Norma Kamali Opens Wellness Café in New York City
It started ten years ago with a simple message of promoting fitness and beauty through plant-based products and a healthy lifestyle.
The Wellness Cafe is a hidden gem. Kamali has created a tranquil aura with the cafe’s all-white décor and soft box lighting at her flagship store located at 11 West 56 Street in busy midtown Manhattan, where it seems there is no refuge for locals and visitors to escape the constant stress of everyday life.
The Cafe’s message is clear - our society has become unhealthy from pollution in the air, bacteria in water, fast food farming technology, pesticides, toxic personal care and cleaning products. Our bodies are constantly challenged for survival.
People are discovering that the effects of modern living - the increase in autism, early signs of senility in young adults, infertility, diabetes, obesity, and autoimmune diseases are the result of a toxic environment.
Every item is carefully chosen and tested by Kamali herself. At Norma Kamali’s Wellness Cafe, visitors can find delicious foods, stress relief solutions, remedies to relieve pain, nontoxic options for personal care and grooming, support options for good health and immune boosting as a supplement to the diet and even how and where to get an acupuncture facelift.
Norma’s non-processed food lifestyle inspired her to include an in-store bar that offers organic snacks, juices and soups. She also offers a selection of olive oil from Europe’s premier olive belt. The Wellness Cafe is Norma Kamali’s passion to providing non-toxic solutions in helping people change the way they look and feel.
11 West 56 Street, NYC
212 957 9797 x111
Email: thewellnesscafe@normakamali.com
Website: www.thewellnesscafe.com
Categories: Travel Tags: Café, City, Europe, food, Kamali, Norma, Norma Kamali, nyc, offers, opens, products, technology, Wellness, Wellness Cafe, York
Wii 2 price and tech spec details revealed?
First details suggesting tech specs and a price for Nintendo’s next console have emerged.
According to IGN, the system will use a revamped version of AMD’s R700 GPU for a graphics processor. This would put Nintendo’s system ahead of the PlayStation 3′s NVIDIA 7800GTX-based processor or the Xbox 360′s R500-based GPU.
The CPU for Project Cafe - the system’s apparent codename - is similar to that of the Xbox 360, based on a triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, though Nintendo’s system will reportedly have faster clock speeds than current hardware. It is also said that the system will output 1080p video with the possibility for stereoscopic 3D functionality, which could be an important feature with rumours of built-in Blu-ray[1].
In terms of price, IGN‘s sources predict Project Cafe to sell for between $ 350 and $ 400 (about £212 and £242) and could begin shipping as early as October 2011. The system is being manufactured at Foxconn in Taiwan, so the recent disasters in Japan should not impact production.
Though Project Cafe is the system’s rumoured codename, it seems Stream is one of many names in the running for its official title. Stream could be a reference to the rumoured ability to stream games onto the system’s controller[2].
The system is rumoured to be approximately the size of the original model Xbox 360, and visually resemble a modern interpretation of the Super Nintendo.
Rumours have suggested that its motion control functionality will be better than the PlayStation Move[3] and that developer Retro Studios is currently working on a game for the system[4].
Nintendo is to officially reveal its next home console at E3[5] in June.
Be first to get the latest entertainment news from Digital Spy on Twitter[6] and Facebook[7].
References
- ^ rumours of built-in Blu-ray (www.digitalspy.co.uk)
- ^ rumoured ability to stream games onto the system’s controller (www.digitalspy.co.uk)
- ^ motion control functionality will be better than the PlayStation Move (www.digitalspy.co.uk)
- ^ Retro Studios is currently working on a game for the system (www.digitalspy.co.uk)
- ^ Nintendo is to officially reveal its next home console at E3 (www.digitalspy.co.uk)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
Categories: Entertainment Tags: details, entertainment, home, IGN, Nintendo, Project Cafe, Retro Studios, Super Nintendo, system, Though Project Cafe
Wise for Some Restaurants, Coupons Are a Drain at Others
Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times
Alberto Ghezzi, left, and Michele Casadei Massari of the Piccolo Cafe, which embraces online coupons.
MARC MURPHY, who owns four restaurants in New York, gets pitched by salespeople all the time. But these days most of them seem to be selling the same thing: online deal ploys.
“Everyone and their mother is walking in the door with discount sites,” he said. Still, Mr. Murphy was taken aback by a conversation he had on the subway not long ago when another passenger recognized him from a television appearance. As they talked, the stranger mentioned that a friend of his had started a Web site that sold coupons for dining out. “Then he started pitching it right there,” Mr. Murphy recalled with amazement. “How many more of these can there be?”
With more than a dozen deal sites born each week, there is no end in sight. Groupon, BlackboardEats, VillageVines and hundreds of other ventures are hurling sales-force cadres at restaurant managers. The newbies join the venerable Restaurant.com as well as Open Table, Yelp, LivingSocial, Gilt City, DailyCandy, Thrillist and a host of others. Mike Scotese, an owner of the Grey Lodge Pub in Philadelphia, said he has rejected “15 different Groupon clones.”
Each site insists that its own proprietary Web gimmick will counter recession blahs with new-customer buzz while building repeat business. As millions of hungry bargain-hunters click on these dining deals, restaurant owners say it is unclear whether the great online social-coupon gold rush is the future of American eating or a new, faster way to go out of business.
“If you buy in, you may not make money,” said Mr. Murphy, who is the vice president of the New York City chapters of the New York State Restaurant Association. “Yet maybe you should be out there,” he added, because no restaurateur can bear being left behind.
Diners hardly seem conflicted. “When you’re trying to save money, a discount doesn’t hurt,” said Lauren E. LaRusso, 25, a graduate student in education at the University of Pennsylvania. “I assume that most of the other people at the restaurant don’t have coupons, and I feel good, that I’m a little smarter than them.”
And some sites seem to be prospering. Groupon rejected a $ 6 billion offer from Google and has its sights on an initial public offering that could value the company at nearly $ 25 billion. That figure strikes some analysts as overly optimistic, but Groupon’s cash flow (the company typically keeps half of revenue from coupons honored at participating restaurants) certainly looks enviable.
Many of the sites are leveraging their power by combining with social-networking powerhouses like Facebook and Twitter, and enhancing their usefulness with geographical overlays and mobile applications. Beyond the startups, legions of traditional brick-and-mortar businesses are jumping in, including The New York Times, which has announced it will offer daily e-mail deals, including some at restaurants.
The ones left struggling with this new math are the restaurateurs. As they run the numbers, the restaurateurs fall into several camps. The least conflicted are the cheerleaders.
“Our life changed after Groupon — we would do it again,” said Michele Casadei Massari, 35, an owner of two Piccolo Cafes in Manhattan. Groupon sells its online coupons for half their food value and then Groupon takes an additional 50 percent of the discount sales. On March 1, in a timed deal, Piccolo Cafe sold 1,142 coupons for $ 14 worth of food in 24 hours.
“You don’t make money on the deal,” Mr. Massari acknowledged, “but in the end we are even.”
That’s because “people spend more than on the coupon amount,” he said. “They’ve been ordering about double the $ 14 from us. And people usually bring other customers, who are paying full price.”
Beyond that, among those who are redeeming coupons, “80 percent have come back without a coupon,” he said.
Deal sites are catnip to restaurateurs because they purport to offer instant solutions to two enduring conundrums: how to get the word out when your place is new or (worse) no longer new, and how to fill seats on slow days and at slow times.
Categories: Foods Tags: business, company, coupon, coupons, food, Michele Casadei Massari, online, Piccolo Cafe, restaurant, social
Weekend Away: Downtown L.A.
Considering Los Angeles for a weekend escape? Downtown L.A. is the latest hotspot for the arts, entertainment, sports, dining, shopping and, of course, nightlife. With the opening of the dazzling new Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, your accommodation will be another of the many pleasures that await.
Our arrival in the intimate lobby with a minimalist Zen feel is a precursor for what’s to come. The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles is a boutique city sanctuary. It offers just 123 luxurious guest rooms and suites on the 22nd-26th floors of a gleaming 54-story tower that it shares with its sister hotel, The JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE and The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE.
Our bellman, Marty (drummer and former member of Blue Man Group), escorts us to our Club Level guest room. The sleek, contemporary design is a departure from Ritz-Carlton’s traditional, clubby aesthetic. The views pack the WOW factor – we can see north to the Hollywood sign and Griffith Park Observatory in the Hollywood Hills and as far west as Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean, past Century City and Beverly Hills.
The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles is at the center of one of the most exciting parts of the city, but our first thought is to unwind. I summon the Bath Butler to draw an aromatic bath complemented by a glass of Champagne and prepare to lure my husband into the decadent soaking tub that is large enough for two.
Continuing our post-trip relaxation, we meander down the hallway to the expansive Club Lounge for some afternoon Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. We are greeted by name by the Club Concierge who offers to help with reservations or transportation. From our window seats we are treated to a dramatic sunset with cloud formations creating a “fogdog” lighting up the skyscrapers of Century City – amazing!
From the Club Lounge we head to the 26th floor to check out the rooftop pool, Jacuzzi and bar surrounded by cabanas, conversational seating areas and loungers. There is also a 2,000-square-foot fitness center. We ask to see the Ritz-Carlton Suite on the 25th floor. Among the hotel’s 14 suites, The Ritz-Carlton Suite is the hotel’s largest at 3,000 square feet. It is equivalent to a Royal or Presidential Suite. Boasting the same incredible northern and western views that we have in our Club Level guest room, it features an expansive living area, dining room, kitchen, office space, master bedroom, along with a huge dressing area, marble bathroom with double shower and a central deep soaking tub facing televisions mounted in the mirrors of his-and-hers’ sinks.
We head back to our room to dress for dinner at celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s WP24. Located on the 24th floor of the hotel, WP24 Restaurant & Lounge features modern Chinese cuisine from a dining area with floor to ceiling windows providing a stunning view of the Los Angeles skyline. In addition to a spacious dining room and lounge, the restaurant offers a wine cave and two private dining rooms.
After dinner, we emerge from the hotel to stroll the L.A. LIVE pedestrian zone bordered by the STAPLES Center, Nokia Theatre, Club Nokia, Regal Cinemas, the Conga Room, Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge, The GRAMMY® Museum and a vast array of restaurants. The Staples Center is home to basketball’s Lakers, Clippers and Sparks, the NHL’s L.A. Kings, as well as big-name concerts. The Nokia Theatre also hosts a number of concerts as well as world-famous events like the Grammys, the Emmys and the American Idol finale. We re-enter the hotel through the JW Marriott lobby that is connected to the Ritz-Carlton lobby by a passageway. The JW Marriott lobby is sleek, futuristic and expansive featuring restaurants, a coffee house, hip bars and lounges.
The next morning we take advantage of the convenience of the Club Lounge for breakfast and then we are off to discover downtown. I haven’t been to Downtown L.A. since the mid-1990′s, so everything is new to me except the original historic locations. We get a walking map and head up to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, less than a mile from the hotel, where we take a free self-guided tour. Designed by Frank Gehry, it opened in 2003 as the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
One block from the Music Center is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). We continue past the Central Library where we turn onto Fifth Street in to the Historic Core with its Victorian, Beaux Arts and Art Deco buildings. We pass by 7th and Hill, where five thousand precious gem and metal retailers make up the largest Jewelry District outside of New York City.
The Bottega Louie Restaurant and Gourmet Market at 7th & Grand is the quintessential Italian café and an ideal spot for refreshments or lunch. The atmosphere is both sophisticated and welcoming and we decide to sample from the menu of delicious entrees and pastries. Revived and ready for new sights, our next stop is The GRAMMY® Museum. My favorite part is the special John Lennon exhibit (available until September 5, 2011). Other sightseeing choices include: the Fashion District, Chinatown, Olvera Street and El Pueblo, Little Tokyo, and the Arts District.
Foot-weary travelers like us can return to The Ritz-Carlton Spa, downtown L.A.’s only full-service hotel spa. This luxurious, 8,000-square-foot sanctuary is designed to reflect the glamour and excitement of Los Angeles with a “Champagne and Shimmer’ design theme of white and gold. With nine treatment rooms, two Eucalyptus steam rooms, cold plunge showers and two relaxation lounges, the Spa offers a true respite from the city. We loved the choice of mini-treatments for just $ 20 each: Invigorating Scalp Massage, Warming Foot Scrub and Massage, Stimulating Skin Brushing, Balancing Spinal Infusion, and Eye and Lip Wrinkle Repair. The Spa also offers a Couple’s Retreat Package and co-ed relaxation lounge.
Tonight, the view from our room treats us to the sliver of a new moon over the Hollywood Hills. The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles truly offers the best of both worlds – a pampering city sanctuary with the exciting world of entertainment at your feet. Once experienced, this is a destination you’ll want to return to again and again.
View Hotel Profile: The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles
DOWNTOWN L.A. INSIDER TIPS
DOWNTOWN L.A. GALLERY ASSOCIATION www.dtlagalleries.com
DOWNTOWN L.A. ART WALK www.downtownartwalk.com
THE GRAMMY MUSEUM: Permanent and rotating interactive exhibits. www.grammymuseum.org
BOTTEGA LOUIE: Best for lunch or brunch because it gets so loud at night. Definitely visit. www.bottegalouie.com
LA FILM FESTIVAL: This will be the second year the Festival is hosted Downtown and will begin in June. www.lafilmfestival.org
CANA RUM BAR: Terrific rum bar a few blocks from The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles. www.canarumbar.com
SUGARFISH: New sushi spot from a well known L.A. sushi master. www.sugarfishsushi.com
SEVEN GRAND: Very cool whiskey bar above Mas Malo. www.sevengrand.la
LA CONSERVANCY: Leads wonderful walking tours of downtown Los Angeles www.laconservancy.org
FIDM MUSEUM: A small museum that showcases different fashion related exhibits. Right now for example they have the costumes from the recently nominated Academy Award films. www.fidmmuseum.org
A BIT FARTHER AFIELD (longer walk or short drive)
THE VARNISH: A speakeasy-esque cocktail bar tucked into the back of Cole’s. Excellent cocktails. www.thevarnishbar.com
LAS PERLAS: The tequila/mezcal bar. www.lasperlas.la
BABYCAKES: The new Los Angeles outpost of the popular New York vegan bakery. www.babycakesnyc.com
DRAGO CENTRO: Fine dining Italian from a family that has been cooking in Los Angeles for ages.
www.dragocentro.com
Categories: Travel Tags: Club Level, Club Lounge, entertainment, foot, hotel, LIVE, Los Angeles, offers, return, Ritz Carlton
Bali profits from business of soul-searching
Being a Hindu yogi once meant renouncing worldly pleasures for a life of solitary meditation, wandering the jungle in search of union with god.
Today, new-age yogis wander the globe from one retreat to another, stay in luxury hotels and preach to the converted masses through a headset microphone.
At the Bali Spirit Festival last week, yogis sold their take on life - along with complementary DVDs - as visitors from as far afield as the United States, Australia and Europe lapped up expensive yoga apparel, mats and mala beads. Just stepping through the festival gates cost $ 100 a day.
“I bought a gold pass for $ 500 and I find it hard to get $ 100 worth of yoga a day. At the same time, all the classes have been amazing, so in the end, I’m happy to have paid that,” said Australian Jean Cameron, 39.
A 2008 study published by the Yoga Journal valued the yoga industry in the United States alone at almost $ 6 billion a year, with some more recent estimates for the global industry rising to $ 18 billion.
Bali is an obvious hub for yoga fanatics. The Balinese are Hindu, the Indonesian island is rich with natural beauty and the government supports spiritual tourism including temple tours and visits to traditional healers.
Demand for such experiences spiked recently with the publication of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir “Eat, Pray, Love” - a romantic journey of self-discovery featuring a mystical encounter with a Balinese soothsayer.
Uma Inder, a Hatha yoga teacher, has witnessed the radical transformation of yoga in Bali. She moved from England to the island 22 years ago, spending her first seven years practising yoga alone in the jungle.
“In those days you didn’t talk about yoga and no one really knew about it. Nowadays, it’s a social buzz. It’s now talked about, it’s paraded and it’s very much about entertainment,” Inder said.
Festival organiser Meghan Pappenheim makes no apologies for the commerciality of the event, and sees it as a positive way to draw more people to yoga.
“I’m the first to admit I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a capitalist. This event has a target market, and those are the people with the money who can go home and make a difference,” she said.
“My philosophy is that you make money and then you give it away. You make enough to buy a phone and a nice car, and you give the rest away.”
Only four years old, the festival itself is yet to turn a profit. But Pappenheim and her Balinese husband, Kadek Gunarta, say they have used the yoga boom to raise $ 36,000 for charity through various events.
The festival has a sponsor, Fiesta condoms, which donated $ 25,000 for an HIV/AIDS outreach programme for Balinese high school students.
So far, Pappenheim and her husband have funded the festival from money they make from a small empire of businesses, which include a yoga centre, an art gallery, an eco-friendly furniture studio and a cafe.
Pappenheim is optimistic that the festival too will become profitable as attendance numbers double annually. This year, she estimates 4,000 people participated.
Categories: Health & Fitness Tags: Bali, Bali Spirit Festival, business, event, first, From, give, industry, Meghan Pappenheim, profits, soulsearching, United States, Yoga Journal
