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You can find more examples of Lenneke Wispelwey's beautiful ceramics on her website www.lennekewispelwey.nl.
Yesterday I had a little time to spare while I was in the Jordaan, which is one of the most beautiful (and therefor well known) areas of Amsterdam, my home town. It was a beautiful spring day, so I decided to take a walk down Haarlemmerdijk. This street has with a unique combination of beautfiul shops, dodgy coffe shops, old fashioned drugstores and the best food shops in town. And every week a new shops opens. Restored has been there for a while already, but is getting more beautiful everytime I visit it. The shops sells stuff made by young designers, like bags, jewelerry, porcelain and clothes. A very inspiring shop, I especially like the beautiful, elegant ceramics made by Lenneke Wispelwey. www.restored.nl
Last sunday I organised a spring lunch, to celebrate the new season (amongst other things). I put together a little menu with Marlein, who cooked and filled in the missing links. Marlein cooked, as only she can, so we could all experience what spring tastes like. As an appetiser she made little salty tartlets filled with pea-mint-ricottacream. Then watercress soup with radish-toast, followed by torta verde, salad with grilled haloumi. pink grapefruit and pomme granateseeds, grilled chicken with lavender and lemon. The best part came last, as always. She made the most beautiful and best tasting cake made with almond cake, whipped cream with raspberries, decorated with real roses.
The lunch took place in the perfect setting: Studio IJm. This is the studio of Frank Visser, a Dutch stylist, who creates the perfect dream world, in real life and as a set designer/stylist for interior magazines as Elle and Vogue Interior. Fedor van der Valk, who also works at the studio, makes string gardens, hanging plants, that made the whole spring look complete.
check for more of their work on www.ijm.nl and www.stringgardens.com
Sometimes design (with a capital D) can take itself too seriously. The blog unhappyhipsters.com shows how designs like that can only make you laugh. If you ever sigh about the mess in you own home (like I sometimes do), just have a look at their blog. You'll be glad that you spent the day living instead of cleaning.
Friends of mine, Patricia Hessing, Ifke Brunings and Jasper Westebring, from design company Ateliers Hessing & Brunings, designed the perfect line of furniture for children. They teamed up with Eugenia Clavero, a Spanish product designer.
I love all the designs Ateliers make, because they are stylish, aestethic but also friendly at the same time. As you can see in this rocking chair. It is my favourite piece in their collection. I'm so lucky that my twin baby-girls got them as a present. (and I love little hero Enza! I hope my girls will be as brave and spunky as she is). check for more work at www.aboutstek.nl
The hills and mountains in Abruzzo are empty, and silent, and very very big. Especially when there's some fog, it can feel a bit spooky. But still beautiful.
La Cucina d'Abruzzo
Acciavatti, G. & Mirabilio, G.
Today we stay in Italy a little more, because I want to tell about another book I recently finished: La Cucina d'Abruzzo. It is a book about Gemma Mirabilio & Giancarlo Acciavatti, who run a succesfull catering company Mondo Mediterraneo (www.mondomediterraneo.com). It is around the corner from where I live. Lucky me!
They make beautiful and delicious food, but they are also very warm and lovely people. I asked them two years ago if they would like to make a cook book with me, and that is when our adventure together started.
They took me to their home region, Abruzzo, a part of Italy full of contrasts. Totally different from the Italy that I know from my trips to Tuscany and Milan. The mountains are rough and authentic, with little villages remote from everywhere. It is as if time stood still. But the coast is very lively and stylish, with exclusive beach bars and shops, especially Pescara.
These contrasts you can also find in Gemma, who is from a small farm in a village in the hills, and Giancarlo, who is from Pescara. And you can find these contrasts in the food they prepare. Some recipes are old, authenic family recipes, others are recipes that are inspired by their travels around the world.
My plan first was, besides making the whole concept of the book, doing the styling and making the illustrations, to also write all these stories down. But during the process of the book, I was also preparing something else: two lovely babies! So my very talented friend Jocelyn de Kwant took over the writing of the stories. Plus she finished the production of the book (bravo). Sanne Dirkzwager designed the book. Most of the images are by Swiss photographer Mark Niedermann (www.markniedermann.com), but some of them are mine. I will show some more of my images in a later post.
Yesterday I went to a preview of a new art work by Alberto de Michele. He's an artist who lives in Amsterdamm but grew up with his Italian father. His recent works focus on the world around his father, who is, as Alberto states is on his website: surrounded by thieves, gangsters and gambling addicts.
In the image you see a still of his last movie, that gives a close look of the world of I Lupe. These robbers live in the north of Italy and only work during the fog season. They know the area by heart so they can easily disappear in the fog. The story in the movie is told by Alberto's father. The movie is thrilling, but also moving, because it makes you realise in what world Alberto grew up in. check for more work on www.albertodemichele.com
