When Moroccan financier Aziz Nahas decided to buy and regenerate a farm outside Marrakesh about two decades ago, he underestimated how much would grow there. Now, the 10-acre plot produces organic vegetables and fruit, as well as hosting an artist-in-residence program and a ceramics studio, all under the name Sanctuary Slimane. In 2021, Nahas’ friend, French restaurateur Benjamin Pastor, suggested they work together to start a cafe and farm shop in the bustling Gueliz neighborhood of Marrakech. Last spring, they opened the Blue Ribbon Cafe, with offerings like fresh salads served with halloumi or beets and almonds and a bánh mí sandwich with fresh sourdough. In the fall, they added a seating area next door and the Slimane Farm Shop, which sells vegetables and products such as honey and dried herbs grown and produced on the farm. Next up: Farmers, a restaurant headed by Blue Ribbon’s chef and located in the same building. The 46-seat space, lined with colorful Popham tiles, is scheduled to open in late February. blueribbonmarrakech.com.
Wear this
Ribbed ballet flat from Salter House, Brooklyn
Salter House, a home goods and clothing store-slash-cafe that opened on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn in 2018, is largely credited with bringing the French Plasticana gardening shoe to the streets of New York. Acolytes are known to style slip-ons from recycled plastic and hemp with the brand’s ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ nightwear and florals, inspired by a mix of Indian and English period styles. Now, the store’s co-founder Sandeep Salter is adding her own shoe design to the mix. This week, she launched a collaboration with New York-based shoe brand Loeffler Randall, adding her bows to the Leonie ballet flat. “I often wear ballet flats with my clothes because they have the right shape and tone,” explains Salter, referring to the soft nature of the look. For inspiration, she turned to her favorite children’s book, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and specifically the handmade ribbons everywhere. “I love the way this fabric is rendered in this book,” says Salter. “It’s wrinkled and disheveled and a little frayed, like it’s just been crushed.” Although the shoes coincide with a peak moment for bows, Salter has been designing them for years. The flats, which have an elastic strap that you can slip on, are currently available in pink and black ballet moire embroidered with Salter’s illustrations. The day we met, the designer was wearing loafers, patiently awaiting the arrival of her creation. “Then I’ll wear them all day, every day,” she says. $275, salt. home.
Since opening over two decades ago in San Francisco (first in the Pacific Heights neighborhood before moving to its current Jackson Square location), the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Quince has come to set the standard for fine dining in the city. But its owners, chef Michael Tusk and his wife, Lindsey, aren’t the ones with the fame. The pair – who also run the more laid-back Cotogna next door – spent most of last year renovating Quince’s interiors for its 20th anniversary, giving the space a brighter, lighter vibe and commissioning a new artwork that includes a large-scale botanical mural by Parisian painter Galatée Martin. Another upgrade? A new set of custom steak knives with curved brass handles, designed in collaboration with artisan knife maker Everett Noel, who is based in the Sierra Foothills of rural Northern California. “Everett knew exactly what we were looking for,” says Michael. “The handle echoes the brass elements of our tables and dining room, and the feel is wonderfully heavy.” Brass, unlike wood, will also patina with age. Quince visitors who wish to take the knives home need not resort to theft: They are available for purchase, along with a larger chef’s knife, also designed by Noel. $470 for a steak knife, $990 for a chef’s knife. everettnoelknives.com.
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A retrospective of Brian Buczak at two New York galleries
In the mid-1970s and 1980s, Detroit-born artist Brian Buczak was among a group of New York-based conceptual artists whose work explored the symbols, language, and systems of contemporary American life. In 1986, he was diagnosed with AIDS and died of related complications the following year at the age of 32. Now, his work has been brought together for ‘Man Looks at the World’, a retrospective at two galleries and the artist’s first solo show since 1989.
The exhibit occupies the two ninth-floor office suites just west of Union Square that make up the Gordon Robichaux Gallery. The first includes a series of Buczak’s painting diptychs and triptychs from the early 1980s, which combine suggestive images such as Buddhist flames, communist stars and recreations of canonical works such as Caspar David Friedrich’s 1818 painting “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”. Such graphically and stylistically varied juxtapositions were likely informed by Buczak’s work creating commercial slides, which involved hours of cropping and editing a variety of images. Tribeca’s Ortuzar Projects features larger-scale canvases from later in the artist’s career, when spiritual and metaphysical themes entered his work. In 1986 “Untitled (Winter Trees Trilogy),A mass of snow-covered branches are rendered in shades of pink, purple and teal that give the painting a sense of pulsating psychic energy. “Flags I,” painted in the same year, depicts a jumble of stars and stripes waving in the wind. A patriotic tribute at first glance, Flags feels darker in the context of Buczak’s exploration of his identity as a gay American at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Both galleries complement the artist’s works with ephemera from throughout his career, including photographs, letters, stencils and designs for posters and pamphlets. The Second Suite at Gordon Robichaux plays a recording of the Kronos Quartet performing Philip Glass’s 1989 piece String Quartet No. 4,“, alternately titled “Buczak” in memory of the artist. “Man Looks at the World” runs until February 17, ortuzarprojects.com; gordonrobichaux.com.
After weeks of festive celebrations, taking special care of the delicate skin around your eyes is a worthy New Year’s resolution. Promising to brighten the under-eye area, reduce puffiness and protect it from environmental aggressors, these new formulas can cover a multitude of sins. For the day, EltaMD launched a hydrating mineral SPF that protects against premature aging caused by sun exposure. The formula is slightly pigmented, so it helps conceal dark circles at the same time. Like a cup of coffee, using a cream that contains caffeine, like Current State’s Firming Eye Cream, can help make your eyes look more awake. The cold metal applicator on Ustawi’s lightweight 5-in-1 Eye Serum Perfector will do a similar job of improving complexion, while the antioxidant licorice root and vitamin C formula serves to reduce dark circles over time. To smooth fine lines, Icelandic skincare brand BL+ uses mineral-rich water sourced from the country’s famous Blue Lagoon along with bakuchiol, a plant-based retinol alternative that stimulates collagen production, in its eye cream. Ayurvedic beauty brand Ranavat also uses bakuchiol in its Brightening Retinol Eye Creme, along with saffron, a spice derived from the crocus sativus flower, which helps reduce inflammation and hyperpigmentation. Full Orbit, the latest from Glossier, features hydrating hyaluronic acid and plumping microalgae along with Niacinamide, which helps smooth lines over time.
Covet This
Loro Piana presents its latest home collection in Paris
For this January’s Paris Déco Off, the annual show where more than 150 showrooms across the French capital open their doors to share the latest in wallpapers, home textiles, ornaments and decorative works, the Italian textile producer and of luxury goods Loro Piana will present its new interior collection. Dubbed “Impeccable Service”, the house’s offerings were developed with customization in mind. In addition to specialty throws, blankets and pillows, home customers can now choose from a range of specialty categories including sheets, tablecloths and towels.
Loro Piana is known for its cashmere — combed from long-haired goats on the steppes of Mongolia and northern China — and this season’s fabrics include Khanghai, a cashmere wool blend available in 10 natural tones, including a smoky smoke and of a soft ocean blue. Hebrides, the house’s take on a classic Harris tweed, is rendered in pure cashmere with a herringbone pattern. Also new is a suite of outdoor fabrics made with recycled scrap, as well as Tusco, a wallpaper that includes, in its Loro Piana debut, hemp. The collection will be available from January 17 to 21 at the brand’s store and showroom on Rue de Furstemberg and by appointment at its temporary showroom on Rue des Saints Pères. loropiana.com.
