Archive for March, 2012
Olive Oil Is Healthy! But Here Is The Revealed Truth About Olive Oil That You May Not Know
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
The Revealed Truth About Olive Oil
Following are a few of the pitfalls you must be aware of when purchasing olive oil:
- A high percentage of olive oil is adulterated by blending with other vegetable oils.
- It is a common practice to use “Made in Italy” on labeling even though foreign oils have been blended in.
- Flavoring low-grade canola oil, or soy oil with beta-carotene and coloring it with industrial chlorophyll, or doctoring it with hazelnut oil and deodorized lampante olive oil.
- For the past ten years, Spain has produced more oil than Italy, but much of it is shipped to Italy for packaging and is sold, legally, as Italian oil.
- Recently there have been mass-market price wars and a flood of low quality olive oil — much of it falsely labelled extra virgin.
- Australian olive oil may be on average the highest quality on earth.
- Fraud is widespread throughout the industry.
Article: Slippery Business by Tom Mueller, New Yorker, August 13, 2007
Links to: Quality Olive Oil Producers:
List of Quality Olive Oil Producers
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Producers (Italian)
Other Interesting Stories:
Cuban Cigar Sales Out Of The Doldrums – Bangkok
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
hand-rolled cigars from Cuba
In spite of global economic worries, things are looking up for at least one luxury item: Cuban cigars experienced a 9% increase in sales last year, and that is something to puff about. Cuban cigars are still illegal in the U. S., but there are always ways around it. At one time, I had them sent by post from Davidoff in Switzerland, they were sent minus their bands, and always from a different individual with a different address. Of course, that was long ago and today I look back at the experience as a pleasant one, although certainly not worth the health risk one takes by smoking them.
My Spa, Times Square Sukhumvit, Sukhumvit Soi 39 – Bangkok
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
My Spa
Tel. 081-620-8723 (Times Square)
Tel. 089-166-3105 (Sukhumvit 39)
http://my-spa.com/
(Japanese)
http://my-spa.com/en/
(English)
電話番号 [日本語でどうぞ]
081-620-8723 (Times Square)
089-166-3105 (Sukhumvit 39)
【Thai Botanical Relaxation / 180min】
Original Price 3,800B → Special Price 2,900B
【Pomegranate Body Scrub / 30min】
This pomegranate body scrub naturally cleanses and removes dead skin cells,
Leaving your skin enrichment and moisturizing,this scrub is good for anti-aging and
brightening your skin.
【Pomegranate Body Wrap / 30min】
Pomegranate body wrap is good for brightening your skin and anti-aging your skin.
【Thai Herbal Ball / 30min】
Based on an ancient recipe composing of several types of Thai herbs and this is the perfect treat
for your muscles care.Compress the warm thai herbal ball on your body and it helps to release your muscle ache and relax your mind.
【Hot Oil Aromatherapy Massage / 60min】
Using combination of strokes and acupressure techniques with warm aromatherapy oil, this soothing and gentle massage allows the healing properties of natural oils to penetrate the skin, leaving you feeling relaxed with a refined sense of well-being.
【MYSPA Express Facial Treatment / 30min】
Using the MYSPA Original facial products.
Cleanses and exfoliates the skin,followed relaxing facial massage and moisterising cream.
MY SPA PACKAGES
You may also want try our special mixed package which include
some of our most popular treatments at a very special price.
Morocco Argan Oil Treatment (150min 3,300B → Special Price 2,500B)
Argan oil is an oil produced from the kernels of the argan tree, endemic to Morocco,
that is valued for its nutritive, cosmetic and numerous medicinal properties.
This package includes Himalayan salt body scrub 30min,Argan oil aromatherapy massage 60min and Argan oil Facial Treatment for 60min.
Relaxing Body Scrub (75min / 1,300B)
Body Scrub (of Choice) & Express Aromatherapy Massage -Honey milk, coconut, mangosteen.
Stress Away (120min 2,900B → Special Price 2,300B)
Body Scrub and Aromatherapy Massage, plus Express Facial or Head Massage.
Jet Lag (120min 2,100B → Special Price 1,700B)
Herbal Steam Sauna & Milk Bath or Salt Bath, and Deep Tissue Sports Massage.
*available at only Times Square Shop
Relaxation Program (180min 4,000B → Special Price 3,200B)
*available at only Times Square Shop
Herbal Steam Sauna & Milk Bath or Salt Bath, Body Scrub, Aromatherapy Massage, and Guinot Signature Facial.
Detoxifying Program (180min 4,200B → Special Price 3,400B)
*available at only Times Square Shop
Herbal Steam Sauna & Milk Bath or Salt Bath, Body Scrub,
Dead Sea Body Wrap, Aromatherapy Massage, and Express Facial..
A.Package (120min / Special Price 2,200B)
Aromatherapy Massage and your choice of facial: -Signature, Lightening, Anti-Aging, Men’s Facial.
B.Package (135min / Special Price 2,700B)
Dead Sea Body Wrap and your choice of facial: -Signature, Lightening, Anti-Aging, Men’s Facial.
C. Package (150min / Special Price 2,500B)
Thai Herbal Steam and your choice of: -Thai Massage, Aromatherapy,
or Deep Tissue Massage Your choice of facial: -Signature, Lightening, Anti Aging, Man Facial.
Sprinkles Cupcake ATM, Beverly Hills – Los Angeles
Monday, March 5th, 2012
image credit: from Facebook
Sprinkles, Beverly Hills
9635 Little Santa Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tel. 1 310.274.8765
Emaileat@sprinkles.com
Website: http://www.sprinkles.com/
http://www.twitter.com/sprinklesbh
ONLY IN BEVERLY HILLS: Sprinkles is soon to announce a 24 hour cupcake ATM that will dispense not only cupcakes for people but also for dogs, various Sprinkles apparel and cake mixes. And, wouldn’t you know it has a Facebook page as well http://www.facebook.com/24hoursprinkles. Isn’t this all too cute!
At Whole Foods: 300 Wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano To Be Cracked Open Simultaneously – USA
Friday, March 2nd, 2012
Whole Foods stores will simultaneously be cracking open 300 wheels of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano. It occurs at 3:00pm eastern time on Saturday, March 10th, and samples will be offered.
Terra & Terra Bar, Ame Restaurant – Napa, San Francisco
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
The exterior of Terra, located in the “Wine Country” in Napa Valley
1345 Railroad Ave.
St. Helena, California 94574
Tel. (707) 963-8931
Hours of operation: Wednesday through Monday, Dinner only,
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM weekdays; 6:00PM to 9:30PM weekends.
Reservations: Call (707) 963-8931 or reserve online
Owners: Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani
Founded: 1988
Terra has been around since the eighties and I fondly remember dining there just after its opening and found the cooking to be splendid and the decor and design very pleasant and comfortable. In more recent times it has won Michelin honors for the years: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011; San Francisco Chronicle Top 100 Restaurants, 2011.
Hiro Sone along with his wife and co-owner Lissa Doumani, who is the daughter of Carl Doumani, owner of Stags’ Leap Winery and a one-time restaurateur, opened Terra in St Helena in 1988. In 1982 she had talked her way into a pastry apprenticeship at Wolfgang Puck’s renowned restaurant Spago Hollywood, in spite of the fact that she had little formal training. Under the tutelage of famed chef and baker Nancy Silverton, she came into her own and secured a position as pastry chef. It was here that she met her future husband and business partner Japanese chef Hiro Sone, who was training to open Spago Tokyo.
After a two-month stay in Tokyo and a rekindling of her romance with Hiro she and the Japanese chef returned to Los Angeles to start a life together. Hiro oversaw the kitchen at Spago Hollywood, while Lissa took a position as pastry chef at Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurant 385 North, and received rave reviews.
In 1988 she and Hiro opened Terra in St. Helena in the Napa Valley, which became a nationally acclaimed restaurant. Since that time she has greeted guests, overseen the accounting, orchestrated the décor and staff, and impressed guests nightly with delicious and refined desserts.
In November 2005, the couple opened Ame in San Francisco where they continue to delight guests with the signature taste of their wine country restaurant. Today her precision management and attention to detail is a primary reason that after 15 years in business Terra is still one of the most cherished dining experiences in Napa Valley, and why Ame in San Francisco is sure to follow.
