NY Magazine Travel: Montauk

The Five-Point Weekend Escape Plan

 

Mellow Out in Montauk

While the South Fork's most remote beach town has spawned a growing nightlife scene in recent years, there are still plenty of ways to enjoy its natural beauty and quieter pleasures.

By Julie Earle-Levine

Saturday, April 27

1. Where to Stay

Rooms at Ruschmeyer's feature a clean, cabin-inspired look.

Head from your room directly to morning yoga class on the sprawling green lawn at the East Deck Motel (from $210), located right on Ditch Plains. The lodgings are basic yet clean, but booking can be hard to come by since you have to send a deposit through the mail.

Wander into the Magic Garden at Ruschmeyer’s (from $195), a vast green space that’s perfect for chilling out in teepees, playing Ping-Pong, or lounging at movie night. The rooms are design-conscious and comfortable, with Moroccan rugs, wicker headboards, and cedar-plank walls. The mellow vibe continues in the morning, with a complimentary breakfast of fresh-pressed juices, Greek yogurt, and avocado toast.

Choose the most stylish new locale in town, the Montauk Beach House (from $479), which is opening for its first full summer this season. The rooms are all white or charcoal gray with leather loungers, coffee-table books, and modern art. This year, there’ll be silver costumed “mermaids” swimming in the pool for family photo ops and restored sixties Vespas for guests to use.

2. Where to Eat

Outdoor diners at local favorite Navy Beach.

Book early for this summer’s Love Feast dinner series, created by chef Jeff Schwarz (formerly of the Crow’s Nest) to highlight the East End’s local harvest and wine. Dinners will be capped at 75 guests ($75 per person) and consist of “veggie-intense” three-course meals offering handmade pasta with garlic scape pesto and a slow-cooked egg or asparagus served three ways. The first dinner takes place June 21 at Amber Waves Farm, and there will be one event per month; e-mail thelovefeast@gmail.com to reserve spots.

Wiggle your toes in the sand as you dine at picnic tables at Navy Beach, where boats pull right up and guests sometimes swim ashore. The chef’s commitment to all things local is evident in new catch-of-the-day specials including a miso-marinated hake with charred scallion, shiitake, and mâche ($28). Have an early lunch and then snag a daybed for lounging and sample the great rosé selection before the sunset crowd arrives.

Taste freshly made tortillas and ceviches at La Brisa (752 Montauk Hwy.; no phone; opens May 10), a new spot from the team by New York’s Tacombi. The former La Bodega space has been completely revamped, and outdoor seating will be added soon. Get the chilaquiles verdes (two eggs over totopos salsa, $7.81) and down it with fresh Mexican-style juices ($5).

3. What to Do

Yoga paddleboarding classes are held in shallow waters, making it ideal for beginners.

Try yoga paddleboarding, the newest fitness trend, which involves doing your poses on a board in calm water, led by Dominique Garstin from Yoga Lila privately or in small groups (from $75 for a two-hour group class). First-timers are welcome, as the water is shallow and falling off the board is part of the fun. Garstin launched early-morning classes last year but will also do sunset paddles this summer—you’ll be able to hear reggae coming across the water from Navy Beach.

Cast a line for marlin, tuna, and striped bass that will be in the waters this summer. For bait and tackle, head to Montauk Marine Basin (from $15) and then plant yourself on the large dock at Montauk Harbor. Once you’ve got your catch, have it prepared for you at “you hook, we cook” spots including Wok ‘N’ Roll (716 Main Street; 631-668-6688), Solé East, and Trails End.

Pick your own produce at Montauk’s community garden, on the grounds of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church, every Saturday from 10 a.m. through the early afternoon. This season’s plantings include peas, broccoli, spinach, green beans, squash, and kale (pay for what you pick; all proceeds benefit the Montauk Food Pantry), and you can also choose flowers (sunflowers, dahlias, black-eyed Susans, and roses) that members will cut and help arrange.

4. Insider’s Tip

Peri Allen creates her designs in her Montauk home.

Instead of shopping at boutiques, get gorgeous dresses, shorts, and skirts made with vintage fabrics and beading from Peri Allen, a former designer for Andrew Marc and London Fog turned landscaper who counts Gwyneth Paltrow among her customers. Find her designs at a Memorial Day weekend pop-up shop (206 Essex St., 10 a.m to 2 p.m.) or by appointment year-round (call 516-658-9121 to schedule.)

. Oddball Day

The Montauk Lighthouse is one of the sights you'll see from the Amsterdam Beach Trail.

Put aside some time to explore Montauk’s impressive state and county parks and see what’s new around town. A block from the beach, get a healthy start to the day at Joni’s, where early birds come at 8 a.m. to avoid the lines for scrambled tofu wraps ($6.95) and organic, flax-coconut waffles with fresh fruit ($7.95). Walk around the corner to the Naturally Good Foods & Café to pick up an all-organic picnic lunch, including vegan chocolate-chip cookies ($1 each), then bike or drive five minutes on Route 27 to Deep Hollow Ranch for a one-hour horse ride through acres of Suffolk County parkland and pristine beaches. Afterward, cross the street to hike the Amsterdam Beach Trail, which opened last summer, and take the secluded path down to the water and find a spot for lunch. Finish up the trail, which is just under three miles long and includes views of the Montauk Lighthouse and Block Island in the distance. Once you’re back in town, stop by Buddha Berry (43 S. Euclid Ave.; 631-668-8393; opens May 16), a new gourmet self-serve frozen-yogurt café across the street that promises 60 dry toppings and fresh-cut fruit. Stroll over to *share with... Montauk, where you can find espadrilles from Biarritz ($68), a bag made with braided recycled leather strips ($150), or organic denim cutoffs from Citizens of All Nations (from $95). Next, cross the road and walk five minutes to the Montauk Brewing Company for a jug ($22) of Driftwood Ale. The tasting room and gallery with work from local artists is right next door to Saint Peter’s Catch (58 S. Erie Ave.; 631-668-7100), where you can buy the best seafood in town, including fish and chips you can eat outside at picnic tables with views of the park. Make your way to the beach to hear traditional African drumming by popular musician Dan Bailey and other locals from 6:30 p.m. until the sun goes down.

FT Weekend: The Mother of All Invention

FT Weekend: The Mother of Invention: Stylish Pregnancy Wear

By Julie Earle-Levine

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Dress like Kate Middleton! Maternity Looks You Can Wear More than Once,” (Vogue); “Duchess Kate’s royally chic bump style” (People); “Four of the hottest maternity looks Kate is expected to favour during her pregnancy!” (Good Morning America); “The Ten Best-Dressed Pregnant Women” (Vanity Fair).

There’s no question maternity fashion is making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. With fashion darlings the Duchess of Cambridge, Fergie, Kim Kardashian and Margherita Missoni all becoming pregnant at about the same time, how to dress your bump has become the most popular style subject of the moment, with the mothers-to-be rising to the occasion.

On her first visibly pregnant outing, in February, the Duchess, whose baby is due in July, wore a Max Mara grey wrap dress. More recently she has taken to covering up in coats, like the pale green tweed Mulberry number worn for an engagement at Windsor Castle. Kardashian, meanwhile, has been seen in Valentino, Salvatore Ferragamo, Lanvin and Saint Laurent, while Fergie sported a black tux to an event in Brazil, followed by a clinging rhinestone-bedecked mini with a long train earlier this month. Missoni has been wearing, well, Missoni.

All are following the lead of former French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who wore a Chanel haute couture white tweed dress and black jacket while pregnant, in adapting non-maternity wear to their new situation.

Indeed, this has become such a trend that you’d think it might give the fashion world ideas.

According to the maternity wear line Séraphine, in the UK there are about 800,000 births a year and, on average, women spend £130 on maternity clothes (a total of £108m), while in the US, with just under 4m births a year, spending is around $800m (an average spend of $200). And yet maternity dressing is the last great unexplored frontier in style. High fashion brands have gone into children’s clothes, wedding gowns, lingerie, sportswear, even linens. Many pregnant women clearly don’t want to surrender style any more but, when the topic is raised, catwalk stalwarts respond with an awkward silence.

Diane von Furstenberg (whose wrap dress many would argue is perfect for maternity), Jason Wu and Temperley London all politely declined to take part in this piece, for example. “It is not a story that we feel is the right fit for us. We don’t do any maternity wear, and our relationship with the Duchess of Cambridge is an important one we never comment on,” said Temperley London.

Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, believes pregnancy has an image problem. It lacks “the glamour and sleekness of the ideal female figure. Pregnancy involves a profound change in the female silhouette, and a change which superficially resembles obesity. That is something that is very difficult for designers.”

Steele recalls how during her own pregnancy, while searching for something stylish, she was mulling over Issey Miyake’s Plantation line, in particular a loose, cotton dress that was breezy and classic 1980s, when “someone in the store looked at me and asked, ‘Is it twins?’” – the implication being Steele looked fat. “I ran out of the store crying,” she says. Still, she adds, “It seems like a missed opportunity” for designers.

Susan Lazar, a New York designer for 20 years, who now creates the popular Egg Baby line and does occasional maternity wear (simple jersey dresses and accessories) says she believes designers avoid maternity because it has such a short lifespan. “No woman wants to wear their maternity clothes after the baby arrives,” she says. “You want to burn them.”

There’s also the practical issue of patterns. “Maternity patterns are different from regular clothes because the belly picks up the front and, of course, you need larger waistbands,” Lazar says. She points out that launching a maternity line would require real investment, which might not be worth it as long T-shirts, leggings and layering remain popular as pregnancy wear. In fact, she says, many women can almost get away with buying entirely non-maternity basics until the last trimester. “It’s not really necessary to buy a maternity wardrobe, so designers don’t bother making one,” she says.

Los Angeles stylist Nicole Chavez worked with then-pregnant Kristen Bell for this year’s Golden Globes and put the actress in a loose-fitting (non-maternity) Jenny Packham dress for the event. As a rule, she emphasises non-maternity wear for her clients, including Jessica Simpson, whom Chavez has dressed throughout both her pregnancies partly in Dolce & Gabbana (it has a lot of stretch in the fabric, she notes).

“She is a curvy girl and quite petite, so it was important to show her bump,” says Chavez. Issa is also a favourite non-maternity line for maternity wear, because the signature V-neck is flattering on an ample bust and the pleating at the waist flattering to a baby bump.
Still, given the marketing boost the current crop of pregnant style-setters can bring, it would be good to see a brand respond. It could, after all, give birth to a whole new creative niche.
-------------------------------------------
The Brooke: Sales bump

Séraphine cocktail dress, £225

The Duchess of Cambridge reportedly bought her first “real” pregnancy outfit from Séraphine, whose fans include actresses Sienna Miller, Kate Hudson and Angelina Jolie (cocktail dress, £225). She purchased the Brooke, a basic blue dress with an empire line and butterfly sleeves (£39), and a pair of stretch leggings. With more than 500 websites reporting the purchase of the dress, sales of the Brooke have surged 300 per cent and it continues to fly off the shelves.
“[The Duchess] is going to influence maternity fashion in a big way,” says Cecile Reinaud, Séraphine’s founder and head designer. She says the company expects the Brookes to sell out in two weeks at the current rate.
“We have placed a repeat order so we maximise this selling opportunity.”
Many customers continue wearing the brand post-maternity, says Reinaud. “The reality is that you don’t snap back in like celebrities.”
www.seraphinematernity.com
-------------------------------------------
www.maxmara.com
www.mulberry.com
www.missoni.com
www.valentino.com
www.ferragamo.com
www.lanvin.com
www.ysl.com
www.chanel.com
www.egg-baby.com
www.jennypackham.com
www.dolcegabbana.com
www.issalondon.com
www.ft.com/stylestockists

NYT Style - Cynthia Rowley's very fun house

By Julie Earle-Levine
February 11, 2013
NYT: Women's Fashion

Attendees of Cynthia Rowley’s fall presentation in her new Upper East Side boutique staved off low blood sugar on the premises, with a visit to the designer’s latest venture: a candy store called CuRious, which opened yesterday on the second floor of the four-story town house.

Attendees of Cynthia Rowley's Fall presentation in her new Upper East Side boutique staved off low blood sugar on the premises with a visit to the designer's latest venture: a candy store called CuRious, which opened yesterday on the second floor of the four-story town house

True to its name, CuRious will sell unusual wares. Cotton candy, whipped up by girls in tight black dresses with white lacy collars, comes in flavors like black licorice, watermelon mint, lavender and Champagne. There will be peanut butter and jelly bars and toffee crisps by a Brooklyn-based chocolatier, as well as cake servers and plates made entirely of candy. Pile them up with fruit, then break off the serving dish and eat that too — perhaps with an edible fork and knife.

Why candy? “It’s fun and makes us feel good,” Rowley says. “It’s the delight of a treat for yourself without it being like a $1,000 handbag.”

If a bag’s what you’re in the market for, there are plenty of those on the building’s first floor, which holds the designer’s women’s collection. Another level upstairs is devoted to a private viewing salon for Exhibition A, Rowley’s online art venture. And in the courtyard, through a wrought iron gate, is a garden created by the floral designer Raul Avila. “It’s totally Willy Wonka,” Rowley says. “Willy Wonka with a dark side.”

FT Weekend: Ian Schrager at Home in New York

By Julie Earle-Levine

The co-founder of Studio 54 and boutique hotel pioneer gives a tour of his most personal project

©Brian Shumway

 

Ian Schrager in the glass entertainment room on the upper level of his penthouse at 40 Bond Street, New York City, surrounded by views of Manhattan

Ian Schrager, the creative force behind some of the world’s most stylish hotels, is in his entertainment room, a stunning glass house perched on top of his Manhattan penthouse, with jaw-dropping views of the city in every direction.
He’ll do the photos, “but not with him,” Schrager says, pointing to Elmo, a grimacing soft toy version of the Sesame Street Muppet. “Our son has free reign in the house. He’s slowly taking it over,” he says of Louis, his two-year-old son with wife, Tania.

A quick look around the room confirms that Louis has made this rooftop space his own: the floor is scattered with blue foam matting, trucks, blankets and toys – even the 5,000 sq ft wrap-around terrace has playhouses and a sand and water table. Not that Schrager, who is 67, minds. “We love it so much downstairs we don’t get to use upstairs very much.”

This is Schrager’s dream family home, the first property he says he has truly injected as much energy into as his development projects, which include the Delano in Miami, the Royalton in New York, and most recently Edition hotels for Marriott, around the world, as well as the Public Hotel in Chicago, created as part of his own brand.

Schrager is credited with pioneering the “boutique hotel” concept, but he made his name back in the late 1970s with Studio 54, the nightclub he established with his business partner Steve Rubell, which became a regular haunt of celebrities including Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and Mick Jagger.

The apartment, part of Schrager’s development at 40 Bond Street in NoHo, is the result of an intense collaboration that spanned more than two years. Schrager had John Pawson, the minimalist architect, plus his own team of designers and his own input to consider.

First, he snapped up the penthouse in the Herzog & de Meuron-designed building, a cast iron structure swathed in green glass. Then he bought the apartment below and combined them. The property now has 8,500 sq ft of indoor space, in addition to the outdoor terraces, and he estimates, when pressed, that it could be worth $55m to $60m. Schrager spent $30m on it, and has no intention of selling anytime soon.

©Brian Shumway

Living area

The entrance from the lift leads to an expansive hall, with a family room, Schrager’s offices and a TV room to the right, and the family’s bedrooms to the left. Sheer panelling made from a blend of wool and Trevira runs along the length of the apartment “for softness”.

Schrager has two daughters (Sophia, 18, and Ava, 15) from a previous marriage, as does his wife (Amanda, 17, and Lili, 15). The girls’ bedrooms are down a curved staircase decorated in fairy lights for the holidays, and showcasing family photos.

Each room is the same size exactly, “for political correctness”, but they got to choose their own colours and decor. Can they sneak in to the house unnoticed, through the front entrance and down the stairs to their bedrooms? “They can, but if that became an issue we would lock the doors!” says Schrager.

In the master bedroom, a low-lying bed is surrounded by family photos, and floor-to-ceiling views of downtown Manhattan. The bathroom was reduced in size to make space for a baby room but it is still large enough to include a Brazilian basalt hot tub.

Pawson offered to design a crib for Louis’s room (they ended up choosing David Netto; it’s white and beige and sleek), and there are shelves of books, and soft toys. “Why shouldn’t a baby be exposed to the same things parents are? My wife picked the crib out and I think it looks very 40 Bond.”

Schrager explains that he bought the apartment before he was married, but he has firm views on “family” design. “When I did the Delano, when my first daughter was quite young, I made all the rooms white and I was telling everyone it was a family resort ... People said, ‘White room? Just wait till a kid puts chocolate on the bedspread.’ It never happened, because everyone kind of rises to the occasion of where they are staying.”

Louis’s room is toddler chic and noticeably absent of pastels. “To me, you don’t have to have a kid’s room that looks like it was done by Nickelodeon. It can be sophisticated.”

©Brian Shumway

The den and kitchen/dining area

Schrager recalls his childhood home in Brooklyn. “When I was growing up I always had modest surroundings, but they were nice, stylish ... [My parents] had a gold couch, black furniture, white walls, my parents had good taste. It wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t worldly, but it was good taste.”

“I want my kid to grow up in sophisticated surroundings. I don’t want to culture down to him, he can culture up,” says Schrager. “Not that he embraces our style, but at least it is an expansive exercise for us.”

Schrager leads the way down the long hallway and into the family room, which has an open kitchen and lounge area. “My wife and I have the same aesthetic. There is only one thing she did I wouldn’t have done and that is to put up a rail in the kitchen for the pans.”

Pawson did not want curtains. Schrager did. “I wanted at least sheers ... It kind of helped define the architecture by putting them down one entire wall.”

Pawson wanted stone floors. Schrager wanted wood, for a warmer feel. “I wanted a certain colour: white oak from Austria. Each plank is treated separately, and if it’s not done well it will come out green. He completely replaced the first attempt.”

“I got Don Kaufman [the architectural colourist] to help achieve the colour – a grey.” Schrager oversaw the new planks, and then a member of his design team approved each plank as it was installed. So how long did it take from start to finish? “It was a big construction job. It was a bit more than three years. I just really wanted to make it the home of my dreams. A lot of people in my business never get a chance to.”

©Brian Shumway

Master bedroom and long hallway

Schrager recalls that when he started his career, he was living in apartments where the only furniture was the bed. This time round, he hired the French interior designer Christian Liaigre and landscape designer Madison Cox.

He says he is paying similar obsessive attention to finishings at his most recent project: 26 residences (for Edition) in Miami, where he did the Delano 25 years ago. There will be wooden floors, not stone or carpet, and design by Pawson and Schrager’s team. Each apartment may be furnished and decorated according to individual tastes or to guidelines suggested by the architect. Custom furniture packages curated by Pawson and the Schrager design team include furniture designed by Pawson, Hans Wegner, Jean-Michel Frank and Christian Liaigre. “You can choose what you want. Usually, you can’t get an appointment with these guys so it’s incredible access,” says Schrager.

His office is where his favourite things are: a highly organised desk, with shelves of books (he has 5,000 but keeps most at his Southampton house), family photos and collectables. Yes, Louis has made his mark even here – there is a toy truck parked at the entrance. But no one touches Schrager’s desk. That remains perfectly intact.
-------------------------------------------
Favourite thing

©Brian Shumway

Ian and Tania Schrager’s wedding cake topper:
“I took it from the cake and kept it! It’s fun. That was a great day.”
Bertoia sculpture:
“I love the lines. This was a gift from my good friend Robert Isabell.” Isabell was the renowned floral designer and events planner whose lavish parties helped create the buzz around Studio 54, the New York nightclub Schrager established in the 1970s with Steve Rubell.

New York Times: Aby Rosen on Art Basel

NYT: The Moment
Asked & Answered - Aby Rosen

By Julie Earle-Levine

December 3, 2012

The German-born real estate mogul and prolific art collector Aby Rosen is Art Basel Miami Beach‘s poster boy for parties, hosting A-list, super private dinners that bring together top art collectors, connoisseurs and the requisite fashion crowd.

Rosen arrived in Manhattan in 1987 with big ambitions. Today, he owns the Gramercy Park Hotel and the Paramount Hotel in New York. In Miami, his chic W South Beach houses pieces from his vast contemporary art collection. “I’ve always loved art,” he says. “I love photography, and I have a huge collection of American art from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.”

T caught up with Rosen in his Red Room, one of two boardrooms at his Lever House offices. (His company owns the building, and the Seagram building, too.) The Red Room has a chic, glossy red Italian 1980s circular table, a couple of Warhols and a Tom Friedman food carton sculpture. There, over peppermint tea, he talked about Art Basel, which takes place from Dec. 6 to Dec. 9.

 

Q.The tenth edition of Art Basel Miami Beach is almost upon us. What are you most excited about this year?

A.Miami Basel has become such a wonderful place to meet and see people from all over the world who share a passion for collecting. The city has gone through an unbelievable transformation in the past three to five years. There is a certain type of visitor that Art Basel wanted to attract, who is coming now because we have the infrastructure to help support the fair. There are great, new hotels — not little beat-up Art Deco hotels, with 30 to 40 rooms. Those are very charming — don’t get me wrong — but they do not attract the people who want a $5,000 a night suite and want to entertain. The quality of food now in Miami is also very good. Joe’s Stone Crab in my opinion is the best restaurant on the beach, but how many times a week can you have stone crab? You have monsters like Mr. Chow, the Dutch at W, Katsuya and Prime 212. You have high rollers attracted by Miami’s charm and size. That is what is exciting. For me at least.

 

Q.What advice would you give people visiting Basel for the first time?
A. Go and see the shows as early as you can. Most of the inventory is up really early. Go back and take a break in between. Something you didn’t see once, you will see differently. Go to the younger, smaller fairs. Explore! Don’t spend all your time in the main hall and really enjoy Miami. It has so much — the Cuban areas, a whole Art Deco district, shopping, there’s so much to do. The beach is actually pretty nice.

Q.You have a stunning contemporary art collection. How many pieces do you own now?
A. Probably 850 pieces, including 85 to 90 Warhols. I don’t stop buying. I constantly add and rotate.

Q.So you are shopping this year?
A. Yes!

Q. Is it true that you try to restrain yourself from ever spending more than a few million per piece?
Not really. I do spend a lot more.

Q.What’s the most expensive piece of art you own?
A. Probably the Francis Bacon. That’s $15 million.

Q. Must a purchase meet some criteria?
A. I have criteria but I blow through it all. And the budget. I blow through that. But I’m a lot better now than I was. Now with all the inventory I have, I have a lot more focus and sometimes I take five, six paintings and consolidate to one painting. My goal is to up my quality.

Q.Tell us about dinners your hosting in Miami this year. Where are they and who’s coming?
A. My wife, Samantha, and I will be hosting at the Dutch again this year. Who’s coming? Basically our friends, those equally excited by art and fashion. Traditionally we have an after-party done by Vito Schnabel, Alex Dellal and Stavros Niarchos. We eat well, then we party really hard. It is really wonderful to see some of the older generation and younger, mix and match.

Q. Who would you most like to invite, dead or alive?
A. Andy Warhol. He would have loved to see all the people there that he influenced and that now produce art. I would like to see some of the actual big buyers, the Middle Eastern buyers. They buy a lot, but they don’t visit the fairs. I’d love them to come. I know the Sheikh Emir of Qatar and the Sheikha are big buyers. I’d love to see them experience the fair and Miami.

Q.Is that an invitation?
A. It’s definitely an invitation.

Gourmet Traveller: Classic Montauk

Gourmet Traveller: Make Mine a Montauk
By Julie Earle-Levine

November 2012

Didn’t think bohemian surfer chic existed outside of Australia? Start planning a northern summer 2013 trip to Montauk, a New York version of Bondi, where a host of hot young chefs are showcasing produce from the sea and local farms.

Montauk’s summertime allure is not new, but this year Australians entered the mix at Moby Dick’s, a new diner from Australian fashion photographer-turned-restaurateur Lincoln Pilcher, boats pull up 15 metres from the kitchen to deliver still-flapping seabass and tuna for delicious ceviche as seagulls hover overhead.

Pilcher, a keen surfer and owner of Manhattan’s Kingswood restaurant, pulled Moby Dick’s together in just three weeks after having his eye on the dockside space for years. He envisaged an Italian beach club vibe, so there’s a woodfired pizza oven (think pizza with summer squash, zucchini, fresh ricotta and chives) and rosé on tap to accompany your Montauk pearl oysters.

Australian chef Chris Rendell has just opened Byron restaurant at The Surf Lodge, a boutique hotel that’s a favourite of the fashion set. The casual eatery focuses on organic produce, and highlights of the menu include crab and tomato pasta, roasted corn chowder, and grilled diver-caught scallops.

Montauk’s mainstay restaurants – including Navy Beach, where yachts pull in and guests can swim ashore – continue to wow. The new Ruschmeyer’s hotel and restaurant nearby boasts a Jamaican-style rum shack for cocktails and a tasty brunch.

It's all about poolside soirées at the just-open Montauk Beach House, and for iced coffee and cookies, visit the new Momofuku Milk Bar pop-up store, reported to be opening again for the 2013 season.

For filling in time between meals, there’s plenty of shopping, including Cynthia Rowley for dresses, necklaces and candles, and surf Bazaar for breezy kaftans and bikinis. and if you’re in the market for a home, you’ll be joining summer Montaukers Julianne Moore, Ralph Lauren and Robert de Niro. mobydicksmontauk.com; thesurflodge.com; navybeach.com; kingandgrove.com (for Ruschmeyer’s); thembh.com; milkbarstore.com; cynthiarowley.com; thesurfbazaar.com 

New York Magazine: Finding Luxury for Less in Marrakech

The Five-Point Weekend Escape Plan

November 29, 2012 

By Julie Earle-Levine

Since the Euro crisis has thinned the crowds, now's the perfect time for adventurous travelers to enjoy the Red City's new relative bargains.

What to Do

The grounds of the Musée de la Palmeraie feature a cactus garden, rose garden, olive trees, and much more.

Get an insider’s look at the Musée de la Palmeraie from founder Abderrazzak Benchaâbane, a botanist, garden designer, and photographer who previously oversaw Yves Saint Laurent’s Jardin Majorelle for a decade. Book a morning-long private tour ($116 per person for a four-person group) of the museum’s contemporary art collection and impressive gardens, followed by tea with Benchaâbane. The package also includes a chauffeured vehicle and entrance to Majorelle and the Art of Living Museum.

Experience the best aspects of the city’s most opulent hotel, La Mamounia, without spending $755 a night. Bypass the tourists who come to gawk at the sprawling gardens here with a Fitness Day Pass ($162), which affords you access to two immaculate red clay tennis courts; a fully equipped “glass cube” gym; an hour with a coach for pilates, spinning, or tennis; an hour-long massage; and a Mediterranean buffet lunch served poolside. Afterward, grab a lounge chair and have dessert from one of the gelato carts that are wheeled around the property.

Head to the souk in Djemaa el Fna and get ready to haggle over pricing on everything from spices to Moroccan slippers. Everything is negotiable, but expect to pay $10–$40 for leather slippers, $40–$90 for bags, and $40–$130 for kaftans, depending on quality. You can save time and effort by hiring a guide at your hotel (around $60) or at the market (around $20) if you don’t mind being taken to stalls where the guide is getting kickbacks, but either way, start your shopping just after lunch in order to get the best deals.

For more:  nymag.com/travel/weekends/marrakech/index2.html

New York Times: The Body Painter

Vain Glorious: The Body Painter

By Julie Earle-Levine, Oct 23 2012

Who: Derrick Little

What: Body painter extraordinaire.

Why Bother: If you are bold enough to have your body painted for Halloween, Little’s your man. Who wouldn’t want to be transformed into royalty? Jack Doroshow, the drag legend and star of the film “The Queen,” is Little’s “drag grandmother.” Little’s inspiration was “Marie-Antoinette meets the Queen of Hearts.” He used makeup, a wig and a crown from a party-supply store, and whipped up a skirt and standing collar on his sewing machine to complete the look.
Little, a former club kid turned body and face painter (Madonna’s a fan) creates all manner of “costumes,” including queens, peacocks, robots and zombies. He once painted a zebra and a lizard for a party in Connecticut, where the hosts wanted animals in and around the swimming pool. Little is somewhat obsessed with creating head-to-toe looks. He spent four hours painting his Queen.
“When I first started out it would take me six hours to do a full body,” Little says. “I’ve actually spent 11 hours painting a body, The model was a professional Russian circus performer — a contortionist named Victoria Grimmy — and she was very good about it.” Many clients come with just an idea and a two-hour booking for body painting. If he likes the idea, he’ll measure you up, go shopping for material, sew up the costume and possibly even choose shoes to complete the look.
So far he has plenty of Halloween requests for pretty sugar skulls (candy skulls used to celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico) decorated with swirls and flowers, as well as for zombies. But he loves dramatic, colorful and otherworldly fantasy ideas best.
Up until 2009 Little did Marc Jacobs’s parties — the last one had an Arab theme, so he painted on burqas and made headpieces and skirts in shimmering red fabric. He has done children’s parties for Madonna for the past three years, as well as Julianne Moore’s book party for “Freckleface Strawberry” and, oddly, he painted the Trump Soho on two girls at Donald’s request for a party. “It was a challenge to put a square building on a body,” Little says.
Then there was the leopard. He had been expecting to do 45 or so spots, but when the client turned up she was 300-plus pounds. “That’s a lot more spots to be painted,” Little says. “Now I ask that people send photos or at least their measurements and weight before we meet.”

How Much: Little has a one hour booking minimum of $150. He started his face painting business in 2001, and began body painting in 2005. He usually spends two to three hours to do upper body painting. “If you want to be just green — well, that’s very boring — that takes just an hour.” He’s getting pretty booked up for Halloween but has assistant painters and seamstresses to help handle demand. For a full costume and body painting creation, the cost is $1,500. Call (917) 859-7250 or go to bodyartbyderrick.com.

FT Weekend: Cool kaftans

Swimwear: Cool kaftans
By Julie Earle Levine
July 27, 2012

The swimmers on the starting blocks in London may not have to worry about what to wear when out of the pool but for the rest of us, the question of what to put on top of your bathing suit when on holiday can be as traumatic as any time trial.

“I see girls in gym shorts, or cotton dresses. They just look uncomfortable and hot,” says Marie France Van Damme, a fiftysomething designer who entered the what-to-wear race eight months ago when she launched a collection of mostly black-and-white kaftans and sarongs in sheer chiffons. “Not everyone has a fantastic body,” she says. “I think it is so much sexier to hide.”

She admits sarongs (from $280) are her worst sellers because many women do not know how to wear them (she recommends halter style at the neck, with big necklaces on top), but says kaftans ($400) are simpler and suit all body types. She claims one of her kaftans, for example, works on both herself at 5ft 2in and a friend who is over 6ft.

Van Damme suggests the following three ways for a sarong and kaftan to carry you from the beach to lunch and dinner.

1. Wear a one-piece, strapless metallic bathing suit and kaftan to the beach. At the beach, swap the kaftan for a sarong, tied around the waist. “When I go near the water, I take off my sarong and put it over my head, turban style,” Van Damme says (that way you have cover immediately on leaving the water and are not scrambling for a towel).

2. For lunch, wear swimsuit and sarong, halter neck-style, accessorising with necklaces or armfuls of metallic shiny bangles. Van Damme says no heels at lunch – barefoot is best.

3. In the evening, bring back the kaftan. Van Damme wears hers with a long camisole, so it is not as transparent. At night, high heels are an option.

NYT Travel: Makepeace Island, Australia

New York Times Travel: Destination Makepeace Island
By Julie Earle-Levine

August 8, 2012

Makepeace Island, Richard Branson’s island in Australia, is a 10-minute ride on a private launch from Noosa, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The name is reason enough for any couple (quibbling or not, let’s make peace!) to visit, plus the island is heart shaped — though not quite as much as it appears to be on its namesake Web site — a forgivably cheeky exaggeration.

Zipping to the island by luxury speedboat, our driver advises us to look in the trees for koalas and indulges us with tales of kangaroos swimming over from the mainland. It’s very Australian: sweet-smelling eucalyptus trees, bouncing marsupials and laughing kookaburras. Branson bought the island in 2003, and the friendly locals, fishing in dinghies, often shout “Hi, Richard!” as they pass by the chic island launch.

The property is exquisite, with private two-bedroom villas and a four-bedroom house (the hideaway can accommodation up to 22 guests), an outdoor cinema and a lush lagoon pool that is lit at night by a roaring fire pit. Villas are furnished with authentic antique Balinese furniture.

The general manager Nick Jones does double duty as a chef, preparing delicious, mostly locally sourced meat and seafood. His tamarind-glazed crispy pork belly with a green mango, Asian herb and rice vermicelli salad is delightful. At night, there is a private theater for films, billiards and even bongos and a didgeridoo to play. If kayaking around the island has wiped you out, just relax in Branson’s huge black volcanic rock bath before retiring to his four-poster, with racy bedside reading in the form of “Position of the Day.”

Total seclusion has a price: you need to book the entire island, which is not a small commitment. It’s far pricier than couples therapy at $2,800 a night for exclusive use of Makepeace, plus $575 per adult per night (for 7 to 22 guests), or $890 per adult per night for 1 to 6 guests. But hey, if you’ve got the dough, give peace a chance.

New York Times: Women's Fashion

Vain Glorious - A Surfside Chat with Stephanie Gilmore

By JULIE EARLE-LEVINE

July 26, 2012, 9:00 am

Timo Jarvinen

Stephanie Gilmore, the Aussie pro surfer, virtually lives in saltwater (and on planes), hopping in and out of the waves in Bali; Montauk, N.Y.; and in Biarritz, France, where she just scooped up her fifth ASP Women’s World title. Gilmore, 24, grew up in the incredibly beautiful and sun-drenched Rainbow Bay, on Australia’s Gold Coast, where it is usually around 70 degrees in winter. That means serious sun exposure, year round.

We caught up with her in Montauk to talk sun, surfing, beauty and fitness.

J.E-L.: Congratulations on your fifth world title!

S.G.: Thank you! This year was all about improving my consistency and having fun with my surfing.

J.E-L.: How do you slather up to protect yourself from the sun?

S.G.: I have a love/hate relationship with the sun. It’s so wonderful to be in it every day, to be in the ocean — it’s my office — but the sun is so harsh, especially in Australia. I can go surfing in Hawaii for a day and not be so pedantic about sunscreen, but in Australia, 5 to 10 minutes without sunscreen and you are burning.

J.E-L.: Which products do you use?

S.G.: My skin is pretty sensitive and the saltwater dries it out. Sunscreens can clog your pores, and then, because the saltwater is cleansing your skin anyway, it’s like you are cleansing it twice, stripping it. So first I use Dr. Hauschka Rose Cream. I use it to moisturize; it’s really light. I use a M.A.C. primer, which is SPF 35. Then I use this Ella Bache opaque cream that is basically like foundation — it’s the gluiest you can find. It’s tan and it looks really nice on your skin, and it has SPF 30. Surfers love it because it stays on. The downside is that it’s hard to remove. I use baby wipes to get it off. If I’m not surfing, I use the Rose Cream, and M.A.C. mineral powder. I’m into more of a natural look. In the city I relish not having to put anything on my skin — I can let it breathe. I also really enjoy being out of the sun! I have been wearing a really cute Panama hat recently.

J.E-L.: I know this sounds absurd, but do you wear mascara in the surf? Lipstick? Nail polish? After all, when you come out of the ocean, you are being photographed!

S.G.: That’s where Ella Bache foundation comes in. I get my lashes tinted. They get really white on the tips from the sun, so I get my brows and lashed tinted. Lipstick? I haven’t really gone down that path. I use a Bobbi Brown lip gloss that is clear and is a bit sticky. It goes on really well and you can put it under zinc. Right now I’ve got pastel blue nails.

J.E-.L: How about your hair in the water? Are you naturally blond?

S.G.: I’ve never dyed my hair. It’s just kind of beach hair.

J.E-L.: You look like a mermaid. It’s very beachy chic.

S.G.: People tell me, Wow, I’d pay so much for that color blonde. My sisters and I all have it — I’m the youngest of three girls — and we all have green/blue eyes. Mine are more green.

J.E-L.: How do you look after your hair?

S.G.: If I’m going in to the surf, I use products like leave-in conditioner with keratin, which helps coat it and protect it from the saltwater. But usually, if the surf is up, I just want to get out there. After surfing, I rinse my hair in cold water and put in some Moroccanoil. Pantene also makes a great conditioner. If my hair is clean, and I go in the surf, I get that surf look — kind of wavy. I always laugh when the hair and makeup lady brings out her bottle of saltwater for my hair. She probably paid $100 for that bottle of saltwater, which just blows my mind! I also use this stylists’ tip: mix saltwater, a little sugar, Moroccanoil and coconut oil to create your own beach-look spray.

J.E-L.: How do you keep your skin hydrated after sun and surf? Good moisturizers?

S.G.: Grapeseed oil is great when you get out of the sea. After my sunscreen is washed off, I put it on while my skin is still wet.

J.E-L.: You must use bucket loads of sunscreen. Which brands work best?

S.G.: I do! I apply it all day. The best stuff really only lasts two hours. I tend to go for the “baby” products — they are a little less harsh on the skin. La Roche-Posay in France has a really great line of strong sunscreen. I always stock up when I’m in Europe. I feel like my skin gets so much sunscreen, and so many chemicals, it would be great to find a natural alternative that really works. Recently I read about mixing raspberry-seed extract with coconut flesh, which apparently is a natural sunscreen.

J.E-L.: What’s your going-out makeup?

SG: I love a little gold eye. I like a young but fresh look, which to me means a simple lip, some bronzer on my cheeks and liquid eyeliner. For mascara, I use DiorShow. I like lots of lashes.

J.E-L.: What do you consider to be your best feature?

S.G.: I don’t know! Um, my smile? I’d say my smile. I think it’s pretty genuine.

J.E-L.: Other than surfing all day every day, do you do other exercise?

S.G.: I find I’m a lot heavier than most girls — surfing competitors — as I’m taller. But I love having that strength. I do Pilates for toning, lengthening and posture. I’m reading Diana Vreeland at the moment. I love how she writes about doing a lot of ballet when she was young and how she used so many fundamentals of ballet in her everyday life: holding herself tall, confidence, posture and elegance.

J.E-L.: What do you take from surfing and apply to your everyday life?
S.G.: Surfing is such an in-the-present thing. You are out in the ocean. It just really makes you appreciate life. It’s such a humbling thing, because the ocean is so powerful. It teaches you to go with the flow, and to be present.

J.E-L.: I wish I could surf.

S.G.: You have to! You’re Australian! Every Australian surfs. I love surfing in Australia; we have the best waves in the world. Mainland Mexico is incredible, Hawaii too. I really want to go to Costa Rica and to Nicaragua.

J.E-L.: When did you start surfing?

S.G.: My dad always surfed. My sisters and I grew up hanging around the beach. When I was about 10, I got into it and really loved it. I tried every different sport, but surfing was the best. My dad is now almost 60, and he still surfs every day. He’s pretty good.

J.E-L.: Are there other exercises you do to enhance your surfing performance?

S.G.: I do C.H.E.K. (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) in Australia, and have for five or six years. It’s a holistic approach to training. You learn about the imbalances in the body. With surfing, there is overuse of some parts of the body. C.H.E.K. adds in techniques I can use that are relative to surfing. So, say, instead of doing squats on the ground, I’ll do them standing on a Swiss ball. You use your core and work from your core out, rather than using your muscles on the outside.

J.E-L.: How about spa treatments and facials?

S.G.: I love body scrubs to wash off the beach, and to get the sand out of my ears. I should get more facials. Sometimes I cleanse with honey. It’s not too strong, it’s hydrating, and it’s moisturizing. I just put my hair back, and go for it using my fingers to apply some honey and a little water. I use a warm washcloth to get it off. Just normal plain honey, not Manuka or anything fancy. I also take cod liver oil each day, for digestion and my skin.

J.E-L.: How about your diet?

S.G.: I have a huge sweet tooth. I love chocolate. My grandfather was a French chef. But I try to be healthy. This morning I had a bowl of berries.

J.E-L.: Today you are in a loose white shirt and white jeans. Tell me about your fashion sense and style.

S.G.: My favorite designer right now is Kym Ellery from Western Australia. I’ve worn her dresses to banquettes and events. I really love her stuff. It’s very fresh and elegant but simple. I’m wearing her shoes right now — they have a round heel. I don’t really like flip-flops, even at the beach. And Uggs. I don’t know why anyone would wear them. They are ugly! I’d rather go barefoot.

J.E-L.: What about high heels?

S.G.: I’m pretty tall — 5-foot-10 — but my ultimate outfit is a great white T-shirt and jeans, or a black shirt, black jeans and a really hot pair of heels. I like the style of Elin Kling. It’s very me — tomboyish but simple. I can’t travel with a lot. I’m traveling with six boards and guitars and a travel bag. I pull up at the airport check-in and they just look at me, like, Uh-oh, here we go!

New York Magazine: Summer

New York Magazine, June 17, 2012
Nine options for those who like to swim, bodysurf, eat by the ocean, or simply dance poolside in a bikini and stilettos.

By Julie Earle-Levine

Surf Life a Dolphin

Ever since pro-surfer Keith Malloy’s bodysurfing documentary Come Hell or High Water hit the festival circuit last year, beachgoers have been itching to pull on flippers, grab a hand plane, and shoot the curl. “You can’t learn to surf without bodysurfing first,” says local coach Di Mattison (lessons: $120 to $200; 415-577-7237). Rockaway Beach, already popular with wave junkies like Imagine Swimming co-founder Lars Merseburg (pictured), offers beckoning breaks at 63rd and 90th Streets. Other go-to spots include Ditch Plains in Montauk; Gilgo Beach for more forceful, farther-flung breaks; and the less-crowded Lido Beach, ideal for learners because of its gentle waves. What’s the big draw? “You feel in-sync with nature, like a dolphin skimming the water,” says Merseburg. “Once you’re in a barrel sans board, you’re just hooked.”

Swim With the Masses

Whatever your opinion on public pools, let alone Williamsburg and its inked constituents, there’s no denying that anticipation is high for the June 28 reopening of McCarren Park Pool. A Moses–La Guardia brainchild, McCarren first opened in 1936 along with ten other city pools as part of a WPA initiative. It fit up to 6,800 swimmers and remained operational till 1984, when it was shuttered for renovation. The pit was more or less abandoned until 2005, when bands like Wilco began using it for concerts. Now a $50 million revamp has once again transformed the space into a 1,500-capacity pool, newly U-shaped and cerulean-blue. A concrete “beach” with spray fountains bisects a kiddie area and 25-meter lap lanes; come winter, the city plans to turn the deck into an ice rink. But why think about winter now?
Hours: Daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Party On, Party People

Nowhere is the city’s singles scene more thriving than at its rooftop-pool parties. Unattached models, actors, and ­fashion-industry types flock to the Jimmy at the James’s hotel pool soirées, which started last summer but now boast international D.J.’s like LionDub and Belinda Becker, plus a new cocktail menu coming in July. Bikini-clad girls in heels and the power brokers who try to woo them populate the Sunday pool parties at Gansevoort Park Avenue (pictured). In its sophomore year, the series marks the only time the heated rooftop pool opens to the public—and even then, access is only guaranteed with bottle-service reservations (from $100). The Thompson LES, meanwhile, has added new Topshop/Topman fashion parties (July 5, August 2, and September 6, from 6 to 10 p.m.) to its regular lineup. Expect beach balls aplenty, a pop-up clothing boutique, and a pool packed with libidinous twentysomethings. The vibe is sexy, so dress to scandalize.

Let Them Get Wet

Just try walking a kid past a gushing hydrant in the heat of summer. You can’t. They want in. Offer a legal alternative by diverting them to the newly reconstructed J. J. Byrne Playground in Park Slope (pictured), where a water pump and spray showers guarantee giddy soakings. Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village, meanwhile, was built on a swamp, and so its play area is wetland-themed, complete with sprinklers masquerading as cattails and dragonflies.

Take It All Off

Asbury Park’s proposal to go topless is dead in the water, which makes Gunnison Beach in Sandy Hook New Jersey’s only legal spot for au naturel sunbathing, easily accessed via the aptly named Seastreak ferries ($26 to $45; seastreak.com). Play volleyball and Frisbee in your birthday suit when Nude Recreation Week kicks off July 9. The family-friendly outings include naked Hula-Hooping and a July 14 body-painting contest sponsored by the American Association for Nude Recreation, which is gunning for a multisite Guinness record for the most number of painted bodies.

Reconsider Coney

The beach and boardwalk at Coney Island span 400 acres, but that’s hardly enough to accommodate the seething mass of humanity that pours onto them every summer—11 million at last count. All that flesh, plus the dizzying noise and the sunbaked stench of overflowing trash cans, sends some New Yorkers running for quieter shores. But what a shame when embracing Coney can be so crazy-fun. Ride the clattering Cyclone, which turns 85 this year, then book it to Luna Park, where a go-kart racetrack and Boardwalk Flight, a free-fall ride that swings 200 feet up in the air at 60 miles per hour, have been unveiled. Pizza, if you can stomach it, awaits at the forthcoming Coney outpost of Grimaldi’s (1215 Surf Ave., nr. W. 12th St.; no phone yet).

Charter Your Own Yacht

Hamptonites eager to nab a table at Montauk’s scene-y Navy Beach restaurant can slip in by booking out Heron Yacht Charter’s 63-foot, custom-built catamaran. The cedar boat, set to arrive in the hamlet by July 1, sails right up to the restaurant, guaranteeing those onboard a spot for dinner. (Navy Beach considers it eye candy for landlubbers.) Private cruises run from Montauk to Block Island or Sunset Beach, making swimming and fishing pit stops as requested. Routes cost $150 per guest, with a minimum of six guests, and include food, wine, and co-captains Cameron and Shannon McLellan. For sea dogs with time to spare, longer trips to Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Maine can be arranged.

Eat Your Way to a One-Piece

The tastiest beach—that’d be Rockaway—continues its culinary evolution this summer with the addition of seven new food vendors (La Newyorkina, Rickshaw Dumpling, Steve’s Ice Cream, DP Pizza, Santa Salsa, the Lobster Joint, and Pelicans Jungle II, a side project of the Commodore crew) and an events lineup that will include a Back Forty crab boil and surfing and ­sushi-making demos with Matsuri’s Tadashi Ono (go to rockawaybeachclub.com for details). Shorefruit, a kind of twee-bicyclist version of Edible Arrangements founded by two partners who grow organic vegetables on the roof of their Rockaway houseboat, will be selling fresh-cut watermelon, pineapple, and mango on skewers for $3 a pop. Also new is the Rockabus, a yellow school bus making weekend runs between Williamsburg and Shore Front Parkway ($18 round trip; rockabus.com).

Sunbathe Like Kanye

The spendiest cabanas right now aren’t on the shores of Sagaponack; they’re on a rooftop in Chelsea. The Côte d’Azur–inspired Beach at hotel-nightclub monolith Dream Downtown trucked in several tons of sand, set up 50 ­chaises longues with movable umbrellas around a partially glass-bottomed pool, and erected two opulent “beach” cabanas, each equipped with sleek L-shaped sofas and coffee tables; 42-inch LED-screen TVs; baskets of sunscreen, magazines, and bottled water; and enough room to fit your whole entourage. The VIP treatment comes at a cost, of course: Rentals are $1,500 a day, and no, that doesn’t include a hotel room or the de rigueur bottle service.

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UK Vogue - Lifestyle, The Hamptons

UK Vogue, June 2012

New York By The Sea

What do Bruce Weber, Steven Spielberg and Julian Schnabel have in common? The answer is the Hamptons, the summer playground of New York's rich and famous.

Julie Earle-Levine finds out where's 'in' - and how much it costs to join them.

Gwyneth Paltrow is in denim cut-offs that show off her golden tanned legs, a tank, flip flops and is looking utterly gorgeous, sans any trace of makeup. She’s dining with her kids at the latest hot spot restaurant Ruschmeyer’s, in Montauk, and no one blinks a lid.

Welcome to the Hamptons, the summer beach playground for New York City’s rich and fabulous. It’s where actors, hedge funders, media, real estate tycoons, photographers and models spend their summer from Memorial Day to Labor day, partying and relaxing and even, being anonymous.

This summer is no different. Never mind that the economy is wobbly and that home prices have slipped, some say by 30 per cent in the past three years, even at the top tier. By all accounts, sales and rentals are heating up as summer nears and the rush to the Hamptons begins.

“People pay for rentals far more than most people’s incomes across the country,” said Andrea Ackerman, a Brown Harris Stevens broker. “Some people are spending upwards of $500k or more for summer rentals – some are only for two weeks.”

Many arrive by private jet or helicopter. Ackerman notes the people with money seem always to have money and transactions are starting to happen briskly again.

Mind you, a beach shack – that’s the one bedroom, needs TLC kind costs a million or more. A mid-range house is $3 to $5 million, but there are properties being sold for $13 million and $22 million that aren’t even on the water. Last year a property in Sagaponack on the ocean sold for $44 million. The house was torn down.

Dolly Lenz, vice chairman at Prudential Douglas Elliman has international clientele vying to buy into the Hamptons want-for-nothing lifestyle.

“The Hamptons has some of the most expensive homes in the world, and they are all second homes.” The allure is the pristine beaches, farm fields, wineries, hundreds of sprawling estate homes, restaurants and shopping, just 90 miles from the cultural and financial center of the world, New York City.

Fabulous is sprinkled across the entire Hamptons, but waterfront is naturally the most coveted.

There are the estate areas in East Hampton with all the designer stores, and Southampton, Watermill and Bridgehampton have manicured high hedges. Bridgehampton and Sagaponack are where there is major activity, says Ackerman noting they were once potato and cornfields. Sag Harbor has the charm of restored captains houses and sits right on the water.

In East Hampton, where first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis spent her childhood and Jackson Pollack created an artists colony, the town has kept its wealthy reputation. Gwyneth has a 5-bedroom, 7.5 bathroom home alongside Russell Simmons and Steven Spielberg, and there are plenty of properties on the market.

“We’re seeing a lot of activity this year, especially international buyers,” said Krae Van Sickle at Saunders & Associates. “It’s all the movers and shakers.”

Southampton, where hotelier Ian Schrager has a home, attracts both the star crowd as well as the quiet, obscenely affluent.

Amagansett and Montauk, on the farthest tip of Long Island have gone unnoticed for a long time and are now hot again. At parties at Andy Warhol’s Montauk waterfront estate, Bianca Jagger, John Lennon and Halston were among guests. These days, Julianne Moore, Ralph Lauren, Robert de Niro and Cynthia Rowley own homes in Montauk. When the sun goes down after a day of surfing, and yoga, the chic set move to Navy Beach restaurant for toes-in-the-sand dining. Friends can arrive by boat.

Ben Watts, the celebrity photographer bought at Ditch Plains in 1999, and recently scooped up his neighbor’s house. “Now I’ve got a compound.” “Montauk has become more of a playground for young people, there’s great food, cool restaurants like the Crow’s Nest (by hotelier Sean MacPherson) and definitely a scene.” Other artistic royalty in Montauk includes Julian Schnabel and Bruce Weber.

Some are opting for luxe beachfront apartments at the Panoramic View on the old Montauk Highway that is buzzing with VIPS including real estate mogul Steve Roth and Jan Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone.

Adam Manson, director of the Panoramic View said more than $27 million in sales closed in recent months. Designer Rachel Roy, Kimora Lee Simmons and Hype Williams, Kanye West’s video producer are among those who have been seen at the property. One to five bedroom units, from 1,200 square feet to 4,800 square feet are available from $2 to $7 million.

Some say Montauk could well be the next Miami. It’s not such a stretch of the imagination. The sparkle of a pair of sequined Louboutins, being worn by a model at Panoramic’s pool on a recent summer day was dazzling.

Andrea Ackerman - aackerman@bhshamptons.com

http://www.bhshamptons.com/

Dolly Lenz –
dollylenz@vzw.blackberry.net

Panoramic View –

sales@panoramicview.com

www.panoramicview.com

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