@NYMag
Matzo Ball Soup From DBGB.Photo: Hannah Whitaker/New York Magazine
It's true: New York is in a state of
flu emergency. The city's supply of flu shots is
dwindling. Kids are
tapping elbows instead of high-fiving. We're pretty sure this is how
Contagion started.
If you're in total isolation, hiding under your covers, staring at the
bleak Seamless app on your phone, we're here to rescue you. There are
foods and drinks all around the city that will make you feel better, and
yes, you can get many of them delivered. And if you're not sick, this
is the time to jack up your immune system. We've surveyed the city's
vitamin-packed, comforting, soothing, vaguely healthy food (and booze!)
options and put together plans based on your level of misery, ensuring
that even the sickest of folks can find nourishment with ease.
You’re Either Bed-Ridden or Quarantined and You Need Delivery:
Pulled Duroc Pork Sandwich With Spiced Honey From
Num Pang:
Pork is a good source of zinc, which helps your bod fight off
infections, and honey soothes your throat. But it's the Parisi baguette
that can cure all.
Market Plate From
Westville :
This combo of four veggie sides is perfect delivery fare because it
reheats well in the microwave. To maximize antioxidants and all that
jazz, go for the honey Dijon Brussels sprouts, garlic pesto mash,
roasted sweet potatoes, and green beans with almonds.
Tortilla Soup From
La Esquina:
The ancho chile gives this soup a kick, and spice thins mucus (gross,
but true!). The avocado and carbs from the tortilla strips will give
your sad, weak body a needed protein boost.
Chicken With Hot Red Pepper From
Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan: This is considered one of the spiciest dishes in New York. It'll make you cry (happy) tears as phlegm leaves your system.
Garlicky Pork Chops From
La Caridad 78:
Yes, there's the pork, but it turns out that garlic is also helpful
because of something called allicin, which is a strong antibacterial and
antiviral. The restaurant made the cut as one of
New York's top
delivery spots.
You’re On a Liquid Diet:
Usain Bolt Immune Booster Juice From Melvin’s Juice Box at
Miss Lily's:
If it's named after the fastest man alive, it's good enough to get your
JV body up to speed. This concoction's packed with apples, beets,
ginger, garlic, carrots, Vitamin C, spirulina, echinacea (what?), golden
seal (the hell?), B-complex, and banana. The banana flavor overpowers
all the scary health stuff, and it actually tastes awesome. Plus:
Melvin's delivers.
Strawberry Blond From
the Butcher’s Daughter:
This new café from cocktail pro Heather Tierney makes health food taste
all right. This juice spritzer has blood orange, basil, and strawberry,
which provides Vitamin C.
Elderflower Tea From
Frankies 457:
Elder berries are an old folk remedy to fight the flu; they have
antioxidant, antihistamine, and anti-inflammatory effects, which are
probably maximized when
not inside a cocktail.
Soy to the World From
Liquiteria:
Shit's not going well if you can't stomach food. This "liquid meal"
(meh) consists of banana, blueberries, melon, vanilla soy milk,
lecithin, and organic raw honey. Bananas keep your colon healthy, and
honey, which is an antiviral, promotes digestive health. In sum: You'll
be regular.
Winter Flu Brew From
Podunk:
Tea maven Elspeth puts homemade strawberry mint cayenne jam, the juice
of one lemon, hibiscus, orange peels, eucalyptus, honey, and your choice
of black, green, or herbal tea into this magical pot.
You Can Muster the Energy to Pick Up Food to Go:
Jim's Matzo Ball Soup From
DBGB:
This Bubby-approved soup's double-stock broth will thin out your mucus
while the carbs give you energy. Plus: Chef Jim Leiken adds schmaltz to
the balls.
Sweet Potato Casserole From
Mighty Quinn’s BBQ:
This super-veg side dish helps get rid of toxins, and it comes topped
with maple syrup and pecans. But don't forget a slab of pulled pork
while you're here.
Broccoli Béchamal With Gruyère From
Arancini Bros.: The broccoli in the rice ball is packed with immune-fighting Vitamin C, and fried food always makes you feel better, right?
Carrot and Onion Tartine on Sunflower Rye From
Bien Cuit:
Sunflower seeds are stocked with vitamin E, which gives you an excuse
to eat this sandwich and get a loaf of extra bread on the side (yeah,
it's that good). The veggies on this open-faced sandwich can't hurt,
either.
Pibil Tacos From
Cochinita:
Winner of the most flu-fighting ingredients packed into one dish: pork
shoulder braised in oranges, spices, banana leaves, with hot salsa.
Might as well get the meat sweats if you already have a temperature.
You Can Act Like a Functioning Human and Eat at a Restaurant:
Roasted Whole Hen of the Woods Mushroom From
the Marrow:
'Shrooms fight infection and support white blood cells. Plus: Harold
Dieterle's dish comes with kale, and this wouldn't be a roundup of
health food without the omnipresent Queen Green.
Watercress Salad With Roasted Carrots and Cumin Yogurt From
L’Apicio:
Yogurt is a smart thing to eat because it keeps disease-causing germs
out of your digestive track. This salad's far tastier than
out-of-the-carton Fage (but feel free to go to 16 Handles and cough
without covering; the fro-yo chain is
invading the city).
Salmon From
Cafe Tallulah:
This new Upper West Side restaurant and cocktail lounge aims for an
"Elaine's-style" vibe. If that's telling, you'll feel better after
eating vitamin-D-packed fish from a former sous-chef at
Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
Iowa Farms Pork From
Louro:
If you're finally taking off your sweatpants, you should have a little
fun and try a new restaurant. This West Village spot from chef David
Santos is getting good hype, and probably because it serves pork loin
and belly with barbecue baked beans.
Oysters From
the Leadbelly:
One medium oyster provides all the zinc you need for a day, and you'll
eat at least ten Kumamotos here. There's also comfort food in the form
of truffle fries, Scotch eggs, and artichoke macaroni and cheese.
You Insist on Acting Like a Kid Home From School and Will Eat Only Sweets:
Warm Sweet Potato Cake from
Kyotofu:
This Hell's Kitchen Japanese spot specializes in desserts, and they
taste damn good despite the vaguely healthy ingredient list. This one's
got sweet-potato caramel, which must be flu-fighting on some level.
Banana Split From the
Birdbath Bakery Pop-Up at Books of Wonder:
Sometimes, all you need is an ice-cream sundae. This organic dessert is
topped with pain-fighting cherries, cocoa nibs, and dark chocolate
sauce. And, yes, vanilla ice cream — which is definitely a treat for
your sore throat.
Green Tea Mille Crepes From
Lady M Cake Boutique: Twenty or so layers of delicate crepe, subtle whipped cream, and enough immune-boosting matcha to turn the whole thing green.
Chocolate Loaf From
Blue Duck Bakery Cafe:
This rich bread's made out on Long Island, but it's sold at Union
Market. With 72 percent cacao chocolate, it's packed with antioxidants.
Almond Brioche Toast From
Amy's Bread:
Take it home and pan-fry it for a quick and easy French toast. You
could even heat this up in the microwave and it'd still taste great.
Almonds give you vitamin E, too.
You're Going to Drink the Pain Away:
Start Me Up From
the NoMad: The mix of bourbon, rum, strega, honey, ginger, lemon, and orange bitters will go down easy and soothe your throat.
Warm Ginger Cocktail From
EN Japanese Brasserie:
This cocktail's normally served cold, but all you have to do is ask for
it hot and the bartender will happily comply. Ginger helps digestion
and clears congestion, so it'll put you in good shape for the evening to
come.
Rum & Raisin From
Saxon + Parole:
We already told you about how good Greek yogurt is for your
malnourished, sad state of a body. It's what makes this cocktail creamy.
Fraise Sauvage From
Employees Only:
With wild strawberries, lemon juice, Plymouth gin, and Prosecco, this
fruity drink is both refreshing and vitamin-packed. It's not a girly
cocktail when a master mixologist makes it.
Sour Cherry Old Fashioned from
ABC Kitchen: Cherries, which are also a good
hangover-preventing food, fight pain. And Maker's Mark never did any harm.
From
Forbes
Robert Procop
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. —Robert Procop has become known to most people as the jewelry design partner of
Angelina Jolie. The two are creating high jewelry pieces using statement gemstones under the
Style of Jolie
brand. It’s a charitable undertaking where all proceeds from the sales
are used to build schools for girls in impoverished countries through
the
Education Partnerships for Children of Conflicts, co-founded by Jolie.
However, Procop’s involvement in the upper tiers of the jewelry and
gemstone industry runs a course that has immense depth and breadth. He
currently owns and operates,
Robert Procop Exceptional Jewels,
where he sells his own jewelry creations, and buys and sells statement
gemstones in a confidential and secure environment to well-heeled
buyers. Before this venture, he was the CEO of the famed jewelry house,
Asprey & Garrard, where he led the organization through a difficult
period by returning it into the two separate entities they originally
were. He then led Garrard for a while. The remarkable thing about this
is he had no prior experience running a luxury jewelry house. He has
also owned retail stores on Rodeo Drive.
Robert Procop 63.27-ct. cushion blue sapphire ring
But his true skill is being one of the best and most knowledgeable
diamond and gemstone dealers in the world. It is something he has done
successfully since he was a teenager and is the foundation of his long
and varied career as a business leader, retailer, wholesaler and jewelry
designer. His contacts range from the workers in remote mines in
countries like
Columbia and
Sri Lanka,
to the leaders of haute joaillerie houses in Paris and London. His
ultimate skill is buying superb, statement gemstones at less than what
it costs to mine them. It’s the result of his network that he is able to
discover sources of great “material,” buy it when the price is right
and then resell the items as an investment.
“I only buy for value,” he said in the Beverly Hills
showroom and studio. “I never buy something where I’m going to make a
design. I buy it if I could make an offer competitively and it can be
sold in the trade.”This means he doesn’t get involved with auctions or other competitive
bidding situations. He also tends to avoid white diamonds, turning
instead toward rarer and more valuable fancy colored diamonds.
He says he only deals with gemstones that haven’t undergone
heat-treatment or has had very little treatment. Almost all gems these
days undergo some kind of heat treatment, which enhances clarity and
color. Large, recently mined gems with the most sought after colors
(“pigeon-blood” rubies; luminous green emeralds; deep, rich blue
sapphires) are rare enough. Being able to purchase them without heat
enhancements is even more difficult. But Procop says these stones exist
if you know where to look.
Robert Procop Exceptional Jewels Long Emerald Earrings
“It’s just buying them at the right price,” he said. “Since I need to
sell them to the wholesale trade and there are customers looking for an
investment, you have to buy below the market. So they know you are
buying at a competitive market price.”
His knowledge of gemstones and diamonds is so great and he is so
respected, that he has become the editor-in-chief for the next edition
of
Famous Diamonds,
considered by many to be the world’s most important book about
diamonds. It was first published by Lord Ian Balfour, a noted diamond
historian and a longtime employee of diamond mining giant, De Beers.
Procop, who refers to the book as “the bible,” explains that after
five editions, Balfour, in his late 80s, can’t continue updating the
coffee-table-sized tome—with its lush images and vibrant stories about
the world’s most famous diamonds. Balfour personally chose Procop.
“I had been honored by Ian Balfour to pass on his legacy,” Procop
said. “(Balfour) is very good at finding these romantic stories. He
always says the diamond business is not only full of trading but full of
everything from emperors to smugglers.”
With his expertise in colored diamonds, Procop said he will update
the book with some of the rarest colored diamonds in the world and will
provide explanations of how diamonds get their unusual colors.
“Pumpkin orange, unusual greens … diamonds that come from the Argyle mine (in
Australia,
famous for its pink diamonds) that are a deep violet, then they get
brighter blue,” he said. “We’re going to try to come up with a rainbow
of colors because people have never seen some of these.”
Procop’s studio and workshop is well organized and immaculately
clean. Walls are painted white and a row of windows fills the room with
light. It’s here where his small staff designs jewelry based on his
sketches and specifications that are then sent to master craftsmen to
build. It is also where his customers can come to look at his jewelry
creations and gems. His clients, which he never reveals, include every
U.S. president since Ronald Reagan, other notable politicians and,
considering its location, the best known and most powerful names in
Hollywood.
On this day several Style of Jolie pieces, including an emerald
necklace, bracelet and ring set in rose gold (his metal and color
preference) were among the jewelry pieces on a white table. All of the
emeralds are cut in the tablet shape (which resembles a cushion cut)
created by Jolie and Procop, and a signature part of the Style of Jolie
collection. Procop said Jolie wanted something with an historical
message. She spent a great deal of time studying how a tablet is held
and together they designed the shape.
As mentioned before the idea behind the jewelry is to build girls
schools in impoverished areas. The business model is rather simple. They
design the jewelry together. She wears the pieces. Then they are sold.
Procop pointed to the ring. “This is a 27-carat emerald,” he said.
“When the stone is sold we give the money to the charity and then we
build another school.”
Please join me on the Jewelry News Network blog, the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, and on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet.
@nathanrabin
The Internet is full of interesting things to read outside of The A.V. Club
—no, really! In our periodic Read This posts, we point you toward interesting or noteworthy pieces that caught our eye.
These are dark days for Scientology, as L. Ron Hubbard’s
controversial church/cult/business takes one massive hit after another.
The famously litigious sect’s notorious veil of secrecy is steadily
lifting as a series of high-profile ex-Scientologists have publicly come
out against the organization. There's Academy Award winner Paul Haggis,
whose defection inspired a 2011
New Yorker article by Lawrence Wright, who is also behind the expose
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, And The Prison Of Belief, which
will be released on Thursday; and Jenna Miscavige Hill, the ex-wife of
Scientology leader David Miscavige, who will be releasing her own
Scientology tell-all next month in
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology And My Harrowing Escape (which we’re guessing from the title is
not overly positive).
Now Buzzfeed has released a fascinating expose on Scientology’s seeming implosion.
The article centers on the controversial construction of “Ideal Org”
buildings, extravagant and expensive Scientology worship centers that
are financed by massive donations. In an exhaustively researched piece,
Alex Klein argues that these Ideal Org buildings serve dual purposes:
Though the number of Scientologists internationally and nationally is
shrinking rapidly, due in no small part to the hurricane of bad press
the church has received as of late, the constant building of expensive
new Scientology buildings creates the illusion of growth and robustness
among the faithful and the general public. And these buildings have been
a massive cash cow for the perpetually cash-hungry organization because
they glean untold millions of dollars in contributions from the
faithful, only a small percentage of which actually seems to be devoted
to building them. The article posits these buildings as elegant
metaphors for the state of Scientology: gaudy and glitzy on the outside
but empty and hollow on the inside.
Buzzfeed follows the numbers on the donations and discovers,
not surprisingly, that they don’t add up. Nailing Scientology on
something like real estate fraud is a little like busting Al Capone for
tax evasion, but if a lengthy article about fraudulent fundraising
practices sounds dry and tedious, it reads like a gripping legal
thriller. These might be dark days for Scientologists, but it is a
Golden Age for the sizable segment of the populace that derives
exquisite schadenfreude out of its never-ending public foibles. If you
have a few spare hours, it’s very much worth your time.
