Healthy guts!

I recently discovered Eukanuba’s “prebiotic” dogfood, which contains FOS (fructooligosaccharides), a prebiotic that stimulates the growth of good bacteria to enhance your dog’s digestive system.

For pet-owners, this product may come as no great surprise. But for those who don’t browse the aisles of Petco: there’s been a revolution in the category. Gone are the days when dogfood was just “miscellaneous meat” (or horse meat, if you saw that episode of Mad Men). Over the past few years we have seen the sophistication of pet products, and an ever-increasing crossover from the human to the pet world — diet food, salons, chemotherapy, sunblock, massage.

Pets are as old as civilization itself. But dedicated pet-lovers seem to be accelerating their climb towards ever higher levels of emotional commitment, responsibility, involvement and anthropomorphizing with their furry friends. As we become more and more savvy about health and wellness, doesn’t it seem natural to want to apply our knowledge to the protection of loved pets? And at $49 billion in the US alone, the pet product industry is only too happy to oblige.

But as Pet Care and People Care continues to converge, some larger ramifications are beginning to emerge. Will our standard health insurance options soon include a standard “four-legged family member” option? Will Furry Pharma become an increasingly hot, profitable, focus of big Pharma, as they ramp up their spending on pet-related R&D?  Might we see scarce resources diverted from solving niche human health issues to mass pet ones? Is this, indeed the dawning of the age of Pet Rights, Pet politics, and Pet Healthcare reform?

And lest we forget the current (human) healthcare brouhaha — how long before the uninsured resort to Petco for some cheap, dog-approved prozac?

In 2005, Ian Kizu-Blair, Sam Lavigne, and Sean Mahan created SFZero: a “collaborative production game” or alternate reality game (ARG), that sets out to take game players from being passive consumers behind a screen to interacting with the real world and with each other. SFZero is currently played in at least 30 cities around the world, from Minneapolis to Baghdad.

They’ve collaborated with Jane McGonigal on Flashback!, an educational kids TV show for PBS, been written up in the San Francisco Chronicle, spoken and hosted events at Institute for the Future, and created Ghosts of a Chance, a game for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where gameplay involves creating art objects and mailing them to the museum for an exhibition/event.                         

And here’s some evidence. Happy Friday!

CDC’s definition of Obesogenic: “Characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, nonhealthful foods, and physical inactivity.”

We are incredibly excited to announce that Johnny has begun to blog at ApartmentTherapy. He is the man behind a new column, Woodwise, on which he shares his lessons in carpentry and woodworking.

Congratulations, Johnny!

I recently went on a shopping spree in Soho. No, not for clothes, but for green cleaning products.

Green Depot began as a supplier of green building materials- think insulation, paint, tiles. Their success in the building world coincided with a rise in public awareness and interest, and they recently took the plunge into the consumer world. Green Depot’s store on the Bowery showcases all things to do with “living,” from building materials to gardening supplies and lighting options. They have a “filter” system that evaluates the environmental impact of their products, so as to “squarely address greenwashing.” With the curator of all things natural and organic (Whole Foods) just down the street, it certainly feels like Green Depot is angling for the position in the world of green.

For me, the jewel in the Green Depot crown is their cleaning agent refill bar.

Anyone can bring a bottle in and have it refilled with glass/tub & tile/all purpose cleaner or dish soap. Eager to give it a try, I crossed town with 3 empty bottles (method, Listerine & Envirostep) in hand. The stuff is literally on tap, and several pumps later, the friendly barista (soaptender?) had filled the bottles and taped on new labels. The cost? 12 cents an ounce, which works out to be less than a new bottle.

In addition to the modest cost savings, that’s three less plastic bottles for me to chuck in a landfill. (I’ve been haunted about my plastic footprint since watching “Garbage Island.”  It’s a problem.)

Is it reasonable to think that everyone is going to schlep around with empty bottles in their purse? Maybe not. But response has been very positive, and one hopes that it might provoke major players such as P&G and Unilever to acknowledge that consumers are beginning to care enough to go a little extra distance– and that there is opportunity to meet us halfway. I personally would be delighted if my supermarket had a refill station for everything from shampoo to cooking oil.

Paris. London. Hong Kong. Milwaukee?  Recently Craig, Kat, and I had the pleasure of staying at the Iron Horse Hotel, which we agreed was one of the best hotels we’ve spent a night in. Opened in October last year, the Iron Horse was founded by real estate developer Tim Dixon and is the first upscale hotel geared for business travelers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike, which makes sense given that Milwaukee hosts many conventions and is home to Harley-Davidson. Its name comes from the term Native Americans used for the train as it crossed the prairies, and today the Iron Horse is located alongside a historic yet active railroad.

Once a mattress factory, the architecture (lofted industrial beams, reclaimed woods) amenities (motorcycle rentals!), and food offerings (a fancy restaurant as well as more casual pub fare) are executed perfectly within the realm of Ralph Lauren Americana meets Restoration Hardware meets high-end biker. The overall effect was unexpected (a bedside bench upholstered in cowhide), luxurious (bathrooms half the size of my apartment), and thoroughly embodied a new notion of biker-chic luxury that could only be at home in Milwaukee.

What I find particularly compelling about the Iron Horse is how it manages to cater to two unexpected segments (bikers and business travelers) and addresses the frequent traveler’s fatigue with cookie cutter “stylish” business hotels. It feels like a return to place/locality and the specific things that make a city special and authentic.  For example, look no further than the Ace Hotel whose bottom-up spread from Seattle, Portland, Palm Springs, and finally New York, is grounded in expressing a quirky aesthetic particular to each of those cities. The Ace Hotel’s expansion contrasts with the generic chic of thousands of boutique chain lobbies playing light house music across the country (W Hoboken, anyone?).

In a city not known for design innovation, the creativity of the Iron Horse hinted at the larger landscape of things to do in Milwaukee. “Gateway” experiences like these can shape one’s experience and expectations of a city—earlier this year I went to Detroit and loved it; the success of my entire visit hinged upon an extremely detailed Design Sponge-authored guide by local blogger Sweet Juniper that recommended furniture stores and historical architecture sites unfamiliar to most locals.

DESIRES (don’t laugh), the hotel management company that manages the Iron Horse, just opened Moonrise, a sister hotel in St Louis, with a retro-modern mid century decorating theme so it will be interesting to see if their formula of bringing local flavor/heritage will be as successful there as the Iron Horse has been for Milwaukee.

That is how long we have gazed out of our window at the High Line, dreaming of the day when we might have morning meetings amidst greenery.

IT’S OPEN. Once forlorn, it is now resplendent, and we had a chance to take a stroll on the park’s opening day yesterday. The pictures speak for themselves, but in a nutshell, we thought it was fabulous and well worth the wait.

Huge congratulations go to Joshua David and Richard Hammond, who conceived the idea and formed Friends of the High Line in 1999. Designed by Field Operations (Jame’s Corner’s landscaping design firm) and Diller Scofidio+Renfro, beautiful renderings of the High Line have graced the pages of NY publications for years. Since then, budgets have been slashed and snazzy features have been sacrificed. Nevertheless, the creative juices kept flowing, and there are many elements (undulating and pronged paving, oversized rolling lounge chairs, water features, plants you have never seen before) that will surprise and delight. We particularly love the re-introduction of wild grasses that were found on the High Line when it was deserted.

Come and see for yourself!

I recently got the chance to peek at the Milk and Honey Service Manual, authored by patron-saint-of-cocktails Sasha Petraske and his staff. A pioneer in the fancy cocktail scene, M&H is especially known for 1. Quality: Extreme attention to detail in every aspect of drink making, especially in regards to ingredients (Bartender Magazine ranks it the #2 bar in the world, below its London location) and 2. Mystery: Hidden behind a door on an otherwise unremarkable stretch of Eldridge St; strict call in advance reservations only policy; and an (until recently) unpublished phone number.

To my surprise and delight, in spite of their venerated position, M&H’s manual describes a “Remains of the Day”-level dedication to pursuing virtue through humility and service. From unobtrusively keeping the table clean, to maintaining  a dry napkin under each cocktail, to minimizing the overall interruption of the customer’s experience, Petraske views his bartenders not as mixologists or Bar Chefs, but instead as craftsmen whose everyday standard should be “offhand excellence.” To that end, the service manual suggests bartenders “pass through the customer’s field of vision regularly, making yourself available to her signal, be it by eye contact or gesture.”   The manual emphasizes the idea of “touch” as it relates to the experience, encompassing the height of a counter, the flick of a wrist, the tone of a voice, the weight of an especially plush napkin. All these tiny things, physical and immaterial, produce a signification of being taken care of, that makes me want to come back.

Open since 2001, Milk and Honey recently decided to simultaneously reveal its phone number and turn itself into a members only club. Out of the seven tables available, five will be reserved for members who pay a $300 annual fee to receive priority reservations and reduced-price cocktails. It will be interesting to see how this policy evolves and how they maintain their commitment to service—I consider this development a respectful tip of the hat to M&H’s devoted following, who have long had issues with the hype and slavish phone number mongering M&H has generated for so much of its history.