IF THE FRENCH DID GASTROPUBS, THE GARRISON WOULD BE THE RESULT
WE WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO TAKE ALL OUR MEALS HERE
Could The Garrison be the most charming neighborhood restaurant in London? We think so — not just because it’s in our neighborhood, but because it’s one of those magical places where you know you’ll always find good food and good times, and that sort of knowledge is worth its weight in gold (even if we do say so ourselves).
We would very much like to take all our meals at the Garrison, and in an ideal world we would — after all, it’s open for breakfast from 8am (9am on weekends, natch) with lunch from 12pm and dinner from 6pm every day of the week, so in theory we could — but we fear we’d have to spend the rest of the time at the gym working off our overindulgence, because the food’s just too good and we can never stop eating once we start.
Speaking of the food, this is French-style gastropub grub at its very best — quality ingredients (all happy chucks and sprightly spring greens) and generous portions, plus some kitchen secrets complimentary of the skilled chefs thrown in for good measure. We fondly remember a dish containing duck and puy lentils served about four years ago, and we’re still full from the Scotch pancakes with cream cheese, maple syrup and fresh strawberries we had there this morning. All served in that relaxed, lighthearted manner that makes us visit pubs and not silver-service establishments in the first place, of course.
The Garrison is run by the people who own Village East a few yards down the road, and operates a similar at-home sort of vibe, but while Village East’s decor is all about Scandinavia in the ’50s, the Garrison works a boho-chic Gustavian look — all pastels, copper, wood and tiles. Oh, and we’re not the only people to rate this place — it’s not posh enough to have a Michelin star or anything, but it has been recommended by the rotund white man. Not that you should take their recommendation more seriously than ours. We just thought you should know.
99-101 Bermondsey St., London SE1 tel 020 7089 9355 thegarrison.co.uk
You would think with the volume of denim shorts on sale these days that it would be easy to find a pair that look totally awesome, right? WRONG! No lie, we have spent yearstrying to find the perfect pair, and this year have actually discovered several great versions, each of which serves its own purpose. In no particular order, here are the most flattering jean shorts you should definitely try: J Brand DitaWE HAVE FOUND THE FOUR MOST FLATTERING JEAN SHORTS
SLIM HIPS, PERFECT BUTT AND JUST THE RIGHT LENGTH
Siwy Camilla
Michelle Siwy’s denim is known for its fantastic fit but it wasn’t until we tried on her Camilla shorts at Suite Orchard that we really got it. We are talking the perfect inseam (short but not too short) and fraying that won’t, uh, continue to fray, thus preserving your butt-cheek modesty. And speaking of butt cheeks, these shorts seem to suit every woman’s body.
A ton of colors on sale at siwy.com, $159, and you can pick up the gray shade on sale now for $67 at suiteorchard.com
Let’s get one thing straight here, we are not “high-waisted” people. At least we didn’tthink we were until we put these on. Suddenly we were all pulled in without any effort, and dashed to our closet for our crop tops that we’d never had any use for before. Our friend Cindy at the aforementioned Suite Orchard wears her high-waisted shorts with an oversize men’s white shirt, and we love that look too. We like that these aren’t cut-offs. Sometimes you just don’t want the fraying!
$150, Jbrandjeans.com
Resin Freja
The first thing you will notice about these shorts is that the denim is insanely soft, like, flannel-shirt soft — for real. The second is that they fit like a freakin’ dream. They’re styled Tomboy style so are straight at the hips and give you that slender appearance, even if you’ve got more curves than, uh, a curvy person. Also, the butt has this way of lifting the cheeks and giving you a great ass, even if you don’t have one.
$160, Shopbop
Juicy Couture Raw Edge Denim Shorts
These are our old faithfuls. The one pair of shorts we return to summer after summer, and actually with tights in colder weather too. What is it about them? The simplicity — LOVE a no-logo vibe, the super-casual “I just chopped up some old jeans for real” shape, and well, what more reason do you need to make these your old faithfuls too?
$98, juicycouture.com
VIDEO: LOOK WHAT THE BUMBYS WROTE ABOUT US AT THE DIESEL BRUNCH
THIS DUO BASICALLY MAKE JUDGMENTS ON PEOPLE FOR A LIVING
The Bumbys are popping up everywhere lately. We met them at the Diesel brunch at Coachella last month and after initially standing around feeling sorry for them under their face coverings (it was SOOOOO hot) we eventually slinked on over to see what they would say/type.
Basically this duo sits behind two typewriters and you stand in front of them and they glance at you like twice, maybe three times and hammer some thoughts into their typewriters about what kind of person they think you are. It’s generally positive, and usually a bit quirky and always fun.
Even though they cover their faces, we know that they are stony-faced throughout, like the writer-version of a British Royal Guard. Not even Baby C’s ‘moves’ could make them flinch.
Sponsored by Diesel
NEW ARTIST - LOPATIN AND FORD
DAN LOPATIN AND JOEL FORD CRAFT FUTURISTIC POP
A car manufacturer, right?
Wrong.
A law firm?
Wrong again.
What then?
We’re talking about Dan Lopatin from Oneohtrix Point Never and Tigercity’s Joel Ford. If those names mean nothing to you worry not; this pair used to be called Games but the names don’t matter.
What do they do?
They craft futuristic pop, albeit rooted in a 1985 sense of the future, on analogue synths and probably a few late nights listening to Gary Numan. The Einstein Music Journal blog (us neither) called their music a “blitzkrieg of rolling ’80s softcore synth pop” which works for us.
Where can I get more?
Their debut album, Channel Pressure, is released through their own Mexican Summer imprint Software soon. It’s mixed by Prefuse 73. Get a taster by road-testing Emergency Room over on the Hype Machine now and follow their blog for more. You may hear them on Adult Swim too — Warp has teamed up with the channel to bring their music to the late-night crowd it deserves. Pitchfork’s Altered Zones blog network has an in-depth Q&A if you’re really taken by them.
Tim Chester is deputy editor at nme.com
(Source: naag.com)
OK, so there’s this thing about the dozen or so cocktail bars that serve up serious drinks — spots like Clover Club and Employees Only that get all the love in the magazine and know their way around a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse or Carpano Antica (as in, exquisite drinks made a sense of history and style). The bartenders dress like a couple of extras from Boardwalk Empire (suspenders, mustache wax) or Mumford & Sons dressed for a night out on the town. It’s cool at times, but also sorta weird. Being honest here.SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG’S DRAM OFFERS COOL COCKTAILS MINUS THE MUSTACHE WAX
PAVEMENT ON THE STEREO! GOES WELL WITH A NEGRONI
The point is, South Williamsburg’s Dram is one of these bars — mixing expert drinks like the Pressgang Swizzle made with Smith & Cross Rum, Old Tom Gin, ginger syrup, grapefruit, lime, orgeat and bitters — but dress casual and play Pavement on the stereo and not that annoying ragtime shit. It’s a cocktail den for people who geek about Krautrock as much as their mescal.
Dram is also known for hosting a range of “guest bartenders” from around the city — like Phil Ward from Death & Co. who stands behind the stick on Thursdays. He can make you a Sazerac or Greenpoint of one of those bartender choice things where he looks you in the eye and asks, “What do you feel like drinking?” You respond with either a specific spirit request (“I feel like a peaty Scotch tonight!”) or, in the best cast, you let Mr. Ward take you on his magical mystery tour. He might use egg whites too. Watch out.
South 4th St. between Driggs and Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211, tel 718-486-3726, drambar.com
Store openings are not usually that awesome but last night at Madewell we had a ruddy good time, mostly because a ton of our friends were there but also because of the food situation. They had all these little food stands set up from awesome New York food places like macaroons from Bisous Ciao, meatballs from The Meatball Shop, cookies fromMomofuku Milk Bar and cakes from Babycakes – all of which happen to be Naag favorites. We wore a hat around the place for a few minutes to get a feel for it, lusted over striped espadrilles and contemplated buying a pink typewriter. Alexa was wearing shoes from her upcoming collection for the brand so there was shoe lustage going on there also. We drank margaritas and Campari drinks and on the way out we shoved some cookies in our purse for later. So good. Have a look above at who was there.PHOTOS: LAST NIGHT IN NEW YORK - MADEWELL LAUNCH PARTY
THERE’S A NEW MADEWELL STORE ON FIFTH AVENUE AND 19TH STREET, SO NATURALLY THERE WAS A PARTY TO CELEBRATE
Once upon a time, we promised to tell you all about the Albion caff, but there are so many things we love about this place that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with the really obvious bit: the design. This is a Conran joint, so it’s well thought through and immaculately executed — all bright and airy, with wooden furniture, white walls, retro labels and staff clad in beige Mao-suit shirts. Water is served in vintage-style enamel jugs, the cutlery is nice and heavy, and we heart the home-baked bread served in tins before each meal. And this is hearty, British cuisine at its best — think greasy spoon but without the grease — crunchy fish and chips, toad-in-the-hole, steak and kidney pudding and even devilled kidneys. There’s counter service if you’re in a hurry (or fancy a picnic at a nearby demolition site, perhaps?), and sweet treats too (we keep hearing good things about the Victoria sponge) and in true 21st century style, the bakers tweet every time they take something out of the oven, so you’ll always know when the chocolate chip cookies are nice and warm and the baguettes are fresher than fresh.ALBION CAFF IS ALL ABOUT BEST BRITISH STYLE AND SUBSTANCE
BRITANNIA RULES BOTH THE WAVES AND THE KITCHEN HERE
On a sunny day, the big windows offer both great light therapy and a reason to wear sunglasses indoors, which, you know, Hoxton trendies really appreciate. And, should you so wish, you can even retire upstairs — the top floors are home to the Boundary hotel, another award-winning Conran project. You should definitely pay this lovely caff a visit — just don’t make the mistake of letting Google lead you to the Albion advertising agency in the block opposite. We’re sure the people who work there are lovely, but we’re not so sure we’d trust them to knock up a fish pie in a jiffy.
2-4 Boundary St., Shoreditch, London E2; albioncaff.co.uk; open daily, 8am-11.30pm. Follow the Albion oven tweets @albionsoven
BEAUTY CRUSH: PATTI SMITH
WE WORSHIP THE PATRON SAINT OF UNPOLISHED BEAUTY
Of all of our style and beauty icons, Patti Smith is probably the one that’s the most influential on a day-to-day basis — after all, we can’t really be expected aspire to look like pretty starlets who spend half their professional lives or more pampering and preening themselves into perfection. We have a day job, thank you very much, and sometimes we even struggle to brush our hair before we sit down to work in the morning.
Patti’s beauty is accented and amplified by her unwillingness to give in to beauty-industry polish. We love her ’70s look: the skinny jeans, the rocky T-shirts, the plimsolls and jewelry, and her current cool “music professor look” with wide-brimmed hats, long coats, mannish suits, white shirts and thin ties. But the clothes are just the icing on the cake — what we really love is Patti’s beautiful face, which proves that make-up really isn’t all that, and her glorious hair, which has made her an inspiration for anyone who’s ever cut their own (or longed to do so) themselves. (And don’t get us started on her eyebrows — we feel pangs of envy every time we see them, they’re that good.)
Most importantly though, it’s thanks to Patti that we’re not particularly worried about strands of hair going gray or wrinkles creeping out of the corners of our faces. Instead of spending time covering it up, we’ll use it to listen to some more music, reading a few more books, going to another couple of art shows and having conversations with frighteningly clever people — and praying that with a little luck it might give us an ounce of Patti-style beauty.
Photograhers: Guy Lowndes and Anthony AkenSHOOT - THE PROSPECT
PIXIE AND BEN STAR IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC STEAMPUNK SCAVENGER LOVE STORY
Stylist: Nova Dando
Makeup: Tom Ticklemouse
Hair: Mark Bailey
HILL COUNTRY IS NYC’S TOP BARBECUE SMOKEHOUSE
SORRY DALLAS BBQ! WE LIKE YOUR DRINKS THOUGH
OMCF! (Oh My Crimson Fingertips!), the barbecue options in this city are mind-blowing. There are spots that specialize in Carolina and Memphis and Malaysian and Backyard Brooklyn styles of what is basically the simple act of smoking different cuts of meat over burning wood. (Sorry to inform you but Dallas BBQ is not technically barbecue — there’s no smoking involved in the process and ribs arrive from a standard gas oven. Those giant frozen Blue Hawaii-tini drinks are authentic though. Authentic hangover-inducing awesomeness). We’ve been to pretty much all the places and can confidently say Hill Country is the best.
The game at this giant, bi-level Flatiron spot is Texas barbecue — the namesake region is a large swath in the center of the Lone Star State near Austin — with an emphasis on unctuous beef brisket. You can order it either “moist” (read: fatty) or “lean” (read: not as fatty) from a giant counter where workers pull entire cuts from steaming meat lockers. The guys take their meat seriously, so don’t mess with dumb questions about vegetarian options. They’re also holding 12-inch chef knives. Just saying.
Everything at Hill Country is priced by the pound and punched off a pocket-size meal ticket which you present on the way out. Trust us, $20 worth of the smoked stuff (including baby back pork ribs and sausages imported from Lockhart, Texas) will get you good and full. A long list of bourbons and Texas-bred beers will wash everything down. But please, PLEASE take our word and save room for dessert. Hill Country is not only our favorite barbecue spot (we know we said that already), but it’s our favorite cupcake peddler too. For real — they serve a peanut butter and jelly version that is topped with a Jif-like butter cream (speckled with Reese’s Pieces) and filled with grape jelly. We promise to never, ever use this term in a future post for the lovely Naag. Never again. One time only. The PBJ cupcakes are TO DIE FOR.
30 West 26th St., NY 10010, tel 212-255-4544 hillcountryny.com
While the Lower East Side occasionally feels like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, actually, make that every weekend, it’s not totally lost its downtown appeal, and still has a ton of creative people working and living in the hood — namely those who didn’t abscond to Williamsburg in search of loftier studios.NEW DOWNTOWN BASICS LABEL SGC IS BLOWING OUR MINDS
THIS GORGEOUS BRAND IS ALREADY ON HEAVY ROTATION IN THE NAAG CLOSET
One such creative endeavor is SGC, a brand new, like first collection new line of basics whose studio is a stone’s throw from Naag HQ, so naturally we wanted to learn more about it such as when and where can we get our hands on this stuff?
Check out the wares. Oversize tanks and tees, a simple white silk shirt — armless for summer don’tcha know, no pit stains! Awesome! Gauzy sweaters so soft and sheer you’ll be sad when it’s too hot to cover up, and the Naag favorite, a tank tunic with a buttery soft leather cross on the back, adding the perfect weight so it doesn’t cling to your shorts or leggings or whatever you deign to werk it with.
You know what the best part of it is? Every piece is under $112. IN THIS ECONOMY, that is what we’re talking about.
Available at sgcny.com from $40
WIN A MULBERRY TILLIE BAG!!!
THERE AREN’T ENOUGH EXCLAMATION POINTS IN THE WORLD TO PORTRAY OUR EXCITEMENT
OMG! So you know by now we are obsessed with Mulberry. We spent approx. six months lusting after an Alexa bag until we were able to get our hands on one, and now we are addicted.
And now the Tillie, ah the Tillie. It’s like the Alexa on chic speed, like a mini satchel-meets-briefcase, aka as perfect as a handbag can get. Basically.
And now, dear readers, you can win a Tillie. In pale blue washed denim. It’s worth $995 but really, in sentimental value it’s worth like a million bucks because if you are the winner you will really, really fall in love with this bag.
CLICK THROUGH TO THE SITE TO ENTER!!
beauty crush: diane keaton in ‘manhattan’
DEAR DIARY, WHEN WILL WE HAVE HAIR LIKE THIS?
We have a new beauty crush: Diane Keaton. But it’s not her Annie Hall incarnation that we’re swooning over at the moment (although Annie always deserves a mention in all circumstances), instead, it’s Mary Wilkie of Manhattan that we can’t stop obsessing about. Manhattan is the one where Woody Allen is a twice-divorced failed-yet-successful comedy-script-writer who entertains a high school girl before falling for Diane’s Mary. She dumps him for his best friend and Woody-we-mean-Isaac spends the rest of the film desperate to get back together with his teenage ex, and it’s all shot in black and white and to a score full of Gershwin. Out of principle, we try not to focus too much attention on Woody in his own films, and that leaves plenty of time to stare at Diane’s Mary, and Mary’s hair. There’s obviously more to an actress than her beauty and hairdo – we know that you know that, but we just need to make that clear – it just so happens that Diane is a better actor and more inspiring beauty than most, and Mary’s got one of those iconic ’70s ’dos, with a triangular fringe framing shoulder-length curls that on more than one occasion looks positively crimped. So there we are, watching a 32-year-old film only for its star to sport the same hairstyle that caused such a stir on the Marc by Marc Jacobs and Topshop Unique spring/summer 2011 catwalks. We feel it must be a sign, and now that we’ve set ourselves the challenge to work out how to recreate the look ourselves. It turns out you need brains to achieve beauty to look like that, and we need help. If anyone out there knows how to crimp hair without going all Frankenstein’s Bride, please let us know. Expect an update. By Emma Lundin
SUPPORT JAPAN RELIEF BY BUYING THIS REALLY GREAT TORY BURCH T-SHIRT
DONATING YOUR CASH AND GETTING THIS AWESOME T-SHIRT IS REALLY A NO-BRAINER
By now we know you’ve probably donated by text message and so on to aid the relief effort following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this month.
That is awesome but we figure you might be able to spare a further $29 from your next paycheck to give a little more, and in this case you get a fabulously designed T-shirt in return.
Tory Burch is donating 100% of the net proceeds of every Japan Relief T-shirt sold through September 15, 2011 to the American Red Cross. Just look at those cute red hearts surrounded by the Japanese flag red dot! All we know is, we would probably buy this even if it wasn’t for charity, so we hope you feel the same way. The shirts are in production now and will ship as soon as possible.
Available for pre-order now at toryburch.com
LOOKBOOK: MULBERRY SPRING 2011
FINALLY WE CAN GET OUR HANDS ON THE COLLECTION WE FIRST SAW ON THE ROOF AT SOHO HOUSE NEW YORK ON A WARM AFTERNOON… MEMORIES…
