On a recent venue scouting trip on the lower east side, we happily found ourselves stepping inside Doughnut Plant. If you haven’t been we suggest moving this to the top of your ‘MUST DO LIST’! To call these tasties just a ‘doughnut’ would be doing a great disservice- this is breakfast reinvented! Starting with the top right photo we sampled: Pistachio, Hazelnut, Tres Leches, Creme Brulee and the Vanilla Bean & Blackberry Jam. They were all divine, but our hearts belong to the Tres Leches perfection each and every time. www.doughnutplant.com
We take our morning tea each day in these functional, delicate, perfectly simple Termisil glass mugs. Manufactured by Glass Works Wołomin in Poland since 1905, they are made of borosilicate glass — heat resistant glass first developed in Germany in the 1890s. We find all liquids taste and look better in these small mugs — including water, milk and even wine! What we love most about the design is that it feels evocative of the Bauhaus and drinking vessels in early 20th century cafés in Berlin and Vienna. Closer to home and present day think Café Sabarsky, one of our favorite spots in Manhattan.
DO YOU HAVE A SINGLE FAVORITE CAKE THAT YOU HAVE CREATED TO DATE OR IS THAT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION? I would have to say the Honeycomb cake we did for the NY Magazine Spring/Summer ’12 issue, it was to use the “ombre” theme and create a cake. It’s a very graphic and modern cake but had really soft and beautiful groupings of white and yellow flowers. My husband jokes that it’s a blend of my interior design/architecture background and cake design…he thinks the hexagon pattern looks like floor tile. WHAT IS THE BEST BUSINESS ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN AND WHAT IS THE BEST BAKING ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN? The best business advice I was given when I first started in interiors and architecture is that everything you send out the door and every conversation you have is a representation of your company/brand, meaning stop and review and pay attention to the details. The best baking advice I’ve been given is when you are starting out, say yes to everything you can and then work your tail off. Nothing wins the heart of a client more than being able to take on a last minute order for them in an emergency. IF YOU COULD BAKE A CAKE FOR ANYONE — IN PRESENT DAY OR THROUGHOUT HISTORY, REAL LIFE OR FICTIONAL — WHO WOULD IT BE, FOR WHAT OCCASION AND WHAT TYPE OF CAKE? It would be for Forrest Church, who sadly passed away the fall of 2009. I only knew him through being a member of his congregation at All Souls and through his books. The occasion would be a long lunch to chat, share ideas and thank him for his inspiration and courage. It would be the dark chocolate cake with the triberry compote filling served with a bit of vanilla ice cream and a great cup of coffee. In the mantra of Forrest, do what you can, want what you have and be who you are.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY? Having a dance party with my twin nieces.
COMB OR BRUSH? Neither. The curse of having very curly hair as a child made me dislike brushes and combs.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME? Yes. My last name is fairly unique and there weren’t too many Lauren’s. I’m getting used to the new addition to my last name…White.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS…………….32. WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT? Appetizers, we’re heading to a friend’s “Stock the Office” party for his newly launched interior design firm, hopefully there might be a late dinner afterwards!
As avid fans of Downtown Abbey we were thrilled when Matthew proposed to Lady Mary at the end of Season 2. We watched nervously on Sunday night to find out if the wedding was going to take place and happily it did! Our favorite moment was when Mary steps down the stairs and turns so that we see her dress for the first time. We loved the drive to the church in the convertible with the perfect white banners strung up and the townspeople cheering along the way- how festive! We only wish that they had invited us to the reception to celebrate.
We here at THE BATON are avid collectors of vintage books. My favorite are vintage travel guides. Not limited at all to your standard Blue Guide or Fodor’s, titles in my growing collection include Paris is a Woman’s Town(1929) and Where Paris Dines (1929). I have found these books to be not only relevant historical documents of a city and its culture at the very moment they were written and published — a true representation of the zeitgeist — but also just really great reads. In Where Paris Dines, Julian Street wittily described Le Select in Montparnasse as follows: “Of the four large cafés on the block this one is perhaps the sanest, though I did encounter there one evening an astrologer girl from Nebraska who was busy being a bohemian. Those things are, however, bound to happen, and I know, on the other hand, that the Select has among its patrons some painters who can really paint. Like its neighbors, this café has an American bar and serves cold suppers, Welsh rarebit, cheese fondue and special dishes. It is a pleasant place, not so exciting as the jazzed-up Coupole, across the way, but with better service and a more friendly air. An advertisement tells me it is open all night. I suppose the others are, too, but I never sat up to find out.” LOVE IT.
Take a look at this second video from the Canon Campaign that Christian Oth shot of our Central Park Zoo wedding. A rare glimpse into how the end photos come to be. You can read more about this on Christian‘s website,www.christianothstudio.com.
as interviewed by Angie Nevarez, co-author of THE BATON: YOU ARE AN AUTHOR, WRITER, RESEARCHER, MOTHER, SISTER, DAUGHTER, ALUMNA, DEDICATED COMMUNITY MEMBER AND SEEKER OF THINGS THAT DELIGHT — HOW DO YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF?
I love to introduce myself as Ella and Grace’s mother — it’s my favorite position in life and the one I find most inspiring.
HOW HAS YOUR FIRST MAJOR PUBLICATION, THE INVENTION OF CHIC: THÉRÈSE BONNEY AND PARIS MODERNE, INFLUENCED YOUR LIFE AND WORK?
In the most tangible sense, I discovered new subject matter while I was researching and writing this book. It pretty much set my course for the next several years and very much continues to do so. In a less tangible but certainly more profound sense, I met a lot of fascinating and generous people here and in Europe during the preparation of The Invention of Chic — many of whom I remain close friends with. I am still in awe of all of the doors that were opened to me during that process and all of the information very willingly exchanged. This generous and open spirit has definitely influenced my professional life resulting in a number of great collaborations and connections with other scholars and writers.
WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?
Two books, two articles and this blog! WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
My family first and foremost. And second, travel — with my family, of course. COMB OR BRUSH?
A large wooden paddle brush — it’s the only thing that can get through this head of hair. DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
I do, although its a bit of a mouthful — Lisa Pilar Schlansker Kolosek. I especially enjoyed growing up with the middle name Pilar — its so beautiful and strong and I was named after a family friend in Spain which I find quite endearing. In fact, I think it’s such a good name that I passed it on to my daughter Grace as her middle name. She really likes it too. FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS…………….
something I hope makes me more interesting and something I know makes me more confident. I don’t worry about the small things like I used to and I know myself so much better now which is really quite liberating. WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
Lovely organic blueberry pancakes. Its been a crazy day……….
We just noticed that at the end of this month the New York City Ballet will once again be performing Bal de Couture — last fall’s much anticipated ballet choreographed by Peter Martins to music by Tschaikovsky and costumes by Valentino. Perhaps most interesting about this work is the fact that Martins indeed choreographed this piece AFTER Valentino’s costumes. The idea of fashion houses designing for the ballet is certainly not new, but remains as romantic and intriguing as ever. Coco Chanel designed ballet costumes as early as the 1920s and Karl Lagerfeld continued this Chanel tradition in 2009 with his Dying Swan costume for the English National Ballet. New York City Ballet commissioned Stella McCartney to create costumes for Ocean’s Kingdom, a ballet also choreographed by Martins to a beautiful score by her father Sir Paul. But our favorite intersection of fashion and ballet is without question Rodarte’s costumes for Benjamin Millepied’s 2012 ballet Two Hearts, hauntingly scored by Nico Muhly — simply sublime. We love this photograph of Valentino from VOGUE last year and this video about his collaboration with NYCB.
