The Silversmith You Must Visit in Argentina

My new ringThe name to know is DRAGHI. And bring American dollars! Located about 1.5 hours outside the city center of Buenos Aires in a charming town called San Antonio de Areco, Draghi preserves the traditions of Argentine silverwork. The town itself reminded me of a smaller, South American Santa Fe for its town square and all the art galleries & shops. The building is part museum where you're able to browse a priceless collection of items from the 19th century including knives, belts, and jewelry. You can also watch the artisans at work. The shop was my favorite part and a group of us browsed rugs, blankets, necklaces, and rings.

I spotted the ring I wanted and discovered it would be $120 on my credit card, but $50 if I paid American cash. Why? American dollars have a high black market value and are highly coveted by Argentines so BRING more dollars than you think you'll need. This article explains it well - apparently President Cristina (whom every single person I talked to HATED) has put some insane limits on foreign exchange, and the peso is the world's worst performing currency. I don't completely understand, but know I got my ring for a great deal!

After visiting the silversmith, continue on to La Bamba de Areco, one of my new favorite places in the world, an impeccably designed and beautiful estancia, or ranch. It's where I met this sweet dog!

This dog wandered around the shopBeautiful Courtyard at Draghi

I Found My Gourmet Grocery Shop in Tel Aviv

Actually, I found two. Ok, three. I seek these places out like water in the desert. They make me feel at home in a foreign city. I had lunch at Delicatessen, which even had Ina Garten cookbooks on display. Here, they serve a great menu, but also have delicious take-away. I ducked into Neroli Health Food Store on Shabazi Street, which has organic juices. And I bopped around Kitchen Market, which has several stalls set up as well as a restaurant, in the Tel Aviv Port area. 

Kitchen MarketI walked for miles, took copious notes, and ate strawberries that tasted like summer from the Carmel Market. I feel like I have a much better grasp on the city after tackling it on my own.

I rented my own car in Tel Aviv, so I zoomed around today. Parking is terrible, and I got a parking ticket (at least, I assume it is a parking ticket - it is all written in Hebrew so I need to have it translated). Still, it gives me a freedom that I love and more time in the day that is mine.

Tel Aviv PortOutdoor lunch at DelicatessenCute shop on Shabazi StreetTel Aviv Port View

Happy 111th Anniversary Bergdorf Goodman!

Bergdorf's is one of the places I go to feel inspired by beautiful design. Last week, I had a rainy day lunch at BG on the 7th floor, one of the most idyllic New York lunch or afternoon tea spots with view of Central Park. Yesterday, after a morning of 4 meetings, I had to walk by and snap a shot of the store all decked out in signature lavender ribbon for its 111th anniversary. The store was founded in 1901 by two tailors, French immigrant Herman Bergdorf, and his apprentice Edwin Goodman. Eventually Goodman bought Bergdorf out. And so it goes.

They've also released a book to honor the occasion, "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf Goodman," where the likes of Victoria Beckham, Tory Burch, Kelly Wearstler, Rachel Zoe, and Vera Wang remember their favorite moments.

Dean & Deluca

The first time I heard of Dean & Deluca was while watching Felicity on the WB, as she worked at the store while going to the "University of New York." I was 16 or 17 and loovveed all things Felicity (at least seasons 1 & 2). When I first moved to the city, my gym was directly across from their flagship SoHo location at Broadway and Prince and would too often stop in after to do my grocery shopping. Now there are shops all over the city. Like the best gourmet markets, it is overpriced but you're paying for ambiance and an incredibly well-curated selection of items. I have never had a bad piece of fruit here, and after years of too many mealy peaches, I will pay $5 a peach for it to taste like a peach should. It is overrun with tourists at times, but I love when it first opens and that wafting smell of coffee hits you coming in from a snowy January morning off the SoHo streets. Now that we moved, I don't shop here a lot, but when I do, I always spend way more than I should.

If you don't live near Dean & Deluca, check out their site where you can order all their signature items like spices, pasta, sauce, coffee, kitchen items and more.

 

The New Chobani Store in SoHo

After spending five days in Vegas, I needed New York. Every year in August, right around my birthday, the weather changes and you can feel fall in the air. It's just a tease - it always gets hot and humid again - but it always makes me want to spend hours outside. This weekend, Andy and I took Rocco to work for a few hours at an outside table at The Half Pint, had dinner at a cozy Nolita spot, Peasant, took a long walk through the East Village, did a 13-mile early morning bike ride through Central Park, scouted out a classic NYC pizza spot, L&B Spumoni Gardens and walked 8 miles through Brooklyn and over the bridge. On our walk home, we spotted the new Chobani store in SoHo that has been popping up in food blogs everywhere. It was just the right time for a bite, 4 p.m., so we decided to stop in.

This place is FANTASTIC and the first of its kind. It's like an ice cream shop, except with Greek yogurt creations. The same stuff you buy at the grocery store but it somehow tastes 10x better. It comes in a little glass cup (cool tip: return it & you get 25 cents off your next purchase). I got toasted coconut, pineapple, walnuts & a drizzle of light agave syrup over 0% plain yogurt. I could eat it morning, noon and night. Greek yogurt stores will soon appear everywhere and it started at Prince & West Broadway here.

Chobani SoHo: 150 Prince Street at West Broadway (close to Vesuvio Bakery!)