Barbados Night 2: The Cliff

Before I headed to Barbados I had asked a couple friends who spend a great deal of time there places I should see/eat if I get a free moment to myself. (I did not end up getting any free time to myself because the week was so well thought-out with every single meal already taken care of and pre-planned.)

But at the top of everyone's MUST list was The Cliff.

So of course they had the whole restaurant reserved for us and only us.

One of the most stunning and unique settings I have ever seen. This place was INSANE.

I got there in time to watch the sunset to take some decor photos while tables were still being set up.

The design of this place is flawless. If SoHo House had a Barbados location, this would be it. 

The guests didn't arrive until after this epic sunset. Sad for them. Yay for me. (I was sweatier though.)

So you see that little canopy thing there in the bottom of the above photo?

Well that is for rain. And it is retractable.

It rains off and on all the time in Barbados. And for the purposes of this party it was really cool because they could flip a switch and that entire lower level would be tented in less than 2 seconds.

There was of course a DJ DJ-ing cocktail hour which took place on the upper level (you walk in on the top floor since The Cliff is, well, built on a cliff...

So once cocktails were done, the music changed and the roof retracted and revealed the incredible table setup downstairs. And everyone gasped. 

Also there was a Russian component to the wedding so there were CONSTANT vodka shots.

Agghhhhh so epic!!!!

And the food was divine.

Crab cakes...

Gnocchi and Penne...

Tuna Tartare...

Scarrops...

And the moistest most delicious chicken I have ever eaten in my life.

The DJ played semi-dance beats throughout dinner and people were dancing at their tables, it was awesome.

When dinner ended...the transition was incredible. Laser lights came on and a DJ booth was revealed and pyrotechnics exploded and smoke machines filled the entire place with dreamy smoke and fire.

It looked like a party on a fiery pirate ship.

People were SO sweaty, but we just embraced it.

Did I mention we were sweaty??? Barbados is weird because it is SO HOT but there is dress code EVERYWHERE. No shorts or sleveless shirts allowed anywhere.

It was SO much fun. And this was only night 2 of 4.

Everyone went to an afterparty back at Sandy Lane. I had to "work" so I went home to back up pictures and get some sleep/air conditioning.

3 Days in LA / SoHo Obsession

So I landed back in NYC after three awesome days in LA.

Got home and was EXHAUSTED and slept from 10am until 6pm.

Now I'm up all night working on photos and decided to take a break to blog.

You may or may not have noticed, I've started updating my blog again. I've also made an addition to the sidebar. Where I used to have a Cast of Characters, I now have Choose Your Adventure, so you can choose a tag/hashtag, and revisit those blog posts from the past. It's a really cool feature I've been slowly working on for the past year, and when it's complete it will be epic. If you have any tag suggestions, feel free to email me. I've been having to go back through the blog in my limited spare time and retroactively tag posts with labels and it's somewhat tedious but worth it in the end.

ANYWAY...

LA!

I'm in love with the 7am flight to LA because the airport is empty when I check in. And the upgrade likelihood is high (I got it, obvi) and then you land at 10am with a full day ahead of you and just in time to grab a fabulous lunch.

My first stop was SoHo House West Hollywood with Matt and Kelli.

SoHo House WeHo is arguably the most fabulous place in all of LA.

It sits high above West Hollywood at the beginning of the sunset strip and overlooks EVERYTHING. You can see the Hollywood Hills, Santa Monica, Century City, Downtown, and on a clear day even Long Beach. It is beauuuuutiful. And no picture taking is allowed, which kind of just adds to the mystique. (There are a lot of celebs there and it is probably nice for them to have a refuge where people can't snap photos of them for fear of having their memberships revoked.)

I found this photo on the the internet though. There are probably others if you google or search instagram.



It's just one of the terraces overlooking the LA skyline. As a member, you can just sit here all day and work on your computer, which I did, and plan to often.

The other thing that's awesome about SoHo House is that people are so excited to check it out that they offer to buy you lunch just for taking them. Thank you Matt and Kelli!



Celebs spotted at lunch: Omar Epps, Gerard Butler, Trudie Styler (Sting's wife).

After lunch, I headed over to Westwood where I was crashing with Matt and Adrian and took a nice long nappy nap.

Then it was back to SoHo for drinks and dinner with Danny and Steven. (Thank you D+S!)

While they don't allow picture taking at SoHo, they DO have an awesome photobooth and the hallway between the lounge and the restaurant is covered with black and white photos from the photobooth.



Celeb spotted: Ed Sheeran, Jason Lewis AKA Smith Jerrod from Sex and the City

After dinner we headed into West Hollywood where I had invited some of my friendsies out for pre-birthday drinkies. Thank you everyone who came out!



The next morning I went downtown to see KristyKwan who brought me to a hidden gem, Cook's Tortas.

And had the most delicious Steak Milanese Torta EVERRR...



Then we went back to Kristy and Mike's and she helped me hand-stitch my Worst Quality Crab costume for Ming-Na's big 50th birthday party (which I'm going to give its own post, for obvious reasons.)



Sunday morning after Ming's party, I brought my lovely hosts Matt and Adrian to SoHo for brunch. And after brunch I basically just held court there all afternoon because a bunch of people had texted saying they wanted to come by and check it out too. (You're allowed 3 guests at a time, so when one person left, I'd text the next person that they could now come over and would sign the next person in.) Gotta love social media. Such fun!

Celeb spotted: Rachel Zoe

Around 5 pm I headed to the airport for my redeye home.

And now here I am. Shivering under my blankets.

Oh...p.s...my friends convinced me to go to Vegas again this week to actually celebrate my real bday post Thanksgiving and...well...I just couldn't resist.

YOLO

La Colombe: The Greatest Meal of My Life

On Friday, we headed to Constantia (which I believe is the beginning part of the winelands) for lunch at La Colombe.

Known as "The French Laundry of South Africa", it was named the 12th Best Restaurant in the World by San Pellegrino.

We arrived to find ourselves in a beautiful private room. Our table was decorated with beautiful flowers.

Clearly they knew the happy couple was coming and that this was to be a verrrrry special meal.

Even the bread was fantastic.

The service was impeccable. At any one time there would 3 or 4 different waiters attending to us, and yet it wasn't as invasive as a lot of those superfoodie restaurants. (I went to Daniel a few months back and you could barely have a conversation because the waiter would interrupt every 5 minutes to tell you about the next course or describe what wine pairing you were now having etc. SO annoying. #firstclassproblems)

But no, here...everything was PERFECT.

We had an amuse bouche of Ostrich Tartare. It looks like guacomole, and it is...but under that guac was a pile of delicate DELICIOUS raw ostrich.

I'm pretty sure we all let out audible moans upon tasting it.

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Next up was ordering our apps and main courses...

As you will see, or if you do a little calculating, the prices are REALLY cheap considering you're at one of the best restaurants in the world.

The Chalmar Beef Fillet - the BEST beef I've EVER had in my entire life - costs 175 Rand = $19.29 USD at today's currency rate.

Less than $20 for THE BEST BEEF IN THE WORLD.



I'm SO SERIOUS. Book your trip and book your reservation at La Colombe NOW.

DO IT.

I'll wait...

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It was SO GOOD.

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We all started with a Poached Oyster appetizer. It was an oyster poached in cream and champagne. If you are an oyster lover, you will have an orgasm. 

Then there was a Scallop and Duck appetizer.

Matt nearly had a heart attack when he saw the next course...

Quail and Langoustine (which I think is baby lobster) with a Foie Gras Tortellini...

There was Seared Ostrich Tataki. It was heavenly...

Foie Gras with Rhubarb and Lavender...

Lychee and Pina Colada Palate Cleanser...

Green Pea Risotto...

Lamb "La Colombe"...

Did I mention how AMAZING the beef fillet was? It came already looking delicious...and then they poured black peppercorn truffle sauce on it.

I squealed.

And then for desert we had a chocolatey caramel sampler...

And Apple Crisp...

And assortment of caramel bars and meringues and tasty cake-y things...

The meal lasted 4 hours.

And it was SO DELICIOUS and SO FUN.

Literally we were just giggling and squealing in delight and telling hilarious stories. 

Sophie is a GREAT story-teller. Ask her to tell you about Jimmy.

We were literally CRYING.

BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE.

(With a Beast Feast coming in second. Obvi.)

And then driving back to Camps Bay, we encountered the most beautiful scenery along Chapman's Peak Drive.

It was a bright sunny day...but the top of Table Mountain was covered in clouds. Sucky for people trying to hike it I'm sure (sorry Megoon!) but quite breathtaking for all of us all down below.

AFRICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA