METROPOLITANmagazineny.com
FEBRUARY 2020
LUXURY MAGAZINE
SKINTOLOGY MEDSPA OWNER & TOP PLASTIC SURGEON
DR. JENNIFER
WALDEN $20.00 USD
Fashion | Luxury | Profiles | Features | Shopping | Travel | Art | Design | Auto | Food | Health
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h c a t e e e B to Str
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Photo by Helene Schmitz
CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2020 FASHION 16 22 26 28 30 32
ALLY SHOES EROTIC EXPERIENCE AVALON PHILLIPS ANDY GOLUB SWORD & PLOUGH LUCIANA PAMPALONE
COVER
40 DR. JENNIFER WALDEN
PROFILE 52 56 58 59 60 61 62 64 66
DR. ROBI LUDWIG COURTNEY TRAVIN YAEL HALAAS M.D., F.A.C.S DR. KALLY PAPANTONIOU VITAL AGIBALOW CHANG SISI
ELIZABETH “LIZZIE” DA TRINDADE-ASHER
FAVORITE BEERS XEN SAMS
LIVING
74 GALE SITOMER 75 PRIME RENOVATIONS
23 Hot Summer Cool Suits
CONTENTS 77
FEBRUARY 2020
ENTERTAINMENT 76 78 79 80 80
JULIEN NITZBERG HAIR TO MUSIC’S HALL OF FAME RACHEL LENIHAN OR MASH A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
BEAUTY 82 84 86 88
RESCUE SPA NEXA PILATES & FITNESS DANNA PRATTE A CUT ABOVE THE REST
JETSET
90 ITALY 96 LUXE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS 100 SILVERSEA
ARTFORM
102 ARTIST JITISH KALLAT 108 EDWARD BECKETT
SOCIAL 110 112 114 116 118 120
ACTRESS ASHLEY JUDD LIQUID LUNCH AT THE OSCARS WITH BILL TUSH NEW YORK SOCIETY SCENE LA AWARDS SCENE LA PARTY SCENE
Publisher Chase Backer Editor-in-Chief Adam Kluger
LUXURY MAGAZINE
Assistant Editor Willy Nichter Copy Editor
METROPOLITANmagazineny.com
DECEMBER 2019
Sean Buttimer Director of Marketing-NYC Jaime Backer Special Projects Editor Norah Bradford Lifestyle Editor Elizabeth Langevin ACTRESS
ALANA DE LA GARZA PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL ROBERTS $20.00 USD
Fashion | Luxury | Profiles | Features | Shopping | Travel | Art | Design | Auto | Food | Health
Cover Editor Adam Kluger Features Contributor Jadan Horyn Luxury Editor Stephanie L. Howitt Editor at Large | Art, Culture & Fashion Rachel Vancelette Fashion Photographer Matt Licari Profiles Editor Alexandra Appino-Tabone
LUXURY MAGAZINE
Social Editor Clara Morgan
METROPOLITANmagazineny.com
NOVEMBER 2019
Food Editor Andrea Correale Nutrition Editor Lindsay Brustein Rosen, M.S., R.D., CDN. Gold Coast Writer Monica Randall Digital Media Director Nancy Molina
RISING STAR
ANDREA CATSIMATIDIS $20.00 USD
Fashion | Luxury | Profiles | Features | Shopping | Travel | Art | Design | Auto | Food | Health
Contributors Rachel Vancelette, D.D. Rice, Paul Prince, Peter Elston, Johnny Angel, Harry White, Victoria Crosby Contributing Photographers Matt Licari, Rene Bernal, tama66, pixel2013, MichaelGaida, Benno Klandt, Michael Paniccia, Jay Mathews, Filip Shobot, Chris Carroll, Lenny Stucker, Patrick McMullan, MA , Tom Fitzgerald and Pam Deutchman, Sandy Ramirez, Jan Klier, Mitchel Gray, Paul Prince, Kristiina Wilson
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE
“Some women choose to follow men and some choose to follow their dreams” - Lady Gaga It seems we just got done celebrating cover star A.J. Catsimatidis at a star-studded Metropolitan party at the NYAC, and now we have a whole new fashion and beauty issue featuring even more amazing and accomplished female powerhouses. Amazing! Dr. Jennifer L. Walden is the real deal. The best. Trained by legendary doctor Sherrell Aston, Dr. Jennifer is recognized as one of America’s Top Plastic Surgeons, with practices in Texas and now Manhattan. Her Skintology Medspa offers the ultimate in luxury, pampering, and all the very latest products and services for discerning clients who want a little help turning back time. Dr. Walden travels the globe to learn about the latest technology, techniques and treatments to be the very best at what she does. Speaking of reaching the very top of her profession, Supermodel Carol Alt, one of the most beautiful women in the world when she started modeling, has been featured on close to 700 magazine covers. I got to reminisce recently with this timeless beauty on the virgin episode of a new TV segment Metropolitan is producing for Newsmax TV/Liquid Lunch called “The Publisher.” It’s all part of our ever-expanding platform (70 million households) to recognize the best of the best. It’s what we do here at Metropolitan. We hope you enjoy our new beauty and fashion issue highlighted by extraordinary women who define strength, intelligence and beauty from the inside out. A special shout-out to my daughters Jaime and Jillian for their help in always making sure Metropolitan’s fashion coverage is top-shelf and for always making me a very proud dad. Enjoy!
Chase Backer Publisher, Metropolitan/25A
JENNIFER L. WALDEN PRESENTS “ DR.EVENING ” ROUTINE COLLECTION
www.drjenniferwalden.com
EDITOR’S NOTE
“You’ll never get bored when you try something new. There’s really no limit to what you can do.” - Dr. Seuss 2020 is upon us in earnest sparkling with new possibilities like icicles in the sun on Manhattan rooftops. February is stacked with fun events to celebrate like the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in Miami. NYFW, celebrated as always, in this Beauty issue, boldly struts in surprising new directions in February. The Metropolitan Fashion Team led by Publisher Chase Backer and his talented and beautiful daughters, Jaime and Jillian are front row center at all the top shows, capturing the new styles, colors and trends from the catwalk to all those fabulous parties. Tough work but someone has to do it and they do it well! Speaking of fashion-- what’s more fun than celebrating our favorite movies at the Oscars, than arguing over which actresses and designers won the red carpet? Metropolitan Sr. Entertainment Correspondent Bill Tush provides his typically unique twist on the Oscar scene. One actress who would like to add an Oscar to her already lengthy list of accomplishments is stunner Xen Sams. Xen’s beauty is matched only by her talent and huge heart such a pleasure to interview Xen! While photographer Luciana Pampalone and Andy Golub celebrate the beauty of the human form, Dr. Robi Ludwig studies the mysteries of the mind as Cover Star Dr. Jennifer Walden shares her vast expertise on achieving the pinnacle of aesthetic beauty as one of America’s top plastic surgeons. Her new medspa in Midtown Manhattan is her gift to the Big Apple. Supermodel Carol Alt joined Publisher Chase Backer as his guest to kick off a new weekly collaboration called “The Publisher” on Newsmax TV that reaches 70 million households. Photographer Avital captured the behind the scenes of this exciting new entertainment television segment showcasing Chase and some of our favorite talents, products and businesses. Just one of the new creative and business endeavors underfoot for the Metropolitan Magazine platform that continues to thrive and grow. So honored to be a small part of our exciting dream team. A new year full of new possibilities. The future is here for all those with the courage and daring to grab it!
Cheers! Adam Kluger Editor in Chief, Metropolitan Magazine/25A
ERIC PAYSON
fashion
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MAKE HEELS YOUR ALLY Ally is an innovative fashion brand designed for women by women. Founder Samantha Dong could not find shoes that fit, so she teamed up with the best creative minds and podiatric experts to design stylish heels for all women. Our patent-pending design is the epitome of chic yet wearable footwear scientifically engineered to alleviate pain. We reengineered the statement heel with a podiatric surgeon to create a flexible structure that secures your foot and looks fabulous. Each shoe is designed to stretch with lightweight cushioning built into the soles to relieve all pressure points. 18 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
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OUR COLLECTION Ally Shoes designs leather and suede, pointed toe pumps in a range of sizes, from US 4.5 to 11.5. All of our heels are available in three different widths including narrow, medium and wide. We have a selection of colors to choose from including the signature, Little Black Heel, five shades of nude, and vibrant pops of color in navy, red, gray and leopard. Ally just launched a new, luxury Bridal Collection making it easier than ever to find the white, lace embroidered, and shimmer pumps that you’ve been looking for to accent your special day.
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Erotic Experience B Y L U C I A N A PA M PA L O N E
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Avalon Phillips
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Art by Andy Golub
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Sword & Plough is a certified B Corporation that works with veteran-owned American manufacturers to make bags and accessories, incorporates repurposed military surplus into its designs, and donates 10% of profits to veteran non-profit organizations. Sword & Plough’s mission is to empower veteran employment, reduce waste, and strengthen civil-military understanding. Sword & Plough was recently featured in People Magazine, CNBC, and Gear Patrol. Sword & Plough totes, messengers, jewelry, and rucksacks make the perfect gift or work bag!
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Luciana Pampalone Luciana Pampalone is a Visual Image Specialist with Global experience as a Fashion-Beauty Photographer with 25 years experience in Content Creation, Artistic Direction and Fashion Travel Photography. Recently named on George Wayne's (Vanity Fair) Top 100 Creative Influencer's List.
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Top Plastic Surgeon Expands with Skincare Line & Wellness Practice
Dr. Jennifer Walden MD, FACS Owner of Manhattan’s Skintology Medspa BY ADAM KLUGER PHOTO GRA PHY BY VITAL AGIB ALOW H A I R BY C A S EY MO RGA N FO R A NGELO DAVID SALON | TH E FLEX B RUSH | GAM M A+ I TA L I A DRY E R S M A KE U P BY J O HN HENRY EDI NGTON III FOR AN GELO DAVID SALON | KEVYN AUCO I N BE AUT Y
Dr. Jennifer L. Walden’s interest in medicine started at a young age. Her father was a dentist and her mother was a nurse so Jennifer had a natural interest in the medical field. She knew at a very young age that she wanted to be a doctor. A fond memory of hers is from science class in her school days - She was tasked with dissecting animals
and her classmates were disinterested or even disgusted, while young Jennifer was there with her scalpel in hand ready to make the first incision. From that point on Jennifer Walden knew she would be a surgeon. She never took her eyes off her goals and managed to secure a fellowship to learn from some of the greatest plastic surgeons in the
industry, such as a mentor in New York, Dr. Sherrell Aston. Walden describes Aston with reverence as a legend in his time with a full practice and operating schedule, and the expertise to dispense wisdom that comes with experience.
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Dr. Walden, you describe yourself as a Texan and a New Yorker. Besides being able to rock a cowboy hat with the best of them, how did you develop this dual identity? Yes, I am a proud Texan and New Yorker! Since completing my residency at the University of Texas and training at the world-renowned Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, I am glad to be able to call both places my ‘home’. I live in my hometown of Austin, Texas with my twin boys, Houston and Rex and our manny. The boys were born in NYC and love to spend time with me here when I am at my NYC practice. As the saying goes, once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker! So then this is a return to NYC for you with Skintology Medspa on East 57th between 3rd/ Lexington? It sure is, I knew the day would come that I would return to NYC in some capacity, and with my boys growing older, the opportunity came at the perfect time. I own and operate my fully accredited operating suite in Austin where I do all my major plastic surgery operative cases. My team and I are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of patient safety. I also have 2 fully equipped Medical Spas in Austin and a team of outstanding aestheticians and nurse practitioners that allow me to grow the nonsurgical aspects of my practice. Owning Skintology Medspa in Midtown Manhattan allows me to provide state-of-the-art services for my patients in NYC as well as Texas, with procedures performed by my amazing providers here such as Botox and dermal fillers, noninvasive vaginal rejuvenation, body contouring such as CoolSculpting, laser and lightbased anti-aging facial treatments, Ultherapy and more. I also personally do local anesthesia based cosmetic surgical procedures like thread lifts and blepharoplasty (eyelid lifts) when I am here in New York. That’s amazing. Can you tell us about your vision for Skintology MedSpa? What sets it apart from competitors? My vision for Skintology is to expand on some of the newer beauty and sexual wellness services and to educate my patients on what can help them achieve their goals. Nowadays people are very much interested in noninvasive procedures with minimal downtime, and I like to offer the newest and best technology to help them get where they’d like to be. Having such a functional facility allows me to build my team of talented and skilled physicians, nurses, medical aestheticians, and beauty therapists. I have a fantastic local medical director and restorative health expert, Dr. Mary-Laura Klesaris who can advise patients on internal and hormonal health, as well as the staff who can provide elite cosmetic services.
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Dr. Jennifer L. Walden
One of America’s top plastic surgeons kicks her feet up at her pied a Terre in New York City
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Dr. Jennifer, as you just mentioned, the ongoing trend in plastic surgery has been an increase in minimally invasive/noninvasive aesthetic medicine and surgery. Why is that? What are some of the more popular procedures requested? Exactly, with surgery, there is considerable downtime, so I have noticed a surge in patients interested in procedures with minimal downtime such as radiofrequency skin tightening with NuEra Tight or Big D Wave to effectively treat our male patients for Erectile Dysfunction or Peyronie’s Disease. Another workhorse of my practice is our noninvasive Body Sculpting equipment. With CoolSculpting we are able to freeze unwanted stubborn fat for male and female patients and have witnessed amazing results from as little as two treatments. The nonsurgical aspect makes achieving cosmetic goals easier for patients who are nervous or unable to undergo surgery for medical reasons. SculpSure also helps destroy local areas of fat pockets and we use that often as well. Every day we see patients who would like to tweak their appearance and my wonderful team of injectors in both Austin and NYC administer neurotoxins such as Botox and Dysport, and Hyaluronic Acid Fillers such as Restlyane, Vollure, Volbella, and Juvederm. That’s really a full suite of services. For prospective Skintology MedSpa patients, can you speak a little bit more on the latest innovations in injectables, body sculpting, IV hydration therapy, and some of the other
surgical procedures you offer your clientele? The medspa industry is in a constant stage of innovation, with an amazing variety of injectables available to treat a multitude of concerns. From Botox or Jeuveau to smooth facial lines and wrinkles, to Sculptra Buttock Augmentation to build volume and reduce cellulite or even Penile Enlargement with hyaluronic acid fillers by our board-certified urologist, we can address issues that prospective patients might dream of, but not have ever heard of or had the information available to them. As I mentioned with Coolsculpting, we are able to apply an applicator to the targeted area and freeze the fat cells to reveal a more sculpted and smooth shape. Sometimes that is all it takes to help someone build their confidence and I love that we can help the patients in that way. IV hydration therapy or simply B12 injections can help you feel better from the inside out, while infusing your body with vitamins to optimize hormones and feel better overall. We have a broad variety of medical-grade supplements available which can be prescribed by our bioidentical hormonal expert to patients who are feeling lethargic or lacking libido or feeling anxious. I am most comfortable in the operating room. I enjoy helping my patients’ achieve their cosmetic goals whether that be a mommy makeover after childbirth, a facelift to turn back the years and lift and tighten the face, as well as life-changing genital aesthetic surgeries such as labiaplasty which reduces the labia minora in women.
These sexual wellness solutions you offer are really amazing. Not a lot of other plastic surgeons seem to be able to address this important area of patient health and wellbeing. Sexual wellness is an important aspect of a patients’ overall health and we can help with concerns such as urinary incontinence with our Votiva RF Vaginal Rejuvenation device to target and tighten both the internal and external changes that occur with the vagina and vulva after childbirth and menopause. This treatment can improve a woman’s libido and her confidence. We offer both the O-Shot and P-Shot, which are platelet-rich plasma procedures. The O-Shot helps with vaginal dryness and tightness in women and the P-Shot for men rejuvenates the penis and increases sensation. I like to think outside of the box and stay on the cutting edge of the latest studies and trends. Last year, I was the first physician’s office in NYC to offer the “Big D Wave” noninvasive ED treatment to our male patients in Manhattan. We also are happy to have Dr. Mary- Laura Klesaris who performs bioidentical hormone replacement therapy by both implanted pellets and by pills which go hand in hand with sexual wellness. We also have Dr. Lanna Cheuck on board with the Skintology MedSpa team on Mondays! Dr. Cheuck is a board-certified urologist who can help with hormonal evaluation, assessing and treating ED and other sexual wellness issues. She also offers injectable treatments to both women and men.
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What would you say your specialty is? My specialty is in aesthetic medicine and surgery. I love performing aesthetic plastic surgery and to be able to work simultaneously with my brain and my hands each day. But I also like to be involved on every level of my businesses to grow my skills and to learn about what makes my patients happy. I’m lucky to have trained with many talented surgeons to refine my operating skills. I also like the business and marketing side of the aesthetic industry. It comes naturally to me for some reason, and this has allowed me to build on my surgical and nonsurgical practices and expand them with the latest technology and procedures. So impressive! What’s the secret to staying at the forefront of the beauty industry? I am constantly reading and keeping up with the latest global trends, and following relevant social media (follow me on @drjenniferwalden!). It is important for me to know of innovative surgeries and nonsurgical procedures in other parts of the world because I want to be able to offer my patients the most effective options. I am asked to travel to speak on these topics frequently, so in 2019 I had some wonderful opportunities to visit countries like Brazil and Colombia. I also traveled nationally to places like Miami and Las Vegas. By visiting these places, I get a feel for the people and what the trends are in different countries and throughout the U.S., especially in the noninvasive and sexual wellness arena which is constantly
evolving. This is important to me because it helps me better observe and understand the patients I treat so that I can relate to the goals they have in mind. How did you first get interested in becoming a doctor? Why did you choose to focus on this area? Any mentors? Sherrell Aston is a legend in the field. My father was a dentist and my mother was a nurse so I had a natural interest in the medical field and I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a doctor. A fond memory of mine is from science class in my school days - We were tasked with dissecting animals and my classmates were disinterested or even disgusted, while I was there with my scalpel in hand ready to make the first incision. From that point on I knew I would be a surgeon. I never took my eyes off my goals and managed to secure a fellowship to learn from some of the greatest plastic surgeons in the industry, such as a mentor of mine in New York, Dr. Sherrell Aston. He is undoubtedly a legend in his time with a full practice and operative schedule, with the expertise to dispense wisdom that comes with experience. Dr. Jennifer, you are considered one of the very best plastic surgeons in America, how important is that to you? To me, it’s part of my every day. I don’t usually stop to reflect on it because to me it’s another day caring for my patients and providing the best
I can for my family. I am so proud of my sons and the young men they are growing into and I want to be the best role model I can for them. Q. How do you manage to balance your practice, and being the mom of two adorable twins? What do you do for fun, and to stay in such great shape? A: Thank you. I have great a great team who I entrust with the day to day functions of each of my practices, so that allows me to delegate some tasks yet stay on top of the big picture. I have surgeries scheduled well in advance so that I can plan my travel and quality family time. My whole staff gets props in both places, NYC and Austin. I live close to my family in Texas, which is another key factor and I love to spend time with them as well as caring for our pug, Peggy. I like to work out to stay in shape- I have an elliptical in my bedroom and a chin-up bar steps away from my OR, but I find that I’m on my feet much of the time. This helps me stay active and in shape, as well as chasing (or being chased) by two nine-year-old boys! You’re very welcome Dr. Jennifer. So, why did you select New York City as the home for Skintology MedSpa? I have always loved New York. It was very easy to fall in love with the place, the people, and the opportunities it holds. Every time I land at JFK, I get a rush of adrenaline for the possibilities that the city can offer. Once you experience it, it’s hard to go back!
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Dr. Jennifer Walden Private Label Skincare CUTTING EDGE SKINCARE AND SUPPLEMENTS FROM A PERSONAL BRAND THAT GIVES BACK
I
BY W. A. MULLER
am excited to announce the launch of my new private label skincare and supplement line! This was a bucket-list project I have been asked to do for the past decade or so on different levels, so I am finally at a place in my career when I felt it was the right time to launch a line of skincare products I would use or give to my family to use. The team I chose to work with here in the US has developed products from some of the most demanding brands in the market. It is comforting to know that their scientists on this team are highly skilled at formulating costeffective private label solutions comparable to many popular personal care products, and they continually test new ingredient combinations to deliver cutting-edge custom formulations to the marketplace. Our R&D team that I have partnered with also regularly dedicates time to speculative development so we can stay ahead of the curve in consumer health and beauty technologies.
trending ingredients, like CBD. This product line was produced in an environmentally friendly, animal cruelty-free manner with sustainable packaging.
Our Dr. Jennifer Walden Private Label Skincare development team uses a large collection of innovative resources to conduct research. Information sharing on Raw Material Technical Data, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), and clinical data is provided through the vendors that we work with in partnership with their laboratories. Our teams for continue their education so they can stay up-to-date on the latest scientific research. Also, we are putting to market scientificallyproven ingredients to produce effective products that yield beautiful results, including popular and
The QA team regularly conduct the following tests on our products: • Specific Gravity (sg) tests • pH balance tests • Viscosity tests • Appearance (aesthetics) tests • Odor tests • Microbial tests • Stability Tests Quality also monitors the manufacturing process to ensure product consistency. Finally, no products are released without approval from our Quality Team.
It is exciting to have partnered with a leading innovator of CBD, Sun Care, Skin Care, and personal care products who knows that operational excellence provides the pathway to a winning product. If you’ve ever experienced product contamination or packaging failure, you know the true weight and importance of the Quality Assurance team pre-sale. Full transparency with our Quality Team is at the heart of our process; our partners fully vet new product requests for viability prior to development, and once the product has been developed, QA begins testing and monitoring products. All production batches are reviewed in comparison to the original R&D batch to ensure that appearance, consistency, and quality are maintained.
Dr. Jennifer Walden Private Label Supplements and Wellness Line I’m also happy to include some very special supplements that make sense to me & my staff, and are evidence-based in their active ingredients. In my sexual wellness practice in both NY and Austin, many of our patients swear by supplemental support and therefore we enjoy offering them! These are our most often requested formulations, so we hope this makes it easier with our subscription methods online for the monthly maintenance of your New Year’s goals! Placing them online in my e-commerce store was a natural evolution for the ease of patient ordering with inherently less hassle. In this selection, for women we have Phytoceramides for health skin, a Hair and Nail Support formulation, healthy powder formulas for the fitness & weighttraining buffs such as Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Creatine combos, as well as a “Drink your Greens” powder formula packed with nutrients and without the juicing mess. Nitric Oxide, Testosterone Booster for men, and MCT, which is a natural form of fatty acid found in coconut oil are best sellers in my practice, and mainstays like Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Krill Oil, Turmeric, Ashwaganda, and Probiotic formulas have been formulated and packaged for optimal utilization by your body. drjenniferwalden.com (Use Promo code 25A until the end of March for 15% off your first order)
profile
Dr. Robi Ludwig PSYCHOTHERAPIST, AUTHOR, TV COMMENTATOR AND HOST OF TALKING LIVE - A NEW YORKER’S MEDIA JOURNEY.
W
orking as a psychotherapist in the media over the last two decades (And wow, that went fast!) has been a very exciting and joyous journey. I remember when I was in high school wanting to talk about psychology in a way that could benefit a broader audience. Even back then I thought television would be the perfect medium for this ambitious goal.
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BY ADAM KLUGER When I was younger, there were a few prominent psychologist/media personalities who I admired and was very impressed with. Dr. Joyce Brothers, Dr. Ruth Westheimer and a glamorous, local NBC psychology reporter, who later had her own show on Fox News, Dr. Georgia Witkin, were at the top of my list. I always loved the world of psychology. I came from a very insightful and analytic family. Both people and the human mind have always
fascinated me, and they still do. So, when Metropolitan Magazine asked me to sit down with them to talk about how I got into the business, how it has changed over the years and what my professional goals are for the future, I jumped at the opportunity. MM: When did you know you wanted to be a therapist, author and TV psychotherapist? Dr. R: I knew I wanted to be a therapist when I was very young. By the time I was in second grade, I
remember walking home from Milton Elementary School and deciding I wanted to be a therapist when I grew up. Even as a kid, I loved trying to help people and solve my friend’s problems. I thought I was natural at it (lol). When I was in high school, that’s when I decided I wanted to write a book and become an author. I wasn’t sure about the exact topic I would write about but was sure I would write about something psychological. I was part of my high school’s school news paper and really enjoyed writing for them. Around this time, I also wrote a final paper for one of my courses about teenage suicide. I loved researching and sharing the information I had learned for this project. I was so fascinated by this topic It didn’t even feel like a homework assignment. I don’t think my writing skills really blossomed until I landed at my first television job at a local NBC -TV Station in Elmira, New York. But
becoming an author was a goal I knew I wanted to realize at some point in my life. The TV component to my career was the last piece of my professional puzzle. My uncle, Mr. G., was (and still is) a local TV weatherman in New York City. His life seemed so glamorous and fun when I was younger, that I wanted to include this slice of excitement into my professional life, too. When I saw Dr. Joyce Brother’s on a National Talk Show, discussing psychology, I had a literal “AHA” moment. And my goal to be a TV psychotherapist was born. I can honestly say, I still enjoy each facet of psychology that have chosen. It keeps me busy and stimulated in all the right kind of ways. MM: How did you get into the TV business? Dr. R: That’s a good question, and one I get asked a lot. Although I majored in communications at Cedar Crest College, I did not have a fancy TV
studio like many of the colleges and universities have today. I really had no idea how I would make my TV dreams come true. There is not one direct path to being on television. Every TV expert or personality probably has their own unique story. I decided to take a course, which covered all the different fields in television, both in front of the camera and behind it. The course was gift from my husband who told me if I wanted to get into TV, I should do something about it. He was right. So, I took a course at NYU and enjoyed every minute of it. This course led me to a TV coach turned TV mentor at the time Julie Eckhert. Julie was a former news reporter who became a Television coach. She trained many reporter hopefuls at the time and had an excellent success rate for getting people jobs. I then put together a news story along with a resume tape to show executives in the business what I could do.
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That tape opened a lot of doors for me. I first presented my tape to the CEO of Gracie Square Hospital, where I worked at the time. I asked if he would consider putting me on TV. During this meeting I told him that I thought he needed to add some female voices to represent the hospital and then told him I believed I would be the perfect person for the job because of my TV training. Fortunately, this meeting was enough for him to give me the shot I needed to get on TV. The hospital’s publicist put me on Good Day New York to talk about How to turn our Childhood Dreams into reality. The segment was noticed by a producer who worked for the Montel Williams show. This producer invited me to be a regular expert on this talk show, and the rest is history. My foot had finally made it into the TV media door. MM: How did you get your first job in television? Dr. R: I was working at a psychiatric hospital in New York City and had a small private practice at the time. I had the idea that a male voice would somehow get heard better than my unknown female voice when trying to get a tv job. I wasn’t having too much luck finding work on my own. So, there was a man who put TV reels onto a master reel and sent it out to various news stations. I also asked him to operate as my personal television 54 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
agent at the time. One of the places he sent my reel to, was a small TV station in Elmira, New York called WETM-TV. It was the number one station in the area. Perfect small market for someone who wanted to start out in the television business. I got a call from the station’s news director at the time, David Schifter, a former New Yorker who wanted to interview me for a morning anchor position that had opened. I knew I couldn’t commit to that job but decided to go up for the interview anyway. I took a bus up to Elmira and 7 hours later I would have one of the most monumental professional turning points in my life. After our brief interview, David offered me a job as WETM’s morning anchor. I counter offered and asked if he would consider hiring me as the station’s psychology reporter. He said, “Yes” and put me on the air that night. The two of us have remained the best of friends ever since. MM: How has the television/ media business changed over the years? Dr. R: When I first got into television, there was no social media. Social media has been a real game-changer in the business. Before Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, it was all about the national shows you were affiliated with. Book
deals and TV deals were primarily determined by the shows you were on and the number of viewers you could reach via national TV. Social media changed the way businesses looked at experts and media personalities in the field. It also changed the relationship between the audience and on-air personalities. In some ways, this change has been fantastic. Connections between people can be made so much faster. The viewers can share their heart felt reactions to what you say or don’t say much quicker, however, anything you say can and will be held against you, hence the new term “cancel culture”. It’s very important to be more thoughtful and careful about what you say. So, this has been an important eye opener and new reality to keep in mind. When making a point I have to be much more aware of how my viewers will receive the information I share. I have a responsibility to share content and insights in a way everyone can hear me and hopefully not be offended by. MM: Why did you decide to create your Facebook Watch show Talking Live with Dr. Robi Ludwig? Dr. R: The original show idea was presented to me by a former producer I worked with during
my talk show days. He wanted to get into the digital space and believed I could be the right person to launch this idea with. One of my friends, Marvin Segel, who was also working in the digital space as COO of Star Shop at that time, generously offered us his luxurious studio over-looking Times Square. Talking Live with Dr. Robi Ludwig has had several incarnations since its launch two years ago. Marvin Segal is now our Co-executive producer. We also have a podcast component to the show where we shoot out of Gotham Podcast Studio. This show has been such an amazing learning experience. I enjoy hosting a show where I have creative control. I love creating content and interviewing some of the most prominent and respected people in the business: Kathie Lee Gifford, Deborah Norville, Gretchen Carlson, Carol Alt, Paula Patton, Marianne Williamson, Jay Sean, Desmond Child, Stacy London, and Federico Castellucio to name just a few. I enjoy giving my guests a platform to share their talents, skills and latest projects with the world. It’s something I feel really good about it. MM: What are you most proud of when it comes to your career? Dr. R: I don’t really focus on what I’m most proud about when it comes to my career. I feel very fortunate to have met so many wonderful people in the business, many who have become my personal close friends. I feel lucky that I have been able to stay in the business for as long as I have and to ride out the various vicissitudes of the news/entertainment industry. And I’m also grateful the information I can present to the public is thoughtful and adds to what I consider to be smart and value additive conversation. MM: What are your goals moving into the future? Dr. R: Well, I’d like to write another book. Trying to carve out time for this goal right now. Perhaps create a few on-line courses. I would like to continue doing what I’m currently doing, maintain my private practice, work with people and on projects I am excited about and I believe in. I also want to continue to create content, segments and shows that I can be an integral part of. I think this should keep me busy…at least for a while (wink!). For more info about Dr. Robi Ludwig check out www.drrobiludwig.com Or on Facebook and Instagram @drrobiludwig February 2020 | 55
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Courtney Travin BY KEVIN P OLLARD
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or most, Sunday is a day of rest, relaxation and quiet preparation for the week ahead. But in the city that never sleeps, those in the real estate world have to be ready; particularly those entrusted with the newest development taking the Upper West Side by storm.
youngest agents on the Serhant Team, giving tours of the three and four bedroom units all the way up to the breathtaking penthouses. You will often hear Courtney’s easy and unmistakable laughter, just one aspect of her lighthearted way of making those who come to see the development feel right at home.
Another West End & 87 open house is underway and bustling with potential residents. Standing out from the crowd is Courtney Travin, one of the
Courtney joined the Serhant Team in September after spending time with both Douglas Elliman and Corcoran Sunshine over the past two
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years. At the age of twenty-five, she feels these experiences have already given her a wide range of perspective, a diverse appreciation for the industry and a unique hunger to grow. “From working on the residential side of real estate in different roles, I am able to see things in a new light. When prospective clients come to me and tell me their vision of what they want for their new home, I now have a much better eye for how to help them get there. This is what I pride myself on.”
Courtney is a born and bred New Yorker, growing up in both Scarsdale and the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Her mother is an award-winning interior designer and both parents flip houses, further solidifying that her style and love of the industry grew not only from her inner passions but from family as well. From an early age, her parents taught and instilled a keen eye for the finer details of quality and an innate understanding of what makes a house or an apartment truly outstanding. Outside of the industry, Courtney is passionate about travel and seeing as much of the world as she can. Her excursions have taken her through Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia. Of course, she is also no stranger to the Upper West Side having spent many of her formative years exploring the area from Central Park to the Hudson River and everything in between. “This is a neighborhood with so much to offer… whether it be the cafes and restaurants, theater, nightlife or recreation, you will find it here. There is an energy to this part of New York that brings out the best in people.” She has brought this energy to the Serhant Team, made famous on the popular Bravo reality series “Million Dollar Listing New York”. The star of the show, Ryan Serhant, has established a commitment not only to being the number one team in New York but also finding, developing and growing a team of future industry leaders. Courtney does not take this opportunity for granted and appreciates what an incredible mentor Ryan has been. “The most important thing for me is the fact that I am helping people find a home. The personal touch required is unlike any other career…to really get to know my clients, see what they need and making sure they end up in a place they love. Professionally, I could not ask for anything more.” If you are looking for a new home or looking to sell, Courtney can be reached at 914.582.0171 or courtneyt@nestseekers.com
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Yael Halaas M.D., F.A.C.S FACIAL PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY
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r. Yael Halaas is considered one of the best facial plastic and cosmetic surgeons in New York City. Her intuitive understanding of facial symmetry, proportions, and classic beauty allows her to envision and provide the best results for her patients. Her special interest in the treatment of the aging face in both women and men, combined with being in the forefront of progressive technology techniques, Dr. Halaas has been able to reverse the signs of aging and recreate the skin matrix, particularly with the use of Profound® system. “Profound® allows me to lift, contour, and smooth the skin in a single treatment, and my patients are thrilled with the results. It’s my secret weapon for improving the matrix of the skin on the face, and reducing the appearance of cellulite on the body”, says Dr. Halaas. With the innovative technology of the Profound® system, the ability for your skin to snap back into place will actually improve with retraction time
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BY GILLIAN RAVINS of skin responding faster. Up to 5x the elastin, up to 2x the collagen and increased hyaluronic acid is a reality with the Profound® treatment. Dr, Halaas describes our aging process, “As we age, we lose elastin and collagen. Elastin helps tissue “snap back” into shape when it is stretched, allowing skin to return to its original position when it is poked or pinched. Profound® is the only Radio Frequency injectable energy treatment that stimulates and triggers the creation of new elastin, in just one treatment” Dr. Halaas’ state of the art-office is located in the heart of midtown Manhattan, New York City, on East 56th Street (between Park Avenue & Lexington Avenue). Yael Halaas, MD, FACS, is recognized as one of the best facial plastic surgeons in New York City. Fully bilingual in English and Spanish and conversational in Hebrew, Dr. Halaas has a special interest in the treatment of the aging face in both women and men. Her advanced
education and continued training make her an expert in the complex areas of primary and reparative rhinoplasty, and the medical and surgical treatment of hair loss. Dr. Halaas is double board-certified in the most selective field by the American Board of Otolaryngology and the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Her dedication to continued education, training, and top of the line patient care has earned her the highest recognition offered to surgeons practicing in the United States- Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). Yael Halaas M.D., F.A.C.S 120 East 56th Street Eighth Floor New York NY 10022 (212) 688-5955 @drhalaas WWW.DRHALAAS.COM
Dr. Kally Papantoniou SIMPLY DERMATOLOGY BY LILLIAN LANGTRY
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or non-invasive fat reduction and body contouring look no further! For stubborn areas that do not respond to exercise and dieting we are getting amazing results with the Ultrashape Power. The Ultrashape Power uses sound waves to specifically target fat with no downtime or discomfort. The Ultrashape Power reduces 30% of fat in areas treated and has the highest efficiency on the market compared to other non-invasive treatments. Dr. Papantoniou is a board certified dermatologist highly specialized in cosmetic dermatology, body contouring, and laser aesthetics. She is an expert
in the field of cosmetic dermatology, and is a featured doctor in Newbeauty Magazine. In addition she is sought out as an informative source for many media outlets on skincare including: television, radio, newspapers, print and online magazines (Glamour, Vogue, Parade, Self, Cosmopolitan, Life&Style…)
Dr. Papantoniou specializes in a “Layering Approach” to restore, refresh and rejuvenate, expertly pairing the best techniques for natural results.
As an active member of the American Academy of Dermatology she keeps up with all the latest techniques and cutting edge approaches to treating her patients. Dr. Papantoniou is meticulous in her work, and in providing her patients with the highest level of care.
Simply Dermatology 900 Walt Whitman Road Suite 101 Melville NY 11747 (631)377-7222 @DrPapantoniou WWW.SIMPLYDERM.COM
Kally Papantoniou, M.D., F.A.A.D
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Vital Agibalow PHOTOGRAPHER AND HENSEL AMBASSADOR
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BY BRADY GOODMAN-WILLIAMS
hen we imagine editorial and celebrity photo shoots, we think of high intensity, glamour, and many moving pieces. Makeup, hair, and fashion stylists run around with urgency, all under the auspice of a demanding photographer. However, after seeing one special photographer on set with such names as Nigel Barker, Carol Alt, Irina Pantaeva, and Iris Apfel, I can attest that Vital Agibalow truly breaks the mold. As he worked the camera in quick bursts of intensity, he never wiped the professional yet inviting half-smilehalf-smirk from his face – and the effects were visible. Most of us cower in the face of fame, but Vital’s lighthearted and sensitive demeanor allowed his subjects to open up in ways I had never previously seen. The result? Portraits of each subject’s inner being – comfortable, raw, and vulnerable. I’m no trained eye, but I absolutely had to sit down with Vital to try and understand the masterful mind behind this Russian photographer’s half-smile-half-smirk.
BGW: Very nice. So changing gears a little bit. Do you have any recommendations for others interested in pursuing a career like yours? VA: Do it only if you really enjoy it. Don’t do it for the money but for the art. You’d be shocked how much money you can make when you prioritize the art first. BGW: That’s great advice. So what new projects are you working on right now? Where can I see your work?
Brady Goodman-Williams (BGW): So tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? How did you become a photographer? Vital Agibalow (VA): I’m New York-based, but my roots are in Sweden, Russia, and Ukraine. When I was 7, my dad gave me my first camera - a Leica – as a birthday present. I fell in love with it. I started taking portraits of the other kids in my neighborhood. There’s something about portrait photography that has clearly inspired me since an early age. By the age of 20, I started working with local modeling agencies, and I opened my own business by the time I was 21. BGW: That’s incredible that you started so young. How has your photography changed since then? VA: Those were the film days. As a photographer, you couldn’t afford to make a mistake back then. Now everyone shoots digital, so you can see the shot on display, which makes it all so much easier. But I’m proud to say that I started as an original film photographer. BGW: Why does your background in original film matter? VA: Well it builds credibility. It makes me more professional than any newbie these days who starts with a digital camera and doesn’t know what it means to shoot slides. You have to be much more accurate when doing so. BGW: That’s fascinating. I never thought of that. So I know you love portraits – why is that your favorite style? VA: I love working with people and seeing their reaction when they see themselves from different angles - it is priceless! But I do also work with fashion designers, which is a whole different world! BGW: Who was the most challenging designer to shoot? VA: Probably shooting Karl Lagerfeld’s portraits. Our time in the studio was limited to only 30 minutes, which is a photographer’s worst nightmare! But the results were so good. He really liked the images, which is huge since he’s a photographer himself. But Karl’s portrait was published in BELLA magazine and many others, so the hard work paid off. 60 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
VA: Most recently, I worked with legendary supermodel Carol Alt for her new show on FNL Network, “Carol Alt’s Living Room.” But there are some other interesting side projects! Lately I’ve been working with beauty and fashion bloggers like Kate Romanoff. BGW: You have a brand partnership with HENSEL, right? Tell me a little about that. VA: HENSEL is a German brand that produces professional lights for photographers. I’ve been the brand ambassador for this company since 2008. I’m using their lights on each and every shoot and I’m proud to promote them in my studio and through my work. BGW: Wonderful. Thank you so much for your time, Vital! You’re the best. VA: My pleasure!
Chang Sisi THE CHINESE FAIRY COLORATURA SOPRANO BY BRADY GOODMAN-WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHED BY VITAL AGIBALOW FOR HENSEL STYLIST MAGGIE MAO DRESS BY VIVIENNE HU MAKEUP AND HAIR BY YUKO TAMURA FOR AUGMENT TOKYO LOCATION - STUDIOTERIA
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ew York Fashion Week is known for many things – Chinese opera sopranos are not one of them. But this September, couturier Vivienne Hu debuted her spring summer 2020 collection with an unlikely musical ensemble: American vocalist Elle Varner and Chinese “fairy coloratura soprano” Chang Sisi. Performing Varner’s “Only Wanna Give It To You,” the duet rattled Spring Studios, and stood out as one of the highlights from this year’s runway shows. I was honored to speak with Chang Sisi to hear more about her journey and this milestone in the singer’s career.
BGW: Was this your first Fashion Week experience? CS: This was not my first fashion show experience. I actually have performed at another show and received a lot of positive feedback from the attending media. Xuanjin, the song I performed during Vivienne’s show, is one of my favorite pieces. “Xuan” in Chinese means dazzling. I find this perfect description of the coloratura used in this song. “Jing” denotes a state of peacefulness and corresponds to the chanting part in this song. BGW: Where are you currently performing? Do you have any upcoming performances that readers can attend? CS: Very soon, I have upcoming performances at international movie festivals in Macau and South Korea. This year, I will also participate in a concert with my mentor and friends in Canada. BGW: Do you have any advice for readers out there who might be trying to pursue their own dreams, opera or otherwise? CS: Keep learning. As an old adage goes, “good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.” A lot of effort goes into achieving any goals - I always aim to be a better self through consistent learning and practice.
Brady Goodman-Williams (BGW): What originally drew you to opera? How long have you been a professional singer? Chang Sisi (CS): I always loved singing. I started professional training at the age of 15. At that time I was exposed to coloratura. When I was around 20, I started to perform in front of a broader audience and collect awards from numerous music festivals. Shortly after, my composer started to write me a lot of coloratura pieces, and people started to associate me with my nickname ”the fairy coloratura soprano.” When I was 24, I became the youngest artist to hold a solo-concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in China. That same year I was appointed as the youngest vice-chairman of the Shandong Province Musician Association. BGW: Incredible. So tell me about your experience singing at the Vivienne Hu NYFW show this month. How did that happen? Were you nervous? Excited? How did that performance go? CS: It was a wonderful experience. It was my honor to perform at Vivienne’s show and I was very excited when Vivienne proposed a duet between Elle and me. It was a creative move. Although I am a classical singer, I’m also fascinated by pop music, and I do take time to train myself to be more versatile. Our collaboration went extremely well. I am confident about my skills and my voice; I could feel all the audience’s eyes were all on me when I sang the first note. I greatly appreciated this opportunity to perform at Vivienne’s runway show. Despite the fact that I only had five days to learn the song and I spent most of the time learning the lyrics of the other two songs, I enjoyed this collaboration and I deem it a successful one. February 2020 | 61
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Elizabeth “Lizzie” da Trindade-Asher IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF PHILANTHROPY BY ELIZABETH DARWEN
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merging on the New York City charity scene is young philanthropist, activist and entrepreneur Elizabeth “Lizzie” Asher who is on a mission to redefine the time-honored tradition of giving. Lizzie Asher is inciting a younger generation to get involved in philanthropy, and on her list of charitable initiatives has been the relaunch of the Young Friends of Save Venice. Supporting one of the top charities in New York City, she has united an active group of young people to get involved in Save Venice’s fundraising efforts which helps to restore and preserve the historical artworks and architecture of Venice, Italy. 2019 was a successful year for Lizzie, hosting numerous galas and charity events throughout the year, including chairing Save Venice’s Young Friends Steering Committee Holiday Cocktails, which hosted H.R.H Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, to raise awareness of conservation efforts in Venice following the extreme floods that devastated Venice in November 2019. Lizzie also co-hosted the Parrish Art Museum’s Annual Midsummer After Party and was part of the Benefit Committee of the Frick’s Young Fellows Ball and New York Botanical Garden Winter Wonderland Ball. Lizzie also supported various other charities and celebrated their achievements such as Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation’s Angel Ball, The White Cross Ball of New York and SEA’s 25th Anniversary Gala. This past January, Lizzie was a Vice-Chair of the Young Collector’s Night of the Winter Show. The Peruvian-born philanthropist and entrepreneur is inspired by the strong women in her family who have influenced her involvement in some of the most venerable causes. At the 65th Anniversary of Harvard Law School admitting women students, alumna Lizzie Asher delivered an impassioned speech to women graduates about the illusory idea of work/life balance. Lizzie’s general philosophy has been that trying to find a sense of balance will always throw you offbalance. As a result, Lizzie throws herself into her philanthropic commitments, business endeavors and family time. When she is not spending quality time with her son and her husband, Lizzie finds time for her causes, chief among them a niche specialty at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia
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University Medical Center. Lizzie and her husband have made substantial financial contributions to support cutting edge research and new techniques in a medical field that allowed their family to remain intact. Lizzie credits Drs. Daniel Brodie and Matthew Bacchetta for using the lifesaving therapy treatment ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) for her recovery after she fell into a month-long coma from a blood clot that formed in her lungs while pregnant. Lizzie and her husband also lead their own endowment, raising money for the Asher-Ezra Scholarship Fund that is part of the non-profit City Squash. The scholarship provides financial aid to underprivileged Latino children in the Bronx and Brooklyn who excel at squash. The two Harvard alumni have found it truly gratifying to provide opportunities to young Latino children and other marginalized communities. Lizzie hasn’t only roped in her husband to rally behind significant causes, she has done likewise to her sister and the company that they helm together. Since arriving in America at the age of 12, Lizzie’s family have held strongly to their Peruvian
roots and culture. Namely, together with her sister, Melanie Asher, they have crafted a hyper natural grape distillate, Macchu Pisco–cleverly named after Peru’s gem recognized as one of the new 7 Wonders of the World, Macchu Picchu. Lizzie and Melanie have brought the signature spirit of Peru to the United States and internationally, emphasizing that the womenfound, women-ran – and not inherited – beverage brand works with a coop of women farmers and employs female grape pickers. Proudly pronouncing Macchu Pisco’s dedication to the advancement of women in the male-dominated wine and spirits industry, Lizzie is passionate about women being adequately represented in male-dominated spaces and supporting women’s social justice issues. To some it may seem that Lizzie da Trindade-Asher has a lot on her plate but overcoming her own trials and tribulations has ignited a passion for helping those who lack access or resources. Lizzie Asher is a breath of fresh air, helping to redefine the institution of charitable giving in New York City.
About Macchu Pisco Macchu Pisco was founded by Lizzie Asher and her sister Melanie. Together the two have crafted an entirely new experience for discerning drinkers when they introduced the sublime spirit of Peru to the United States, Europe and beyond. While the sisters certainly cast a reverent eye toward tradition, Macchu Pisco is singular in its modern purity and complexity, and has been regarded as nothing less than revelatory by mixologists and the press. Macchu Pisco is currently available online and can be found at the finest restaurants and retailers around the world. Macchu Pisco is a premium line made 100% from the quebranta grape. It is produced all naturally so, innately, it’s “all the highs without the lows.” Characterized by herbal, grassy and earthy notes, it rests for 1 year before being bottled at the estate. For more information about Macchu Pisco, please visit: www.macchupisco.com Facebook: MacchuPiscoDrinks | Twitter: @ MacchuPisco | Instagram: @Macchu_Pisco
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Favorite Beers BY BEER SNOB BERNADET TE MARCINIAK
Pearadise Saison - Macleod Ale Brewing Co. in Van Nuys, CA Saisons are usually my jam, but I haven’t found many this year that I loved. Macleod Ale Brewing Company is the local watering hole by our apartment in Los Angeles. We like going there mostly because it’s close but also because we love their English style of beers. With that in mind, saisons are not a normal part of their rotation but this one was a beautiful brew. The pear was not overbearing, the beer was crisp and light but still flavorful, and it was a great summer drink. Dark side of Sesame - Ohana Brewing Company, Alhambra , CA This beer was definitely a one of a kind that I tried this year, maybe possibly even ever. The sesame is a very unique touch and the roastiness of this stout soaked it in perfectly. I can’t picture having an entire pint of it but it would be a great pairing with some sort of Thai food. A great find!
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Boos - Untied Brewing Company, New Providence NJ When this brewery by my mom’s place opened up earlier this year, it was the most pleasant of surprises. New Jersey is a state that continues to stonewall the local beer industry with prohibitive laws, making it an uphill battle for the local guys to share their crafts with their communities. Nonetheless, Untied is thriving, being one of the few local breweries in the area. Their Hazy IPAs are so rich and Flavorful. Their flagship beers are fan favorites. But my favorite one from them this year has to be Boos — their pumpkin ale. Pumpkin ales are becoming a dime a dozen and to me, many taste fake and overdone. So when a brewery comes out with a pumpkin that isn’t too overpowering for the palette but still retains the gourd’s flavor, it’s a win for me. To find your favorite beers visit Tophops.com
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Xen Sams Actor-Mentor
BY ADAM KLUGER P H OTO GRAPHY BY DAV I D GI E S B REC H T | IG:@TH EGIESB REC H T | DAVID GIESB RECH T.CO M ST Y L I ST: MER I DE T H MO RGA N | IG: @M ERID ETH M ORGAN | M ERID ETH M ORGAN.CO M HAIRSTY LIST: K R I ST I NE M URILLO | IG: @KRISTIN EM URILLO_H AIRSTYLIST HAIR EX TENSI O NS: SH E | IG: @SH E.H AIRN YC M A K E- UP: CHR I S LA NSTO N | PRO M AKEUP ARTIST N YC | IG : @C H RISLAN STO FO U ND E R AT: T HE K I DS E STA BLI S HM EN T EN SEM B LE ARTISTS N YC | EN SEM B LEARTISTSNYC.O RG Xen great to meet you! --Do you still get excited about NYFW? OMG OF COURSE I DO! I’m a true New York fashionista and I get so excited around this time of year! NYFW gives me goosebumps. I get excited for all the festivities and parties surrounding the city during NYFW. I’m a weekly contributor on a Newsmax show called Liquid Lunch TV, the segment airs every Wednesday for #WomenWednesdayLL - in my awesome segment , we cover all WOMEN related stories, trends and topics. Any fond memories or anecdotes from your time as an Elite Model?
Modeling is great training for any actor, because in order for you to be effective you must BECOME the vision someone else is trying to execute. Every modeling job I’ve had is a fond memory, but shooting with photographers such as Patrick Demarchelier is memorable in itself. One year I walked the PopLuxe fashion show during NYFW, one of many I’ve walked, but somehow this particular one was crazier than most, lots of out of control moments on the runway and backstage, to say the least. Another year I hosted a rather large Poker event in the ballroom of the New Yorker hotel where John Legend performed, privately for the attendees and his performance was accompanied by the most beautiful aerial dancers. Watching John Legend up close and personal and hanging
with that crew was a memorable and pretty cool evening! You quickly became a highly sought-after model for print and TV spots for a number of major brands: from car commercials to clothing and cosmetic, beauty and lingerie jobs, why were you so successful? When clients hire me, they hire a brand, I never just bring only what I have been hired for: I bring it ALL. My brand, my passion, my creativity, my connections and ALL my experience. Team players get called on, over and over again. I’m that kind of talent. Clients knew that when they hired me as a model or actor, the cross branding and cross promotions where endless.
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What was your life like growing up...traveling from Montreal to Paris to Florida etc ...did you always know you wanted to become an actress? Looking back on my earlier days, I definitely feel as if I have had quite the run! My life is a movie , that perhaps one day I’ll write. Traveling was hard, and lonely and I never felt grounded, modeling got boring and a burning passion to act was stronger than ever. I pursuit of something more rewarding I signed up for conservatory training and decided to take it to the next level. You trained as some pretty prestigious acting schools like Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler...what tips did you pick up? Attending Lee Strasberg Theater and Film institute in NYC was my best decision! Strasberg and Stella both use Method acting, inspired by The Stanislavski system.This approach incorporates spiritual realism, emotional memory, dramatic and self analysis and disciplined practice. Method encourages actors to magnify and intensify their connection to the material by creating their characters’ emotional experiences in their own lives. I then choose to study at Stella over a summer conservatory program, because to me she was fascinating .Stella was the only American actor to study with Stanislavski himself and developed her own “ method” built on the work of both Stanislavki and Lee Strasberg. I knew I would have ALL my grounds covered. What are your thoughts on the craft of acting? Actors should never be caught acting, they need to live truthfully, and iin the moment. You need to be able to lose yourself and slip into those shoes with ease, and deliver truth to those lines in some capacity, otherwise it’s not acting, it’s lying. THAT IS REALLY WHAT THE ACTING CRAFT IS ABOUT. What types of films and characters are you most interested in? I love action movies and fast passed dramas. I love strong characters with big weakness. What’s your special super-power? I’m truly intuitive and very clairvoyant. I have a very acute 6th sense and use my intuition and gut often. I’m typically never incorrect .I am very spiritual . I shy away from religion , keeping it to only traditions ( GREEK-JEWISH) and living by karmic law. I speak 4 languages ( French, English, Greek and Italian)fluently : some say that is a super power. Being connected to so many groups of people via their language opens doors and helps those connections- People feel most comfortable in their own language. My love for language has helped me in film and TV and I truly thank my mom who insisted on this education very early on! February 2020 | 69
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You’ve done indie films and even episodic television-you even texted me a still from a recent film shoot- it seems like you are very comfortable on set My HAPPY place is on ANY set. Acting is pure and utter passion, I am most comfortable exploring parts of myself that I did not know existed.I live for the unknown and what is to come .I get to become comfortable with a version of “me” that otherwise would never meet her full potential. Acting has allowed me to truly become in touch with myself and find happiness. It is therapeutic and a need. What other actors do you admire? Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Scarlett Johansen, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o. My faves happen to all be gals! Talk about the !four! movies of yours coming out in 2020-2021 Currently I focus mainly on film ,TV and my pop culture and #WomenWednesdayLL segment on Newsmax’s Liquid Lunch TV . In Film: I am featured in two movies coming out this year: the Banker is slated to be released by Apple on March 6th.It stars Samuel L.Jackson,Anthonyb Mackie, Nia long and Nicholas Hoult.
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THE BANKER TRAILER Waldo will be released later this year - staring Mel Gibson. In tv: I’m working on The Protocol for 2021, a TV series currently in development at Romulus Entertainment Romulus Entertainment ( teaser on my website Official Website ) People can watch me weekly on Liquid Lunch TV. The segment is called #WomenWednesdayLL https://www.instagram.com/liquidlunchtv/, which airs in 70 million homes nationwide cable on Newsmax https://www.instagram.com/ newsmax/, and streams on Viva Live TV, which is on 40 million devices worldwide. The talk is a mixture of news, politics & business served with drinks (for those who partake), in an atmosphere that is lighthearted & fun, and strives to find common ground on the political spectrum. Liquid Lunch Tv is a huge supporter of women and empowering women, it helps get my voice out there. The talk is a mixture of news, politics & business served with drinks (for those who partake), in an atmosphere that is lighthearted & fun, and strives to find common ground on the political spectrum. I heart the hosts (John Tabacco and Frank
Morano). It is so important to work with people you can truly get along with. They are huge supporters of women and empowering women , they help get my voice out there. You are a recent mom with an adorable daughter named Alexa. How has your life changed? Alexa remains my priority, and her happiness is my happiness. We have never slept apart and I work a ton (all over the world). I pride myself on this balancing act. She is a lucky little girl with so many blessings! Her grandparents, Donna, Larry and Vicky- LIVE for her She just turned 4 and I remind myself that she’s not as portable any longer . She loves her school and her friends and her stability is a priority. I try to stay as local as possible these days. Family is of the outmost importance to me. My husband is a film producer, with a very hectic schedule- but we make time for the kids and see eye to eye on our devotion to them. He is an incredible father to all 3 of his children. I also have 2 fab teens (yes I’m a step-mommy) who are a huge part of my past and present - they are legacy, being my ALL, even before Alexa was born. NOW my heart is complete, three’s a charm.
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You are in amazing shape-do you have a special exercise/health/diet regimen? I kickbox and walk close to 3 to 5 miles a day. I do not eat red meat, nor any processed foods. I stay away from all fried fare and only eat organic chicken, wild caught fish and fresh organic produce. I stick to egg whites, yolks are not my thing, and am obsessed with almond milk. (This is my 4 year old daughter’s diet as well) I am personally responsible for 50% of Starbuck’s growth, that’s how much coffee I drink.lol I cook 80% of all my meals and own an airfryeryup!
You love to teach acting and mentor others- please talk about http://www. thekidsestablishment.com and ENSEMBLE ARTISTS NYC I remain true to my love for community-based organization. As a result, I teach one monthly 4hr master class workshop on the “business of acting” for Ensemble Artists Nyc, (18yrs+) and one 3hr master workshop (for moms and dads) on “The
business of child stars https://www.instagram. com/thekidsestablishment/ “ with my co-founder Melanie-Amber Ruane (former generation TV child talent agent - she represented the likes of Bella Thorne). These classes are extremely popular, and taught in midtown Nyc. We offer reduced rate and also give away 15 free spots per month. Moms and dads can check out our site for next workshop dates and more info THE KIDS ESTABLISHMENT ENSEMBLE ARTISTS NYC , IG Goals for the future? Currently I only take on direct modeling bookings and specific projects . As a social Media influencer, I am always looking for my next post! IG The Protocol premiered at the NewYork Short Film Festival this past November in NYC at Cinema Village. As a result of all the attention the Protocol has received, (as we have campaigned and gone on several talk shows creating awareness for the ongoing mental health disorder in Americaspecifically overmedication, overuse and over prescription of medication in America. This is a
huge battle that we are facing as a nation. As a mother, I feel very strong about our children’s mental health. The statistics on mental health disease commencing at a young age, are frightening. The protocol is now being developed into a TV series, but it has gotten people talking and reflecting. As a result of this incredible journey that The Protocol and its stellar cast has taken me on, I have encountered some incredible souls that I have teamed up with to help place the perfect cherry on this cake! Very soon the “Hadley Hoodie” will make it’s way into homes across America! This will be a collaboration with a major clothing brand and a major charity, to raise funds for mental health disorder and suicide prevention. Two of the backbones of this project are : executive producer of The Protocol , Dr. Douglass Myers, and dear friend Dr.Robi Ludwig, a nationally known psychotherapist and award-winning reporter. Special Thanks to Vincenza Carovillano
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fashion LIVING
Gale Sitomer CONTEMPORARY DESIGNS
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BY ANN GRENIER
ale Sitomer is among the leaders evolving the business model and practice of contemporary interior design services. Whilst for many clients, the experience of achieving a customized and unique feel to their home involves identifying, finding and managing an architect, construction contractor, interior designer, decorators and so forth, Gale is positioning herself as the design and integration authority at the core of any successful home redesign, bringing together everything the Client needs to achieve their goal and minimize the stresses associated with the undertaking. Gale’s inspiration for this unique approach is underpinned by her professional evolution from highly successful careers in both fashion and event production. Her passion was ignited while supervising the design and construction details of her own residences and workplace, which in turn unlocked talent for interior design. Gale’s design aesthetic, which she believes to be equally applicable in either a residential or commercial environment is on timeless design, balancing subtle color, comfort and functionality. She also emphasizes Space planning, architectural elements and lighting, which to her are as integral to the interior design process as furniture, fabric and color. Gale and her team can also help with the outside of your house as they work on landscape design and landscape maintenance. Whether she is meeting the demands of a New York City retail boutique, commercial showroom space, a city apartment or townhouse, a ski house, or a beachfront retreat in the Hamptons, Gale’s approach to meeting the needs of her clients is as consistent as their endorsement of her work. For more information visit www.gsitomerdesign.com
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Prime Renovations LUXURY HOME IMPROVEMENTS
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rime Renovations is an architectdriven residential and commercial boutique construction firm. Prime Renovations was founded in 2004 because of a chance encounter between owner Jeff Streich and a perfect stranger. Jeff was working in exterior contracting at the time, and found a cell phone. He returned the phone to its owner, a man who also happened to own 200 buildings in New York City. Because of Jeff’s contracting experience, the man asked Jeff if he wanted to do some interior work and Prime Renovations was born. With over 150 completed projects, Jeff’s attention to detail has positioned him and his firm as one of
BY HARRY BRADS the premier residential remodeling firms in NYC. Their mission is to make renovations a great experience for their clients. It is a very tough business and Prime Renovations make it easy. Prime Renovations is a general construction firm that integrates design, realistic costing, construction and construction management. They work on both residential and commercial projects in the New York City area. Working in some of NYC’s distinguished buildings, Jeff Streich and his team of trade professionals complete full gut renovations and tenant build-outs. Prime Renovations Residential and
Commercial Services include: Complete gut renovations, Bathrooms, Kitchens, Build outs, All flooring, Skim Coating, Painting, Plaster, Sheetrock, Custom Millwork, Moldings, and Design. They are licensed with the Dept of Consumer Affairs; have an A plus from Better Business Bureau and Jeff is a Certified Lead Renovator from the EPA. primerenovationsnyc.com Instagram: @primerenovations Twitter: @Renov8now
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Julien Nitzberg FOR THE LOVE OF A GLOVE BY ADAM KLUGER Adam Kluger: Julien, I’ve known and been a fan of yours since elementary school at Horace Mann, where you invented the Silly Club and commandeered all the teacher’s pencils. Genius! I remember when you charged admission for students to watch you get a mohawk in the early ‘80s-I wrote about it in the Pop World Press. And who could forget at graduation when you took your diploma, tossed it in the air and ran off the football field and climbed over the fence. I always wanted to ask you about why you did that. Even at Vassar College, I remember visiting your room at Cushing dorm and you and your beautiful girlfriend Sheelagh had nailed all the furniture to the ceiling. You have been exploring and cultivating an absurdist oeuvre your whole life it seems. Other people push the envelope-- you rip it to shreds. As a creative, you have always dwelt fearlessly on the lunar fringe. Why is that? Julien Nitzberg: My mom was a Holocaust survivor. All of my grandmother’s siblings except one died in concentration camps. Her one sister who didn’t die, survived Auschwitz and would visit us and I’d stare at the number tattooed on her arm and hear her stories about Dr. Mengele. It was always hard for me to reconcile the horror my family went through with the sunny bullshit of growing up in Reagan’s “Morning in America.” I had friends dying of AIDS and Reagan was ignoring it while flooding the streets with mentally ill people. I think this stuff made me aware of the absurdities of life and how arbitrary our existence was. Through my family I saw how cruel the world could be and was very attuned to injustice. I think this made me find refuge in sick 76 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
humor and absurdity. I figured if I was going to live and die in a terrible world, I might as well laugh my way through life’s horrors. AK: During our time at Horace Mann, there were a number of horrific child sex abuse crimes involving pedophilic teachers and administrators preying on Horace Mann students. I knew that some of the teachers were gay, eccentric and bizarre but I had no clue that the culture of criminal depravity at Horace Mann was so pervasive. It wasn’t until Amos Kamil’s New York Times expose that these awful crimes at Horace Mann were made public. What is your take on this unforgivable abuse of power and children at our high school? JN: I think anyone perceptive knew there was something not right at Horace Mann. We had an Ancient History teacher in eighth grade. He spent one day teaching the history and culture of Athens and two weeks on Sparta. Every day he would casually say, “Did you know that in Spartan culture it was normal for men in their thirties to have lovers who were young teenagers? This was very normal. Very normal.” I remember the first time he mentioned it I thought it was interesting but odd. And then he mentioned it again… and then again… and then again. When he was returning graded tests, he also would make us 13-year-old boys line up at his desk. As he handed each kid their paper, he would rub our butts. We couldn’t process that. And he was best friends with the Headmaster! It all makes sense when you look back at it. The
school was repressive and instilled a culture of fear in anyone like me who was at all rebellious. In retrospect, they didn’t want anyone at the school who saw through their bullshit and wasn’t afraid of them because that would take away their power. They needed that power to seduce kids. If they didn’t have power, unstable kids wouldn’t have succumbed to them. I think the whole faculty, administration and even the secretaries knew. It was creepy to me then. I’m always surprised when I meet people who went there and can’t believe it happened. It was so clear. And honestly who wants to spend their life teaching entitled rich kids? Only pedophiles. Anyone sensible, would get a real job. AK: Michael Jackson is a legendary music icon to some and a freakish pedophile who abused scores of innocent children to others. What’s your opinion on who the “real” Michael Jackson was? What kind of research went into the script? Did you have to conduct exhaustive interviews? What was your opinion of “Leaving Neverland?” JN: I did an immense amount of research before writing “For the Love of a Glove.” I read every book on Michael and interviewed some people who knew him. Even though it’s a satirical look at Michael Jackson’s life, it deals comically with the horrible things that impacted his life. He grew up in Indiana which at one time had a governor who was a KKK member. During this time, one third of all the white citizens of Indiana belonged to the KKK. Growing up there, everyone knew this and it had to instill a horrible fear in anyone who was black.
The musical also tries to understand how being raised a Jehovah’s Witness would have affected him. I think this a central part of what scarred him as an adult. Jehovah’s Witnesses still teach kids that masturbating can turn you gay. I’m not kidding. This is real. And if you masturbate you have to rush and confess to the elders what you did and what you were thinking about when you did it. The star of our show Jerry Minor was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and talks about how scarring the whole experience was. Michael’s siblings also picked on him and called him “a girl” all the time. It’s clear they sensed he was gay and bullied him because of it. I think this is the key to understanding Michael’s life. These sexually repressive institutions really do drive people into doing horrible things. Whether it’s Horace Mann or the Catholic Church, repression and fear drive people insane. Add to that an abusive father, a sick culture of fame and knowing that if he came out as gay, it would ruin his career and his mother would never talk to him again- I think these are all factors in turning him into who he became later in life. The musical tries to grapple with all these forces. AK: You’re a writer/director--how in the world were you able to write a musical? What’s the backstory behind your triumphant staging of “For the Love of a Glove?” What is the musical about? How did you come up with the brilliant idea to tell Michael Jackson’s story through his glove? JN: Act One of our show deals with the Jackson 5 years and the religious repression that affected his life. The second act focuses on the year he made the album Thriller. The show ends before he went to Neverland and his life got really dark and extra weird. The show deals with racism, cultural appropriation and religious oppression but in a comic way. We try to understand the un-understandable life or Michael Jackson. Why did he adopt Bubbles the chimp? Why did he try and buy the Elephant Man’s bones? Why did someone who was raised in a religion that calls masturbation one of the most heinous sins in life end up constantly grabbing his crotch on stage, looking like he’s masturbating. I tried to find a logical way into the story but eventually realized I needed an absurd way to make sense of this crazy story. As I was writing it, I thought of works like Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros and Little Shop of Horrors. I decided to follow these models and the Glove became the central character. The Glove in our show is an alien from another planet who gives Michael talent in exchange for feeding on his blood. He is the one who’s grabbing Michael’s crotch in public. He has four brothers who are trying
to take over the world and force Michael to buy the Elephant Man’s bones for him. Michael gets sick of feeding the aliens blood, so he gets Bubbles for them to feed off of. I know it sounds insane but when you see it, you will suddenly understand Michael’s whole life only makes sense if he was controlled by an alien who looked like a glove and liked Michael to put his hand inside his body in public. This being a family publication I won’t try and explain how Michael gets his hand in the alien’s body when they go out in public, though I will mention it might involve the use of Crisco. It’s weird but for Michael Jackson fans like myself, I think it will be a bizarrely therapeutic way to process the weirdness of his life.
all these issues before they became talking points. Everyone in this town was addicted to some kind of drug. You can see in the documentary the despair that grips these communities and why they would like to give the middle finger to the coasts by electing a comic book bad guy like Trump. At every meeting I have in Hollywood, people tell me that they based a character in their movies or TV show on someone from my documentary. The producers of Justified told me they used the Whites for inspiration. Steven Soderbergh even made a film called Logan Lucky that took place in Boone County, West Virginia and had a cameo from Jesco White from my documentary.
AK: How did Johnny Depp get involved? Are you two pals? What’s his involvement and interest in the musical? JN: Sam Sarkar who is CEO of Johnny Depp’s company is a producer of the show. Our other producers are Leigh Crawford, Tony Jones, Betsy Zajko and Burk Zanft. Johnny is not a producer. I did write a script for Johnny Depp’s company about the singer Tiny Tim. It was developed with John Turturro who was supposed to play Tiny Tim. Penny Marshall was going to play Tiny’s mom. Unfortunately, as often happens in Hollywood, it never got made. Johnny was a friend of John Turturro’s and a big fan of Tiny Tim’s. He was also a fan of my film The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. Our producer Tony Jones was the Jackson 5’s road manager when they started out. Our choreographer Cris Judd was Michael Jackson’s lead back-up dancer for many years. His choreography partner Bryan Anthony was in Michael Jackson’s Pepsi commercial when he was a kid! It’s a great team!
I also was recently a producer and writer on the series Mike Judge Presents Tales From the Tour Bus. I’m super proud of the work I did on that and it was great working with Mike Judge and being able to create an animated show.
AK: Any truth to the rumor that our HM classmate Gabe Fischbarg, your writing partner on a new courtroom sitcom that everybody is talking about, thinks he should have been the Studio’s first choice for the character of Jack Sparrow? (optional) JN: Gabe was actually considered for the Orlando Bloom part. They thought in the end he was too handsome and outshone Johnny Depp. Thus, Orlando got the role. AK: You went Hollywood a while ago...are you happy with the career choices that you’ve made? What are you most proud of? JN: I’m most proud of the documentary that I directed and Johnny Knoxville produced The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. It was just re-released on its tenth anniversary and is available on Amazon. This documentary followed the White family, a multi-generational criminal family who are also famous Appalachian tap dancers. Ever since Trump was elected, there has been interest in what makes rural America tick and how the opiate crisis happened. I think our documentary addressed
AK: Any concerns that the Jackson family will try to sue you? I imagine they still have quite a bit of money. JN: The musical is a satire. Our founding fathers were wise enough to pass the First Amendment which protects free speech. Anyone who has seen “The People vs. Larry Flynt” know that the Supreme Court ruled that people have a right to parody public figures. And honestly if any Jackson family members were to see it, I think they’d like it. AK: You’ve had a really varied and interesting career as a writer and director of biopics. Any fun/favorite celebrity stories? JN: I think the best was the time Johnny Knoxville and I were driving around Hollywood in his 1970’s Cadillac and he decided I should down a jug of his secret stash of illegal Tennessee moonshine. I’m someone who can’t say no to a dare, so I did it. I figured if I died from poisoned moonshine, everyone would have a good laugh at my funeral. AK: Are you surprised at how mixed people are on, The Irishman? Kind of like Michael Jackson in a way-The Irishman cast and director are so revered and powerful that members of the industry is afraid to reveal the truth --about how awful/boring the film is. Liars and deniers? JN: I’ve been too busy working on For the Love of a Glove to watch a 3-hour movie! Today was the first time I had any free time in the last six months and so I watched the episode of Wife Swap that had Jermaine Jackson swap wives with Daniel Baldwin. It was incredible. Scorsese should remake that with DeNiro playing Daniel Baldwin! AK: What’s it like to be one of the last fearless anarchists on the planet known as Hollywood? JN: It’s anarchic! February 2020 | 77
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Hair to music’s Hall of Fame LINER NOTES-KIAN STAVE SITS DOWN WITH HEART MONTALBANO BY KIAN STAVE | PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW ZAEH
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he location is fitting. Off the beaten path in textured Curry Hill. There’s a secret door, then an alley, and voila, there you are. The address is the last item on a website that displays stunning images of rock and roll hegemony. To meet with her is to venture underground. There are images of Keith Richards on her page, her favorite. Alice Cooper with a snake. Ringo Star, Jimmy Page. The list goes on. Tony Bennett groomed to a T. Heart’s nameless salon is open on the days she’s not shooting music icons with photographers hair and makeup artists aspire to, Mark Seliger and Michael Lavine among them. She once toured with Nine Inch Nails, but for now is staying put and planning only personal peregrinations,
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and day locations, and of course, time well spent in her beloved work station where loyal clients assemble. Amidst the vermillion walls of what feels like a Gothic New Orleans speakeasy with sinks, a parlor of ill repute perhaps, Green Day, another client credit is playing at a comfortable decimal. I have come to watch her perform her signature shag with the skill of Chef Morimoto eviscerating a fish. Stunned by the results I quickly make my own appointment, and ask if I might speak with her at her Chelsea apartment. On our second meeting Heart greets me in her aubergine foyer. There’s a large scale portrait of Iggy Pop, gifted to her by legendary rock photographer Danny Clinch, with whom she
has shot artful campaigns for the designer John Varvatos. Obscura and curious abound. Kilims and decoratively carved wood antiques. Overhead lanterns spray dark walls with Eastern patterns. I feel like I’m on a movie set in a scene involving a seance. Or dragon chasing. Or both. As we sit and discuss her thirty year career over tea I understand why her run has been so illustrious. She is both lovely and calm. A quiet muse and striking Venus. I don’t attempt to get her to sacrifice tales of debauchery, though I’m all too sure they exist. She will never write a tell all she tells me. She cherishes relationships too much. “At the end of the day, I just love staging beauty, and cutting hair.” hearthairandmakeup.com
“ devastatingly awkward, and reminiscent of great one-liner comics like Steven Wright, but with a millennial twist.” -Came from humor columnist Sean J Patrick Carney
Rachel Lenihan A STAND-UP COMEDIAN BY ADAM KLUGER
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achel Lenihan is a stand-up comedian, writer, and artist based in New York City. She held the position of Writer’s Assistant for the latest season of The Chris Gethard Show on Tru Tv.
Rachel was a finalist in comedy festivals such as The Laughing Devil Cup, The She Devil Cup, and The Stress Factory’s March Madness . Her comedy has been described as being “devastatingly awkward, and reminiscent of great one-liner comics like Steven Wright, but with a millennial twist.” In addition to her stand-up, Rachel is developing a video series authentic to her comedic voice and artistic talents titled “Drawing With Rachel.”
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entertainment
Or Mash COMEDIAN, WRITER & ACTRESS BY RICK KILE ’Wonderwoman’ of comedy, Or Mash, offers a raw, honest and unapologetic look at her own life. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, she offers a hilarious outsider’s take on modern American culture and society from the perspective of a fearless Israeli immigrant. After serving in the Israeli army for 2 years, she embarked on a lucrative career in the online gaming industry, and despite her success, woke up one day and decided that she would rather make people laugh than continue to sell Apps to men in suits. On a mission to fulfill her true passion of stand-up comedy, almost overnight, Or moved to Los Angeles and began her career in comedy. While doing stand-up shows at historic clubs, such as The Comedy Store and the Improv, she has also written and produced an episode for her own show “Mashed,” which was directed by Matthew Harrison (Sex and the City).
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A Night To Remember THE 65TH VIENNESE OPERA BALL BY LILLIAN LANGTRY
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he Viennese Opera Ball will host their 65th Gala which will be held on Friday, February 7, 2020 at Cipriani 42nd Street. The Viennese Opera Ball is a nonprofit association under Section 501(c)(3) and celebrated under the auspices of the US Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Each year, it supports charitable projects that are connected to communities in New York or Vienna. With the support from Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research, the proceeds of the 65th Viennese Opera Ball will benefit once again the Music Therapy Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The annual white-tie charity gala is always a night to remember with ballroom dancing, Viennese orchestra, opera performances, and glamorous guests. The annual gala draws an international audience that includes diplomats and dignitaries, international corporations and professionals, and is considered the most prestigious and oldest Viennese ball outside of Vienna.
The Gala Chairs for the evening are Elisabeth Muhr, Denise Rich, and Jean Shafiroff; Honorary Gala Chair, the Honorable Michael Ludwig, Mayor of Vienna; Honorary Guests, Ann Ziff and Florence Hvorostovsky. Some of the world’s most famous singers Opera Stars, Angel Blue, Ewa Plonka, Limmie Pulliam, Michael Spyres, and Corinne Winters, will sing a series of opera performances. The evening will start with a VIP reception, followed by the main reception. Then the guests will make their way to the ballroom for Opening Procession, Presentation of Colors, Presentation of Debutantes & Escorts and Polonaise, Followed by Alles Walzer, 4-course dinner, a special Musical Program, and the Midnight Quadrille. Nathan Lee Graham will emcee the evening. About Viennese Opera Ball The Viennese Opera Ball, an annual whitetie charity gala celebrates the cultural and economic relationships between Austria and America, connecting two continents, two cities and two centuries in one glamorous night. It was founded by Austrians immigrating to the
United States 65 years ago, and is a tribute to both their former home town Vienna and their host city, New York. Considered the most prestigious and oldest Viennese ball outside of Vienna, the gala draws an international audience that includes diplomats and dignitaries, international corporations and professionals. Performances by Metropolitan opera singers, the Viennese Opera Ball orchestra, ballet performances, the West Point color guard, midnight Quadrille and many more surprises contribute to a glamorous and delightful night. Each year, the Viennese Opera Ball supports charitable projects connected to the communities in New York and Vienna. For more information, please visit: vienneseoperaball.com. Facebook: @vienneseoperaball Instagram: @vienneseoperaball #vienneseoperaball #vobny
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BEAUTY
Rescue Spa
PHILADELPHIA AND NYC’S BEST BY ANDREA DRAKE
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escue Spa is a full-service day spa located in New York and Philadelphia founded by Danuta Mieloch. Skincare is her business. Rescue Spa strives to make clients feel their best through restoration and rejuvenation. After 14 years as a luxury spa owner, Danuta produces unparalleled results that keep people coming back for more time and time again. “What motivates and drives me is seeing the serious changes we can help people achieve,” she explains. “People have told us that their major skin improvements have
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bettered their lives – I never forget hearing that.” Rescue offers a highly personalized, integrative and comprehensive approach to skincare and beauty, providing people with indulgent experiences at their brick and mortar locations as well as online at their e-commerce destination shoprescuespa.com. A Rescue facial, whether with Danuta or one of her rigorously trained estheticians, includes a thorough diagnosis of your skin as well as an analysis of your lifestyle and the subsequent effects on your visage. According to Danuta,
“For the first half of your life, you get the skin you were born with. But for the second half of your life, you get the skin you deserve, and I created Rescue to show you how. We aspire to assist the skin to function at its most optimal form, and thus the best version of itself.” With over 30 years of experience, Danuta’s technique and passion are what truly sets Rescue apart. She takes a full-spectrum approach, combining the most natural of ingredients while also welcoming advanced technologies for a truly trendsetting environment. Products at Rescue are pure, concentrated, innovative, and as natural as possible, and are paired with the latest technological advancements
including Microcurrents, Microdermabrasion, IPL, LED, VelaShape 3, Refirme. Danuta transfers this extensive knowledge and skillset to her team through expansive continuing education programs and hands-on training. “We are all constantly studying the skin!” Because of this, she has the utmost confidence that every member of her staff can provide superior service. “As humans, we communicate through our skin,” Danuta explains. “Touching and feeling is a remarkable gift, and that’s where Rescue methods can help balance and provide essential care.” State of the art offerings include facials, massage, body treatments, a nail lounge, hair services, brow grooming, laser hair removal, and more
all alongside expansive specialized skincare and beauty boutiques. Rescue Spa NY 29 East 19th Street New York NY 10003 Rescue Spa PA 1601 Walnut Street Floor 3 Philadelphia PA 19102 (866) 772-2766 @rescuespa WWW.RESCUESPA.COM
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BEAUTY
NeXa Pilates & Fitness TRANSFORM YOUR BODY
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partner Anne Jameson, NeXa offers classically trained Pilates instructors from some of the best schools in NY. The Pilates Method utilizes the 4 S’s of strength, stretch, stamina and stability to challenge the body in a multi-faceted way to create a lasting change. Pilates is a fast-paced, perpetually changing chain of movements that are used to get an extensive, full body workout.
Led by Master Trainer Anna Clark and business
In addition to Pilates, NeXa offers several styles of group fitness classes called NeXaFit. The NeXaFit studio offers Yoga, TRX, HIIT, Kettlebells, ZUMBA, WERQ, Barre and more. NeXafit provides clients with a fitness experience that engages all fitness
hilst there are many fitness studios in Manhattan, NeXa Pilates & Fitness, located on the Upper West Side is unique, bringing together a core of highly experienced, qualified and knowledgeable trainers at the top of their field. The fitness studio offers a wide range of fitness classes and equipment alongside a spa with state-of-the-art showers, an infrared sauna and local cryotherapy.
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BY ELIZABETH DARWEN levels in several disciplines that motivate and challenge each step of your journey. NeXa Pilates & Fitness is soon to become among the best of the fitness providers in Manhattan and their industry. Instructors provide their clients with the tools and motivation they need to make their workouts effective for their individual goals. Through a well-rounded, whole body approach, an instructor’s guidance, and your commitment, NeXa Pilates & Fitness can help you achieve the physique you have always wanted. For more information visit www.nexapilates.com
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FOUNDER & CEO OF NUTRITIONAL BRANDS
Danna Pratte RESOLUTIONS FOR LIFE
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ne of the best and most effective resolutions I’ve made was to “be present.” Fifteen minutes a day totally transformed the way the I approach daily tasks, goals and opportunity. It’s referred to by different names, some call it meditation, mindfulness or calming the mind, but I call it “being present.” And it sounds like it’s should be easy, but it actually takes a lot of work and practice to slow down your mind, sit in quietness and be fully present in that moment. I decided to make this change a few years ago because I felt like I was getting lost in a sea of distractions and didn’t feel like I was as effective as I wanted to be as a leader, or even as a mom. I was working to grow Nutritional Brands, seek new opportunities, raise three teenage boys and manage life. I had a great mentor suggest that I incorporate a time of quiet reflection into my daily routine. She said it would help me to sort the clutter, focus on intentions, allow for the things that are important to be clarified and find solutions to problems. You can probably guess what happened next: Yes, I was transformed. It took practice to get my body and mind to be okay with being in the
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BY SCOT T KILE moment. But when I took time to slow myself down, I was able to identify real opportunities, be more innovative and effective. I’ve been in the wellness industry for over 20 years. I’m owner and CEO of Nutritional Brands and own five successful supplement brands. I’ve seen the industry really explode over the past five years, especially in the digital content space, but I sensed that there was still something missing. There is so much noise and information about wellness, from quasi-wacky trends to scientifically approved methods and it is hard, even as a veteran in the industry, to cut through all of the information to know what to do and how to live the best, quality life. I wanted to understand the opportunity in this space and became very intentional about identifying this gap. It was when I quieted my mind and was in that present moment that I understood this opportunity. It was confirmed by everyone that I talked to about it. The idea for The Candidly (www.thecandidly) was born on that day: A wellness brand for people who sort of hate wellness brands. A digital collective that cuts through the BS, is unapologetic, unbiased and is
a space and resource for everyone who wants to live the biggest, quality, well-examined life. Being an entrepreneur, I am always thinking about the future, how to implement my vision, and to try to predict what’s next, and it can be a lot sometimes. So, I found that by stopping and listening to exactly what I want to achieve and to my intentions, I could see things a lot more clearly. Resolutions are simply things you decide to implement to better yourself. They can be implemented at any time, not just at the first of the year. If there is something that you can do to better yourself or your work performance, then don’t wait until next Monday or next year, do it now. I could never have imagined how something as simple as being present could have such an impact on decision-making, leadership and opportunity. My advice to everyone is take the time to learn to slow down, be intentional and be present in the moment. The outcome is a life that you have chosen vs. a life that happens to you. NBPure.com
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A Cut Above The Rest CELEBRITY-FREQUENTED SALON OFFERING TOMORROW’S HAIRSTYLES WHILE ALSO GIVING BACK TO THE BIG APPLE
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BY ADAM KLUGER
arber’s Blueprint stands out from other salons in New York City because they have created an environment that is true to the core of values of what a real golden age of barber shop culture should be...Classic, Masculine, & innovative. Getting a haircut can be daunting, but founders of Barber’s Blueprint, Arthur & Alena also recognized that the experience can be even more nerve-racking for people with autism.
That’s something I’m personally really proud of, hopefully it will start a conversation with other businesses as well and create a movement that creates change for Sensory Inclusivity. We’re also the first salon to offer an online booking system for “Kids Sensory Inclusive” haircuts. So parents can book their kids sensory haircuts online just like everybody else! Our salon is one of the few Salons in NYC or anywhere that are fluent in ASL (American Sign Language). We aim to be a welcoming, safe, inclusive Salon for EVERYBODY.
We recently sat down with owner Alena Iskhakov and Celebrity Hairstylist/owner Arthur Iskhakov and asked them all about their shop,lives, innovations, and more.
Metropolitan Magazine: Can you please describe how Barber’s Blueprint made it’s salon more accessible for customers with special needs?
Metropolitan Magazine:What do you think have been Barber’s Blueprint greatest innovations / ideas in your field?
Arthur: We, at Barber’s Blueprint, have created a quite and safe environment for children with autism or anyone with sensory sensitivities. We provided sensory bags which includes noise cancelling headphones, a lap pad, place cards and fidget toys. We tone down the music volume. We do not use blow dryers because of the loud noises it produces or straight razors due to skin sensitivity.
Alena: The fact that we are the first ever Sensory Inclusive Salon is a huge one. As we’re the first in the beauty industry to start that dialogue and open our doors and say listen. This is important. Let’s create acceptance not just awareness. 88 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
Metropolitan Magazine:Why did you decide to help out the autism community? Alena; Our partnership with the nonprofit organization Kulture City came about through an experience I witnessed at an amusement park. I checked them out and fell in love with their message and what they were trying to do. Soon after that, I contacted Kulture City and spoke with founder Julian Maha whose amazing and the rest is history. Our companies were a perfect match. I think at the end of the day what it comes down to is before being a hairstylist or a business owner, we are parents. As parents we ALL have the same hopes and dreams for our kids. Regardless whether they have a disability or not and that’s ; To be Loved. To be accepted. To be included. For their dreams to come true. We all want the same things for our children. So it was extremely important for me to become a beacon of hope for these families. To become part of the change. This isn’t something that should just be exclusive to one or two businesses. But be everywhere. We need to spread Autism Acceptance.
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GLOBETROTTER SERIES: ITALY
Olive Oil Obsession RARE OLIVE OIL PRODUCERS MAKE A COME BACK MARK RIDLEY INTERVIEW BY RACHEL VANCELET TE
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ust like champagne, fine wines and prosciutto di parma, the olive oil tasting trend is reaching new heights in Italy. People have believed for years that olive oil tasting is best in Fall months when the olives are harvested and new oil is pressed, but experts throughout the regions now say the rich distinct flavors and unique tastes are timeless and not season specific.
The famous Tuscany Hills still reign supreme for producing the best olive oil in the world, and I had the rare opportunity to sit down with grower and expert olive oil maker Colonel Mark Ridley, former commander in the Queen’s Household Calvary Mounted Regiment. Ridley dedicated himself, following a full military career, to Villa Montalbano on the Tuscan mountainside near Pistoia, Italy. Ridley is dedicated to the seasonal annual Italian olive oil harvest, following old Italian tradition. Visitors, friends and family all join the production festivities to help refine and bottle this rare delicious olive oil created by centuries’ old tradition. To gain further insight
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into this unique olive oil label, Ridley discussed his specialized tours at Villa Montalbano which draw international clients to this distinct label. Olive oil now ranks alongside many fine or rare wines for anyone seeking unique labels and bespoke brands. We hoped to find out what makes loyal fans come back each season to join the waiting list for Ridley’s delicious and rare delight! Can you provide us a brief history of Villa Montalbano? Villa Montalbano is located on a slope of the Montalbano hills near Florence. The small hamlet surrounding the Villa, called ‘Baco’, once thrived as home to the silkworms which supplied the medieval Florentine silk industry, but nowadays is mainly dedicated to agriculture, producing olive 92 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
oil, wine and fruit. But with upland agriculture in decline, some landowners are converting farm buildings to host visitors to Tuscany. The Villa’s origins go back to the mid seventeenth century when it is believed to have been established by a wealthy priest. Though this was only the initial construction, it naturally included a beautiful small chapel which still stands. With time, the Villa’s surrounding lands were cleared for agriculture and eight farms or ‘poderi’ were established to form the estate, functioning on the ‘mezzadria’ system where the produce of each farm was divided between the estate owner or ‘padrone’ and the farmer or ‘contadino’ who, with his family worked each ‘podere’. With the
passing of its founder, the estate was acquired by the Florentine Count Bastogi whose family used it as their summer residence, where they would escape the stifling still heat of Florence in the pleasant breezy Montalbano Hills. The Bastogis relinquished the Villa, that they had developed over generations, at the end of the nineteenth century, though their marks are still everywhere, not least in their coats of arms which still adorn the walls inside and out. The new owners, the Melani family, were wealthy cloth merchants from nearby Prato. They invested very heavily in the estate and in particular winemaking, to the extent that they won the prize for the best Tuscan farm in the 1950s.
In the 1960s, the mezzadro system was abolished by the Government and the poderi were offered for sale, many being bought by the contadini. This led to the breakup of the estate, the core of which was acquired by the current Anglo-Scottish Ridley family in 1965. So, today, Villa Montalbano retains the two farms closest to it and the original estate infrastructure, such as the large ‘Cantina’ cellars where the wine was made and the fresh spring water supply system. Today, though it has been updated to include essential modern features, the Villa has very much retained its unspoiled antique charm. Though small in comparison with many other villas, Villa Montalbano sports the 3 features which all Tuscan villas should possess: a chapel, a tower and a
lemon house or ‘Limonia’. The Villa is surrounded by an acre of classic Italian garden, which spreads out below cyprus, cedar, pine and lime trees, all designed to keep it cool in the summer. The centerpiece is a hexagonal ornamental stone ‘vasca’ and fountain, which together with the trees and terracotta statues is illuminated at night. The views from both the Villa and garden are stunning. Looking to the north over the city of Pistoia, one can see the Apennine mountain peaks, while turning east one overlooks the fertile plain of the Ombrone River as far as Florence itself. In the opposite direction, the green pine and chestnut forests of the Montalbano hills, where Leonardo Da Vinci was born, raised and where he sketched his first drawings.
With 3.1 million tons of olive oil produced worldwide in 2018/2019, Villa Montalbano olive oil harvest becomes part of the over 250,000 tons produced in Italy alone each year. Italy still reins at the top in the olive oil industry in consumption and distribution and remains a top favorite for many worldwide. Rumors have swirled in the international press saying olive oil lovers might lose the chance to continue to consume Italian extra virgin olive oil in the future. This news due to the dramatic decrease every year during the Italian harvest season, can you tell us your thoughts on these statistics? The whole olive oil business is cloaked in mystery. Italy may be the world’s biggest olive oil supplier, but it is also the biggest importer of Spanish and February 2020 | 93
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Tunisian olive oil. This means that much of ‘Italian’ olive oil may well originate from outside Italy, even if it is mixed or ‘cut’ with Italian oil. Genuine Italian olive oil, and Tuscan in particular, is very well regarded, but on the hills of Tuscany production is in steady decline. The reasons for this are varied; rural de-population and the reluctance of younger people to do the hard, physical work olive groves require (the locals say ‘the ground is very low’); mechanization is almost impossible on the steep hillsides. Additionally, the price of olive oil, which has not increased over recent years, probably due to massive industrial scale flooding of the market by Tunisian and other newer oils, does not cover the costs of production; so these farms are mainly loss making and many only continue as family ‘hobby’ farms for family consumption (Tuscans consume an average of 20 litres of oil per head per year). To mitigate this, Villa Montalbano has converted some farm buildings into tourist hospitality accommodation and this part of the concern subsidises the agricultural element thereby preserving the ethos of the estate. It is also a lot of fun!
be ever more difficult to obtain genuine single estate oils on the open market.
So the answer to the question is that while consumers will always be able to buy what is marketed as Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it will
You are known in Pistoia for conducting special tours on the Villa Montalbano property which helps to educate people on the process
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Your ancient olive groves continue to thrive each year. Villa Montalbano boutique olive oil is derived from one thousand trees on the property which produce the delicious delight each season. Can you speak to your annual traditional October harvest process and producing the limited edition bottles? Three ‘cultivars’ of olive are grown on the estate, Leccino, Frantoio and Moraiolo; the ratio of these varieties gives their oil its distinctive flavourand colour. The trees are pruned in the spring and the oil harvested in late October through to late December. The olives are hand-picked with the help of local families and the olives are then taken to be milled usually that same day to prevent any degradation, at the local ‘Frantoio’ co-operative mill. The olives are pressed mechanically ensuring a completely natural process, as opposed to the chemical process used to produce oil in refineries. The required maximum acidity for Extra Virgin Oil is 0.8% but Villa Montalbano regularly produces an oil around 0.2%.
of making olive oil in person. Can you speak to our readers more about the process and perhaps something that may surprise us in the process? The Villa Montalbano Estate is a busy place over the summer as it hosts up to 30 tourists at any one time in 5 ex farmhouses. Everyone is welcome and visitors are extremely diverse and global. Weekly receptions are held for visitors at the Villa and, if guests like, they can take part in an olive oil presentation and tasting. These events have proved very popular and successful in converting people to the cause of Tuscan olive oil. In winter, the presentation can be followed by a visit to the mill and a barbecue dinner there next to the presses as oil flows from them. What are the proper storage conditions to ensure we get the most out of your olive oil? Olive oil is like any ‘fat’ and will degrade gradually over time until it becomes rancid. But, if good oil is stored carefully, it will be consumable for up to 3 years, though regulations require that labels carry a ‘best before’ period of 18 months. Olive oil should only be stored in Terracotta vases, dark glass (bottles or demijohns) and stainless-steel containers. It should be stored in a dark and cool place, though it should be remembered that olive oil freezes at about 3 degrees centigrade.
With a range of flavours and variety of profiles within olive oil tastes and tastings, can you describe the Villa Montalbano label? (IE Some have fresh balance, peppery finish, etc, etc, distinct tastes) The Villa Montalbano Estate produces first-class, light, unfiltered Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil; full of fibre and flavour, luminescent green in colour and deliciously fresh. While each pressing will be different, overall it is richly fruity, nutty, with grassy overtones and medium to strong pepper. It is usually bitter and when swallowed will cause you to cough as it hits the back of your throat. For Tuscans this is seen as important because it indicates a high level of anti-oxidants. However, it is not to everyone’s taste, for whom a smoother oil is preferable. This can be achieved in later pressings using more mature olives, though technically the early oil is always the best. Has your October harvest seasons over the years faced damaging weather conditions such as fires, rain or more? It has been noted in the press many struggling companies in the olive oil industry, and issues of weather change each season. Can you speak to these issues and/or concerns? (IE climate change, weather change, seasonal changes etc.) Olive trees are, of course, vulnerable to all acts of man and nature. In 1986, Tuscan olive trees were decimated by a freak winter freeze when temperatures dropped to minus 26 degrees centigrade in some areas. In contrast, wildfires are common in Tuscany and trees are often burned. There is also no doubt that there has been a change in climate over the last 20 years or so. Summers are longer and dryer and winters milder. This has mixed impacts; some tree diseases have been eliminated and others have been encouraged. But, the olive tree is remarkably hardy and difficult to kill. Even if frozen or burned, it will usually recover from the roots if cut back, though full production may not be achieved for a generation. That said, in recent years a vicious plant-bacteria called ‘xylellafastidiosa’ has devastated trees in Southern Italy. This really is aN olive tree killer, but has not yet appeared in Tuscany; fingers crossed for the future. Villa Montalbano is a boutique olive oil producer, how best can one acquire your products or get in touch? Villa Montalbano produces between 1000 and 1500 litres of oil each year, depending on the crop. For many years a fantastic specialist food and drink retailer founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, has served as the estate’s exclusive international shop, including to the USA. The Villa Montalbano Extra Virgin Olive Oil may be ordered online through their website: www.demijohn.com February 2020 | 95
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Silversea Cruises
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Hotel Croydon South Beach Miami
The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort
Luxe Travel Destinations FOR 2020 AND BEYOND
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e are a month into the new year, have you made your travel plans yet? Whether you want to relax on a luxury cruise line, enjoy the cultural and financial center of South Florida, or feel the excitement of Las Vegas, there is much to explore heading into a new decade in 2020. Silversea Cruises Why visit one place when a cruise can take you anywhere and everywhere. Better yet why not take a luxury Silversea cruise and enjoy a unique travel experience staying in the Owner’s Suite on the newest flagship of the fleet, Silver Muse. For those unfamiliar with travel at sea, it might seem
BY NORAH BRADFORD counterintuitive but the Owner’s Suite is located more centrally on the ship, not at the bow (front) in order to minimize any effects of the ocean. Onboard Silver Muse, dine at the exclusive Le Dame restaurant and enjoy classic French cuisine. silversea.com Hotel Croydon South Beach Miami, Florida Take a Queen room at the Croydon and feel suitably regal whilst being steps from the Ocean and the nightlife of South Beach Miami. The Croydon has the benefit of an ideal location both for the annual contemporary arts fair, Art Basel Miami Beach as well as the finale to the current American Football season, the Super Bowl. Hang out and dine at the Tavern which offers Both a
wide selection of all-day dining options as well as indoor or outdoor seating to meet your mood. hotelcroydonmiamibeach.com The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort, Las Vegas Whilst there are many preconceptions, Las Vegas offers one of the highest concentrations of bestappointed hotel suites in North America today. Of these, The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort is one of the highlights, with suites typically twice the size of those in other establishments on the strip. Should you win big why not upgrade to the Lago Suite... Stick with the Italian theme and dine at LAVO with views overlooking the strip. venetian.com
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Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, California Want to travel and maintain your health and wellness while on the road? Book one of the recently unveiled wellness suites at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. The suites have been holistically designed to offer a complete wellness experience, starting with the products used to clean the suite itself, through a state-ofthe-art air purification system and dechlorinator in the shower, to the in-suite amenities from LATHER, welcome video by Deepak Chopra, and a circadian lighting system. Delight your taste buds with the all plant-based menu curated by leading vegan chef Matthew Kenney, and another menu approved by the Cleveland Clinic. The spa privileges will have you leaving the hotel with a measure of newfound wellness and some regret your stay cannot be extended longer.
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fourseasons.com/losangeles
Four Seasons San Francisco
Sunset Tower Los Angeles, California A little over decade ago, owner Jeff Klein first reinvented the landmark Sunset Tower, creating what is known today as the unofficial epicenter of Hollywood. Klein embarked on a refresh of the hotel and common areas with his personal touch; with the goal of restoring its heart and soul while not compromising the character of such an iconic building. The dining arrangements focus on two distinct options, the Tower Bar and the Terrace. The Tower Bar is very grown-up with walnut paneling, a fireplace and classic bar – located in what was formerly the room of a gangster at the Tower, Bugsy Siegel. Maitre’D Gabe Doppelt is at the helm of this luxurious restaurant. sunsettowerhotel.com
180-degree views of Market Street and downtown the signature restaurant and bar present a sustainable California-centric menu of seafood, local meats and seasonal produce along with handcrafted cocktails.
Hotel 850 SVB, West Hollywood, California The newest addition to hotelier and restaurateur Jeff Klein’s JK Hotel Group, Hotel 850 SVB is a new hotel concept inspired by European residentialstyle properties where the comforts and accoutrements of home blend seamlessly with the luxury and service of a contemporary hotel. Nestled on a beautiful street in West Hollywood, the historic buildings circa 1918 bungalow façade leads to a newly designed property developed by architect Marc Appleton and designer Rita Konig in partnership with Klein. Have breakfast in the Living Room or enjoy the Rooftop deck with outdoor seating and a fireplace and take in the Los Angeles landscape.
www.fourseasons.com/sanfrancisco
hotel850svb.com
Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills Four Seasons San Francisco, California Be at the center of that City by the Bay and stay in the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons. Having recently completed a refurbishment involving new interior design by Meyer Davis includes colors, fabrics and furnishings which draw on the iconic redwoods, the San Francisco fog and other nuances. Drink or dine at MKT - With 98 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
Sunset Tower Los Angeles
Hotel 850 SVB
The Hotel Jerome The Hotel Jerome, an Auberge resort, Aspen, Colorado At or near the top of the list of hotels in the Jet-set skier’s town of choice in Aspen, Colorado has been the Hotel Jerome. Celebrating its 131st year of operation this 2020, The Jerome has been central to life in the Town. As an Auberge resort, the Hotel has seen a number of changes and enhancements adding a hidden-in-plain-sight speakeasy experience, Bad Harriet located inside the neighboring former Aspen Times newspaper
building. Chef Rob Zack who has been with the hotel for some 20 years continues to apply his culinary artistry to the modern American bistro cuisine served in the main restaurant, Prospect. aubergeresorts.com/hoteljerome The Snow Lodge, Aspen, Colorado The Surf Lodge, the East End hotspot known for its concerts, lobster rolls, and Saturday night parties, has arrived in Aspen. In December 2019,
they officially opened “The Snow Lodge” in the old Shlomo’s restaurant at the base of Aspen Mountain. Open lunch, dinner and apres fun, The Snow Lodge serves contemporary American cuisine, procuring produce from local farms and ranches. With the retro ski design in mind, The Snow Lodge has both a cozy indoor chalet-style restaurant as well as an outdoor apres-ski patio. .thesnowlodge.com
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Silversea UNCHARTED WORLD TOUR 2021
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ltra-luxury Silversea Cruises has announced their Expedition World Cruise 2021. With an incredible selection of voyage travel experiences in 107 of the world’s most amazing destinations, Silversea Cruises has created a unique travel experience to take guests closer to the genuine beauty of the world in ultimate comfort like never before with the first-ever expedition world cruise in the industry.
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BY NORAH BRADFORD Silversea’s Silver Cloud will depart from Ushuaia, Argentina on January 30, 2021. The world’s most luxurious ice-class crossover ship will unlock unforgettable experiences for guests in 30 countries across six continents, covering a total of 39,000 nautical miles during the over 167-day voyage. The Expedition World Cruise 2021 will connect an unparalleled range of immersive travel experiences: in Antarctica, world-cruising guests will explore the frozen continent by Zodiac speed boats, taking to
land to witness stunning landscapes and rare wildlife species; in the South Pacific, guests will meet the descendants of the famous Bounty Mutineers in Pitcairn, after spending two days on Easter Island; in French Polynesia, guests will swim with rays in Bora Bora, explore Aitutaki’s lagoon, and discover a typical Samoan village; a traditional land diving ceremony will enrich the call at Pentecost Island; Zodiacs will enable onwater exploration of Australia’s Kimberley region; guests will witness orangutans in their natural
habitat in Malaysia’s Borneo; they will enjoy a behind-the-scenes exploration of Luxor, Egypt, and sail through the iconic Suez Canal, before journeying back in time through the historical highlights of Greece, Albania, Tunisia and Spain; they will visit the ancient monastery of Mont St. Michel, the memorial sites on Normandy’s D-Day invasion beaches, and the delights of the United Kingdom; and will conclude by travelling deeper into some of Northern Europe’s most remarkable destinations, including Iceland, Svalbard and Norway’s North Cape. A number of world-class experts will join the voyage, offering workshops and lectures and accompanying shore excursions, enriching guest experiences. In addition to a full complement of staff from Silversea’s industry-leading Expedition
Team and Onboard Artist in Residence Antony Smith, over 20 featured guest speakers will board Silver Cloud to enhance the cruising experience. These include Felicity Aston MBE—Explorer, Scientist, Speaker & Author; Tim Severin—Explorer and Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical and Scottish Geographical Societies; and Jo Ruxton— Co-Founder of the Plastic Oceans Foundation. A number of exclusive events will also enhance the voyage, allowing guests to gain insight into many fascinating cultures with special access: a sample of the voyage’s enrichment events includes a special bon voyage reception for worldcruising guests on the rooftop of Palacio Concha, a grand mansion in Chile’s Santiago; privileged access to Robert Louis Stevenson’s former home in Apia, Samoa Islands, for a private dinner; a night
at the illustrious China Club, at which Silversea’s guests will enjoy a sophisticated private dinner on the 52nd floor of Singapore’s Capital Tower; a bespoke banquet on the walkway of London’s most famous landmark, the Tower Bridge; and a Viking farewell to round off the Expedition World Cruise 2021, which will comprise an authentic culinary experience in Iceland’s Kjarnaskogur Forest. World-cruising guests on this voyage will each receive complimentary expedition gear delivered directly to their suites. The kit will include a commemorative World Cruise Polar exploration parka, a waterproof backpack, and various other items of clothing and accessories. silversea.com
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Artist Jitish Kallat FOCUS ON INDIA BY RACHEL VANCELET TE
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ne of India’s leading contemporar y ar tists, 45-year-old Jitish Kallat is currently being celebrated and coveted by top collectors and museums around the globe. Born in Mumbai, India, he is deeply attached to the complicated circumstances of his home country, and this is reflected in his extensive body of art, which includes drawings, paintings, photography, collage, videos, and precise sculptural installations. Kallat is described as a visual ‘archeologist’ by noted art critics, and he employs philosophical subjects and unique narratives that connect us all as humans. While exploring the sciences and our relationship to earthly existence, Jitish intertwines themes inspired by sociology and biology into his artworks, challenging the viewer to expand their cultural points of view. Kallat also carefully weaves autobiographical, political, and artistic references,
reflecting on an India that is changing at lightning speed. His practice involves many hours a day in his Mumbai art studio, probing and questioning everything in a search for new creative techniques while preparing for his upcoming national and international 2020 exhibitions. “My art is more like a researcher’s project who uses quotes rather than an essay, with each painting necessitating a bibliography,” says the artist. Using abstraction as his tool to explore both subtle and profound personal chronologies, which is embedded in the rich cultural history of his people, Kallat’s artistic practice employs collaborations using objects, stories and noted individuals from contemporary history. He creates by appropriation and a ‘decoding’ of subjects, allowing viewers to immerse themselves in his ambitious installations and video projects. Executing large-scale abstract paintings and sculptures, he continues to captivate viewers and art appreciators who can immerse themselves
in his thoughtful creations, finding meaning for themselves. His vast body of work often appears ‘aged’ and is identified by using contrasting themes of hope, pain, and survival. The multi-sensory experiences of the city of Bombay/Mumbai itself often are seen as somewhat other-worldly. Kallat has reached international recognition with multiple worldwide exhibitions, including a career retrospective titled “Here After Here” presented in 2017 at The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. The artist is currently preparing two back-to-back solo shows in Mumbai and Delhi. The exhibitions will also be followed by a new solo exhibition of work presented in Nashville, Tennessee, for the first time. We sat down with the artist to get an inside view of his prolific studio practice and the creative process he uses while preparing for these important career exhibitions.
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What inspires you? It is often very hard to pinpoint where inspirations emerge from. Sometimes it is a fleeting image one sees, at other times it can be a piece of information one reads. I often think of these as just external stimuli that unravel an inner monologue which in time might gestate and materialize as a piece of work. Can you speak to us about your daily routine in the art studio? The studio is essentially a state of mind and extends well beyond the physical structure within which one is able to conduct one’s artistic practice. Many times the inquiries that emerge while one is within the studio get resolved when one is away from it. I usually begin my day early around 5:45 AM and am often outdoors by 6:30 AM. This early morning ritual sets the stage for the day in the studio where I maintain a fairly unchanging schedule from about 10 am to 6 pm. On a few occasions, I might start very early or continue working later. What are your major influences throughout your career? At an artistic level, I think I gain energy from a whole range of artist-predecessors and that list might be long and an everchanging one. So I won’t attempt to get into that here. One element that has recurred throughout my practice is the constant interplay between the terrestrial and the celestial, the everyday life in a cosmopolis and the distant cosmos. There is this need to look at our worldly human stories alongside a fleeting pointer to the unfathomable scale of our universe, expanding mysteriously at an inexplicable pace. Tell us briefly about your recent critically acclaimed mid-career exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi)? Besides sharing twenty-five years of my work with a wide audience, at a personal level it was an opportunity to look back at what I’ve done. While some people called it a “retrospective”, I often joked saying that it is more of a “retroprospective”, looking back only to look further ahead. My work over the last two decades does not follow a single linear progression in terms of materiality, scale, stylistic or mediumistic family resemblance, etc. Curated by Catherine David the exhibition did not follow a chronological format and brought together various bodies of work in close juxtaposition to bring out the overlapping themes and ideas.
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There were over 130 works in the exhibition and several of these were large installations that have themselves been hosted as solo exhibitions at other museums. For instance, the work titled Epilogue which was a solo project at the San Jose Museum of Art in 2012 is made up of 753 photographs that collectively become an archive of the 22889 moons that my father saw in his lifetime. Another work in the show such as Public Notice 2 was a solo project at The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2015. It is made up of 4700 bones formations that appear like alphabets collectively becoming the transcript of Mahatma Gandhi’s 106 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
speech delivered before he commenced the Salt March.
So, the meaning of a work of art is not static but context dependent.
Your practice covers a diverse exploration of processes, ideas, and themes, how does your work speak to current social or political issues? (or does it?) I don’t think that my work tries to speak directly to any social or political issue. But since the world, currently in a deep state of flux, is the very culture medium within which the work evolves, it does have a feedback loop that reflects it…. And then circumstances emerge where the works assume another dimension of meaning when exhibited.
For instance, Covering Letter, a project from 2012 developed around a letter sent by Gandhi to Hitler in 1939, opened as a solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, two days after Donald Trump was voted to power at the end of a very toxic and divisive election. This development completely altered the reading of Covering Letter on the East Coast. I often can say that Gandhi’s words to Hitler seem equally addressed to anyone, anytime, anywhere, opening up a space for selfreflection.
Do new technologies such as AI and/or new computer programs affect your current studio practice, and if so how and why? My work is medium agnostic, and it is often the primary impulses that generate the work that finally defines the materials I use… so yes, there is a dimension to the practice where advanced computer programs get used. What do you hope the audience encountering your artwork will receive in experiencing your artwork? Preconceiving an audience response can be quite a self-defeating exercise so I usually don’t go there.
Equally, I want the work to function in an openended manner and there is no user’s manual of how the audience might engage with it. As you have captured a global audience who are following and who collects your artwork, what is your future exhibition? Amongst other projects, I’m currently focused on my solo exhibition at the Frist Museum of Art in Nashville in March 2020. The project at the Frist Museum, a former post-office is titled Return to Sender and is developed around the epistolary mode… with the idea of correspondence, or letter writing, at the very heart of the work. So, besides
the Covering Letter project that I mentioned earlier, I’ll exhibit a new photo-n-sound-based installation titled Covering Letter (Terranum Nuncius). The project draws from the two phonographic Golden Records that were hoisted onto the legendary Voyager 1 and 2 space probes launched by NASA in 1977… an epic presentation of “our” world to an unknown other. At a time when we find ourselves in a deeply divided world, the piece is a meditation on ourselves as residents of a single planet, where the ‘other’ we are speaking to is an unknown ‘intergalactic alien’.
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Artist
Edward Beckett DEBUT AT NEW YORK CITY ’S WALTER WICKISER GALLERY
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he Walter Wickiser Gallery (210 11th Ave #303) in New York City will present an exhibition of works from the late 1990s to the present by Los Angeles-based artist Edward Beckett in January 2020.
Eleven monotypes and paintings have been selected, themed around the artist’s career-long exploration of two themes: the intersection of art and music he has described as Visual Song and Questioning Time.
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The show will run from January 4 - January 29, 2020 with an opening reception on Thursday, January 9 (6-8 pm), at the gallery in Chelsea’s historic Fine Art Building. Beckett, a symbolic expressionist, has described his as work as “depicting the unseen elements of communication. These (spoken, unspoken, musical) elements include communication between one’s self and another, our community, our world, our fears, loves and ambitions; and between our perceptions and influencing factors.” Beckett renders these subjects through four mediums - primarily printmaking, but also through ceramic sculpture, painting and iconography. His process uses a repetitive symbolic and consistent vocabulary as a composer uses rhythm and tonality “to capture mercurial, ephemeral, musical and/or percussive interchanges (seen, unseen and felt) and shape
them into visual forms. If we can view the unseen, perhaps we can improve or appreciate it more. Gordon Fuglie, Director, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, points out that, “Beckett attempts in his paints and prints a reinvigoration of the ‘marvelous’, a notion that gave a charge to the early images of the Surrealists. He differs from them, however, in that rather than creating a new reality, he reckons directly with his time and place through symbols that embody the myriad possibilities and perplexities of communication.” For additional information about the artist and this exhibition, please contact the Gallery, Walter Wickiser (212) 625-0601 wwickiserg@aol.com. About The Walter Wickiser Gallery The Walter Wickiser Gallery (https://www. walterwickisergallery.com) was established in
1992 in Soho. It has always been the focus of the Wickiser Gallery to create a visual dialogue between various cultures, and simultaneously reminds us of the ability of art to transcend cultural boundaries. Clients and visitors to the gallery have included Woody Allen, Betsy Bloomingdale, Kim Catrall, Leo Castelli, Michael Douglas, Alex Katz, Phillip Pearlstein, Sally Avery, Sarah Kuniyoshi, Ted Koppel, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Geraldo Rivera, Sam LeFrak and Paul Volker. The Wickiser Gallery has received numerous reviews on ARTnews, Art In America and many other internationally recognized publications. Work by many of the represented artists have been exhibited at American museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the High Museum of Art in Georgia, the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas, and the new Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut.
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Ashley Judd Audrey Garuss
Actress Ashley Judd JOINNING AUDREY GRUSS TO LAUNCH THE NEW HOPE FRAGRANCE COLLECTION EXCLUSIVELY AT BERGDORF GOODMAN
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BY ASHLEY JUDD & AUDREY GRUSS ctress and activist Ashley Judd joined Audrey Gruss to introduce the new Hope Fragrance Collection at a high tea in Bergdorf Goodman’s luxurious seventh floor, BG
Restaurant.
The Hope Collection consists of the classic Hope, The Uplifting Fragrance™, and two new scents, Hope Sport and Hope Night. The collection will launch exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman on February 3rd, 2020. Guests at the high tea, including Muffie Potter Aston, CeCe Cord, Diandra Douglas, Jamee Gregory and Hilary Ross, were treated to a first look at the two new fragrances,designed to uplift the senses and developed by Firmenich’s master perfumer Honorine Blanc in collaboration with Ms.Gruss. The two NEW Hope Fragrances, Hope Sport and Hope Night, take the Hope Fragrance journey from day to night.
Additional guests included: Bonnie Pfeifer Evans, Susan Gutfreund, Barbara Bancroft, Krista Bard, Janna Bullock, Jean Doumanian, Joanna Mastroianni, Marc Rosen, Scott Snyder and Louisa Benton. The Hope Sport Eau de Parfum ($150) is a refreshing and invigorating blend of essences that helps energize during an active day. This youthful scent blends green citrus top notes with two of Hope’s signature white flowers, Tuberose and Lily-of-the-Valley to create a crisp, clean effect. The Hope Night Eau de Parfum ($150) is a warm, romantic and sensuous fragrance that inspires you to fall in love again and again. Featuring a unique blend of sophisticated oriental notes, including Amber, Vanilla, Patchouli, Plum and Vetiver, on a base of Gardenia and Lily-of-theValley, Hope Night evokes warmth, comfort, and romance. The Hope Fragrance collection created by
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Audrey Gruss, Founder and Chair of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), Hope Fragrances are 100 percent charitable. All of the net profits of sales from each Hope Fragrance go directly to HDRF to support groundbreaking depression research. The mission of HDRF is to fund the most innovative neuroscience research into the origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and its related mood disorders, including bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and suicide. Pink champagne by Laurent Perrier was poured as hors d’oeuvres were passed around the room. Guests mingled amongst green and white linencovered tables, decorated with freshly cut flowers evoking Hope Fragrance’s key notes – gardenia, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley and tuberose. Gold bowls of Madagascar vanilla pods, vibrant limes and ripe plums were positioned in the middle of the grand room, representing the fresh and evocative notes of Hope Sport and Night. Classic
three-tiered trays adorned each table, offering a variety of tea sandwiches, freshly baked scones, fruit preserves, Devonshire cream and petite sweets including macarons and financiers. “My mother Hope was before her time and loved white flowers and surrounded herself with them,” said HDRF Founder & Chair/Hope Fragrance Founder, Audrey Gruss. “The original Hope, influenced by my mother, is a combination of white flowers and a verdant note that evokes the fresh green of nature. The two new fragrances are also based on the DNA of the original iconic white flowers, but with warm oriental notes that evoke romance, beautifully manifested in Hope Night; and with green citrus notes that energize a woman’s day, captured in Hope Sport. This creates the Hope Fragrance Collection that takes a woman from day to night in the key moments she experiences.”
Ashley Judd Krista Bard Audrey Gruss Louisa Benton
ABOUT THE CLASSIC HOPE PRODUCT The original Hope Eau de Parfum ($150) is a magnificent fusion of the most aromatic white flowers—Gardenia, Jasmine, Lily-of-The-Valley, and Tuberose—the purest and most delicate essences that delight our senses. An exclusive green note adds a lively layer of crisp freshness. The original Hope Collection also contains Hope Hand and Body Crème ($50), a luxurious cream that leaves skin silky, soft and lightly scented, as well as the Hope Scented Candle ($70), an elegant fragrant candle that burns for up to 45 hours. The Hope Fragrance bottle, which features an elongated neck and luxury metal tones—silver for Hope Sport, rose gold for Hope Night, and iconic gold for Hope Original—was created by award-winning perfume packaging designer Marc Rosen. ABOUT HOPE FOR DEPRESSION RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Janna Bullock Diandra Douglas Jamee Gregory Louisa Benton
HDRF is a public, non-profit 501c3 organization founded in 2006 by Audrey Gruss in memory of her mother Hope. Its mission is to fund advanced neuroscience research in the causes, new treatments, and prevention of depression and its related mood disorders. In 2010, HDRF launched its Depression Task Force, an outstanding international collaboration of world-renowned scientists from different disciplines and research institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Working together, these top scientists are executing a joint research plan and sharing data in real time to accelerate discovery. For more information, visit: www.hopefordepression.org HDRF aims to raise awareness of depression as a medical illness and to educate the public about the facts of depression in order to help remove the stigma that still surrounds depression.
R.Couri Hay Christina Schott
Jean Shafiroff Ashley Judd
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John Tabacco MIXING UP DAYTIME NEWS BY JADAN HORYN
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he bright tv lights turn off and John Tabacco, dressed in his classic 3-piece pinstripe suit reminiscent of the Wolf of Wall Street era, saunters over to the on-set bar and mixes himself a drink. He didn’t name the show Liquid Lunch for the optics, anyone legal can get an adult beverage made by one of the many producers humming around his Broadway studio. This is characteristic of the unorthodox show that’s shaking up daytime TV.
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John Tabacco is a former Wall Street trader who is pure New York. He has a perpetual tan and talks with his hands in a thick Italian accent. Unlike other TV news personalities - he actually has a personality. Both collegial and jovial while hard-charging and mercurial. His two-hour show offers a viewing experience with a refreshing sincereity not found on any other news or editorial programs. To a guest (full disclosure I’ve been a frequent one) it is a welcome change to have a host who is an actual authentic person and who doesn’t put on a mask when the camera’s red light comes on.
Tabacco’s natural command on camera is no fluke. He is a seasoned veteran who appeared regularly on CNBC when the economy was nosediving at the height of the Great Recession. He cut his teeth as a regular guest for Neil Cavuto - the Fox host with a well known affection for colorful guests. When Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, launched the industry disrupting revolution known as NewsMaxTV, he brought John in to do a four-part series shot in homes of ordinary Americans in the wake of the 2016 election. John called the series Table Talk and met with great success. After that he had a weekend show called What’s the Deal until the noon slot opened up on NewsmaxTV and he pitched Ruddy on the Liquid Lunch concept. Ruddy gave Metropolitan Magazine this statement: “John Tabacco and his crew on Liquid Lunch are proving the news can be both fun and informative.” They’re also proving that viewers can’t get enough. Liquid Lunch quickly expanded from its original one-hour slot into a two-hour block driven by strong ratings and a unique format that offers unprecedented versatility. The show is designed to allow John and his producers creative freedom to reshape the program to fit whatever content they choose to go after. Indeed what Morning Joe did for MSNBC Liquid Lunch is doing for NewsmaxTV with the network surpassing both Bloomberg and C-SPAN in its ratings and viewership increasing 156% since last August. Providing a “fresh alternative” as Ruddy says, is perhaps the least impressive thing John seems to be doing. I met John off the course at PGA national in Palm Beach. He had been in town for a spot of relaxation from his hectic schedule. Yet true to form he was still working, talking with his Co-Host and executive producer Frank Morano - a proverbial media-political wunderkind from Staten Island. His wedding was attended by the likes of Joe Piscopo, Billionaire John Catsimatidis, along with the chairman of both the GOP and the Democratic parties. Frank’s Rolodex has more contacts than the phone book. John and Frank have proven quite a formidable team for Liquid Lunch. John understands people and markets, Frank knows people and politics, together they pull guests from all walks of life and have conversations both blue-collar and ivory tower. As someone who has been there from the beginning of Liquid Lunch when it was shot by John’s production company in his Wall Street Pied-e-terre to its move to the NewsmaxTV studios and now its move to custom Broadway studios, the show has grown and evolved and yet still keeps its central draw it’s real it’s authentic it’s different. In the TV biz that’s a good thing. Back at the bar John asks me if I want a drink - made from their signature sponsor Cuestion Tequila. I take a double. Live in 3-2-John knocks back his drink-1Welcome to Liquid Lunch, I hope you’re hungry too. February 2020 | 113
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At the Oscars with Bill Tush INTERVIEW WITH METROPOLITAN SR. ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT BILL TUSH BY ADAM KLUGER
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lashback: “There are times you hope the stars recognize you. This makes it look to the audience that you are part of the in-crowd. This happened, I thought, the time my hero Jack Nicholson stopped in front of me at the Oscars and said, “there’s the guy from CNN.” It took me a minute or two, then realized he had just seen the CNN microphone. Anyway, he was saying it to the beautiful twenty something blonde on his arm.” Tom Hanks is the world’s nicest guy. I asked the Forrest Gump star if he ever gets tired of people telling him life is like a box of chocolate. “One more person says that to me I’m going to punch em right in the mouth.” A very Un-Tom Hanks like reply! -Bill Tush
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Adam: Bill who did you like at the Oscars this year? Bill: Everybody I liked got selected as nominees...I’ll fax you the list Bonehead, stop bothering me, read my book whenever I get a publisherit talks all about the Oscars. Adam: Great stuff! Bill, what’s more important, sex money or fame? Bill: Sex comes with the fame …money comes with the fame – I would say fame –if you are famous you will be paid to be famous –unless you are infamous –if you are famous you will be getting paid a lot of money to be famous and with money and fame comes the sex Adam: Michael Jackson or Elvis? Bill: Elvis, by all means Elvis. Michael Jackson was a freak.
Adam: Charlie Sheen? Bill: you ask me what’s it like to party with Charlie Sheen?—you can’t trust him you can’t trust him – you can’t trust Charlie Sheen because he figures everything is open territory –I met him once with my girlfriend and she was sweet and innocent ( I thought she was) she met Charlie Sheen and she said to me why did he rub my hand with his finger when we shook hands I said what? And that’s like a symbol that means I want to have sex with you… Adam: Who is a better writer you or Ernest Hemingway? Bill: I was just asked who’s a better writer me or Ernest Henny-way..now is that the stupidest question you’ve ever heard in your life? I don’t even have an answer for that one.... why do I like Charles Bukowski?... because he’s outrageous, he’s funny it’s almost such a sad life and yet you’re laughing at it cause I think as sad as his life was he laughed at it and look at most comedy it’s the stories are sad but somehow you’re laughing at it—that’s why I like Charles Bukowski Adam: what’s your legacy? Bill: I don’t think there is one—”see you around”... I don’t know …I think I’m gonna have on my tombstone …”I took it with me.” Adam: ever seen a UFO? Bill: have I ever seen a UFO? No. Adam: Bigfoot fact or fiction? Bill: Bigfoot is fiction Bill: Do I feel like a have magical powers? If I did I would make you disappear Adam: Al Pacino or Robert De Niro? Bill: in bed? Oh Robert... no, if I had a choice of an actor between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino I would choose Robert De Niro. Adam: Why? Bill: I just like him better I mean I like Al Pacino but he’s too intense Editor’s Note: I was a CNN writer/producer for 12 years. I also worked for Fox5NY and E! News among others. I usually covered the entertainment news beat. At CNN I was lucky enough to be paired with Bill Tush the original face and voice of entertainment news on CNN and longtime pal of founder Ted Turner. I was his producer for more than a decade. Bill Tush is the funniest, most creative writer and storyteller I have ever worked with. He would take my entertainment scripts and annoying prompts (“I got it Bonehead... shut up already and step aside”) as a starting point, then throw them aside and ad-lib something way funnier... #Legend.
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SAVE VENICE, VIENNESE OPERA BALL, PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT, MOTHERS BALL By Clara Morgan
Young Friends Steering Committee of Save Venice led by philanthropist and activist Lizzie Asher, hosted a cocktail reception in honor of H.R.H. Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Prince of Venice: Lizzie Asher, Christina Senia ©BFA
Silvia Mella, Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia at the cocktail reception in honor of H.R.H. Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia ©BFA
Mercedes de Guardiola, Casey Kohlberg, Laura Day Webb at the cocktail reception in honor of H.R.H. Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia ©BFA
The Viennese Opera Ball held a kick off celebration at a private residence on the Upper East Side, announcing their 65th annual gala: Isabelle Rovner, Marco Falzone, Silvia Frieser, Aron Rovner ©Annie Watt
The Viennese Opera Ball held a kick off celebration at a private residence on the Upper East Side, announcing their 65th annual gala: Elizabeth Hartnett, Maria Solar, Nathan Lee Graham ©Annie Watt
The Viennese Opera Ball held a kick off celebration at a private residence on the Upper East Side, announcing their 65th annual gala: Michele Keene, Daniel Serafin, Jen Ranieri ©Annie Watt
Opening Night Reception at the new Laverdin Gallery for Annie Watt’s photography exhibition, NYC: Jean Shafiroff, Annie Watt ©Annie Watt
Laura Prepon attended the Inaugural edition of the Mothers Ball Launched in NYC with headline performance by Lauryn Hill ©Ronald Asadorian Photography
Lauren Day Roberts with her husband Bob Roberts hosted a Holiday party at their private residence in NYC: Bob Roberts, Lauren Day Roberts ©Annie Watt
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LA AWARDS SCENE
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GOLDEN GLOBES, WARNER BROS & INSTYLE AFTER PARTY, CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS By Clara Morgan
Leonardo DiCaprio at the 77th Golden Globes Awards, The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA ©Getty Images
Rupert Goold and Renée Zellweger at the 77th Charlize Theron at the 77th Golden Globes Golden Globes Awards, The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Awards, The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, CA ©Getty Images CA ©Getty Images
Snoop Dogg at the Warner Brothers and InStyle 21st Annual Post Golden Globes After Party, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA ©Patrick McMullan
Jon Voight at the Warner Brothers and InStyle 21st Annual Post Golden Globes After Party, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA ©Patrick McMullan
Jennifer Lopez at the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Joaquin Phoenix with his sister Rain at the 25th Awards, Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA Annual Critics’ Choice Awards, Barker Hangar, ©Getty Images Santa Monica, CA ©Getty Images 118 | MetMagNY.com | 25AMagazine.com
Kate Beckinsale at the Warner Brothers and InStyle 21st Annual Post Golden Globes After Party, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA ©Patrick McMullan
Lupita Nyong’o at the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards, Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA ©Getty Images
5 5 E 5 4TH ST • NEW YO RK , N EW YO RK • M .M E/N ERAIN YC • (21 2) 759-5554
LA PARTY SCENE
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GBK PRODUCTIONS GOLDEN GLOBES & CHELLA BEAUTY GIFTING LOUNGES By Clara Morgan
GBK Productions and Kimpton La Peer Hotel honored Hollywood Elite at an exclusive gifting lounge for the Golden Globe Awards, in West Hollywood, CA: Gavin B. Keilly ©Getty Images
Viola Davis at the GBK Productions Golden Globes Gifting Lounge ©Getty Images
Esai Morales and Diana-Maria Riva at the GBK Productions Golden Globes Gifting Lounge ©Getty Images
Ashley Green being gifted by Dermafirm USA at the GBK 2020 Golden Globes Lounge ©Getty Images
Storm Reid (Euphoria) being gifted by The Super Dentist at the GBK 2020 Golden Globes Lounge at the GBK Productions Golden Globes Gifting Lounge ©Getty Images
James Tupper being gifted by iiRcade at the GBK 2020 Golden Globes Lounge ©Getty Images
Euphoria Star Nika King and Chella CEO Chris Grace & Frankie Star Lindsey Kraft, Mandalorian Kolodziejski at the Chella Beauty Launch of their star Emily Swallow & Emmy Nominee Adina new “La Vie Eyeshadow Palette” ©Getty Images Porter at the Chella Beauty Launch of their new “La Vie Eyeshadow Palette” ©Getty Images
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Model/Actress Joy Corrigan at the Chella Beauty Launch of their new “La Vie Eyeshadow Palette” ©Getty Images
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