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New Vietnamese retreat with pool in every villa
Namia River Retreat opened last month on the banks of the Thu Bon River in Hoi An, a coastal city in central Vietnam. The tranquil setting of all 60 villas between the sea and palm forests inspires the resort's wellness programme. Activities include yoga, meditation, Duong Xin (an indigenous form of tai chi) sessions, and swimming in the saltwater pool. Enjoy a riverside sauna, explore Hoi An on a bamboo bicycle, or take a sunset river cruise. The indoor and outdoor spa specializes in traditional Vietnamese medicine using herbs grown on-site and in nearby gardens. The villa itself is more luxurious than you would expect at a wellness resort. Each room has a private pool, sunken bathtub and outdoor shower. The décor also incorporates local flair, from ash furniture made near Da Nang to artisan-carved wooden wall hangings and photographs depicting life in Vietnam. For food, choose from two restaurants: Seafood spot Fisherman and Merchant, which offers a playful menu of cocktails inspired by street food (Hoi An Chicken Rice Com Ga, with local rum There are equally non-traditional dishes, such as Cao Lau carbonara, which is made with rice and chicken broth), and the carbonara of Cao Lau, whose sauce is made with duck eggs. From $700 per night, slh.com/hotels/namia-river-retreat.
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Chocolate box with collection card
Parisian chocolate company Debauve & Gallais was founded 225 years ago by Sulpice Debauve, a pharmacist to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who later became the official chocolate supplier to the King of France. He introduced the confectionery to the royal court as a health remedy and, according to Brand, invented the first chocolate at the time that could be chewed instead of a drink. These chocolat à croquets (flat medallions shaped like old coins) are a signature product that remains Debeauve & Gallé's best-selling product today under the name Pistol de Marie Antoinette. Along with chocolate bars, truffles, croquemandes (chocolate-covered almonds created for Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807), and other confections whose recipes have remained largely unchanged, Pistol's remains half the store's original They are displayed like jewels behind the circular pharmacy counter. But when Domitille Jorois joined the company as president in 2022, she unearthed a basement full of old packaging, drawings, and recipes that sparked an organizational update. The packaging has been lightly revamped, with US-based illustrator Ilya Milstein working to revive a long-forgotten Parisian tradition: the chromos. A form of advertising in the mid-19th century, these small picture cards depicting scenes from everyday life or fables were created by the leading illustrators of the time and printed using chromolithography. These were popularized by Aristide Boucicault, founder of Le Bon Marche, and were released weekly for decades. DeBeauve & Gallé hid their illustrated cards in boxes of chocolates that children could collect and trade. Starting this month, customers can find five new chromos inside every chocolate box featuring portraits of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Napoleon, Marcel Proust and Sonia Rykiel. “We wanted an artist who would capture the childlike spirit of tradition and highlight our most prestigious clients,” says Milstein's Jorois. “What connects them all is chocolate.” From about $28, debauve-et-gallais.com.
In 2020, designer Lindy McDonough launched Lindquist, a leather goods brand that handcrafts bags, wallets, belts, and more from its headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island. We’re seeing exponential growth in everything,” McDonough said. Lindquist's vegetable-tanned leather is made in a 100-year-old family-owned Brazilian tannery that transports its products in salt rather than in solutions containing heavy metals. To minimize waste, the brand reworks leftover leather pieces and reuses them as parts for larger items and accessories. Its latest design, the Rose Duffle, is made from a single piece of leather and decorated with Swiss-made brass hardware. The handle, shoulder strap and piping are all made from the same leather, with “no filler, no canvas, no cardboard,” McDonough says. And the waxed linen thread that holds it together comes from one of France's oldest thread manufacturers. Lindquist's customer service also continues after the purchase is complete, for travelers who don't think they'll be able to make it to the end of their trip without their luggage sustaining some damage. “Send it back to us,” McDonough says. “We've got you covered.'' From $2,400, lindquist-object.com.
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We also offer food delivery services and soups with wellness in mind
In 2022, former fashion consultant Natasha Poniatowski looked at the crowded food delivery industry and noticed a void. She says no one was taking a holistic approach to health and nutrition. “We are a wellness service for foodies,” she says of her company, Laroot World, which serves dishes like Ukrainian borscht and Indian dhal. Laroot sold its first meal to a New Yorker in 2023. Since then, deliveries have expanded to New Jersey and Connecticut. Every week, Makai Brown, the brand's culinary director, plans a new set of dishes for delivery. Goodies like Swedish Turkey Meatballs and Kung Pao Sweet Potatoes are approved by a panel of medical experts with backgrounds ranging from clinical nutrition to traditional Chinese medicine. “We want you to feel like someone was cooking for you this week and taking care of you,” Brown says. For the new year, the chef has launched a three-day meal kit aimed at helping people detox for the holidays. The package includes three soups a day, including oxtail bone soup simmered for over 24 hours, plus soups, stews, and teas. Products can also be purchased individually from the company's online shop. From $350, larootworld.bottle.com.
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A sunny Lisbon hotel with apartment-style rooms
For years, former British diplomat Anna Richardson traveled from her home in London to Lisbon for work and holidays with friends, her husband and their three young children. But she says she couldn't find a hotel that felt “just right,” one that was “intimate, yet spacious, and with all the comforts of home.” When her real estate developer father, Andrew Richardson, purchased a historic building in Lisbon with business partner David Clarkin in 2018, she was given the opportunity to help build the perfect hotel of her own. The result is Verse (its name is inspired by poetry and local fado music), which opened last month in the Sao Bento neighborhood. Each of the 15 apartments has a king bed plus a campeggi sofa bed, a Sonos sound system, and a fully equipped kitchen. For the interior, Richardson hired Portuguese artist and architect Joana Astolfi of Studio Astolfi and commissioned local artists and craftsmen to create the tiles, rugs, and paintings. Many of the walls, wardrobes and tables are painted in bright shades of sand, pink and terracotta to reflect the hues of the Portuguese landscape. The ground floor lobby and bar menus are also inspired by the surrounding environment and feature a selection of local organic cheeses and charcuterie. Since Richardson doesn't drink much alcohol, they also have a wide selection of non-alcoholic cocktails. Her personal favorite is Jasmine Breeze, a refreshing tonic made with jasmine tea, cucumber and lemon juice. From about $210 per night on theverse.com.
Italian fashion house Loro Piana was founded in 1924 by Pietro Loro Piana, but its origins date back to the 1800s, when the Loro Piana family began trading wool in Piedmont, northern Italy. Known for its soft cashmere clothing, the brand expanded beyond fashion in 2006, creating furniture and design pieces using cashmere sourced from baby goats in northern China and Mongolia and merino wool from Australia and New Zealand. I made it. This month, at the Paris Deco Off design fair, the brand will unveil its latest interiors collection, which includes new textiles such as ultra-fine merino wool and velvet linen. The furniture includes pieces created by designers Raphael Navot, Francesca Lanzavecchia and Paola Navone's Otto Studio. Nabot is behind the Palm armchair, a curvaceous chair made of velvet and rattan upholstery. Lanzavecchia, on the other hand, took inspiration from latticework to design Trama, a bookshelf and room divider made of solid walnut and fabric panels. A special capsule within the new collection, named Fiore di Caldo, features embroidered, printed and woven motifs of thistle flowers, representing the tools once used to polish the surfaces of precious fabrics in the original Loro Piana. We offer decorated wallpapers and silk and wool upholstery. factory. Sales start from January 15th. Please contact loropiana.com for pricing.
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