A Grand Tasting from Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Ben Spungin's Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

Pebble Beach Food & Wine held its 2nd annual event this past weekend on California’s picturesque Central Coast. Warm weather and clear blue skies aided in the success of the event, as gorgeous weather gets everyone in the mood to taste the finest in culinary cuisine and wine. Chefs from around the country were in attendance, from the infamous Thomas Keller and Jacques Pepin to Iron Chef favorite Cat Cora and Ted Allen of Chopped. Even Top Chef’s Tom Collichio and Gail Simmons were in attendance, Simmons officiating a faux marriage of former contestants Jamie Lauren and Stefan Richter during a demonstration. Continue Reading… »

iDiamond Earphones from Heyerdahl Jewelry – Luxe Tech

With grand complication timepieces, luxury and technology have been united for years in the luxury watch industry. Now, luxury and electronic/digital products are also becoming one as we have seen with diamond-studded cell phones, diamond-encrusted glassware and much more. The latest addition to luxe tech is the iDiamond Ear: diamond-studded earbud (or earphone). Continue Reading… »

TAG Heuer MERIDIIST Mobile Phone: High Luxury, Stylish Communication

Look out, Vertu!

The TAG Heuer MERIDIIST represents the Swiss watchmaker’s entrance into the world of exclusive, high luxury communication devices. The MERIDIIST is crafted from 316L stainless steel–the same material employed in the creation of TAG Heuer’s watches.

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Bulgari, Michael Kors, Valentino To Open in Atlanta

Like many luxury watch and jewelry watch brands seeking to expand in the U.S. and internationally with new boutiques, Bulgari will be opening a 2,100-square-foot boutique in Lenox Square located in Atlanta this August.  The new shop will feature their amazing, grand jewelry and fine accesories. Continue Reading… »

Baselworld 2008: A Super Success For Visitors, Exhibitors, And The Luxury Industry

In the aftermath of ten festive days, the dust has cleared: it seems that Baselworld 2008 was a smash, in more ways than one. A whopping 106,000 visitors from all over the world flooded the 36th World Watch and Jewellery Show, with its many exciting events—a increase of 5% from last year!

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BaselWorld 2008

BaselWorld – the international luxury watches and jewelry trade show – got underway today in Basel, Swizterland. The ViaLuxe press corps is in attendance snapping photos, interviewing brand execs like our exclusive interview with Jan Edocs, head of Milus Worldwide, and representatives, and grabbing up press kits.

As we did last year, we will be posting new content every day from the happenings in Basel for both watches and jewelry.

Visit ViaLuxe everyday to read up on the latest news from the famous Swiss town including new watches for 2008, new movements, and all the best in luxury jewelry.

Todd English Heats Up Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Todd English is one dashing chef. In the Grand Tasting tent at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine event on Saturday, English served foodies a savory sampling of braised pork belly with kumquat and jalapeno relish atop grilled pita bread triangles. Here, English autographs a book for an attendee, and throughout the day, English took photos with many loyal fans who have followed this James Beard Foundation Award winner through his career before he was named National Rising Star Chef in 1991. With award-winning restaurants all over the world, English shares his interpretations of Mediterranean, French, Italian and most recently, Spanish cuisine, with the opening of Beso with partner Eva Longoria-Parker, who English said, “is awesome” to work with. English even admitted to some guests at the Grand Tasting a love of Vietnamese food, so who knows what kind of menu People Magazine’s Most Beautiful restauranteur of 2001 will come up with next.

See more ViaLuxe coverage of Pebble Beach Food & Wine here.

Jacques and Claudine Pepin at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

The Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival brought out many foodies, wine enthusiasts, wineries and world famous chefs to the picturesque Pebble Beach coastline. Here, Chefs Jacques Pepin and daughter Claudine take a look at KitchenAid’s demo kitchen and the faux food props that garnish the set during the Lexus Grand Tasting event. Jacques was one of the event’s seminar chefs, demonstrating his techniques in front of gourmand event package holders. Both father and daughter participated in a book signing at the American Express Publishing lounge, where American Express cardholders received free copies of the Food & Wine Annual Cookbook, featuring recipes by some of the event’s chef participants, including Jacques, who is a Food & Wine contributing editor.

See more ViaLuxe coverage of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival.

Chef Ming Tsai at Pebble Beach Food & Wine Grand Tasting

Ming Tsai is one of my favorite chefs of all time. Marveling at his precise knife skills and mouth-watering creations on television with my mom as I grew up is an experience heavily ingrained in my memory. Seeing Tsai preparing his sumptuous tastings and tasting them firsthand has only elevated his influence on my palate, and this is all thanks to the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival.

Here is Ming Tsai, armed for sauce duty at the first annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival, and he seems to be enjoying it. It’s hard to believe that Tsai received a mechanical engineering degree at Yale, but his real education seemed to happen in the kitchen of his parents’ restaurant in Dayton, Ohio. He admitted at the festival that his mother continues to be a gourmet influence, boasting great knife skills after all these years.

Tsai, along with at least a dozen other chefs, including Todd English and San Francisco local Charles Phan, served up samplings of delectable creations at the Lexus Grand Tasting at Pebble Beach on Saturday, with an equally delicious line-up waiting for Sunday.

Stay tuned for more ViaLuxe coverage of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival.

The Argentina Luxury Boom

Interest and spending in luxury goods and services has risen dramatically in many nations. In fact, luxury goods have really only become popular in the last twenty to thirty years. However, it is one of the steadily growing sectors not only on the U.S. but in many other nations as well. More nations are spending on high end luxury and more wealthy consumers are beginning to spend on a broader range of luxury items including fashion, cars and jewelry.

One such country experiencing a boom in spending of luxury goods is Argentina. The spike has been fueled by domestic consumption as well as tourism. Major brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Ralph Lauren and Fendi have already opened boutiques in major shopping areas like Patio Bullrich Shopping Mall and Alvear Avenue with Valentino recently joining them. Even luxury brands which already had a presence in Argentina opened even more stores to keep up with the growing demand. Armani had a four story flagship on Alvear Avenue and went on to open three Armani Exchange stores.

Fashion is just one luxury industry feeling the benefits of the Argentinian boom. The entire luxury market of the country grew by an estimated 38 percent between 2002 and 2005 and 9 percent in 2006 alone. The increase stabilized in 2007 and estimates show that it will grow about 12 percent in the next two years. Luxury cars, jewelry, technology, hotels and clothing, in this order, are the top luxury goods favored by the wealthy consumers. In addition, the increase has come from a very small and elite proportion of the population. In fact, the wealthy account for 70 percent of the spending. Literally, between 1,000 and 1,500 families who have stable incomes and are not affected by economic down times are the primary driving force behind the boom.

The luxury industry is growing to such a degree that an Argentine Luxury Chamber is being formed. The chamber will be responsible for developing databases and market research to improve the possibilities of luxury and economic stimulation for the country.