Lifestyle articles.
When Larry Namer graduated from Brooklyn College, a hiring freeze prevented him from landing a job as a public school teacher in New York and he was forced to continue his summer job as an assistant underground cable splicer in order to eat. At this point, one might say he was as low as you could go; but one who made that statement could not possibly be more distant from the truth. For Larry was,…
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When one contemplates “cheesecake,” one associates “New York” with that vision. But the truth is cheesecake antedates New York and even Columbus. In reality, and you heard it here first, the ancient Greeks loved cheesecake; furthermore, they ate it in preparation for the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C. – some training food! In addition, Greek brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake for their wedding cake. These fascinating culinary facts came to…
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TOTE BAR RE-OPENS AND IS A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE IN DESIGN, FOOD & MUSIC On September 9 & 10, 2011, Mumbai’s much sought-after destination, Tote Bar at Tote on the Turf reopened it doors. Rahul & Malini Akerkar, along with the team from Network Prive, hosted an evening of glamour to celebrate a “new beginning” for the award-winning bar. In 2010, Tote Bar, designed by none other than Kapil Gupta and Chris Lee of Serie…
ReadRejuvenated and Reinvigorated … with a Touch of Network Prive New Years Eve at the Tote Bar in Mumbai! Those in the know will be there, and so should you be, dear reader. I will explain why, if you let me backtrack to a night several weeks ago: 11:52pm. After finishing dinner with a few friends and having no inclination to call it a night, I zoom down to the Tote Bar; I have been…
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Rahul Akerkar began his culinary journey as a dishwasher in a small French bistro, while in college in the United States. Finishing his Master’s in biochemical engineering at Columbia University, his latently discovered flair for cooking took Rahul out of the lab and into many of New York’s finest kitchens. Realizing that his true passion lay in food, Rahul over a ten-year period during the 1980’s, expanded his culinary repertoire under the tutelage of several…
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THE MENU IS ALWAYS CHANGING, BUT THE DELIGHT IN DINING IS CONSTANT At McCormick and Schmick’s Pacific Seafood Grill, the menu changes daily based on the catch of the day and the availability of produce, because fresh is foremost here. However, that is just one of the reasons this restaurant is a true class act. Even though they specialize in seafood, they have all types of meat and produce, which they prepare artfully, adding to the…
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As we arrived at the Ammo Café in Hollywood, with this writer in a salivary frenzy of anticipation, we were immediately greeted enthusiastically at the door by the affable host of the restaurant, Julian Black. How often does that happen in life! This propitious beginning was indeed a harbinger of good things to come. As we awaited the arrival of our friend, up and coming actor Dylan Ramsey, we studied the menu under the tutelage of…
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When I started this journey I weighed 240 pounds. I had been an athlete in my younger days and always worked out in a gym. Later, even at my heaviest, I continued to work out in the gym, but I wasn’t eating right, consuming large amounts of sugar, and I also wasn’t doing enough cardio exercises. I knew I couldn’t go on this way and would have given anything to be slender. But what else…
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His wife described him as the rudest boy she had ever met, yet married him shortly thereafter. In his defense, he did later become a Buddhist. His eccentric aunt dubbed him an artist almost from birth, after observing some early fecal wall painting he created from his hamper. Afraid of the teacher in his first art course, taken on a whim anyway, he sat in the last row but was discovered by the teacher nevertheless….
ReadOn New Year’s Eve 2015, internationally renowned celebrity fashion designer Sue Wong hosted 400 guests at her storied Hollywood palazzo The Cedars with a lavish party which featured a spectacular ten-year retrospective of her designs, marvelous live entertainment, and fabulous dining and drinking. The stellar 24-gown installation of Sue Wong’s designs served as a dramatic setting for the night’s merriment. The gowns selected for the retrospective displayed the creativity and versatility of Sue Wong as…
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