tuxedoed captains laugh at your jokes and then make better ones. Spicy rigatoni vodka is the apotheosis of a thing I forgot was even a thing: perfect pasta, shellacked in a thin red sheen of spicy sauce, red-peppery and delicious. New York has always been a city of varied and immoderate pleasures. What’s evolved—what’s improved—is the erosion of the lines between low and high, thinky and kinky, faddish and fun. More than once I’ve found myself mentally meandering down Houston Street, wondering what Chef Mattos is up to that evening at Estela. The softly lit, loudly peopled railroad dining room is presided over by the aforementioned Carter, who wears a denim jacket inspired by French workers’ uniforms of the 1930’s and 40’s. There is a matzoh cracker on Estela’s menu that fairly begs for ironic quotation marks around it. Also listed are many small plates that require your server to explain how the menu works even though you probably know how the menu works. You may worry that you’ve seen this indie film before. But fear not: Estela is strange and compelling and good and sometimes great. All of this is due to the light hand and improvisational style of Mattos. The Uruguayan-born chef has cooked with grill master Francis Mallmann in Argentina, at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and, for a brief, interesting time, at Isa in Williamsburg. Carter characterizes Mattos’s food as “craveable,” which is probably as good a description as you’ll find for sui generis treasures like a mussel-escabeche toast splashed with cilantro juice or a deeply flavorful small rib eye with charred leeks and cardoons. Someone at my table referred to it as “food with sexy bed head.” Mattos tends to find a theme and then explore it, riffing according to his moods and market finds, so it’s possible to eat the “same” dish for several days running and never experience a repeat performance. (That matzoh is sometimes seen with anchovies, sometimes a soft, pallid brandade.) One night the steak is steeped in a sauce of melted Tallegio, marjoram and pounded anchovy. It’s a deep-think dish. Everyone at the table shuts up after it’s cut. “That was just intuitive, impulsive,” Mattos says nonchalantly when told of the lingering longing brought on by this thing—a dish he thought up on the day it was served, the result of stumbling across some nice cardoons. It contends with the giant strip loin at Blanca—long-charred over Japanese charcoal—for steak of the moment. And as much as any composed or celebrated dish, it can rekindle a crush on this fine, old, weird, ever-mutating city. ✚ T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E A S I A .C O M

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Japan’s high-tech capital has a varied cultural landscape full of futuristic skyscrapers, centuries-old temples, sophisticated hotels and enticing restaurants. Jennifer Flowers checks out the scene. Photographed by Tetsuya Miura

A salad of mixed greens with tomato and radish, served with a crushed plastic bottle and newspaper, at Jimbocho Den, in Tokyo’s Chiyoda district. Opposite: The view from room No. 4714 at Tokyo’s Park Hyatt hotel.

TOKYO SE A OF JAPAN

The lobby at Tokyo Station Hotel. Below: The Palace Lounge at Tokyo’s Palace Hotel.

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Lay of the Land Asakusa Catch a glimpse of old-time Tokyo at Asakusa’s seventh-century Senso-ji Temple and family-run artisans’ shops. Ebisu/Daikanyama The low-key cafés of these adjacent enclaves are an antidote to glitzy Roppongi. Ginza Top-end restaurants and depachikas (department store food halls) define the city’s entertainment area. Marunouchi The business district is home to Tokyo Station, the Imperial Palace, and several hotel chains. Roppongi This once-gritty nightlife hub has gone upscale, with urban developments such as Tokyo Midtown. Shibuya Tokyo’s shopping mecca swarms with tourists and trendsetters. Shinjuku In this central ward you’ll find the world’s busiest rail station and a warren of lively bars. Getting Around Taxis, though expensive, are great for navigating the city. The extensive subway system (tokyometro.jp) is also convenient.

Stay Our picks of Tokyo’s top hotels—each with a showstopping view. The Internationals MANDARIN ORIENTAL Natural light floods the atrium lobby on the top floor of this gleaming tower. We love the thoughtful details, from the washi-paper lamps to the kimono-inspired wall patterns. mandarinoriental.com; 58,000. PARK HYATT Even if you don’t check in here, drinks at the hotel’s New York Bar are a must. The 177 rooms, five restaurants and indoor pool all share stunning cityscape vistas. park.hyatt.com; 54,450. THE PENINSULA The Hong Kong–based hotel group brings its tech-savvy sensibility to the Ginza. Marble

bathrooms have built-in flat-screen TV’s, vanities are equipped with nail dryers and there are in-room VoIP phones. peninsula.com; 53,000. RITZ-CARLTON Crowning the Tokyo Midtown Tower complex, the Ritz puts guests in the heart of Roppongi. Guest rooms channel old-world glamour with mahogany desks and oversize armoires. ritzcarlton. com; 80,000. SHANGRI-LA At the 202-room Shangri-La, Chinese touches (gold-lacquered panels; silk embroidery) offset a more modern aesthetic (blond wood; statement chandeliers). shangri-la.com; 60,000.

The Locals CAPITOL TOKYU Overlooking the Hie Shrine, this Kengo Kuma–designed property is a quiet oasis in central Tokyo. capitol hoteltokyu.com; 44,000. HOTEL OKURA Understated Japanese style at the 52-year-old Hotel Okura. Don’t miss the on-site art museum, with more than 2,000 Buddhist works. hotelokura.co.jp; 34,000. IMPERIAL HOTEL This legendary hotel is known for its large business center and prime location near Hibiya Park. imperial hotel.co.jp; 47,320. NEW OTANI It doesn’t get more

authentic than the New Otani, with its 400-year-old garden, tea ceremonies and restaurant’s traditional teppanyaki cuisine. newotani.co.jp; 46,000. PALACE HOTEL Earthy elements such as gray aji stones at this 290-room property evoke the neighboring Imperial Palace. Ask for a balcony room facing the royal residence. palacehoteltokyo.com; 37,897. TOKYO STATION HOTEL Among the highlights at this revamped hotel, in Marunouchi: Edwardian architecture and sunlit rooms that look out on to Tokyo Station’s ornate plaster cupolas. tokyostation hotel.com; 33,500.

ON THE HORIZON In 2014, Amanresorts makes its Japan debut in central Otemachi; by summer, Hyatt’s Andaz brand will open in Toranomon. Come 2016, Hoshino Resorts will add an 84-room ryokan (inn), also in Otemachi.

Hotel prices are starting rates for double occupancy.

Shop

Four standouts in the style-obsessed city.

AQUVII With locations in Daikanyama and Jingumae, this offbeat shop is a souvenir-seeker’s dream, chock-full of unique finds such as brass necklaces made with tiny lightbulbs and tote bags in the shape of do not disturb signs. aquvii.com. FUJIYA The ubiquitous tenugui, or small cotton towel, is elevated to an art form at this third-generation store in Asakusa (whose customers often frame their purchases rather than use them). Dozens of beautiful patterns are created by hand; several were revived from the 18th century. 2-2-15 Asakusa; 81-3/3841-2283. TAKUMI You could spend hours browsing the Japanese folk crafts in Takumi, an intimate, two-story Ginza shop that has everything from ceramics and lacquerware to textiles and bamboo baskets. Look out for rustic Mashiko pottery and wooden kokeshi dolls. 8-4-2 Ginza; 81-3/3571-2017. XANADU TOKYO For a dose of edgy Tokyo street fashion, head to Tatsuro Motohashi’s boutique in Harajuku, which specializes in homegrown labels, including Tokyo’s Exist and the Osaka-based Roggykei. Best bets: eyelet lace vests and oversize leather clutches. xanadutokyo.jp.

Clockwise from top: Outside Aquvii; a Nick Needles wool coat at Xanadu; accessories from Aquvii.

See Do KABUKIZA THEATER Samurai showdowns, damsels in distress, spirited shouts from the audience— all in a day’s performance of Japanese dance drama. The country’s most famous Kabuki theater reopened in the Ginza last spring, following a three-year renovation. Watch an entire show or buy same-day balcony seats and catch a single act. shochiku.co.jp.

A temporary installation by Fumiko Kobayashi at the Mori Art Museum.

MORI ART MUSEUM Set in Roppongi’s Mori Tower, this museum is a hub for global contemporary talent, such as China’s controversial Ai Wei Wei and American video artist Bill Viola. Tickets include admission to the

A tour of Tokyo’s cultural and historical stops.

Tokyo City View observation deck—a 52-story-high outlook above the city. mori. art.museum. NEZU MUSEUM Architect Kengo Kuma’s airy new wing at Nezu Museum showcases Asian antiques from a vast private collection emphasizing Buddhist and tea-ceremony artifacts. There is also a moss-covered Japanese garden filled with teahouses, winding stone paths and maple-shaded koi ponds. nezu-muse.or.jp. OTA MEMORIAL MUSEUM OF ART The late Seizo Ota spent over half a century compiling

ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints. The more than 12,000 pieces, now housed in a diminutive gallery on a side street in Shibuya, represent such masters as Hokusai and Hiroshige—only about 100 are on display at any given time. ukiyoe-otamuse.jp. SENGAKU-JI TEMPLE This Zen Buddhist temple has a compelling past: in the early 18th century, 47 ronin (masterless samurai) avenged their lord’s death before committing hara-kiri. Here, their somber stone graves are well preserved, as is their armor in the small on-site museum. sengakuji. or.jp.

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TOKYO

Eat

The city’s white-hot culinary scene is heavy on just-caught seafood, complex flavors and plenty of innovation. GINZA HARUTAKA Takahashi Harutaka worked for 12 years under sushi master Jiro Ono before striking out on his own in 2006; his first restaurant, a 10- seat sushi-ya loved as much for its exceptional raw fish as for its laid-back vibe, has earned a loyal following among chefs. 81-3/ 3573-1144; 40,000. JIMBOCHO DEN For fun twists on classic kaiseki meals, head to Jimbocho Den, where Zaiyu Hasegawa blends authentic cooking techniques with playful presentations: Dentucky Fried Chicken is stuffed with sticky rice, while a mascarpone dessert, sprinkled with groundtea-leaf “dirt,” is served on a spade with a pair of gardening gloves. jimbochoden.com; prix fixe from 9,500.

KOZUE The 40th-floor restaurant at the Park Hyatt, in Shinjuku, is a lavish introduction to Japanese fine dining; a kimono-clad waitstaff serves chef Kenichiro Ooe’s simple yet refined dishes on handmade pottery. The changing tasting menu might include sea-urchin sashimi or Kanzaki beef. tokyo.park.hyatt.com; 30,000. MAISEN Inhabiting an old bathhouse in Aoyama, this popular chain’s flagship specializes in tonkatsu—pankobreaded pork cutlet that’s fried golden and drizzled with an addictive sweet-tart sauce. What to order: kurobuta (Berkshire pork), so tender you can cut it with a spoon. mai-sen.com; 4,000.

NAMIKIBASHI NAKAMURA It may be hard to find this stylish izakaya on a side street near Shibuya Station, but it’s worth the effort for the small plates and selection of sake. Try the sardineand-leek-topped tofu or get the omakase (chef’s choice) and let the cook work his magic. 81-3/6427-9580; 10,000. NARISAWA The imaginative dishes of Yoshihiro Narisawa, who trained under Joël Robuchon in France, draw a diverse crowd of Converse-clad Europeans and ladies who lunch. Seasonal courses such as grilled squid with nitrogentreated paprika pay homage to regional ingredients. narisawayoshihiro.com; prix fixe 21,000.

RANJATAI You’ll find the tastiest yakitori in town at this gem in Jimbo-cho, where prized hinai-jidori chicken is used to make everything from liver pâté to tender skewered thighs. Don’t miss the smoked duck and rich soft-boiled quail eggs. 81-3/3263-0596; 6,000. TSUKIJI MARKET Locals form long morning queues to sample market-fresh fish at Sushi Dai (tsukiji-sushidai.com), but there are plenty of other options. Enjoy sashimi on beds of hot rice at Nakaya (81-3/3541-0211), oyako donburi (chicken cooked with egg) at ToritŌ (81-3/35436525), or custard buns and croissants at nearby Orimine Bakers (oriminebakers.com).

Tokyo’s Best Noodles Hototogisu Devotees line up at this no-frills, eight-seat joint for its ramen—made with an intense pork- and clambased broth. The dish topped with thin slices of chashu pork and nori is a house specialty. 2-47-12 Hatagaya; 81-3/33734508. Kamachiku Noodles are made by hand each day at Kamachiku, set in a century-old restored granary in Yanesen. Order kamaage udon, served with an umami dipping sauce, then take a stroll to the Edo-era Nezu Shrine nearby. kamachiku.com. Teuchisoba Narutomi Masaaki Narutomi crafts his unique version out of pure buckwheat. Try the cold seiro soba and pair it with seasonal tempura. narutomi-soba.net. T+L TIP For a bespoke insider’s tour of Tokyo’s food scene, hire guide Yukari Sakamoto. foodsaketokyo. wordpress.com.

Restaurant prices are approximate rates for dinner for two, unless otherwise noted.

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y L A U R E N N A S S E F

From left: Shōyu-soba (soy-sauce-flavored soup) at Hototogisu; a view of the inner garden at Kamachiku.

From left: Behind the counter at Renge, in Shinjuku; inside Daikanyama T-Site bookstore; Meiji Jingu shrine’s central courtyard.

Local Take Three insiders share their favorite places in the city. YOSHIHIRO NARISAWA

LIMI YAMAMOTO

KOICHI NEZU

Chef, Narisawa

Designer, Limi Feu

Director, Nezu Museum

I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y L A U R E N N A S S E F

“Isetan (isetan.com), spread out over eight buildings in Shinjuku, is my favorite department store in Tokyo. I love the selection of international products (French macarons; German cakes) in its basement food hall. When I’m in the mood for seafood, I head to Ubuka (2-14 Araki-cho; 81-3/3356-7270), also in Shinjuku; it has delicious shrimp and crab at reasonable prices. For a late-night bite, Renge (2F, 3-12-1 Shinjuku; 81-3/3354-6776) stays open past midnight and serves tapas-style Cantonese classics such as siu mai dumplings and roast duck.”

Where to drink after dark

“In the Ginza, I always stop by Kyukyo-do (81-3/3571-4429) for stationery and Japanese washi paper. I especially love the scented versions and often slip them into envelopes when sending a personal letter. If I’m in need of a midday pick-me-up, my go-to spot is Toraya Karyo (torayagroup.co.jp), in Akasaka, for kakigori (shaved ice)—uji kintoki (green tea with sweet adzuki beans) is one of their better flavors. Daikanyama T-Site (tsite.jp/daikanyama), in the trendy Daikanyama district, is the city’s best bookstore, with more than 140,000 titles covering most genres.”

Ant ’n Bee Japan’s craft-beer scene is having a moment; at this cellar bar, you’ll find a wide variety of local brews on tap. Try the Shiga Kogen Miyama Blonde, made in Nagano. 5-1-5 Roppongi; 81-3/3478-1250.

Bar High Five There are no menus at this tiny space in the Ginza. Instead, the bartender recommends cocktails with telepathic precision: a Moscow Mule, say, chilled with diamond-shaped ice cubes. barhighfive.com.

“Shibuya’s iconic Meiji Jingu (meiji jingu.or.jp), a Shinto shrine near Harajuku Station in the Shibuya neighborhood, is the perfect place to learn about Japanese history and culture. My top places to eat are Sushi Zen (sushizen.co.jp), a restaurant group that originated in Hokkaido, and Ten-ichi (tenichi.co.jp), in the Ginza, where I get my tempura fix. After work, it’s great to unwind with a cocktail at the chic Lounge Bar Privé (palacehoteltokyo.com) on the Palace Hotel Tokyo’s sixth floor, in Marunouchi; order a martini and take in the skyline view.”

Bar Ishinohana Shinobu Ishigaki infuses classic drinks with fruit concoctions in his convivial Shibuya bar. The menu is extensive; when in doubt, order the signature Claudia martini. ishinohana.com.

Gen Yamamoto Yamamoto’s seasonal creations (such as peachand wasabi-infused shochu) use ingredients sourced from farmers across the country and are served on a 500-year-old Japanese oak counter. genyamamoto.jp.

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Last Look

Photographed by Marisa Marchitelli

The ‘Stans

Tajikistan While most Tajiks appear more Arab, there are natural redheads—like this little girl in Faizabad—who still carry the genetic markers of the Aryan travelers of the ancient Silk Road.

Kazakhstan A ski resort near Almaty, Shymbulak runs its chairlifts during off-season so visitors can hike the glaciers, and get a glimpse of China—which lies just beyond this mountain range.

Kyrgyzstan The Talas Valley is all wide-open landscapes and grass-fed cattle and horses. These sheep are herded by one of the nomadic Kyrgyzes who still live in yurts.

Uzbekistan

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Saffron, cinnamon and cardamon... inhale at Silk Road Teahouse in Bukhara. Turkish coffee and saffron tea comes with pistachio and rose bars, and sesame and honey chunks.