White Slate

Ha. Clean slates, new moons, springtime… I’m all for it.  It’s never a bad time for a fresh start.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the bottle that caught my eye this week is the little gem from a Naramata vineyard, aptly entitled White Slate.  Because you see, I don’t believe in coincidences.                    

There’s been a lot going on lately, and I was on a mission to be inspired… to turn the chaos from my spirit into crisp, clean words paired with a bottle of wine.   In my mind, though, I was hoping for a bottle that looked enigmatic and dark – something I could distract myself with by delving into the mystery of a new wine - something called, ‘The Agony of Living’, or maybe a tasty little shiraz titled, ‘Contemplating Darkness’… but alas, upon first glance, all I could see were the same old names lining the shelves.  And then, as I was about the give up and hit the vodka and gin, I ran right into the guy who was stocking the shelves with a nice little number called ‘White Slate’.  I had to laugh.

Ok, Universe.  Message received. I bought two.

I paired it with the ever-classic Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar chips and a large, pink wine glass to go with some heavy contemplation. 

Life.  When will it stop happening to us?  As far I can see, no one is immune to this human condition, and yet no one has mastered it either.  Disappointment, joy, pain, loss, love, sadness, beauty all go hand in hand.  How can that be? 

I was determined to try and breathe.

Though my heart was heavy, I swirled the light, clear, white wine and breathed in its freshness.  I closed my eyes and smelled a cool, fruity breeze on a hot summer day, sitting on a patio in an orchard in the Okanagan and for a moment I forgot it all.  Summer fruit and picnics and moments in the sun.  But as I took a sip and felt the cool, crispness reach my lips, I felt the bite of the tartness hit my tongue and I opened my eyes.  The flavour took over the reverie and I was brought back.  Acidic and bright, I wanted more.  Not unlike life.  A delicate balance. A sharp sweetness.

It’s what binds us, moves us… and heals us.  Knowing that each moment is the chance to begin again.  No matter how heavy our hearts, sometimes, amid the chaos of this life, we need to remember to stop for a second, close our eyes and breathe in the freshness so that we are ready to face the rest.

Every day, every morning, every MOMENT is a chance to start again – to rewrite the words on our page.  To catch up, give up, give in… a white slate.  Cheers.

Cut back on WINE?!

Soooo, I’ve been a little slow with the writing lately, and besides the nuttiness of work and life, and everything else, my real excuse is this: my damn new fitness plan.

Yep.  Fitness has left me a little uninspired.

And let me tell you why.

It has been suggested to me that maybe the reason it’s taking a little longer (this time) to get back into shape, is not simply that I’ve hit an age where I can no longer binge out on junk food after a breakup and then expect a quick run to blast the calories… no.  It’s not even that it’s been far too long since I’ve hit the stage, studio or dance floor and traded myself into an office, desk and computer… no.  It’s not even that I’ve become lazy in my old age (however true that might be.)  It has been suggested to me that the reason the process seems slow(er) is because I should “cut back on wine.”

Hmmm… really?  Well, I took this to heart.  I gave it some consideration.

And ok, so I gave it a shot.  It’s now been a few weeks, I’ve been hitting the gym, and here’s how I feel about that…

What I’ve learned from cutting back on wine…

1.     It’s not really helping my new fitness plan because, instead of sipping on a nice Bordeaux and getting inspired to write or paint, or walk down to the beach, I get bored and snacky.  I’ve been eating too much pasta and cheesecake, and chips, and drinking WAY too much juice.

2.     My blood sugar is out of whack because I’ve been eating too much pasta and cheesecake  and chips and drinking way too much juice.

3.     I have a hard time winding down after a busy day at work, a ton of new vitamins and supplements and a kick-ass gym session… come on, people, a hot bath can only do so much.

4.     I feel much less inspired, because juice or lemon water instead of wine just makes me pee and not chill-out-so-I-can-be-creative… AND therefore…

5.     I feel like I’ve had nothing to write about, paint about, or lament about, and being that this blog is mainly about my experiences with wine… well, it cuts back significantly on those experiences.

6.     Frankly, I’ve hardly tried anything new… no new restaurants, vintages, cheese, etc, because the only thing that pairs with no wine… is boredom and this stupid new fitness plan.

7.     I miss my little jaunts to the wine shop to browse the new labels. The only place I ‘jaunt’ is to Whole Foods for brown things, and well, Whole Foods scares me most of the time. 
  

8.     It’s draining.  I stick to it and I’m good for days and days, and then I sneakily ‘cheat’ and do go out for drinks, and then get over-excited and drink too much, and then get over-emotional because my tolerance is way down and then feel crappy the next day because I can’t drink as much as I’m used to.  So the whole process sort of stinks.

9.     I’ve begun to loathe this new workout plan, despite the fact that I normally love to work out and be generally healthy.

10. Most importantly.  I miss my wine and that makes me grumpy.

I don’t think I need to lay out the “moral of this story” – if you don’t get it by now, we can’t be friends anyways.

I will be adding wine back into my nutrition and fitness regime, and I expect that it will be an excellent decision.

Stay tuned.

Fall Patio Season..

What are your favorite chilly weather patios?

Here are a few of mine (in no particular order) -

• The Sandbar - they give you blankets and a cozy fireplace but you still get to look out over the harbour.
• Trattoria - cozy, Italian, pasta, wine, close to home.  Need I say more?
• The Boathouse in Kitsilano - sitting by the window on a gloomy, stormy day, you can sip a champagne cocktail and watch the ocean rage.

Help me add to the list... tell me your favourite patios in the comments below... 

Don't Whine about it... Wine about it!

Summer is officially over, as the ‘storm’ this weekend will attest.  The days of patio cocktails and beach-day BBQs and beers are behind us.  What now?  Well, a new season of cocktails, full-bodied wine and toddies begins!  Don’t whine about the weather… wine about it!  (Cheesy… I know.  But what’s wine without a little fromage…)

Your mojito and margarita cravings may have dwindled, but it’s time to move on to bigger and bolder flavours.  It’s time for cozy dinners with a cab/shiraz and hot chocolate with bailey’s on a cold Saturday morning… and what’s turkey dinner without a beautiful Pinot Noir?  It’s time to invite some friends over, cuddle up with some craft beer for football season and try out some new recipes.

Here are my top 5 tips for surviving the transition into fall…

1.     Champagne should be on hand at all times (I keep piccolos in the fridge) for those gloomy days when you need a little pick-me-up.

2.     Don’t be afraid to be outside!  Cuddle up in some cozy duds and hit up a covered patio – that’s why God made heatlamps and pashminas.

3.     ‘Tis the season for Bailey’s in your coffee.  (Bailey’s doesn’t count as booze.)

4.     Get social - Pick up a new wine, liqueur, recipe or cookbook, then invite some friends over to try it out.

5.     Get inspired!  Use your evenings creatively… take the time to sit down with a good book, take up painting or writing, redecorate your dining room… Turn the perceived gloominess of fall into a beautiful opportunity to sit down with  a bold, new red, reflect, and of course, be thankful.

 

So quit whining – Go throw on a big, woolly sweater and get wining.

What are your favourite things to do in the fall…?

“Haywire”

On a mission to leave my comfort zone and try some new wines, I’ve decided to explore and choose based on label alone.  I have this new theory that the labels that attract us are indicative of our spiritual state… a sort of wine clairvoyance, if you will.  So, choose, sip, twirl and discuss. 

In testing my theory, yesterday I found ‘Haywire’.  Fun label- caught my eye… and once sipping, caught my attention.

The name ‘Haywire’ is an interesting choice for such a solid sipper.  I was confused.  Upon first glance, the term denotes a sense of chaos, conflict, confusion.  The phrase “when things go haywire” seems to reflect a negative state, but upon further investigation I found, in the words of winery owners, Christine Coletta & Steve Lornie –

“ The term is also an apt description of our transition from city slickers to winery owners!”

Aaaaaah, transition. I see.  Change.  I get it.

Perfect.

I’m in a state of transition, I suppose.  Aren’t we all?  Someone I love is in an even deeper state – probably closer to “haywire” – and so I’ve deduced that this pinot gris was for him…

I was told in my wine courses, that Italian pinot grigio was generally fairly crisp, dry and neutral on the palate, easy to get along with (so to speak,) while a pinot gris in the French style was still dry but fuller-bodied, particularly from the Alsace region; Okanagan versions, however, were trickier to determine- you never know what you’re going to get.  Hmmm… such is life.

I watch my friend as he struggles, and I feel like we`re all on the precipice of… something… and yet nothing makes sense… yet.  We may always have all kinds of questions and no real answers, (especially after several glasses of wine…), and like this Okanagan pinot gris, you just never know what you’re going to get.  And maybe that’s ok, as long as you have someone to share it with.  So just stop for a second, breathe, and take another sip.

In the spirit of cheesy parables for life, here you go:

As we walk through the wine-shops of our strange little lives, choosing wines based solely on label-clairvoyance, perhaps we need to realize that no choice is a bad choice.  We just need to choose something.  Sometimes, what we want will depend on our mood, sometimes on our chaos, and sometimes it will depend on who we choose to share it with.  Whatever the case, we will have something to learn from it.  Stay cool, don`t get overwhelmed… and if the choice sucks, you just finish the bottle and move on to the next one.  Cheers.

Tasting Notes…

Haywire – 2011

Switchback Vineyard

Pinot Gris

Appearance:

-         Clear; Pale, Balanced, shimmering straw; W/ a light watery rim.

Nose:

-         Clean; Low-Medium intensity of young, fresh, green fruit.

Palate:

-         Dry, Light Body; Crisp flavours of Green Apple, with a Balanced Finish

-         Not really clear on determining acidity or alcohol quite yet… but it tastes multidimensional,

Quality:

-         Good Quality, Drink Now

** Makes me think of smooth, white pebbles, with a cool, fast stream running over them. 

On the rocks…

Inspiration & creativity comes in bursts and waves and life sure has a tendency to get in its own way- that seems to be the nature of this crazy journey.  Every so often, just when you think you’re on course, you get thrown by some unpredictable winds…

A couple of weeks ago, I was faced with an unexpected tragedy.  A good friend was killed while on vacation in Mexico. It was sudden, awful and jarring.

Life stopped for a moment.

All of a sudden, the skies were pretty grey.

As humans, we seem to always be striving for clarity in our lives - for meaning in our relationships - but perspective is a funny thing… you can’t force it.  Then, only when you find yourself in crisis, you become acutely aware of those forces and people in your world who step up to help steer you and propel you to safety.

Sometimes, crisis is what helps you to see more clearly.

The waters have been a bit rough lately, so I’m ready to check the map and refocus yet again.

Often, when you’re tossed around and the vessel crashes, you find yourself at the bottom of a bottle, or two… hopefully, as it was in my case, with some of the dearest friends you can find.

We drank a lot of wine, shed a lot of tears, and allowed ourselves to be swept away in the moment a little.

But now, it’s time to put the bottles away and get back on track… time to have a good sleep, a hot bath, and a cold gin… on the rocks.

- Much love to Kelly Callin, a man who lived… in each moment. 

It's been awhile... let's get this party started!

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We are sipping & twirling & ready to get back on a regular posting schedule...!

If ever you need us...

My top 10 favorite places to drink a glass of wine:

1.     The bathtub, with or without bubbles.

2.     On a patio, or balcony, in the hot hot sun, with a pen, some paper, and my thoughts.

3.     Paris.

4.     With a sexy man, wrapped in a furry blanket, in a cabin, on the lake.

5.     In the hotel lobby of a new city, among complete strangers.

6.     While cooking beautiful food and dancing around my teeny kitchen, with no counterspace.

7.     After a long day, shift or cry.

8.     With my dad. The end.

9.     In the company of some good girl-talk.

10.                        … Right here, right now, among friends. 

My Challenge: Turn Yourself On

As I journey down the path to finishing my sommelier training, I want to learn more, share more and most importantly… DRINK more!

So, I’m holding a series of wine tastings with my friends.

My friends all have varying degrees of interest in wine- some are only social wine-drinkers and are happy as clams with the cheap and cheerful choices, while others are quite knowledgeable, with more sophisticated palettes.  It doesn’t matter- everyone is invited!

This is NOT about being a wine snob… This is an opportunity to try some new wines, and learn about what we’re drinking in a ‘safe’ environment.

So many people seem to be afraid of wine.  My hope is to change that… one sip at a time.

My strategy is a little game... and my only rule: Turn your senses on. 

Like I’ve said before, wine can be many things… intellectual, cultural, spiritual even, but most of all, it’s sensual.  Obviously it engages our sight, smell and taste, but what about touch, sound, and the rest of our body, mind and soul?

So here’s how it works- we will do the mandatory swirl, we will observe the colour, and then we will close our eyes… taste, smell, but more importantly- FEEL.  There is no judgement.  I want to hear words, colours, memories… anything.  In the same vein as a Rorschach inkblot, just say the first thing that pops into your mind.  Everyone will respond differently.

I don’t want hear words like oaky, off-dry or full-bodied… I want people to use their OWN words!  Swirl, smell, sip, and open up your senses!  This is less about dissecting the logistics but about inspiring the soul- a focus group for the senses, if you will. 

What do you taste?  What do you smell?  Let the wine inspire you- a moment, a memory… an emotion.  Not only should we learn to properly pair wine with food, but what about with an experience?

I challenge you to do this the next time you have a sip… don’t just smell or taste, but close your eyes and breathe it in- do you smell a lake house in the woods, or a taste a hot summer afternoon.  Open up your senses to the whole experience, and you will open up to the world of wine.

Shall we drink to that?

Wine Doesn’t Have Calories… Does it?

Last week was, of course, another new moon… New moon, new beginnings.  The energy that it brings can be extremely powerful. 

Fresh starts are encouraged: a little push for a new project, a new vision for your life or letting go of what doesn’t serve you.  It’s like a mini new year’s resolution any old time you want and the fun part is that we are lucky enough to have a new moon every few weeks.  I always celebrate the new moon with a new bottle of wine.

Take advantage… drink it in.  

For me, this past new moon is helping to bring me into focus what is truly important to me right now.  Passion, health, support… adventures… wine… FUN.  

The Wine Snob’s Top 5 Rules to Not Being a Wine Snob…

The world of wine is vast and exciting, and I honestly hope I never tire of exploring and drinking it.  Besides frankly, that’s what I like most about wine - drinking it! So do most of my friends, especially the ones who don’t know a damn thing about it.

Which is why I wanted to make this list… for them.

1.     Wine is delicious and fun… it doesn’t HAVE to be scary or intellectual.  There is a time and a place for sipping and twirling, and there is a time to just shut up and drink. 

(Which brings be to number 2…)

2.     When you’re at a house party, especially one with beer kegs… there’s no need to slurp your wine like you’re in the barrel room of a winery in Bordeaux.

The End.

3.     When someone brings you a hostess gift, say thank you… even if it’s a bottle of Baby Duck.  Act excited. They picked it out for you as a gift, with their own money.  If it’s Baby Duck, use it for mimosas.

4.     Don’t make people who don’t know as much about wine as you feel stupid… The world of wine is about sharing an experience not about isolating an elite and select few.  It just makes you look like a jerk.

5.     Wine choice is key.  When choosing wine with friends who don’t know super much about wine… help them to focus on the spirit of it and be adventurous.   Look for a striking label, choose the bottle with the cool name, play the country game, or godddamit, just pick the one with the little gift hanging on the neck.

Yes, wine is beautiful thing.  It’s sensual, delicious, intriguing, even mystical.  I love it. 

I love drinking it, buying it, studying it, sharing it, talking and intellectualizing about it… with other people who like those things too.

But for a lot of people out there, wine is just wine.  The same way vodka might be just vodka, or math is just stupid math or film is… a movie. The mystique is unique to a mixologist, a math scholar, or a film buff and that’s OK.  In fact, it’s great!  There is a time and a place.

When it comes to wine, I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a snob (although my friend Christie tends to think otherwise) - but I feel like I’m still studying, still learning.  I love to be challenged by a new varietal or flavour, I can’t always articulate what I taste or smell, and I certainly don’t always remember which are affected the most by philloxera.  

Memoirs of a Summer...

That teeny bit of sunshine last week got me way too excited for summer!

I mean, come on, it’s only February... but too bad, sun fires up my soul.

So, rather than being depressed about the rain rain rain... here’s looking forward to patio time!

6 Best Patios to look forward to: (In my humble opinion...)

-          Lunchtime at Joe Fortes

-          Rooftop at the Hotel Georgia

-          Happy Hour at the Kingston

-          Bridges - (with my Dad, in the heart of summertime)

-          Brown’s on 4^th – because it’s low-key and close

-          Havana’s on the Drive for a long, loungy, afternoon date

I’m hoping to make it a top 10 list –

What are your suggestions for must-see patios to visit?

Unbearable Darkness.

I saw the sun yesterday!

In Vancouver, that’s a big deal…

The winter months have been upon us and for Vancouver that means rain, rain… and only brief moments of… no wait, more rain.

But yesterday, there was sunshine.  Glorious sunshine! It was all I could do from taking the ‘other’ bus home, the looooong bus, the one that stops at the beach.  Ahhhhhh.  But sunshine makes me lazy, so I took the good bus, got home, popped a pinot grigio and sat on the balcony- for twenty minutes.

Brrrrr.

Now, I’m from Saskatoon, a cool breeze should be nothing.  I even went to University in Edmonton for christsakes.  I walked 8 blocks to the U of A for four years, in minus 30 degree weather…. Uphill. Both ways.

But now, for better or for worse, I am truly a Vancouverite, with a heart that yearns for a day in the sun.  So when it happened, I braved the freezing +2 degree temperature and sat on my tiny Vancouver balcony, wrapped in 3 pashminas, and savoured my chilled Red Rooster Pinot Grigio…. As if it were August.  And even then, there might be rain.

What keeps you ‘light’ when the dark winter months settle in… is it a new wine, a fun restaurant...or just the inspiration of a brief glimpse of sunlight?

Birthday Wonderland

2013.  Hmmmm.

I didn’t really plan this far- Mayans or no Mayans, I had visions of my life only up to the ripe old age of 32.  Ask anyone.

Because of that, my b’day snuck up on me this year and before I knew it, the world didn’t end, Christmas and New Years had passed, January was gone, and through the bubbles of pink champagne, I suddenly realized I was 33.  Weird age indeed.

I feel… strange.  Not necessarily old, certainly not that young (as my 25-year-old brother will attest to), but almost a little like Alice, just before she got distracted.  Waiting… for what’s about to happen...

I woke up slowly the day after my birthday, with a bit of a headache and my pockets full of life’s little charms, wondering what this new year would bring. Suddenly, I felt a need to re-establish who I am, redefine what I think I want, and reconsider which white rabbit I will choose to follow now.

I’ve been looking for direction every which way… in my spirit and in my heart, in the moments of silence that have begun to speak to me again… in the company I keep, in sips of wine, and in the words of my friends…

At my birthday party, one friend advised me that 33 was my ‘Jesus Year’ and handed me a bottle of smooth, Okanagan red called The Passion. 

Oh Christ.

Delicious wine, thoughtful (?) concept, (but being that she’s a staunch atheist, I’m really not quite sure how to take that.) 

Another gorgeous soul, who has come to know my spirit, gave me a stack of birthday books to help me find my way- everything from ‘The Art of Possibility’ to ‘The Celestine Prophecy’, ‘A Little Book of Aloha’ and the ‘Sayings of Buddha’… (I’m hoping this will lead me to the possibility of the prophecy of doing yoga on a beach in Hawaii.)

I looked around and saw faces I wanted to see and I thought of the ones I wished could be there.  I ate my cupcakes and I laughed myself silly, and I felt blessed and incredulous at surviving the roller-coaster that is my life thus far.

I examined my scars and pondered which ones have truly healed and which ones keep ripping open and I dreamed of the sunshine that I know is still in me. 

There are ways I will always be, like impatient and silly and overly hopeful.  There are things I still love, like presents and champagne and Frank Sinatra, and there are other ways and things that I am willing to put on the shelf for awhile.     

Last night, (over a couple of bottles of catching up with one of my longest friends), I was told that the French call your 33^rd year, ‘L’année des Miracles’… I like that one.  The year of miracles. (This is where ‘overly hopeful’ comes in handy.)

So, call it what you will… my year of passion, miracles, scar tissue 

and white rabbits… 

Here’s to living as if the world was supposed to end, but instead, we get to start all over. 

And of course, pink champagne. 

My liver hurts.

 As do my head, heart, body and soul.

I’ve been sipping and twirling through the holidays (and everything else) for a little too long, not paying attention to the whimpers from my body (or heart, for that matter,) that the whimpers have suddenly turned to screams.  A meltdown.

I keep telling myself that I`ll get back to the gym… tomorrow.  That I`ll deal with my personal life… soon.  That I`ll stop spending half my rent on crappy cocktails and go back to ìnvesting` in my wine cellar… just after I pour this drink…

So as New Years approached, I sat down to contemplate, poured myself a nice glass of champagne (my favourite, as you know,) and realized that I couldn`t even taste it.  The champagne.  My life.  My spirit.  All the bubbles were gone.  Meltdown.

I`ll spare you a description of what spilled out over the next several hours, because it wasn`t pretty, I can assure you.  I left only one witness, and he can assure you as well.

I woke up this morning, resolved to actually USE the gift of the New Year for once… and

so I’ve decided to endure the infamous “cleanse”.  Mind, body, spirit, heart, liver, colon… you name it.  It`s time.

Day one involves a cup of coffee sans sugar (yuck,) some herbs, some fibre and a stop at the Kitsilano Mecca: Whole Foods.  I’ve actually never been inside for more than a few minutes, in search of a last minute dinner-party offering, a bunch of flowers or a fancy cheese… but alas, in I go.  Kinda scary. No offence to anyone, of course.  But it is.

I couldn`t believe the selection of strange and expensive necessities that clearly are the true source of life and balance!  I browsed the brown things, perused the juices, and left feeling vicariously healthier, enlightened, overwhelmed, and substantially more broke.

Morning: accomplished.

Here`s hoping that in a week`s time, I can enjoy the subtle flavours of a nice pinot again. Stay tuned… time for some yoga. J

Great Expectations... (Part 3- Conclusion) - Beauty & Essex

Continued from Part Two…

We were led to the perfect table and settled in.  Amidst the great chaos of the past few days, in this strange, new chaos, I felt I could finally breathe. 

Our server was awesome, (I wish I could remember her name.)  She helped us to navigate the cocktail list by suggesting one of their signature drinks, Earl the Pearl - a very grown up iced tea.  Perfect.  With each sip, I slipped further into my reverie, so pleased that, for once, everything looked exactly like it had in my head. 

The room was packed, the sounds of clinking cocktails were in the air, and at the same time, it didn’t feel at all pretentious.  Tables of stylish girls on their Thursday night out made me miss my ladies enormously.  (I decided then and there, that another trip was in order… and soon.) 

It was a tapas-like menu, small plates meant to be ordered and shared and everything looked so fun we had a hard time deciding.  We narrowed it down to the Thai Lobster Salad (which I adored), the Chicken Fried Oysters (I could have eaten 10) and the amazingly adorable Grilled Cheese, Smoked Bacon and Tomato Soup Dumplings... yes, read that again, I had to... Grilled Cheese, Smoked Bacon and Tomato Soup Dumplings.

What, you might ask, are those?  Exactly. I had to find out. Well, they were about the cutest, tastiest little treats- served in an amuse-bouche spoon, they were both cozy and classy, and I am still thinking about them.  To be honest, I don’t even want to describe them to you... I want you to go to New York and order them! (Let’s hope he doesn’t take them off the menu!)

We quickly added the Chile Relleno Empanadas and General Tso’s Monkfish to our smorgasbord of tapas, finished it all off with several more cocktails, mini, sparkly cupcakes and the black-bottomed, butterscotch pot-de-crème with coconut Chantilly... and it was almost over the top.  No, let me rephrase that- it was totally over the top.

Thanks Chris Santos.

You have exceeded my ‘great’ expectations.  This was the New York I had wanted. 

There was no sex in this city… just two tired friends, enjoying the little jewels that were clearly made just for us. 

It really was a perfect end to a not-so-perfect day.

This, as they say, was my New York minute.

http://www.beautyandessex.com

Great Expectations… Beauty & Essex- (Part Two)

Continued from Part One…

It was a late reservation- 9:45, and like I said, I was a tired kitten.  Day one in New York had not brought me the ‘perfect’ day- nor the handsome stranger - Times Square had just kicked my ass and I was ready to pack it in….

… But for my expectations.

I still wanted that thing that was in my mind - The New York I had envisioned.  So I opened my heart, and the mini-bar, poured myself a stiff glass of get-over-yourself, and got ready.

I wanted real New York nightlife.  Not a club (I’ve been to Ibiza), not a quaint, perfect wine-bar (we have those at home), not even a huge event.  I wanted New York.  This may be an unclear concept to you New Yorkers out there, to whom it would be just ‘any old night’, but for those of us outside of Manhattan - living in that collective consciousness bubble - New York nightlife is this fantastical thing.  It holds the promise of something bigger than everyday.  I’m not a small-town girl, but to me, dining out in NYC, would be magical. 

Beauty & Essex had been a recommendation from a colleague who used to live in New York.  It’s one of two restaurants by Chef Chris Santos- (a happy coincidence as I’m a huge Food Network junkie.)  It was a place she used to go with her girlfriends, not a tourist destination at all.  I was stoked.  It sounded perfect.  My expectations were on fire.  (Uh oh.)  We hopped in the cab and sped towards Oz… what would we find behind the curtain?

And curtain there was…

We pulled up to a storefront.  Literally.  It appeared to be a vintage store or pawn shop.  Could this be right? Yep, there was the sign… Beauty & Essex…

We were greeted by a lovely pair of ladies who checked our names off the list and we followed them through the quiet store and into… my fantasy.

It was perfect.  High ceilings, busy bar, awesome chandeliers, stylishly jam-packed with ‘real’ New Yorkers sipping champagne cocktails.  The shoes, the dresses… the men.  I’ve traveled all over the world, but have ever felt so much like a kid in a candy store… and Beauty & Essex had great candy!

Stay tuned for the Review in Part 3... !