ShopEatDrink

Who doesn’t love Tim Gunn?  At the end of last week’s Project Runway, he rocked our world by putting Gretchen in her place (finally!) and admonished her team, Luxe, for letting her run all over them.  Wow.  I had to rewind my DVR over and over to watch.  It was a rare insight into what he’s seeing behind the scenes.  Bravo Tim!

Then he kicks it up a notch in his new book, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work. Tim dishes on his observations in the fashion world, and has the nerve to call out Vogue‘s Anna Wintour on her diva-like behavior.  Oh no, Tim may be banished to fashion wilderness! Tim, we’ll follow you anywhere.

I can’t wait to see Project Runway tonight, to see what the fallout of his scolding Team Luxe will be.  At least he’s making PR interesting, something it certainly needed.

What are your favorite Tim Gunn moments?

Click here for more on Tim’s book

I was on an Italian holiday, roaming the streets of Positano, when I happened across a storefront selling custom-made sandals. You could choose the color of the leather straps, the style — such as thongs, or toe rings, and the sole, whether it’s flat, a wedge or a heel.

Several hundred feet later, there’s another custom sandal shop, with more brightly colored leather straps, and lots and lots of crystals adorning the sandals. My friend and I were trying on sandals to see what looked best on our feet, and got yelled at by the

cobbler – he was impatient and wanted us to make a quick decision. We left in a huff, vowing never to buy from him.

We searched Positano and Capri for other sandals, but his were the best. I went back the next day, swallowed my pride, and bought a gorgeous pair of pink sandals, with major bling.

Ever since, I’ve dreamed of opening my own custom sandal business. But in the meantime, I made a discovery that lets me fulfill my sandal cravings. I was in New York City a few weeks ago, walking along 5th Avenue, and something in the front window of Henri Bendel stopped me in my tracks. There was a live cobbler making custom sandals!

Turns out Bendel partnered up with Tuccia Di Capri to offer customized sandals.

If you can’t get to the NYC Bendels, you can order your sandals online. Tuccia di Capri gives you instructions on how to measure your feet. This is now my second pair of custom sandals, and I have to tell you, there’s nothing better than the fit of a shoe made for your feet. They are so comfortable, and they don’t rub at all.

If you know of any other custom sandal makers, please do share!

Everything comes down to choices and priorities. That’s why I’m not attending the 2010 Wine Bloggers’ Conference (WBC) in Walla Walla, Washington this weekend. The reason is perfectly clear: Wine Women & Shoes is happening in Napa, and there was no way to attend both. Yes, shoes win out over wine. In fact, I always compare what something costs to how many pairs of shoes I could buy. An $800 bottle of Screaming Eagle? That’s at least two or three pairs of shoes. Personally I’d rather have the shoes. Oh don’t get me wrong, I love wine and spend way too much money on it as it is. But shoes you can wear more than once, and perhaps even for years. Wine is a one time deal. Once you pop the cork, it’s gone. Anyway, that’s my reasoning. Anything to justify buying yet another pair.

No doubt I’ll be following the happenings and pronouncements from WBC. I’m hoping someone will finally reveal the secret to making loads of money by blogging. That would make the conference worth attending.

I’ll post about WW&S, which takes place at Hall Winery in St. Helena on Sunday, June 27. I’m going with a group of friends; our numbers keep expanding year after year. This is year four!

Sample sales are legendary, at least in the fashion world. The venerable wine glass company, Riedel, jumped into the fray with its first sample sale ever in New York City. I had the good fortune of being in NYC on sale day. Chelsea Market was the location, and I arrived a little more than 30 minutes early, and was 5th in line. By the time the doors opened, more than 50 people had cued up.

The calm before the storm:

What we found – boxes and boxes of glassware and decanters. If you were looking for the Riedel Amadeo decanter, this was the place to get a deal. Most prices at up to 70% off retail.

Also saw a lot of “tasting sets” with varietal specific glasses. I snapped up O Chardonnay glasses and tubes of the O Cabernet/Merlot glasses. I lost out on the last box of champagne flutes. There were also a lot of the Vinum and the Tyrol series of glasses. I calculated most of the glasses going for less than $10 per stem.

Within the first hour a lot of the merchandise had already been cleaned out (they did replenish stock daily). The line to check out was growing and growing. The crowd, mostly 20 to 40 somethings. Would have been nice to have carts or baskets but instead had to juggle all the boxes of glassware. At one point we heard the crash of glass breaking.  The four-day sale attracted about 10,000 people; a set of six Vinum Cab glasses and decanter were the most popular item ($106.50).  The O series glasses (stemless) just about sold out too, and I certainly contributed to that!

This sample sale was organized by The Prive´, and they hold many high end sample sales. I’m told they plan to hold a second Riedel sample sale in NYC this fall.  To find out about this and future sales, sign up at their website: https://shop.theprive.com/ I’ll also post info as I get it here.

I have to say Saturday was a great day. It started with going to the Cartier and America exhibit at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. Talk about bling! More diamonds, emeralds and rubies than I’ve ever seen in one place. The focus was on American women who bought or wore Cartier jewels. At the turn of the 20th century it was fashionable for women of a certain social status to wear tiaras, whether or not they were royalty, and you’ll see a lot of them here. Seems like a quaint trend, can you imagine wearing a crown now? Some of Grace Kelly’s jewels are on view, including her 10 carat diamond engagement ring. Then there’s the set of jewels that Mike Todd gave Elizabeth Taylor — diamond and ruby necklace, bracelet and earrings. Wow. And, many of the Duchess of Windsor’s pieces (aka Wallis Simpson). Also on view, a behind the scenes peek at the drawings and how the jewelry is made. If you go get the audio tour. Runs through May 9, 2010.

The rest of the day I spent walking around and tasting artisan chocolate at TasteTV’s Chocolate Salon at Ft. Mason. This is even better than Willy Wonka’s chocolate river! More than 50 chocolatiers were offering samples of their sweet treats, from across the country. I have to confess, I hit chocolate overload about half way through, so I didn’t get to taste everything. Here’s the best of what I did try:

Saratoga Chocolates - Strawberry balsamic truffle. One bite and the sweet concoction of strawberries and balsamic vinegar explode in your mouth.

Ococoa - They bill their chocolates as “the grownup peanut butter cup,” and the sunflower honey and butter cup is to die for.

Neo Cocoa – Here it’s the “heart” of the truffle — the filling — that takes center stage. Loved the lime zest chocolate.

Vice Chocolates – As far as vices go, chocolates aren’t so bad. Really like the fig and anise seed bar.

Posh Chocolat - These sweets are made in Montana, not exactly the center of the chocolate foodie world. Doesn’t matter, the couple who makes these chocolates have created a world of interesting flavors with chocolates of single origin Ecuadorian dark chocolate. Some work very well, and one I wasn’t crazy about. Likes: The Turkish coffee caramel, the bacon caramel applewood smoked sea salt, and the coconut pineapple caramel Hawaiian pink sea salt. Salt is a common theme in their recipes. The strangest combo here is the white truffle oil caramel with flakes of Cypress sea salt. Putting bacon in chocolate is one thing – truffle oil is just going a bit too far.

Little Sky Lavender Farm – Something different – yummy brownies infused with lavender! They sell the brownie mix so you can make them at home.

Jade Chocolates – These Asian flavor-inspired chocolates win big in the eyes of the Chocolate Salon judges. Their Genmai chocolate bar made of milk chocolate, roasted brown rice, roasted green tea and jasmine tea won 1st place for Best Flavored Chocolate in this year’s salon. The Terracotta bar with tamari almonds and pink sea salt won New Product Award 1st place.

William Dean Chocolates – Got my vote for most colorful confections. But never did get to try, the line was way too long!

Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur – vodka-spiked chocolate is an indulgence.

It’s always so much fun to discover a new designer or line of clothing. I just came across the Sarah Pacini line (from Belgium) and I just love it! Knits are the focus, and the shapes and construction are very architectural. They’re easy to wear and flattering. Moderate price point, so one piece won’t break your bank account, but you’ll get so much wear out of it.

The other line is the French company Crea Concept. A similar aesthetic as Sarah Pacini. Knits featured here too. Great layering pieces and easy and comfortable to wear.

What’s fabulous about both lines is that they are unique — and not so widely available that you’ll see lots of other women wearing it. No doubt you’ll get a lot of compliments wearing these tops, dresses, bottoms.

While I was judging wine last week for the Mendocino Crab & Wine Days, I was also putting a lip color through its paces.  I’ve tried so many lip glosses, lipsticks and stains that claim to last all day.  I finally found one that lasts better than any of those.  Covergirl makes Outlast, a lip stain that looks like one of those thin magic markers.  My shade is 420, “Sassy Mauve,” a plummy stain.  It held up pretty well after tasting 48 wines, with countless sips of water in between.  My one caveat is that it makes your lips feel dry — but then I haven’t found any last all day lip colors that aren’t dry.  Retails for about $8.

Over the holidays I discovered a cool line of wine glasses. Made by Accademia Luigi Bormioli in Italy. This set of six nice and big crystal glasses are the Cabernet / Super Tuscan glasses from the Esperienzi line. The look is really modern, with the graduated base.  Guess what I paid? $36 for set of 6.  Very reasonable.  Like Riedel, there are glasses for specific varietals and stemless glasses too.  I have a few Riedel sets at home, so it will be fun to do a tasting between the two (I had to ship the glasses from the store I found them in South Carolina).  Will let you know how my taste test turns out once I get the glasses.   Oh and the glasses are diswasher safe too.

Have you finished your Christmas shopping?  Most of us will wait ’till the last minute.  Thought a few more wine gift ideas would be helpful.

The hottest wine accessory, gadget…Vinturi.  It is a wine aerator that you use while pouring a glass of wine. That means it acts like a mini decanter -  it gets air into the wine and opens up bouquet and flavors. It is a two-handed operation. Uncork the wine, hold the Vinturi over the glass and pour. You’ll hear a sucking sound — that’s the wine being aerated. Best for red wines, but can be used for white wines too.  I’ve seen wineries use it in their tasting rooms so what you taste is the true wine.Comes with rubber stand and a travel pouch and retails for about $30.  You can usually find this at a wine shop, or you can order online.

I did my own taste test on a Cotes du Rhone that was really tannic.  The wine, once it passed through the Vinturi, was much softer and drinkable, where it wasn’t before.

Another gift idea — Govino wine tumblers.  Plastic wine glasses get a bad rap, but these are really cool. Govino glasses look like a famous stemless brand, but won’t break, can be used again and are recyclable.  There’s an indention for your thumb that makes the glass easy to hold [although I recommend holding by top of glass when you swirl so as not to warm the wine up too much].  One set is 4 in a box that retails for about $12,  and again you can find at most wine shops or online.

What to get the wine lover in your life who has everything?  Here’s a gadget (we all know how wine geeks love their toys!)  Nuvo Vino is an infrared thermometer you use to check your wine’s serving temp.  Super easy to use, you push the top button down and the other end opens up to reveal the thermometer.  You don’t dunk this in the wine.  Instead the infrared collects the surface temp.  

In my homegrown experiment, I had a white wine I wanted to open.  In the bottle the unchilled wine temp was 74 degrees Fareheght.  A little too warm to drink in my opinion.

After chilling in ice for about 25 minutes, the wine poured into a glass was at 49.5  degrees.  That’s in the optimal range of serving temps for this wine, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.   After sitting in the glass for about 10 minutes, the wine was at 55.5 degrees.  Double checked with an instant read thermometer dipped into the wine, it read 54.6 degrees.  Close enough for me.

The Nuvo Vino comes with a serving temperature chart.  Sells for around $40.