I hit Boston this weekend with some friends. Prior to this trip, the majority of my time in the Boston area had been spent in Cambridge (with the occasional trip to Newbury Street). Cambridge is a great town on it’s own, but it was nice to dig deep into Boston and really get a taste of the city.
If you’re looking for good Seafood in Boston (and why wouldn’t you be?), look no further than Neptune Oyster. Located in Boston’s North End, this quaint spot hits the mark on every detail. The lobster roll came highly recommended (for good reason). I went hot with butter.
Bobby’s from Boston is probably the best vintage store I’ve ever been to. Amazing men’s clothing and accessories from all eras…and at can’t miss prices. I need to plan another trip and dedicate it entirely to this store.
Craft cocktail bars continue to be the hot trend in drinking culture. Drink is Boston’s best offering. No menu, just tell the bartender what you’re looking for and they’ll craft something specific to your wants and desires. It was a hot day, but I whisky…they worked based off those two points and served me what was probably the best cocktail I’ve ever had.
The bar snacks are pretty killer too.
Ball & Buck is a new shop on high-end Newbury St. It’s a refreshing and relevant break from the designer and chain stores prominent of the block. Stacked high with Bill’s Khakis, Gitman shirting and other brands of that ilk, Ball & Buck only stocks brands that are made in America.
They also operate a one chair barber shop in the back.
“Since the time it was introduced in the seventeenth century, the modern suit has been about two things: power and sex. If you doubt us, try this simple experiment. Some evening, go to a nice hotel bar where you don’t know anyone, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. The jeans don’t even have to have holes in them, and the t-shirt can be clean. Now, return to the same bar the next evening wearing a nice suit. Take note of the difference in reaction from the bartender and of the other patrons in the bar. Remember them.” - Esquire Style Handbook
“It’s good to not have plans”- Valentino (my barber)
In many cases, it’s very easy and inexpensive to make an aesthetic upgrade. In addition to serving as great water bottles for the dinner table, these air tight bottles look much better on your bar for storing mixers like soda, tonic and juice. Pick them up on the cheap at Crate & Barrel.
As the warmer months near (sort of) I find myself starting to plan weekend trips to escape the concrete jungle. I recently stumbled upon a hotel group called King & Grove, which operates two (i hesitate to say “boutique”) hotels in Montauk, Ruschmeyer’s and the Surf Lodge…As well as one in Miami, Tide’s South Beach. With projects currently underway in Brooklyn and Manhattan, they might just be the coolest lodging operation going.
As most of you probably already know, the word “Pub” (as in bar), comes from the term Public House. In short, public houses we’re 19th century drinking establishments and restaurants, most of which also offered a small amount lodging upstairs for travelers (a beer and a bed…pretty much all a guy needs.)
With the opening of Longman & Eagle in Chicago, The Grazing Goat in London and Honor & Folly in Detroit, this concept has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately…with modern updates, of course.
The Grazing Goat (London)
Longman & Eagle (Chicago)
Honor & Folly (Detroit)
* While Honor & Folly does not operate it’s own bar, it is located above The Sugar House, a craft cocktail bar.
Monocle launched their 24 hour radio program earlier today. Reporting on current affairs, business, culture and music, Monocle 24 aims to bring that very “Monocle” vibe to the airwaves around the clock. After reading the current issue of Monocle, which focuses on the world of media, I can gather that a Monocle television cable network is not far behind.
I’ll usually throw on some Detroit sports radio if I have down-time at the office, but I’ll certainly now have to tune in to M24 to feed my more cultural side from time to time.
WSJ Magazine recently featured a story titled, “Death of a Playboy”, in which they report on a time when globe-trotting men with a certain swagger and privilege didn’t feel the need to advertise their status to everyone around them. the whole piece is worth a read, however the following excerpt sums it up pretty nicely:
Perhaps the phoniest version of the jet-setting “good life” appears in Sean “Diddy” Combs’s TV ads for his Sean John I Am King cologne. Diddy rides a jet-ski in a full tux, arrives at a helipad armed with body-suited supermodels Bar Refaeli and Ana Paula Araújo at his side, and strides through the Mediterranean in full black tie. If he saw it, Gunter Sachs, the impeccably dressed, tousled-haired heir to Germany’s Opel automobile dynasty, might shoot himself all over again. In his day, a playboy didn’t shout he was a “playah”—he just . . . was. What the deuce did he care if anyone else knew it?
Another branding project of similar ilk to my previous post, is Proper BBQ, developed by Thomas Hayes.
“Proper BBQ, enabling fine gentlemen to get messy. The range of products are essentials for the BBQ mad gentleman or the lavish messy hungry man, they were designed with a big bold punchy flavor in mind. Each product allows the user to get crazy and splash some charisma into their food, allowing each item to be generously applied.”
If my building allowed me to have a grill (and by grill I mean a real charcoal grill…none of this gas or electric bullshit) and if these products actually existed, I would stock up on them in a second.
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The second installment of Monocle Mediterraneo, the Media brands large-format summer newspaper, is set to hit newsstands on July 28th. With a report from Pitti Uomo, as well as the usual briefings on food, culture, retail and design, Mediterraneo is sure to please the cultural senses.
Check out the preview video, here.
Apparently I’m about a year late to the party, but I tried Kelvin Natural Slush Co. yesterday for the first time, and really enjoyed it. Founded by laid-off lawyer, Alex Rein, Kelvin (named after the Kelvin temperature scale) is a more adult, more natural, more delicious version of a 7-11 Slurpee that does business from their New York City based truck. I was very pleased with my citrus and mixed berry slush, but I was even more impressed with the clean brand identity created by Aaron Harowitz.
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I’m a big fan of simple branding. Glassford & Walker, a Vancouver based design firm did a nice job creating a clean identity for local sandwich shop, Meat & Bread (great name). The food looks pretty delicious as well.
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