The Corner

I attended a little gathering at La Esquina Friday night and I was once again reminded as to why it is one of my favorite restaurants if not my all time favorite. Mexican food usually isn't known as a healthy culinary choice but the food at La Esquina is always fresh and light and delicious. And the prices aren't bad either. The restaurant's original claim to fame was that you had to traipse through the kitchen to get to the dining room but luckily the food has kept the place from turning into a flash in the pan like many New York hot spots. Unfortunately, reservations are hard to come by and are worth scheduling a month in advance but if you can't wait that long, you can eat at the Taqueria or the recently opened Cafe upstairs.

The reason for the gathering was an industry insider's decision to open her own studio, more on that after the formal announcement, but I also met a few other people who had taken that scary leap of faith to start their own companies. If there is a silver lining to this grey economic cloud, I think it will be that more people decide to open their own companies or go out on their own as a designer. I encourage those of you who are thinking about working for yourself to lay the groundwork now while you are still working elsewhere. It makes things a heck of a lot easier and if you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of getting laid off, you will be one step ahead!

La Esquina

114 Kenmare Street

New York, NY 10012

646-613-7100

Weekend Escape

When I opened the Escapes section of The New York Times on Friday, the last thing I was expecting to find was a design feature about the weekend retreat of one about the city's most interesting couples, Derek and Michelle Sanders. He owns his own architecture firm that has designed the interiors of The Standard Hotel in LA and my favorite restaurant in New York, La Esquina, which is also co-owns. She used to be an editor at Vogue before leaving to work for Juicy Couture, Miu Miu and Donna Karen where she is now SVP of DK Collection accessories.


I profiled their New York apartment when I first started my blog but for those of you who missed it, you can check it out here. You can see similarities in the apartment and the rural retreat three hours north of the city in the use if white but I really like how they decorated the converted old barn with more rustic and country looking furniture. It really fits the space.

It looks like the place is still a work in progress in some areas. The floor in the living room appears to be just painted plywood while the kitchen has wide plant hardwood floors. I personally would have liked it if they had anchored the living room seating arrangement with some kind of rug but maybe they are still searching for one. I could see a braided rug fitting in perfectly in this space.

I think the large flag lends a nice Americana feel to the place. I wish the article had shown more photos but it was still fun to peak inside and see what this creative couple has been up to lately. It would also be nice if they would grant me access to the super secret VIP reservation number to La Esquina since I've written about them twice. I wonder who I need to talk to about that.