Urban Agenda Magazine - October/November 2016

October/November 2016 URBAN AGENDA MAGAZINE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER

BALLET BODIES:

2016

HEALTHY LIVING

BETTER FED THAN YOU THINK WOMEN AND THE WHITEHOUSE AT HOME WITH DESIGN DELICIOUS AUTUMN COLORS AUCTIONEER SEBASTIAN CLARKE

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COME FOR A TOUR THIS FALL! OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lynn Adams Smith CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jorge Naranjo ART DIRECTOR Jeffrey Edward Tryon GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Matthew DiFalco Erica Cardenas

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ellen Gilbert Anne Levin Stuart Mitchner Sarah Emily Gilbert Taylor Smith

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CONTENTS

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6

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Bal let B odies: B etter Fed Than You Think

Compassionate Dental Care

BY ANNE LEVI N

BY TAYLOR SMI TH

6

38

Delicious Autumn

BY EL LEN GI LBERT

Eat Your Way to Healthy Hair

12

BY TAYLOR SMI TH

At Home With Design

40

PHOTOS BY ANDREW W ILKI NSON

Dining Out Gluten-Free

22

Sebastian Clarke is the Affable Auctioneer

BY ANNE LEVI N

30

Male -Friend ly Spas In Northern NJ & NYC

OCT./NOV. 2016

BY SA RA H EMI LY GI LBERT

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BY TAYLOR SMI TH

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Calendar 42

Al l About The Wine

BY SAR AH EMI LY GI LBERT

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Wine Tasting Attire 52

Women and the Whitehouse

BY EL LEN GI LBERT

44

28

34

44 ———

A Well-Designed Life

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16

Urban B ooks— Crazy for Ceramics: A Marriage Mission

BY ST UART MI TCHNER

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52 Cover Image: Think dancers starve themselves? Think again.

The focus these days is on health rather than being skinny.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016

10/21/16 2:48:29 PM

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Ballet Bodies: Better Fed Than You Think

by anne levin

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(above) Misty Copeland in Le Corsaire. Her strong, muscular physique, once considered a hindrance, has turned into an asset. Photo by Gene Schiavone. (opposite) Fit and healthy: left to right, dancers Abigail Jorgenson, Jorina Kardhashi, Max Azaro, and Ben Jorgenson of Princeton Dance and Theater Studio. Photo by Horst Frankenberger. (below) Emily Wohl of Princeton Dance and Theater Studio. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

I

n a video that is part of a series on the New York City Ballet, dancers are asked to name their favorite foods.

“I want grease, and, like, salt,” says corps de ballet member Gretchen Smith, who munches on a chip. “I’ve gotta go with fried chicken, mac and cheese, and curry,” enthuses principal dancer Amar Ramasar.

“Cookies, sugar, chocolate,” announces petite principal dancer Megan Fairchild. Retired dancer Jenifer Ringer, who documented her struggles with weight in her autobiography Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet, confesses in the video to her passion for ice cream with peanut butter.

While it isn’t likely that these sleek creatures indulge themselves in their fat-laden favorites on a regular basis, the video’s message is clear: Dancers love to eat. And these days, it seems, they are more encouraged to do so—within reason.

In professional dance companies and ballet schools, the emphasis is on being healthy, fit, and strong, rather than waiflike. Yes, dancers have to be slim, and the women light enough to lift. But protruding bones and concave physiques are out. Cross-training is in. Dancers swim laps, run on treadmills, and do Pilates. Ballet companies have physical therapists on staff for on-the-spot treatment of the aches and pains that, left untreated, can lead to injury.

Consider the case of Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theatre dancer who was the first woman of color to be named a principal dancer. In the reams of publicity surrounding her rise to the top, race was not the only focus. Copeland’s naturally sinewy body, originally considered a detriment to her career, has turned into an asset. Her striking musculature is the focus of an ad campaign for Under Armor underwear. And she stars in a television commercial for the health benefits of Oikos yogurt.

Back in the days when choreographer George Balanchine was revolutionizing ballet, many aspiring dancers were nearly starving themselves in an effort to attain his reed-thin ideal. Risa Kaplowitz, co-founder and director of Princeton Dance and Theater Studio and artistic director of Princeton Youth Ballet, recalls weekly weigh-ins by her ballet teacher when she was a young student.

“It was mortifying to have the scale go up in front of my friends,” she recalls.

“In order to avoid such an embarrassment, I became one of those young dancers who suffered from an eating disorder.”

Thankfully, Kaplowitz continues, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. “The trend these days in ballet is to be fit and strong rather than waif thin,” she says. “Today’s ballet companies require much more stamina and high level skills than in the past, and a ballet dancer simply would not survive physically in a company unless she is eating enough. Of course, a ballerina must still be able to be lifted by her male partner and body lines are an important aspect of the art form, so excess weight is still not tolerated well. But the good news is that dancers are expected to be healthy.”

Christine Taylor, director of the North Jersey School of the Arts and the New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet in Hackettstown, affirms that proper nutrition is a focus for today’s dancers.

“But I don’t agree with the perception that a dancer’s body is an athletic body,” she says. “One of the things that is so amazing about a ballet dancer is the long, lean look. An athletic body moves in a different way. When muscles are over-developed, they don’t move in the same way.”

Taylor isn’t afraid to let students know that taking off some weight will help their careers. “When we have a dancer who is overweight, we tell them to put away the cookies and start eating correctly,” she says. “If you’re a wrestler, what does the coach say? I think that in general, society today is more aware of healthy living. And we do have a nutritionist who comes in and gives lectures to our company and school. It is very important to know about proper nutrition.”

Douglas Martin, artistic director of New Jersey’s American Repertory Ballet, has his own theory about why dancers’ bodies appear to have more meat on them than in years past. A former football player who was a member of The Joffrey Ballet in the 1980s, Martin credits the artistic vision of that company’s late artistic director Robert Joffrey. “I think this is evolving rather than randomly happening,” Martin says. “Mr. Joffrey put an emphasis on dancers’ physiques in a slightly different way from what the dance world, especially in New York, had seen. He wanted the very best dancers he could get his hands on. There were certainly Joffrey icons who didn’t have that

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Midleap: Jacopo Jannelli of American Repertory Ballet. Photo by Richard Termine. (opposite) Lithe and limber: Nanako Yamamoto of American Repertory Ballet, in a high arabesque.

Photo by Leighton Chen.

‘perfect’ body. And this facilitated an understanding of what ballet could do, they’re going to take it to the next level. A lot of them eat really well, and without those ‘perfect’ bodies.” they make sure they’re getting good food. Most people don’t realize that Martin also believes that the AIDS crisis, which saw the death of several dancers can eat big meals. Many of them eat quite well, because they’re ballet choreographers, allowed some known more for contemporary dance— working really hard.”

Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris among them—to get a foothold in classical In a recent issue of the magazine Coveteur, several dancers detailed ballet. “Contemporary dance bodies tend to be different from the iconic what they eat in a day. New York City Ballet’s Megan Fairchild said she starts ballet bodies. So it was no longer about sleek, long lines,” he says. “The look her day with an English muffin with goat cheese, prosciutto, sautéed spinach began to change.” and two poached eggs with a banana and coffee (with milk). Her fellow That said, American Repertory Ballet and its affiliated Princeton Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns revealed late-night, post-performance meals School take nutrition seriously. “We try to help them of filet mignon or honey-butter roasted chicken, and think about how to take care of their bodies,” Martin pasta if she knows she has a lot of rehearsals and says. “When I see a girl getting too thin, I stop her. performances the following day.

We do talk about it. Aesthetic value is important, Gretchen Smith eats an avocado every day, and but you have to do it by using your brain and having doesn’t deny herself during a grueling schedule of a good diet.” class, rehearsals, and performances. A sausage, egg American Ballet Theatre has had physical and cheese sandwich, a BLT, and Mexican food might therapist Julie Daugherty on staff for the past be part of her daily intake. And all three women decade. These days, she says, the company’s dancers include dark chocolate in their diet. are well educated about eating healthily and taking Ballet being ballet, the push to be thin remains. care of their bodies. That means augmenting the Professional companies and schools just try to keep daily ballet class. “They see that in order to jump it within reason. “Some dancers just have issues,” higher and turn better, they have to do more,” Daugherty says. “Even if it is not full-blown anorexia, Daugherty says. “They follow a sports model a little which we haven’t had in our company, there is still bit more than they did before. A part of that is cross some disordered eating. We worry about it. We have training. We have a gym here and they use it all the a program in our school, and we screen them yearly time. They’re in here doing Pilates type stuff, lifting to check that they’re growing and that the girls are weights, and doing cardio. Part of what they see is American Repertory Ballet’s Mattia Pallozzi. Photo by getting their periods. It’s still out there. But there that in order to reach higher and higher levels, they Leighton Chen. are plenty more healthy dancers.” have to add to what they did before.”

Martin says American Repertory Ballet rarely encounters a dancer with At the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and regional a full-blown eating disorder. “It is very unusual these days,” he says. “The companies, dancers of today are better educated on taking care of their information in general, while it still leaves a lot to be desired, is getting bodies. “You hear them talking about juicing, going vegan, or vegetarian, better and better. It’s not so much about being thin. It’s about learning but the main thing is they want to eat healthy,” Daugherty says. “It seems to maintain the weight you want as a dancer and doing it in a healthy like this movement is happening also in the general population. But dancers manner.” take it to a further extreme. These guys have amazing bodies already, and

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Delicious Autumn by ellen gilbert

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

— George Eliot Reader advisory: This article will not provide the last word in what to wear, cook, or how to decorate your house this fall. It. turns out that there are many, many opinions about what is au courant for every aspect of our lives (all year round, actually).

This may be a disappointment for those needing guidance, but free spirits may consider this conclusion a boon.

Blues and Spicy Mustard “Fall colors” are traditionally associated with the reds, oranges, and yellows of changing leaves, pumpkins, and crisp apples.

But maybe not.

“The desire for tranquility, strength, and optimism have inspired a Fall 2016 color palette that is led by the Blue family,” declares Pantone’s’ Color Institute, which is “devoted to the study [of] how color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions.” A research and information center that “shares its expertise with professionals in a variety of industries including fashion, commercial/industrial, contract and interior design, graphic arts, advertising, film and education,” the Pantone institute “has considerable name recognition, and is used as a resource by the world’s most influential media.”

Along with “anchoring earth tones,” Pantone suggests you try “exuberant pops of vibrant colors also appear throughout the collections.

Transcending gender, these unexpectedly vivacious colors in our Fall 2016 palette act as playful but structured departures from your more typical fall shades.” Leatrice Eiseman, the Institute’s Executive Director, points out that for this fall, “Spicy Mustard Yellows suggest a touch of the exotic.”

The Power of White

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image courtesy of shutterstock.com

New York-based interior designer Jill Jurgensen’s focus is on creating homes that look good in any season. In her private practice and her job as a consultant to Janovic/Benjamin Moore, she’s more enthusiastic about “gentle whites” in every season.

Indeed, Benjamin Moore has declared white the color of the year, but not just any white; there are over 250 whites in the current catalogue.

“White has always been a hugely important color in architecture,” says a Moore video tribute to white. “It is able to exhibit the shadows; the darks, the lights; to help us appreciate the forum of the shape itself.

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“White is transcendent, timeless, its versatility unrivaled,” says Benjamin Moore Creative Director Ellen O’Neill. “From weathered wainscoting to crisp canvas shades, porcelain tile to picket fences, white is everywhere in every form.”

Jurgensen agrees with the philosophy that one should “never underestimate the power of pristine.

White can be art gallery modern, country house classic or spring flower romantic.”

images courtesy of cooper hewitt museum

“White doesn’t go in and out of style,” the video suggests. “It can be elevated to a design tool. Once you start to see the nuances of the color, the look is very elegant, very refined, and very deliberate,“ the video continues.

The video ends with a touch of poetry, hailing white as “the silent hero.”

“Shades of the Dead” FashionTrendsetter.com’s take on this autumn’s color preferences has a decidedly intentional edge. “Our main inspiration has driven from one of the symbols of Halloween; the jack-o’-lanterns –representing the souls of the dead.” This “online fashion and color forecasting, trend reporting and news e-zine” is keen on “warm hues of pumpkin orange,” as well as reds and yellows accompanied by “the color codes of other inspirational items such as candy apples, caramel corn, novelty candy – shaped like skulls and bats.” The chills continue: “the dark side of the night has the signature hues on our palettes with purples, browns and deep sunset hues.”

THE IMMERSION ROOM AT THE COOPER HEWITT MUSEUM IN MANHATTAN.

What to Wear

Apple Days

The “Fashion Snoops” at ConnectFashion.com identify six key palettes for the coming months.

“Terrain, saturated earth colors make the most influential mark, notably due to the comeback of brown tones. Frontier neutrals are notably darker than before,” they say, while Impulse offers a vibrant palette of brights” and mystery offers jewel tones, with burgundy and cyan at the forefront.” It is good to be reassured that “nostalgia mid-tones are decidedly more vibrant.”

Those longing for more traditional autumnal hues and experiences will be reassured by the continued existence of places like Princeton’s venerable Terhune Orchards. While seasonal fruit is available all year-round, fall is a bonanza for Terhune and other local farm stands where bright orange pumpkins, many-colored gourds, and an amazing variety of apples are in abundance. Keep in mind that September is the best month for Gala, JonaMac, Jonathan, McIntosh, Liberty, and Red and Golden Delicious varieties.

Stayman Winesap, Braeburn, Cameo, Sun Crisp, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady apples are in their prime in October.

In case you were wondering about the Fashion Snoops’ use of the word “terrain,” there’s an effort at clarification: “as the name implies, terrain yields a complete palette of saturated earth tones,” with brown making a “major comeback,” along with and warmer tones like cognac and coppertone.

Keep in mind that “both camel and toffee are key to the Terrain palette, positioned as influential outerwear colors,” and that “marigold yellow and red rust add a spice component.” Oh, and one last thing: “greens are also leveraged, from an olive base to light pea.”

If all this is too confusing, it’s reassuring to know that Stylecaster.com has declared “the biggest trend” observed during Fashion Week in New York City recently “appeared to be not really paying attention to the season at all. Blame it on the exceptionally warm weather most of the U.S. faced this winter, but nearly every designer presented fall collections that felt springlike in nature—slinky slip dresses, billowy off-theshoulder tops, florals, and strapless tops.”

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Interactive For a hands-on experience with colors in any season, the Immersion Room at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in Manhattan offers what it touts as “a unique experience.” Using a “Pen,” viewers can “select wallpapers from the Museum’s permanent collection and see them projected on the walls from floor to ceiling,” making for “a vibrant, impactful, immersive experience.” Visitors “can even play designer by creating your own designs, or just stand back and watch as the wallpapers unfold across the room.”

More than “just entertainment,” the Immersion Room provides “the first opportunity to discover Cooper Hewitt’s wallcoverings as they were intended to be viewed,” we’re told. Wallpaper highlights include a damask-style sidewall design

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images courtesy of cooper hewitt museum; shutterstock.com

based online site that enables viewers to find representative colors of many objects in their collections. Old artifacts collide with new technology as museum curators explain how the colors included on this website were by “robotic eye machines” that scoured each image in “small chunks” to create color averages. These were then “harvested and ‘snapped.’” A click on the color “Indian red,” for example, yields Dyer’s RecordBook (USA), from the Museum’s Textiles Collection made of cardboard, paper and wood by the Old Pacific Print Works in 1870; there are 207 images of this object.

called “City Park” (2007) that contains “strikingly” modern imagery, including a fire hydrant, parking meter, pigeons and rats; a 1928 sidewall design called “Sahara” that depicts mounds of desert sand interspersed with camel caravans; a fuzzy flocked op art sidewall called “Razzamatazz,” as well as sidewall design entitled “Hunt Trophy and Floral Arabesque” (ca. 1785), acquired by founding Cooper Hewitt collectors Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt.

If a trip into Manhattan isn’t on your schedule, the Cooper Hewitt also has an interactive, color-

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beets and potatoes.” It was Irish settlers in the United States who found out “that pumpkins worked even better.” In a starred review, Kirkus described Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn as “one of the most comprehensive books about autumn available for kids.” Goldstone, we are told, enjoys two autumns a year: the first in May, in Buenos Aires and the second in October, in New York City. Not exactly Eliot’s “successive autumns,” but still a pretty good deal.

The folks at Benjamin Moore will be glad to learn that the Cooper Hewitt has 1,149 objects that overlap with the color “white.” These include a Panton Stacking Side Chair, designed in 1960 and manufactured by the Herman Miller Furniture Company and Vitra AG. in 1972 using injection molded thermoplastic.

Children’s books For basic, color-full Fall facts, there’s nothing like children’s books with simple names like Colors of Fall, in which authors like Laura Purdie Salas report that a jack-o’lantern isn’t just an orange pumpkin with a face carved into it, but that “in ancient Ireland, people used to carve turnips,

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images courtesy of shutterstock.com; erica cardenas

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At Home With Design Perhaps nothing is more representative of interior designers than their homes and studios.

In addition to being a personal haven, it acts as a blank canvas for creativity. For our interior designer photo series, Urban Agenda Magazine got the opportunity to peek inside the homes of some of the areas most respected interior designers. Here, they share their design aesthetic, personal mottos, career highlights, and more.

Photos by Andrew Wilkinson

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“ Only connect!”

– Miram Silver Verga & Hillary Kaplan

Miriam Silver Verga & Hillary Kaplan, Owners/Lead Designers Mimi and Hill Design Studio 335 Canterbury Road, Westfield, NJ 908.403.6169 (M) | 908.531.0013 (H) mimiandhill.com Mimi and Hill is a full service design firm that works closely with clients to create considered environments, whether they are individual rooms or whole house conceptions.

Describe your design aesthetic in three words: Sophisticated, authentic, inviting.

What is your favorite room in a home?

Our favorite room is equally balanced between form and function. We love to problem solve and to truly get to know our clientele. Mimi and Hill’s rooms inspire connection, whether that comes from maximizing the seating in a living room so hosts can comfortably fit crowds, or an intimate connection transpires because a room speaks to a client’s deepest sense of themselves.

Our favorite spaces inspire people to share life’s precious moments.

Finish this sentence: Every room needs—Curated soul. Sometimes that is found in vintage objects that speak to a person’s heritage or past, sometimes it is represented in specially curated art, or perhaps it is in globally inspired pieces that remind our clients of their favorite trips or family far away.

What inspires your designs?

Our design is primarily inspired by each other. We are the ying to the other’s yang, and our spaces speak to that constant push and pull and the perfect balance that ensues. The magic that comes into play when old/new, soft/hard/ shiny/textural, open/intimate are considered and perfectly balanced is inspiring to us. We are also inspired by our clients’ desire to live in homes that perfectly represent them. Lastly, we are inspired by our travels, most often taken together. They continue to remind us of our global position and how others solve the problem of how to live best in their spaces.

What has been your career highlight thus far?

Our career highlight has been creating homes for clients who are far from their origins. We completed a home in St. John and Puerto Rico. We were inspired to create a new way of living in those environments, and we designed homes that were not only unique to the families living there, but representative of the geography around them. It was especially challenging to complete an entire home in St. John where every last dish, napkin ring and pillow had to be sent there by our team. The only items for sale on the island are found in the small grocery stores. Although these homes were a challenge, they continue to be one of our highlights.

Our personal motto, “Only connect!” comes from the great novel, Howard’s End, where one of the protagonists becomes impassioned with the phrase.

Among the expression’s meanings is the call to unite opposing elements within each person, to carve out balance. But it is also a call to put our greatest energy into personal relationships, even as our worlds become bigger. Not only are we passionate designers, but we also believe that our best rooms allow people to connect with each other and their environments in a way that corresponds with how they want to live their own beautiful story.

As the saying goes, two heads are better than one, and so is the case for Mimi and Hill. The duo uses their

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combined backgrounds in fashion design and interior design publishing to take spaces to the next level. Not only does that level incorporate curated decorations, architectural finishes, and fabrics, but also emotion.

Miriam and Hillary, who call themselves, “style diviners and family soothsayers,” capture the essence of their clients in their designs. As they explain below, that gift is rooted in connection.

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Elizabeth Guest, Principal/Owner Elizabeth Guest Interiors, LLC 908.236.0503 | elizabethguestinteriors.com Elizabeth Guest Interiors is a high-end interior design firm that provides a customized, individualized approach to each project ranging from hourly consultations to complete project management and implementation.

Describe your design aesthetic in three words: Classic, eclectic, and global-chic.

What is your favorite room in a home? The main living area—call it a great room, family room, living room—the space that is most often used by everyone in a family, including pets.

Complete this sentence: Every room needs—That unique piece that conveys the owner’s individuality and point of view.

What inspires your designs? I am inspired by so many different visual references—art, nature, gardens, travel to different countries and locations. The act of seeing and absorbing everything around me can be like falling down a rabbit hole—there is an endless stream of things to really LOOK at and absorb that trigger my imagination and will cue me to make a mental ‘file.’

What has been your career highlight thus far?

I was one of the designer’s selected to create a room in the prestigious ‘Mansion in May’ 2014 designer show house that took place at the Blairsden Mansion in Gladstone, NJ. We had over 33,000 visitors in one month and raised over $2,000,000 for the Goryeb Children’s Hospital, Morristown Medical Center.

Guest seeks to create a layered room with depth of design when undertaking a project. Her rooms achieve balance and symmetry while mixing fabrics, textures, and finishes. The resultant space artfully juxtaposes old and new for modern livability. Her late motherin-law and style icon, C.Z. Guest, largely influences Elizabeth’s hybrid design aesthetic.

“She had impeccable taste with homes,” says Elizabeth. “They were the ultimate blend of glamour, chic, and comfort. I absorbed so much of that over the years spent with her, and that same aesthetic has infused my work today.” C.Z.’s influence continues in the overall brand of Elizabeth’s design firm, which she explains below: “Elizabeth Guest Interiors delivers classic luxury and comfort with a modern, global vision. Every project is custom tailored and designed to reflect each unique client’s specific story and wishes. I love seeing a client’s enjoyment and use of a finished space that they may not have visualized for themselves. As the saying goes, ‘Give them what they don’t know they wanted!’”

“ My personal motto is ‘Beautiful living…with fine design.’ My firm’s goal is to make beauty and style a part of everyday living: to give my clients environments that are useful and functional, and infuse them with a luxe-attitude and comfort.”

— Elizabeth Guest 24

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Robert Jennings, Owner/ Interior Designer & Decorator Robert Jennings Design, LLC New Hope, PA | 908.442.9437 robertjenningsdesign.com http://bit.ly/2cm8pbp Robert Jennings Design is an interior design firm specializing in complete home transformations.

Projects range from new build homes and entire house renovations to single room furniture plans.

Describe your design aesthetic in three words: Functional, timeless, captivating.

What is your favorite room in a home? The kitchen. It really is the heart of the home.

Finish this sentence: Every room needs—To be welllived-in and enjoyed.

What inspires your design? The client, architecture, and natural surroundings.

What has been your career highlight thus far?

I would have to say my project called Helm in Mantoloking, NJ. Under my sole direction, I renovated a completely dated house into a warm welcoming getaway where the true potential of the home was realized. I finished the whole house renovation in a record four months to have it ready for a wedding shower. The home was complete for six weeks before Hurricane Sandy hit and flooded the house with five

inches of water. I had to do it again! I did everything in the home: the design, furniture, finish selections, landscaping and pool, down to the silverware and dishes. I even had the refrigerator stocked and directed the caterers to set up the party. The client was blown away when they arrived; I was ready for the emergency room.

As is evident in his retelling of the tumultuous design project, Helm, Jennings is relentlessly committed to any endeavor. Rated a pro-level designer on the community interior design website, Houzz, he has received praise for both his thoughtful nature and his thoughtful designs. After having their 35-year-old Colonial transformed by Jennings, one client wrote on Houzz: “Robert has incredible vision, wonderful communication skills and is a true design professional…But [his] skills do not stop there…he is incredibly kind and honest.”

In addition to his design-savvy, Jennings has a knack for working with realtors, contractors, and any other intermediary. This, paired with his worldly sensibilities and penchant for renovating outdated homes, makes his designs memorable.

I have had the incredible opportunity to live and travel extensively through Europe, Japan, and India, which has greatly influenced my inspiration in design. I love the experience of creating a customized and personal home through my unique relationships with my clients and contractors.

– Robert Jennings october/november 2016

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“ Form follows function.

A space must be functional to suit the homeowner’s way of living.”

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URBAN BOOKS

Crazy for Ceramics: A Marriage Mission

by Stuart Mitchner

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dmund De Waal’s The Pot Book is the most recent in a long marriage’s succession of birthday, Christmas, and anniversary gifts inspired by my wife’s fondness for all things Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Arts and Crafts, with ceramics at the top of the list. Another book I’ve got my eye on is related to the recent Princeton University Art Museum exhibit Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise, which my wife enthused about after a visit a few months back. It makes some kind of serendipitous sense that our arrival in Princeton some 41 years ago coincided with the University Museum’s landmark exhibit devoted to the American Arts and Crafts Movement. In fact, the first piece we furnished our Princeton apartment with was a Mission desk we found at a flea market.

David Rago’s shop was a good source, particularly when it was still located in downtown Lambertville and Rago’s wife, Suzanne Perrault, was there to help me make the right choice, which, given the state of our finances, was usually something relatively affordable, like a tile or a book. Since quality pottery can run from the hundreds to the many thousands uness you’re very very lucky, a book chock full of brilliant images like the Antique Trader Pottery & Porcelain Ceramics Price Guide, with an introduction by Rago, is a good default option.

Of course the appeal of antique shops and flea markets is the possibility of finding something rare. One such find on the occasion of our first Christmas turned up in an Ann Arbor shop; it had some literary charisma, being an antique plate in the Charles Dickens series made by Adams (“Est 1657”), featuring an elaborately jumbled Dickensian illustration from The Old Curiosity Shop. After decades of exploring, only a few pieces from the Dickens series ever surfaced again, none of them during visits to the Tomato Factory in Hopewell or the Lambertville Golden Nugget flea market. For a time I had to make do with humbler items like Fiestaware, one anniversary quest for Fiesta butter dishes in hard to find colors taking me all the way to a shop in Mullica Hill.

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THE CHARM OF BIZARRE At a Bath antique market on our last full day in the U.K. when we had very little spending money, my wife found the piece that remains the crown jewel of her collection. When she saw the bright, boldly designed bowl with the magic words “Hand-Painted Bizarre by Clarice Cliff” on the back, it was all over. The price was £110. “Impossible,” I said. “We can do it,” she said, having tucked away some extra cash unbekownst to me. I tried to talk her out of it, but my words fell, as they say, on deaf ears. I realize now that it was a moment of truth in our relationship, an existential coming to terms with the fact that beauty is forever and money is cosmically irrelevant.

So began an education. If you’re shopping three times a year for someone whose taste you’ve come to trust, it’s a class in aesthetics taught by your better half. And nothing she’s ever fixed her sights on has charmed and disarmed me as much as the work bearing the name of “this determined yet mysterious woman,” in the words of Leonard Griffin’s introduction to The Rich Designs of Clarice Cliff (Rich Designs Ltd). Says Griffin, “Even if she had not covered them with so much jazzy color, just the shapes of her teapots, vases, and fancies are themselves a celebration of imagination let loose.”

According to another Griffin book, Taking Tea with Clarice Cliff (Pavilion), she was influenced by two folios of vividly colored pochoir prints by French artist Edouard Benedictus whose “brave use of color was something she took to heart.” You can see online that she more than took it to heart, she reimagined it into English countryside settings both familiar and surreal, whimsical and cozy, where storybook cottages sit on storybook hills with oranges and blacks and blues as bold and bright as colors seemed in childhood and placed with a child’s disregard for reality’s logic.

Judging from the auction prices online, the bowl my wife found in Bath for $140 U.S. in 1987 would sell for thousands now (the most paid for a single

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piece by Cliff appears to have been £39,500, in 2004). A July 9, 1999 article in the New York Times with a silly head (“Jolly Pots in Hot Colors Are Back”) suggests that Mick Jagger “helped put Cliff back on the radar screen” when he bought a gaily colored Age of Jazz centerpiece she designed.

ENJOYING TALAVARA All that remains of our Fiestaware is a $20 replica of the butter dish I ventured to Mullica Hill for (the original priced at ten times the amount). Speaking of replicas, Wedgwood brought out a line of Clarice Cliffs in 2004 that my wife’s parents gave her for a significant birthday. Although a tea set like the one in Griffin’s book was included in that Metropolitan Museum of Art present, we rarely if ever use it. What we do use at every meal is Talavera from Uriarte, most of it bought at Eyes Gallery and Indigo in Philadelphia. Our dinner plates and coffee mugs and serving pieces are there to be used and admired and are never taken for granted. The plates are heavy and dense, combining decorative elegance and peasant solidity with an earthy downhome el restaurante glamour.

According to Talavera Poblana (American Society Art Gallery), the term originally referred to the city of Talavera de la Reina in Spain, with one theory saying that the name came to Mexico when Dominican friars in Puebla de los Angeles asked their brothers in Spain to teach them the process of making glazed ceramics. Another theory says that the Puebla ceramic tradition was named after the Spanish ceramist Roque de Talavera, who settled in Mexico in the 17th century. As users of Uriarte, we prefer to think the term comes from Dimas Uriarte, who founded a ceramic workship in Puebla under the name of Talavera de Puebla.

IZNIK At the moment we have more of the blue and white, intricately embellished Iznik pottery than we do Clarice Cliff. While Cliff evokes the family attachment to England and Talavera the same for Mexico, Iznik suggests Turkey, Iran, and Morocco. According to Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey (Thames and Hudson) by Norban Atasoy and Julian Raby, “whitebodied ware decorated in blue on a white background” was developed in Iznik “a small town of only 400 households” as the 15th century “drew to a close.” My only gifts related to Iznik were the Atasoy & Raby book and The Art of the Islamic Tile (Flammarion)

by Gerard Degeorge and Yves Porter. Another indispensable Clarice Cliff book is Clarice Cliff: The Bizarre Affair (Abrams), which the ubiquitous Griffin co-authored with Louis K. and Susan Pear Meisel

THE FIRST GIFT Now that I think of it, you could say our marriage began with ceramics in the form of a wedding present of two place settings of Wedgwood in the Florentine pattern (turquoise and white, festooned with dragons) that my wife had dreamed of owning since she was in her teens, and now after 50 years of marriage we’ve accumulated enough china to serve a party of eight should that unlikely event ever come about. My fondness for our china has literary roots, since Josiah Wedgwood’s son Thomas arranged for Samuel Taylor Coleridge to have an annuity of £150 in 1798 so that he could “devote himself to philosophy and poetry.”

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Going, Going, Gone!

Sebastian Clarke is the Affable Auctioneer

by anne levin

If you attended a charity auction to benefit McCarter Theatre, Trinity Counseling Service, Princeton Charter School, or any number of other organizations in town last spring, you probably encountered Sebastian Clarke. He’s the lanky, personable guy who runs the show, rattling off the numbers and “filler words” to coax bidders higher and higher—but always with a light touch.

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Sebastian Clarke is a favorite appraiser on TV’s Antiques Roadshow, giving people the good, or bad, news about their treasures.

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he British-born Clarke even ran a recent auction in Princeton and Salt Lake City the day after being interviewed. while seated on a mechanical bull. “You want to insert some Born in Wales and raised in London, Clarke comes by the auction field humor in it,” he says during an naturally. “My parents divorced when I was interview at Rago Auctions in young, and my father moved to the U.S. when Lambertville, where he serves as I was five or six. He’s in the auction business, director of Estate Services. “I’m based out of Virginia,” he says. “My mother is a good at yelling at a lot of people. textile and couture conservator.”

But the Englishman in me stays away from Clarke moved to the states at 18. “I did saying anything insulting.” badly in high school and needed to get my act Those who haven’t attended charity auctions together,” he recalls. “My father got me a job but watch public television might recognize moving furniture in an auction house. I filled in Clarke from the popular Antiques Roadshow, for someone who was on maternity leave, and I for which he has been an appraiser since 2007. did everything from driving a truck to packing Traveling to six cities a year, he is one of about boxes. It was good training.”

100 appraisers who tell people whether their Next on the career path was Manhattan, string of pearls from Aunt Gertrude or suit of where Clarke worked for the Doyle and Sotheby armor purchased in a junk shop is worth the big auction houses and got his first, up-close look bucks. at items that fetched eye-popping prices. “The “The volume of property we see is just huge. level of property is just mind-blowing,” he says, About 10,000 items come through the door citing a Chippendale desk that sold for $2.5 in one day and about 100 are picked for the million. “To be able to handle something that is camera. So mostly, you’re giving people bad usually behind a velvet rope was amazing.” news,” Clarke says. “But it’s such fun, especially It was during those years that Clarke “called” when the news is good. It’s an honor to do it. his first auction. “I was so nervous that the pen To be a part of this piece of American culture, flew out of my hand and landed in the fourth even though it started as an English show, is so row,” he says, chuckling at the memory. “Then, special.”

I started doing charity auctions. My first one, in Sebastian Clarke is passionate about his sneaker collection.

Clarke, who is 40 and the father of two Tuxedo Park, was a disaster. But I learned as I young children, runs triathlons. He picks his Roadshow cities based on went along. They are great practice at crowd control.” where good racing events are being held, and was leaving for Palm Springs Clarke admits to being a little nervous before each event. “The trick is

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At Rago Auctions in Lambertville, Sebastian Clarke handles everything from furniture to fine art. At a recent benefit auction for Trinity Counseling Services, top right, he operated from a mechanical bull.

market in the world. Public sales are in excess of $60 billion a year.”

Clarke serves on the Board of Directors for the Appraisers Association of America. He is also on the Board of Young Audiences. He is not a collector himself, though he admits to having “a very modest watch collection.”

The best part of his job, he says, isn’t the glitz and glamour.

Rather, it is the opportunity to have a positive effect on someone’s life.

“One of my favorite stories is not from the [television] show, but from dealing with an elderly couple in Princeton who were moving,” Clarke said. “They had some silver, and some artwork, that they wanted me to look at. But as I was leaving, they showed me these little Islamic fragments of script that they had. The three pieces I estimated at $400 to $600 ended up selling for $28,000. And the best part of it all was that I knew it was going to make a measurable difference in their lives. That’s what makes all of this so fulfilling.”

to have a glass of wine before you start, because everybody else has,” he says. “Ignorance is bliss, so I make it a point to go sort of unprepared. It just works better.”

Clarke and his family have lived in the Princeton area for eight years. He began working for the Rago company three years ago after a fortuitous meeting with fellow Roadshow appraiser David Rago in an airport. “We were both waiting for the same flight back to Newark,” Clarke recalls. “David didn’t realize I lived in New Jersey. So we started to talk. He ended up offering me the opportunity to start a new division as an estate specialist. I jumped at it. It’s been great, drawing on my connections and contacts, and getting a whole department up and running. It’s a wonderful thing and I love it.”

Rago is equally enthusiastic. “Sebastian and I came to know one another as appraisers on Antiques Roadshow,” he wrote in an email. “He was knowledgeable, personable, and experienced. He was fun to hang out with. Add to that the British accent that makes him sound so posh to us Americans, and you can see why we were so glad to have him at Rago.

Seriously—his connections, skill set and perspective have made us a better company.”

While he does appraisals at Rago’s every Monday, much of Clarke’s time is spent “out there,” he says, seeing clients and meeting with attorneys. “I joke with clients that if I’m in the office, I’m not doing my job. The IRS is coming down a lot harder these days. A lot of what I do, even with attorneys, is educate people. The art market is the largest unregulated

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10/20/16 12:19:37 PM

MANDARIN ORIENTAL SPA, VIP SUITE.

Male-Friendly Spas in Northern NJ & NYC

Pampering knows no gender

BY SARAH EMILY GILBERT

Spa days shouldn’t be a female-only experience. Treatments like facials and pedicures often fall into the “female sphere,” but men deserve to be primped and primed just as much as women. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make men feel more comfortable about entering a spa that’s likely to be full of women and decidedly feminine in its décor and amenities. There are, however, spas that are taking the industry into a unisex arena with male-focused services. Below, we highlight salons and spas that are making massages macho and are putting the “man” in manicure.

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Mandarin Oriental Spa, vitality pool.

18|8 Bedminster

that uses Kiehl’s White Eagle shave cream spiked with Menthol and Camphor.

Men seeking a more traditional barbershop service should look into their $10 mustache or neck trim.

Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salon has recently opened several locations in central and northern New Jersey. Described as “The reinvention of the barber shop,” it offers everything from classic shaves to manicures by stylists trained in men’s grooming. Make it a spa day for all the guys with the Father-Son Haircut Package or the Groom/Bachelor Party Package.

Depasquale the Spa

500 Hills Drive, Bedminster, NJ 908.857.4002; www.eighteeneight.com/bedminster-nj

Mandarin Oriental Spa

80 Columbus Circle at 60th Street, NYC 212.805.8880; www.mandarinoriental.com/newyork

Powder Mill Plaza, Route 10 East 4, Gibraltar Drive, Morris Plains, NJ 973.538.3811; www.depasqualethespa.com A popular stop for NYC commuters to de-stress before going home, Depasquale has a myriad of male-centered salon, spa, waxing, and threading services. All spa treatments, like their Deep Tissue Massage starting at $122, include the use of their locker room, steam showers, and lounge that are designed specifically for men. Salon treatments include the $30 Reshade for Men, a natural-looking rinse of color for men who are going gray.

In addition to a three-hour Gentleman’s Retreat highlighted by scrubs and massages, this five-star hotel offers a 50-minute Men’s Focus Facial. Aestheticians use an enzyme peel containing natural fruit acids that freshen skin and reduce wrinkles. The treatment includes a neck and shoulder massage and costs $230 Monday-Wednesday and $245 Thursday-Sunday.

Alora Ambiance Spa 109 Cornelia Street, Boonton, NJ 973.263.4555; www.aloraspa.com

This North Jersey spa has an entire “Men’s Menu” of services. They range from the $90 Gentlemen’s Facial to the $140 Mr. Peel Microdermabrasion, a minimally abrasive deep exfoliation of the skin’s top layer that helps lessen the appearance of scars, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation.

Kiehl’s Barber Shop

678 Ninth Avenue, NYC 212.956.2891; www.kiehls.com/spa1851.html In true “guy” fashion, this upscale barbershop in Hell’s Kitchen accepts both appointments and walk-ins. The Kiehl’s franchise offers services like the Reenergizing Facial Masque for $15 or the Haircut and White Eagle Shave for $75

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IMAGE COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

WHY NOT MEN’S SPA

candle flame creates a vacuum that gently draws out wax and impurities from the ear canal. Other menu items are the 60-minute facial called The Bon and an ionic detoxifying foot bath for $65.

174 West 4th Street, NYC | 212.337.8551; www.whynotmenspa.com True to its name, this West Village spa understands the plight of men in spas. Their pro-male menu includes the 90-minute Why Not Body Treatment for $155, a reasonable price for a soak in a tub of detoxifying salt and Yon-ka Phyto-Bain bath; an exfoliation, bucket poured rinse, body mask, and a scalp and back rub.

JOHN ALLAN’S PREMIERE MEN’S GROOMING CLUBS

NYC shops in Tribeca, Midtown, Saks 5th Avenue, and Wall Street Visit www.johnallans.com for location phone numbers Fashioned after an exclusive club where men can kick back with a cold drink while getting a new hairstyle, John Allan’s caters to the modern man. Built on founder John Allan’s desire to help men refine their style while enjoying male camaraderie, it has revolutionized men’s grooming. The result is an old school-style NYC barbershop with high-end touches. For $75, men can enjoy the Signature Full Service: a scalp massage, shampoo, conditioning treatment, hot towel, haircut, manicure, and shoeshine.

DIECI UOMO

48 West Northfield Road, Livingston, NJ 973.535.1400; www.dieciuomo.com Dieci Uomo is the perfect entryway to the spa experience for men. Along with hair, shaving, waxing, and massage services, this men’s salon offers five different facials, including one that combats back acne. The 50-minute Dieci Uomo Classic Facial for $100 is great for a man’s first facial. It addresses male-specific problems like razor burn and ingrown hairs, and includes cleansing, steaming, a light extraction, and a massage.

MORTAL MAN SPA

257 W 39th Street, NY 347.752.2907; www.mortalman.com With witty service names like the Your Daddy DEPASQUALE THE SPA, TUB, back, shoulder, ear, nose, and brow wax for $115, Mortal Man Spa creates a relaxed environment for men. The no-frills spa offers unique services like ear candling, a $220 treatment wherein the narrow end of a candle is placed in an individual’s ear while the opposite end is lit. The

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JOHN ALLAN’S PREMIERE MEN’S GROOMING CLUBS.

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image courtesy of shutterstock.com

Compassionate Dental Care by taylor smith

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any people forgo regular dental checkups due to fear and anxiety. However, Dr. Jerry Strauss of Aesthetic Dental Care in Totowa, NJ specializes in caring for and treating patients with extreme dental anxiety using oral conscious and IV sedation.

Aesthetic Dental Care also welcomes patients with special needs, including Alzheimer’s. Whatever the case, the staff at Aesthetic Dental Care is always willing to listen in order to live up to their claim of pain-free dentistry.

Oral Conscious Sedation Oral conscious sedation can be used on everything from routine cleanings to extractions and cosmetic procedures. Some clients with very busy schedules elect for oral sedation because it allows for them to have multiple procedures done in one sitting. Other reasons for seeking oral sedation include teeth sensitivity, fear of shots and needles, and difficulty getting numb.

Dr. Strauss will consult with a patient’s primary physician prior to any form of sedation treatment. For example, a smoker or someone with heart conditions would not be a good candidate. Dr. Strauss will also verify that there are no interactions with pre-existing medications.

Dr. Strauss clarifies that “oral sedation dentistry is not sleep dentistry.

The patient is still in control and they are able to carry on conversations.”

Patients will also be provided with a neck pillow, headphones, and a blanket to aid in relaxation.

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IV Sedation While a patient remains conscious during oral sedation, IV sedation sends the patient into what is known as a “twilight sleep.”

Preparation is limited to “being given something the night before to get a good night’s rest. They will also be prepped on what they can eat and drink, and when they should stop eating and drinking.”

The LVI dentist will perform the dental procedure and the on-staff anesthesiologist will intravenously administer the anesthesia and “closely monitor the patient as if they were in a hospital.” Under IV sedation, patients will not be aware of any sights, sounds or smells associated with dental care. When the procedure is complete, they will gently awaken and have no memory of the experience.

Following the procedure, Dr. Strauss recommends that all patients “take the day off - that means, no driving, no major decision making.” Each patient will be provided with specific post-procedure instructions.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Strauss, call 973.227.8998 or visit www. aestheticdentalcarenj.com.

Contact: Aesthetic Dental Care of New Jersey 336 Union Blvd.

Totowa, NJ 07512

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Is quality dental care something you dream of, but turns into a nightmare every time you think about it?

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336 Union Blvd. Totowa NJ 07512 | (973) 227-8998 UA_adtemplate.indd 1

10/20/16 12:21:11 PM

Eat Your Way to

Healthy Hair by taylor smith

We all know that a healthy diet will not only help you to feel better, but it will make you look better too. The same rule applies to hair health.

H

air naturally grows one inch per month, but this slows when your metabolism isn’t functioning properly. A blood test will reveal what minerals your body is lacking and then you can take the proper supplements.

Although there’s not much else you can do to naturally speed up this process, altering your diet to include 10 key foods will help to improve hair quality. Even better, most of these foods also encourage luminous skin and strong nails (being made up of keratin, both skin and nails are similar in composition to hair).

Poultry: Poultry, such as chicken, provides important proteins to promote cell growth, repair, and rejuvenation. Protein is one of the most important nutrients for healthy hair, metabolism and thyroid gland.

So get your shopping list ready and prepare to snack your way to shiny hair!

Ginger: Ginger stimulates overall circulation and contains beneficial quantities of zinc and phosphorous. Take ginger as a supplement or add it to your afternoon tea!

Hemp: Hemp seeds are made up of 30 percent pure protein and a full range of amino and essential fatty acids. Add a handful of hemp seeds to your morning smoothie or oatmeal to treat skin and hair dryness or breakage.

Coconut Oil: Coconut Oil is extremely hydrating for skin and hair. It also provides relief from split ends and damage due to over processing. To strengthen hair, gently massage the coconut oil into damp hair before going to bed and allow it to sit overnight.

Broccoli: Dark greens like broccoli, spinach, collard greens and kale contain iron, an important mineral to hair growth and health. Try roasted broccoli sprinkled with pumpkin seeds, which are important for producing sebum, your skin’s natural reparative oil.

Avocado: Avocado contains essential fatty oils like vitamin E & B, which adds shine to lackluster, dull hair.

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Salmon: Salmon contains many beautifying natural oils including omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B-12, and iron.

Oranges: Vitamin C aids in the production of collagen which strengthens skin tone and provides improved hair length and volume. It is also great for building up the immune system!

Eggs: Eggs contain high levels of biotin and vitamin B-12, both of which are essential to hair strength.

Biotin: A biotin supplement is highly recommended to support healthy eyes, skin, hair, nails and liver.

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Dining Out

Gluten-Free

by taylor smith

Even though only an estimated 1 percent of the population suffers from celiac disease, dining out while staying gluten-free has become increasingly popular at restaurants throughout New Jersey. For example, iPhone apps like Find Me Gluten-Free allows users to view local business ratings and reviews, along with gluten-free menus and allergen lists. In addition, many popular chain restaurants have special gluten-free menus available upon request. Of course, there’s always the risk of cross-contamination in restaurant kitchens that are not exclusively gluten-free, but for those who do not have celiac disease, it is possible to follow a mostly gluten-free diet at almost any restaurant. Below, Urban Agenda outlines where to dine gluten-free in North Jersey.

A Mano – Ridgewood, NJ http://amanopizza.com More pizzerias than ever offer gluten-free pizzas, including A Mano, which is known for their authentic Neopolitan pies.

Bibi’z Restaurant – Westwood, NJ http://bibizlounge.com Bibi’z has many gluten-free dinner and dessert options, along with a gluten-free “Guttenberg” blonde ale.

The restaurant uses a separate area of the kitchen to prepare all glutenfree items.

Isaura Bakery – Hawthorne, NJ www.ibglutenfree.com Isaura Bakery is considered to be the first 100% gluten-free bakery in Bergen and Passaic counties.

Just Janice – Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ http://www.justjanice.net Just Janice offers breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner gluten-free dishes.

The popular gluten-free breakfast risotto includes bacon, leeks, and a poached egg.

La Riviera Trattoria – Clifton, NJ www.larivieratrattoria.com With flavors reminiscent of Old World Italy, La Riviera Trattoria was awarded a Gluten-Free Food Service certification from the Gluten Intolerance Group.

Le Bon Choix – Ridgewood, NJ http://lebonchoixcafe.com This eclectic café offers almost all gluten-free dishes including glutenfree cornbread, soups, sides, and sauces.

Melting Pot – Westwood, NJ www.meltingpot.com/westwood-nj/ The Melting Pot has several glutenfree fondue offerings, along with a gluten-free chocolate fondue for dessert.

Park & Orchard – East Rutherford, NJ http://parkandorchard.com Park & Orchard has a long tradition of healthy organic and vegetarian cuisine. They are particularly known for their gluten-free brunch.

Pizza Fusion – Ridgewood, NJ http://pizzafusion.com Pizza Fusion uses a creative glutenfree crust made of a mixture of garbanzo beans, fava beans, and rice flour.

Rail Yard Tavern – Fair Lawn, NJ www.therailyardtavern.com Rail Yard Tavern has an extensive gluten-free menu including appetizers, salads, pizza, sandwiches, and more.

Rosa Mexicano – Hackensack, NJ http://rosamexicano.com Yes, Mexican food can still be glutenfree! This restaurant uses a separate area of the kitchen for all gluten-free preparations.

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Sweet Avenue – Rutherford, NJ www.sweetavenuebakeshop.com Sweet Avenue is an exclusively vegan, dairy-free, and egg free bakery with many gluten-free options. Be sure to try the pumpkin spice cupcakes topped with vanilla frosting!

Sugar Flake Bakery – Westwood, Fairlawn, Wycoff, and Lyndhurst, NJ www.sugarflakebakeshop.com With three locations throughout Northern New Jersey, Sugar Flake Bakery creates custom cakes for every occasion. Their gluten-free cheesecake is particularly delicious.

The Fine Grind – Little Falls, NJ www.thefinegrindcoffeebar.com The Fine Grind is not your average coffee bar. In addition to delicious drinks, they offer a full menu of gluten-free breakfasts, sandwiches, soups, salads, sides, and desserts.

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CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS Wednesday, October

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“Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience” at the Intrepid Museum in New York City. Visitors will embark on an interactive journey with Leap Motion, projection mapping, holograms and other Star Trek technologies spanning 12,000 square feet on Pier 86 (through October 31). www.intrepidmuseum.org The Reduced Shakespeare Company performs The Complete History of America (Abridged): Election Edition at Kean University’s Wilkins Theatre in Union. www.kean.edu

Friday, October

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Sunday, October

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Storytime with Disney’s Belle of Beauty and the Beast at The Big Playhouse in Westwood. Includes a meet & greet with Belle followed by open playtime (suitable for children ages 13 months-6 years old). www.thebigplayhouse.com

Asbury Park Punk Rock Flea Market at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall. www. asburyparkpunkrockfleamarket.com

Dinosaurs After Dark at Field Station Dinosaurs in Leonia. Explore the park by lantern light, but look out for the missing T-Rex (through October 29)! http://fieldstationdinosaurs.com

Garden Highlights Walk at Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden and cultural center in the Bronx overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades (walks and ours repeat weekly). www.wavehill.org

Tuesday, October

Friday, October

OCT. 22

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28

Elise Strachan signs copies of her new cookbook, Sweet! Celebrations: A My Cupcake Addiction Cookbook at Bookends Bookstore in Ridgewood.

Saturday, October

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Join Fresh & Fancy Farms in New Milford for Halloweenie, a gourmet hot dog tasting. Seasonal hot dog toppings include maple bacon and pepitas with fried sage. Also, pumpkin painting for kids. http://freshandfancyfarms.com Brew at the Zoo! Over 40 beer vendors and numerous food trucks will be stationed at the Bronx Zoo for a unique and fun 21-and-over evening. http:// bronxzoo.com It’s back! Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes holds it’s second food truck event, Tires on the Terrior 2. Enjoy tastings, wine by the glass and bottle, along with live music by Nikki Briar. http://unionvillevineyards.com

OCT. 31

OCTOBER

OCT. 23

NOV. 4

NOV. 1

Thursday, October

NOV. 20

Saturday, October

Atlantic City Marathon and Half Marathon, NJ’s historic oceanfront race. www.acraceseries.com Long Branch Fall Festival and Costumed Pooch Parade at Pier Village. www. visitlongbranch.com

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Girls Night Out in downtown Red Bank.

Shop special discounts at participating boutiques, salons, restaurants, and bars. www.redbank.org Giada Valenti from PBS’s From Venice with Love performs at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. www. countbasietheatre.org

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Take a hayride through the fields and pumpkin patches at Abma’s Farm in Wycoff. Also, be sure to try the apple cider and donuts from their market. www.abmasfarm.com Diggerfest at Diggerland USA in West Berlin. Enjoy access to all of the DIggerland attractions plus hay rides, corn maze, rubber duck racing, pumpkin launching, and costume contests for children (also on October 28 & 29). www.diggerlandusa.com

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Sunday, October

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Atlantic City Ballet presents a stunning rendition of “Dracula” at Caesars Atlantic City. www.acballet.org The Hoboken Historical Museum presents The Annual Hoboken House Tour featuring up to 10 homes and condos graciously opened to visitors.

From turn-of-the-century craftsmanship to the beautiful views from a waterfront loft apartment, the tours offer a window into Hoboken’s eclectic history. www. hobokenmuseum.org Final Fall Weekend at Lupardi’s Nursey in Closter. Explore the 6-acre corn maze, 30 ft. treehouse slide, haunted greenhouse, pumpkin picking, and minimaze. www.lupardisnursery.com

Friday, November

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Wednesday, November

The Jersey City International Television and Film Festival at venues across Jersey City. Festival events include screenings, workshops, and conversations with prominent members of the film industry (through November 6). www.jcitff.org

Saturday, November

5

Rutgers University vs. Indiana at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway. www.scarletknights.com

NOV. 6

Guided Halloween Hike at Palisades Interstate Park. Guests should meet at the Kearney House at Alpine Picnic Area and Boat Basin. Bring a flashlight! http:// njpalisades.org Comedians Steve Martin and Martin Short in An Evening You Will Never Forget for the Rest of Your Life, featuring the Steep Canyon Rangers and Jeff Babko at NPAC in Newark. www.njpac.org

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Cook your way through some of your favorite cookbooks at Williams-Sonoma at The Mall at Short Hills. The 1.5-2 hour class features cooking tips, recipes, and techniques from Ina Garten’s Cooking For Jeffrey. On the menu: Skillet roasted lemon chicken, root vegetable gratin, and apple pie bars. www. shopshorthills.com

Saturday, November

12

Kim Russo, also known as ‘The Happy Medium,’ provides an evening of insight into the spirit world at the Stockton Performing Arts Center in Galloway. http://stocktonpac.org

Sunday, November

20

“Terrific Turkeys” at Tenafly Nature Center in Tenafly. Discover the real lives of wild turkeys and learn to make an authentic turkey call! http:// tenaflynaturecenter.org NY Giants vs. Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. www. giants.com

Friday, November

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Holiday Wine Trail at 4JG’s Winery in Colts Neck. Relax and enjoy time at the vineyard with wine-loving friends (through November 27). www.4jgswinery.com

OCT. 22

NOV. 15

OCT. 21

NOV. 6

Monday, October

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Come trick-or-treating at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange for Howl-O-Ween.

Candy stations will be positioned throughout the park. Also, the famous “Not-So-Scary” train ride. http:// turtlebackzoo.com

Tuesday, November

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Experience the best in NJ wines at the Atlantic City Wine Hop Tour. Sip and savor award-winning wines from Balic Winery, Tomasello Winery, and many more. www.atlanticcitynj.com/events

Sunday, November

6

TCS NYC Marathon, the annual race that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. www.nycmarathon.org Hoboken Artists’ Studio Tour, a free self-guided walking tour of artists’ studios, galleries, and exhibition spaces.

Over 100 participating artists. Maps are available the day of the event at Hoboken City Hall. www.hobokennj.org/ artists-studio-tour/ Canines and comedy collide at Mutts Gone Nuts: Canine Cabaret at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood. www.bergenpac.org

Tuesday, November

Chris Isaak performs at the State Theatre of NJ in New Brunswick as part of his First Comes the Night Tour. www. statetheatrenj.org

Thursday, November

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LSC After Dark. Bring your friends to an after-hours adventure at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Guests 21 and over can enjoy cocktails, music, dancing, and laser shows (repeats the third Thursday of every month). http://lsc.org

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Sunday, November

27

NY Jets vs. New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. www.newyorkjets.com

Wednesday, November

30

november

OCT. 21

Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales opens at The Shakespeare Theatre of NJ in Madison (through January 1, 2017). www.shakespearenj.org

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BY ELLEN GILBERT

Not So Unimaginable

WOMEN

AND THE WHITE HOUSE

“Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it” —HILLARY CLINTON TOLD SUPPORTERS WHEN SHE DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE FOR THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER, THOUGH, THAT OTHER WOMEN WERE STIRRING THINGS UP QUITE A LONG TIME AGO.

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“I...claim the right to speak for the unenfranchised women of the country, and believing as I do that the prejudices which still exist in the popular mind against women in public life will soon disappear” — VICTORIA WOODHULL, ANNOUNCING HER CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1870

VICTORIA WOODHULL The distinction of being the first woman Presidential aspirant belongs to the feisty Victoria Woodhull, who ran for the office in 1872 when another woman named Victoria was most assuredly already ruling Britannia.

Since this was almost 50 years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in the United States, Woodhull was unable to vote for herself that year. At least two other facts were decidedly not in her favor, notes Politico.com’s Carol Felsenthal. On inauguration day that year she would have been just 34 years old, and Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution requires that the president be 35 on the day “he” takes office. The second consideration is that she happened to be incarcerated on Election Day (and for a month or so after) in New York City’s Ludlow Street Jail on obscenity charges for writing an article about an adulterous love affair between Henry Ward Beecher, a powerful minister, and a parishioner just days before the election.

Still, it was a first and also of no small note is the fact that Woodhull’s

running mate was Frederick Douglass, the first African-American ever nominated for vice-president. “On paper,” notes Felsenthal, “it was an impressive pick, but not really: Douglass never appeared at the party’s nominating convention, never agreed to run with Woodhull, never participated in the campaign and actually gave stump speeches for [incumbent President] Grant.”

Some of the issues Woodhull championed would be familiar to contemporary voters: she supported labor unions, workers’ rights (including an eight-hour workday), “equal pay for equal work, help for working mothers, an end to spousal abuse, better public education, legal aid to the poor, opposition to capital punishment, tax reform, sex education in schools, and social welfare programs aimed at ending poverty.”

Certain aspects of Woodhull’s long and colorful career are complicated. She worked not only as a women’s rights advocate, but as a stockbroker, newspaper editor, and, it was rumored, prostitute. “She was controversial and polarizing,” observes Time writer Erin Blakemore. She took a stand against abortion, but supported eugenics.

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“VOTE FOR GRACIE”

For sheer comic relief during this particularly contentious campaign season nothing beats the story of comedienne Gracie Allen’s 1940 run for president. A Surprise Party candidate, her platform (“redwood trimmed with ‘nutty’ pine”) declared that “Congress Must Go” since “the Senate is the only show in the world where the cash customers have to sit in the balcony.” She called for “Ending Secrecy in Foreign Affairs,” because “if Charles Boyer is going around with Greta Garbo, the people are entitled to know about it.”

Gracie’s immortal campaign song (sung by Gracie herself, and featuring her husband and comedy partner George Burns adding some suggestions) can be seen on YouTube.

“REMEMBER THE LADIES”

Although not a presidential aspirant, Abigail Adams made her wishes known in a letter to her husband John, then serving as the Massachussetts representative to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. While she longed “to hear that you have declared an independence,” she made su re to point out that “in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves

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bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

Benjamin Franklin’s youngest sister, Jane, has also emerged as a wonderfully compelling female presence in early American history thanks to Jill Lepore’s Book of Ages, published in 2013. “Jenny and Benny” were both passionate readers, writers (she, despite a very limited education), and observers of the political scene. Unlike her brother, though, Jane had twelve children to care for.

In reviewing Lepore’s book, NPR’s Maureen Corrigan observed, “to call it simply a biography would be like calling Ben’s experiments with electricity mere kite flying...The end product is thrilling—an example of how a gifted scholar and writer can lift the obscure out of silence.”

Benjamin Franklin’s books include, of course, The Autobiography, Poor Richard’s Almanack, and The Way to Wealth. Jane’s output was far less prodigious, though, as Lepore tells us, “she did once write a book. She stitched four sheets of foolscap between two covers to make sixteen pages...She called it her Book of Ages.” It was meant to record of the births and deaths of her children but Lepore ingeniously finds a great deal more than that “litany of grief ” in it; it is, she writes, “a history of books and papers, a history of reading and writing, a history from reformation to revolution, a history of history.”

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doctor says, ‘It’s a girl.’ We know that these stereotypes affect how girls see themselves starting at a very young age, making them feel that if they don’t look or act a certain way, they are somehow less worthy.”

Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) was a politician, educator, and author, who, in 1968, became the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Chisholm went on to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. During that time she became the first African American candidate for a major party’s nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, paving the way for both the African American man (President Obama) and female nominee (Secretary Clinton) who followed.

In her book Unbought and Unbossed, Chisholm described some of the challenges she faced and her determination to effect change. “She knew she couldn’t win,” observes Ilene Cooper, “but she felt strongly that the political landscape in America needed change and color.”

“When I die,” Chisholm said in a 2004 documentary, “I want to be remembered as a woman who lived in the twentieth century and who dared to be a catalyst for change.”

“You got it, Shirley,” enthuses Cooper. In 2015 Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

OTHER BIDS

Like Shirley Chisholm, Linda Jenness (b. 1941) knew she couldn’t win when she threw in her bid as the Socialist Workers Party candidate in 1972. Too young to actually be nominated in some states, Jenness shared the nomination with another female candidate, Evelyn Reed, who ran in states where Jenness did not qualify. “Though Jenness repeatedly challenged Democratic nominee George McGovern to a debate, he refused,” writes Erin Blakemore. Jenness was reported to have said, “ the Socialists do not fool themselves that they have a chance of winning any major victories this year.” She did, however, receive over 83,000 votes.

Jill Stein’s presidential aspirations are probably more familiar to voters today. The American physician, activist, politician, was the Green Party’s nominee for President of the United States in 2012, and is running again in 2016. Blakemore notes that “in a raucous election year, Jill Stein’s 2012 presidential run felt more like an afterthought than a milestone.”

In response to a recent Washington Post editorial that described her current campaign as a “fairy tale,” Stein called the Clinton and Trump campaigns “nightmares.”

MORE WOMEN

Journalist Cokie Roberts, another NPR regular who also happens to be the sister of the late Princeton mayor, Barbara Sigmund, has also profiled important women in American history. Her books include Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868; Ladies of Liberty, and Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised our Nation.

Exuberantly illustrated young adult and children’s books that will eventually need updating include Catherine Thimmesh’s Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in Politics; Ilene Cooper ’s A Woman in the House (And Senate), and Kathleen Krull’s Lives of Extraordinary Women, whimsically subtitled “Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought”).

JUST THE START

History notes that Victoria Woodhull is also remembered for her campaign to raise the hemlines of women’s skirts, making it easier for them to negotiate the muddy streets of the day. “She likely couldn’t imagine a candidate for president campaigning in pastel pants suits,” quips Felsenthal. Hillary Clinton’s run is, of course, history-making, though for many it is still part of a beginning. “If Hillary wins in November 2016, it will be, of course, a huge step for women,” writes Emily’s List founder Ellen R. Malcolm in her book, When Women Win. “But we must remember that if we achieve this once-unimaginable goal...it is still just one step on a much bigger journey.”

A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

“One of my heroines is Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm,” President Obama has written, adding that “she once said, ‘The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the

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Forget About the Turkey, This Thanksgiving is

All About the Wine

BY SARAH EMILY GILBERT

“What grows together goes together.” This adage guides wine rookies and sommeliers alike through the complex art of food and wine pairing. It’s true that foods from a certain area often complement wines from a similar place, but what happens on Thanksgiving when your menu includes edibles from practically everywhere? The rules of food and wine pairing mean nothing when it comes to the eclectic flavors of this holiday feast. To help with this annual conundrum, some of the leading voices from northern New Jersey’s wine scene share their wine selections for this Thanksgiving.

COOLVINES

127 Central Avenue, Westfield, NJ | 908.232.5050 coolvines.com Mark Censits, Founder/Owner at CoolVines Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil Nuits d’lvresse, 2011; $37 “Bourgueil is a sub region of the Loire Valley that has designated the cabernet franc grape for its reds and roses (there are no whites produced there). Cabernet franc has the potential to make a very full and robust wine, but in Bourgueil it results in a light, delicate and fragrant wine that pairs with almost anything. Since the Thanksgiving menu can contain almost anything, it’s a great choice. This wine is not cheap, but Thanksgiving is a once-a-year moment that deserves a wine made with as much care as the food.”

AMANTI VINO

30 Church Street, Montclair, NJ | 973.509.9463 | amantivino.com Sharon Sevrens, Proprietor at Amanti Vino Chidaine Montlouis Tuffeau demi-sec, 2014; $25.99 “There are so many wonderful choices—from Riesling and Rose to Beaujolais and Burgundy—but if I have to choose just one for Thanksgiving dinner, it will be Chidaine Montlouis Tuffeau demi-sec 2014. This is concentrated, showing notes of roasted apple and a stony minerality. It has a little sweetness, which you need to pair with the sweetness in the Thanksgiving fare, but it also has plenty of acidity so it doesn’t taste cloying.”

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California WineWorks

476 NJ-17, Ramsey, NJ | 201.785.9463 | cawineworks.com Karla Cicciari, Owner/Chief Connoisseur at California WineWorks California WineWorks Carneros Pinot Noir, 2012; about $25 “The California WineWorks 2012 Carneros Pinot Noir from the Beckstoffer, Las Amigas Vineyard was aged in French Oak, which our customers made at a price of around $25 a bottle. This wine is my top choice because it shows the volume and tannic depth associated with this bottling. It is a big, ripe wine where the tannins star, swamping the cherries and red currants, although its inherent elegance is there. Almost like a Rhône wine now, this wine needs time to age and should be just about perfect for the holidays.”

Joe Canals

489 Route 1 South, Iselin (Woodbridge), NJ | 732.726.0077 joecanals.com/Iselin-woodbridge/ David A. Rudd, Store Manager at Joe Canals Penner-Ash Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from Oregon, USA. Regular retail, $41.99; member price varies by vintage “There is nothing better suited for a traditional Thanksgiving feast than a worldclass pinot noir. The wines from the Pacific Northwest have quickly made their place among the elite vineyards of the world. The Penner-Ash is a stand out among the best of the best. It has beautifully layered notes of black cherry, lavender, and cranberry, with loamy earth, vanilla, and cedar smoke. This is truly a masterpiece of American winemaking.”

Plucky Wine Shop

359 Route 202-206 South, Bedminster, NJ | 908.658.9292 x21 pluckywineshop.com Christopher Cree MW, Director of Education and Retail Operations at Pluckemin Inn and Wine Shop Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny ‘Vieilles Vignes,’ 1996; $99.99 “The main wine at Thanksgiving this year will be a magnum of Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Vieilles Vignes, 1996. This wine exemplifies everything I love about Loire Valley Cabernet Franc at its best: lovely deep ruby hue, cool and subtle, with intriguing aromas of herbs, earth, spice and currant, still fresh and vibrant, even at 20 years of age. At first there is a youthfully tight nature to the wine that softens with just 15-20 minutes in the decanter to revel a wine that still has vibrant fresh fruit - elegant and well-knit, even compact, but opening and revealing more suppleness and layers with time. Dark fruits unfold on the palate, hints of game and earth, beautiful fine grained tannins and lovely acidity to keep this focused and ‘tout droite’ all the way through to the long finish.

The big bottles are fun and festive-looking during the holidays and great for a big group. It’s a rare wine to some degree because of its age, but not crazy expensive at $99.99 for a magnum. I liked it so much that I bought it all and have a decent amount available for sale at the shop. As the wine is elegant and not too heavy or overbearing, its flavor profile works well with the range of savory, sweet, and tart components of the traditional Thanksgiving menu, and its bottle age gives it amazing complexity and character.”

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Villa Milagro Vineyards

33 Warren Glen Road, Finesville, NJ | 908.995.2072 villamilagrovineyards.com Dr. Audrey Cross-Gambino, Owner/Winemaker at Villa Milagro Vineyards Villa Milagro’s fall seasonal wine, Gracias; around $16.99 “Gracias is a crisp, refreshing, fruity, off-dry white wine that pairs well with salty/savory turkey and sweet/spicy ham as well as with traditional side dishes like roasted vegetables and sweet potatoes. It’s an easy drinking wine that can be enjoyed before as well as during the meal.”

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ATLANTIC One of the Largest Soap Store in NJ, located in downtown Cranford.

You’ve earned the good things in life. Let us help you protect them.

With Borden Perlman, you get the benefit of our experience, expert service, and local team of specialists dedicated to helping you.

To learn more give us a call today.

Atlantic Beach Soap Company has Amazing and endless selection of decadent soaps,bath accessories and other fine gifts. Custom gift baskets available for the Bath Body and Home. Unique furniture, repurposed, up cycled and vintage items available.

We’ve added a Mortgage Banker Serving our community for over 100 years. to serve you in Princeton.

609-896-3434 BordenPerlman.com www.atlanticbeachsoapco.com ■

102 N. Union Ave, Cranford, NJ • 908-272-7595

Home

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Va l u a b l e s

Joe Hage has joined our mortgage team. Whether you're buying a new home or refinancing, Joe can find the right mortgage option for you with the personalized service you deserve.

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Call or stop by the branch to meet Joe.

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NMLS ID: 448878

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