+ Fuego is launching a new grill called Modular, an extension of the 01 grill designed by Robert Brunner (of Apple fame). It’s a customizable outdoor kitchen featuring an aluminum frame that can accommodate up to six modules with grills, burners, warming drawers, storage, and refrigeration.
The Velvet Rope: The hippest bars in New York, like La Esquina, are known only to the privileged few
Newsweek International’s double issue looks at how luxury for the more than 8.7 million millionaires around the globe is going discreet-understated, nameless, even faceless. From the revolving door of designers at top labels to hotels and clubs with no name or address, today’s truly luxurious life is not showy but so understated as to be practically invisible. The best things in life aren’t necessarily flashy objects but discreet, meaningful experiences.
(PR NEWSWIRE)
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A new luxury project that bears the unique stamp of Philippe Starck is Cape Yamu on Phuket’s East Coast in Thailand. The project includes both villa residences and a five-star boutique hotel, the Yamu. The project has some serious design clout, both Adrian Zecha of GHM Hotels and Aman Resorts and architect Jean-Michel Gathy are also involved. The Yamu will have 63 hotel rooms as well as a large swimming pool, spa and restaurants. There are also twelve villa estates and 15 club villas for sale. Just two estate lots are left for purchase. The style is Thai-modern, clean, spare and yet tropical. Starck adds his own touch of whimsy but seems to have gone for elegant over wacky in this particular design using a more muted color scheme. The Yuma complex includes a restaurant and five other “glass cubes” around the hotel grounds that are host to a wine room with a wine cave, a cigar lounge, a private kitchen, a chocolate room and a private boutique. There is also a play area with chess, a lounge and a bar. The Yamu is set to open in 2008.
Designed by Simon Kingston and James Rennick for German appliance über-maestros Miele, this modular kitchen is perfect for those long hours we 360 worker ants have been putting in this week.
Disney is launching a wine label via Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) that is based on its upcoming animated film “Ratatouille,” the tale of a rat who wants to become a French chef. The chardonnay, from the Burgundy region in France and bearing the Ratatouille name and likeness, will sell for $12.99. (CNN)
Moët & Chandon have released a limited edition silver winch to commemorate their sponsorship of the America’s Cup. The 32nd America’s Cup Silver Wench by Moët & Chandon is a portable bar with a ice bucket shaped as a winch as the centerpiece. The winch comes in a small teak and carbon fiber cabinet with eight glasses which fit in special holes on the winch. A total of 39 Silver Winch’s will be made and each will be engraved with the winner of the cup.
When GE launched “Imagination at Work†as its new slogan to replace “We Bring Good Things To Lifeâ€Â, the most eye-catching part of its online campaign was a virtual whiteboard that visitors could sketch and scribble on. Apparently, someone at GE had the smarts to transfer the ad’s essence to the gleaming white surfaces of GE’s appliances. White goods + whiteboard…? Witness the birth of the sketch-a-fridge.
Currently only available in Brazil, where it is sold as Risque Rabisque (roughly: Scrawl & Scribble), the refrigerator is covered in a special coating similar to dry erase whiteboards. Replacing the age-old practice of sticking grocery lists and children’s drawings on the fridge, missives can now be written directly on the appliance and easily wiped off. It’s a simple innovation that cleverly integrates existing human behaviour, and turns a mundane product into something playful and appealing. Opportunities? When rethinking a product or service, don’t just focus on features or haute design. An element of fun can be just as much of a sales magnet, at a fraction of the cost.
If you connect your MacBook computer to a large screen, at work or home, Floater is designed for you. It combines high technology with elegant styling. Close your MacBook pro, connect a keyboard, a screen and a mouse, and you have created a perfect working environment.
The Floater is machined from a single block of aluminum, which lends it great stability and optimum cooling power by spreading the heat around.
The two small panels around your computer are of minimal height and width, but sufficient to meet the product’s two requirements; to hold your computer perfectly, and to let you set it up as easily as possible.
Japan is coffee savvy. The streets of metropolitan Tokyo are dotted with hip, trendy cafes serving up pricey lattes and espressos. And for those on the go, there are vending machines dispensing cans of coffee. In summer, the cans are even chilled and also heated in winter. How do you impress the country that invented canned vending machine coffee? With gold.
At Asia’s largest pharmaceutical industry exhibition, Japan’s Tsukioka Co. Ltd. showed off gold that should spice up dull cups of Joe. The company is best known for making those eatable breath mint-type film, but is trying to build up the gold eating business. Called “Kin Kirara” (Sparkly Gold), these thin, pure gold word and character blocks are able to withstand hot java, not to mention look nice on cakes. According to Tsukioka, the pure gold helps refresh the human bodyâ€â€next to “Happy Birthday,” it says “longevity” in Japanese kanji. Don’t let the shine scare your wallet off, little packets are available at stores like Tokyu Hands for Â¥500 ($4) a pop. But really, can you put a price on drinking cups of coffee with gold letters?
Thanks Cool Hunting
An attempt to revive famous TV adverts from the 1950s that encouraged people to “Go To Work On An Egg” have been blocked by regulators on health grounds.
The British Egg Information Service had wanted to bring back the adverts featuring comedian Tony Hancock to mark the 50th anniversary of the British Lion mark.
But the Broadcasting Advertising Clearance Centre said the famous commercials could not be repeated because eating eggs every day went against the policy of encouraging people to eat a varied diet. (REUTERS)