EDITORIAL ARCHIVE

A Drink?, Cocktails, Eat | Drink, Los Angeles

Fig & Olive The Music Collection Release Event

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nvited to attend the Fig & Olive Music Collection Release Event on Wednesday, December 4th I was beyond elated to be heading to the pristine Melrose Place restaurant where Chef Pascal Lorange creates truly delightful Mediterranean inspired cuisine. The space has been home to Grammy Events, Oscar Events, celebrity parties and the like but it’s not because it is pretentious. In fact it boasts a truly wonderful airy feel, spacious rooms, earthy envelopment’s, crisp clean dècor with rich hues of color to warm you.

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Culture, Events, Los Angeles, Monthly Events

Eat Your Words Part 4

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This month’s series delves into the often uncomfortable moments where food begins an unraveling conversation about life, introspection, fear, complacency, adventure, and truth. Each performer offers insight into a world even they are unprepared to share and it is raw and wonderful and, well, full of human moments.

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Fashion, Fashion | Health

Fashion Report – The AMAs

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This weekend’s AMAs had us cheering and voting for our favorite artists to win awards, wondering what Miley would do next (she didn’t let us down), and drooling over the gorgeous gown that walked the red carpet and the stage. Black and white seemed to be the “it” colors of the night and sequins and metallic took a place in the spotlight. See some of our favorites below,and check back on Thursday as we recreate two of these amaze looks for less!

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Music

Eroica Trio

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And yet, all of this pales in comparison to the headliner of the evening, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C Major for violin, cello, piano, and orchestra, performed by one of the most successful all-women chamber ensembles in the world, the Eroica Trio. Garnering its name from a Beethoven piece denoting a “middle-period” in the composer’s work where pieces henceforth were riddled with emotional depth and structural rigor, the group—made up of cellist Sara Sant’ Ambrogio, pianist Erika Nickrenz, and violinist Sara Parkins—similarly takes audience members aback with their incredibly magisterial ferocity and practiced wit. What better piece to emphasize the skills of the titan threesome than the Triple Concerto, a sporadically played arrangement that brings out the magical allure of each member, burdened with individual yet simultaneous solos throughout. Sant’Ambrogio said it best in a recent interview: “It is incredibly exciting watching three soloists toss these amazing melodies and virtuosic fireworks back and forth to each other and the orchestra while the conductor holds it all together and shapes that lush wave of orchestral sound that Beethoven is so famous for.”

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Art, Culture, Los Angeles

What Do You Worship

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Last night I attended an Art Exhibition unlike any other. Fashion, sculptures, photography, painting, music, soul, an infinite realm of art that extended its reach into me. The crowd peppered with familiar faces, gorgeous unknowns, smiling creatives, lustful glances, stolen touch – all swimming in a sea of inspiration that opened us up and invited us in.

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Arts | Culture, Interviews, Music

Andy Comeau and Dawn Lewis

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Andy Comeau is one of my favorite actors. If you don’t know his name, you are missing out. If you’ve ever watched Showtime, you may be familiar with the infinitely well-written, astoundingly performed, screwed up family drama, Award Winning HUFF starring Hank Azaria, Paget Brewster, Andy Comeau, Anton Yelchin, Blythe Danner, and Oliver Platt. Andy played the most endearing, mentally disturbed, heart-wrenching, heart warming brother, Teddy. HUFF is based on Dr. Craig “Huff” Huffstodt played by Azaria who has a teenage patient kill himself in his office. It causes an onslaught of story that unravels through 25 episodes. Teddy, played by Andy Comeau, is a character that to this day is one that deeply impacted me. He was so easy to love and empathize with in spite of the transparent imbalance of his psyche

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Culture, Exclusive, Featured, From the Editor

Time to Live

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We cannot predict or possibly fathom what may or may not happen but we can pause long enough not to miss the things happening right now. We can be grateful for a laugh, a smile, a hug, a kiss, an opportunity, an accomplishment, a breath, the birds in the trees, the sound of the ocean frolicking on the shore, the moment your kid says “I love you” and means it. We have for sure only THIS moment and regardless of how hard times may be or the challenges life continues to present, you are strong and you can survive – and you will. Today, think of all of the things happening in this world and I beg you to be in the present moment and find the wonder in that.

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Culture, GIVEAWAY

November GIVEAWAY No.1

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Want to win a copy of The New Food Lover’s Companion?

Thanks to Barron’s Educational Series, ATOD Magazine has been given 3 copies to giveaway to our readers. This week, send me a photo of your favorite homemade recipe and a list of ingredients. The most tasty, innovative and fun will win the 1st copy!

As a food lover, chef supporter, and believer in fresh quality ingredients, there is what I lovingly refer to as the FOOD BIBLE that is one of the greatest culinary references to any food meaning seeker.

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Eat | Drink

Wine and Wagyu

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The “Dairyman”, in my opinion, had much more character than the Silver Oak, and certainly complimented the intricate blueprint of the Wagyu. Rather than compounding the flavors into a long-after-finished linger as its Cabernet counterpart, this Pinot Noir serves more as a brief, albeit refreshing, clearing of the palate between bites. However, being the glutton that I am, my love affair with the smoother and prolonged effect of the Silver Oak’s constitution was almost a given before I’d sat down to enjoy the meal.

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Eat | Drink, Interviews, Wine & Beer, Wine Country

David Arthur + Laura Long of David Arthur Vineyards

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Soon after that event, I ran into David at the Pacific Wine Food & Wine Festival. The one thing you should know about David is he is one of the nicest men you’ll meet and he is a sheer pleasure to talk to. He has this uncanny magnetic draw that makes you want to stay and talk about wine, life, and really, anything as long as possible! He invited me to join him and his group of travelers and friends at Newport Beach’s 3Thirty3 and I happily did. I arrived and was sat inside with David and Antonello’s Sommelier Steve Ebol, a familiar face, Thaddeus Forret, and a group of David’s friends and colleagues. We all enjoyed wines that David graciously brought and poured because to him, what is the point of being around friends if you don’t enjoy wine, share stories and just live in the moment?!

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Culture, Fashion, Fashion | Health

Fashion Report: It’s All About the Kicks

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Running shoes with everyday wear no longer have to be on your fashion don’t list. These comfy shoes popped up everywhere on the streets of this years NYFW and their popularity is still growing momentum. Seen everywhere from urban outfitters to Instagram to the streets, this trend and the outfits we’ve prepared below will have your running to the store to purchase your very own pair.

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Culture, Writing, Writing Tips

Writing Tip No.3

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Put your pens down. Back those eager fingers away from the keyboard. VISUALIZE. Sure, visualizing seems more of a modality than an actual writing tip but let’s think about that for a moment. A writer (not researcher) works solely using memory and imagination, the ability to take words and string them together like a symphony. Imagine a musician. A musician must see the music … not literally on the page but as if the notes are dancing through the air.

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California, Eat | Drink, Special Event, Wine & Beer, Wine Country

Chronic Cellars Masquerade Ball

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The room is dimly lit with hues of reds and blacks, tables adorned with black linens, subtle lighting, stacks and stacks of barrels aged with time and fastened with story, a couple of couches strategically placed on the cold concrete floor, a photo booth for secrets and fun, and a V-shaped bar. Bottles of Chronic’s Bubbles – Spritz & Giggles, Reds – 2011 Ricardo Grande, late harvest Tranquilo, 2011 The Unteachables, and what I think is their bottle of 2012 Stone Fox line the bar top. At the pivoted corner? A neon lit Sangria fountain. Behind that, the man in the green mask (and bartenders) but him – well, HE is JOSEPH! I am elated!

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California, Eat | Drink, Los Angeles

Porktoberfest

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It is Halloween’s Eve, a little before 7 P.M. I pull into the parking lot outside of Five Crowns Restaurant and Steakhouse and immediately start to panic—valet parking. Suddenly I’m extremely nervous, not because I fear strangers driving my car, but because my car is literally beginning to disintegrate—rendering it almost inoperable. After three broken door handles inside and outside, getting in and out of my car has proven to be a difficult and ridiculous affair: I have to roll down my window and open it from the outside door handle (fortunately only halfway broken) to get out.

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Art, Arts | Culture, Culture, Interviews

Stacey Wells – An Artist with Abandon

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Stacey’s art is unapologetic, which is why she has been commissioned by so many and continues to be a name no one can forget: both in and out of the art world. In every stroke of color and every intended line, the complexity of story is ever present. Whether she is painting a bottle, canvas, immortalizing a rock star or Hollywood icon, there is a caveat of feeling: sexuality, strength, vulnerability, and exhilaration.

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California, Culture, Film, Limited Edition, OCMA Film, TV | FILM

Hankin, ’16 Acres’ appeals to the human side of politics

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When it comes to politics there are generally two sides of the fence: you’re either interested, or you aren’t. Then there are the rare moments when an event is so catastrophic, a policy so egregious, that everyone, young and old, find themselves getting involved whether they like it or not, out of moral obligation or personal vendetta. The devastating tragedy of September 11, 2001 is one of these. However, busy as we are supporting our troops, admonishing our government, or going about our lives with an air of indifference, it is perhaps the revelatory spotlight on the question of what to do with the 16 acres of land where the twin towers once stood that has plagued the nation—especially New Yorkers; a question whose answer lies in the celluloid folds of Richard Hankin’s aptly-named biographical documentary, 16 Acres.

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Culture, Music | Theatre

Pacific Symphony’s “Rodrigo’s Concierto”

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In the center of the lobby, classical guitarist Joseph Yashar crawls his fingers across guitar strings in a masterful rendition of Romance Anonimo, one of the most gorgeous and recognizable Spanish guitar pieces of all time, yet sadly attributed to an unknown composer. Others in the lobby are creating their own poetry with large magnetic tiles boasting phrases from Federico García Lorca’s poetry. The activities are an enticing precursor to the night’s main event and a burst of applause and the raising of wine glasses begin to emerge as the guitarist concludes, echoing the last note with precise fingertips.

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