Table of contents for November 2017 in Esquire

Why are we so obsessed with Vikings? Is it the license to pillage? The epic beards? From Wagner’s operas to the History channel’s sweeping series, they’ve got our attention in a chain-mailed grip. Olivier Creed, head perfumer of the 300-plus-year-old fragrance house that shares his name, understands the appeal. In the seven years since the release of Creed’s best-selling Aventus, he’s been crafting Viking, a woody, masculine scent inspired by those conquerors of the frozen north. It’s a rich mix of Sicilian lemon, Bulgarian rose, and Indian sandalwood—almost like a ship’s hold packed with cargo from distant shores. So, you know, a whole lot better than any actual Viking ever smelled. $495; creedboutique.com…

A Cultural Guide to Just Enough of Everything Scott Kelly is not the first man to leave Earth’s atmosphere, but he is the first to wear a gorilla suit in space. If that weren’t enough, in March 2016 he earned the distinction of having spent 340 consecutive days aboard the International Space Station—besting the previous American record by 125 days. “I’m not the guy who saw the moon landing in 1969 and decided then and there to be an astronaut. I didn’t get straight A’s and become an Eagle Scout,” Kelly says. “I’m a below-average guy that’s done a slightly aboveaverage job.” As chronicled in his unflinching new memoir, Endurance, Kelly, 53, was a terrible student growing up. More interested in playing hooky than studying, he graduated in the bottom…

If humanity were wiped out tomorrow afternoon, Beck would still be around, rhyming jujitsu with shih tzu in the ashes. He’s remained relevant for more than two decades, even though he hasn’t had a top-ten song since 1994’s “Loser.” But in terms of accolades, Beck reached a career peak in 2015, when he snagged Album of the Year at the Grammys for his subdued and beautiful Morning Phase.So where do you go when you’re officially not a “Loser”? Back to the beginning. His latest, Colors, sounds like a collection of songs ready for licensing (“Up All Night” was used in an ad for Fossil watches), a kaleidoscope of maximalist bubble gum. Working with producer Greg Kurstin—a pop wizard whose credits include Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Sia, Ellie Goulding, and Lily Allen—…

Think of these jackets as souped-up sweatshirts. Cardigans with cojones. Their benefits are twofold. First, the cut is made for movement: The cropped waist and roomy body give you a range of motion for whatever autumnal tasks you’ve got on the agenda. That same shape creates some helpful optical illusions, too. A shorter torso makes for longer legs, which in turn makes you look taller. And a jacket that stops right at the waist will give you a waist, no matter how hard you’ve been hitting the IPA lately. One word of advice: A jacket like this only works when your pants actually hang above your hips. Good thing we’re in the middle of a below-the-belt renaissance. (You doubt us? See page 96.) So pack up the low-slung jeans and…

It only takes one whiskey-fueled rager to show that how you feel on the inside affects how you look on the outside. It follows that doing the opposite— raising your nutritional game by tossing back a supplement—could improve your appearance. The makers of ingestible skin- and hair-care products are banking on it: Market research by Global Industry Analysts is expecting these to be a $7.5 billion market worldwide by 2024. They’ve even got a trendy name: nutricosmetics. It’s a handy portmanteau for anything meant to make you healthier and handsomer, and it goes for the jugular of today’s wellness lifestyle, says Lucie Greene, worldwide director of the innovation group at marketing agency J. Walter Thompson. What you put in your body is just as important as what you put on…

WHAT’S IN HIS WALLET? A few euros, one credit card, and one debit card. Wallet by Mulberry. Money was always very scarce in my household because Greece was a poor country. My parents were extremely fiscally conservative. Credit cards and loans and mortgages were abhorrent to them. I don’t think they were ever in debt, even when they were very poor. This is something that people find hard to fathom, but in 1980, Greece had the lowest level of debt in Europe. We were save, save, save, like the Chinese are today. Financialization, which is a global phenomenon, hit Greece around then. Suddenly, this culture of parsimony evaporated. I had a choice when I completed my master’s in statistics: I could opt for a very handsome salary or I could…

Each week seems to bring a fresh gut-punch of news about another beloved institution that’s bidding us farewell. So it’s encouraging to witness a countertrend: vintage restaurants that refuse to go gently into that shuttered night. In San Francisco, chef Daniel Patterson has spruced up the fading Alfred’s steakhouse. Faced with a rent spike, Danny Meyer hauled his Union Square Cafe to a new site in N. Y. C., but somehow the easy camaraderie of the place never dropped off the back of the moving van. Meanwhile the narrative of Cali cuisine has revealed a plot twist at Michael’s in Santa Monica, where Chas McCarty (son of owner Michael), chef Miles Thompson, and cocktail maven Meredith Hayman have proven that Hollywood doesn’t have a monopoly on the successful reboot.…

Three o’clock is the restaurant world’s witching hour. Lunch ends, and if you really want to eat, sorry, sir, we reopen at 5:30. What’s a guy to do whose free-spirited life doesn’t adhere to puritanical normative hours? Get a muffin at Starbucks? No thanks. With the rise of the officeless creative class comes the new wave of smart all-day saloons that can serve as de facto home bases from breakfast to dinner and all hours in between. (Gjusta in Venice Beach helped kick off the trend.) While visiting Austin, I was happy for June’s All Day, where I could get some homemade granola in the morning and return in the early evening to catch up with old friends over salt-cod croquettes and local beers. San Francisco’s airy Tartine Manufactory made…

Ignacio Mattos of Flora Bar, Café Altro Paradiso, and Estela in New York The best chefs, like the best singers, have an instantly identifiable voice. Mattos, a native of Uruguay, is cooking at three different restaurants in Manhattan these days, but his distinct, eccentric sound (marked by deftly balanced layers of funk and fat and spice and salt) shines through at each one. More than anyone else cooking in America right now, he knows how to create dishes that you want to come back for. He’s the wizard of crave. Miles Thompson of Michael’s in Santa Monica A lot of West Coast greats have passed through the kitchen at Michael’s: Jonathan Waxman, Nancy Silverton, and Sang Yoon have all contributed to the evolution of California cuisine at this sea-breezy landmark. In recent…

For store information see page 129. Production by Thea Arthen for Bauerfeind Productions.…

This past summer, Wonder Woman stormed the global box office, lassoing more than $800 million worldwide. Here was proof that a superheroine could play just as hard as the boys. But for fans who have only recently gotten to know the character, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (out now) might come as a bit of a shock. The film introduces the real-life inspirations behind the feminist icon, namely the two women who were in a polyamorous relationship with William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), the Harvard psychologist who created the comic-book character. The women in question, Marston’s smart-as-a-whip wife, Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall), and his former student Olive (played with beautiful complexity by Bella Heathcote), were his lovers, cohorts, and muses. “When I read the script, I was really rooting for…

SHOWN HERE ON SOME REAL-LIFE, RIDICULOUSLY GOOD-LOOKING ovCOUPLES. NAMES: Mihaly Martins, Barbara Di Creddo AGES: 31, 27 MARTINS AND DI CREDDO first met at a friend’s house in Paris back in 2007. When they started dating two years ago, they were bound to become (what else?) a fashion power couple. Martins has been a go-to guy for Hugo Boss, while Di Creddo has made the cover of Spanish Vogue. NAMES: Christina Lynn Lawrence, Matt Young AGES: 25, 22 IT’S A CLASSIC 21ST-CENTURY LOVE STORY—Young scrolled through Lawrence’s Instagram, slid into her DMs, and romance blossomed. It’s not all selfies, though. You can find Lawrence in the pages of Cosmopolitan and Young in Tom Ford commercials. NAMES: Noma Han, I-Hua Wu AGES: 27, 23 NEVER KNOCK A WORKPLACE ROMANCE. These two…

A BRIEF MONTHLY EXPANSION ON A TOPIC ALLUDED TO ELSEWHERE IN THE ISSUE (SEE PAGE 80) Sleep refers to the daily period of rest and unconsciousness during which humans recharge their phones. It occurs naturally at night when the hormone melatonin is released into the brain, and during the day at mandatory company-wide meetings. Researchers are unsure why we need to sleep, because researchers apparently haven’t read the goddamn news in the last 24 hours. Most people average just under seven hours of sleep a night. Too little sleep can lead to chronic insomnia or various other disorders, while oversleeping can lead to accidentally leaving your son Kevin home alone to deal with burglars on Christmas Eve. Most people sleep on a bed, which is whatever piece of furniture you…

THE PROCESS Joel Embiid’s call for fans to trust in the Philadelphia 76ers’ never-ending rebuild. Torn menisci? Building losing teams in a ploy for top draft picks? It’s all part of The Process. UNICORN Giants like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kristaps Porzingis who can run, pass, and shoot just as well as guards. “SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE” LaVar Ball’s refrain for his belief that whatever comes out of his mouth will come true for his sons. The Lakers will draft Lonzo to be their starting point guard? Done. A $500 signature shoe for him? Sure. Beating Michael Jordan in a one-on-one duel? We’re still waiting. “TAKE THAT FOR DATA!” The phrase Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale used to cap a stats-filled postgame rant last season about poor officiating. It was like…

Robert Frank’s favorite picture from his seminal photo book The Americans—published in France in 1958 and then a year later in the U.S.—is of an African-American couple sitting in a San Francisco park, their heads turned in anger toward a stranger invading their privacy. They wish to go unobserved. The same might be said about Frank, as RJ Smith tells it in his brief but well-observed new biography, American Witness. A Swiss Jew who survived World War II and arrived in New York just as the city was becoming the artistic center of the world, Frank was part of a generation burning to break from the conformity of the postwar period. With the help of a Guggenheim grant, and support from Walker Evans (“mon cher professeur”), he spent 1955 and…

Because Style Is Always Personal Men’s wear is not exactly a lightning rod for innovation. No one’s going to reinvent pants. But every so often, we hit on a new way to wear the same old stuff. Take the clothes at left. They’re the foundation of any-era American sportswear: tweeds, corduroys, and cable knits. A suit. A blazer. Nothing groundbreaking. But then look at how they’re worn: loose, a little rumpled, with an upturned collar and some fabric pooling at the break of the pant. You could call this preppy, but it’s not the just-so, pressedand- precious stuff you’d find at the country club. It’s cooler than that, and a little cockier— a relaxed, unstudied approach we’re seeing everywhere from Gap to J. Crew to Ralph Lauren. (No surprise this…

If you’re worried it’ll take four (or even five) figures to get a legendary timepiece on your wrist, relief is at hand. Timex has reissued its iconic, water-resistant Marlin, taking design cues from a style dating back to 1961. From the Decoinspired font to the serial numbers at the base of the dial, it’s a nuts-andbolts copy (save for the “circa 2017” on the back of the case). Timex also stuck to the original 35mm size: tiny by modern standards, but right ahead of a rising trend toward smaller, tasteful watches of the old school. One other small thing: the price. At just under $200, it’s well below the average for a mechanical watch of this caliber. Who knew owning a piece of history could be so economical?…

Just when we think we’ve found the perfect boot, our tastes go and change. The lug-soled lace-ups favored by “heritage” guys feel too predictable. The suede Chelsea boots worn by West Coast minimalists and neo-rockers come off as too sleek. What we want now is something that works well in the office and still fits in afterhours. Good thing we found these. The appeal is in the subtle contrasts. Some broguing at the toe suggests this boot plays well with a suit. At the ankle, a moto-inspired buckle says the wearer could kick up some trouble, too. The rubber pebbles on the sole are there so you don’t fall on your ass while you’re busy looking good. It’s a boot that avoids extremes without playing it safe. Making it the…

LARRY MCGUIRE 35, Austin Lights, camera . . . dinner: A lot of what I do [with seven restaurants, plus four in the works] is almost theatrical. When they start out, it feels like a movie. The waiters are like actors. I’ve always been more interested in creating that for other people than being the one enjoying it. Dressed for success: Austin is such a casual place, but sometimes I like to wear something nice. I get shirts made at Hamilton, in Houston, an old-school shirtmaker. I kind of have old-man style, so I like to wear a Brunello Cucinelli cardigan. And I like fancy sneaks, so I’ll have a fresh pair of Saint Laurents on. Code breaker: When we opened this place [Jeffrey’s, the highest- end restaurant in his…

WOW ’EM WITH WAFFLES Go ahead—call waffles your specialty. The KRUPS BELGIAN WAFFLE MAKER makes this breakfast standout easy to master. With adjustable browning levels and deep, topping-hungry grooves, you can’t go wrong (unless you forget the bacon). BREW LIKE A BOSS You can’t be the breakfast guy without next-level coffee. The KRUPS 12-CUP SAVOY COFFEE MAKER features a regular/bold brew selection, a keep-warm function with adjustable time and temperature, and a 35% faster brewing cycle. A CRUST ABOVE From Bloody Mary brunches to the everyday grind, the right toaster oven is your kitchen MVP. The KRUPS DELUXE TOASTER OVEN offers eight fast heat-up and turbo cooking functions and enough space to toast six slices at once…or cook two quiches from scratch. ESPRESS YOURSELF When you set out to conquer…

PALIZZI SOCIAL CLUB, Philadelphia The molten core of culinary heat in America right now might be a row house in South Philly. It’s been around for almost a century, but earlier this year chef Joey Baldino revived it, and he happens to be serving the best Italian-American food in the country. For those who are fortunate enough to land a table, the word perfectis inevitably laced into the conversation, as in “Jesus, this negroni is perfect,” “This Caesar salad is perfect,” “This fritto misto is perfect,” “These lamb chops are perfect,” “This spumoni is perfect.” You expect fun when you pass through the door and straight into a scene from Big Night, but you don’t expect to slide a knife into something as sublime as a single giant raviolo richly…

It’s just shy of 11:00 a.m., and Bryan Cranston is telling dirty jokes. “Out of Detroit, the automakers are worried the car sales are down,” he booms from the front seat of the van that rumbles over the Triborough Bridge as it takes him between the sets of two of his many projects. It’s an old comedy bit he used to do back in the early eighties. “All you have to do is name the cars after female body parts. Like, ‘The perky little Ford Nipple.’ Or . . .” Cranston’s voice goes low and radio-announcer slick. “You’ll feel the difference once you climb inside a Vulva.” The driver snorts. “The all-new Dodge Vagina,” Cranston goes on, playing to his one-man audience. “Slip into a Vagina and you’ll never wanna…

NDC 590111-430-10 30MG One Hundred Tablets OXYCONTIN ® Purdue Pharma L.P. Stamford, Connecticut Take ONLY as prescribed In case of emergency, dial 911 immediately Usual Dosage: Read accompanying prescribing literature. Swallow tablets whole. Do not cut, break, chew, crush, or dissolve. Dispense in a tight, light-resistant container. Store at 25°C (77°F); excursions permitted between 15–30°C (59°–86°F). The newly installed Sackler Courtyard at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is one of the most glittering places in the developed world. Eleven thousand white porcelain tiles, inlaid like a shattered backgammon board, cover a surface the size of six tennis courts. According to the V&A’s director, the regal setting is intended to serve as a “living room for London,” by which he presumably means a living room for Kensington, the museum’s neighborhood, which…

When the young Bismarck left St. Petersburg after his fouryear stint at the Prussian embassy, he had the following verdict engraved on a ring: la russie, c’est le néant. Sterile, sclerotic, and fatally introverted, the czarist autocracy was “nothingness,” a vacuum, a void. Donald Trump is le néant. There’s nothing there. No shame, no honor, no conscience, no knowledge, no curiosity, no decorum, no imagination, no wit, no grip, and no nous. Into this spotlessly empty vessel, certain Americans contrive to pour their anger, their resentments, their ambitions, and their hopes. How is it done? In midsummer, I journeyed from Manhattan to Youngstown, Ohio, to see the process in action at a rally held, or thrown (no entrance fee), by the U. S. president. Would I feel at home among…

STORE INFORMATION For the items featured in Esquire, please consult the website or call the phone number provided. The Code, p. 37: Brooks Brothers jacket and sweater, brooksbrothers.com. Eidos trousers, nordstrom.com.G. H. Bass & Co. loafers, ghbass.com. Falke socks, falke.com. Ralph Lauren jacket and trousers, ralphlauren.com. Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, ralphlauren.com. Converse sneakers, converse.com. P. 38: Moncler sunglasses, moncler.com. Bomber Ski skis, bomberski.com. P. 42: Timex watch, timex.com. Hermès fork, tea set, and tablecloth, hermes.com. P. 46: Private White V. C. coat, privatewhitevc.com. P. 47: Lardini jacket, polo shirt, and scarf, mrporter.com. P. 48: Tod’s boots, tods.com. PT Pantaloni Torino trousers, 616-957-3242. Vespa Manhattan scooter, vespamanhattan.com. TAG Heuer watch, tagheuer.com.P. 55: Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello sneakers, ysl.com. Levi’s Vintage Clothing jeans, levi.com.
 Money Talks, p. 58: Mulberry wallet, mulberry.com…

This issue of Esquire is studded, as usual, with great reading, whether you’re looking for a quick hit of fun (what happens when your Movember mustache becomes the most important thing in your life, cartoonist Farley Katz asks?); provocative inspiration (Bryan Cranston’s midlife climb to the top, as told by Jessica Pressler); or a more sustained piece of coruscating writing (does one need to say more than Martin Amis on Donald J. Trump?). We edit each issue thinking about the schizophrenic pace of our digital-age lives and how, when you need a refuge of true intelligence, this nonpareil assemblage of images and words on paper can be like no other companion. At Esquire, we are committed to stories that give context to our times. Take Christopher Glazek’s investigation of the…

A man is branded with a swastika. Another is euthanized in bed with a hand over his nose and mouth. A third is sprayed with lighter fluid and set aflame. And that’s just in the first episode. Two decades on, it’s clear that the 1997 premiere of Oz was the Big Bang of Great TV. An HBO ensemble drama set inside the Oswald correctional facility, Oz redefined what you could do on non-network television—pretty much anything, it turned out—while fearlessly probing the unexplored tensions in American life. Without it, there would be no Sopranos, no Breaking Bad, no Walking Dead, no Game of Thrones. Several key cast members join creator Tom Fontana to reflect on the show’s enduring impact. Tom Fontana: We were really in uncharted territory, because HBO had…

• • • A lot of men’s fashion comes down to guys turning the elements to their advantage. Take glacier glasses. In 1888, a Frenchman named Jules Baud crafted what he called “cristalliers” to protect Alpine crystal hunters from snow blindness. Early versions of the sunglassgoggle hybrid (perhaps the only cool thing you could still call “steampunk”) featured metal frames, leather side shields, and curled earpieces to keep it all in place. Mountaineers, skiers, and, eventually, rock stars adopted the silhouette, and Jean Paul Gaultier brought them to runways in the ’90s, but they’ve only recently reached critical mass, with versions from Vuitton, Ferragamo, and Armani. It may be better, though, to opt for a brand with an alpine inheritance such as Moncler, which has incorporated luxe upgrades like acetate…

Do you ever look at all the fashion available to men today and wish there were just a little less of it? We have been coached (or coaxed) over the past 15 years into a kind of easy fluency with the language our clothes speak. We know that everything from the color of our shoelaces to the cut of our T-shirt telegraphs something of our identity. And so getting dressed each morning is less a question of “What should I wear?” and more “Who should I be?” Daunting, we know. Which is why it can help to draw inspiration from men whose clothes say very little but say it very well. Take Brit actor Matt Smith, photographed at a polo match near London back in the spring. He wears a…

Unless you’re part White Walker, the colder it gets, the more time you’re going to spend indoors. The least you can do is make your house a little more inviting (read: not smelly) during the winter months. And while we’d never knock a good candle, there are sexier ways to scent your home. We found incense in new forms (spirals! powders!); paper, wood, and matches you can burn for more than just warmth; plus ceramic disks, terracotta globes, lava rocks, and high-design beakers that make those ’90s diffusers (you know, the jar with the sticks in it?) a thing of the past. Meaning the next time you have company over, both of you can breathe easy. START MAKING SCENTS…

FINE MECHANICAL WATCHMAKING, FROM JAPAN A new collection from Seiko, Presage is fine mechanical watchmaking from Japan. Featuring its proprietary Trimatic technology which assures precision over time, Presage brings together important advances in watchmaking— right on your wrist. The dial features a deep, pressed sunray pattern enhanced by gloss finish. SeikoUSA.com, SRPB43 HBO’s Emmy® and Golden Globe-winning comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring Larry David, returns for its ten-episode ninth season Sunday, Oct. 1 at 10PM ET. The show stars “Seinfeld” co-creator David as an over-thetop version of himself in an unsparing but tongue-in-cheek depiction of his life. This season is six years of awkward in the making, and you won’t want to miss it. THE BIG BLACK BOOK Esquire’s Big Black Book is back for Fall/Winter —packed with more…