Table of contents for May 2018 in Robb Report

Up in Smoke Hand-rolled, box-pressed, or barrel-fermented, these new Nicaraguan cigars offer bold flavors and premium binders and wrappers. robbreport.com/nicaraguancigars STORY OF THE MONTH Baja Reborn How a host of resorts are ushering in a new era for the beloved Mexican retreat. robbreport.com/ bajanewresorts READER SURVEY RESULTS Which famous architect would you commission to build your dream house? Our readers rendered their verdict, homing in on a perennial Robb Report favorite. WEB EXCLUSIVES MEMORIAL DAY FIELD GUIDE DESTINATIONS, FLAVORS, AND ENTERTAINMENT TO MAKE THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND EVEN MORE MEMORABLE. The High Five MECHANICAL MASTERPIECES COME IN ALL SIZES Q&A: Apollo IE’s Dynamic Duo on Why Their Creation Could Be Supercar Salvation robbreport.com/apolloieinterview Dodge Demon, Begone: Hennessey’s Exorcist Looks to Expel the Competition robbreport.com/hennesseyexorcist Oceanco Launches Superyacht Project Shark robbreport.com/oceancoshark…

«The Upper East Side has a stylish new resident. For its latest maison, Bottega Veneta (bottegavenetacom .) skipped the sleek thrills of modern architecture and combined three 19th-century town houses into one lush space. The fifth floor is devoted to a new concept, the Apartment, where the Italian label’s covetable furniture, lighting, and accessories are presented exactly how we like them—in a home setting. Creative director Tomas Maier’s well-appointed interior vision features not only the latest incarnations of the house’s signature intrecciato weave but also Maier’s curated selections of fine art. “I want everything I design and create to be the most exciting thing in the space.” – CARRIE LIVINGSTON…

IN THE EARLY MONTHS ofmy tenure as a member of the Robb Report team, we sought to perform our own feat of visual and textual alchemy in an effort to refresh the veneer of the then-25-year-old publication. During a quarter century, topics and tastes had evolved. What began as a utilitarian newsletter for Rolls-Royce collectors enlarged its scope, encompassing first additional automobile marques and soon thereafter, a full complement of categories—from watches and jewelry to antiques and art. Boats, planes, and a panoply of lifestyle-related categories joined the pageant, and by the 1980s the brand had emerged as an encyclopedia of that decade’s excesses. After the Internet bubble of the late 1990s burst, attitudes and interests shifted, and in the new millennium I began to apply myself to the challenge…

“You have to buy what you like and stay true to yourself, especially when it comes to art.” At Home in Hollywood I love my neighborhood, which is near La Brea and West Hollywood. I walk Runyon Canyon every day—it’s 2 minutes from my house and 10 minutes from my work, which in LA is crazy! I walk up and down those hills, take in the nature, and enjoy the view of the Hollywood sign. When I have free time, I go to yoga classes on Abbot Kinney in Venice and take walks in Malibu Canyon. I also enjoy going to the flea market in Pasadena, spending afternoons at Soho House’s Little Beach House Malibu, and grabbing dinner at Chateau Marmont and Matsuhisa. Art Smarts LA is happening right now.…

signature shades After stumbling upon his grandfather’s stash of 1940s sunglasses, Luca Gnecchi Ruscone was inspired to start his own line, engaging three Italian artisanal eyewear makers outside Rome to make his frames. Now, L.G.R (lgrworld.com)—whose classic silhouettes and fashion-forward details garnered almost instant popularity—is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the opening of its first-ever flagship in Milan last November and the launch of the Heritage Limited Edition collection. The collection features new variations on four of the brand’s signature frames, including the Asmara ($470) with sporty acetate eye guards. —PHOEBE NEUMAN have a blast The Blast Golf (blastmotion.com) training system from motion-capture-technology company Blast Motion measures nearly a dozen aspects of a player’s swing via sensors that attach to the top of any club’s grip. The data syncs with…

A Grand Gesture $10 million–$15 million “Using thick lines and monochromatic spaces as his central compositional elements, [Joan] Miró fully explored the possibilities of movement within a two-dimensional field,” says Lisa Dennison, chairman of Sotheby’s North and South America, of the artist’s oil on canvas Femme, oiseau (1969). Executed relatively late in Miró’s career, the expressive work leads an offering of 26 blue-chip pieces hailing from the collection of Morton and Barbara Mandel of Cleveland, Ohio, at Sotheby’s New York on May 16. sothebys.com In Top Gear Estimate Upon Request “The prospect ofacquiring the late Ayrton Senna’s record-breaking 1993 Monaco Grand Prix–winning McLaren MP4/8A on the 25th anniversary of his win is causing tremendous anticipation within the international car-collecting community at its highest level,” says Mark Osborne, global…

“What is that first impression going to be? I want to serve something grand.” JIMMY PAPADOPOULOS CHICAGO AT HIS RESTAURANT, Belle-more, Jimmy Papadopoulos quickly made an impression on Chicago—and Instagram—with a showstopping starter. “I’m a big believer that first impressions matter,” Papadopoulos says. “What is that first impression going to be? I want to serve something grand.” Grand but in a tiny package, his miniature custard pie topped with caviar, an oyster, and crisp green apple to cut through the richness is a luxurious and inspired little bite that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. And yet there’s another, humbler starter on Papadopoulos’s menu that is perhaps an even greater testament to his creativity and craft: his dinner rolls. Back in 2016, as he was brainstorming for his New American…

◆ Jonathan Browning (jon athanbrowninginc.com) has mastered the art of illumination with a handcrafted collection of bewitching designs that make him a favorite among interior designers and architects. His latest creation, the Glacon table lamp (price upon request), features a bulb captured between hand-carved lead crystal “that appears to smolder inside the thick encasing of block crystal,” he says. You are so well known for your chandeliers. How did you find the process of designing a table lamp? It was more challenging. To create something truly fresh and new and relevant in this table category is daunting. I love this design because it feels cutting-edge and very forward without being trendy. Timeless but cool. What inspired this design? The idea was to captures this “burning” filament in a block of…

“The clients loved brass, which they consider a classic metal.” “Because the house was so big, we needed color to break up what could have been an overly dark interior. Rooms could have just blended into each other.” True auteurs don’t play games. They know exactly when to resist convention and when to bend it for serious aesthetic impact. For a home in Australia’s rural Victoria state, award-winning designer Greg Natale began confidently (and boldly) at the end. ¶ “Usually people think about art at the end of the process and go scrambling to fill wall space,” says Natale. “We amassed the art collection right at the beginning while we were in the planning stages. “It’s unusual when a client commits to an expensive art collection in the…

COPENHAGEN’S eminent food journalist—and the youngest member of the Danish Food Critics—knows his way around Nordic cuisine and then some. Here, the former MasterChef Denmark star shares his short list for Copenhagen’s best dining, drinking, and more. We hear a lot about Copenhagen’s culinary rise—but what to drink? The culinary scene has definitely inspired other areas to rethink what they do, and the cocktail scene is a good example. Before Noma, there was no such thing as a Nordic cocktail movement, but today, aquavit—previously seen as a second-rate spirit—has found its way back to the cocktail bar, and more and more bartenders have started foraging herbs, roots, and fruit to create new flavor profiles. Today it is not enough to swap whiskey with aquavit in a whiskey sour—they want to…

THE ATHLETE 1 HUBLOT Hublot’s orange-hued Spirit of Big Bang All Black Orange features a micro-blasted ceramic case and a self-winding skeleton movement with a 50-hour power reserve. hublot.com ($26,600) 2 MONCLER Beyond its iconic puffer jackets, Moncler has been making exceptional outerwear for more temperate climates—and they deserve attention. With its orange accents, this navy Montussan nylon anorak has the right blend of functional appeal and style. moncler.com ($955) 3 STATE OPTICAL CO. The clean lines in these sleek and sporty Dearborn frames nod to Chicago’s skyline. Shown in a rich mocha hue, these sunglasses come with crystalline smoky-ash lenses. stateopticalco.com ($405) 4 ADIDAS ORIGINALS Nic Galway is the mastermind behind some of Adidas’s greatest hits, like the NMD and the EQT ADV. His latest pair, the Propheres, experiments…

FINANCE & BUSINESS PRIVATE CAPITAL AVAILABLE For well documented projects! US $250K minimum —no maximum. Expansion, hard money, bridge, asset-P.O.-based. Brokers invited with fees protected. Contact: (410) 535-3400 www.intrepidexecutivegroup.com JEWELRY BUY, TRADE MAJOR NAME WATCHES, DIAMONDS, AND JEWELRY Paying high prices for all Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Breguet, and all fine and complicated wrist and pocket watches. We offer a large selection of all major name watches, both new and pre-owned, at large savings; trade-ins welcome. We also buy and sell dia-monds over 1 carat and fine estate jewelry. Payment by wire or overnight check. Contact: Tarrytown Jewelers (est. 1972), 273 North Central Ave., Hartsdale, NY 10530; Contact: (800) 552-2161, (914) 949-0481; Fax: (914) 949-0546; www.tarrytownjewelers.com RESORTS YOUR PRIVATE ISLAND IN BELIZE Discover your own private island at Cayo Espanto,…

A racecar driver with two Masters Championship titles in the Porsche Pirelli race series, Steve Goldman is also a major automobile collector who built a private museum in Malibu, Calif. Now his museum is on the market for $10 million. How does your space differ from other automotive museums? Our concept was to create a purpose-built facility just for cars. I’m an engineer by training and was the CEO of a high-tech company for many years, so technology is my forte. I contacted curators of museums and asked them, “How do you keep a painting for 1,000 years?” What I learned was that it’s all about controlling humidity and temperature. This facility has temperature control, humidity control, dust control, and antibacterial control. It’s essentially on par with a hospital operating…

“If only for a brief moment, you become partyto an intensely personal transaction that was never meantto include you.” -PEDRO CORRÊA DO LAGO “ Autograph—the very word that defines what I collect—is misleading,” says Pedro Corrêa do Lago. “As I often say, every signature may be an autograph, but not every autograph is a signature.” ¶ For the Rio de Janeiro– and São Paulo–based publisher and art historian, who for more than 26 years was the local representative for Sotheby’s in Brazil, collecting autographs has become an obsession—a “voyeuristic fetish” that provides an intimate window into the thoughts of others. “If only for a brief moment,” he says, “you become party to an intensely personal transaction that was never meant to include you.” It is also a passion…

◆ We live in an era when an emoji can either confirm a successful round of Series A funding or terminate a relationship. In such abbreviated times, words can go a long way, which explains why Los Angeles–based designer Carrie Livingston’s (car rielivingston.com) lighting seems so seductive. Whether her pieces are used as literal translations, chandeliers, or radiant art installations, Livingston, who is known for her chic interiors, subverts the obvious. “I want to make neon more exciting and artistic,” she says of her ultra-custom, LA-made creations, like Hello Gorgeous (starting at $3,900). Clients are into it: Livingston received a commission for a 6-foot round illuminated drum with text, plus a few others for the same project. Paired with polycarbonate, mirror, or Lucite, the neon series is a deluxe kaleidoscopic…

FROM ITS BEGINNING 20 years ago, Manhattan’s trendsetting R & Company was conceived as something more than a gallery selling beautiful things. Founders Zesty Meyers (left) and Evan Snyderman (far left) had big dreams—namely, to erase the line between design and art and to educate collectors about the difference between a great object and a merely good one. They achieved that by presenting the work of legends like American furniture master Wendell Castle and acclaimed Danish modernist Poul Kjaerholm as well as developing the careers of now-established talents, such as artist Katie Stout, the cheeky surrealists known as the Haas Brothers, and glass maestro Jeff Zimmerman. Now they’re turning the dial up to 11 with a new, 8,000-square-foot space in Tribeca around the corner from their current gallery (which will…

“The unequaled quality of Marantz products will never be compromised.”-SAUL MARANTZ, HIGH-END-AUDIO PIONEER The year 1948 was a milestone for music, when the invention of the long-playing record raised the curtain on a new era of high-fidelity sound. The LP not only transformed the recording industry but also ushered in an era of incredible innovation in speaker and electronics design. Brands like JBL, Altec, Fisher, Scott, Garrard, McIntosh, and Quad soon became household names. But among these stars, Marantz—the man and his products—stand apart. Born in New York City in 1911, Saul Marantz began as a graphic artist, but an interest in music and electronic design helped bring his first audio product to market in 1952. During the Golden Age of Stereo—the late 1950s through the early 1970s—two-channel stereo recording…