All posts by TrendEngel

Mani – Possibly the Best Restaurant in South America

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The obsession with the San Pellegrino World’s best Restaurant list is omnipresent. Rightly so or WTF? Who cares. One of the greatest meals in recent memory for TrendEngel took place  in the crazy City of Sao Paulo courtesy of the Nr. 41 in the World – Mani.

Nespresso Chefs Helna Rizzo e Daniel Redondo

Set in a former house in São Paulo’s leafy Jardim Paulistano suburb, Maní is immediately welcoming with its outdoor patio centred on a beautiful tree. Large wooden front doors open on to a long, white corridor decorated with contemporary art, where diners can enjoy close-up views of chefs Daniel Redondo and Helena Rizzo’s kitchen. Beyond the white-washed corridor, a cosy main dining room and a tree-lined outdoor courtyard with wooden benches make for a relaxed, homely eating experience in a city where fine dining too often feels pretentious.

12743057565_0baac22a7bBrazilian-born Rizzo has developed her reputation since opening Maní with Redondo in 2006, winning both the title of Veuve Clicquot Latin America’s Best Female Chef in 2013 and World’s Best Female Chef last year. Her career was founded on a firm footing – she met Redondo in his native Spain while working at the world-renowned El Celler de Can Roca.

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The chefs make great use of Brazilian ingredients, with dishes including a gazpacho of jabuticaba (a grape-like fruit) with cachaça-steamed crayfish, pickled cauliflower and amburana nuts, and fresh catch of the day with bananas, home-made manioc flour crumble and tucupí (a sauce extracted from wild Amazonian manioc root). Appetisers include delicate mouthfuls such as foie gras ‘bonbons’ with Brazilian guava jam presented on porcelain spoons, and thin-cut potato crisps with roast beef and Dijon mustard.b4f3dcd97211026ba0966eb7319e2b65

Ambsn – Real Californian Lifestyle in One Cool Brand

AmbsnWhat began as a fundraiser for a friend in need, ambsn has since grown to be one of the top up-and-coming brands in the nation.

Since 2005, brothers Dustin and Dylan Odbert have been making fresh, vibrant, youthful, and 100% recognizable warm weather gear that goes against the grain. With a home base in San Clemente, CA (pictured), ambsn continues to produce top-quality California inspired menswear.

ambsn_s16_look_payotroseThe ambsn brand is everything FUN! It is a childhood memory that reminds you of everything right in the world.  Really great stuff. Check it out.ambsn_s16_look_waveslav

Let’s Eat Grandma – Deep Six Textbook Blows Our Mind

letseatgrandma1250Let’s Eat Grandma are a pair of near-identical teenage girls from a strange and distant kingdom called Norwich who deal in glacial gothic pop and brittle folky weirdness. Lorde comparisons are inevitable, although Let’s Eat Grandma seem unbothered about playing the game: Deep Six Textbook hovers for five-and-half-minutes, eschewing any kind of chorus for a brief glockenspiel solo and some inscrutable warbling about starfish and cat’s eyes. What can it all mean? Not sure, but don’t blame us if your garden is suddenly overrun with weeds and you’ve turned into a frog.

Undercover – The Fashion Lovers Brand Is Fresher Than Ever

Jun Takahashi is the founder and head designer of cult Japanese label ‘Undercover’ – a label that is hotter than ever – 26 years after it’s been founded. Born in Kiryu, Gunma prefecture, Japan in September 1969, Takahashi studied Fashion Design at the Bunka Academy of Fashion. During his study period, he founded the ‘Undercover’ brand 1990 with his friend and classmate, Nigo (who heads the inconic Japanese streetwear label ‘A Bathing Ape’).

143822576610 PCL-14382257569The brand really began in 1993 when Takahashi and Nigo opened a store called Nowhere in the trendy Tokyo district of Harajuku. Undercover began to take off after the opening of Nowhere; therefore Takahashi and Nigo opened another shop in Aoyama (fashion district in Tokyo). Soon enough, Takahashi was seeing his designs on the catwalk in Tokyo and later in Paris. The brand’s punk and street-style look have propelled Takahashi in the fashion world and he continues to see success with his Undercover brand today. The designs are  the essence of japanese cool.
1416542954sue15ss_img969 PCL-1416543010sue15ss_img976Undercover has won countless awards and been praized by other fashion designers including Miuccia Prada and Rei Kawakubo. The pieces are hard to get and in high demand.

Twin Peaks – The Full Cast List Revealed

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The entire cast of the Twin Peaks revival has been revealed, with the announcement that new stars such as Monica Bellucci, Laura Dern and Jim Belushi are to join key original cast members.

While the return of Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn had already been announced, a full list of all 217 cast members, published by the US cable channel Showtime, indicates that he will be rejoined by David Duchovny, Alicia Witt, David Patrick Kelly – who all had minor roles in the original series – and Harry Dean Stanton, who appeared in the big screen version, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me .

2286The series, set 25 years after the story last ended, will apparently not include original cast members Lara Flynn Boyle (who played Donna Hayward) and Piper Laurie (who played Catherine Martell) when it airs next year.

New characters will be played by Naomi Watts, Tom Sizemore, Jessica Szohr, Amanda Seyfried, Matthew Lillard, Balthazar Getty, Hailey Gates, Michael Cera, Tim Roth , Ernie Hudson, Ashley Judd and David Koechner as well as the musicians Eddie Vedder, Sharon Van Etten and Trent Reznor.

Fans had already been excited by the announcement that David Lynch, who co-wrote the original, would return to the director’s chair he vacated after overseeing the critically acclaimed first season. And one more thing: Apparently it will be at least 2 new seasons of Twin Peaks. Can’t wait till 2017…

Strange and Familiar – Martin Parr Shows the Real Britain – Barbican

Curated by the iconic British photographer Martin Parr, Strange and Familiar at the Barbican in London  considers how international photographers from the 1930s onwards have captured the social, cultural and political identity of the UK.1_web_800x1178 10.-Strange-and-Familiar.-Cas-Oorthuys-750x752 images-2 images photography04

From social documentary and portraiture to street and architectural photography, the exhibition celebrates the work of leading photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rineke Dijkstra, Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. Bringing together over 250 compelling photographs and previously unseen bodies of work, Strange and Familiar presents a vibrant portrait of modern Britain. For those who remember it’s a vivid reminder of an almost lost time. Not sure we want it back but it’s so deep and emotional. Easily the best exhibition we’ve seen this year. Easily. This can be seen at the Art Gallery of the Barbican until 19 June 2016

Teleman – Brilliant Sanity Reminds Us of Metronomy and Kraftwerk

Teleman_interview_under_the_radar_MG_2717_byJamesLoveday_copyHaving originally risen from the ashes of the beloved Indie Rock band Pete & The Pirates, Teleman have a more electronic sound. Brilliant Sanity is the follow up to the bands acclaimed debut Breakfast, and as the initial chords of opener Dusseldorf ring out. There’s an immediate acknowledgement of how perfectly polished the record sounds.

With its bright synths and jaunty rhythm, there’s a slickness to the track, it’s instantaneous and the hooks stay with you for days. The band have been quoted stating Brilliant Sanity is all about the crafting of an immaculate pop song. This does shine through on Brilliant Sanity, from its jaunty opener through its more measured title track to its delicate close.

Islands – Stargazer – The Next Bastille In The Making

ISLAND_press-picGripping from the opening chords, ‘Stargazer’ is a mesmerising guitar delay, and gravelly, searing vocals, the unfixed instrumentation of ‘Stargazer’ is full of youthful abandon, purpose and promise.

Think early Artic Monkeys, Foals or Arcade Fire, with ebbs and flows that spellbind, peak, and evolve, the four-piece create music that breathes range within its songs, and simply, just breathes. Islands are from Oxford – the home of Radiohead. A good sign?