Living On The Edge: Barcelona: HOTEL OMM’S INSIDER TIPS

Confident, cosmopolitan, and both seamlessly and firmly woven into the local cloth — who better to ask than White Line Hotels edit Hotel Omm where to go for an experience that is deliciously “Barcelona”? Perhaps you? Drop us a line. Tell us which alleyways you slip down when in the Catalonian Capital. Did you find a fab boutique on an evening stroll? Wine so exquisite you had a case shipped home? Or wanted to? Tapas that excited your taste buds and thrilled your eyes? Give us your insider tips and you could be off to Barcelona to enjoy your favorites all over again!

To get your memories jogged, and that little piece the city of Barcelona owns in your heart pounding, here’s how Hotel Omm lives on the edge:

Vinçon is a hyper-stylish design shop created in an incredible former flat on Passeig de Gracia, right by La Pedrera. It is one of the most representative and singular establishments in the city. This prestigious company sells contemporary products for the home. Passeig de Gràcia, 96

La Manual Alpargatera. Classic, handmade espadrilles in all shades. Even Hollywood stars like Michael Douglas und Penélope Cruz wear them. C/ Avinyó, 7

Vila Viniteca. This may be one of the most charming promenades in the city to find the best wines at a great price and one of the largest wine lists in Barcelona. Also have delicatessen products. C/ Agullers 7

Bar Lobo. Lunch, tapas and drinks bar in the Raval close to Las Ramblas. Two floors with views to the street and terrace. A perfect place to stop for a snack after a walk through the neighbourhood or for dinner after the theatre or cinema. Market cooking with fresh produce, breakfasts and teas. Pintor Fortuny, 3

Quimet y Quimet. Many consider this the best tapas bar in the city. Quim is a master of montaditos offering original and bold combinations of high-quality ingredients. It is sure to be an authentic experience, where four generations of Quimets have been serving delicious tapas, good wine, cava and good company. It also has one of the best-stocked wine cellars in the city. Poeta Cabanyes, 25

Granja Viader. Opened in 1870, this is one of the oldest tea rooms in the city. Joan Viader invented the chocolate drink “Cacaolat”, knows as the first mass-produced blended chocolat milk beverage in Spain. Try the traditional sweet accompanied by honey, cuajada, condensed milk or all kind of pastries. The experience acquires another dimension if you take it in slowly. Xuclà, 4

Colmado Quilez. This is one of the most renowned grocer’s in the city. Since 1908 is it an essential stop on any gourmet’s itinerary. The shop stock more than 5,000 listing of national and international sparkling and still wines. The local maintains the feeling of times past. Rambla de Catalunya, 63

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Photos (top): Granja Viader, Vila Viniteca (top right), Vicon (bottom right)

Photos (bottom): La Manual Alpargatera, Quimet y Quimet (top right), Bar Lobo (bottom right)

Head’s up NYC! It’s Art Book Fair Weekend!

Maybe you’ve noticed too, but in the last year or so, it seems there was a noticeable shift in the way people use Facebook. Suddenly my more exhibitionist friends stopped posting updates of every move they made, and the ones who had always been more social networking reticent started posting more regularly. The sudden lack of status updates like “Just fed the cat, sitting down with the newspaper.” was at first an incredible relief, and then incredibly illuminating. No one was typing that anymore because no one was doing it anymore, and that was partly because Facebook itself had turned into a news and human interest Reader’s Digest of sorts, compiled and edited by our online friends. Why kill a tree when all the stories you need to stay up to speed with your friend-circle are right there on your screen?

So, yesterday, when one of my Facebook friends made a contribution to the Daily Digest of a photo of John Waters with the quote caption, “We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they dont’ have books, don’t **** them”, I had to smile. If you’re in agreement about the fast-disappearing tactile experience of holding a book, if you love smelling the ink, feeling the quality of the paper on the edge of your thumb, or the irreplaceable suspense of turning a page to discover who-knows-what, oh, AND YOU’RE IN NEW YORK CITY THIS WEEKEND, head straight to the NY Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 between today and Sunday October 2nd.

Apart from 200 exhibitors of contemporary art catalogs, monographs and art periodicals, this year introduces an outdoor tent of 60 zinesters to the mix of international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, artists and independent publishers that make up the NY Art Book Fair. This year also includes special projects, screenings, book signings, and performances, details of all of which can be found on their website. One not to miss is e-Flux’s presentation of Liam Gillick and W.A.G.E. launching the new e-Flux reader Are You Working Too Much? Post-Fordism, Precarity, and the Labor of Art with special readings October 1st and 12noon.

Just as irreplaceable as the feeling of physically holding a beautifully made book, make White Line Hotels edit The Greenwich Hotel your place in NYC.

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all photos http://nyartbookfair.com/

The Slowest Restaurant in Stockholm

Slow Food – by now all of us have heard of this counterattack launched against fast and processed food. But what exactly is Slow Food? Founded in Italy in 1986 by publisher Carlo Petrini, the movement offers an alternative to rapidly growing fast food chains by using only regional, seasonal and traditional products.

Not only is slow food healthy and ecologically safe, but by supporting small, local businesses it is also economically responsible. By now the non-profit member-supported Slow Food Association is spread over 150 countries worldwide, and counts over 100,000 members in a network of 2,000 food communities. Together they fight against the disappearance of, and disinterest in, local food traditions inherent to the rise of a fast living and eating culture.

This is anything but a new trend. It is in fact a return to times when food wasn’t superabundant and genetically modified, but when people found value in the rituals of growing, harvesting and eating their food together.

Caina, in Stockholm’s Nobis Hotel, is one of these authentic Slow Food refuges. Here chef Luciano Aru and gastronomic director Stefano Catenacci serve classic Italian dishes from different regions of their home country, based on seasonal and local ingredients. The small but frequently changing menu ensures the sensitive care and superior quality that Slow Food stands for.

Mouthwatering dishes such as scallops with crispy fennel truffle and extra virgin olive oil, ricotta cheese stuffed ravioli with lemon and rosemary, or beefsteak with garlic fried mushrooms and Barolo wine sauce can all be savoured with a glass of exquisite Italian wine from the restaurant’s selected wine list.

Offering delicious antipasti and authentic Italian cuisine in an elegant but yet warm and welcoming ambience, Caina is a Slow Food oasis for a stress-free lunch break, and also a very nice venue for an intimate dinner among friends.

After a night in the calmly sophisticated atmosphere of White Line Hotels edit The Nobis Hotel,  Caina is ready to ease you into the day with ecologically sound Swedish breakfast including homemade foods, breads and pastries.

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Contributing writer: Julia Schröder

Images courtesy Caina/The Nobis Hotel

FREITAG WECYCLES!

White Line Hotels collaborator FREITAG is known for using all recycled materials, but now the company’s recycling philosophy has expanded to its factory. As part of the new sustainability and recycling measures being implemented, rain water will now be collected to wash their tarps with — that’s one way to take advantage of the 127 rainy days Zurich gets every year!

They call it the nœrdiest move in the company’s history. We call it genius. Read more about the new factory here.

Alex Mattson: extraterrestrial fashion

Born in 1984, Alex Mattson is the prime example of what our boundless and rootless generation has to offer. Half Swedish, half Colombian, he was brought up in Norway and is now based in London. He dreams of fantastical worlds and alternative realities, in which the coexistence of human races and extraterrestrial forms is a wearable reality. Alex developed an interest in fashion in his teenage years, reading fashion magazines,such as i-D and Dazed and Confused, and pondering over the possibility of being part of the exciting British creative scene. Not long after, in 2004, he moved to the UK to pursue a degree in fashion design at UCA Rochester, followed by an MA in menswear at the Royal College of Art.

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