Main Dining Room, Hospitality Design, May/June 2008, Photo by Mathjis Wessing

Ella Dining Room and Bar is at the top of my list of restaurants in Sacramento. So I was not surprised, but very pleased to see it in the latest Hospitality Design magazine as the winner of their "Hospitality Debut" Award.

Bar and Lounge

The interiors are a great indicator of what you can expect from the superb menu: unpretentious, but extremely well done California dishes with a creativity that doesn't get so out there, you are scratching your head in confusion. It is all about the food, not the "foam". The farmhouse family style tables encourage mingling. The creative use of lighting, the sophisticated color palette of soft greys and beige's, the natural olive branches all converge to give one the relaxed, and comfortable atmosphere to enjoy wonderful food and company.

Owner, Randall Selland and his wife Nancy Zimmer, have been creating top notch food for many years in their original exhibition restaurant, The Kitchen. This is their latest baby....and it is growing into the hottest dining spot in the valley.

The architects are Sacramento natives: Darryl Chinn Architects. The interiors were done by UXUS, Amsterdam.

Private Dining Room

Just another reason to visit "Sactown". Come, sit and enjoy!

From Sarah:

This spring, I became obsessed with finding an outdoor table that met various criteria: namely, a budget of $1,000 and a look that was neither spanking new nor faux aged. Ultimately, I tracked down this folding wooden German beer garden table with benches at Sonoma Country Antiques, all for the compelling price of $700. I was so enamored of the table that I shortly returned and bought another set, thus promptly blowing budget (but gaining extra dinner seats in the garden).

Below: A bit of sleuthing turned up a US source from an outfit called Bier Boot Haus: the Biergarten Folding Wood Table, with walnut finished top and green painted metal legs, imported from Europe. Although it’s not as characterful as a vintage set, it seats 10 comfortably (it’s 88 inches long) and folds for easy storage. $499.99 at Bier Boot Haus.

I really went gaga over legendary magazine editor Mary Jane Pool's apartment that was featured in the March Domino. I thought it was such a beautiful mix of graceful antiques, 20th century pieces, and gorgeous fabrics and wallpaper. So, while I was reading Tiffany Taste(aka Table Settings of the Rich and Famous) the other day, I came across a chapter on Ms. Pool and her style of entertaining.

According to the book, Ms. Pool has a fondness for all things Venetian (this is confirmed by the Domino article, which notes that Pool has a decent sized collection of 18th and 19th c. painted Venetian antiques). For a summer lunch, Ms. Pool would likely start with a salad of shredded celery, mushrooms, Gruyère, white truffles, and a vinaigrette of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The main course might be a pasta gratinée of green tagliarini, béchamel, prosciutto, and tomato. For dessert? Chocolate twigs or truffles, grapes, or strawberries accompanied by mandarin orange tea. Oh, and no wine- "nothing dangerous"- with lunch, only San Pellegrino. After all, when you're an editor of a magazine, you have to stay on your toes!

What I enjoyed most were the photos of Pool's Sutton Place apartment circa 1986. Author John Loring wrote that Pool "knows as much as anyone about the domestic pleasures that make life sweet." I wholeheartedly agree.


What a sumptuous mix of yellow satin curtains, yellow walls, and red satin(?) chairs. In fact, those chairs appear to be the same ones that were featured in Pool's Olympic Tower apartment, although at that time they were covered in orange cotton pique. The mirror is 18th c. Venetian. And notice the pedestal table, which Pool still owns today (see image of Pool at top). According to Tiffany Taste, the base is in the shape of a neoclassic Italian urn.


Another Venetian piece- this time an 18th c. painted commode. The tea service is Royal Berlin, and the silver Tiffany basket is filled with chocolate twigs.


Tiffany's classic "Chrysanthemum" flatware and "Nymphalidae" dessert plates adorn the table. Strawberries are nestled in a Tiffany sterling basket.

(Image at top of Pool- photographer Annie Schlechter)

Just got this and thought you might like to know.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

I recieved an email the other day bearing some of the best news I've heard in weeks.

One of my favorite culinary TV series, "Two Fat Ladies," is finally coming to DVD!

For anyone who doesn't remember this fantastic British show (which aired back when Giada's decollete was just a glimmer in some TV executive's eye), there's still reason to check it out.

Don't expect healthy twists or 30-minute meals here. Instead, prepare to ride off with Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright (by motorcycle and sidecar, naturalement) around Britain (and beyond) to prepare seriously hearty meals.

How about joining a hunting party in Scotland for a menu that includes roast grouse and venison with blackberries (episode 5)? Or perhaps you'd enjoy making lobster for a sisterhood of Benedictine nuns in Ireland (episode 14). Soused herrings, Welsh rarebit souffle, onion soup with Stilton, fruit tartlets...the list goes on.

These aren't all recipes that you'd likely rush out and make, but that's not really the point. The settings are verdant and the ladies are undeniably charming, entertaining, and passionate about food.

Even though the show itself is dated, it's novel and refreshing to see them, polar opposites of the squeaky-clean, book-deal-sniffing personae of today's food TV stars, preparing honest food without pretension.

Welsh Rarebit Souffle
Ingredients:
    2 large slices of good-quality white bread
    1/2 pound of high-quality, aged cheddar cheese
    3 egg yolks
    4 egg whites
    1 level teaspoon dry English mustard
    1 vigorous shake of Worcestershire sauce
    1 vigorous shake of Tabasco sauce
    Salt and Pepper

Grate the cheese and place in a bowl. Beat in the egg yolks, a level teaspoon of mustard, a good shake each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toast the bread; whip the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Add a spoonful or so of the beaten egg whites into tothe cheese mixture then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the bowl. Put the toasts into an ovenproof dish and pour the mixture over them. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes until browned and risen. Serve at once with a salad or spinach on the side.

Recipe reprinted from the Two Fat Ladies DVD box set, Acorn Media, 2008.

Personalised Stationery from Whitney English


Sunshine Pillow from Hable Construction

Moroccan Key Table from Burke Decor (via Creature Comforts)


Love Heart Map Scrap Art from Bombus


Pair of Vintage Cane Armchairs from C. Bell


Chinnoiserie Cushion from Thomas Paul


Vintage Pagoda Chandelier from C. Bell

Xi Li Chair from Burke Decor

Not much for cooking myself, I seem to be doing quite well making friends with those who are willing to occasionally feed me! One such person is Megan B., whose culinary skills get a marvelous workout on the fresh seafood available locally. Though I will attest that these crab cakes taste amazing even when you used canned crab. –Mary T.

This dish was born in a tiny hotel room with a kitchenette during one of our first vacations to Seattle (which we now call home). We were fortunate enough to visit smack dab in the middle of Dungeness crab season, and seeing all of those beautiful crabs at the market inspired me to make these cakes. The sweet Pacific crab is what this dish was originally made with, though any crab you can get your hands on will suffice. Trust me, I’ve even made them with the high-quality canned stuff and they turned out super tasty. Make sure you make the relish in advance — in fact, make more. It’s awesome on top of grilled halibut or chicken breasts or just with tortilla chips! –Megan B. Click for Megan’s recipes!

Crispy Cilantro Crab Cakes (serves 6-8 as appetizer, 4 as entree)
1 lb. lump crab meat
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 egg, whisked
Salt and pepper to taste (approx. 1/2 tsp salt)
Grape seed or canola oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, combine crab, Panko and herbs. Season with salt and pepper and fold in the egg. Let mixture rest for 10 minutes. Form mixture into 6-8 patties. Make sure to press firmly; they take a bit of force to hold them together. Pan fry in 1/4 inch grape seed or canola oil over medium high heat, approx. 4 minutes per side or until nicely golden brown (careful not to burn yourself on the flip). Serve hot with mango jalapeno relish. You can also assemble the cakes a few hours in advance and fry them right before serving.

Mango Jalapeño Relish
1 ripe mango, finely diced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 cup jalapeño (jarred in brine) diced
1/2 lemon, juiced

Combine ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Let marinate at least 30 minutes or overnight, if desired. The longer it rests, the better!

Here's her kitchen, ready for some sprucing up.

"The cupboards are a pale pinky beige that I intend to paint white and install new handles (chrome), as well as install a new shelf (white) somewhere above the cupboards.

My laminate benchtop is a swirly, "natural rock inspired" pink/violet/blue monstrosity, but we're stuck with it, and I'd like to make the best of it.

Here's the room on the other side of the kitchen which we don't actually use as a dining area."

images source

"My eye tends to be drawn to soft colours, like icey pink and blue, even soft lavendar. I just don't know what will go best with the benchtops we have, although it does incorporate a mixture of these tones."

images source

drape pattern source

image source

It was back in December that she had first heard of her.  Ingrid Pullar.  Ingrid was  photographing a story that the New York Times was running on Marrakech.   No slouch, in addition to the New York Times, she had taken photographs for Time Magazine. 

The blogging girl took one look at Ingrid's portfolio and emailed her.  The email didn't have to go far- - only to Casablanca where the Swedish photographer had lived for years.   Ingrid was friendly, and they exchanged a number of emails and phone calls.

Life hadn't been easy for the blogging girl recently, and so she turned to Ingrid's photos for beauty therapy.  Then she thought that perhaps, just perhaps,  you might be in need of a little beauty therapy, too...

*

Picking Moroccan saffron.  The poetic spice culled from an equally poetic flower.....

A tagine, the ubiquitous Moroccan stew seen bubbling all around the city.  Cooked in a conical dish by the same name.  So delicious.

Moroccan roses in a hammam bowl......... Morocco has valleys filled with roses.  No wonder that Moroccan souks are filled with rose soap, rose cream, and rose oil, made fresh.

Alan Campbell

Domino, August 2008

Alan Campbell fabrics in the Parish Hadley famous 1970's peacock blue room.

Domino, August 2008

There has been much talk lately about the fate of Brooke Astor's apartment. I think many of us are on pins and needles waiting to see if the new owners (whoever they might be) will destroy the famous interiors, preserve them in all of their glory, or simply refresh them. But closer to my home there is another prominent house I'm worried about: the Goodrum House located on West Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta.

Built in 1929 by famed architect Philip Shutze, the house is considered to be a prime example of English Regency architecture. Before it housed its current tenant, the Southern Center for International Studies, the house was a private home. While growing up, I always heard it referred to as the "Peacock Mansion" because the homeowner kept peacocks on the estate. (In fact, I remember on a few occasions going to school and seeing traffic held up because a peacock had gotten loose and was wandering the streets!) There were many other wild stories associated with the house which I won't print on my blog, but needless to say they only added to the home's allure- at least to this wide-eyed gal.

And now the Southern Center is selling the home. My biggest fear is that whoever buys the Goodrum House will rip it asunder and remove anything original and unique to the home. Believe me, Atlanta is losing its beautiful old homes at an alarming rate. The whole thing upsets me, so perhaps I should put my money where my mouth is and join the Preservation Center. In the meantime, I wanted to show you a few photos of this beautiful home. They certainly don't make them like they used to. I just hope whoever buys this home realizes it.





A few shots of the entryway. Is that a banister or what! Wouldn't you be thrilled to have that in your home?




The dining room is famous for its glorious Chinoiserie mural painted by Allyn Cox.


The ceiling of this octagonal breakfast room was painted by Athos Menaboni. The effect is like being inside of a bird-cage. Menaboni also painted the niches as well. Can you imagine a better way to start your day than by having a cup of coffee in this room?



The living room. Although it's sparsely furnished today, the room has real potential. Just look at the molding and carvings.