Even if you don’t know Rita Hazan by name, you know her work. The New York City native has been behind the hair color transformations of some of the biggest pop stars since the late ‘90s, from Mariah Carey’s first foray into lighter locks (and eventual blonde makeover) for her 1997 album, Butterfly, to Jennifer Lopez’s post-Selena honey highlights and Katy Perry’s full range of rainbow colors. And then there’s Beyoncé, who first came to Hazan in 2013 and has been working with her ever since.
But Hazan’s impact in the beauty industry extends far beyond her impressive list of celebrity clients. In the male-dominated field of hair coloring, Hazan carved out her own path: First by developing a coloring technique that defied (and eventually set) trends, then with the opening of her namesake salon and product line. “I didn’t even think about it as a woman; I just really loved doing color,” Hazan tells Observer of what drove her to take risks. After attending beauty school at 17, Hazan immediately went to work at Oribe Canales’ legendary Fifth Avenue salon, where she assisted color director Brad Johns (whose clients famously included Christy Turlington and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy) through much of the ‘90s. “I got promoted, and that’s where I was doing a little bit different hair color. Brad was all about chunky, very golden highlights, and I went the opposite way of that,” Hazan says. “My family background is Egyptian and Jewish, and we like to be blonde, but we don’t like to be goldy,” she adds of what inspired her more seamless approach to blonde color.
By the early 2000s, Hazan’s work with Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson had established her as the go-to colorist for pop It girls and up-and-comers alike. “If you wanted to create an image or change your look, you would come to me,” confirms Hazan. All the while, she was still busy at Oribe with her usual clients, one of whom first planted the idea of opening her own salon. “I was like, ‘Who the hell wants that headache?’” Hazan laughs. “But I told my client I’d think about it, and when I went home and said something to my mom, she said, ‘If you want to, just open your own place.’ So I did, and that was it.”
Rita Hazan Rita Hazan.
After establishing her Fifth Avenue salon as the place for A-listers and those in the know, Hazan developed her own product line, which most famously introduced the world to the first root cover-up spray (inspired by and developed for her clients as an at-home solution for grays in between color appointments). But after 20 years in the industry, Hazan was introduced to her most famous client to date: Beyoncé. “About 12 years ago, [hair stylist] Kim Kimble called me and was like, ‘Beyoncé wants to be blonde but her hair keeps turning orange, and I told her, Rita is the only person that’s going to get you the color that you want. Can you do her hair?’” Hazan recalls of the singer’s first visit to her salon. Hazan delivered, and the two have been working together ever since. The colorist is behind every Beyoncé hair look of the past decade, from her bright blonde at the 2015 Met Gala to her more dimensional, “sunwashed” color during the 2023 Renaissance tour.
“We’ll go back and forth on color ideas, but I’m always making sure it looks good for video and with movement—Beyoncé is flipping her hair and she’s up and down when she’s onstage, so every aspect of her hair has to look beautiful,” Hazan says of their collaboration process. “She also grew up in a hair salon, so she understands what’s possible and what’s not.”
This fall, Hazan is sharing her coloring expertise through open classes at her salon, now located on the Upper East Side. “I really like educating, and everybody is always asking me about going blonde without it getting damaged or brassy, so I’d like to do classes in the salon that are affordable and open to anybody who wants to come in,” she says. In between creating buttery blonde color for her clients (Hazan’s top trending color for fall), Rita Hazan spoke with Observer about her current essentials—from the red lip that’s become part of her everyday uniform to the at-home hair gloss with results so good, she uses it in the salon.
Larry Jayasekara opened his first restaurant, The Cocochine, with Hamiltons owner Tim Jefferies. Justin De Souza
Every aspect of The Cocochine is about quiet indulgence. Caviar augments several dishes, the tables are luxuriously far apart and the walls are decorated with a rotating selection of art from Hamiltons Gallery. The Mayfair restaurant, which opened last fall in a former townhouse on Bruton Place, is a joint venture between chef Larry Jayasekara and Hamiltons owner Tim Jefferies, and it embraces Jayasekara’s thoughtful approach to hospitality.
“It’s about looking after the guests, cooking with love and heart and respecting the ingredients,” Jayasekara tells Observer, speaking from the restaurant’s impressive top-floor private dining room, which boasts three Warhol paintings. “Hospitality means opening your home to friends and family. You cook for days, and then the first thing you offer [when they arrive] is water. I don’t want to have a champagne trolley in the restaurant, because that should not be the first thing offered. I want to offer guests a glass of water and let them come in, get comfortable and relax.”
Jayasekara met Jefferies while he was working as the head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus in Belgravia. Jefferies repeatedly returned to the restaurant, trying to convince Jayasekara to helm a few private dinners, to which the chef eventually agreed. After, Jefferies asked Jayasekara what he wanted to do going forward in his career. Jayasekara said that he wanted to open his own restaurant.
“He didn’t say anything,” Jayasekara recalls. “Time went along. Then he said, ‘I know a lot of people, and I could put together a group of people to help, and I could put in the art, and we could create something really special together.’ That’s how easily it started.”
The interior details were essential to Jayasekara. Justin De Souza
Designing and building The Cocochine was less straightforward. The team started the refurbishment of the four-story townhouse in 2020, quickly realizing they would need to completely redo the foundation and the structure of the building. There was a lot to consider, including how much power the restaurant needed and how to construct the custom kitchen, which is accompanied by a chef’s counter, on the second floor. Then, Covid-19 hit, and it was difficult to get construction workers and materials.
Ultimately, it took over three years for the restaurant to come together. The small details, like leather-wrapped banisters on the staircases and a carved marble drinks station, were essential to Jayasekara, who was also able to create a custom chef’s kitchen. On the lower level, guests can experience a state-of-the-art wine cellar stocked with more than 1,500 bottles, and there’s a snug sitting area for pre-dinner drinks. When you order a steak, a server brings a box of custom knives with differently colored handles to pick from.
The chef’s counter. Justin De Souza
“We always wanted to make it a place where it’s about the level of art and the quality of the ingredients together, so it’s not just a plate of food,” Jayasekara says. “It is a whole experience. Everything here is custom-made to fit. Everything is like a jigsaw. Everything has to be matched. Everything has to be exactly how we wanted it: the flowers, the water, the steak knives, the plates, the tiles, the curtains.”
The food, too, is immaculate. Most of the ingredients come from the Rowler Farm Estate in Northamptonshire, to which the restaurant has exclusive access. The salad, for example, is composed of more than a dozen vegetables and herbs from the farm, and several of the proteins, including the pork, travel 60 miles from the estate to The Cocochine. Other ingredients, like the fish, are carefully sourced from Scotland.
Rack of venison, sourced from Rowler Farm. Lateef Photography
Jayasekara spends one day a week on the farm, which he feels is essential to his process as a chef who focuses on seasonality and quality. He also draws on ingredients and flavors from his travels, as well as his upbringing in Sri Lanka. Each dish emphasizes decadence in an understated, elegant way, exemplified by an indulgent starter of Japanese otoro, roasted foie gras and golden Oscietra caviar.
“We’re not doing anything you’re not familiar with already,” Jayasekara explains. “I want the menu, when you open it, to have [things like] scallops, crab, lobster, mushroom, caviar. I always dreamed about having a menu in a restaurant where you can’t choose one dish. If you want every single dish, you’re in the right place. Hopefully, we’re doing that, and we’re making it focused on two or three ingredients rather than 15 [in each dish].”
Japanese otoro and roasted foie gras. Lateef Photography
Jayasekara’s obsession with quality is best understood via the menu’s standout dessert: Tahiti vanilla ice cream, served with jaggery caramel. It might be the most memorable ice cream you’ll ever taste, because Jayasekara insisted that the level of vanilla bean be significantly turned up.
First, the chef added 15 vanilla pods for every liter of crème anglaise, a significant amount of vanilla bean. “That was okay,” he says. “But I wanted the vanilla seeds to be popping in the palate. It’s not vanilla essence or vanilla powder or whatever. So I said, ‘Let’s put 20.’ And now we doing half a kilo of fresh Tahitian vanilla for one liter of crème anglaise. That is 50 percent vanilla. And believe it or not, since we opened, the best-selling dessert is the vanilla ice cream.”
The famous Tahiti vanilla ice cream. Lateef Okunnu
Growing up in Sri Lanka, Jayasekara never imagined having his own restaurant in Mayfair, where he could test the limits of vanilla bean ice cream. He had never seen a cauliflower, caviar or a scallop before he moved to London two decades ago. His life back home was simple: surfing, barbecuing fish and eating rotis. He acknowledges that his life now is “very privileged,” but it’s taken Jayasekara years of hard work and sacrifice to get to this place in his career. He started out in London by cleaning bins, then moved on to chopping vegetables in a Thai restaurant, eventually going to culinary school.
“Learning to cook was simply about having a job, first of all,” Jayasekara says. “I didn’t know how to cook. I had never cooked before. It gave me a different passport. It changed me from a young boy surfing to starting to be anal about the size of a scallop or how the herb tastes. It’s a crazy journey. I used to wake up in the morning 20 years ago and think about how many waves were coming in.”
The Cocochine occupies a former townhouse in Mayfair. Justin De Souza
Jayasekara worked his way up in acclaimed restaurants like the Waterside Inn, Michel Bras and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison, before eventually becoming head chef at Petrus, which focuses on high-end French cuisine. Despite Ramsay’s reputation, Jayasekara says the famous chef never yelled at him in the kitchen.
“It was very good experience,” he says. “He trusted me to run Petrus, and I have a huge respect for Gordon. He knows exactly what the market needs and how the menu should be. Having trust from someone like him to run one of his flagship restaurants; it was a privilege. I learned a huge amount about running a restaurant, rather than just cooking.”
Most importantly, Jayasekara learned the essentials of being the person in charge. According to Jayasekara, you need three things in order to succeed as you move up the ladder: preparation, communication and organization. “If those three things come together, you have a full experience,” he says. “As one man, you can’t achieve anything. You don’t win the Champions League just being Cristiano Ronaldo, right?”
That, to Jayasekara, defines success as a chef—not Michelin stars or rave reviews. It’s about having a loyal team as much as it is having a restaurant with packed tables and returning guests, all presumably coming back again and again for the aforementioned vanilla ice cream.
“Any accolades that are presented to any restaurant are a reward of how you work, the standard at which you’re working, the hospitality of the restaurant and how good the team is,” he says. “It’s always a great compliment to the team and to the business. Those accolades are appreciated in our work. But the real success is a guest who comes back. Signature dishes are created by the guests, not the chef. You eat something and tell five of your friends, and suddenly something becomes the chef’s signature dish. That, as I see it, is success in a restaurant.”
For Zoë and Layo Paskin, going to a good restaurant should feel like being invited to a dinner party. It’s a welcoming philosophy that the siblings have embodied in all of Studio Paskin’s openings, from their iconic (now closed) London nightclub The End, to debut restaurant The Palomar, which opened in 2014, to Covent Garden favorite The Barbary, which opened its doors in 2016, to Michelin-starred fine dining spot Evelyn’s Table. Now, the hospitality group has expanded west with The Barbary Notting Hill, a lively restaurant that is notably bigger than all of their prior endeavors, but still retains that intimate dinner party vibe.
“I’ve always enjoyed having people to my home,” Zoë tells Observer. “So that’s, for me, how it all feels and how you’re making someone feel. And they need to feel better when they leave than when they arrive, so when they walk out that door, they think, ‘I just had a great time.’”
“It’s a bit like music,” adds Layo. “You need all the classical professional things to be there, but a little bit of the jazz that goes on top and feeling with the people who are serving you or welcoming you or are being present in that moment with you is quite important. You need to feel the whole thing is engaged.”
The Barbary Notting Hill seats 75 guests (the original has only 24), and expands on the sharing plates and flatbreads beloved at The Barbary and its sister restaurant, The Barbary Next Door. The dishes and ingredients are inspired by the Barbary Coast, a 16th-century region that comprised North Africa and southern Europe, although the dishes are modern and forward-thinking. It’s helmed by head chef Daniel Alt, who has included both classics and new offerings on the menu, which is accompanied by a 250-bottle wine list.
Guests for lunch and dinner can currently partake in two types of flatbread, accompanied by small plates like fried artichokes and dips like hummus and spinach borani. There is a range of fish preparations, from scallop aguachile to monk fish tempura, as well as larger plates of meat and seafood cooked on the fire (a personal favorite was the coffee rub organic chicken). These can be served with vegetable sides, although there’s no wrong way to order. It’s all intended as a convivial, collective experience, which Zoë describes as a “feast of flavors.”
The Coffee Rub Organic Chicken. Mickaël A. Bandassak
“In London, you’ve got a lot of reinvention of Thai food and Indian food, and with lots of cuisines here right now, you get the layering of lots of different dishes and flavors,” Layo says. “It’s a really fun way to eat, because you get a lot more food. Don’t get me wrong: It’s nice having one dish and one thing. But we’ve all been embracing, over the past few years, this option of having loads of dishes together.”
Zoë and Layo chatted with Observer about the two-year journey to opening The Barbary Notting Hill, how the menu was brought to life and where they like to dine when going out in London.
The Barbary Notting Hill took over a former gallery space. Mickael A. Bandassak
Observer: Why did you decide to open in Notting Hill?
Layo Paskin: We asked ourselves the same question. All of our places, and even going back to when we had our nightclub The End, are in central London, but neither of us live centrally. With the pause that happened during Covid, we focused a bit more on our own neighborhoods. So when we started to think about doing [another restaurant], we decided to step away from the center of town, although Notting Hill is a central neighborhood. So that started the conversation. And then, really, what often happens is, you see the site. We saw this site when it was an art gallery and it was a beautiful room. It was quite an immediate reaction to the site. A bit like when you’re searching for a flat and you see something you love. Galleries are nice because you get a sense of peace from the space. So straight away, we got a nice energy from it.
Zoë Paskin: We always hoped one day to do a corner site. The combination of that and a blank canvas was quite exciting.
How challenging was it to develop the restaurant once you found the site?
ZP: First, we had to secure the site. There were various people going for it. And then the lease took a long time, and the license had to be sorted out because it was a change of venue [type]. We actually went on a high-risk journey with this, evolving what we wanted to do but always knowing we may not quite get there. But once we started designing the restaurant, it was about what we wanted to draw from The Barbary’s core and essence. Obviously, it’s many years later in a very different location. When you find a space you always get informed by it, too. The Palomar was an old restaurant called The Spice Bazaar. The Barbary in Neal’s Yard was a skate shop.
LP: In the back of our minds, it was always to take some elements from The Barbary. We wanted to have a kitchen bar still, but we always wanted to have these bigger tables. You put down all of the things you want to include, and then you try to incorporate as much of that into the design as possible.
Inside the Barbary Notting Hill. Mickael A. Bandassak
Sitting at the counter is a big draw at the original restaurant. How did you balance having tables and a counter here?
LP: One of the biggest functions in this restaurant, from our perspective, was that the kitchen and the kitchen team could really work. So the positioning of the kitchen and the back of house informed a lot. The kitchen had to be in a certain position, which dictated where the bar is. There were two possible entrances to the restaurant, and we picked the one where your immediate reaction when you walk in is the drinks bar, with the tables to one side and the kitchen bar to the other. These are subtle things, but you think about where the thoroughfares are. If you’re sitting at a table, you don’t want a ton of people always walking past. The reality is you can’t overcome every obstacle, but I think we’ve achieved a lot of what we wanted.
How does it feel to finally open a restaurant after going through all of that?
ZP: In the middle of a service, you feel like you’ve taken this vessel out to sea. In a marvelous way. I quite like standing in the middle of the restaurant and seeing it all come together and all of the respective chatter. But, of course, it is a bigger restaurant to captain, in that sense.
LP: The nicest thing about a bigger restaurant is that there’s more places to be in it. Take our restaurant Evelyn’s Table; we can’t really be in service unless we’re actually in service because it’s so small. So it’s quite nice to be in the room orchestrating and working with the team, but not feel too in the way.
Octopus Sabzi. Mickaël A. Bandassak
How did you determine which dishes to bring from The Barbary and which dishes to introduce as new?
LP: We’ve been testing dishes all of this year. So we’ve got a big bank of recipes that work seasonally with different things, and that will react to how people in the area respond. But we tried to take all of the things that were important to take while also wanting to develop. We didn’t want to open the same restaurant in a different neighborhood. The Barbary and The Barbary Next Door are so small that there was a lot more to the story we could tell, and by doing that in a bigger restaurant with a bigger kitchen, we could have more scope. And none of it is hard and fast. It’s always evolving. That probably makes life harder work-wise, but it probably makes the restaurants have more longevity.
ZP: One of the things about the menu is the buildup of lots of flavors and lots of dishes, which is my personal favorite way to eat. I like the way they all complement each other.
LP: I like that we can also do bigger dishes. We could do a whole fish for two, which is just not feasible in any of our other places. And we’re only just beginning how we’re doing that. We’ve worked on it a lot. Even with our flatbreads, we’ve got lots of toppings and ideas, but because we have a brand-new team, we want to give them a bit of time to feel their way in. Those are the biggest changes in the dishes we’re doing—the rest of the evolutions of dishes that we’ve done and other things we’ve worked on in the same vein.
Has the concept behind The Barbary shifted since you first opened the one in Neal’s Yard?
LP: It’s developed. With The Barbary Next Door, we haven’t got a fire there, so it’s more about raw and slow cooking. That made us look at the cuisine in a different way. With The Barbary Notting Hill, we’ve gone farther into Europe than we have before. It’s the same geography of southern Europe and northern Africa, but we’ve moved that around a little bit. There’s more from southern Spain and southern Italy than we have in the original Barbary.
Did you travel to research those places?
LP: Yeah, that’s the best bit of the job! We went to Sicily. We went to Seville. San Sebastian. El Palmar de Vejer. Costa Brava.
ZP: It’s slightly more complicated now that we’ve each got children, but it’s one of the ways we get into a creative space together.
There’s still bar seating. Mickael A. Bandassak
What’s your favorite thing about opening a new restaurant?
LP: When you see it all come together and you feel that atmosphere and you see all the work, from yourselves and the team, come together. And all of that time and energy and creative endeavor comes together. It feels really, really good. And maybe you get a nice moment with a customer, either re-booking or coming up to you and saying they had a great meal. That’s when you feel, “Okay, we’re in the right area of where we want to be.”
ZP: At the end the night last night, I sat down to have some food at the bar on my own before driving home, and I managed to get to chatting with the couple next to me. I just had such a wonderful conversation with them. They had lived on Shelton Street near The Barbary and had loved it and recently had moved to Chelsea. They were so complimentary about their relationship with The Barbary and how they felt about the one they were now sitting in. It was just a magical moment. Very, very special.
It’s a nice idea to think about people having living relationships with restaurants.
ZP: They are living things, aren’t they? Like I said earlier, you’ve got this vessel and you’ve got the bar, the kitchen, the kitchen porters, the runners, the guests. People are waiting for a table patiently or impatiently. People won’t get off their table. There’s this whole improvisation going on every day where the core elements are the same but they’re completely different every day. And that’s bit where, hopefully, all of the good stuff happens.
Where do you both like to go out to eat in London?
LP: Thinking about it like relationships, I have different places for when I want different things. I like going to Bistrotheque if I’m having lunch in east London. On a night out, I’d choose somewhere like Chiltern Firehouse. If I want turbot, I’d go to Brat. If I want dim sum, Royal China Club. If I want Turkish, there’s a place in Dalston called Number 34. For takeaway, my favorite in Islington is called Afghan Kitchen. We go to all of the new openings, but some I repeatedly enjoy. For me, it’s a personal choice about what I’m in the mood to eat.
ZP: I have my favorites, too. Most recently, I keep wanting to go back to Farang. I live quite near and I like strong, spicy flavors. For old favorites in town, I love Barrafina.
What’s the most memorable meal you’ve had recently?
ZP: Whenever we order a ton of oysters and my partner shucks—that feels like a real treat at home. Or we go to the Japanese fish market near us, and we do a massive plate of sashimi at home. When I was at the end of my pregnancy, those were the two experiences I was asking for most.
LP: This summer, I was near Saint Tropez and near Dubrovnik, and both times I had lunch in beachside restaurants. Grilled fish and bottle of rose by the sea. If I can picture what my last meal should be, it’s that. Being in those moments, surrounded by friends and family, and feeling that sense of relaxed, late afternoon sun.
The last decade has seen the explosion of the rosé wine industry worldwide, but orange wines are the next frontier. And one of France’s most renowned winemakers has made it his mission to make orange wines go mainstream. Gérard Bertrand, a former professional rugby player, transitioned into the world of wine after taking over his family’s estate following his father’s death. Over the last 35 years, he has become a leading figure in the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region in southern France, championing sustainable practices like organic and biodynamic winemaking. His ambition has grown his holdings to 17 estates, spanning more than 900 hectares of vines, making him one of France’s largest independent winemakers.
“My father was a leader in the wine industry; he was the first to believe in the region in the south of France in the 1970s. I started to do my first harvest in 1975, when I was 10 years old. And at the end of the harvest, my father said to me, ‘You know, you’re lucky because when you are 60, you will have 50 years of experience,’” Bertrand tells Observer. “And now I’m 59, and I have already done 14 vintages, and during the same time, I already played rugby, as well.”
And given Bertrand’s recent dedication to orange wines, he isn’t even close to done yet.
Villa Soleilla, the newest accommodations at Bertrand’s Château l’Hospitalet. Soufiane Zaidi
If you’re not already familiar with orange wines, you’re not alone, but that won’t be the case for long. Orange wines are made from white grapes, but with extended skin contact during fermentation, resulting in a unique, deep orange-hue and flavor profile. Winemakers macerate the grapes alongside their solid parts—namely the skins, seeds and stems—for a period ranging from a few days to several months.
This method, though considered trendy now, is actually an ancient technique with roots dating back more than 4,500 years in the country of Georgia, often referred to as the birthplace of wine. In those times, traditionally, grapes were not pressed before fermentation. Instead, the Georgians let the wines macerate in buried amphora (clay pots), called Kyevris. This unique winemaking technique eventually spread to the rest of Europe, first inspiring the winemakers in present-day northern Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Today, orange wine continues to be produced in Europe, as well as many other parts of the world, including the United States, New Zealand, Australia and France.
Bertrand is an admirer of this ancestral winemaking method. In particular, he loves the structure of this skin contact wine made with white grapes using red winemaking methods, which gives the wine some tannic qualities, among other things.
“I wanted to pay tribute to these people because they created a new category,” Bertrand explains. “And it was also amusing for me to try to make a rebirth of orange wine with less bitterness, and also less tannins, in order to have to create wines for drinking, not only for tasting.”
In recent years, orange wine has slowly but surely grown in popularity among winemakers, sommeliers and other certified wine experts, as well as devoted wine lovers, for its inventiveness and creativity.
But compared to rosé or popular white varietals like chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, orange wines have more of an uphill battle in the challenge for greater market share. To start, for casual or even more advanced wine drinkers, orange wines have a different taste to them—a bite, a bit tangy or gritty, or whatever you want to call it based on your experience. While this might be a winsome experience for some wine drinkers, it’s not for everyone.
Villa Soleilla wine. Alexia Roux
“Orange wine has a different taste profile, especially because of the aging during the winemaking process—more or less one month minimum, and then 12 months of aging in oak,” Bertrand explains. “And then the maceration process and skin contact development reinforces the aromatic profiles, resulting in notes like peanut butter or apricot.”
Secondly, for stemming from such an ancient tradition, orange wine is still a newer product on shelves in American wine stores or included on wine lists at restaurants stateside.
That said, Bertrand’s company has done the research (in partnership with London-based market research firm Kantar Group), arguing that the desirability and demand for orange wine is there among U.S. consumers. According to the 2023 study, almost half (42 percent) of American wine drinkers are already aware of orange wines. Among those who are aware, nearly three-fourths (73 percent) have already tried orange wine, with one-third (31 percent) of them saying they drink it regularly. At the same time, 84 percent of U.S. wine drinkers who have never tried orange wine said they are open to trying it, which Bertrand says represents a significant opportunity for growth. (For reference, the study was based on a sample of 1,000 people who drink any type of wine and are living in the United States, aged 21 and over. Quotas were balanced to census demographics by age, gender and U.S. Census region.)
Gérard Bertrand Wines now includes several orange options, each with its own distinct character and at varying price points. For curious wine drinkers who aren’t convinced yet, theOrange Gold is a good place to start. This organic wine has a very approachable suggested price of $25 in the U.S., an easy investment for experimenting with a new wine for fun. And Orange Gold lives up to its name. Housed in a striking bottle decorated with sun beams that enhance its golden hues, the wine offers a complex bouquet of white flowers, candied fruits and a hint of white pepper. It’s crafted from a blend of chardonnay, muscat, viognier, grenache blanc, chenin and roussanne grapes.
Villa Soleilla. Soufiane Zaidi
For more experienced oenophiles looking for an exciting bottle, there is the Villa Soleilla, named for the estate where it is produced. Villa Soleilla is the newest addition of luxury accommodations at Bertrand’sChâteau l’Hospitalet, a five-star wine and beach resort just outside of Narbonne in the Languedoc region within the south of France, along the coast of the Mediterranean.
Being a premium wine, this biodynamic wine is also more of an investment, with a suggested retail price of $195 in the U.S., although, similar to most white and rosé wines, it is one you shouldn’t let sit in your wine fridge for too long, as it doesn’t age well in the same way that red wines do.
“Villa Soleilla is already biodynamic-certified, and Orange Gold is organic. We apply the same recipes into the vineyards. For winemaking, we use only natural ingredients in the vineyards—this is easy,” Bertrand says about practicing sustainable winemaking. “We don’t have any issue with the winemaking, but we useamphora, and we also use some oak casks in order to develop complexity. And we age our wine for a minimum of one year before bottling.”
Summer is a prime time to consume orange wine as an alternative to heavier reds you might want to save for fall and winter, not to mention if your palate is tired of the usual white or rosé wines. Orange wines also pair well with a multitude of dishes. But Bertrand’s favorite food pairing? A French classic: cheese.
“The number one priority for us is really to pair all the orange wines that we make with a cheese plate. That’s because when you have a cheese plate at home or at the restaurant, you get lost. With goat cheese, it’s better to have a white; with camembert, a red; with blue cheese, a fortified wine,” Bertrand says. “The only wine that covers the spectrum of cheeses is really an orange wine. And depending on the level of maturation and the level of concentration, as well as the blend [of grapes], you can play with a lot of cuisines, from couscous to tuna tartare to Wagyu beef burgers.”
The Golden Sunset cocktail. Soufiane Zaidi
Bertrand also suggests that orange wine makes for a great cocktail mixer. Wine cocktails have resurged in popularity over the last few years as a lower-alcohol option compared to mixing drinks with much higher-proof spirits. One lower-ABV cocktail recipe developed in-house is called “Orange Sunset,” consisting of Orange Gold wine, bergamot orange and sparkling water.
“This is really a great cocktail to celebrate the sunset anywhere in the world,” Bertrand says.
Bertrand is already looking ahead to his next development, one of which is still somewhat of a rarity in the wine world, albeit still not available just yet:an orange sparkling wine.
“It’s always amazing to be the first to market, and it was a challenge for us because when you make sparkling wine with the bubbles, the bubbles develop bitterness. It was a challenge to create orange wine and then to develop the fermentation in order to develop the bubbles,” Bertrand says. “But finally, after two weeks of experimentation, we found a way to have sparkling orange wine and to avoid bitterness. And it’s amazing. I really love the intensity of the aromatic profile.”
Château l’Hospitalet. Soufiane Zaidi
Bertrand says that he hopes that orange wines will eventually slot into the top four categories of wine, which right now stands at red, white, sparkling and rosé.
“I remember when rosé was starting slow, in France and exporting to other markets in early 2000. And now it’s an amazing category,” Bertrand says. “I think it takes time, and not all the chefs and sommeliers like to pair with orange wines yet. It will [only] be a matter of time when more winegrowers are involved.”
These days, Nikki Reed is all about farm life. AFP via Getty Images
While Nikki Reed was once best known for her role as a vampire in one of the biggest film franchises of the late aughts, her life looks a bit different these days. She and her husband, actor Ian Somerhalder, live on a farm north of Los Angeles that houses 17 animals, including chickens, cows, dogs, cats, and goats, and produces over 40 fruits and vegetables. Reed is deeply committed to sustainability, and founded the eco-friendly jewelry company, Bayou With Love, in 2017. More recently, she and Somerhalder co-launched the Absorption Company, a line of powdered supplements specifically formulated to enhance the bioavailability of nutrients, in 2024.
Reed, who has two young children with Somerhalder, is also trying to enjoy and learn the ins and outs of farm life. “In my next chapter of life, when I’m not working so full-time, I will just literally be a farmer. For now, I’m an aspiring hobby farmer. I’m a student of the farm, is how I like to look at it,” she tells Observer.
Reed begins her days by checking her email and putting out any work fires and then making sure all animals and humans are fed. Despite her best efforts, Reed knows that sometimes, you have to accept that it is going to be a chaotic day. “You know those days where you’re backed up against the clock, and minute by minute you’re just trying to make it work, and one little thing makes the day turn upside down? You just have to embrace what that means—that’s struggling with work and life and kids,” she says.
Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder are raising their two children on a farm outside of Los Angeles. NINA/BFA.com
Despite her hectic schedule, Reed is also trying to prioritize travel this summer, both locally and globally. The actress, who lived in Greece in her early 20s, would love to return to the country. “Those things live in your body forever, so I would like to see if I can get back there,” she says, She has also spent time in the farmlands of Australia, and wouldn’t mind revisiting. As for places she hasn’t been before, she would love to eventually take her children to Iceland, anda horseback riding camping trip in Argentina is the plan once they are a little older.
As Reed’s life and priorities have evolved, so have her travel preferences. While she was once drawn to the architecture of major cities, she now finds herself increasingly intrigued by the allure of rural life. “I want to see how people live and connect with the land in other places. I am so into my land. I want to talk about soil and I want to learn about farming in New Zealand. That sounds incredible to me.”
In 2023, she went to Ranchlands’ Zapata Ranch, a bison conservation ranch in Colorado, to learn about the soil and the animals’ impact on it to further her knowledge of the basics of regenerative agriculture. She would like to visit another conservation ranch in the next few months. “There are a few throughout the country that I know I’ll drive to. That’s where my heart lives, so I’ll find myself there.”
She recently partnered with Babyganics on a new campaign.
Until she can get there, though, Reed is thrilled to explore local destinations with her family, all from the comfort of a car. “There are so many things to see within five hours from wherever you are, and a road trip is a nice way to connect because you’re not so focused on the packing and the plane. You’re just spending time together and being present. There isn’t much you can do in a vehicle besides have conversations or read,” she notes.
When Reed does need to travel via plane, however, she is an admitted over-packer and finds it has gotten worse now that she is a mom of two. Though she once was able to travel with a single carry-on for three weeks, those days are long gone. Now, she always brings a Cleobella weekender bag, which she has dubbed “Mary Poppins bag,” as it can fit everything. “That is going everywhere with me this summer,” she says. She also still counts her 15-year-old Frye backpack as a travel necessity, repairing it year after year.
The Cleobella weekender bag. Cleobella
For carry-on suitcases, Calpak and Paravelare her brands of choice. Reed is also all about packing with compression cubes these days, especially with children. And since sun safety is a non-negotiable, Babyganics Sheer Blend Mineral Sunscreen Lotion and Baby Mosquito Repellent Lotion are two travel must-haves for her family—she recently partnered with the baby care products brand on their “Oops! I Forgot it Again” campaign, to help make it a little easier on parents when it comes to getting outside with the kids. “I love the messaging behind this, not just the importance of getting kids outside, but also just celebrating perfectly imperfect parenting,” she explains.
Reed knows that traveling with young kids isn’t always the easiest—it can be quite stressful, especially plane travel. She eagerly awaits a plane ride solo and notes that taking a nap on an airplane will be a luxury someday. Until then, she’s sticking with road trips and spending time on the farm. “Right now, I’m in a season of life where everything is really about catching up. Honestly, if I’m not momming, I’m working and human-ing. A lot is going on.”
Andrew Warren and Ava Dash at the Save Venice Ball. Marcy Swingle
It’s Friday night, and a highlight of the gala season is on the calendar: Save Venice’s Un Ballo in Maschera, an event I always look forward to. The glitzy soirée, which focuses on raising money dedicated to the artistic preservation of Venice, Italy, is, fittingly, held at the Plaza Hotel. While the non-profit organization hosts several galas, the New York iteration is always special; this year, it fell on Friday, April 12.
Tonight’s date is Ava Dash, one of my best friends and, luckily, one of those girls who is surprisingly easygoing, because we both ended up last-minute winging our looks for the evening—shockingly enough, they worked out quite well, if I do say so myself. When I say I was texting my salesperson at Saks at 5 p.m. looking for the perfect McQueen blazer, I’m not exaggerating. Luckily, Ava and I had a good starting place, as Julian Polak of Maison Spoiled texted Ava and me photos of sparkling diamond options to tie our outfits together, and base the looks around—I ended up basing my look around a white gold-and-yellow diamond brooch Julian picked for me.
For Ava, I pulled a vintage, circa-1980s couture Calvin Klein marigold gown from my late grandmother’s collection, and tied the look together with tan Rachel Roy shoes and a bejeweled Judith Leiber monkey bag. Sometimes I do miss being in fashion, because I always love when my girlfriends let me style them. A few photos later, and we hopped in an Uber and were off to the Plaza.
Ava Dash. Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
We arrived just in time for the last moments of cocktail hour, and my inner Kris Jenner came out, making sure Ava, the 24-year-old daughter of Damon Dashand Rachel Roy, was photographed by everyone.
Now, onto the actual event, which was sponsored by Oscar de la Renta and the Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel. The sold-out event, themed La Primavera and attended by over 400 guests, raised more than $1.2 million for the preservation of historic art and architecture in Venezia.
As someone who has attended charity galas since I was 14 years old, I’m confident that I know a thing or two about how to do them right. The key to this event was the backdrop, which meant having it decorated and transformed into a Venetian garden by Save Venice co-chair and event engineer Bronson van Wyck and his team, Van Wyck & Van Wyck. With Bronson on decor, there isn’t much left to worry about, especially with Nathalie Kaplan’s consultancy agency, NGK Global, handling logistics. She’s the queen of these society charity galas, which are her speciality. And with corporate sponsors like Chaneland Gucci,the night was bound to be a success.
Ivy Getty, Emily Ratajkowski and Nicky Hilton. Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
Aside from Ava, of course, some of the other best-dressed attendees included Tina Leung (in an Oscar de la Renta Barbie-esque sheer crystal top and pink silk bow dress),Di Mondo (in a blue hydrangeas-covered creation with butterflies and a matching mask),Ivy Getty(in a sheer, embellished Oscar de la Renta gown and Bulgari jewels) and Natalie Jackson (in a classic black Vivienne Westwood gown and over-the-top butterfly mask). And let’s not forget about van Wyck’s peacock cape. Other fashionable attendees included Emily Ratajkowski, Jenna Lyons, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Anna van Patten, Julian Schnabel, Huma Abedin, LaQuan Smith and Ezra J William, to name just a few.
After the cocktail hour came to an end, Ava and I headed to our seats for the dinner.Laura KimandFernando Garcia, the co-creative directors of Oscar de la Renta, presided over the Ceremony for Outstanding Masks; Jordan Roth, Andy Yu and Lisa Sher-Chambers won the three prizes.
Paolo Lorenzoni, Bronson van Wyck and Lisa Sher-Chambers. Deonté Lee/BFA.com
It was an incredibly, glamorous evening, and in the midst of the festivities, I caught up with Ava on what she’s up to right now.
Observer: What’s the latest with you?
Ava Dash: I just moved back to New York. After graduating college at LMU in L.A., I’m excited to be back in the city and focusing on modeling as well as television projects.
What’s next for you, career-wise?
I recently worked with PETA, launching a campaign advocating for the welfare and well-being of animals. This has always been a priority to me, and working with their team has taught me so much. I am also very grateful to have just signed with a new modeling agency in New York City.
Why the switch from L.A. to New York?
I was born in New York and I moved to L.A. with my family when I was 14 years old; I did high school as well as college there, and was ready for a change. I wanted to elevate my career and experience my 20s in the city. The experiences that I can have in New York City, I just wasn’t having in L.A.. The New York lifestyle is so spontaneous; I was walking around Soho with friends and kept running into people we knew, adding to our group, and a magician stopped us and did an impromptu show. This type of thing never happens in L.A., where you’re just driving from place to place.
What’s your favorite part of New York?
Being able to walk around and meet new people. The feeling of endless possibilities drew me back to the city where I was born. Literally whatever you’re into, you can find the best of it in this city.
We’re at Save Venice—what other charitable causes are important to you?
The well-being of children is the most important. My mom and I co-authored a young adult novel [96 Words for Love, published in 2019] and gave the proceeds to girls rescued from sex trafficking in India. I am also very passionate about the well-being of animals, and have traveled to Thailand to work at a sanctuary for rescued elephants.
Ava Dash, Andrew Warren, Julia Moshy, Sarah Shatz and Natalie Jackson. Deonté Lee/BFA.com
What has been your favorite part of the night thus far?
I love people-watching and seeing how people come together for a theme. There is so much devastation that happens in Venice every year, so I am proud to be a part of a community that cares about this cause.
The event was beautiful! The food was delicious, the drinks were flowing and I love that the dance floor was packed throughout the night. It seems like everyone enjoyed themselves in helping to raise money for the historical and fabulous city of Venice.
Rate the decor one to 10?
It’s quintessential old school New York—9/10.
Who’s best dressed that you’ve seen tonight
Me!
I must ask—boyfriend or single lady?
Single lady! Trying to channel my inner Carrie Bradshaw with my recent move.
Well, on that note—anyone you’d immediately say yes to going on a date with?
