MARRAKECH
GOODBYE - to the sound of this happy Gnaouan musician I say goodbye to my friends and to Marrakech - thank you John for having me and Susan - again - many happy returns - Hoping to be invited back next year - for another great week in the sun in the company of - amici simpatici - in the red city of Morocco.

MARRAKECH

And to walk all this food off - a visit to the JARDIN MAJORELLE which was created in 1924 -by the French - decorator-architect-painter - Louis Majorelle. This small Islamic tropical garden was recently restored and replanted by the designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge who have a house near by. The vivid cobalt blue known as - "Blue Majorelle" - is used in more elements in the garden like - the fountains - and - the pots. The square pool is full of waterlillies and lotus plants. There is a dense vegetation of exotic plants like palmtrees -jaracandas - dragon trees - cypresses - of bamboo.

A Guide book - Marrakech by Justin McGuiness - advises - beware - do not try out the Majorelle Garden blue back home in your decorating schemes - it never works - the results depends on bright sunlight filtered by lush vegetation!

Le Jardin Majorelle - off Avenue Yacoub al Mansour - is open every day of the year.

MARRAKECH

DINNER AT DAR YACOUT - My husband - after twenty years - still remembers the breathtaking atmosphere of this restaurant as one of the most beautiful and magic places he has seen.

This palatial restaurant is set in a house redesigned as - A Thousand and One Nights - by Bill Willis - haut decorateur - of Marrakech. Though we were exhausted and already full from lunch at Le Fondouk we didn't want to skip dinner as it took us a week to get the reservation. I also wanted to keep the promise I made to Manfredi to go and, at the very least have a look. After being served aperitifs on the rooftop terrace with its magnificent view over the city. We were served dinner in an intimate private room with a fireplace - one of the many different settings for dinner. Like most Moroccan restaurants, there is no - a la carte - this is a 'classic' 6 course 'Moroccan dinner'. Drinks are also included and happy - live - Gnaouans play music in the background. And, as the Marrakech segment of the Contessanally Blog is mostly gastronomic -this is what you can expect for dinner: STARTERS: Variety of Moroccan Salads - TWO MAIN COURSES: selected from the following: Pastilla with pigeon or chicken - Chicken with lemon - oven baked fish - Shoulder of lamb steamed and browned in the oven - Lamb Tagine with seasonal vegetables - Tagine Mekfoul (with tomatoes and onions) - Couscous with vegetables - ONE DESSERT: Pastilla with milk - Orange Salad - Honey Pancakes. This is far more than any human being can possibly eat - I must confess we just nibbled and tasted the food. Though the food isn't what it used to be, this restaurant is certainly worth a visit, even if it's just for a pre dinner drink.

Dar Yacout - 79 Sidi Ahmed Soussi - tel 44 38 29 29 - www.yacout-marrakech.com

MARRAKECH
In Morocco Tea is served - before and after meals -at any hour of the day or night - and - it is impolite to leave a Moroccan home before drinking at least three glasses.
HOW TO MAKE MOROCCAN MINT TEA - Mark watches while the tea is poured - always from above - so it foams on the top - from a silver plated tea pot - of the so called - Manchester Shape - into decorated small glasses. Hold the glass between - thumb on the bottom, and forefinger on the rim - so as not to burn your hand.
Everybody make's tea his own way - RASHID'S Method: add a heaped tablespoon of gunpowder green tea to the pot - add a bit of boiling water and swirl the pot in order to rinse the leaves (and decaffeinate the tea) - pour off the rinse water- add about 1/3 cup of sugar and fill the pot with boiling water - add a good bunch of fresh mint (and some fresh lemon verbena, if available)- replace the teapot on the burner and heat again for another 3 mins. Let steep for about 5 mins. We didn't add the sugar - far too sweet for our taste.
We all went hunting for old teapots from the souk - rather than new ones - as well as glasses before we left Morocco - now we can also enjoy mint tea at home.

MARRAKECH

SHOPPING: we kept going back to the - Herboristerie Palais El Badia - one of our favorite shops - for gifts and creams - the creams are so good that Susan has reordered - the anti wrinkle: Creme d'Argane - the hydrating: Creme a la Rose - and - the foot and elbow: Creme au Citron - We also bought gifts of grooved terra cotta discs, the Moroccan pumice as well as the very '60-ish looking ones - crocheted in bright colors - very good for cellulite! And, tooth scrubbers made of palm bark. Don't forget the - Essence de Fleur d'Oranger - or - Essense de Rose - both good for cooking. And - stock up on spices - the most important being - the house blend - as it is difficult to recreate abroad - Ras Al Hanout - a mixture of - sometimes up to - 10-19-26-35 spices! - ideal for meat and vegetable dishes. The store's policy is - buy two get one free!!!

Herboristerie Palais El Badia - 22 bis Arset Lamaach Tourag Jdad - tel 212 44 389074 - tsak@hotmail.com

MARRAKECH

BIRTHDAY PARTY AT AL FASSIA - the women from Fez - is owned and run by sixteen women - the only male employee parks the cars -in Morocco the best food is eaten at home and cooked by the lady of the house - cooking is a woman's world - this beautiful and renowned restaurant is where the very local people come to taste delicate Fesian cuisine. We were lucky enough to be seated on - a cozy sofa around a low round table - in the private pagoda in the garden - made of celadon and dark red trelliss - which the birthday girl dreams of recreating on her terrace in the East Village! As Susan always keep a culinary diary when she travel - below is the an excerpt from her diary:

Menu at Al Fassia: Starters - assorted briouates - crispy pastries with various fillings, meat, rice, etc. - bisteeya -the famous Moroccan dish - pigeon pie, which is sweet and savory and these day, usually made with chicken - Agneau au fourre - baked forever lamb - until almost "buttery' and falling off the bone. It was fragrant with spices and slightly piquant. Garnished with salted almonds. Couscous with vegetables - Mark had a very good chicken tagine - as he doesn't eat red meat -Dessert - birthday cake! - was sweet bisteeya -crispy phyllo with sweet milk poured over it and topped with almonds - of course - mint tea -some of us drank Casablanca beer - A meal to remember...... The best was still to come and unexpected - all the staff came out and ululated a sort of - HAPPY BIRTHDAY - zrarit - a firey ceremonial "chant" with ''music " made by the sound by moving their tongues at the back of their throats. Amazing and quite moving - an evening to remember!

Al Fassia - 232 Avenue Mohammed V - tel 212 444 34 060

MARRAKECH

DINNER AT HOME - Our lady in Marrakech - design consultant - Corrine Bensimon treated us to a delicious - REAL MOROCCAN MEAL - cooked by her cook Naima. Above a Tajine with chicken and lamb kefta (ground meat) sits on a bed of cou cous - I'm not going to give you the recipe - but refer you to - Paula Wolfert - Cous Cous and Other Good Food from Morocco* - which Susan Simon says - and - she should know - "It's the best Moroccan cookbook around." It was the first night that all the house party were together - we arrived in dribs and drabs: First - the birthday girl from New York City - then I arrived from Venice through Madrid, a few days later, our host, John Derian arrived with Boston area based gift shop owner, Joanne Rossman and lastly from New York City through Paris, retail consultant, Mark Haldeman and media fashion commentator, James Aguiar. We are all set to party the night away and have fun together for the rest of the week !

* available from www.amazon.com

MARRAKECH

Taking djej (chicken) to the souk to be sold - they are butchered while you wait! Yes -the food is very fresh!

MARRAKECH - ORANGES # 3
Oranges are so delicious and abundant in Marrakech because there are groves right outside the city walls - the fruit is picked only when it's ripe therefore making it very sweet - it doesn't have to travel like oranges in USA do from California or Florida.

Susan Simon's Moroccan inspired Orange Dessert: Finely julienne the zest from the oranges - cook it in sugar syrup until the zest is soft, but not mushy, about 15 minutes - remove from syrup - let drain - peel the oranges - make sure all the white pith is removed - slice the oranges - arrange on a platter - sprinkle with cinnamon and freshly grated coconut. Pour a bit of the sugar syrup over the top. Top with the julienned zest.

superbly refreshing!

MARRAKECH - ORANGES # 2

PLACE JEMAA EL FNA - At the very top of this sprawling 'square' - just before all the souks ramify out like branches of a tree - there are at least a dozen or two stalls selling freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice - but - beware of the ice! La Place - the famous town square of Marrakech - is very different by day with the large number of spectacles going on all around: snake charmers, singers, story tellers, healers and by night the food stalls take over the Jemaa as soon as the orange juice sellers have packed up and gone home. The food is prepared on the spot from fresh ingredients - and - you can choose between fish, meat or vegetable dishes - the food is exquisite, tasteful and much appreciated by Moroccans and brave tourists - never forget the good rule of eating in Morocco: eat where the Moroccans eat — they know where to get good food!

MARRAKECH - ORANGES # 1
Dessert on the roof terrace of Le Fondouk - this trendy new Moroccan cuisine restaurant - was a former merchant's hostel (fondouk) - for a change from the inevitable tajines we had

bijou briouates (little samosas) - pasta and fish brochettes - and - this simple - delicious fresh ORANGE DESSERT: cut up oranges and place in a mold - flavor with a bit of orange blossom water - unmold the "terrine" - place a scoop of orange sorbet and a slice of oven dried orange on top - et voila!
And - entre nous - the designer loos are also worth a trip.

Le Fondouk - 55 Rue souk Hal Fassi, Kaât Bennhadid - T 044- 378190.

MARRAKECH

BREAKFAST - every morning - John's houseboy - Rashid - jokingly nicknamed - boytoy - because he is so cute and sweet - would prepare breakfast in the patio: Mint tea and very freshly squeezed orange juice - coarse grain whole wheat bread - refined white bread (in North Africa bread is scared, and is treated with respect) - luscious warm pancakes - honey, orange marmalade and fig jam. Fortified by breakfast we slowly get ready to begin our day.

MARRAKECH
GOOD MORNING BIRTHDAY GIRL - we were the guests of John Derian - New York based designer - par excellence - whose Riad is right in the center of the Casbah - beautifully decorated with style - atmosphere and simplicity. The bedrooms are arranged around the palm tree patio - which - instead of a traditional fountain - has a dunking pool. On the roof is the terrace - formerly reserved to the women for housework - washing etc. - it is now used for sunbathing - relaxing and a section has been partitioned off as a tented dining room - everything is draped in Lisa Corti's brightly colored cotton prints which are as hot as the daytime temperature up there.
www.johnderian.com

MARRAKECH

At last in Marrakech - We are here to celebrate - cook book author and caterer - Susan Simon's 60th Birthday. Marrakech or RAK (airport code) as we refer to it - was much admired by Edith Wharton - Winston Churchill - and more recently by one of it's most famous residents: Yves Saint laurent. This enchanting Imperial City - the red city - offers something for everybody - We - however - are going to concentrate mostly on one of our favorite subjects - food naturally!

http://www.susansimonsays.com/index.htm

WINTER WHEAT - Morocco

These fields of winter wheat - are harvested in slices - as needed - the fields are round as the bread that is made from it's crop - the custom at Moroccan dinners is that only one person distributes the wedges cut from round loaves - otherwise it brings - bad luck - and there could be a quarrel at the table.

MADRID AIRPORT

I don't wish this hub on anyone - it just can't deal with the traffic - you can't get a snack - despite it's numerous restaurants and cafes - too many people - too many lines - and every 100 meters there is a smoking point - where I found this Camel advertisement sign amusing and appropriate as I was there in transit for Marrakech. AND - my case got stuck there for 24 hours on my return - again - because they can't cope with the flux! Believe me try to avoid Madrid Airport if you can!

URBAN CYCLIST # 2
Milan based knitwear consultant and Max Mara knitwear designer - Uberta Zambeletti - for once is adhering to traffic rules and stopping at a red light as she makes a phone call - usually she is breaking every rule in the Highway Code! She is also soberly dressed for the task - a first - has she abandoned her big and heavy folk skirts and her high platform shoes? However - the ever present - touch of lurex or sparkle in her day time wardrobe - is - look closely - in the bicycle basket. Watch out for her - as - she is going places.
www.uberta.com

VOGALONGA - long stroke - Venezia

Last Saturday - throughout Venice - you could see rowers from all over the world practicing for Sunday's Vogalonga - a non-competitive boat race open too all types of rowing boats - each rower who completed the course - of approximate 30 kilometers - from the Basin of Saint Mark's - the islands and back up the Grand Canal to the point of the Salute - received a certificate of participation and a commemorative medal - a souvenir of the day.

In the past, we recall with a certain fondness the group of German Grand-fathers in a canoe with ten oars, the Chinese and their characteristic Dragon Boat, the English rowing crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge with their typical "straw boater" hats, the university students from California who learned to row alla veneta in just a few days, and the Venetian contestant who, in the last two editions of the race, has swum the entire length of the race course.

This picturesque race has been held for the past 31 years on Ascension Sunday the 5165 participants and 1462 boats - this year - after the singing of hymns to Saint Mark and to Venice - the "start" is given by a fatidic cannon-shot that indicates the competition begins, everyone is proud to shout the serenissima's ancient words: "Viva San Marco"!

www.vogalonga.com

JUDITH'S GARDEN - Venezia

After a very disappointing lunch in - Osteria Anice Stellato - the day was 'saved' by having desserts - chocolate eclars-chocolate biscuits-zabaglione filled crispy cones and lots of Lapsang Souchong in this 'wild' and luscious garden - one of the very few and rare gardens in Venice -which is as charming as the apartment itself. It was real treat to sit and chat in the sun with Judith - Grazie Mille e spero a presto!

The apartment is also available for rentals go to: http://www.apartments-venice.com

CYCLING?

While I stopped at my favorite bar in Conegliano - La Casa del Caffe Carraro - on my way to get the train to Venice - for one of my many daily 'fixes' of caffeine - the tail of my eye caught this small group of 'wannabe' cylists - I loved their sponsored shirts - the color was so fresh and cool - however it was strange that instead of peddling away up and down the hillsides of Veneto they were sitting around relaxing and reading La Gazzetta Dello Sport - the pink sports tabloid! They were probably discussing the latest news of the - Giro D'Italia - which is over the half way mark right now? My thoughts spring forward to July and the Tour De France - the last Tour for - consecutive six times winner and 8 year cancer survivor - Lance Armstrong before his retirement. I wish him good luck for a seventh victory - but - Armstrong's story will not end at the 'finish line' as the American has already chalked out his future with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity to aid the fight against cancer.

www.laf.org

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Atelier Muji

Pitti Living - Fuori Salone - Nicoletta Morozzi's - do it jibun de (jibun de=yourself) - embroidery project for Muji is a challenge - since for years they have been trying to eliminate everything that is decorative and unnecessary. In an era of brands and frills Muji can begin a new process which renders the object one's own - not material property - but reflecting one's own personality - Above - set side by side - are small embroidered - religious icons - a wish for PEACE and LOVE in 2005 ! This message appropriately marks the end of the Milan Furniture Fair social blog.

www.muji.co.uk www.pittiliving.com

APRIL 2005 - - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Gaia&Gino # 2
Fuori Salone - FASHION # 3 -Is New York based - Karim Rashid - one of design's brightest stars - so fond of strawberry pink because he likes strawberries? - Or is his love for strawberries the reason he often wears strawberry pink? - Suggesting the silhouette of Istanbul his - Morphescape - for Gaia&Gino - modular table service has many possible configurations of its fifteen squared items in white porcelain.
www.karimrahid.com

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Gaia&Gino
Fuori Salone -When fashion meets design - Max Mara's simpatico style director Giorgio Guidotti and glamorous founder of Gaia&Gino's Gaye Cevikel pose in the Via della Spiga store during the opening of the Turkishscape exhibition - The name Gaia&Gino comes from Gaye's nickname and Gino, her precious golden retriever. Gaye's concept is to provide a unique cultural design experience which produces sophisticated contemporary objects and redefines what tabletop, glassware and decorative stands for today.
www.gaiaandgino.com

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Private lunch!

It was so nice - to get away from it all -and have a nice private lunch in the beautiful home of designer Matteo Thun who was entertaining Cindy Allen editor in chief of Interior Design magazine that voted him on the designer Hall of Fame in 2004. Susanne Thun - the perfect hostess - had arranged for a very appropriate Mediterranean menu to be served - which included - Pasta ai Pomodorini Cotti in Forno and Insalata Caprese that takes it's name from the island of Capri - an island that is very close to susanne's heart.

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Da Driade
Fuori Salone - gigantic white leather pouf - Ishi - designed by Naoto Fukasawa for Driadealeph - is the exact copy of a stone found on a river bed - baby not included!
www.driade.com

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR

Lucesco Lighting

Fuori Salone - David Gresham co-founder of Lucesco Lighting - introduces their first lamp -Halley - designed by Richard Sapper. The company's goal is to combine the advances in LED technology with design and engineering to produce lighting that is - beautiful - useful - efficient. The Milan showroom was brilliantly conceived and designed by Studio Collage's Chiara dal Canto and Paola Carpinetti.

www.lucesco.com

-

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Elle Deco International Design Awards
Castello Sforzesco - Now in it's third year - the twenty one International Elle Decoration magazines choose the magnificent twelve worldwide designers .....and the amongst the winners are:
Furniture - Carlo Colombo with his furniture unit for Zanotta.
www.Zanotta.it
Designer of the Year and Tableware - Jasper Morrison " My goal in designing everyday objects for everybody is to render them light and to reduce them to their essential shape and generate in who uses them a special energy."
www.jaspermorrison.com
Seating - Marcel Wanders and Bertjan Pot - Carbon Chair for Moooi - "Design is an unexpected welcome!"
www.marcelwanders.com

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Ettore Sottsass e Abet Laminati 40 Anni Insieme

Fuori Salone - one of the theme color charts at La Triennale di Milano - in the exhibition which represents the work carried out during the 40 years of ongoing collaboration between Ettore Sottsass and Abet Laminati - various pieces embody Italian and international design history, among which some unpublished ones. The pieces follow a precise chronological pattern which show in detail the enormous developments of decorative technique in the laminate sector.

www.abet-laminati.it www.triennale.it

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Edra

Fuori Salone - Edra's boss Valerio Massei reflected in a 'cracked' mirror table by - another brother act - Brazilian Fernando and Humberto Campana - international stars of design - Brasilia - a chaotic assemblage of fragmented mirors - metaphor to those stones on which rises the capital of Brazil.

www.edra.com

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Moroso
Fuori Salone - behind the scenes in the Moroso showroom Ron Arad and Patrizia Moroso are already exhausted - and it's only DAY TWO - Bad Boy Ron is presenting his stackable - Ripple Chair - the design in relief on the chair is reminiscent of the traces left by waves of the sea on sand.
www.moroso.it
N.B. Ron Arad Retrospective Exhibition 1981-2004 - New York City - May 5/June 10 - Barry Friedman Ltd.
www.barryfriedmanltd.com

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Poltrona Frau Group # 11
Fashion # 2
This is the uniform- de rigueur - for the successful businessman - double-breasted blue pinstripe suit - stripe thickness can vary - polka dot tie - white shirt - as worn by the head of TG5 News Carlo Rossella and Fiat-Ferrari-Confindustria president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo as they sit on Jasper Morrison's Thinking Man's Chair - for Cappellini - which adorn the Cordero de Montezemolo's pool in Capri.
www.cappellini.it

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Poltrona Frau Group # 10
FASHION #1
Seen at the Palazzo Ex Poste - New York Times Magazine editor and style guru Stefano Tonchi flaunting a perfectly co-ordinated witty design accessory from his jacket pocket...........

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Poltrona Frau Group # 9
POLTRONA FRAU
The beautiful Ludovica Cordero di Montezemolo looks on while her step-son Matteo gives a private guided tour to - Italian prime minister's daughter Marina Berlusconi - vice president of the family company Mediaset and her ballet dancer husband Maurizio Vanadia.
www.poltronafrau.it

APRIL 2005 - MILAN FURNITURE FAIR
Poltrona Frau Group # 8
POLTRONA FRAU
Together, between synergy and diversity - everybody is happy - especially Poltrona Frau's president Franco Moschini - omnipresent designer Lella Vignelli with her beautiful Elizabethan necklace - New York based design consultant par excellence Jeffrey Osborne.
www.poltronafrau.it