Hemispheres

Nominate Your Favorites for the Hemispheres Readers’ Choice Awards

Staff — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 15:30:06 +0000

Photo: Roger Wright/Getty Images

Welcome to the first-ever Hemispheres Readers’ Choice Awards! Just because you’re not traveling right now doesn’t mean you can’t reminisce about your favorite trips and experiences and dream about where to explore next. These places need your support more than ever. So tell us where you love to go and what you love to do. And then encourage your friends to do the same!

How does it work?

There are two rounds of voting. First, you have until June 1 to write in your own personal responses for each category. Then we will compile all of the ballots, determine the finalists, and send out the final ballot on June 10. You’ll have until July 10 to vote.

When will the results be announced?

In our September 2020 issue.

Can I vote more than once?

No, just one ballot per person. Duplicate ballots won’t be counted.

Do I have to vote for each category?

No. Just fill in the ones that you want. If you only vote for one category, that’s OK!

Can I vote for places anywhere in the world?

Yes, but please note that only destinations served by United will be included in the final ballot. For a list of United destinations, please click here.

If I don’t vote in the first round, can I still vote in the second round?

Of course!

Can candidates promote the awards?

Yes, please! Share this via email, social media, carrier pigeon… But please note that we track voting and IP addresses and we can tell if we’re being spammed. So please follow the rules and be honest.

Is there a logo and hashtag I can use to promote it?

Thanks for asking! You can download the logo here or here. And the hashtag is #HemispheresAwards

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The post Nominate Your Favorites for the Hemispheres Readers’ Choice Awards appeared first on Hemispheres.

Virtual Culture Trip: New York City

Justin Goldman — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 15:00:32 +0000

Photo: Nico De Pasquale Photography/Getty Images

Our series of Virtual Culture Trips has so far brought us to the City by the Bay, the City of Angels, and the Windy City, and today we land in the City So Nice, They Named It Twice. I have to be honest: I’ve been dreading doing this one. That’s in part because there are so many books and movies and songs about the Big Apple, and in part because I take this one pretty personally. I was born in New York, and while I grew up in the Bay, I’ve spent close to half my life in the five boroughs, including most of the last decade in Brooklyn. I really wanted to get this one right, both out of personal pride and because I’ll be harangued by both my New York–based coworkers and my New York–centric family if I got it wrong. Of course, then I remembered that everyone in both those groups is gonna yell at me no matter what I choose … so here goes. The City That Never Sleeps may have been slumbering the last couple of months, but these books, movies, and songs can take you there any time.

READ

1. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Published in 1952, Ellison’s masterwork is not only a foundational work of African-American literature, it’s one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The unnamed narrator tells his tale from a hidden underground room lit with hundreds of bulbs, and the story takes him from the Jim Crow South to New York, where he becomes a community activist and organizer in Harlem. Every step of the way, Ellison illustrates the entrenched racism and double standards that black people in America face. Invisible Man won the National Book Award in 1953, and Ellison, despite working for many years on a follow up, never published another novel in his lifetime.

2. Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.

Set mostly in the working-class, outer-borough neighborhood of Sunset Park, Selby’s 1964 novel shows the decidedly unglamorous side of Old New York. Last Exit to Brooklyn’s cast is composed of longshoremen, street thugs, hustlers, and prostitutes, and the book describes their lives in a voice that echoes with the harshness of the streets on which the author grew up. Some of the subject matter is so graphic, in fact, that the book was subject to an obscenity trial in the U.K. Still, it remains a benchmark of modern literature.

3. The Power Broker by Robert Caro

Perhaps no book better explains the formation of modern New York City than Caro’s exhaustive, 1974 Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of “master builder” Robert Moses. Caro spent the better part of a decade working on the book, which ran well over a thousand pages and dug deeply into the life of Moses, who was responsible for the construction of most of New York City’s highways, as well as the Triborough Bridge and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The weighty volume ultimately ruined the reputation of its subject, who destroyed diverse neighborhoods in the Bronx to make way for the Cross-Bronx Expressway and famously had the bridges over parkways built too low for buses to pass under them (so as to keep poor people from being able to visit areas outside the city). The effects of Moses’s projects continue to have a massive impact on life in the city, and we owe the widely held knowledge of this fact to Caro’s work.

4. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

Brooklyn native Jonathan Lethem won the National Book Critics Circle Award for his 2000 detective novel Motherless Brooklyn, but I prefer his powerful 2003 followup. The semiautobiographical novel draws on the author’s experiences growing up as a solitary white boy in pre-gentrification Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Lethem gives the bildungsroman a spin, however, by incorporating a magic ring and a comic book superhero element (the title is taken from the name for Superman’s Arctic sanctuary). The narrative is deeply affecting—a 30-page section in which one of the characters descends into crack addiction is unforgettable—and essential for anyone who resides in or visits New York’s trendiest borough.

5. Veronica by Mary Gaitskill

Gaitskill’s 2005 novel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, slaloms from the fashion houses of Paris to the suburbs of San Francisco, but it’s most at home in 1980s New York. That’s where the book’s narrator, a former runway model, befriends the title character, an office worker who contracts AIDS. Gaitskill is one of contemporary literature’s greatest writers, and never is she more at home than in deconstructing the power dynamics in relationships—particularly between women. She is equally deft, however, in capturing the way New York City draws in and binds together all kinds of people.

Honorable Mentions

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (the Manhattan misadventures of disaffected prep-schooler Holden Caulfield have to get at least an honorable mention); Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (a semi-autobiographical novel in which Baldwin recounts a spiritual awakening that led to his becoming a teenage Harlem preacher); Eloise by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight (what kid—or adult!—wouldn’t want to live at The Plaza?); Lush Life by Richard Price (one of America’s greatest crime novelists spins the story of a murder in the gentrifying early 2000s Lower East Side); the entire Marvel Comics catalog (while DC Comics used thinly veiled stand-ins for NYC—Metropolis, Gotham—Stan Lee explicitly set his ’60s classics, such as The X-Men, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Fantastic Four, in his native New York).

Want to pick up one of these books? Consider ordering from one of New York’s great independent bookshops, such as McNally Jackson or the Strand.

WATCH

1. Taxi Driver

You could pick almost any of Martin Scorsese’s films (Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Goodfellas), but for me, no movie better captures the menacing, ready-to-boil-over vibe of mid-’70s New York than Taxi Driver. In one of his most enthralling method performances, Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a Vietnam vet and cabbie whose mental stability disintegrates (“You talkin’ to me?”) as his fares take him through the decaying city’s underbelly. Taxi Driver won the Palme d’Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, and was ranked 47th on the American Film Institute’s list of greatest American movies.

2. Manhattan

As with Scorsese, Woody Allen’s catalog offers plenty of great New York movies. My favorite has always been 1979’s Manhattan, which follows the amorous ups and downs of a TV writer named Isaac (played by Allen). Neither the plot nor the witty repartee between Allen and Diane Keaton (who’s secretly better in this than in Annie Hall) is really what earns Manhattan a spot on this list, though. Instead, it’s the combination of the black-and-white cinematography and the use of Big Apple landmarks—most famously the Queensboro Bridge—that make the film a truly romantic ode to the city.

3. Ghostbusters

This 1984 classic, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver, has been a lot of things: the highest-grossing comedy of its time, the inspiration for an animated TV series and a 2016 reboot with an all-female cast (with a 2021 sequel), and the vehicle for a theme song that reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. But it is, above all else, a New York movie. Who can forget the opening scene at the New York Public Library? Or Rick Moranis banging on the windows at Tavern on the Green? Or the final line of the movie—Ernie Hudson’s Winston shouting “I love this town!”

4. When Harry Met Sally

Written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner, this 1989 hit drew the blueprint for the contemporary rom-com. Sally (Meg Ryan) gives Harry (Billy Crystal) a lift from Chicago to NYC after they graduate college in 1977, and at first they’re oil and water; a few years later, they meet again by chance and become the perfect platonic friends … until, of course, they catch feelings. Ephron’s dialogue is pitch-perfect Upper West Side, and Reiner films scenes at hallowed New York institutions including Washington Square Park, the Met Museum, and Katz’s Delicatessen. The restaurant still hangs a sign over Harry and Sally’s table that says “Hope you have what she had!”

5. Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee’s masterpiece hit theaters on the same day as When Harry Met Sally, but it tells a story of a very different New York. Do the Right Thing is set in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on the hottest day of the summer, a day that sees tensions grow between the predominantly black residents of the neighborhood and the Italian owners of a corner pizza joint, ending in the death of a young black man at the hands of the police and the destruction of the pizzeria. More than 30 years later, Do the Right Thing remains the defining movie about race in America—as the events of the past few weeks have sadly illustrated. In 2015, the city renamed the block where much of the movie was filmed (Stuyvesant Avenue between Lexington Avenue and Quincy Street) “Do the Right Thing Way.”

Honorable Mentions

West Side Story (I hate musicals, but it’s impossible to ignore the Jets and the Sharks); Midnight Cowboy (“I’m walkin’ here!”); The Godfather (an immigrant family makes … good?); The Warriors (a campy 1979 classic about a gang fighting its way from the Bronx to Coney Island, this film sums up the anxieties all of America had about riding the subway in the ’70s); Kids (this disturbing, NC-17 film about feral NYC teenagers should be remembered as one of the best movies of the ’90s).

LISTEN

1. “(Theme from) ‘New York, New York’” by Frank Sinatra

While this song has served as a clarion call for generations of transplants to the big city, it’s much newer than most people think. What would come to be Ol’ Blue Eyes’s signature tune was written for Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York (after Robert De Niro rejected the first attempt at a theme song), and in the film it was sung by Liza Minnelli. Sinatra, then in his early 60s, recorded his version, with Minnelli’s blessing, in 1979. Four decades later, anyone who wants to “wake up in the City that Never Sleeps” knows the lyrics by heart.

2. “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel

If Sinatra sings of the New York people think they’ll experience, Paul Simon wrote about what arriving here is actually like for so many: cold, lonely, with no comfort but what one may find on Seventh Avenue. And yet, as depressing as that picture is, Simon’s tale is ultimately one of perseverance; the titular boxer may be battered, and he may cry out, “I am leaving,” but in the end, “the fighter still remains.” That’s all of us who are making it here, one day at a time. As my father, who grew up in the Bronx, once told me while we watched Simon & Garfunkel sing lie la lie on a TV replay of their 1980 concert in Central Park: “That song is home.”

3. “I’m Waiting for the Man” by The Velvet Underground

Andy Warhol was a dominant figure on New York’s culture scene for much of the ’60s and ’70s, and one of his most recognizable works remains the suggestive banana print on the album cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico. While that groundbreaking record is chock full of landmark songs, its signature track is “I’m Waiting for the Man,” Lou Reed’s account of a trip uptown to buy drugs. With its frank, paranoiac lyrics and driving instrumentation, the song sums up the feeling of life on the edge in late-’60s NYC.

4. “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Hip hop was born in the Bronx in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and no song from that era resonates today quite like “The Message.” Released in 1982 on Sugarhill Records, it was the first prominent socially conscious rap song, with its stark descriptions of ghetto life and its refrains of “Don’t push me, ’cause I’m close to the edge/I’m trying not to lose my head” and “It’s like a jungle sometimes/It makes me wonder how I keep from going under.” Rapper Melle Mel’s lyrics provided a template for everyone from Public Enemy to 2Pac, and the rhythm track has been sampled by Ice Cube and Puff Daddy. In 2012, Rolling Stone declared “The Message” the greatest hip hop song of all time.

5. “You Said Something” by PJ Harvey

English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey spent a large part of 1998 and ’99 living in New York (in part to film a movie with Hal Hartley), and during that time she wrote many of the songs for her acclaimed 2000 record Stories from the City, Stories from the City. The deceptively simple “You Said Something” sketches the outlines of a romance that starts on a rooftop in Brooklyn and (perhaps) concludes on a rooftop in Manhattan. The lyrics are oblique, and yet they somehow manage to capture a certain magic that’s particular to New York, and the feeling of being in love in New York.

Honorable Mentions

“Gloria” by Patti Smith (Smith became one of the city’s defining musicians and writers, and the lead track from her 1975 debut record, Horses, gave a taste of what was to come); “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones (you don’t have 1970s New York, or punk music in general, without CBGB and The Ramones); “Juicy” by The Notorious B.I.G. (“It was all a dream” for Brooklyn’s own Biggie Smalls); “Last Nite” by The Strokes (the New York band’s record Is This It encapsulated the sound of indie and pop rock in the early 2000s); “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys (the hip hop generation’s answer to Sinatra’s “New York, New York”). And for more New York songs, check out the full playlist.

The post Virtual Culture Trip: New York City appeared first on Hemispheres.

My Favorite Trip: Hong Kong

Nicholas DeRenzo — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 14:30:50 +0000

Photo: DuKai photographer/Getty Images

With global travel on pause and almost everyone stuck at home, we know you’ve been dreaming about where you’ll go as soon as you can book that next flight. To help give you some inspiration, we’re asking our well-traveled staffers about their best trips. Here, executive editor Nicholas DeRenzo tells us about his 2019 trip to Hong Kong.

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A post shared by Nicholas DeRenzo (@nderenzo) on Apr 2, 2019 at 8:47am PDT

1. What about the destination made this your favorite trip?

As a native New Yorker, I always say that I couldn’t move out of the city, because I’d miss the density of all the cool stuff we have—the restaurants, bars, theaters, indie cinemas, concert venues, parks, museums. I’ve been to Hong Kong twice now, but during my second visit, it really clicked: This is a city that’s as jam-packed with exciting things to do as almost anywhere in the world. And because of its East-meets-West colonial history, the muchness is remarkably diverse, encompassing traditional Chinese temples and apothecaries, grand British imperial architecture, and a natural setting that’s teeming with tropical flora and fauna. I went with my friend Deanna, who I’ve known since elementary school. She’s also a big-time traveler (she recently took a six-month sabbatical to visit Southeast Asia and Europe, including a language-immersion and cooking stint in Bologna), and we both spent the whole trip saying, “Should we just move here?”

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2. Can you pinpoint the moment when you fell in love with the city?

Early during my trip, I strolled into the newly opened Xiqu Centre, a Chinese opera house in the still-under-development West Kowloon Cultural District. The neighborhood was largely a construction zone, so the area was noisy and chaotic. The opera house is shaped like drawn theater curtains, and even though the courtyard is open-air, stepping inside was seriously transporting. The acoustics must be magical, because the outside world immediately fell away. In the center sits a wooden house (above) that looks as if it were brought in from some village, and the trees in the atrium started filling up with birds I had never seen before, with pointy crests and blushing red cheeks. (I love birds, so I had to Google them immediately; turns out they’re called red-whiskered bulbuls.) Next, musicians filed in and set up chairs for a free open rehearsal. As they were tuning up, I ducked into the theater’s bakery, Go Cakes, and picked up a honeydew soda and a few bite-size confections made out of sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas. The concert was weird and wonderful—mostly because I know absolutely nothing about Chinese music, which made it impossible to predict where any song was going. It was a cool, unexpected few hours, and it all felt serendipitous and special.

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A post shared by Nicholas DeRenzo (@nderenzo) on Apr 6, 2019 at 4:03am PDT

3. What was your favorite tourist attraction?

It’s pretty far off the beaten path, but we trekked out to the Sai Kung Peninsula, which is this wild landscape of secluded beaches and hiking trails through the jungle. It took us hours to get there by subway, minibus, and taxi—including a brief detour to join hordes of wannabe influencers at a rainbow-hued basketball court (above). Our ultimate destination was the High Island Reservoir East Dam (below), which feels like the set of some futuristic movie. The dam is a sloping wall of stones with holes in them that look tiny from afar but are actually the size of a person. Surrounding it are sea caves and hexagonal rock columns that are nicknamed “the petrified waterfall” because of their oddly fluid appearance. We hiked down into the big basin, where we saw 7,000 dolosse—concrete blocks that look like gargantuan jacks and are used to stop shore erosion—which were hiding a herd of feral cows, munching on grass and weeds among the cement. I’d highly recommend a visit, but don’t make the same mistake I did: Remember to bring gallons of sunscreen and bottled water.

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A post shared by Nicholas DeRenzo (@nderenzo) on Apr 6, 2019 at 3:44pm PDT

4. What was the best meal you had on the trip?

The first bite that comes to mind is Cheung Hing Kee’s crunchy-bottomed shengjianbao (Shanghai-style pan-fried buns), which are filled with pork and bone broth and topped with sesame seeds and scallions. The unassuming street counter was recommended in the Michelin guide, and it even offers a surprisingly subtle bun with black truffle.

In terms of proper meals, it’s hard to think of a place more inventive and delicious than Happy Paradise. The space is funky and neon-lit, and the food is extremely creative without every feeling pretentious or mad-scientisty. I loved the sourdough waffles with bottarga whip and the seared Australian Wagyu skirt steak with seaweed butter, rice noodles, and preserved lemons. Deanna and I still talk about the pig brain (!) served inside a little pig-shaped ceramic pot—it might sound odd, but it was as rich and fatty as foie gras.

5. Did you have any memorable nights out on the town?

We visited (accidentally) during an international rugby tournament, so a bunch of the bars were packed with rowdy expat hooligans. Luckily, we found The Sea, which is the second bar from the team behind the Hemingway-themed The Old Man (get it?). Sadly, I read that The Sea closed, but The Old Man is still going strong—it was just named the second-best bar on the continent in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2020 list. I should mention that the best part of any night out in Hong Kong is not the drinks themselves but the late-night food at the cha chaan tengs (basically diners), such as macaroni and ham soup, pineapple buns, milk tea, and French toast.

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A post shared by Nicholas DeRenzo (@nderenzo) on Apr 7, 2019 at 4:35pm PDT

6. Did you meet any cool people?

Visiting a city as a travel writer definitely has its perks, and one of the biggest is the ability to meet some incredibly in-the-know folks. One such person is Olivia Toth, the director of communications at the Rosewood hotel (above). Deanna and I mentioned to Olivia that we wanted to find an amazing view of the city, and she showed up later that afternoon with headlamps and water bottles and took us on an impromptu sunset hike up to the 1,624-foot summit of Lion Rock (below). We passed wild boars along the steep trail—my iPhone said we climbed 90 floors!—and well after dark we reached the peak, from which we looked down upon the urban landscape twinkling in the darkness. Deanna and I celebrated our achievement with ramen at Ichiran—salty broth is a good way to replenish those electrolytes, right?

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A post shared by Nicholas DeRenzo (@nderenzo) on Apr 5, 2019 at 4:47pm PDT

7. Did you bring back any neat keepsakes?

One of the places I kept coming back to was PMQ, an arts hub (with great cafés and restaurants) in the former Police Married Quarter barracks (below). It’s filled with designers selling items like lotus-root-shaped vases and mah-jongg-print socks. PMQ is also home to a location of the local chain GOD (Goods of Desire), which feels a bit like Hong Kong’s answer to Urban Outfitters. I stocked up on, of all things, underwear featuring prints inspired by retro HK mailboxes, old newspapers, pandas, and vintage Chinese porcelain.

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A post shared by Nicholas DeRenzo (@nderenzo) on Mar 30, 2019 at 3:09am PDT

8. What’s the first thing you’ll do when you go back?

One thing I didn’t get a chance to do last time—too busy!—was search out some of the abundant wildlife that lives in the area. Next time I return, I want to climb “Monkey Mountain” in Kam Shan Country Park to see the macaques and go on a boat tour to see the Pepto Bismol–hued Chinese white (or pink) dolphins. Oh… and Hong Kong Disneyland!

The post My Favorite Trip: Hong Kong appeared first on Hemispheres.

Tracee Ellis Ross Finds her Voice in A New Musical Comedy

Rachel Mosely — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 14:00:22 +0000

ILLUSTRATION BY HANOCH PIVEN

There are many ways one can describe Tracee Ellis Ross—ambassador of joyful mantras, buoyant curls, and intoxicating laughs—but “shrinking violet” isn’t one of them. Her mission across all her endeavors, she says, is “to tell the stories of women owning their space and living in their skin.” But Ross is at a moment in her decades-long career where she’s poised to make her voice heard—quite literally—in its rawest, clearest, and glitziest form yet.

After eight seasons on the UPN–then–The CW sitcom Girlfriends and six (and counting) as Dr. Rainbow “Bow” Johnson on ABC’s Black-ish, Ross takes on her first big-screen starring role in The High Note (which is available at home on demand on May 29). In the film, directed by Late Night’s Nisha Ganatra and made by a largely female crew, Ross plays Grace Davis, a pop superstar navigating the uncertainty of middle-aged fame. For Ross, the role offered a chance to fulfill a secret lifelong dream: singing professionally. Growing up with Diana Ross for a mom, that may have seemed like an obvious career choice, but, she says, “I kept telling myself, ‘Your job is not to have the best voice in the world.” Now, though, she’s ready to embrace the opportunity: “At 47, if I’m going to start singing, my job is to tell the truth through my voice.”

Truth-telling has become a common theme for Ross, whose recent projects have included delivering a TED Talk on the power of female fury; narrating and executive producing Mixed-ish, a Black-ish prequel about growing up mixed-race in the 1980s; and founding Pattern, a haircare line for curly and coily textures. Her open-book persona has also landed her nearly 8 million followers on Instagram, where she can often be seen interacting with her on-screen family (say, getting locked into a Scrabble Go showdown with Black-ish costar Yara Shahidi) and her real one (including her mom). Ross gave Hemispheres a call mid-mani to spill on her career triumphs, the joys of being her own CEO, and her everyday high notes.

Hi Tracee! How are you?

I’m good! I’m finishing up a manicure.

What color?

I do a neutral. It kind of looks like coffee with milk. It’s a café au lait with a dose of dulce de leche flavor.

Well, let’s start with congratulations on the new movie. After 20 years in sitcoms, this is your first big film role. What drew you to playing Grace Davis?

What intrigued me most was that there was something she was holding back about herself. I really identified with that fear of letting your true self come forward. So many women get trapped into being who we think we’re supposed to be—who the world wants us to be—instead of who we actually are. I just thought that was a really relatable, identifiable story, even though it was from this very famous woman.

Was there anything scary about the role?

The thing that scared me was also the thing that drew me to it: the fact that I had to sing. Most people don’t know that my first dream as a kid was to be a singer. I grew up watching my mom, and the idea of being a woman singing on a stage in a sparkly dress was the epitome of living out my fantasy.

Were you worried people might compare Grace and your mom?

No, because it was clearly not written with my mother in mind, and I didn’t play it with my mother in mind. Of course, people can’t help it. My mom’s Diana Ross, and I’m singing in the movie. I mean, duh! I can appreciate people wanting to connect the character with my mom. I honestly dove into the parts of me that were so similar.

Inventing a pop-star persona seems like it’d be fun.

It was fun, but it was terrifying. There was a technical aspect to it that I found exciting. It got a little ridiculous: “I can’t eat any dairy. I’m a sin-gah now. I’m on vocal rest today. I’m so sorry, do you have any warm tea with honey and lemon please?” The preparation brought me naturally to who this character was. But there was a real desire on my part to make this believable. This woman has been doing this forever, and I have not. How do I act as if I’m at ease onstage when Tracee is nervous? It was fun for me to talk to my body and be like, “Listen, I know you’re scared, but we have to tell ourselves this is home, that I’m actually more comfortable on a stage with a microphone than not.” The truth is I took to it like a fish to water.

Could you ever see yourself starting a band or recording an album?

First of all, let’s get through the movie coming out and people other than me and the people in the film hearing me sing! Continuing with singing might be a fun avenue to open for myself—I wouldn’t say no to that. We were specifically choosing music that told the story of this woman, so if I started diving into that world as Tracee, it would be a different adventure.

Speaking of new adventures, what made you take the leap in founding Pattern?

Pattern was such a longtime dream for a reason: It didn’t exist. The market is slowly getting more populated with products specifically for curly and textured hair, but it’s not the norm, and it hasn’t been for the 10 years that I’d wanted to make these products. To see people have choices is really gratifying for me.

Is getting feedback as a CEO different than getting feedback as an actress?

In one sense, it’s exactly the same, because the mission of Pattern is the same as the mission in my career: It’s empowering people to celebrate who they are, to discover who they are, and then to support who they are. That thread runs through all of my work and who I am as a person. The difference is that Pattern is the first thing I’ve done that is completely mine. One of the beauties of television and film is that it’s a collaborative art. But this was really a singular dream of mine. And the fact that I own the company is a very special thing. Historically, women—but even more specifically black and brown women—have not had a stake in what we create. It’s been kind of extraordinary for me to know I can shift that.

You’re an executive producer and narrator on Mixed-ish. What does it mean for you to have a platform to tell those stories?

I find it incredibly gratifying to be able to be part of creating narratives and telling stories that are otherwise not given space to be told. The experience of being mixed in heritage, culture, tradition, and identity is a story that is often not told, or it’s lumped into one category or another—you have to choose one or the other. In this story, she gets to own all pieces. It’s been really nice to unpack a story like that and give it voice in a way that we just don’t see.

You’ve become a public speaker, including giving a TED Talk in 2018. Was this something you always wanted to pursue?

It was always something I wanted to do, but I was not good at it. I would have serious panic attacks. In 2007, the Obama team reached out to me to be a celebrity surrogate, and I was like, “I’ve never had anything to do with politics. I wouldn’t know how to do it.” When I first started with the campaign, there were like 13 stops a day. I would be up so late writing these speeches, stressing myself out, crying. At first, I would read off the paper. The words were from my heart, but it was not good. If I was in that audience, I wouldn’t have been like, “This lady should go and do some speeches!” But I had a pivotal moment. One of Obama’s staffers took the paper from me, and he was like, ‘Girl, you’ve got to let go of the paper, and you just gotta talk. Whatever happens, you gotta speak from your heart.” It was a terrible moment, but it was the turning point for me.

What changed?

At that moment, I launched into trusting myself. I would figure out what I wanted to talk about, get the words down, and then I wouldn’t even look at the paper. Some things got said, some didn’t. The [2016] Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon was the first speech that started this new wave, where I started connecting what I was chomping on personally in my life into a speech. The truth is, I’ve been that kind of person forever. There’s always something I’m journaling about, that I’m talking to everybody about. The key is having time for your mind to wander and ponder. I need a lot of quiet and space around me so that my mind and my heart can meet and start dancing.

You told Oprah that you’re big on list-making. What’s one little thing and one big thing on your to-do list?

Let’s look! Stand by. Let’s see … “Watch The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.” There’s an accounting meeting that I’ve been trying to set up since the beginning of the year [laughs]. “Hang out with Solange”—we keep trying to get together for a drink. I keep a list called The Big To-Dos. Those are the big projects that are happening in my life. You can’t address everything in a day, but you can look back and make sure you’re touching on all of them. I like to keep a big-to-dos list, a daily list, a to-schedule list, a to-watch list, a to-read list. So The Garden of Finzi, hang with Solange, and an accounting meeting. Oh, and a mammogram. It’s a good mix.

BY THE NUMBERS

44

Years between her 2017 Golden Globe win for Black-ish and her mother’s for Lady Sings the Blues in 1973

3

Curl varieties that her Pattern haircare line caters to: tight textures, coily, and curly

172

Episodes of Girlfriends, which was the longest-running live-action sitcom on the air at the time its run ended in 2008

7.8 million

Her current Instagram following

18

NAACP Image Award nominations, including 9 wins

11

Age at which she was photographed by Andy Warhol

2

Kanye West music videos in which she has appeared

The post Tracee Ellis Ross Finds her Voice in A New Musical Comedy appeared first on Hemispheres.

7 Award-Winning Bars to Hit on a Singapore Cocktail Crawl

Justin Goldman — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 13:30:36 +0000

Photo: Jigger & Pony courtesy of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2020

Singapore’s most famous drink is the eponymous sling, which was invented by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar in 1915. The Lion City’s cocktail offerings have long transcended the sling, however, and the Asia’s 50 Best Bars List for 2020, which was announced May 14, shows that this tiny city-state keeps punching above its weight, taking 11 spots in the top 50. What’s even more impressive is that seven of those places can be found in Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar, all within a little more than a mile. If you’re in Singapore right now, these bars are all offering takeout or delivery options—but for the full experience, you’ll need to plan a future cocktail crawl, starting at the newly crowned Best Bar in Asia.

Jigger & Pony

Asia’s new No. 1 has been open for eight years, but it saw its profile rise after moving to the Amara Hotel on Tanjong Pagar Road in late 2018. In 2019, it debuted on the World’s 50 Best List at No. 29, and this week it planted its flag at the top of the mountain in Asia. The mod interior feels lifted from Mad Men, while the menu is all about fun takes on classic drinks, including a Genmaicha Bellini and Crystal Ramos gin fizz.

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D.Bespoke

While many Singaporean cocktail spots evince a Western influence, D.Bespoke’s Japanese owner looked to the sleek spaces of Tokyo’s Ginza district for his bar, which ranked 23rd on the latest list. Aside from the, ahem, bespoke mixed drinks, the bar specializes in Spanish sherries, French brandies, and vintage rums.

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Gibson Bar

Set in a classic prewar shophouse, this attractive bar, which placed 25th on the 2020 list, is named after a variant of the martini (one that’s usually garnished with a pickled onion). As such, the menu boasts expertly crafted classics, sometimes with a regional twist—think old-fashioneds made with baked Japanese sweet potatoes or highballs with Malaysian white guava.

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The Old Man Singapore

The original Old Man, in Hong Kong, has long been lauded as one of the best bars in the world, and this spinoff location, which opened last year, quickly took its rightful place among the Best in Asia (No. 22) and the World (No. 38 on the 2019 list). The place leans heavy into its Hemingway theme, with a cool Cubist portrait of the author behind the bar and drinks with names such as The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms dotting the menu.

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Tippling Club

This gastrobar spread across three shophouses has been a leader in the Singaporean mixology vanguard for more than a decade, and it placed 17th on this year’s list. The cocktails are creative (how good does a banh mi sazerac sound?) and work in amazing concert with the high-concept, tasting-menu meals.

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Nutmeg & Clove

After falling off the list in 2019, this speakeasy-style spot on Ann Siang Hill makes a triumphant return with a No. 32 ranking for 2020. The walls here are decorated with vintage 1960s posters and old medicine cabinets (the building once housed a traditional Chinese apothecary), while the menu draws its flavors from local culture (think: a Bloody Mary inspired by chili crab, a popular Singaporean dish).

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Native

Finish your crawl (you might be literally crawling at this point) at this Amoy Street institution, which ranked No. 6 in Asia this year and No. 12 in the world last year. The bartenders here carefully craft cocktails that are as photogenic as they are delicious, with a focus on Southeast Asian ingredients such as candlenut and curry leaf. Don’t miss out on the house-infused gins, which make use of everything from chrysanthemum to Kampot pepper.

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Want to do the crawl yourself? The map below will take you on a trip through cocktail bar nirvana.

The post 7 Award-Winning Bars to Hit on a Singapore Cocktail Crawl appeared first on Hemispheres.

5 U.S. Wine Regions to Order from Now and Visit Later

Justin Goldman — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 13:00:27 +0000

Photo: Charles O’Rear/Getty Images

Spring and summer are usually prime sipping seasons for traveling oenophiles. Unfortunately, with most tasting rooms currently closed, our weekend winery jaunts and vineyard vacations are on hold. That doesn’t mean you totally need to delay your gratification, though: Here are a few of our favorite wineries to visit around the country, which you can order from now to whet your appetite for future flights.

CALIFORNIA – NAPA VALLEY

Napa Valley is synonymous with wine, and there are so many wineries here that it can be almost impossible to choose where to stop—or, under the current circumstances, where to order from. These three should both satisfy the current urge and fit into future plans.

Ashes & Diamonds

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This flashy winery has been a big hit among Napa Valley visitors since its 2017 opening, thanks to a mod aesthetic lifted straight from one of Don Draper’s California sojourns in Mad Men. These days, you can’t stay to soak up the ’60s vibe, but you can still order the delectable cabs, which have a lower ABV than most of what’s made in the valley today, in an approximation of a more classic Napa style.

Odette Estate

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California Governor Gavin Newsom’s approval ratings have been on the rise, and that’s without people being able to visit Odette’s futuristic, LEED Gold Certified winery, which counts Newsom and Gordon Getty among its owners. While the appointment-only tasting room on the Silverado Trail is now closed, you can still order bottles from Odette and sister wineries PlumpJack and Cade. The cabs are king, but don’t sleep on Odette’s petite sirah.

Pine Ridge Vineyards

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One of the classics of the Stags Leap District, Pine Ridge has been producing top Napa cabs for more than 40 years, and in recent years it has amped up its on-site experiences, with VIP tastings available in the winery’s caves. Until you can book one of those, the website is offering deals on several curated collections, including six bottles of 2016 cab for $350 (a savings of $40), with free ground shipping. Members get an extra 20 percent off.

CALIFORNIA – SANTA BARBARA

The American Riviera is Southern California’s favorite wine region—there’s a reason Jack and Miles came here in Sideways—and it offers an appealing variety of tasting rooms, from the vineyards tucked in the hills around Santa Maria to the urban wineries in Santa Barbara’s hip Funk Zone.

Firestone Vineyards

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In operation since 1972, this Santa Ynez Valley winery is one of the Santa Barbara region’s standard bearers. (The barrel room even made a guest appearance in Sideways.) Highlights include the malbec, the cabernet sauvignon, and the Proximity Twenty Six Red (the 2014 vintage is currently going for more than 50 percent off).

Margerum Wine Company

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With tasting rooms at its Buellton winery and at the Hotel Californian in downtown Santa Barbara, Margerum offers sipping opportunities in the city and the country. For now, try a stay-at-home, DIY tasting with one of the samplers on sale: The Staff Favorites offering includes a sauvignon blanc, grenache, and syrah, while the Estate Trio includes a table white, a viognier, and a syrah. Shipping is free on orders by the case.

Santa Barbara Winery

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This classic spot has been a mainstay in downtown Santa Barbara since the ’60s. (I doubt there’s a restaurant on State Street that doesn’t have the chardonnay on its menu.) The winery asks a three-bottle minimum for shipping but is currently offering 10 percent off on a number of packages, including a collection of rieslings and an assortment of Italian-style reds.

OREGON

Just south of Portland, the Willamette Valley has been keeping PDX’s acclaimed restaurants stocked with fine pinot noirs and chardonnays for decades. After trying these three, you’ll be ready to book a trip to the Beaver State.

Antica Terra

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Maggie Harrison is one of the Willamette Valley’s most beloved winemakers. Her artisan pinot noirs, chardonnays, and syrahs aren’t cheap (the least expensive bottle available online is $95), but after just one sip you’ll be glad you paid the premium. Antica Terra hosts lovely lunches and dinners in the vineyard and at the winery during the summer, and if you purchase wine now, you can help some food purveyors: The winery is donating 25 percent of all its orders to The James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund.

Domaine Drouhin Oregon

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For more than 30 years, this 225-acre Dundee Hills estate has been putting out fine Burgundy-style pinot noirs and chardonnays—which makes sense, as it’s owned by a Burgundian family. Until the winery reopens for tours (on which you can see the four-level, gravity-flow winemaking process), you can purchase bottles online, with a 10 percent discount on orders of 12 or more.

Southeast Wine Collective

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Since 2010, Portlanders who want to go wine tasting but don’t care to venture from the city limits have been coming to this charming urban winery in the middle of Southeast Division Street’s formidable restaurant row. (Ava Gene’s, Pok Pok, and Bollywood Theater are all within a couple of blocks.) Until the Rose City is back in bloom, you can order from the online bottle shop. Try the gamays—co-owner Kate Norris is so fond of the varietal, she started a festival in its honor.

TEXAS

Around 50 wineries can be found in Texas Hill Country, north of San Antonio and west of Austin. In fact, the region is home to the third-largest American Viticultural Area in the U.S., at more than 9 million acres. But we’ll keep things simple for y’all: None of these wineries is much more than about an hour’s drive from Austin.

Becker Vineyards

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The vines were first planted at this Fredericksburg winery in 1992, and since then Becker has grown into a facility that produces 100,000 cases a year and had its wine served at the White House. Visitors to the estate will see 56 acres of vineyards and an event center that’s a replica of the barn at the Johnson Settlement (where LBJ grew up). While the estate is closed to visitors, order one of the many award winning wines, which include cab franc, chardonnay, cinsaut, and dolcetto. Becker is also doing virtual tastings through Facebook Live, with a corresponding three-bottle pack available for each one.

Duchman Family Winery

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Founded in 2004, this winery in Driftwood, about half an hour from Austin, specializes in Italian varieties. Normally, picnics on the grounds outside the stone facility are encouraged, but for now the winery is offering curbside pickup of family-style meals. If you’re too far to make the drive, order a gold medal–winning vermentino online.

Pedernales Cellars

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This winery, which opened in 1995 in the town of Stonewall, sits on a 145-acre estate in the scenic Pedernales River Valley and specializes in Spanish and Rhône varietals. Try a crisp viognier, albariño, or vermentino, or an earthy tempranillo or malbec. The three-bottle bundles are a great deal, and shipping is free on orders over $100. The winery is also doing virtual tastings on Facebook Live.

VIRGINIA

Just minutes from Dulles International Airport, D.C.-adjacent Loudoun County is arguably America’s most convenient wine region, with around 40 wineries clustered among the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Potomac River.

The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards

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Located in a 100-plus-year-old barn on a refurbished dairy farm in Hamilton, this is one of the most attractive tasting rooms in Loudoun County. The wines are Bordeaux-style (petite sirah, cab, an award-winning Meritage) and are currently available at a discount, ranging from 15 percent off for three bottles to 30 percent off for two cases. Plus, you can order pre-made Bellinis and sangria.

Breaux Vineyards

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At 404 acres, this estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains near the historic small town of Hillsboro is one of the largest, most scenic winemaking properties in Virginia. Breaux is doing virtual tastings on Facebook Live, but if you’re livestreamed out, do a mix-and-match special and get 40 percent off on a few select bottles as part of a 12-bottle order and go your own way. Shipping is also free on orders of six bottles or more.

The Vineyards & Winery at Lost Creek

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Not far from the banks of the Potomac River, this beautiful 50-acre sustainable winery outside Leesburg is popular for its culinary experiences, such as the four-course Saturday night Tasting Table dinner. Those in the area can now order takeout and delivery meals on the weekend; if you’re farther flung, shipping is currently free on orders of three bottles or more. Try the award-winning 2017 cab franc.

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‘Space Force’ Star Tawny Newsome Wants to Pick the Wright Brothers’ Brains

Staff — Wed, 27 May 2020 20:19:41 +0000

Tawny Newsome is one of the hardest-working funnywomen in show business, starring on Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ and Brockmire, cohosting the podcast Yo, Is This Racist?, and touring with the band Four Lost Souls. If you’re not familiar with the Second City vet yet, you will be soon: This week sees the premiere of Netflix’s new workplace comedy Space Force (from The Office creator Greg Daniels), in which she stars alongside Steve Carell, John Malkovich, and Ben Schwartz as helicopter pilot Angela Ali. Here, Newsome takes on our travel questionnaire, telling us about the joys of solo walking, where she’d like to go in Japan, and the thing that would make her Nana “jump out of her grave and smack [her] across the mouth.”

1. Which of your Space Force costars would you most want to travel with?

I think Diana Silvers and I should go do the W trek in Patagonia. She’s an avid hiker and adventure-woman like me. We bonded right away talking about solo hiking and her time on the PCT [Pacific Crest Trail]. I think we’d have an absolute blast. We’d also know when to leave each other alone and read books in our tents.

2. You’re a fixture in the podcast world. Which ones do you always have loaded on your phone for a flight?

Usually Nicole Byer’s Why Won’t You Date Me?, because it feels like a fun hang with friends—who are usually strangers, which I have to remember when I run into them at industry events.

3. Which place has the naturally funniest people?

England. Most folks there run circles around us in the wit department. I’ll spend two hours in a pub with friends of people I know there, just nodding and losing my mind, barely able to get a word in, much less keep up. When they finally ask what I do, I just slowly die as I’m forced to tell them “professional comedian.” Absolutely devastating.

4. Where’s the first place you want to go when social distancing is over?

Japan. Tokyo is my favorite city, and I was lucky enough to spend a month wandering the country back in 2016. I think when I go back, I’d take a good amount of time and maybe get a cheap apartment someplace like Koenji or Shimokitazawa, making sure to weekend it up to the Alps at least once. I’d probably end the trip with a flight down to the islands. I’ve always dreamed of walking the gnarled forests of Yakushima—seems like a good place to get reasonably lost for a little bit.

5. Have you been supporting any small businesses during this time that you want to give a shout out to?

Amoeba Records! They were my first real record store growing up and hold such a special place in my heart as a musician. I have fond memories of going there to spend my allowance money on Hootie and the Blowfish CDs (are you… blown away at how cool I am?) and just-as-fond memories playing in-store events there with my band, Four Lost Souls. They’re trying to stay afloat. Please check out their GoFundMe if you can, or order some records online!

6. When you travel, do you dress for the occasion or choose comfort?

I’d like to think I’ve mastered the art of doing both. It’s important to be comfortable, but my Nana would jump out of her grave and smack me across the mouth if she saw me get on a plane in pajama bottoms. (No shade if you, reader, are currently wearing pajamas. Do you. You didn’t have my Nana.) Athleta has great joggers in nice fabric that doesn’t look too loungey.

7. Are you watching any shows that are feeding your wanderlust?

Giri / Haji on Netflix. It satisfies my wanderlust for two of my favorite places, Tokyo and London, with a bit of English seaside thrown in there.

8. What’s the most transformative or meaningful trip you’ve ever taken?

If you’ve never solo walked, I highly recommend it. My first solo walk was down the Rota Vicentina, in the Alentejo region of Portugal. You walk north to south atop stunning coastal cliffs, with the Atlantic at your right, and stay in these pristine, inexpensive hostels along the way. I met a German mother and daughter on that trip, and we all walked together one of the days. I was quickly picking my way across a tricky, rocky crossing, wearing this overly heavy pack, when the mother called out to me, “Tawny, wow! You are quite a fine alpinist!” I mean, a German, giving props to an American for being a good mountain walker? I’ve been absolutely living off that compliment for years. I even named my production company and indie record label after it: Fine Alpinist Records.

9. Is there one meal from a past vacation that you can’t stop thinking about?

Clamato. Paris, France. I was in Paris shooting a commercial, which was an extremely busy few days, so I made sure to tack on three days in the city to eat and drink and wander. I tried to get reservations at Septime, because my chef-friend back in Chicago had recommended it (always go where chefs tell you!) but couldn’t get in on short notice. I ended up at their sister restaurant, Clamato, with bar seats (my favorite way to fancy-meal), a bottle of something bubbly, and the best meal I’ve ever had. I remember this perfect dish with basil oil on sardines on toast, maybe? And now I love sardines. I’m a sardines person now!

10. What’s one thing you can’t leave home without?

Bathing suit. Even if you think you’re going someplace cold. I once went to Cuenca, Ecuador, which, because of its high altitude, can be pretty chilly—only to discover a perfect little natural hot spring in the nearby, aptly named town of Baños. Always bring a suit. Or at least a sports bra and some shorts and no shame.

11. Are there any songs, albums, or artists that are always on your travel playlist?

Teen Dream by Beach House. I listen to it usually during takeoff. It’s become the sound of flying for me.

12. If you could travel back in time, when and where would you go?

I’d just go back to, like, NYC in the ’70s and get a hold of more wide-leg Levi’s in my size. The vintage ones are hard to find in my inseam, and they just don’t make denim like they used to.

13. Which famous person—living or dead—would be your dream seatmate?

I’d snag Wilbur or Orville Wright. Okay, so the obvious reason, of course, is to basically be like “How does this thing stay up here, dawg?” But also, to settle something personal. There’s some family lore on my mom’s side that we’re actually related to the Wright Brothers. My great-grandma Vinnie’s last name was Wright, and I have a handful of aunts and uncles who swear up and down that they’re kin. However, when another family member recently looked into it, she could find no such link. I’d love to know once and for all. And before you ask, no, I’m not going to do one of those ancestry.com things, because when this country goes full-on Gattaca, I don’t want them having my DNA, ok?

14. What’s your favorite way to stay entertained in-flight?

I drink.

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‘Little Fires Everywhere’ Star Lexi Underwood Wants to Fly with Eartha Kitt

Staff — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:22:00 +0000

Photo: Emily Shur/Hulu

Newcomer Lexi Underwood stars alongside Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon in Hulu’s new miniseries adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere. Here, the 16-year-old takes on our travel questionnaire and tells us about a transformative trip to Hawaii and where to find the “bomb” delivery tacos that are getting her through quarantine.

1. If you could go on a vacation with your co-stars, Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, where would you choose and why?

If I could go on a girls’ trip with Ms. Kerry and Ms. Reese, we would probably go to an island of some sort. A lovely beach vacation with them would be a blast!

2. Shaker Heights, Ohio, where Little Fires Everywhere is set, seems like the quintessential American small town. What’s the best small town you’ve visited?

My grandmother is from a small town in Italy called Castiglioncello. I went there when I was about 8 years old, and it is absolutely beautiful there.

3. You starred as young Nala in The Lion King Musical during a North American tour. What was your favorite city to perform in?

My favorite city to perform in was Vancouver. I adore Canada. All the people there were so nice and the food was amazing. I would love to visit again.

4. Where’s the first place you want to go when quarantine is over?

The nail salon. I really need my nails done!

5. Are there any small businesses that you’ve been supporting during the quarantine that you want to give a shout out to?

Tacos Negros is a bomb taco place that delivers. Their tacos are everything!

6. Are you watching any shows that are feeding your wanderlust during stay-at-home?

I just finished Hollywood, and I loved it so much.

7. What’s the most transformative or meaningful trip you’ve ever taken?

I went to Hawaii at the beginning of this year with my mom, and it was such a beautiful experience. We made sure we spent little time on our devices or social media and dedicated that time to exploring the culture of Hawaii and becoming one with nature and ourselves.

8. Where is your home away from home?

I essentially have two homes, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. When I think about it, though, I would have to say my Nana’s house in Gastonia, North Carolina. It is always a place where my family gathers during holidays or special occasions. There’s so much love and comfort that lies in that home.

9. Are there any songs, albums, or artists that are always on your travel playlist?

When it comes to my travel playlist, I love listening to Frank Ocean, Jhené Aiko, SiR, SZA, J. Cole, Summer Walker, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar… the list goes on and on!

10. If you could travel back in time, when and where would you go?

I would go back to Los Angeles in the 1990s. The music, the fashion, the shows, and movies—everything about that era is so cool. I’m infatuated with everything involving the ’90s.

11. Which famous person—living or dead—would be your dream seatmate?

My dream seatmate would be Eartha Kitt. She was so wise. I feel like she would just drop gem after gem. She broke so many barriers and blazed so many trails. She would be able to give me great advice.

12. What’s your favorite way to stay entertained in-flight?

Watching movies and listening to music. If I’m in the mood to watch a show, I would definitely watch A Different World.

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Kate Nash Loves Traveling in Stylish Pajamas

Staff — Fri, 22 May 2020 16:35:30 +0000

Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

The London-born indie singer-songwriter has been enjoying a hot streak with her three-season turn as Britannica on Netflix’s pro wrestling comedy GLOW (excellent quarantine binge-watching, FYI). This weekend, she releases her tour documentary, Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl, through Alamo Drafthouse’s Alamo at Home service. Here, she takes on our travel questionnaire and tells us about the world’s best vegan cheese and who she’d add to her own GLOW-style fighting squad (paging Judi Dench).

1. Your documentary Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl follows you on tour. What’s your favorite venue to play?

Shepherd’s Bush Empire [in London]. I love the crew there—I met one of my best friends there, my lighting engineer Paula Trounce. I love the old theater vibe, and I just love playing a home show. It’s so special to have your friends and family at a gig.

2. Are there any songs, albums, or artists that are always on your travel playlist?

P!nk, M!ssundaztood. Hole, Live Through This. “Once More, with Feeling” [Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s 2001 musical episode]. UK garage mixes on SoundCloud. Christy Moore, Live at the Point.

3. If you could put together a GLOW-style squad of real-life heroines—living or dead—to fight alongside, who would you choose?

Oh wow. Ummmm Cameron Diaz definitely, Nicole Richie, Barbara Windsor, Pam St Clement, Maggie Q, Lisa Lefteye Lopes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Phoebe Waller Bridge, Shirley Manson, Lady Leshurr, María Conchita Alonso, Cher, Jada Pinkett Smith, Judi Dench, Rosario Dawson, Kristen Stewart, Beth Ditto. Wow, what a crew.

4. Have you been supporting any small businesses during quarantine that you want to give a shout out to?

We’ve been getting some takeaways from Kitchen Mouse [a vegetarian restaurant in LA’s Highland Park] and Sage [a vegetarian restaurant with three locations across LA]. And I bought some really cute masks from The Mighty Company in LA, a female-owned brand. Hot Lava is another female-owned business I love; they have sales on right now and amazing swimwear. I have been trying not to shop too much for material things, and we’ve been getting a lot of plants and seed from Sunset Nursery to grow our own veg and work in the garden.

5. Where’s the first place you want to go when this is over?

Home, back to Harrow to hug my mum and dad and have my sisters make me laugh. My older sister, Clare, could make me a meal, and my younger sister, Helen, could tell me to leave her alone—and then we could all watch trashy horror movies together.

6. When you travel, do you dress for the occasion or choose comfort?

I have this one pair of trousers from Stella McCartney that are so friggin’ comfortable. I bought them in New York ’cause I needed something that looked good but felt like pajamas. I think that’s the way to go. Stylish pajamas. I have mostly been wearing tracksuits and comfies from Hot Lava.

7. What’s the most transformative or meaningful trip you’ve ever taken?

I went on a sort of pilgrimage to Ireland with my boyfriend a few years ago. My memories of Ireland were always me in the back of the car with my parents, so I wanted to be in the front seat of the car and drive myself. We drove down the Wild Atlantic Way. I was just freshly in love—like, literally the night before going, my boyfriend and I told each other we loved each other for the first time. And it was just this magical trip. We went into unreal forests and found ancient stone circles. We made very rough plans and sort of booked hotels and bed-and-breakfasts as we went along. It felt really adventurous and freeing, figuring out what we were doing as we went along. I felt like I was actually inside romance; I’m certain fairies were involved.

8. What’s the best souvenir you’ve ever brought home from a trip?

Two photographs by Alejandra Quintero Sinisterra on a recent trip to Colombia. I finished shooting a movie there and wanted a souvenir to celebrate it. We went to a local art exhibition, and I bought these two photos of men lying down tanning—this one guy on the beach looks like he’s roasting. The photographer did a series on people’s bodies, without showing their faces, to encourage empathy. They’re up in my living room and I love looking at them.

9. What’s your favorite hotel you’ve ever stayed in and why?

Stella Maris in Kilchee, Ireland. They had incredible traditional music in the pub, and we met so many nice people, including the local tour guide Michael O’Connell. It was in a beautiful cove and we swam in the freezing ocean at 8 the next morning.

10. Where is your home away from home?

Hmmm… Madre workout spot in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles. Or The Rectory Hotel in England makes me feel home. I love the English countryside. Also any services on the motorway or cheap hotels feel like home to me ’cause of touring.

11. Is there one meal or drink from a past vacation that you can’t stop thinking about?

Everything I ate in Bogotá. I am obsessed with patacones, and the almond vegan cheese they make there is the best I’ve ever tasted in the whole world.

12. Overpacker or underpacker?

Overpacker forever. Touring has made me that way. If you don’t feel good one day and you have to go on stage and have people stare at you, then you’re gonna need options.

13. If you could travel back in time, when and where would you go?

I’d go see the dinosaurs.

14. Which famous person—living or dead—would be your dream seatmate? What would you talk about during the flight?

[English comedian] Bob Mortimer. Cabbages and biscuits most likely.

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‘Never Have I Ever’ Star Richa Moorjani is at Home in India

Staff — Thu, 21 May 2020 20:41:47 +0000

Headshot Photo: Jaya Narasimhan

In Mindy Kaling’s new Netflix series Never Have I Ever, Richa Moorjani plays the protagonist’s “good Indian” cousin Kamala, a CalTech PhD student who’s preparing for an arranged marriage. Here, the Bay Area–raised scene stealer answers our travel questionnaire and fills us in on her most transformative trips, memorable meals, and LA’s best lattes.

1. Which Never Have I Ever co-star would you most want to travel with?

I would love to do a trip with the whole cast! All of us became so close but didn’t get too many chances to hang out outside of set. It would be a blast to rent a cabin somewhere and hang out all night bonding over games, food, and shenanigans.

2. The California setting is such a big part of Never Have I Ever. As someone who grew up in the Bay Area, what are some California gems every first-time visitor should check out?

One must-do is the scenic 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula. You see some of the most stunning views of beaches, mansions, and golf courses. I also love Ojai—its old charm, art scene, and abundance of nature make it a peaceful place for a weekend getaway.

3. Never Have I Ever feels like a classic ’80s romantic comedy. Where’s the most romantic place you’ve ever been?

Honestly every place I go with my husband feels romantic, because we always find cute and unique things to do that create lifelong memories. But recently we went to Tulum, and it was unbelievably romantic. We had a beachfront hotel room, so we could lay down on the sand right outside our room under a blanket of stars with no one around us. It was incredibly private and dreamy.

4. Where is your home away from home?

Definitely India! I grew up going there every year or two with my family to visit our grandparents and other relatives. My dad is from a city in North India called Varanasi, one of the most ancient living cities in the world and a center of sacred religious sites like the Ganges River; my mom is from Mysore, another very ancient city known for its temples, palaces, and other historical sites in South India.

5. What’s the most transformative or meaningful trip you’ve ever taken?

I moved to Mumbai for two years in 2013. Having to learn how to live by myself in a foreign place was terrifying but incredibly exhilarating. I went on several solo trips around India and to Europe. Traveling alone can be scary and horribly lonely but also unbelievably transformational and a huge opportunity for growth and understanding yourself.

6. What’s your favorite hotel you’ve ever stayed in and why?

During our recent honeymoon in Koh Samui, Thailand, my husband and I stayed at a secluded resort called Silavadee on a cliff overlooking the turquoise ocean. We woke up every morning at dawn to see the sun rising above the sea, and at night, we ate dinner at the rooftop restaurant under the starry night sky. Their spa offered the most relaxing Thai massages and treatments. The service was exceptional, and they really went out of their way to make our honeymoon feel special.

7. Is there one meal from a past vacation that you can’t stop thinking about?

The breakfast buffet at our honeymoon resort. Being vegans, we were nervous it would be hard to find options, but our resort had a whole vegan menu, everything from vegan pancakes and waffles to a variety of freshly squeezed juices—and the best Thai iced tea we’ve ever had, made with fresh coconut cream.

8. What’s one thing you can’t leave home without?

A journal to document my experiences and take notes.

9. What’s the first thing you do when you get home from a trip?

First I take a long shower, and then I enjoy a healthy home-cooked meal. As much as I love eating out while traveling, I’m always dying to have something homemade as soon as I return.

10. Where is the first place you want to visit post-quarantine?

The first place I want to go is home to the Bay Area to see my family. I know it’s going to take a while for things to feel “normal,” and I’m just looking forward to being able to physically touch and hug all my loved ones again. If this time has taught me anything, it’s to never take those moments for granted.

11. During social distancing, have you been supporting any favorite local businesses that you want to give a shout out to?

My husband and I go almost every day to pick up and support our favorite coffee/tea shop in Pasadena, Home Brewed Bar. Try their pistachio or salted caramel toddy latte, and you’ll never want a latte anywhere else. We’re also obsessed with Sage Plant Based Bistro and order from there frequently. They have been wonderful during this time and have been offering some essentials to their customers, like individual toilet paper rolls and various produce items they wouldn’t normally have on their menu.

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3 Perfect Bryce Canyon National Park Viewpoints

Justin Goldman — Thu, 21 May 2020 19:59:32 +0000

Photo: Thanan/Getty Images

Most years, the month of May is when warm spring weather takes hold, the school year begins to draw to a close, and families start planning their summer trips to America’s national parks in earnest. This year, the pandemic has delayed the openings of many parks, but as restrictions loosen, some are now welcoming visitors. Chief among these, at least for shutterbugs, is Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park, which is home to some of the most spectacular rock formations in the world. Here, three viewpoints over Bryce Canyon where you can snap a stunning shot now.

Sunset Point

Bryce Canyon’s aforementioned rock formations are known as hoodoos, and the best-known of these is Thor’s Hammer—the kids are definitely going to make you stop for this one—which stands watch over the Silent City, a cluster of rocks in the Bryce Amphitheater. The clearest view of Thor’s Hammer, which takes its shape due to the uneven weathering of sandstone and siltstone, can be found at Sunset Point, about a mile and a half past the park’s visitors center.

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Bryce Point

Thor’s Hammer is just one of the many hoodoos to be found in the canyon. For a panoramic view of the entire Amphitheater, keep going to Bryce Point, which looks northward over the landscape from an elevation of 8,300 feet. The scene is especially jaw-dropping at sunrise, when the first morning light flashes across all that red rock.

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Natural Bridge

Arches National Park is the most famous place in Utah to see sandstone arches, but if you don’t feel like driving the 250 miles across the state to Moab to fill out your photo album, just keep on going south through Bryce Canyon for about 20 more minutes south to reach the Natural Bridge lookout. The 85-foot arch here provides a perfect windowframe for the ponderosa pine forest below.

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3 Perfect Craft Beers in Portland, Oregon

Justin Goldman — Thu, 21 May 2020 14:38:19 +0000

Cascade Brewing Photo: David Neff

Portland, Oregon, is called Beervana for a reason: With its four-decade legacy of sumptuous suds and a current count of more than 75 breweries, PDX is the craft-brewing capital of America. As in most large metro areas, bars and restaurants are currently closed, but many of the Rose City’s finest taprooms are still doing takeout and delivery. Here are three pitch-perfect pints to try.

Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

Founded in Bend in 1988, Deschutes has for decades been one of the most popular craft breweries on the West Coast, and since 2008 it has operated a bustling taproom in Northwest Portland’s Pearl District, just a block north of Powell’s City of Books. Mirror Pond, one of the brewery’s original creations, is a Goldilocks of a pale ale that’s not too potent (5 percent ABV) and not too bitter (40 IBUs), with a perfect blend of citrus, caramel malt, and Cascade hops.

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Breakside IPA

Not even a full decade has passed since Breakside produced its first batch, but the brewery has already grown to include three taprooms in PDX (in Northeast, Slabtown, and Milwaukie), and in January The Oregonian declared it the best brewery in Portland. Breakside’s flagship brew is a quintessential Pacific Northwest IPA: It’s got a little kick (6.2 percent ABV), it’s fairly bitter (73 IBUs), and it’s full of Citra and Chinook hops, balanced with a touch of tropical fruit flavor. It has also won numerous medals, including a gold at the North American Beer Awards in 2014.

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Cascade Brewing Rose City Sour

Sour beers aren’t for everyone, but those who have acquired the taste swear by the barrel-aged funk-fests at Cascade, which has an always jam-packed taproom on Southeast Belmont Street. This beer, created in honor of Portland, is a blend of wheat and blond ales that’s aged in wine barrels—with rose petals sprinkled in, no less—for 14 months. If that description doesn’t have you feeling rosy enough, 750 ml bottles of the 2016 vintage are currently marked down.

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9 New Binge-worthy Shows to Inspire Future Adventures

Nicholas DeRenzo — Fri, 15 May 2020 13:00:36 +0000

Photo: 2020 Hulu / Element Pictures / Enda Bowe

For many of us avid travelers, screens have become our only windows to the outside world. Luckily, this spring’s crop of new bingeable shows has proven particularly wanderlust-inspiring, whisking us away to an (impossibly cheap and rentable) Italian villa, a Victorian castle in Upstate New York, and even a humble Mexican restaurant in East LA—all places you can actually visit in the hopefully very near future. Here’s our ultimate curated watchlist to prepare you for your next adventure.

Normal People

Ireland, Sweden, and Italy

Hulu

Photos: 2020 Hulu / Element Pictures / Enda Bowe

Irish author Sally Rooney’s 2018 novel was No. 25 on the Guardian’s 100 best books of the 21st century list, and this swoon-worthy adaptation should prove just as much of an instant classic. Spanning their high school and university years, the show follows the on-again-off-again-on-again romance of misunderstood outcast Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and popular jock Connell (Paul Mescal) who meet in their fictional hometown of Carricklea. These scenes were filmed in Tubbercurry, County Sligo, the kind of nondescript village that visiting Americans find dreamy and locals can’t wait to escape; if you’re looking to recapture some of that magic, grab a pint at Killoran’s pub or T. Brennan’s bar, both of which were used as filming locations.

In episode 2, the pair heads out to a patch of grassy seaside dunes, depicted as a short walk from town. In reality, picturesque Streedagh Beach sits about 45 minutes north of Tubbercurry on the Wild Atlantic Way. A favorite among surfers, the beach was also the site of three Spanish Armada shipwrecks—perhaps an unintended metaphor for this oft-rocky relationship—and you can still walk among remnants of the boats.

In later episodes, the action shifts to Dublin’s Trinity College (the alma mater of Rooney, Mescal, and director Lenny Abrahamson) and even on to Luleå in Swedish Lapland, where Marianne studies abroad and memorably walks out on the frozen Baltic Sea under the pinkish glow of the midnight sun. But in terms of locations that will immediately have you booking a flight, it’s hard to beat the Italian villa where Marianne, Connell, and some friends stay in episode 8. Located near the village of Sant’Oreste, about 20 miles north of Rome, the historic Tenuta di Verzano Il Casale sleeps six, features an idyllic in-ground pool with mountain views, and can be booked on Airbnb for under $50 a night.

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens

New York City

Comedy Central

Photos: Comedy Central

What Girls did for Brooklyn and Sex and the City did for Manhattan, this raunchy but heartfelt, semi-autobiographical sitcom is doing for the Crazy Rich Asians scene-stealer’s home borough. Rapper-comedian Awkwafina celebrated the premiere by recording announcements for the 7 train, such as “Welcome to my borough!” and “Hey, fellas, stop manspreading.”

The animated opening credits feature such iconic Queens locations as the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (the alien landing site in Men in Black), but eagle-eyed viewers will also notice a cartoon Easter egg: the now-shuttered Lum’s, which was opened by Awkwafina’s great-grandfather in Flushing in the 1950s, making it one of the first Chinese restaurants in what would become, by some counts, the world’s largest Chinatown. She honors the local culinary landscape with scenes filmed at Manhattan Chinatown’s New Kim Tuong Restaurant and Flushing’s Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan, and in the pilot, she even wears a Congee Village menu T-shirt by designer Sandy Liang (whose parents own the NYC institution).

In episode 8, Awkwafina’s character Nora takes a back seat to tell the origin story of her grandmother (Lori Tan Chinn) in rural China in 1965. Inspired by the plot twists and lush visuals of a soapy Korean drama (Awkwafina is half-Korean), the episode looks as if it were shot on location, but the crew only had to cross a few bridges—rather than an ocean—to get to set: That’s because the “village” is actually the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden in Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Every piece of this garden, from the tiles to the windows to the paving stones, was fabricated in Suzhou and shipped to New York in 1998.

Star Trek: Picard

Santa Barbara County, California

CBS All Access

CBS’s newest installment in the Star Trek franchise picks up 14 years after Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has retired from Starfleet. The year is 2399, and while you might expect him to be spending his golden years in some orbital over-55 community, the Next Generation captain is actually living at Château Picard, his family’s winemaking estate in Le Barre, Burgundy. But oenophile Trekkies shouldn’t book a flight to France just yet. Vineyard scenes were shot at Sunstone Vineyards, Winery, and Villa in Santa Ynez, California, about 35 minutes north of Santa Barbara. If his villa looks particularly authentic, that’s very much by design: Reclaimed limestone was imported from a small French village, the fireplace was shipped in from Bordeaux, pine beams were salvaged from Queen Victoria’s lavender factory, and one of the doors was sourced from a Napoleon-era prison cell. Club Sunstone Reserve Members can even make like Picard and stay at the villa overnight.

To slightly complicate matters, there really is a Château Picard in Saint-Estèphe, Bordeaux, though it long predates the TV show. In fact, it achieved its Cru Bourgeois classification in 1932, 55 years before the start of Star Trek: Next Generation. Last year, that winery’s owners collaborated with producers on a line of official Star Trek Wines that includes a (real) Château Picard Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux.

Unorthodox

Berlin

Netflix

Photos: Anika Molnar/Netflix

Inspired by Deborah Feldman’s 2012 autobiography of the same name, this four-episode Netflix miniseries—the first largely in Yiddish—follows 19-year-old Esty Shapiro (Israeli actress Shira Haas) and her flight from her ultra-conservative Hasidic community and arranged marriage in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. After escaping to Berlin, she and a few new friends go to a sandy beach on the shores of Großer Wannsee, a lake in the southwestern suburbs of Berlin. As her friends strip down to bikinis and swim trunks, Esty remains in her long skirt, stockings, and sheitel (a wig worn by married Orthodox women), and her friend tells her two facts about the lake: The villa across the water hosted the 1942 conference at which Nazis decided to implement the Final Solution, and later, when the Berlin Wall was up, East German guards used to shoot people trying to swim across to freedom. Taken aback, she asks, “And you swim in this water?” to which her friend replies, “The lake is just a lake.” In a memorable sign of her new liberation, Esty swims out into the water and removes her wig to reveal her shaved head.

High Fidelity

New York City

Hulu

Photos: 2019 Hulu Phillip Caruso

Nick Hornby’s 1995 London-set novel, about a record shop owner obsessed with desert-island top five lists, has taken a long route to get to this TV show. The book begat a 2000 Chicago-set film starring John Cusack, a 2006 Brooklyn-set Broadway musical, and finally this year’s gender-reversed Hulu comedy, starring Zoë Kravitz as Rob.

The story has been transported to Brooklyn’s rapidly gentrifying Crown Heights neighborhood, where Rob owns Championship Vinyl and frequents a dive called Allied Bar. While both spots are fictional, the show fortunately filmed at enough real-life Big Apple locations to warrant a Rob-style top-five list of places to visit:

Get caffeinated at Tony’s Deli Grocery Corp., the bodega on the corner of Sterling Place and Bedford Avenue where Rob buys her no-frills morning coffees.
Catch a show at Good Room, the Greenpoint music venue where Rob first sees Scottish rocker Liam Shawcross (Thomas Doherty) playing a cover of Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You.”
Grab brunch at Glady’s, a Crown Heights jerk restaurant. Rob orders a mimosa, but you should opt for something from their wide rum selection, with bottles from Guyana, Trinidad, Haiti, and more.
Drink rosé at Williamsburg’s Cafe Colette, the bar where Rob grudgingly admits that her ex’s new girlfriend’s preferred drink (frosé!) is actually delicious.
Go for a “whiskey neat—cheap” (Rob’s order, but feel free to splurge on something better) at Bemelmans Bar in the Upper East Side’s Carlyle Hotel. In episode 5, a smug record collector mansplains to Rob that the murals on the wall were handpainted by the bar’s namesake, Ludwig Bemelmans, the writer and illustrator of the Madeline series.

Hollywood

Los Angeles

Netflix

Photos: SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX

Set during the 1940s heyday of the studio system, Ryan Murphy’s revisionist take on Golden Age Hollywood needed a backlot as a centerpiece filming location. In episode 1, audiences see protagonist Jack Castello (David Corenswet) waiting in a crowd of wannabe extras outside fictional Ace Studios. In a nod to industry history, the ornate arched entryway is “played” by the Bronson Gate at Paramount Studios, the last of the major “Big Five” studios still based in Hollywood. Built in 1926, the gate has featured prominently in a number of classic films (it’s the spot where Sunset Boulevard’s Norma Desmond is turned away by guards and utters her iconic line “Without me, there wouldn’t be any Paramount Studio”) and local legends (the wrought-iron embellishments were supposedly added to keep out rabid Rudolph Valentino fans). Charles Bronson even used to say that it inspired his stage name. While it used to be the front entrance to the studio, the gate now stands within the backlot, so you’ll have to book a studio tour to see it firsthand.

When you’re finished with the tour, head to The Prince in Koreatown, where real-life agent Henry Wilson (Jim Parsons) takes star-in-the-making Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) for a meeting in episode 3. Opened in 1927 as The Windsor, this L.A. institution—with its crimson banquettes, velvet brocade wallpaper, and British redcoat lamps—may look familiar. That’s because it’s been used in everything from Chinatown to Mad Men, and it was even the spot where Nick (Jake Johnson) tended bar on FOX’s New Girl. Other locations to add to your Hollywood-themed itinerary include Musso & Frank Grill, Boardner’s bar, The Dresden, Monty Bar, the Orpheum Theatre, and the Art Deco Oviatt Building, all of which make cameos.

Upload

Upstate New York

Amazon Prime

Photos: Courtesy of Amazon Studios

You could never accuse Greg Daniels’s biggest hit sitcom, The Office, of being wanderlust-inspiring. But his latest sci-fi series trades in a nondescript Scranton office block for one of America’s great resorts. The concept: It’s the year 2033, and humans now have the ability to upload themselves into their preferred digital afterlives. Bro-y coder Nathan (Robbie Amell) finds himself living out eternity in luxurious “Lakeview,” and exterior shots for this slice of heaven were filmed at the Mohonk Mountain House, which was founded in 1869 just outside New Paltz, New York. Resembling a Victorian castle, the National Historic Landmark–designated resort is surrounded by 40,000 wooded acres on the Shawangunk Ridge, and it’s postcard-perfect any time of year; in the show, Nathan’s room is even equipped with a thermostat to change the scene outside from snowy hillsides to, say, colorful fall foliage. Upload isn’t the first time the Mohonk Mountain House has stood in for a utopia (of sorts): The hotel is featured in 1994’s The Road to Wellville, a comedic look at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins) doles out such questionable treatments as electrified baths and up-to-five-times-daily enemas.

The Great

United Kingdom and Italy

Hulu

Photos: 2020 Hulu Andrea Pirrello/Nick Wall/Ollie Upton

If you liked the 2018 black comedy The Favourite, you’ll love this irreverent and anachronistic Catherine the Great bio-series by the same screenwriter, Oscar nominee Tony McNamara. Season one, which premieres May 15, follows the arrival of the Prussian-born future empress (Elle Fanning) in Russia to marry the erratic and immature emperor, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult). It doesn’t take long for Catherine to decide that—historical spoiler alert!—this womanizing, drunk, warmongering manchild will need to be deposed, and she could be just the woman for the job.

The show’s title card is quick to point out that this is only “an occasionally true story,” and that extends to the filming locations. While the royal couple would have spent these years at their palace in St. Petersburg, the production design team instead cobbled together the best parts of a number of palaces, castles, and estates to create an architectural Frankenstein’s monster: Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, which also featured in The Favourite; Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire; Ham House in Surrey; Castle Howard in North Yorkshire; and Hever Castle in Kent.

But the grandest scenes of all are shot at the Reggia di Caserta, a palace just outside Naples that ranks as the world’s largest royal residence by volume. Want to know if you’re looking at a Caserta-set scene? Keep your eyes peeled for impossibly magnificent Baroque settings—such as the marble-lion-flanked Grand Staircase of Honor or the sprawling internal courtyards—that look as if they were designed to rival and dwarf Versailles, because, well, they were. The UNESCO World Heritage Site also served as the palace of Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels and the Vatican in last year’s The Two Popes.

Gentefied

Los Angeles

Netflix

Netflix’s new feel-good dramedy is a story of gentrification in East L.A.’s Boyle Heights neighborhood, where almost 95 percent of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latin. The series follows three Mexican-American cousins, whose grandfather Pop (Joaquín Cosío, who played Don Neto in Narcos: Mexico) owns a beloved local restaurant called Mama Fina’s Taco. Much of the show was filmed right in Boyle Heights on the soundstages of L.A. Hangar Studios, but occasionally production would venture out into the streets. The barrel-tile-roofed storefront used for the fictional taqueria sits at the intersection of Cesar Chavez and Townsend Avenue and houses La Ronda Restaurant, which serves giant micheladas, Mexican-style shrimp cocktail, ceviche, and fried whole mojarra fish.

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10 Photographers to Follow If You’re Daydreaming of Your Next Trip

Jessie Adler — Fri, 15 May 2020 11:30:43 +0000

Photo by Teal Thomsen

Photo director Jessie Adler has collected some of the photographers that she turns to when she’s dreaming about her next getaway. Be sure to give them a follow to fill your feed with wanderlust-inspiring shots.

@brianflaherty

BRIAN FLAHERTY, SAN FRANCISCO

I’ve been lucky to work with Brian a handful of times over the years. He is a true artist who’s got the color-light-location thing (the Gym-Tan-Laundry of my world!) down to a science. The way he captures a mood, thoughtful compositions, and fleeting moments is always unforgettable to me.

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@lucylaucht

LUCY ROSE LAUCHT, LONDON

Sometimes I just search the name of a place I want to travel and let the internet pull me down the rabbit hole. Chefchouen, Morocco was one of those places, and it led me to finding the gorgeous travel photography of Lucy Laucht. Her luxurious dreamscapes offer a true escape of the mind and inspiration for days. Can I go here or here or here right now? Well … not right now … but you know what I mean!

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A post shared by Lucy Rose Laucht (@lucylaucht) on May 10, 2019 at 4:18am PDT

@sam.vox

SAM VOX, TANZANIA

I was so happy to have stumbled upon Sam Vox’s work through some of our mutual Instagram friends on another one of my tours down the photo rabbit hole. His inspiring images are always beautiful with a rich color palette, but dig deeper and you’ll find emotional, intimate stories behind many of them. Sam has a real talent and also, it seems, a desire to create positive change in this world.

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A post shared by Sam (@sam.vox) on Jul 21, 2015 at 10:26am PDT

@likethecolor

TEAL THOMSEN, LOS ANGELES

I met Teal soon after she left her office job to become a travel photographer. In the time since, she has been killing it; her feed is total eye candy to me. Her color palette, locations, and captured moments offer some much-needed happiness and a carefree headspace.

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@lance.gerber

LANCE GERBER, COACHELLA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Lance’s surreal photos of snowy Joshua Tree National Park are crazy beautiful. They’re what first drew me to his feed. I also love his graphic Mid-Century Modernist interiors and exteriors, especially those shot in Palm Springs. And his photos of an art installation in Al’ula, Saudi Arabia opened my eyes to a stunning place that was not previously on my radar. I love being inspired to learn about new-to-me places from pretty photos.

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@mena_shootz

MENA GOBRAN, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA

I stumbled upon Mena Gobran’s photos while doing photo research on the Yosemite Firefall for a past Hemispheres story and immediately bookmarked his site. He’s been to literally every place I hope to go in the next few years (is he inside my head?). His locations, angles, and color offer a hit of joy.

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A post shared by M e n a (@mena_shootz) on Feb 10, 2020 at 8:56am PST

@kellyisnotlost

KELLY GRAHAM, TORONTO

I’m a sucker for cute cafés and streets, with some beach and pool vibes peppered in. This photographer is living my dream.

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A post shared by Kelly Graham • My Travel Life (@kellyisnotlost) on Nov 9, 2019 at 7:09am PST

@hellomydumpling

JENNY HUANG, NEW YORK

This account serves as a combo of travel inspiration and food goals. It’s especially inspiring for me right now, as I’ve eaten boxed pasta four out of seven days this past week!

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A post shared by JENNY HUANG (@hellomydumpling) on Dec 9, 2019 at 1:27pm PST

@colinclark

COLIN CLARK, NEW YORK

Colin’s feed is making me nostalgic for home. I left New York with my family about two weeks ago to shelter in a less-populated place with more access to green space, but I’m missing the city every day. I am most drawn to the gritty places that Colin has captured authentically but with a dose of romance: bright colors, magic hours, and beauty. That’s how I see my favorite version of New York, too.

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A post shared by Colin Clark (@colinclark) on Mar 16, 2020 at 7:42pm PDT

@thomas_prior

THOMAS PRIOR, NEW YORK

Tom is an artist who captures a feeling, a moment, and packs that color-light-location punch. He also just sees things in a different way, especially the details, the graphic angles, his compositions. His aerial images are mesmerizing and unique, and if you end up doing a deep dive on his account—check out his ice fishing photos from an Outside magazine assignment—they are some of my faves.

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A post shared by Thomas Prior (@thomas_prior) on Feb 24, 2020 at 10:40am PST

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3 Perfect Los Angeles Beaches

Justin Goldman — Thu, 14 May 2020 15:02:15 +0000

Photo: Joseph Bautista/EyeEm/Getty Images

While Los Angeles has extended its lockdown through July (sigh), a bit of bright news did come out of Southern California this week: LA County beaches have officially reopened. With those good tidings in mind, here are three of our favorite places in LA for sand and surf.

El Matador Beach

Malibu’s beaches, tucked below the PCH and cut off from the rest of the world by the Santa Monica Mountains, are perhaps the most dramatically beautiful in Southern California. The Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach park is made up of three of these, the most stunning of which is El Matador. A trail descends from the bluff to the beach, offering access to caves, arches, sea stacks, and some of the most photogenic scenery in the 50 states. (Don’t be surprised if you come across a swimsuit model or a soon-to-be-married couple on a photo shoot.)

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Santa Monica State Beach

No mention of LA’s oceanfront is complete without the iconic, 3.5-mile-long Santa Monica State Beach. This one’s got something for everyone: Soft sand, a bike path, a surf break, easy access to downtown Santa Monica, the palisades, the Annenberg Community Beach House, and of course the famed Santa Monica Pier, the terminus of Route 66. Pro tip: Walk out to the end of the pier and you’re very likely to get barked at by a sea lion swimming in the water below.

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Abalone Cove Shoreline Park

We tend to associate Southern California with sun and surf, but this park in Rancho Palos Verdes, at the southern tip of LA County, offers an oft-overlooked wonder of the seashore: tide pools. Those who take the steep hike down from the bluff—go at low tide for best access to the pools—can rock-hop around for the chance to see starfish, anemones, and urchins. Kids will be enchanted, but keep in mind that the beach is part of an ecological reserve, so don’t let them try to bring any creatures home.

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My Favorite Place in New York: Sunny’s Bar

Justin Goldman — Wed, 13 May 2020 19:07:46 +0000

Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

New York City is a big, exciting place, but what truly makes the Big Apple special for the people who live here isn’t the granduer of the skyline or the neon lights of Times Square. Rather, it’s the little neighborhood places where each of us finds a community to call our own. This city takes all kinds, and while it can be scary, especially for newcomers, those who stick it out here almost always find a spot where our like-minded comrades gather. For Hemispheres’ Editor in Chief, it’s the West Village piano bar Marie’s Crisis. For me, it’s a place called Sunny’s Bar.

The first thing any visitor to Sunny’s will remark on is its remoteness. The bar is on a quiet cobblestone street at the far west end of Red Hook, a peninsular Brooklyn neighborhood that has no subway station and is cut off from the rest of the borough by the hulking Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. (Walk from the bar down to the end of the block and you’ll find views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.) Red Hook was once home to a freight port, and Sunny’s originally opened more than 100 years ago as a bar and sandwich shop to serve the longshoremen who worked there. The docks closed and those workers left long ago, and before Ikea opened in 2008, most New Yorkers surely would have told you there wasn’t much reason to venture to Red Hook.

Not much reason, that is, except for Sunny’s. My initial foray into Red Hook came before I lived in New York, sometime around 2009. I was in Brooklyn visiting my uncle, a music lover and amateur mandolinist, and he offered to take me to see some live bluegrass. We made the short drive—remember, no subway station—from his house near Prospect Park, crossing under the BQE and through the looming Red Hook Houses and parking across the street from the bar. The only storefront on the dark block was Sunny’s, stashed in the ground floor of a squat brick building, emitting light from a yellow and red “BAR” sign above the door and a neon anchor in the front window.

Walking through the front door, I felt as if I could’ve been catching the end of a postwar stevedore crew’s happy hour. The hardwood floor was worn to the point of chipping, the barstools rickety. I ordered a couple of Budweiser bottles—there were no beers on tap—and soaked in the nauticalia (the anchor, a model clipper ship on a high mantel) and other bric-a-brac that burst from the walls. Weirdest and most notable was the row of a dozen or so foot-tall wax sculptures on a shelf behind the bar, among them Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, and, I would later learn, the bar’s owner, Sunny Balzano. (On any given night, you’ll likely find a couple of people trying to name all of the figures.)

I could tell I was in a unique spot, but it didn’t feel magical until my uncle and I, beers secured, passed through to the backroom. A low stage was tucked into one corner, and a few musicians stood on it, while others spilled out among the chairs and tables on the floor. There were a dozen of them, at least, and they were playing a music I only knew, at that point, from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? (I remember one of the first songs I heard that night was “Angel Band,” which comes on during the film’s final scene.) There were guitars, mandolins, fiddles, banjos, an upright bass, and they came together to form a joyful orchestra that enchanted me instantly. We snagged a table and spent a few hours kicking back Buds and listening. I’d never seen anything like it.

A year or so later I ended up moving from San Francisco to Brooklyn, landing at JFK with little more than a backpack full of clothes and a guitar. My uncle started taking me around to some other jams he attended, and a friend at one of those, who was also a regular at Sunny’s, told me I should try playing there. I was intimidated, and rightfully so—I was nowhere near good enough to get on that stage. But I’ve always been longer on courage than talent, so I took his advice. I gradually made friends as Sunny’s, and I had renewed motivation to practice. (I’d been an inconstant guitarist for years.) Soon I became a regular at Sunny’s, where my new friends helped me learn all sorts of songs. Stan, the one who first hustled me up onto the stage, and who I refer to as my surrogate father (in part because he and my dad have the same name), taught me “Goodnight Irene.” Lenny, who passed away in 2014, showed me “That’s How I Got to Memphis.” Izzy and Brenda, an adorable older couple who sing harmonies that’d make Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris jealous, gave me “Ain’t No Ash Will Burn.” Then there’s Timmy, who taught me that you can play “This Land Is Your Land” in a minor key (and also gave me many a 4 a.m. post-jam lift home). And there’s Steven Skollar, a mandolin player and talented artist who has drawn portraits of many of the musicians in the Brooklyn folk scene, including me, as part of an ongoing project.

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There are many more musician friends I could shout out here. All of them, and of course the bar crew, made me feel like I’d found a home. Unfortunately, the rest of my first year in New York didn’t go so well. I couldn’t get a job. My best friend died after a prolonged illness. It all brought me down so bad that I didn’t think I was going to survive, so I moved back to San Francisco. But then, as the months went by on the West Coast, I found myself yearning more and more for New York. Some of that was a desire not to let the big city beat me that easily, but I’d say at least 50 percent of it was missing Sunny’s. So I headed east again. That was more than seven years ago, and in that time, if you’ve been to Sunny’s on a Saturday night, you’ve probably heard me among the musicians singing and playing songs in that backroom.

The bar itself has overcome its share of hard times, too. Hurricane Sandy devastated much of Red Hook, including Sunny’s, and the building needed tens of thousands of dollars and months of repairs to reopen. And in 2016 Sunny Balzano, the bar’s deeply beloved owner, died at 81. While I’d only met him a handful of times, I attended the funeral, at a Catholic Church in Red Hook, and then joined a second line procession through the neighborhood that ended—where else?—at the bar. Never again will I hear “I Fly Away” without thinking of Sunny.

Between the storm and Sunny’s death, it’s something of a miracle the bar hasn’t gone under. That’s a credit to one miracle worker in particular: Tone Johansen, Sunny’s widow, who has been running the day-to-day operation for years now and has repeatedly done whatever it takes to keep the place open. She recognizes how special the bar is, why Anthony Bourdain would come here during the last episode of “No Reservations,” why someone would write a book about it, why I would go and get that neon anchor tattooed on my arm:

Tone knows that the bar, for some of us, is a spiritual place. Sunny’s is our “drinkin’ church.”

Sadly, not even Tone’s charm and resolve are a match for a pandemic. Sunny’s, like so many other independent bars and restaurants around the world, is shuttered to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. But while the faithful wait for our Saturday services to resume, there are a couple of ways you can help. First, go to the website and buy a T-shirt or a gift certificate.

Then there’s the matter of the musicians. While I’m fortunate enough to still be employed through this, a number of the people in the Sunny’s circle are working musicians who have lost all their gigs. If you’re interested in helping some of them out, there’s a fundraiser you can donate to here. And a local organization called Porch Stomp is streaming shows and music lessons performed and taught by some of the musicians I’ve gotten to know over the years. Want to give bluegrass a try yourself? Now’s your chance. And when the world gets back to normal, come on out for a Saturday night. We can sing a song together.

Jack Daniel's – "A Church of a Different Color" from Greg Almeida on Vimeo.

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Rob Brydon Takes the Leap Down Under

Rob Brydon — Tue, 05 May 2020 16:45:42 +0000

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom’s THE TRIP TO GREECE. An IFC Films Release. Courtesy of IFC Films.

People have seen me eat and joke my way across England, Italy, Spain, and now Greece with my friend Steve Coogan for The Trip series. But the place that I want to return to again and again is Sydney.

I never thought I would visit Sydney because it was simply so far away. In my mind it was just a place with nice beaches, and I thought, “Why would I travel all that way just for beaches?” But then in 2005 I got a job on a sitcom called Supernova (it’s OK if you haven’t heard of it—it didn’t set the world on fire) and it was a coproduction between the BBC and an Australian channel, so I went to Sydney to film for nine weeks and then again the following year for six weeks.

I fell in love with it immediately. It’s a curious place for a British person to go because so much of it is familiar—so much of it has absorbed our culture. And yet the smells are very different, and the light is different. There’s an actual work-life balance, and there doesn’t seem to be a caste system, which is a nice change from Britain. Life there is for living and for experiencing the outdoors. And because of that, you find yourself doing things you never would have considered doing in a million years. Like skydiving.

My wife did it first. I couldn’t go with her while I was filming because of insurance, but she was so enthused by it that I knew I had to do it. So the day after we wrapped, the director and one of my costars and I drove out to Picton to take the leap. I wasn’t scared. Really, I was bewildered, like I couldn’t take in the reality of the situation. I remember the instructors saying we were as high as you could be without oxygen and that soon after you jump you reach terminal velocity. I’m surprised I wasn’t scared after learning that.

Once I was hurtling through the sky, the first thing that struck me was that I had never fallen for this long. We’ve all had the misfortune of falling from a tree, but with that, it’s only a second before you hit the ground. With this, I just kept on falling. I was going like a bullet. I don’t remember what I saw. It was less what I was looking at and more what I was feeling: sensory overload.

When my instructor pulled the cord, suddenly everything went quiet. I hadn’t realized how loud it had been until that moment. And then we just drifted down. He brought me in for a nice, soft landing, and I was elated. It was such an adrenaline rush—especially since at that time I wasn’t the kind of person who was going looking for experiences like that.

Even when I wasn’t parachuting down from the sky, Sydney made a big impression on me. When we finished filming and I came home, I missed it—so much so that in the middle of the night, I’d go on webcams and look at the beaches and the harbor. I was desperate to go back. Finally last year I went over there with my standup tour. I played three nights at the Opera House, which was incredible, but I didn’t go sky diving again. I feel like I got away with it that one time. But I have become a little more adventurous as time has gone on. Who knows what I’ll do next time I go back. I hear shark diving is fun…

Actor and comedian Rob Brydon stars in The Trip to Greece, the fourth and final installment of the celebrated film series, out May 22 on digital platforms and at select theaters.

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Create a #Hemigram from Home by Coloring Your own Hemispheres Cover

Staff — Tue, 05 May 2020 15:57:10 +0000

While you can’t be out making #Hemigrams with our magazine right now, we’ve created a blank cover for you to illustrate with your travel daydreams. After you’ve drawn your destination, be sure to post it on Instagram and tag us @hemispheresmag and use #Hemigram.

Download the printable cover here and check out some of our favorite entries below!

The post Create a #Hemigram from Home by Coloring Your own Hemispheres Cover appeared first on Hemispheres.

Ask the Editors: Our Favorite Margaritas

Staff — Tue, 05 May 2020 14:45:58 +0000

Photo: Robert K. Chin/Alamy

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Since we can’t get out and celebrate at our favorite places, we’re reminiscing on the best margaritas we’ve ever had.

“The best city to drink margaritas is Austin. It’s hard to find a bad one but my favorite is the Margarita La Condesa at La Condesa, which mixes in fresh pineapple juice and has a cactus-lemongrass salt rim. That said, last week I ordered delivery from one of my fave NYC Mexican restaurants, Calexico, and the tart and potent margarita that arrived in a plastic container was absolute perfection. (I put it in my own margarita glass, thank you very much.)” —Ellen Carpenter, editor in chief

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“One of my old regular spots in San Francisco, the Latin American Club in the Mission District, is famous for its margaritas. They’re not the BEST margs I’ve ever had, but they’re seriously powerful and served in pint glasses, so they’re … effective. Plus, the bar has a bunch of cool piñatas hanging from the ceiling.” —Justin Goldman, deputy editor

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“I love everything on the menu at ATLA, but their Carlota’s Margarita is next-level—and also kind of weird (in a great way). It’s made with Casa Dragones tequila, Cocchi Americano and Dolin Blanc vermouths, and lime curd, which lends it a key lime pie–like flavor.” —Nicholas DeRenzo, executive editor

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“Fresh lime margaritas at Barrio Chino on the LES. Can a couple of those, plus an order of guacamole y totopos be delivered to my place like now?” —Jessie Adler, photo director

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“I love the margaritas at Barrio in Cleveland. They have every flavor you can imagine and they do them on the rock or blended. They’re perfect for summers spent on their patio, but I’ve also been there in the dead of winter slurping one down with plenty of chips and their famous stoner queso on the side.” —Sydney Otto, assistant digital & social editor

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Pamela Adlon Finds Inspiration in New Orleans

Pamela Adlon — Fri, 01 May 2020 13:59:06 +0000

When I travel, what I see and experience is so inspiring to me—and often ends up in my show. Take this story from last year, when my friends Darren Criss and Mia Swier invited me to their wedding in New Orleans. I’d never been to a destination wedding before, but my two gay besties, Maneesh and Andrew, were gonna be there, so I decided to do it, even though I had to be in some place called Chillicothe, Ohio, to shoot the movie Holler two days later.

This was my second time in New Orleans, and the whole experience was magical. We got there on the night of Krewe du Vieux, which is this big Mardi Gras parade, and then we had the wedding, which was spectacular. It was in the garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and after the ceremony they had a second line lead us to the back of the museum, where they were serving oysters. When the bride and the groom came out, they came down opposite stairs, and Darren grabbed a mic and Mia strapped on a bass and they broke into “The Ballroom Blitz”—it was unbelievable.

The next day, Maneesh and Andrew and I went to Commander’s Palace for brunch, but they turned us away because the boys weren’t wearing collared shirts. So we had to go shopping. (I bought a belt, because I didn’t want to be left out.) When we finally sat down, we had a three-and-a-half-hour brunch. I was like, “OK, this is what brunch is supposed to be!” I was so on board.

All of the other wedding guests left the following day, so on the advice of my friend Diane, I went to this place called Napoleon House, in the French Quarter. At the restaurant, I saw a little nook with all this writing on the wall, and I was like, “Oh, I have to sit in that nook.” The hostess recognized me, so she put me in this beautiful spot in this gorgeous, legendary place, and I sat there and opened my computer and wrote for four hours—something I hadn’t done in a long time, not since I had written season three of Better Things. I was super-inspired by the city. I was blown away by the art and the history, and also just the trash. (If you drop something on the street in the Quarter, you’ve got to burn it.) I loved walking around with a beer in my hand; I think that’s just the greatest thing ever. And I was so inspired by the people—especially the cab drivers, who were mostly women, single moms. How hard do you need to be to be a female cab driver in New Orleans? They were hard as nails. I was writing down every single thing that was happening to me, and I ended up writing an episode of the show in that four-hour window at Napoleon House.

While I was sitting in that nook, these two gentlemen came over. “It’s surreal watching you sit there and write,” one of them told me. “It’s like we’re watching your show!” We laughed, but what’s really funny is, they basically were, because I came back later and shot a New Orleans episode, which was an amalgamation of all those experiences. I always tell people who are trying to write, even if you’re not traveling, don’t sit at home or at your office. Pick up your computer and go to the train station or the airport and watch people coming in and out, greeting each other, just like that scene in Love Actually. Now, that’s inspiration.

New episodes of Pamela Adlon’s show Better Things air on FX every Thursday at
10 p.m. and stream the next day on FX on Hulu.

The post Pamela Adlon Finds Inspiration in New Orleans appeared first on Hemispheres.