06/11, 4-8pm. Sake festival in Ikebukuro
06/11, 4-8pm. Sake festival in Ikebukuro
Nihonshu Fair 2008 promises to be the world’s largest sake tasting event, offering fans the chance to try 500 award-winning premium brews (ginjoshu) and sake from every region in Japan….
Atlanta • Bliss Spa: A 4,000 square foot spa, which includes a retail beauty boutique and the brand’s famous brownie buffet, opens at the W Hotel in Midtown. • Korean Catering House: With Korean signage, the English name of this new Duluth restaurant is actually yet-to-be determined. • Tierra Salon: A new men’s salon offers services for all budgets, from $15 haircuts to $140 hot stone massages.
Boston
• Aroa Fine Chocolate: This South End chocolate shop satisfies sweet teeth with bonbons, plated desserts and seven types of hot chocolate.
Las Vegas
• Trump Towers: The Donald’s new residential condo and hotel includes 50 penthouse suites, restaurant and spa, but be warned: it’s a gaming-free zone.
London
• Dex: For those who can’t afford Soho House, this new boutique hotel and member’s-only club opens with somewhat more reasonable rates: £100 to join, plus £200 per annum.
• Osteria Stecca: New restaurant in St. John’s Wood serves modern Italian cuisine in a 50-seat dining room and 20-seat small plates bar.
• Pho: Vietnamese restaurant, serving pho and other classic street foods, has recently opened its second location.
• Ushvani: Sexy Southeast Asian-themed spa opens in Chelsea; treatments range from £60 for body scrubs to £240 for a 2-hour Balinese massage.
Los Angeles
• Bacaro: A former sommelier at AOC opens a new spot for Italian wines and small plates.
• Bon Chon: This Korean fried chicken chain opens its first branch on the West Coast.
• The London West Hollywood: The former Bel Age is transformed into a luxury modern hotel with 223 suites, a rooftop pool, and (in the future) a Gordon Ramsay restaurant; special opening rate of $249/night.
Miami
• Rumeur: New boutique at Miami Shores stocks local indie talents and one-of-a-kind jewelry.
New York
• Ago: Tuscan-inspired restaurant — which also has locations in Vegas, Palm Beach and L.A. — has opened in Tribeca’s Greenwich Hotel.
• Artichoke: A new East Village pizza joint, which opened last week, is already drawing comparisons to Brooklyn’s legendary Di Fara.
• Dunderdon: Swedish label for utilitarian fashions opens a flagship store in Soho.
• Greenwich Grill: New Tribeca restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine with Japanese influences.
• Greenwich Hotel: Robert DeNiro’s long-awaited Tribeca hotel — 88 unique rooms, including 13 suites and a 2,500 square foot penthouse — opened yesterday.
• Joe: Popular West Village coffee shop opens a new branch in Chelsea.
Philadelphia
• Thread: Chestnut St. beauty bar offers threading, facials and eco-friendly polishes; for serious unwinding, Wednesdays are “mani and martini” night.
San Diego
• Swiv Tackle Circus: This “gallertique” – that’s part-gallery, part-boutique – opened last week; shop for local designers like Pony Attack!! while browsing the current painting exhibit.
San Francisco
• Acrimony: New Hayes Valley boutique stocks designs by Hellz Bells and United Bamboo; grand opening party is on April 11th.
• Beretta: This Mission restaurant promises to be a new destination for late night dining and serious cocktails.
• Chez Papa: Jocelyn Bulow’s Potrero Hill bistro expands with a second location at Mint Plaza; open for dinner, lunch service forthcoming.
Santa Monica
• South: This new restaurant hopes to be a West Coast destination for southern cuisine; expect hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, and mint juleps.
Tokyo
• Satine: This Los Angeles boutique, which stocks lines like Viktor & Rolf, Thakoon, and Steven Alan, recently opened a shop in the city’s Aoyama District.
Washington D.C.
• Donovan House: The Thompson Hotel brand just opened its first property in D.C.; a night in one of its 193 guest rooms starts at about $340.