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Click the image for the full story.  Special thanks to Alex at Powell!

Opened in 1921 by Helen and Ed Power, the Nut Tree was, according to the press, a “culinary and curio oasis in a desert of endless roadway.”  With furniture commissioned from Charles Eames and artwork by Wayne Thiebaud the restaurant was light years ahead of its Pacific Standard Time – every detail from the furniture the the dishware to the way the food was presented was art-directed by Don Birrell, the Nut Tree’s head designer from 1953 to 1990.  ”We had a master plan for everything, from the design of the billboards to landscape architecture, interior design to the way food was arranged on the plate,” Birrell says. “We wanted to create a certain feeling, make people remember us.”

Credited as a visionary forerunner of California cuisine, the Nut Tree served up “heaping portions of comfort food with the freshest fruits and vegetables… Every meal came with a loaf of freshly baked bread along with the ubiquitous mound of cottage cheese or potato salad.”

The technicolor foodie-land brought in the celebrities in droves – Herbert Hoover scarfing up some turkey tamales shortly after losing the presidential election in 1932, and Humorist Will Rogers dined and Bing Crosby making pit stops on their road trip.  The kitchen staff also catered Queen Elizabeth’s 1983 state luncheon with the Nut Tree staff brewing 50 types of tea in ornate pots so that the Queen could choose her favorite.

By 1990, The Nut Tree finally succumbed to suburban sprawl and competition by every other roadside chain, but you can still check out a the historic eye candy on this Vacaville, Ca. website.

Found my favorite new art director in Lis Timpone.  Love love love these line drawings of hers…

No doubt one of the most misunderstood games on the planet (somewhere on the same level as “Curling” I’d imagine) Jai Alai has some of the best art direction in sports.  Awe at the “fastest sport in the world” – with a ball traveling up to 188 mph – is only eclipsed by the amazingly designed uniforms and perfectly art-directed courts.  Thanks to Florida and the Cubans in Hialiah for keeping this alive.  You can’t get much chic-er than this:

Another ode to my mixed up DNA (my dad’s side hails from the fair Cuban isle)…

I just used a bunch of these vintage Cuban film and and political posters while designing the interior of The Blue Parrot restaurant in East Hampton this spring.  I think I will be papering a wall of my living room with these.  A great collection and accompanying history can be found here.

Apparently there is this great project called Ghost Posters which is a collection of 25 silkscreened movie posters for Cuban movies that were never made, either because the manuscripts for the films were censored or funding fell through. Each poster is made by a different Cuban graphic artist, and there are some really amazing pieces. It’s a great concept, and the posters are allegedly on tour and recently shown at Rutgers Univeristy. The project has a website, but it doesn’t list any future venues.

Images courtesy of Cuban Posters and Ghost Posters

I absolutely adore porcelain anything, and Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg is the dream stuff is made of. They have been churning out the finest porcelain in the world since 1747. Inextricably linked to Germany’s Royal Bavarian Wittelsbach family, the house produces all of its figurines and serving pieces using original methods at the Nördliches Schlossrondell Palace in Nymphenburg. Schloss Nymphenburg was built in 1664 as a summer residence for Elector Ferdinand, and is still owned by the Bavarian royal family.

No other factory in the world still manufactures its products the way that Nymphenburg does. It’s one of the last places where all products are made entirely by hand, and the term “manu factum” really does mean what it says. The conscious decision not to use any type of automated process has produced the most breathtaking pieces. The porcelain paste – which other companies buy as a semi-finished product – is made on site. Nymphenburg also creates and mixes its own paints; its porcelain painters work without templates. Each item is shaped and painted by hand, each ornament individually applied and all designs, regradless of how intricate, are cut with tiny blades into the unfired porcelain. Nymphenburg consciously decided to only employ manual production methods, and since the 18th century has refined them to near perfection. Clients are often amazed to hear that delivery of a four-part food service will take two years.

The buildings and workshops are as much works of art as the pieces they produce. I could live in the Paste Mill or Gilding Room. The spaces are so magnificent, they are available to rent out for events and film shoots. Can you imagine???

I almost had to peel myself off the floor when I saw the Bergdorf Christmas windows. I swear they have a hidden porthole to my brain. How do they do it all over again year after year?

Run by two families since the early twentieth century, the Piedmont Candy Company still uses the original recipe for its pure sugar candy, producing over 2000 pounds per hour. These people know their peppermint sticks and puffs. The perfect packaging doesn’t hurt either. Get yours for Christmas at your local CVS, Eckerd/Rite-Aid, Walgreens, or Dollar General.