Hasta La Ideas

Locally made jams and apple butter now available through partnership with New York Mouth

Since 2004 Blue Hill Farm at Stone Barns in the Pocantico Hills has been on a mission to raise awareness about the effect of food choices on our everyday lives. Now the gastronomic purveyors behind New York Mouth are helping make some of the natural flavors of the gorgeous food prepared in Dan Barber’s award-winning kitchen available at home.

Jars of apple butter, Hudson Valley honey and plum elderberry, quince and cherry jam make the flavors of Blue Hill ripe for the picking. The intensely rich apple butter comprises just apples, apple cider and brown sugar. The jams are made with the best seasonal ingredients carefully chosen by the Blue Hill chefs, and the Hudson Valley honey is a raw, unpasteurized wild flower variety with a deep color. All of these jars would beautifully compliment a brunch spread or cheese plate set on one of J.K. Adams‘ North American Maple cow-shaped cutting boards.

Shoppers can also get their hands on Blue Hill pickles, made with Kirby cucumbers and grown by Cherry Lane Farms in Bridgeton, NJ. The New York Mouth team describes the brine as an “incredibly complex” flavor that will “change on your tongue”.

New York Mouth is careful to select hand-crafted healthful food products made with local ingredients by independent companies in and around New York. The new partnership with Blue Hills fits in perfectly with their philosophy on food and sustainability initiatives. “We are sort of like an indie music store for food—indie food,” says New York Mouth’s Craig Kanarick.

With a deep respect for Blue Hill’s love of locally sourced ingredients and high-quality foods, New York Mouth is proud to be the only place for people to buy the new jam flavors and apple butter outside the Blue Hill at Stone Barns on-site store.

The one-man machine behind beautifully antiqued hand-woven accessories

Seattle-based Vim Beget makes jewelry and accessories with a vaguely antique aesthetic, blurring the barrier between past and present. Each piece of burnished silver is finished with rusted steel, affording it its own unique look and feel—the upshot of hours spent in the hands of sole designer Billy Bartels.

Deeply rooted in the process, Bartels believes a hands-on approach makes the the end result worthwhile, and cuts each link separately before hand weaving them into a chain for bracelets and necklaces. “It’s a lengthy process but something that can’t be matched by a machine,” he admits.

Materials are central to the process, and the designer takes a thoughtful approach to selecting the right combination. “The metals we use are very specific to the function as well as the aesthetic,” says Bartels. “We use German silver not only because it’s stronger and holds the weave better, but because the weave we do is a dated art and German silver is closest to the type of metal used traditionally when it was made hundreds and even thousands of years ago.”

Similarly, the rings are first hand-carved from wax then cast in sterling silver. From there the finishing process involves sanding, forming, blackening and polishing to give the metal a distinct texture. Bartels has produced spectacular custom pieces as well, like the pair of nesting rings he recently cast in Shibuichi, an ancient Japanese alloy of fine silver and copper originally used for decorative elements on Katana swords.

In addition to their sterling silver rings and handwoven bracelets, Vim Beget also makes a number of fine leather goods crafted with the same attention to detail. With prices ranging between $95 and $295, Vim Beget is sold online as well as at a number of boutiques in the U.S. For a deeper look at the process behind the brand and the jewelry check out the Vim Beget blog.

Small-batch chemical-free hair and skincare from the Hudson Valley

Cold Spring Apothecary founder Stacey Dugliss-Wesselman cultivated a special knack for ingenuity during her childhood in the Catskills, where the closest store was 45 minutes away. Later, as a hair stylist in Brooklyn, with a background in both cosmetology and nursing, she began sharing with her clients the blends of oils and remedies she’d concocted and soon garnered a devoted following.

“After much encouragement to sell my products, I decided I was going to do it…so I locked myself in the Cold Spring lab—the kitchen in a second apartment we were renting—to design the line,” says Dugliss-Wesselman. Cold Spring Apothecary was born in 2010, bringing together her deep commitment to safe, chemical-free and nourishing hair and skin products in a small-batch line. In April 2011, CSA opened its first retail location in the Hudson Valley town for which it’s named, below the lab and manufacturing center where all the products are made in a strictly sanitized environment. “We work in small batches of 6-24 bottles at a time,” says Dugliss-Wesselman. “Everything is carefully mixed by hand so we don’t use crazy mixing machines or filling machines, we feel that we have greater quality control by doing so.”

We were particularly fond of the haircare products we got to try—the Citrus, Ginger and Vanilla Dry Shampoo and the Citrus and Ginger Sea Salt Spray, one of Cold Spring’s signature items and Dugliss-Wesselman’s personal favorite. As far as dry shampoos go, this one did the trick with an intoxicating scent, giving our day-after locks the proper boost to last a little longer before the next full-fledged wash. Those with lighter hair will have an easier time with the pale powder, which requires more careful rubbing in on brunette and dark hair. The sea salt spray infuses a nice texture with the added bonus of an ultra moisturizing formula—an unusual benefit for this particular genre of styling product. Cold Spring started with shampoo, which continues to be a top seller in all natural scents that include basil and hibiscus, lavender and honey and geranium.

Cold Spring Apothecary—which, true to its name, incorporates a medicinal component to each of its products—also includes skincare, body care, fragrances and home fragrances and candles, all free from parabens, harmful sulfates and synthetic scents. The entire line is available from the flagship shop and select stockists, as well as Cold Spring Apothecary online, which also includes extensive information on all CSA products and ingredients.

Vintage-inspired, handcrafted frames in custom contemporary colorways

Driven by a lifetime of poor vision and years spent behind uninspiring frames, former vintage menswear dealer Jason Pollak founded Deja Vu Refinery to supply those like him with an iconic frame of the highest quality. From what he describes as a “closet full” of antique frames, Pollak drew on the idiosyncrasies—both positive and negative—of each to design his own ideal silhouette, the Debonair.

Every pair of glasses is handcrafted using cellulose acetate (zyl), a plastic material that lends itself very well to coloration processes—thus allowing Pollak to create numerous custom shades unique to Deja Vu Refinery (the Debonair is also available in classic tortoise and black). All frames come with traditional seven-barrel hinges and extra-long arms for that tip-of-the-nose look.

According to Pollak, the Debonair is “as good as the aviator or wayfarer paradigm shapes that fit with wardrobes from the 1920s, all the way up until now.” In other words, Deja Vu Refinery’s frames are made to pair just as well with a chambray shirt and Red Wings as with a designer suit. As for the name of the brand, Pollak says, “what I’m doing is essentially vintage reproduction. It’s something you’ve seen before but better.”

The line comprises more than 30 possible combinations of silhouettes with 10 custom colors and a handful of lens shades—clear, cobalt blue, polarized beer bottle green, deep purple, polarized beer bottle brown—in both prescription and non-prescription form. The Debonair is available online for $333. Plus, Pollak tells us Deja Vu Refinery is set to release additional men’s accessories in the near future, so keep an eye out for more to come.

Organic shapes of sterling silver by a Barcelona-based designer

The delicate sterling silver pieces by Barcelona-based jewelry designer Nathalie Jaggi, from slender leaves and flower petals to tiny spherical beads and geometric striped plates, find inspiration from a surprising and far-flung range of sources across several continents. “I have always collected, and been smitten by, vintage objects,” says Jaggi. “My house and studio are filled with unusual items…I find inspiration in their details, using the patterns and shapes to reinvent them into jewelry pieces.” For her line, Dasshen Jewelry, whose name is meant to signify a spirited sense of style, Jaggi has gradually expanded her influence, exhibiting at street fairs throughout Europe.

In her quest to keep up “that playful touch,” Daggi combines her innate sense of whimsy with a talent for translating such objects as old tractors strewn among the green hills of upstate New York, and mid-century heaters found at junk shops in Barcelona’s Old Quarter. Dasshen’s understated feminine character lies in its impeccable detail, like the unique necklace clasps designed to highlight the distinct silhouette of a woman’s neckline.

Men should take note: Jaggi tells us she’s got a line for you coming soon. The pieces are available through Dasshen’s online store, with prices ranging between €26-€97