RETAIL
Shop & Dine
The only trade-show experience that is more satisfying than closing that most important deal is a rewarding meal or shopping excursion at fresh, new restaurants and boutiques. Apparel-industry trade shows are exciting but can be exhausting after a long day on the event floor. Recharging every day with a delicious meal with friends or colleagues and enjoying some personal time to explore new retail destinations keeps energy levels high.
LOS ANGELES
The Westside
256 26th St.
(310) 260-2654
When Sari Sloane became a mother, her outlook on fashion changed. “I wanted to express myself in style without being on a runway. I wanted to showcase how people are really dressing,” she said.
It was a big change for a fashion executive who from 2002 to 2012 served as head merchant and fashion director for Intermix, a women’s fashion brand and retail chain. During those years, she frequently looked as though she had stepped out of a glossy fashion magazine.
The change in her fashion outlook coincided with a change in retail directions. Intermix was sold to Gap Inc. for $130 million in 2013. Around the same time, Sloane and Intermix co-founder Haro Keledjian started a family. To reflect their new lifestyle, they opened Everafter, a store for kids’ clothing in April 2017. Six months later, they opened The Westside to be a shop for moms and their friends.
After opening a couple of physical locations in New York, they headed west. In May 2018, they opened the first California bricks-and-mortar location for The Westside across the street from the Brentwood Country Mart, where an Intermix had opened in 2012.
Call the move to Brentwood a case of truth in advertising. The store’s name is inspired by West Los Angeles and the casual looks of its denizens. T-shirts, jeans and dresses sold at the store come from brands such as LoveShackFancy, Agolde, Aviator Nation, Warm and Re/Done. Retail prices range from $40 to more than $600. The core retail price point is $180.
The store’s look was designed by architecture firm Janson Goldstein with custom-made indigo wallpaper, vintage furniture and Moroccan rugs. The store also sells California-inspired artwork, which can retail from $500 to $3,000.
In June, the company will introduce an e-commerce shop. Sloane said she is scouting additional locations for The Westside in Los Angeles.
H&H Brazilian Steakhouse
518 W. 7th St.
(213) 266-8103
Born in Porte Alegre, Brazil, to a father who worked in the meat business, Henrique Huyer built a career in the Brazilian-steakhouse business. Huyer’s dream of opening his own churrascaria, or Brazilian steakhouse, came true with his recent launch of H&H Brazilian Steakhouse located in downtown Los Angeles.
The elegantly appointed restaurant features soaring whitewashed walls and light-wood floors in a brightly lit space, which is made more inviting with a fireplace. A private room is available for large groups and meetings.
Based on the traditional formula for a Brazilian steakhouse, which relies on an all-you-can-eat model, H&H Brazilian Steakhouse’s authentic experience includes a vast salad bar. Waiters with skewers of different meats—which are freshly prepared on the grill by specially trained gaúcho chefs—slice the offerings tableside. When planning his restaurant in California, Huyer wanted to make the churrascaria experience meet the demands of the region, so he based his menu on sourcing meat from farmers who specialize in organic and grass-fed options.
Patrons can enjoy meat options including picanha, fraldinha, filet mignon, galeto al primo canto—a chicken marinated for 21 days—and linguiça, smoke-cured pork sausage. This dinner option includes unlimited access to the organic salad bar and side dishes, which include homemade Brazilian, gluten-free cheese bread; fried polenta; garlic mashed potatoes; and golden bananas.
Guests who do not wish to partake in the array of different meat selections can opt for the unlimited salad bar and grilled chicken, which includes side dishes. Seafood lovers are able to choose a robalo filet, a Brazilian sea bass served with the restaurant’s proprietary sauce and marinated Brussels sprouts. This plate also includes the salad bar and side dishes. A choice of desserts includes flan, a grapefruit mousse, grilled pineapple and papaya crème to complete the meal.
At the bar, guests can enjoy a smaller menu in addition to cocktails such as the California Caipirinha, a local play on the Brazilian libation. H&H Brazilian Steakhouse remains true to its organic commitment through its inclusion of an organic wine cellar, which offers selections that are also sustainable and made from biodynamically grown grapes.
SAN FRANCISCO
Tilted Brim
706 Larkin St.
(415) 829-2923
For more than a decade, Silicon Valley has pumped billions of dollars into San Francisco, transforming a city once most famous as a welcoming home for bohemians into a place dominated by the tech industry and its business titans.
But the pre-Internet San Francisco is not gone. Justin Bautista and Nate Torres opened Tilted Brim, a men’s shop, in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood to argue the case.
“A lot of people complain about the new San Francisco because of the invasion of the dot-coms,” Bautista said. “We want to show that there is cool, independent stuff in San Francisco. If you just open your eyes and walk around, you can find great stuff that happens in the city.”
The shop’s interior sports some vintage touches. Instead of standard racks, some clothes are displayed in vintage storage lockers. Bautista said that hip-hop and R&B sounds are often played in the shop.
The 500-square-foot space focuses on brands made in the Bay Area. It sells labels such as Ben Davis, Golden Bear and Tellason, which are manufactured a short drive away from Tilted Brim. Bautista and Torres also manufacture tees, hoodies and caps for the local UC Hastings College of the Law.
In addition, Bautista and Torres manufacture a good portion of the shop brand, also called Tilted Brim, in San Francisco. Some of the styles include one-of-a-kind rugby shirts, which feature floral embroideries. Each rugby-style shirt is made with one-of-a-kind embroidery. They retail for $100.
The shop hosts a wide range of retail price points. There is everything from $20 tees to varsity jackets costing $325 and up. The point is to appeal and be accessible to the wide range of people who live in the Tenderloin and pass through the neighborhood.
The Vault
555 California St.
(415) 508-4675
Occupying a former bank vault in San Francisco’s financial district, The Vault brings a mysterious atmosphere and elevated American cuisine to the area.
Designed by San Francisco–based D-Scheme Studio, The Vault features an entry of textured, stained-glass sliding doors that open to reveal the restaurant’s semi-circular booths and banquettes in a room of cool blues and dark browns. Nodding to the space’s past, the design team repurposed the original safety-deposit boxes, located behind the bar, as storage.
Under the direction of Executive Chef Robin Song, The Vault offers lunch and dinner service with dishes that are American favorites, some of which are enhanced by notes from Song’s Korean heritage. From the raw bar, guests can choose the Ft. Bragg Uni with egg custard, dashi and smoked trout roe, while the Singing Pink Bay scallop crudo is enhanced with togarashi, radish, lemon and extra virgin olive oil. For extreme indulgence, there is also Tsar Nicoulai Ossetra Caviar, which is served with cultured cream and chives.
Dinner entrées include a comté-stuffed tortolloni, a rye-pasta dish with chanterelle mushrooms and chervil pistou. The Monterey Bay black cod is served confit with sauce gribiche, asparagus and fingerling potatoes. The menu also features a 28-day dry-aged Flannery beef rib eye with roasted brassicas, Korean chili paste and kimchi-garlic chives.
Chef Song was sure to create a dessert menu that tempts his guests to indulge. A Tahitian-vanilla pavlova is served with rhubarb compote, fromage blanc and toasted noyaux. The chocolate lava tart features a stout-marshmallow ice cream with blackberries and caramel tahini.
A happy-hour menu is available for those who want to socialize without a sit-down dinner. Specials include exclusive cocktails, such as The Vault’s signature martinis, and small bites, such as kimchi-spiced almonds with honey-mustard dipping sauce and a grilled-cheese sandwich that uses aged comté and is accompanied by a mustard-onion jam.
LAS VEGAS
Feature
Wynn Plaza
3131 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
(702) 272-0324
Wynn Plaza, a shopping area that opened last November on the Las Vegas Strip as part of the Wynn Resort complex, is filled with a slate of well-known, luxe, mono-brand shops, including Balmain, James Perse, Louis Vuitton Men’s and Stella McCartney.
In December, Wynn Plaza took a local gamble with Las Vegas multi-brand shop Feature. Since 2010, Feature’s off-Strip shop has served as a hub for Las Vegas streetwear and high-end-sneaker fans. Ajay Bouri, a Feature co-founder, said that this new Strip store had the potential of putting his company on the map.
“The majority of the people who come to Vegas don’t leave the Strip. For us, there’s a lot of opportunity,” Bouri said.
A top beneficiary will be the shop’s e-commerce site. Tourists from around America and the world will browse through the Wynn Plaza shop and then may return home to buy sneakers and clothes from Feature’s website.
Las Vegas boutique retailer Wil Eddins, who founded the Institution 18b shop, said that opening on the Strip is a major undertaking, especially an independent shop. “It’s a huge challenge. Having to take on all that responsibility to go into the black,” Eddins said. “But Feature is established. It went to the next level.”
Feature’s move to the Strip makes fashion sense, Bouri said. Stylish people mix looks from luxe brands and the high-end streetwear that Feature focuses on.
Brands sold at Feature include Fear of God, Comme des Garçons, Play, Wacko Maria, Maison Margiela and NikeLab.
Retail price points range from $50 to $2,000. About 80 percent of Feature’s merchandise mix is the same at the Strip store as at the off-Strip store.
Sadelle’s
3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
(702) 693-7075
bellagio.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/sadelles.html
Following years of success as a popular brunch destination in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, Sadelle’s has made a move west to a Las Vegas location opened late last year at the Bellagio. From 6 a.m. to 12 a.m., Executive Chef Jonah Resnick provides dining overlooking the Bellagio Conservatory.
Designed by San Francisco–based designer Ken Fulk, the 10,000-square-foot space was influenced by the grand cafés found in Europe. Playing on design elements from the restaurant in New York City, Sadelle’s Las Vegas location also looked to the Paris Belle Époque for inspiration.
At Sadelle’s, breakfast is served all day with egg sandwiches, custom omelets, steak and eggs, lox, latkes, and traditional caviar service, while lunch and dinner plates are served after 11 a.m. The restaurant features roaming carts that are pushed around the space, such as a display showcasing baked goods including sticky buns and raspberry donuts.
Sadelle’s offers a Sunset Hour, which is served from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and features specials on signature cocktails, wine and the restaurant’s tea sandwiches. The Theater menu provides three courses with dishes that include tuna tartare, garlic chicken, rigatoni Bolognese and babka à la mode.
For lunch and dinner, starters include asparagus vinaigrette, popcorn shrimp and cold, spicy Asian noodles. The soup menu includes French onion and matzo ball, and salads, which are prepared tableside, include Waldorf, Greek, Cobb and lobster, served with string beans, potato, tomato and asparagus.
Entrées at Sadelle’s include a roasted salmon with potato salad and mustard sauce, grilled branzino with sesame spinach, fried chicken with coleslaw and truffle honey, fish tacos with cabbage and chiles, and a rib eye with smothered onions. Sides include waffle fries, mashed potatoes and sesame spinach.
DALLAS
Bldwn
3205 Knox St.
(214) 545-6536
The Bldwn brand made its debut in 2009 as a stylish premium-denim label designed in Kansas City, Mo. But it had a scope that spread far beyond the American heartland.
Matt and Emily Baldwin started the denim brand using denim fabric woven on selvage looms in Japan and then manufactured in downtown Los Angeles.
The jeans were a big hit, and the label received a lot of kudos from tastemakers. In 2013, GQ named Baldwin the Best New Menswear Designer. In 2015, the Bldwn label was a finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition.
The company also had its eye on opening boutiques and launched outposts in the Kansas City area and in New York City. In 2017, it opened a shop in Dallas’s Knox-Henderson area, a pedestrian district known for its nightlife and unique restaurants.
Bldwn’s 1,200-square-foot Dallas store was designed by Matthew Hufft, the Kansas City architect who also designed the Kansas City–area boutiques.
The Dallas store features interior details such as gray, brushed-metal racks; light-wood tables; walls featuring plant illustrations; and concrete floors.
In the decade the Bldwn brand has been in business, the label has developed into a complete collection for men and women. Looks include Oxford shirts, woven pants, leather jackets and sweaters, as well as skirts and shorts.
In a post on the label’s website, label President Jonathan Crocker said the brand offers a “modern approach to American fashion—style rooted in the timeless qualities of the past yet innovative enough to push things forward.”
TacoLingo
2301 N. Akard St., Ste. 270
(214) 613-4041
From Texas restaurateur Rick Hicks, TacoLingo brings a bright, fun approach to Tex-Mex dining. The interior of the space features industrial décor and large windows that allow natural light to shine through. An outdoor-dining area is available for guests to enjoy their meals at long banquette-style wooden tables or smaller seating under red umbrellas.
In addition to Tex-Mex staples of chips and salsa, guacamole and queso, the starter menu includes a ceviche that is made with gulf shrimp, mahi mahi, avocado, an array of vegetables and Lingo hot sauce. The restaurant’s elote is made using chili crema, queso fresco, Parmesan cheese and Lingo hot sauce. Salads include a house version, Cobb and kale chicken Caesar.
At TacoLingo, corn and flour tortillas are made in-house and pressed to order. While there are traditional taco styles such as carne asada, chicken, vegetable and fish, the restaurant has put a modern twist on this Tex-Mex staple. A cheeseburger taco features ground Wagyu beef, black-pepper bacon, American cheese, fancy sauce, pickles, lettuce and beefsteak tomato.
There are also steak and chicken quesadillas, each of which is served with bacon, mashed black beans, Monterey jack, pico de gallo, comeback sauce, cilantro-and-lime crema and roasted tomatillo salsa. Fajitas are served with charred green onions, roasted baby bell peppers, cipollini onions, roasted-tomatillo salsa, cilantro-and-lime crema, pico de gallo, queso fresco, and rice and beans. Guests can choose from fajita options including adobada grilled chicken, chili-rubbed steak and lemon-pepper shrimp. They can also create a chicken-and-steak or steak-and-shrimp combination.
Keeping with the restaurant’s theme, dessert options feature churro donuts served with chocolate sauce, marshmallow whip and spiced hot chocolate, or tres leches accompanied by strawberries and cinnamon sugar.
The beverage menu includes a variety of beer, wine and Prosecco options. Cocktails include an extensive margarita menu, which includes a classic style that can be ordered by the pitcher. Other libations include the Bourbon Burrro, which is made using smoked agave, ginger, lemon juice and sparkling water.
ATLANTA
Vestique
705 Town Blvd., Ste. 410
(678) 705 1586
Vestique started more than eight years ago as an online brand with a mission to offer women casual, bohemian clothes with a trendy edge. Most items were priced under $50.
That mission turned out to be so successful that the Charlotte, N.C.–headquartered retailer expanded into bricks-and-mortar retail. In 2018, it opened a 1,649-square-foot shop in Atlanta’s Town Brookhaven district of offices, residences, restaurants and shops. This was Vestique’s eighth location.
Looks sold at the boutique include rompers, tops and graphic T-shirts. The graphic tees often have a humorous edge. For its recently released Mother’s Day collection, the retailer carried T-shirts bearing slogans such as “Go Ask Your Dad” and “Mama Bear.” The collection’s photos were modeled by Vestique owners Morgan Lashley and Caroline King.
The Mother’s Day Collection also features printed tops, midi skirts and dresses as well as comfortable jumpsuits with the theme of a mom’s life story. One bodysuit bears the phrase “Bring On the Drama.” A festive-looking dress is called “Mom’s Night Out.”
Vestique store locations also try to play a role in the neighborhoods where they do business. They offer discounts to teachers and nurses on different days. Every Monday is Medical Monday, where anyone working in the medical field can receive a 10 percent discount off her entire purchase. By showing a school ID, students and educators get a 10 percent discount on Extra Credit Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, the retailer offers Wine Down Wednesdays. Complimentary wine is offered along with a 10 percent discount.
AIX
956 Brady Ave.
(770) 838 3501
Bringing French fare to Atlanta, AIX relies on farm-to-table ingredients for its cuisine de Provence–style plates using farm-to-table ingredients from partners who focus on sustainable practices and humane animal husbandry.
Led by Chef Nick Leahy, the restaurant features an East Coast oyster menu with sourcing from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Other starters include a roasted-beet salad with saffron fromage blanc, sprouted lentils, amaranth and orange; quick-cured Antarctic salmon with carrot purée, English peas and mint; and a butternut-squash tartlet with caramelized onions, Parmesan crisps and thyme.
Main courses at the restaurant include AIX bouillabaisse, which features fish, Sapelo clams, Georgia white shrimp, Prince Edward Island mussels and scallops in a saffron broth, served with rouille toasts. The ricotta-and-sunchoke dumplings are made using a parsley vichyssoise, crispy sunchoke and sumac onions. A garlic-and-herb rubbed sirloin is accompanied by candied shallots, English peas “a la Francaise,” foie butter and a red-wine jus.
For sides, guests can choose from Provençal potatoes served with scallion, brown butter and herb coulis; roasted Brussels sprouts prepared with Meyer lemon and tome; and pommes-vegetable Parmentier comprising spring-vegetable ragout, crème fraiche and mashed potato.
To finish off the culinary experience at AIX, guests can choose from a chocolate ganache tart with chocolate whipped cream, raspberry jam, chocolate sorbet and mendicant. A Ferrero No-Share-O is a play on the popular chocolate. It’s a brown-butter hazelnut cake made with Nutella parfait, a crunchy milk-chocolate shell, caramel and fleur du lait.
Under Beverage Director Pat Peterson, the full bar serves an array of beer, wine and spirits. Speciality cocktails include the Last Train to Paris, a blend of cognac, bonal, dolin blanc, salers and pastis.
NEW YORK
The Conservatory
20 Hudson Yards, Ste.112
(212) 473-1333
Hudson Yards, the huge indoor mall located on Manhattan’s west side in Midtown, opened in March to great anticipation.
It has been called the largest privately built real-estate project in U.S. history with more than $16 billion spent to construct hotels, residences and offices. The project also transformed what was an industrial area into gardens, performance spaces and landmarks—which were seemingly built to be unique backdrops for Instagram posts.
When retailer Brian Bolke got involved with Hudson Yards, he wanted to experiment with new retail ideas. He’s testing some of his theories with The Conservatory.
“The name is a ‘triple entendre,’” Bolke said of The Conservatory. “It’s a place of study and discovery, a place that brings nature indoors and a place that suggests the idea of conservation, of respect for resources and time.”
The Conservatory asks its visitors to unplug from the noise, grit and crowds of Manhattan. With Droese Raney Architecture, Bolke created a 6,900-square-foot space featuring an art gallery and the Teak Tearoom, a café intended for meditation and quiet conversation.
The Conservatory also offers La Sieste Bastide, an installation produced by Frédéric Fekkai’s Bastide brand. This private room evokes the countryside of Provence, France, with videos, murals and scented candles.
The Conservatory offers 50 brand partners, including some lines, such as Narciso Rodriguez, made exclusively for the store. Retail price points range from $24 for LeBon toothpaste to $10,000 for a one-of-a-kind Irene Neuwirth crystal necklace.
The Conservatory retained fashion editors to help merchandise the store. Cindy Weber-Cleary, former fashion director at InStyle and Glamour, serves as The Conservatory’s wardrobe editor.
Tak Room
20 Hudson Yards, Fifth Floor
(929) 450-4050
At Thomas Keller’s Tak Room, located at the much-anticipated Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s west side, guests experience an atmosphere of old New York glamour. A1950s-inspired mural by Dean Barger complements the staircase that leads patrons to the restaurant. In the Stockyard Lounge, guests can enjoy piano-and-strings musical performances that pair nicely with a martini.
In the dining room, Keller serves modern Continental cuisine. Starters include a snack menu with marinated olives, deviled eggs, and Kennebec potato chips with French-onion dip. Appetizer offerings include a classic Caesar salad prepared tableside; Hass avocado–and–garden-vegetable Louie; a jumbo-lump blue-crab cake, New England clam chowder, hand-cut steak tartare, and the warm soft-boiled egg that is served with Regiis Ova Ossetra caviar, buckwheat blini, and crème fraîche.
Tak Room’s selection of mains offers an array of options to suit different palates. Seafood offerings include oysters on the half shell, sea urchin, Maine lobster and a Gulf prawn cocktail. Pasta dishes include bucatini pomodoro, fettuccine Alfredo with black winter truffles and all-day braised short rib with forest-mushroom lasagna. Additional plates include eggplant Parmesan, wild Dover sole meunière, Maine lobster thermidor, a rib-eye steak, roasted Four Story Hill Farm free-range chicken with thyme jus and prime beef short-rib Wellington with Périgourdine sauce.
Sides include buttermilk whipped potatoes, wilted or creamed spinach, citrus-glazed sweet carrots, blistered cauliflower polonaise and Madeira-glazed mushrooms. For dessert, guests can enjoy K+M Dark Chocolate Layer Cake, caramel corn or a lemon-meringue tart.
At the bar, Beverage Director Michel Couvreux and Head Bartender Tim Fitzgerald have built a menu around themes inspired by influences of New York’s 1950s and ’60s eras, such as “Duffy’s Official Mixer’s Manual” and “The Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book.” A wine list is available with varietals from California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, France, Italy and Spain. Champagne and sparkling wines are also available. A point of pride for the bar is rumored to be that it serves many of its cocktails with three ingredients or fewer.
MIAMI
Eightspace
174 NW 26th St.
Walk down any Miami retail street and you’ll probably see a handful of single-brand shops for high-end activewear and swim brands. In December, Brittany Falzarano decided to give shoppers an alternative in the Miami retail district of Wynwood.
It’s Eightspace, a multi-brand activewear shop that offers established and emerging swim and active brands including Koral, Mikoh, Zimmerman, Alala and Year of Ours.
Falzarano also aimed to create a shop experience by producing weekend fitness classes. In addition, the boutique has a matcha tea bar and restaurant inspired by Asian and Latin cuisine.
Wynwood boutiques try to fit into the area’s reputation for independent style. The pedestrian district is known for its graffiti murals and parties celebrating the Art Basel gathering of contemporary and modern art curators from around the world.
Eightspace’s boutique neighbors include Antidote, which carries sustainable clothing for women, and the Mimo Boutique and Ofy, which sell contemporary styles.
La Sombra Restaurant & Lounge
1000 Collins Ave.
(954) 558-9768
Within South Beach Miami’s Art Deco Historic District at the recently renovated Fairwinds Hotel, a new restaurant has sought to create an oasis to unwind. La Sombra opened its space with a design concept created by The Workshop, with alfresco dining where guests can sneak away from the Miami bustle into large wooden booths or relax on couches while admiring works by local artists.
On the menu are small plates designed by Executive Chef Ginna Rodriguez, which include hummus and pita, ceviche, crispy fish tacos, truffle mac and cheese, and polpettes—a meatball served with fresh pomodoro sauce and ricotta cheese. A Floridian salad uses jicama, pineapple, mango and orange to bring a new approach to this common dish and is finished using key-lime oil, cilantro and toasted hominy kernels.
The lunch and dinner main courses include an array of burgers and sandwiches, including a Gulf-shrimp club and homemade vegetarian burger. Additional plates include the local catch of the day, served in a berry sauce with cauliflower-fennel puree and charred rapini; skirt steak with roasted fingerling potatoes and Brussels sprouts; pad thai served with an egg sunny-side up; and garlic fettuccine pasta with cipollini onions, wild mushrooms, grape tomatoes, white-wine garlic and parsley.
A full bar produces refreshing cocktails and beverages to quench guests’ thirst after a day of navigating trade shows in the Miami heat and to complement the buzzing energy of the city’s nights.
Bottle service is available, and the restaurant offers happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. every day, where specialty cocktails include mojitos and caipirinhas. A Sharable Bites menu is also offered during this time, featuring dishes including Brussels sprouts, wings and fries. Dessert items include a Nutella cream puff, crème brûlée and chocolate fondant with caramel pecans and vanilla ice cream.
In addition to the restaurant, La Sombra’s basement speakeasy, “La Sombra Lounge,” and a 2,500-square-foot outdoor rooftop area are available for events and group-dining experiences.
