OUR PICKS NO.2

This week: Where would you go for a month to be an apprentice for a master shoemaker?

Heidi: ummmm....

Charlotte: Budapest!

In fact, I'm here this very moment, stuffed to the brim with bean goulash, sketching a handsome monk strap shoe, and repeating  "köszönöm" aloud, each time with less confidence.  

 Expect reports in the next month on Budapest, cordwaining, and anything in between. But first, a small note on Koronya, Budapest's renowned bespoke shoe and boot atelier (where I am an apprentice).

Koronya is operated by master shoemaker Marcell Mrsán, a true artisan and pioneer in this renaissance of quality handcrafts. 

While most shoemakers tend to be cagey about the secrets of their trade, Marcell has made it his mission to preserve the traditional techniques of cordwaining.  He offers apprenticeships to aspiring shoemakers and demands nothing less than perfection from his pupils, just as was expected of him as a youngster at an Hungarian trade school.

So I'm here to tell you I survived my first day of the apprenticeship, wound-free. More reports to come... 

PATTERNS III

The Berbers of Morocco are the outsider artists of the rug merchant world. Their semi-nomadic, tribal history has kept them clear of trends and consumer demand- mainly the classical symmetries of Middle Eastern models- leaving us with wildly imaginative wool creations.

via NYTimes

TIED UP

Probably old news for most, but mainsai is new to us and we love it!

Our favorite pieces from the collection are inspired, not so subtly, by sailor knots- but the larger focus is on wartime relics. It's worth a look, we think.

(available at bird!)

OUR PICKS NO.1

When we were kids, a regular activity for us was to make a choosing game out of everything- probably a method to cope with our mom dragging us around town from antique shop to framing store to grocery store. Some scenarios were more elaborate than others, but more often than not we would make each other choose which shower fixture, which painting or which cheese, whatever the situation might be, we would want from the selection in front of us. We took this very seriously. Your decision was not to be taken lightly- judgement was being passed and it would be totally disreputable to have a sister with questionable taste (pretty intense 10 year olds, huh?) Here is our attempt at recreating this childhood game...

Each week we choose a category and make 'our picks'

This week: Brooklyn restaurant

Heidi's pick: Vinegar Hill House

oven roasted octopus

cast iron chicken

crushed roasted beets

a bottle of this Croatian red, Ottocento Crni

Charlotte's pick: The Good Fork

fried oyster po'boy

homemade ricotta gnocchi

steve's key lime pie

gin, mint, lemon cocktail

PATTERN ON PATTERN ON PATTERN ON

THE SISTERS

We love the book covers that Vanessa Bell did for her sister, Virginia Woolf's, first edition books.

THE NOTES ON MOVING

Eadweard Muybridge

The guy who famously settled the bet of whether all four of a horse's hooves are off the ground at the same time when galloping.

THE CHOP SERIES

CHOP No. 1

Best Made Company

"...celebrating the collision between a Best Made axe and wood."

I've watched this over and over. I'm mesmerized. The music is by one of my favorites, Nico Muhly. Directed by Finn O'Hara.