Book Review: Pattern Factory

Painted lace, paisley with skulls, inkblot glassware, and a numerically-wrapped one-seater sofa. Pattern Factory (released yesterday) reads like a museum of design, exhibiting a menagerie of sketches and graphics applied to our most contemporary garb and decor (i.e. the iconic Louis Vuitton bag).

You'll also find a chapter featuring Q&As with artists and pattern-makers in their studios. And at the end of the book, if you feel so inspired, there's a CD-ROM with 85 original, royalty-free patterns to fill your think tank.

Top Street Food in NY

I stand corrected. This week at Gourmet, it's Street Food Week. And here are the best street vendors in New York. They've also tackled Philadelphia, Seattle, and Portland, OR. (Not Portland, ME, which was just highlighted in Bon Appétit and the New York Times, for its growing potential as the foodiest small town in America.)

Portland, ME vs. Portland, OR? The tough judging, I think, will come for the best street food in Southeast Asia (check back Thursday); the area's food is based on not much else, so pinpointing the best will not be easy.

(image via Gourmet.com)

Best Part of Summer

The rain this summer has been such a killer for tomatoes, but somehow with this streak of sunny weather, they turned out just fine. Actually, I ended up with too many and decided to make sauce. And the surprise crop was...
Sunflowers! I still can't believe their size--seems to defy gravity.

How to Cook in a Hotel

So, once upon a time, British comedian George Egg thought it a great idea to prove he could cook better than the fully-staffed room-service kitchen down below, and made himself dinner and breakfast using some resourceful tools found in his hotel room.
(via Serious Eats)

The Selby Paris Book

Remember the Housing Works bookstore? Great, because it just received signed copies of Todd Selby's book, The Selby Paris, featuring his best Paris photos. This would be the book's second edition (only 600 copies printed in NYC); the first edition was released in Paris back in April.

Just like anything sold in Housing Works, proceeds for this will go to support AIDS relief. You can also buy it online, if you're not in New York.

Not Becoming My Mother

On the last day of the internship at Gourmet, my mentor handed me a copy of editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl's new book, Not Becoming My Mother. Whether because of its petit, diary-like size or the notoriously frank and endearing voice of its writer, I finished the book in a single afternoon.

It mainly works to (1) tell her mother's story and (2) tell the story of so many other women of her mother's generation--bored, intelligent women with no available outlet. But no matter the time period, there is something universal in deciding whether to abide or avoid your mother's advice; to use her life as a model or a cautionary tale.

And Reichl does something we all wish we could do: envision our mothers pre-motherhood and learn to respect and understand their choices, whether we agree with them or not. An impression grounded from childhood, she notes, is hard to shake. Ain't it the truth?

The Moonwalk Tee

I rarely buy tees, and I hardly buy anything considered "merchandise," but doesn't this shirt have a nice understated, respectful feeling to it? Sheer white jersey with black and white crystals, honoring the moment Jackson moonwalked live on stage for the first time.

(via Leigh)

Mad Men Premiere

From the start, we knew this show would be big. With a writer from the Sopranos as its creator and the indulgently addictive time period of the 60s as its main character, how could it not? And now it's entering it's third season, tonight (AMC, 10pm).

To celebrate, Vanity Fair did a great spread in their September issue that bottles that smoky, vibrant tension between the leading couple--credit of Annie Leibovitz, of course. And you can also get a look behind the shoot.

P.S. Pair the premiere with one of these 1960s-style cocktails.

(via joanne)

Good to the Last

It's my last week interning at Gourmet (crazy), but there's plenty to look forward to in September, like these recipes from the next issue--provolone popovers, pies, and peppercorn-roasted pork with vermouth. (Getting a theme here? More to say soon.)

P.S. Bartenders who farm.

The Sartorialist Book

Street-fashion photographer, Scott Schuman (better known as The Sartorialist) has been working on a collective book to consolidate the best of his media- and fan-obsessed blog. And it finally hits bookstores, today. Pick up a copy or flip through this preview on A Cup of Jo.

Included are tidbits about the cultures he's captured (New York, India, and Sweden to name a few) and quotes from the people he's photographed (models, ex-drug dealers, polka dancers). More than just a great coffee table book.

(via A Cup of Jo)

Summer Snapshots

Lori over on Automatism has a great, summer-long project going. Every Thursday (through September) she's featuring snapshots from other bloggers that illustrate summer at its best. Yesterday was my turn; you can check it out right here, if you'd like.

Enjoy your weekends! Any plans? This Sunday, I'm planning to do some free kayaking on the Hudson River. (Thanks for the tip, Joanna!)

Good Beer at BAM

This past Wednesday, Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan teamed up to host Good Beer at BAM, celebrating local brews much like a food and wine festival. Check out the video coverage from SkeeterNYC, and enjoy your weekends!