The Dream Dress Label - Oh la La Dress

My wife came home yesterday evening with a dress by upcoming Dutch label La Dress. As usual when having bought something to complement her wardrobe, she was smiling. She had a private shopping date at the label's HQ with a friend of hers. It basically came down to fitting dresses without the high street, Saturday afternoon bustle. A few wines and canapés later, she ended up buying this crepe de chine, silk baby doll.

It seems they have an almost unlimited variety of styles and colours to choose from.

Good Lord, she found a new fetish...again! Come to think of it, in La Dress' case (commercially one of the best labels with ditto website so far in women's apparel), they probably found my wife first.

In above picture she's wearing her Helmut Lang slippers (note the rather unusual juxtapose: a crocodile strap in front playfully combined with a rubber band back sling).

The Dream Tuna Salad - Don't Forget Ortiz

Best of the Best: Ortiz Tuna

Summer is just around the corner. Spending lazy days in the park or on the beach (is that even possible with kids?) is always something to look forward to. Trying new (beach)restaurants for lunch or going all out preparing good food and drinks at home and taking it to a park or beach. A simple Caesar salad or tuna salad on the beach complemented by a crisp wine can easily equal an unforgettable lunch experience at some uptown restaurant (which we always enjoy).

We have some sort of 'simple' signature salad we tend to make more often than not:

Lettuce, fried chestnut mushrooms, slices of freshly peeled tomatoes, grated Parmigiano cheese, croutons (dices of fresh white bread fried in aioli), a fine chopped onion, slow cooked eggs (75 min @ 64°C), crispy bacon, and most importantly: Ortiz tuna - the best canned tuna in the world! Sprinkle some vinaigrette and lemon juice before serving.

The Dream Table Lamp - Pipistrello to you too

The organically shaped Pipistrello by Gae Aulenti

I'm a sucker for Jugendstil or Art Nouveau. The floral and organic forms typical to this this form of new art combined with an artisanal approach is simply mouth-watering to me.
I first fell in love with this art form when joining the oldest student fraternity in Utrecht. At the end of the 19th century the fraternity chose August Heinrich Zinsmeister's design for their new 'home', eventually being built in 1900. Main style was similar to the Berlage's work with hints of Jugendstil.
From that day on I'm a (still) growing fan everything of the 'Amsterdam School' , Jugendstil, Art Nouveau, Art deco and Bauhaus.

On one of my first walks with our English Bulldog in the green surroundings of Hilversum, where my in-laws live, I passed a stunning Bauhaus-styled villa and immediately noticed two out-of-this-world table lamps sitting on the windowsill of their living room. Since then , one of my nonnegotiable demands is to add two copies to our collection when we move into a new apartment in Amsterdam. Simply gorgeous!

The Dream BBQ - Big Green Egg

Best BBQ/smoker ever...so they say!

Last Saturday my wife and I had dinner with a good friend of mine at the impeccable Lambermon's, Haarlem. He had moved to Haarlem a few months ago and was really anxious to visit the newly relocated restaurant. At the start of dinner it was a perfect Spring evening so we began outside and moved in when it got chillier. We left the kids with their grandparents in Zandvoort (a coastal town a few kilometers away) so we could enjoy our company of just three.

Lambermon's boasts a perfect setting just off the river Spaarne. The address on the Korte Veer is where the well known Dutch retailer Vroom en Dreesman began setting up shop as a haberdasher. The restaurant offers perfect al fresco dining with a Big Green Egg positioned outside in front of the entrance as sort of a centerpiece. Now I had read about the famous bbq/smoker on coolhunting.com before but our friend Post (who had been a chef at several uptown restaurants) was totally ecstatic and had to have one. He explained certain features and decided to get one as soon as his bank account would approve.

The Benefits:
- Cooks at temperatures up to 750°F (400°C).
- Easy to start (up and running in approximately 10 minutes).
- Easy clean up: the heat burns off any grease build-up - like a self-cleaning oven.
- Safer to use: the ceramic surface doesn't get as hot as a metal cooker.
- Baking, grilling and smoking in one.

- Lifetime guarantee.

The Dream Umbrella - Solid Ash Crook Fox Umbrellas

Keeping you dry since 1868

"Makers of the world's finest umbrellas"

I have a bad habit: I loose umbrellas. The last one was a Solid Ash Crook Fox Umbrella. Exactly like the one featured above.
My theory was to everytime buy a more expensive one so that I was keen on not forgetting the precious piece of art. It didn't help. I can't even bring up the subject at home because frankly, my wife has a point. In a few months (during summer) I'll begin massaging in the topic again, hoping she forgot how many I left behind in metros, busses, trains, on top of my own car, etc. There is a huge problem though: SHE doesn't forget anything!

The Dream Coffee Book - MaRio de Janeiro

Super Mario did it again

Mario Testino is one of the world's most successful fashion and portrait photographers, whose images are noted for their freshness and intimacy. Peruvian by birth, Testino has been fascinated by Rio de Janeiro since his earliest summer vacations.

I've just ordered a copy of this masterpiece, however, I can't seem to fathom why this work isn't available in a hard copy version. It could as well be that I just haven't found it yet.

Except for the fact that it's only available in paperback, to me this is everything a coffee table book should bring to the table. Interesting eye candy. Wiki: a coffee table book is a hardcover book that is intended to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom.

From Taschen, GBP 27,99 (ISBN: 978-3-8365-1858-1).

Mario does marvelous Rio

The Dream Ad - Heineken goes Guerilla

Heineken's Champions League - Guerilla Ad

Previous post of Heston's Christmas Dinner reminded me of this ad by Heineken. A piece of top class guerilla marketing. Even if you hate football or Heineken.