Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2019 in Robb Report

CALIFORNIANS HAVE a habit of shortening the names of places they frequent: SoCal, LA, OC. So depending on which coast you favor, you may think of Los Cabos—the Pacific’s favorite Mexican hideaway—in the singular. “Cabo,” as Angelenos are prone to casually calling it, might mean Cabo San Lucas or San José del Cabo, but the image either conjures is roughly the same: margarita-fueled fiestas at luxury resorts dotted with cascading infinity pools on the edge of a golden beach. These days, however, Cabo (we’ll acquiesce to the slang) isn’t quite so one-note, thanks to a collection of new and soon-to-open hotels that are shaking up—or rather, quieting down—the old Baja Peninsula scene. California-based luxury brand Montage (montage .com) is the first newcomer to arrive, joining the all-inclusive resorts that line…

THE VINEYARD HOTEL is hardly a new phenomenon. You can find it near and far—Napa, Yarra, Douro, and beyond—which makes it all the more curious that France, that glorious beacon of fine winemaking from the Rhône Valley to Champagne, has managed to stay out of the game for so long. Perhaps the French, not entirely famous for their hospitality, simply figured if you had a place to crash, you’d almost certainly outstay your welcome. Lucky for us, however, the country’s best wine regions are finally coming around, opening up their doors and even fluffing a few pillows for the luxury traveler who wishes to linger longer. Champagne Set amid the vine-flecked undulations of Épernay, the new Royal Champagne (royalchampagne.com ) is a cork’s pop away from the region’s top vineyards—Dom…

NO LONGER just for nonconformists, sustainable clothing has become a serious style movement that’s infiltrating every element of our wardrobe—from suiting to skiwear—and, not surprisingly, some of the most innovative concepts are coming from California-based brands. Known for embracing an eco-friendly attitude long before it was popular, LA’s casual lifestyle is especially conducive to new performance fabrics, recycled materials, and experimental apparel. Reducing waste was the motive behind creative director Maurizio Donadi’s first store, Atelier & Repairs (atelierandrepairs .com), which opened on Melrose Avenue last summer. A veteran of RRL for Ralph Lauren, Donadi’s mission is to address the fashion industry’s glut of waste and leftover inventory by turning timeworn clothes into entirely new garments. Using everything from vintage Levi’s to new and old military fatigues and button-downs, he creates…

Do you have a uniform for certain occasions? I wear the same thing pretty much every day: jeans, a button-down shirt, and a blazer. My shirts and jackets are usually Brunello Cucinelli—they're stylish without being too stylish, somewhat rooted in the classics, and always beautifully made. And my Acne jeans are the thing in my wardrobe I wear most often. How often do you train? I run about five miles three times a week and do the elliptical and free weights twice a week. Running is probably the thing that calms me most.1 It’s hard for me to slow down. How much do you trust your gut instinct? Very much—I built a career on it. Without trusting my gut, I never would have bought the Sunset Tower or the San…

HARLEY-DAVIDSON (harley-davidson.com) might be the unlikeliest brand to roll down the road of electrification. After all, the 116-year-old nameplate is so synonymous with internal combustion, it once fought for the legal right to protect the distinctive sound of its fuel-burning V-twin engines. Although Harley has been toying with EV concepts since 2014, its first commitment to battery power arrives this August in the form of the LiveWire motorcycle. It’s a seismic shift that has the potential to redefine the brand’s identity. The new bike departs dramatically from the company’s reverberant machines of yore. For starters, features such as Blue-tooth connectivity, navigation, and music settings are displayed on a screen—a far cry from Harley-Davidson’s conventional analog gauges. That digital chic goes more than skin deep, thanks to an app that enables…

STATE ROUTE 139 › SUSANVILLE TO THE OREGON BORDER Head northeast out of Sacramento to sleepy Susanville and the start of State Route 139. According to GPS fleet tracking company Geotab, this is officially California’s loneliest road with fewer than 1,500 vehicles per day using the 143-mile roller coaster. Along the way, it skirts Eagle Lake and slices through Modoc National Forest before ending at the state line. MILES: 143 STOP: Eagle Lake to watch eagles soar LUNCH: Pack a picnic before you go—the road’s lonely for a reason STAY: Running Y Ranch Resort—in Klamath Falls, about 25 miles north of the border—boasts the Sandhill Spa and an Arnold Palmer–designed golf course PALMS TO PINES SCENIC BYWAY › PALM DESERT TO BANNING Stay the night in Palm Springs to put…

ITALIAN DESIGN firm Federico Fiorentino (federicofiorentino.it) has partnered with Sacs Bespoke Operations, the respected Milanese manufacturer of rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), to create the X-80 Super RIB Project. The superfast 80-foot luxury chase boat features an engine capacity of up to 5,000 hp in twin- or triple-inboard configurations. Fiorentino allows for the speed without cutting into the accommodations. The X-80 will feature a 269-square-foot full-beam master suite amidships, a twin cabin forward, and crew quarters. Every effort will be made to maximize the space available within the vessel’s length. Outside, the X-80’s aerodynamic hull features a 646-square-foot open deck with sunbed and living areas. Owing to a number of successful projects between the Sacs Bespoke Operations division and Federico Fiorentino designers, it made sense for the two companies to team…

The Chateau Marmont exercises a magnetic pull on visitors to Los Angeles. It’s decadent, dramatic, even slightly depraved. For decades, the suites and bungalows have been the site of cinematic misbehavior, Olympian feats of substance experimentation, and massive room-service bills. Yet the Chateau retains a sense of dissolute romance because it contributes to the collective imagination of what Los Angeles was and still is. Like many New Yorkers (and people from everywhere else, for that matter), I love the Chateau. But when arriving, I’m overcome with insecurity. Over the years in New York, I’ve developed a uniform that makes sense for me: an unstructured sport coat, an oxford shirt, and a knit tie. This aligns with my formal nature and love of Italian tailoring. But that same coat and tie…

“We take off where Porsche left off.” Few people outside of Zuffenhausen have a Porsche pedigree as distinctive as Southern California native Rod Emory. His grandfather, a highly respected car builder, owned Valley Custom Shop in Burbank from 1948 through 1962, then worked at a Porsche dealership in Newport Beach, as did Emory’s father. An automotive wunderkind, Emory was only 14 years old when he began restoring his first car, a 1953 Porsche 356. “I rebuilt it to vintage-racing specs but also made it street legal,” says Emory of his initial example. “I gave it a 1,300 cc engine, a modified gearbox, the biggest drum brakes I could put on it, and then made it as quick as possible. Immediately after I started racing it, people wanted me to do…

The fire that burned down much of Malibu in November began like all fires, which is to say it started small. In this case, its first flames licked the brush some distance away, about 35 miles inland, across a freeway and a mountain range, in a narrow, scrub-choked canyon known as Woolsey. The canyon gave the fire its name, but it was the winds—hot, desert winds called Santa Anas—that blew the first night up to 60 miles per hour and that sent the flames screaming down the mountains and blasting their way out to the coast. By 5:30 the next evening, November 9, the winds were so strong and visibility so poor that all aircraft dropping retardant to slow the fire’s march had been grounded. Strike teams—crews of five fire…

For most of last year, traditional retail was the bruised punch line of an obvious joke. Malls were deserted. Bankruptcies made headlines. Major outlets were slashing prices and writing their own obituaries. Given that apocalyptic backdrop, the decision by online titan 1stdibs—a game-changing force in the interior design world—to open a 45,000-square-foot gallery in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood in February is surprising and a little brazen. And that might be why it will work. “At our core, we’re an e-commerce company, but we also know the inherent benefit—particularly in the design industry—that comes with the physical experience,” says company CEO David Rosenblatt. “Feeling the texture of a textile, sitting in a chair, holding the heft of a decorative object—these can be important considerations to designers and consumers.” Touch (or the…

NAPA IS LIKE the Hollywood of winemaking: Its name alone evokes its craft, and its annual releases are eagerly awaited. But a new carpet of reds is rolling out in Central California as sleeper region Paso Robles gains increasing recognition as one of the state’s best sources of Bordeaux-style wine. Bottles of its Cabernet Sauvignons are now regularly earning critics’ scores in the mid- to high-90s and competing with the best of California—and France. Modern winemakers have been laying down roots in this old ranching countryside for more than 50 years, producing passable, if not quite impressive, Cabs and Rhône varieties. But the region’s real eureka moment came in 1999, when Daniel and Georges Daou, cofounders of Daou Vineyards, realized Paso’s winning blend of Bordeaux-style soils and Napa-like climate (minus…

1 Hotel Cabo San Lucas Billionaire Barry Sternlicht’s wellness-focused luxury brand brings eco-conscious design and organic cuisine to the sugary sands of Medano Beach. (1hotels.com) Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos Part of the East Cape’s new Costa Palmas community, the Four Seasons will open this summer on the edge of a 250-slip superyacht-ready marina. (fourseasons.com) Amanvari Aman’s first Mexican resort is still shrouded in mystery, but we know this much: The 20-room property, which opens next year, will lead the pack in high design. (aman.com) Zadún Ritz-Carlton’s ultra-exclusive Reserve brand is behind Cabo’s most anticipated opening in decades. Expect two championship golf courses, sprawling villas, and three miles of private beach. (ritzcarlton.com)…

JADE LUSTIG has just returned from a house call in Palm Beach with a bag of diamonds in tow. She collected 15 pieces on her trip, including a massive 50-inch diamond necklace with dozens of stones—all from a client who simply had no use for them anymore. “Like so many women today, her style is more casual and her jewelry too formal,” says Lustig, a fifth-generation diamantaire in New York. Why should all those sparkling baubles go to waste, hidden away forever in drawers and safes? That’s where Lustig comes in. Like a trusted tailor or therapist, she has become the go-to jewelry fixer, transforming chunky and dated designs into light, stackable, and actually wearable pieces. Like so many women today, her style is more casual and her jewelry too…

BEVOLO GAS & ELECTRIC LIGHTS bevolo.com While visiting New Orleans’ World Famous Royal Street in the historic French Quarter, don’t miss the beautiful, unique collection of Mid-Century Modern pieces from Bevolo. With pieces assembled from Italy, Scandinavia, France and Vintage MCM designs, it’s truly a must see! SANTONI santonishoes.com Authenticity is the founding value of Santoni, a brand that innovates by being faithful to tradition. By keeping intact the know-how of the origins, transmitted from one generation of craftsmen to another, and exploring the ability to create unique made-to-measure pieces, Santoni releases refined products for a demanding and sophisticated clientele. HÄSTENS hastens.com Waking up in a Hästens bed is an eye-opener about the value of perfect sleep. It’s built with the ultimate combination of nature’s materials – together with tireless…

WHY SURGE when you can slide? Delivered in 2017 but just recently made available to charter, Home is a hybrid yacht that “gives the sensation of gliding along, as opposed to being driven or pushed,” says captain Mike French. Silent cruising (essentially putting the vessel in electric mode) is activated at the press of a button, just prior to turning off the main diesel motors, and the near soundless operation—producing only 46 decibels in the master stateroom—kicks in immediately. There is one drawback, however, according to French: “Silent mode is quite slow [top speed is 9 knots], so if you’re in a hurry, it may not be the right way to travel. But, if you’re intent on enjoying the peaceful ambience of the sea, it amplifies the experience.” This form…

THE NEWPORT BOAT SHOW (newport inwaterboatshow.co) is the only yacht exhibition featuring large pleasure craft on the Left Coast. Though not as high-profile as those in Monaco and Fort Lauderdale, this 46th edition makes a splash as it takes over Lido Marina Village in Southern California’s Newport Beach from April 25 through 28. The in-water event offers up more than 200 vessels on display—superyachts, sailing yachts, trawlers, speedboats—and all kinds of marine vendors shoreside. Watch for examples from builders such as Hinckley, Riva, Pershing, and Ferretti, among others, including West Coast debuts for the Riva 88 Domino Super, Ferretti 450, Ferretti 670, Pershing 5x, Pershing 62, and Pershing 82. Tour the show, then stroll the marina’s village and have a little food and drink—or high-end retail therapy—as you decide whether…

Racer Patrick Long—a Porsche factory-team driver—uses CXC Simulations for his own training. THE MOST GIFTED of today’s sports cars offer levels of performance scarcely imagined even a decade ago. Perhaps the biggest downside to owning one of these track-ready four-wheelers with 200-plus-mph top speeds is that their capabilities simply can’t be exploited anywhere except on a closed racing circuit. And while some examples may see the occasional weekend on the tarmac, the sad fact is that most of these cars are relegated to shuffling along public roads teeming with undistinguished rolling stock. What’s a would-be Juan Manuel Fangio to do? What if one could simulate the racing experience without ever buying a set of tires, putting on a driving suit, or suffering the indignity and expense of a shunt into…

Long before flocks of irksome rent-a-scooters descended on Los Angeles sidewalks and electric vehicles shuffled head-to-tail along bloated freeways, cars were Southern California’s symbol of unfettered freedom. Here, the automobile was embraced by Angelenos young and old, rich and poor, honest and not quite so. From the beginning, when LA’s Sepulveda, Sunset, and Olympic Boulevards were the primary arteries linking beaches, the Valley, and downtown, the automobile was our way to connect the dots. And at one point, pepper trees were ripped out of sidewalks along famous avenues and palms were planted instead, their narrower profiles and root structures making room . . . for more cars. The automobile stood for more than freedom of movement and “Westward Ho!” exploration, of course, and still does. It was never merely a…

British expat Rob Dickinson, founder of Singer Vehicle Design, remembers the exact moment that an automobile—more specifically, a Porsche—left him smitten. “I had just had my fifth birthday,” says the 53-year-old entrepreneur, “and we were in the South of France chugging along in a VW Beetle when my father pointed out a 911 driving by us very quickly. I was enraptured.” So much so that he studied automotive design before rock and roll seduced him to become lead vocalist for the 1990s band Catherine Wheel. “The sense of joy and narcissism that exists here is what Porsche as a brand spotted early.” Dickinson was introduced to the Los Angeles lifestyle while on the group’s first tour of the U.S. “I remember driving down the Pacific Coast Highway and thinking I’d…

SUNSEEKER INTERNATIONAL sunseeker.com The sky’s the limit with Sunseeker’s new 74 Sport Yacht. Designed to offer the ultimate leisure experience with enhanced outdoor entertaining areas, she boasts a concealed flybridge within her graceful lines. MY FATHER CIGARS myfathercigars.com My Father Cigars has released a very special brand named Garcia & Garcia after father and son Pepin and Jaime Garcia. This is the brand’s most exclusive cigar ever released, consisting of a medium to full body cigar. The special box of 10 Toro Deluxe (6 3/4 x 54) is being distributed at only a very select number of certified retailers. JACOB & CO. jacobandco.com Leading timepiece and diamond jewelry house Jacob & Co. inaugurates a unique partnership with legendary soccer star Lionel Messi by introducing the limited edition EPIC X CHRONO…

There is a pervasive and seemingly uncontrollable issue undermining the productivity of business today: email. Managing the mounting onslaught is distracting, time-consuming, and stressful–which is why an emerging movement to reduce—and in some cases banish—email for the sake of a company’s efficiency is gaining traction. Luxury brands such as Ferrari, Brunello Cucinelli, and Richemont, whose stable of companies includes Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, and Chloé, are tackling the conundrum head-on with meaningful results, from increased productivity to stronger working relationships, and more businesses are taking a stand. When the e-mail overload at Richemont, for instance, became an issue, it asked employees in its New York, Dallas, and Shelton, Conn., offices to be mindful of sending emails. An office competition, promoted with a cartoon character named Jane, challenged employees: Is…

Back in Black Ian Barry, founder of the Los Angeles–based Falcon Motorcycles, is crystal clear about his job description. “I translate raw power into elegant forms,” says the custom bike builder, “and then get to experience what that feels like at full throttle.” His 2011 Black Falcon, constructed from scratch save for the Vincent Black Shadow engine, was displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum until last month and is now available for purchase for $800,000. Sweet Spot Margarita Manzke and her husband, Walter, have become acclaimed in LA for their outstanding restaurant République. While Walter handles the savory side, Margarita has mastered the sweet, with people lining up for her baked goods. Now she’s letting people in on some of her secrets, publishing her first cookbook, Baking at République, which…

FOR ALL OF our evangelizing over pristine paradises and unspoiled beaches, we rarely, if ever, find ourselves in a position of real discovery. Mergui, however, might finally be the place to change that. Chances are you’ve never heard of the archipelago, spread over some 12,000 square miles in the Andaman Sea, with 800 islands—nearly all of which are uninhabited—scattered just off the coasts of Myanmar and Thailand. Though it’s the territory of the former, it looks far more like the latter: Covered in white sands, coconut trees, and little else, it’s population-less, pollution-less, and, until a few months ago, practically tourism-less. The arrival of two new resorts is changing that, if only minimally, bringing enough luxury to the native landscapes to keep us comfortable, but not so much that we’ll…

IN THE WINTER of 2018, the French-born street artist JR decamped from New York for San Francisco, where he converted a trailer truck into a mobile studio and, parking it in 22 locations around the city, photographed anyone—and everyone—who showed up. Known for such monumental public art projects as making the Louvre Pyramid “disappear” beneath a lifesize photograph of the museum, he was drawn to the City by the Bay for its incongruent status as a lucrative tech hub with a widespread homeless population. “It’s strange that a city that has so much wealth in a country like the United States could have so much poverty,” he says. JR’s goal was to create a mural in the spirit of Mexican painter Diego Rivera—who found inspiration there in the 1930s and…

SNUG IN THE open-air cockpit of Vanderhall Motor Works’ (vanderhallusa.com) new single-seat Venice Speedster, I pull on protective goggles and become Sir Henry Birkin, one of the famed Bentley Boys, circa 1932. OK, so differences abound. Birkin set a lap record at England’s Brooklands circuit in his monoposto roadster, while I’m content to cruise leisurely along Southern California’s Pacific Coast Highway, roughly 20 miles north of the vehicle’s namesake town. And unlike the late racer’s history-making machine, the Venice Speedster—in Silver Vintage Metallic—has just three wheels. “The reason we set out in the autocycle segment is because there are less design envelopes we need to work within,” says Vanderhall founder Steve Hall. “The category gives us a lot of freedom.” That sense of liberation also defines the ride sensation in…

FROM SPORTS-CAR culture to cutting-edge technology, California’s influence on automotive development is undeniable.For Audi (audiusa.com), the longtime love affair with the state is embodied by the PB18 e-tron concept, an all-electric, race-inspired prototype. The approximately 670 hp coupe, described by Audi executives as “a cross between a supercar and a sportback,” is said to cover zero to 60 mph in about two seconds, ranking it among the world’s fastest four-wheelers. The PB18 is the first vehicle to come out of Audi’s new Malibu design studio, headed by Gael Buzyn. Unlike traditional creative hubs, the Malibu space is entirely computer driven. This concept car’s interior, for example, was done exclusively using virtual reality. “We created the PB18 without any clay; we just sent the data and had it milled in Germany,”…

IN FEBRUARY, Virgin Galactic’s (virgin galactic.com) SpaceShipTwo (christened VSS Unity) successfully completed its fifth test flight and second trip into space. After many setbacks, the company in December successfully flew VSS Unity into space for the first time, reaching an altitude of 51.4 miles—past the border between Earth’s atmosphere and space, which NASA defines as 50 miles high. The flight marked a milestone in Virgin Galactic’s efforts to take paying passengers on space flights to altitudes where they will experience weightlessness, see the curvature of Earth, and stare at a pitch-black sky full of stars. A crowd that included the firm’s founder Richard Branson, a number of its employees, and the press watched from the company’s base in Mojave, Calif., as the spaceship, attached to mother ship Eve, launched from…

When it comes to opinions on bottles of vino, one thing is absolute: They are incredibly polarizing. Points can help the average wine consumer. The world of wine is vast and complex, with hundreds of varieties and regions, so scores can provide a gauge to purchase wine confidently and independently, even if that shelf talker with a 95-point endorsement is all the buyer knows about that bottle. A high score doesn’t always mean the wine is excellent, however. In many regions a high score merely reflects the style of wine currently trending or preferred by a particular critic. Over the last few decades, especially in California, that translates into very ripe, concentrated, full-bodied wines with a bludgeoning of new oak. Many high-scoring wines are also transient: Because they are designed…

Hear the word California, and images of Tinseltown’s glitterati cruising through the Hollywood Hills in their Porsches pop into your mind. The German car has become as ubiquitous in the Golden State as surfboards up and down the coast. Yet in a place synonymous with imagination and freedom of expression, it’s no surprise that a handful of custom restorers are riffing on the marque with a bit of six- and seven-figure automotive amalgams. Porsche and California go way back. The story began as a family affair in 1948, when founder Ferdinand Porsche and son “Ferry” opened their factory in Gmünd, Austria, with 200 employees. In 1950, they relocated to Zuffenhausen, Germany, which, almost 70 years later, remains the home of the marque whose reputation for performance, solid engineering, and uncompromised…

“It was lightweight and had a great balance of power. That Porsche (the 1968 911 L) was really a driver’s car.” If you can drive a 935, you can drive anything,” says Bruce Canepa, who still owns his Porsche race car provided by the factory for the 1979 season, so impressed was the marque with his team’s third-place finish overall that year at the 24 Hours of Daytona behind the wheel of a 934 1/2 (only 10 of these were made in 1977). Indeed, there are very few Porsche owners with the technical acumen to engineer race cars or restore concours classics—let alone those who also have the track credentials—of Canepa. Yet, this Renaissance car man began just like most other young car enthusiasts. For Canepa, the Porsche infatuation started…

As a young boy growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s, Ray Garcia could often be found at a carniceria. Strolling through the Mexican meat market with his family, he’d likely be carrying a brown paper bag, shining with spots of grease. Shoving his hand inside to pull out a pork chicharrón and gnaw on the fatty bits of meat has remained an indelible food memory for him. Decades later, as he prepared to open his contemporary Mexican restaurant Broken Spanish, he wondered how he could bring the childhood favorite to his menu. But simply replicating the greasy pork rinds of his youth with better ingredients didn’t feel like a challenge. “They’re really great, but is this the best I can do with that dish?” he remembers thinking. “I…