Dutch Design: Piet Boon, the Jane

If you follow my posts you might know that I really  like some of Piet Boon's work, still love the defender he designed. That's why I wanted share with you what he and his team realized for Sergio Herman and Nick Bril of the Jane in Antwerp.

Sergio and Nick

The renovation of a military chapel began nearly three years ago, when Michelin-star chef Sergio Herman and chef Nick Bril approached Piet Boon with a vision for “fine dining meets rock ‘n roll.” The result is reflective of Boon’s appreciation for materials that age gracefully, highlighting many of the existing textures the space contained with insertions of glass, stone, leather and oak.

Piet Boon: “Based on our belief in authenticity, functionality and materials that ‘age beautifully’ we chose to restore only the highly necessary in the chapel and hence preserve the rest. The original ceiling amongst others conveys the pure, understated and respectful environment that serves as the authentic host for the ultimate fine dining experience.”

On the spot of the former organ, there is a bar where meals and cocktails are served. The kitchen in a glass cabin has taken the place of the altar. Where the prie-dieu chairs once stood, design tables and seats have found their place. The combination of low tables and seats with regular tables makes the whole ground floor look like the pit of a theatre. “Thanks to the original floors we opted to keep intact and to the peeled-off paint of the ceiling, accentuating the age of the building and adding just that little bit of ‘squat effect’ that makes this place especially attractive. The lamps, fabrics and further decoration were in the hands of our Creative Designer Karin Meyn”, Rienk Wiersma (architect in the team of Piet Boon) explains.

Perhaps the most striking intervention is the massive chandelier that dominated the airspace of the ground floor, and extends its branches throughout the dining room. Designed by Beirut’s .PSLAB, the 800 kilogram chandelier comprises over 150 lights, extending over an area more than 100 square meters in size. It’s simultaneously imposing and intimate; although operating on a grand scale, the individual points of light seem to draw the room together.

In 2015 the Jane was acclaimed as the most beautiful restaurant in the world at the presentation of the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards in London. The Jane carried off both the Award for the ‘Best Overall Restaurant’ and the Award for the ‘Best International Restaurant’. For the occasion, the jury composed of chefs, hôteliers, designers and journalists assessed the interior decoration and the character of the catering businesses rather than their culinary achievements.

So if you’re in Antwerp do stop for dinner as the Jane is not only a design experience, but the food is also beautiful and delicious.

Ellie van Doorne

What do think of these prints by Ellie Vandoorne? I just love her bird/ flower head girls, just can't choose which one to get :)

About Ellie and her work: She was born in France, went to school in England, trained in Sydney and then moved back to the UK. Her design and artwork is varied, but really creative and vivacious. She collaborates with other creative people like for instance designer Matthew Williamson on the cover of his book ‘Matthew Williamson: Fashion, Print and Colouring Book’.

Ocean Girl by Ellie Vandoorne, more info

Butterfly Girl by Ellie Vandoorne, more info

Bird Girl by Ellie Vandoorne is a mixed media piece using pencil and collage.
The girl in this artwork was heavily inspired by a photo of Celia Hammond

taken by Bert Stern for the July issue of Vogue 1963. More info

This is how Bird Girl looks against a beautiful Matthew Williamson wallpaper.

Laugh

Summer 2017 Fragrance Favourites

My favourites for this summer:

1) Acqua di Parma, Peoni Nobile
The gardens of Italy's old aristocratic villas are exclusive spaces where art, nature and culture live in peaceful harmony. They reflect tales of aristocratic femininity in a sequence of compositional masterpieces. A radiant feminin Eau de Parfum that reveals a sophisticated femininity abounding in unexpected nuances. Introduced in  2016, by Acqua di Parma. 

Top notes: raspberry, pepper 
Heart notes: geranium, peony, rose 
Base notes: amber, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla  

2) Lancome, O d’Azur
O d`Azur is a luminous, fresh floral-fruity fragrance composed of elegant, spicy aromas of pink pepper on a gentle base of warm, woody notes and musk.

Top notes: will refresh you with zests and pulp of Calabrian lemon and bergamot aromas. 
Heart notes: peony, Turkish rose petals, decorated with pink pepper, 
Base notes: woody notes, ambrette seed and sensual musk.  

3) Acqua di Parma, Aranca di Capri
Capri is an island like no other. Its natural emblem is the orange. Sunny as this radiant and relaxing fragrance. Its soothing notes of perfume produce a deep sensation of harmony, as when contemplating Capri's idyllic landscape. Fresh, crisp top notes of Sicilian oranges and tangerines essential oils, Sorrento lemons and grapefruit. In the heart notes, essence of petit grain blends with the intense fragrance of maté leaves, while essential cardamom oil expresses its resolute, original character. In the base notes, a slight hint of caramel blends perfectly with the more sensual notes of musk which warms the fragrance so that it lingers on the skin. 

Top notes: calabrian bergamot, italian mandarin, orange, grapefruit 
Heart notes: cardamom, mate, petit grain 
Base notes: caramel, musk 

4) Byredo, Gypsy Water
Gypsy Water o is a Woody Aromatic fragrance for women and men. 

Top notes: bergamot, lemon, pepper and juniper 
Heart notes: incense, pine needles and orris root 
Base notes: amber, vanilla and sandalwood 

5) Maison Martin Margiela, Replica Beach Walk
The house of Martin Margiela launched collection their of fragrances called Replica in 2012, as an addition to the Replica fashion line. The collection started out with three perfumes for women named Flower Market, Beach Walk and Funfair Evening. Each of them triggers a characteristic memory and is accompanied with a cotton label describing its provenance.   Perfumers who were invited to participate in creation of the new collection are Jacques Cavallier and Marie Salamagne. Beach Walk opens with citruses – bergamot and lemon, and develops with pink pepper, ylang-ylang, coconut milk, musk and heliotrope.   The fragrances are poured into classical, simple bottles similar to those in apothecaries, while their outer carton is illustrated with a photograph reflecting the topic of each of the fragrances.   

Top notes: bergamote, pink pepper, lemon 
Heart notes: ylang ylang, transluzone, heliotrope, coconut milk 
Base notes: musc, cedar wood, benzoin       

Super easy skinny veggie crockpot lasagna

Love this recipe by Pinch of Yum! 

This skinny Veggie Crockpot Lasagna? Packed with good-for-you veggies, super easy to make, and made with a handful of simple ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• (2) 24 ounce jars or cans of Italian tomato sauce (see notes)

• 9 thick lasagna noodles with wavy edges (mine were called bronze cut)

• 24 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese OR cottage cheese

• 3-4 cups chopped vegetables of choice (I used kale)

• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella or Provolone cheese

• Parmesan cheese for topping

• fresh parsley for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spray the crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Spread ½ cup tomato sauce to the bottom so the noodles don't stick.
2. Break noodles so that they fit and mostly cover the bottom. They will probably be awkward looking - not a big deal. Cover with about one third of the ricotta, veggies, sauce, cheese, and end with noodles. Repeat layers two more times for a total of three complete layers. End with a layer of noodles on top, covered with a thin layer of sauce and a little bit more shredded cheese.
3. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Turn the crockpot off completely and let the lasagna sit for at least one hour. This allows all the moisture to get soaked into the lasagna, and if you don't do this it will probably be more like lasagna soup - still good, but not pretty. Depending on how long you let it sit, you can either scoop pieces out or just cut with a knife like normal lasagna.

NOTES
I didn't use ALL the sauce in both jars - I probably used a total of 36 ounces (about one and a half jars), and it was really saucy. And also check out this super easy video.

This morning ...

Live the life you love

“love the life you live.

live the life you love.” 
- Bob Marley -

Magical street art in Johannesburg!

Street art is popping up all over Johannesburg, and the rest of South Africa for that matter, even international renowned streetartists find their way to they city. Durban, Cape Town and Joburg are street art hot spots and street artists and appreciators are fond of areas like Woodstock, Newtown and Troyville to name a few. In Joburg much of the city’s public art is concentrated in the Newtown Cultural Precinct.

Just down from Gandhi Square, where Mahatma Ghandi’s contribution to South Africa is commemorated, is one of the country’s most impressive pieces of street art. Una Salus Victis Nullam Sperare Salutum can be found on the corner of Rissik and Fox Streets and is renowned artist Faith47’s massive rendering of galloping and fighting zebra (zebra may look adorable but the males attack each other mercilessly for the right to mate: routinely biting, stomping and ‘thwacking’ each other with their heavy necks and bodies).

The Latin inscription is from a poem by Virgil written in 19BC and means: 
‘The only hope for the doomed is no hope at all’. Or in longer form: 
‘The only safety for the vanquished is to abandon the hope of safety. 
Surrendering to the knowledge that there is no hope, can bring courage.’ 

The juxtaposition of a classical Roman poet with something as primal and dynamic as zebra somehow mirrors the seeming paradox of the quote. Creative director Donyale Mackrill is dwarfed by the mural, which takes up a city block and was painted in the deserted lot after a department store was demolished.

If you go down to Doornfontein in Johannesburg today you are in for a big surprise. Look up along Sivewright Avenue as you travel north in the direction of Yeoville and there, hanging on the wall of an otherwise ordinary commercial face-brick block, is an elephant, a rhinoceros, a giraffe and other wild creatures.

They appear to be lying across the reinforced concrete beams, their limbs hanging limply, their eyes closed. Asleep or extinct – the artist has left it up to you to decide.

The remarkable work is by Belgian street artist ROA and is one of a new collection of large-scale murals that dot the eastern part of the city, spreading out from the Maboneng district.

It is part of the I Art Joburg project that launched this month with five artists – ROA, Steve "Espo" Powers from New York City, Remed from Madrid, Durban's Cameron Platter and the pioneer of South African graffiti culture, Falko, from Cape Town.

The Orlando Towers are one of the most recognizable landmarks in Soweto. All that remains of a defunct power station, the towers’ lively murals were designed by Janine Kleinschmidt, who was inspired by both the ordinary and famous faces of the sprawling township. The Soweto String Quartet – founded in 1992 by four classically trained black musicians who use Western instruments to make African sounds – are sandwiched between a black-and-yellow Metrorail train (hundreds of thousands of commuters use them daily to get from work to home) and a domestic helper, emblematic of the millions of black women who earn a living cooking, cleaning and taking care of children in other peoples homes.

The towers also depict women warming themselves around a brazier – a common sight in winter – and Regina Mundi church, the largest black Roman Catholic church in the country and the scene of many clashes during the struggle against apartheid. You can visit Regina Mundi (which means ‘Queen of the World’) on a walking tour of the history of Orlando

The German street art duo Herakut painted this signature mural which reads “You Can Not Catch Me So Just Let Me Be”. Impressive is the beautiful reflection in the eyes. If you are in Joburg, you’ll find it in Old Chinatown near the corner of Commissioner and Miriam Makeba Streets. 

The Long Wait by Faith47

Miners are waiting for justice. workers are waiting for a living wage.

Men are waiting for jobs. we are all waiting for an honest politician.

So many people are waiting for others to do things first. to take the blame.

To do things for them. to take the fall. to build the country. to admit defeat.

There has been so much waiting in this country that much time has been lost. –Faith47

Freddy Sam was invited to paint a 40 Meter tall Nelson Mandela mural in the east city of Johannesburg commissioned by the Maboneng precinct as a gift to the city in memory of this giant of a man. The mural is inspired by Madiba’s definition of ‘Ubuntu’ which is: ‘You cannot be human all by yourself’.  The artist chose to paint the iconic image of him boxing as he believed all were equal in the ring. Also this wall is not to far from the rooftop where this image was taken.

Helleborus

The Helleborus is welcome sight in the garden as it remains green all year and has beautiful flowers that start bloom in mid winter ( sometimes while the ground is still covered with snow) until end of spring. They come in different variations of  white, pink, purple, and green. 

Helleborus has a lot of nicknames, including “Christmas Flower”, “Hellebore”, and “Snow Rose”. However, don’t let these sweet names fool you. 

Growing hellebores is a worthwhile task for the gardener. Aside from lovely and unusual flowers, the hellebore plant has attractive green foliage that is aesthetically pleasing in the landscape. Once established, hellebore care is minimal. 

Soaking the soil in which the hellebore is growing helps the hellebore plant to look its best. Hellebore care includes removal of older leaves when they appear damaged. Care for hellebores should also include careful fertilization. Too much nitrogen may result in lush foliage and a shortage of blooms.

This herbaceous or evergreen perennial is disliked by deer and other animal pests prone to munching on plants. All parts of the hellebore plant are poisonous, so take care to keep children and pets away.