The Lorien for Battery Recharge Through Cocktails, Art, and Conversation
December 16, 2019
Ah the Lorien, it has been a while! Since NPS last visited, IHG has done all it can to change the Kimpton chain it acquired into something we don’t recognize. The good news is that many excellent people remain, like Steph Vogel who we count as a friend.
We were assigned little nicely renovated rooms without plastic showers. Just right for this one night extravaganza. NPS was in 414.
arty bed
The shower is OK, not plastic, but who picked out that shower head?!
Thanks for the Negroni Steph!
Negroni with Watershed by Catoctin Creek
Chef prepared us dinner (we didn’t order, just reveled in what arrived). Delicious.
Must say that all of the cocktails are too sweet at the Lorien now.
We called in the usual set of favors to get the booth at the Colimbia Room. Perfect evening for talking, drinking and figuring out life.
Columbia Room menu
Breakfast the next morning was the highlight of the visit! Great to see Steph and catch up.
Then it was off to a day of art at the Hirshhorn, the Phillips, and the Renwick…oh yeah and Richard’;s house too! Just look.
Make sure to go back to the Hirshhorn. It is vastly improved
Lunch at Bistrôt du coin. Always French as all getout.
The Phillips is a favorite most anytime
Dinner with Richard was followed by an evening of conversation. Anytime.
All in all, an incredible visit. Life affirming on all counts.
Four showerheads for the Lorien. This IHG thing. Harumph.
Rydges South Bank Brisbane: Back on Top (part two)
December 2, 2018
Our first taste of Rydges South Bank Brisbane left a bad taste in the mouth. But a meeting with the GM in the morning cleared things up.
While we were off having breakfast, our room was switched to a very nice suite (room 1028).
There is plenty of room in 1028. And two balconies to boot.
Wrap around balconies
Room to exist
Working desk
A separate bedroom
The bathroom is big enough for two, and has a big tub.
Much better shower. Ahhh!
The shower is very nice
Breakfast at the Gunshop Cafe is delicious. Great espresso and juice.
Gunshop cafe Sunday brunch
After which, an excursion to Stradbroke Island (called “straddie”). Ferry ride on a bus, picnic lunch, beer, hiking, gelato, swimming in the ocean. A great day.
Point Lookout
The seas were high, and we got wet, which was a blast!
See more pictures from the Stradbroke trip.
Dinner at Julius Pizzeria was authentically Italian. Great pizza and great people.
Julius Pizzeria
There is a budding cocktail scene in Brisbane. Thanks to Rachel at Wickham we were looped in. We can confirm that Saville Row is top notch. (Look for the orange door.)
Likewise Electric Avenue is a great place for a cocktail. Jess created a drink for us.
Jess at Electric Avenue
Rye Surprise
45ml Bulliet Rye
20ml dry vermouth
15ml lemon
20ml kiwi puree
40ml pineapple
8 dashes peychauds
shake. double strain. serve up in a coupette. garnish with dehydrated pineapple.
Rye Surprise
Apparently a Brisbane cocktail called the clockwork orange was a contest winner…which contest we don’t recall. It falls squarely in the tiki category.
Clockwork Orange
20ml aperol
20ml cherry heering
20ml passionfruit syrup
30ml gin (monkey 47)
25ml lemon
2 dashes orange bitters
shake. strain. serve over crushed ice in a tall collins glass.
Bars we were unable to visit but heard tell are good include: Legends Speakeasy (find the passcode on the net) and Tomcat (behind Bill Murray).
Skip the Pancake Manor. Though it is built in an old church the food is awful and the espresso is worse. Greasy spoons should be greasy but not just bad.
QAGOMA is an excellent museum. The modern art collection is far superior to the science museum’s stuff. Just stick with the art. Have a beer in the courtyard.
The botanical gardens are also worth a visit.
Four showerheads and a tip of the hat to Rydges. Thanks for fixing things. Now for some sleep!
The Lorien Alexandria During No Fly July
July 12, 2017
Though NPS does not fly in July or December, there is still stuff to be done. The solution? A working meeting at the Lorien in Old Town Alexandria. We’ve been to the Lorien a couple of times since Steph Vogel took over as GM. Sadly, Steph is in Switzerland this week. We’ll pretend that the ship runs just as well without Steph at the helm (though it’s really not true).
The Spartan balcony off 619
This visit finds us in 619, which is similar to 615 only slightly smaller and on the other side of the building. There is a very large balcony on this side too. Because it’s 100 degrees this week (with an overnight low in the upper ’70s), the balcony will be ignored due to weather. Strikes us that a remake of these balconies as a garden would make them both more inviting.
Look to the left
Look to the right
Our meeting room was cavernous and highly functional. We spent all day working.
A cocktail was in order after all that work. The bar is still very good, though barman and detail freak Phil Clark is no longer around. Phil has moved to Phoenix. You can tell. Damien is doing his damndest to keep things up.
Whey Sour
.75 cachaça (novo fogo)
.75 rye (copper fox)
1.5 whey
.75 honey
1 lemon
pinch of salt
Shake. Serve up.
Snacks at the bar took forever to arrive. That ended up making them free. Timely is better than free.
Dinner at The Warehouse was a massive disappointment. The crayfish were good. Or was that the crawdads? The wine list?
Unusable. Skip it. In other news from the evening, the bar at Restaurant Eve still holds its own, but Jackson 20 has slipped to skip it level as well. So sad that the old Alexandria Monaco is now a Marriott property.
On return from dinner around 11, we were greeted with a nice amenity. Thanks Stephani. The ice cold San Pelegrino is particularly welcome.
Sitting room 619
Sleeping room 619
The huge glass shower will do just fine.
Shower? Perfect.
Once the work was done, there were museums to see. First stop was the National Building Museum to see Hive. Well worth the visit.
Home of hive. At least for a while.
That was followed by another great lunch at Bistrot du Coin.
And a visit to the Phillips Collection. The old building is under renovation, so only half of the paintings as usual were out. But still fantastic. An NPS introduction to the stunning art of German artist Markus Lüpertz.
German artist Markus Lüpertz
The suit
Detail from Spoon
German artist Markus Lüpertz
A fantastic day. Followed almost immediately on its heels by a fantastic evening.
Roses Luxury is just as stellar as its incredible reputation. Just go. We showed up at 5:10pm and walked right in for a 180 minute dinner extravaganza.
Those poor “other people” had to wait in line
Caviar service
Yes, we took pictures of our food. We also had extensive conversations about it.
The best dish of the evening was a soft shelled crab served with Singapore-style chilli sauce (on the sweet side) over steamed buns with pickles. Delicious.
So really. Go to Roses Luxury as soon as you can.
Then there was the Columbia Room in the back booth (our usual NPS haunt), this time with the geek patrol. Excellent as usual, this time less for the drinks presentation than the company.
Columbia Room
Ice
Seaweed?!
Rum from 1857 always seems like a good idea after the tasting menu is complete.
The moral of the story is: get your work done quickly so you can spend some time being spoiled in DC!
Five showerheads and a real wish that Steph were around. We miss you Steph.
LACMA
January 24, 2017
When in LA, we do try to go to see our old friends at the LACMA.
Like this.
Chris Mac’s ancestor
Blue period Picasso
Frenimy
No pictures of the shadow
Ahead of its time
Burn brightly while you can
Rodin
Blue sky (by me)
Noooooo! Plastic Showers at the Georgian Hotel: Santa Monica
January 24, 2017
Maybe you get a pass on the plastic shower thing if you are an historical property and you have peepholes like this??
Peep hole in 504
Of course, we’ve been here before, so we know which end is up and exactly why this property rocks. This time we made double sure to get the right room with an incredible (yuge?) view of the Pacific—especially after our Kimpton debacle last week). 504 is sweet!
The view on arrival
And it is on the proper side of the building as well.
504 side windows see this
So what to expect? A very spacious suite with reasonable furnishings only slightly dated. Plenty of room to work (and to entertain, as it turns out). A large bathroom with the exact wrong kind of shower. Creaky net. Busted speakers. Buy your own flowers. But the view. And the location. And the view.
Flowers. Buy self.
Of course it does actually rain sometimes. All day. For three days!
Entrance hallway 504
504 sitting room
504 sitting room
View into the bedroom
504 bedroom
This is actually from my brother’s inlaws house, so ignore it
Bathroom
Nooooo! A plastic shower. Eat crow and stay here anyway.
Enough room even for certain travelling companions
Anyway, did we have fun in Santa Monica? Sure. We started off in LA at the wine thing.
Breakfast crepe was delicious.
Then we visited McCabe’s Guitar Shop (owned by our very own peeps). if you are a music person, just visit, play, hang out, learn. There are ghosts.
McCabe’s Guitar Shop
Which made us want stuff like this beauty of a guitar. Hurry up and buy it, or I will.
Want
And we had a delicious dinner up the canyon at the very old school and very very good Saddle Peak Lodge. The highlight of the night was talking to Bob while eating elk. Bob is just bob. Maybe one day we’ll tell you. Or maybe not. Talk to Bob you lucky bastard.
Anyway, fütbol in the room on the rainiest Sunday in maybe 8 years in Santa Monica. Mud slides, rocks that closed roads, leaky roofs that (who knew) are supposed to keep water out?! And all of the fütbol teams that we liked were beat. Kind of like the election. At least there was beer and a smidge of bourbon.
Followed by Bourne on OK glass with super bad speakers. Dear hotels, why is it that home cinema situations even among those who mostly don’t give a shit are 10 years ahead of you? No, really. Why? One decade ahead.
Which catches us on up to Monday. Work and LACMA.
LACMA
LACMA
About which more here.
Then dinner at the very not bad Manchego, where they have yet to discover both Priorat and twitter.
Four showerheads and a wish for glass showers and speakers that are not blown.
The Mondrian London: Excellence in Showers by the Thames
April 10, 2016
Mondrian London Lobby
An actual Mondrian at the Tate Modern
Regular readers will know that NPS loves to stay at the Zetter and the Zetter Townhouse while in London. But sadly, the group conference we are hosting this week outgrew the Zetter some time ago. The great news is that the Mondrian London is a fantastic place to stay.
Located on the banks of the Thames just a hop skip and jump from the Tate Modern, the Mondrian London is modern, chic, and packed with high style. It is part of the Morgans hotel group (which includes the Morgan in NYC).
NPS is assigned room 463—a nice little suite with a balcony overlooking the muddy river. London graces the far side of course.
View from 463
River view from 463
A little table on the balcony
The other half of the balcony
463 has plenty of room to work, to entertain, and to sleep (assuming any of the latter actually happens this week).
Couch in 463
463 sitting area
463 desk
There are two bathrooms in 463, one proper marble palace and the other a powder room for when guests drop by. The shower is fantastic with multiple shower heads and tons of room with nary a bit of plastic in sight.
Wait for it
Fantastic shower
The rest of the property is likewise stylish. Rumor has it that the bars are great too. More about that soon enough!
Yellow submarine
The challenge with hopping the pond in the direction of London is staying up once you arrive. Whiling away some time at the Tate Modern is a common NPS strategy.
Here are some pictures from today’s excursion.
View from the 6th floor cafe of the Tate
Machine
Tower of babel
Valentine (for Ivan Arce)
A visit to Dandelyan for a quick bite before a movie was very satisfactory indeed. Dandelyan won COTC’s best new international bar last year. It is clear why. Attention to detail and interesting cocktails to be found. Get the lamb meatballs and the pork buns!
Dandelyan visit with Aiden, Alex and Jack behind the bar
The cocktail list is extensive and interesting, though the use of “refactored” standard drink names is a bit misleading. For example, a quick paw through the menu had me skip right over the Fairchild’s Mule (because it said Mule) and the BDC Negroni as well. That would have been a mistake. When I ordered a “gussied up French 75” Aiden suggested the mule. He was right.
Fairchild’s Mule
40 ml cardamom infused hendrick’s gin [10g cardamom per 700ml hendricks]
2.5 ml clove cordial [could sub in allspice dram for this British treat]
2.5 ml ginger distillate [cantons might work too, but if so drop the syrup]
5 ml simple syrup
12.5 ml lime juice
shake and double strain.
add 20 ml champagne and 20 ml fever tree ginger ale
Porter’s gin by Alex Lawrence
Barman Alex Lawrence has created Porter’s gin, which is on the aromatic side of the scale towards Hendricks. Alex uses Leopold’s method (without really knowing what that is). He made me a London Calling with his product:
50 ml porter’s gin
15 ml fino sherry
20 ml lemon juice
10 ml simple syrup
2 dashes of Regan’s 6 orange bitters
stir down, serve up. garnish with grapefruit zest
Working at Dandelyan (Gin and Arrack with a house Negroni chaser)
The fact that Dandelyon is associated with the Mondrian is an excellent happenstance indeed. But why does is close so early (M 1:26, T 1:17, W 1:09)?
And the Mondrian has a private movie theater, the Curzon, too. Saw Victoria which helped me meet the staying up on day one goal.
Dinner at Texture was absolutely outstanding. Fish tasting menu was delicious and the wine list was fun to work with. Yet another Michelin star with Jacob!
Five showerheads and high expectations for a super week in London. This entry will be updated as the week progresses.
Is Chicago Is not Chicago
January 25, 2016
A man drives a plane
Into the Chrysler building
A man drives a plane
Into the Chrysler building
Saskatoon is in the room
Poulsbo is in the room
Bennetsville is in the room
Palmyra is in the room
Is Chicago
Is not Chicago
Is Chicago
Is not Chicago
A man cuts in half
Just like he snaps a pencil
A man cuts in half
Just like he snaps a pencil
Khartoum is in the room
Phnom Penh is in the room
Pyongyang is in the room
Cairo is in the room
Is Chicago
Is not Chicago
Is Chicago
Is not Chicago
A man drives a plane
Into the Chrysler building
A man drives a plane
Into the Chrysler building
Into the, into the, into the, into the
Mailbox in Virginia
Art at the MCA
Architecture for a game
up
down
Mostly we were here for the astounding Eighth Blackbird. Sometimes when I perform my body has the same emotional response. But never when I watch. This is the future.
This is the future.
Excellent birds.
Oh, and the Palomar moved us down ten floors. Still a sweet suite.
no plastic showers
sit
stay
Also of note, Bottlefork is a great place for brunch and Three Dots and a Dash is a nice place for a banana daiquiri. Yeah, I know.
