A portion of….

I have just returned from five days in Vienna where I cafe-ed (my new verb for sitting in cafes for prolonged periods of time a la Viennese style) like the best of them.  If there was an award for cafe-ying, Vienna would take the top spot.  Before my trip, I researched the city by reading various blogs and websites and plotted out my culinary trip- a shout out to Unlike.net Vienna that served as an excellent resource.

Before I get to the cafe part, I will say, I didn’t have one bad meal in the city.  I was so impressed by the restaurants I visited (Appiano das Gasthaus, Motto am Fluss, Sichuan, Palmenhaus, and Die Burgermacher) that I would return to Vienna just to dine.  The food, quality and dining experience was so great that there was even a time where I had no idea what I was ordering (due to lack of an English menu) and walked away saying the meal was still top notch.

I visited cafes of all sorts where it was completely acceptible to order a coffee (food or no food) and spend a languid afternoon relishing the sights, sounds and smells before you, peruse a magazine or two or four, order another coffee and repeat.  One blog I read, The New Diplomat’s Wife, talked about how it is possible to spend almost an entire day at a cafe and how to pace yourself based on what activities to do when!

I think my favourites were Orlando di Castello and the Prince Coffee Club.  Both of these spots have uber-modern interiors (one is done in all white, the other in blacks and greys)- a stark contrast to the traditional, ornate, high ceiling, tiled, glitzy Viennese cafes that have a stuffier feel to them (although excellent).  Orlando and Prince have excellent food and drink, play great music in the background and are very comfortable to “cafe” for hours.  I wouldn’t recommend cafe-ing on a daily basis, but if you are missing a reason to sit, unwind, socialize, relax and indulge, Vienna cafes should be top on your list.  Oh, and my reference to the title of this email “a portion of…”  I found it fascinating and somewhat comical that on all cafe menus that I saw in Vienna, you have the optoin to order a portion of something.  On offer I saw portions of cream, rum, milk, chocolate and you can order this so-called portion and add it to whatever you’re having- typically a coffee, tea or alcoholic bev.  Quite indulgent but who wouldn’t want to sit and sip tea in places like the one’s below??

via dollemann.at

via buildungs lounge

via Stadt Bekkant

via dezeen

via a212.com

via Unlike.net

A home in Denmark

Can this be my home?!?  I love the contrast between the black kitchen and fireplace against the natural wood beams and floor.

Photo Credit:

(1) Tim Bjorn via From Scandinavia with Love for Bo Bedre (an awesome interior design magazine)

potato head beach club

This is the coolest beach club I have ever seen.  It actually hardly resembles a beach club from the outside, which is a reminder to never judge a book by its cover.  The Potato Head beach club, which opened in Seminyak, Bali late last year, houses three restaurants, six bars, pools, lounge chairs and turns into quite the party space after dark.  It supposedly attracted something like 1000 people to its opening launch.  While I am sure the food and drink at this club is divine, the architecture alone is the real draw.  The design appeal for PHBC is the collection of 1950’s Scandinavian and Indonesian furniture artfully displayed and incorporated around the property.  The coolest by far, is the exterior which looks like a window shutter factory/art gallery fortress all rolled into one.  The club’s walls are made of industrial concrete that have been covered by hundreds of mismatched, antique window shutters. Talk about go big or go home!  The Potato Head beach club’s website also states that a hotel is coming soon.

Photo Credits:

(1, 2, 3) Lost at E Minor (4) Whiteboard Journal (5) Luxe City Guides

alain delorme: photography

My fiancee’s mother and step father are currently in China travelling through an ambitious itinerary.  It is their first trip to China and instead of sticking to large cities, they were open to venturing off the beaten track (for first time travellers) to Guilin, Yangshuo, Lijiang and Zhongdian.  The trip winds down with four days in Shanghai, which I am using as a segway to introduce Alain Delorme’s photographic series titled, “Totem.”  Totem captures people carrying things on carts in Shanghai.  It’s true, you can see people on the streets of Shanghai biking around with all sorts of stuff.  I think Alain has done a terrific job capturing this common street scene.

via Rachel Hulin

via positive magazine

via curated mag

via trendland

hotel anteroom

I just read about this amazing looking hotel in Japan on a couple blogs I follow, like Upon a Fold, The Brief, and Superfuture.  Hotel Anteroom is one of Kyoto’s newest boutique hotels, offering guests an affordable option in the city to park their bags and experience the feeling of staying in an art gallery.  What’s cool about this place is that Hotel Anteroom was originally a student residence that was converted into a hotel and 50 apartments.

Designed by Yamazaki Hirokazu, the rooms are stunning and cool, with their natural colour pallet and materials. The hotel is designed as a place where art and culture co-exist, providing guests a place to retreat and socialize or prepare to explore Kyoto.  It has a permanent art gallery called Gallery 9.5, a lounge, restaurant, artwork on sale, and free internet. When I make it to Japan, I am totally staying here.  Photos via Superfuture and Hotel Anteroom.

via Hotel Anteroom

via Hotel Anteroom

linebox studio

Toronto/Ottawa based, Linebox Studio designed this fabulous, bright, modern kitchen that I saw posted on Plastolux.  I particularly love how the colour of the wood floor makes the white cabinets pop.  

There are some great shots of other Linebox Studio projects on their website.  Here are a few of my favourites.

via plastolux

via mocoloco

via modto

via modto.com