KIOSK HELLO

A quote from a good read “The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri, published in 1923:

“I love the tools made for mechanics. I stop by the windows of hardware stores. If I could only find an excuse to buy many more of them than I have already bought on the mere pretence that I might have some use for them! The are so beautiful, so simple and plain and strait to their meaning. There is no “Art” about them, they have not been made beautiful, they are beautiful.”

a customer asked me for a place to eat gnocchi in new york city, does anyone have a suggestion? I could only recommend a good diner to her, Polish-American, the best:

B & H Dairy
127 2nd Avenue, bet 7th and St. Marks
212-505-8065

challah french toast, fresh juices, omelettes (favorite is spinach/feta), soups, great staff, no meat!!!
CHEAP!

Some friends are getting ready to go to Milan so I write my favorites here….enjoy!
numbers are for when in Milan when abroad add +39
a good guidebook was “art/shop/eat Milan”

To Sleep:

Aurora Hotel
corso Buenos Aires, 18
02-2047960
I wondered about this place, my co-worker booked the rooms for us and it was only 50 euro a night and in the city center. In a very normal part of Milan, actually my favorite part for this reason on a busy shopping street. The room was totally fine, shower in the room, toilet down the hall, perfectly quiet except when others came in late, perfectly clean and a very nice staff, really great when you are on a budget.

To Eat:

La Latteria
Via San Marco 24
02-6597653
it is in guidebooks which always makes me cautious but it actually is amazing food, with great rose tea, I had a couscous and vegetable puree and a fish dish with olives and anchovy, it was terrific, I was on my own and had a long lunch with the paper, the staff took care of me telling me what to do in Italian, very cosy, no reservations

Gnocco Fritto
via Pasquale Paoli 2
02-58100216
near tortona just by the canal, really delicious fried bread pieces served with a choice of meat or cheese, great cheese selection and pastas too, no salads, inexpensive and good, decent wine too

Pizzeria Spontni
Corso Buenos Aires 60
02-2047444
I went for pizza last year, this year it happened to be close to my hotel, I plan to go at least once every time I am in Milan, single girls beware, the hosts are matchmakers! I was on my own both times and both times was “set-up” with a single male diner, if I was not married it could have turned into something interesting. They only serve pizza and beer, pizza with cheese or extra cheese, large or small beer, totally DELICIOUS. nice vibe, neighborhood place, can seat large or small parties, no reservations, you have to wait, good view of Milan

Antica Trattoria della Pesa
V.le Pasubio 10
02-6555741
I am not a HUGE fan of Milanese food but one has to try the local stuff. That said, this is one of my favorite places to eat in town, great interior too.

S. Gregorio
via S. Gregorio 1
02-29524182
If you stay at the Aurora Hotel, go here for coffee in the morning, great cornetti, great coffee, great crowd of locals, again, not fancy, you can sit outside too

To see:

Prada Foundation
via Fogazzaro 36
02-54670515
For art, go see, something monumental every time, never your average museum/gallery visit.

Brera Gallery (Pinacoteca di Brera)
via Brera 28
02-722631
A peacful, lovely gallery experience, Mantegna’s “Lamentation Over the Dead Christ” had me spellbound for 15 minutes.

Walk down Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, a beautiful piece of architecture leading to the Duomo which of course should also not be missed…expecially a trip to the roof.

“The Last Supper”
Santa Maria delle Grazie
reservations: 02-4987588

Many have told me: “it was not as big as I thought, it was not as monumental as I thought, it ain’t all that” but then again they said the same about The Grand Canyon, both brought tears to my eyes, how can something so influential and monumental not? “The Last Supper” is very beautiful as is the church it is located within. Give yourself enough time to see both. NOTE! reservations are required! I called a week in advance and got a place.

Fish Design
via M. Malpighi 3
02-45470024
Gaetano Pesce’s designs in the Fish Design store, lots of inspiration on one place

Hardware Store
sorry, I do not know the name, it is on Corso Buenos Aires, close to Porto Venezia. Old signage, old school vibe, just near the subway entrance and close to Fish Design.

Marni Outlet
via Sant’Andrea 14
Out of the way and a pain to get there unless you can afford the cab but a huge selection of Marni goods, discounted, if you are into it you are into this.

hey
the seats on the Berlin metro were so cool, how many places use pink and lavander in public places? Graffiti proof patterns. Really nice

With the merging of art and design all around me in Milan I found this persons comment on the street to be very of the moment. I mean, since when did design loose it’s definition, should it not function in some manner and be hands on? Since when is design another pretty object to look at? It makes sense, since the prices of available design have gone up and up and is less and less obtainable by the ordinary people (like me). Where else can design go in terms of cost, money making and sales but up and then it becomes untouchable…hence the application of design as art. I think it is poop too. We try to keep Kiosk afloat in this mass of crap out there.

hey
I am in milan working 16 hour days right now so have not been able to write much
but I did want to share what Steven Diogo wrote about the shop on his blog, I think it is one of the best things I have heard written about Kiosk. Hope you like it too!

“So I’m wandering through SoHo on a recent trip to NYC, when I pass a grafitti covered door that’s vaguely inviting me to come inside. The sign appears to be for a shop… though I’m not entirely sure. Climbing the steps, I’m still not sure if I’m about to enter a hyper-trendy shop, an after-hours club that’s still going from the night before, or a crack house. But, alas, after a long flight of creaky stairs and a couple of turns, I find myself in Kiosk.

Featuring no more than two dozen seemingly random items from a single country (the country changes every few months, according to the owner’s travel schedule), the blank space highlights the simplicity of the items proffered. Furniture shims, chocolate, toothpaste… it takes the attention of a gallery-goer to let the theme eventually sink in. These are items that are perfect in their simplicity, everyday items that are so taken for granted by the natives that no one would ever think of exporting them.

Sparingly set on simple shelves, with thoughtful note-card descriptions, the mundane items become art, commerce and cultural anthropology all in one. And you can buy it. Of particular note to me, of course, was the Ajona Toothpaste, which the owner described as, “A German punch in the face!” Only $8 a tube. Yet, I was happy to pay it. Because while dozens of high-end stores have no problem selling high-design product that’s no better than generic, here was a curator who was willing to devote rather expensive floor space to a rather generic product made art through the simple act of her observation.

I finally got around to reading the store’s manifesto: “We opened the store to provide an antidote to overdesign,” it read. “We consider the items we stock to be straight-forward and beautiful for their simplicity and directness. Their beauty is sometimes hard to see in today’s oversaturated market. Our motivation is to shed some light on their quiet perfection.”

For a stumbled-upon store, Kiosk is a true work of found art.” Steven Diog

with germany in the store I thought to write down some of our favorite places in berlin
we have the cards in the shop for people to take, and everyone is very curious about what we found there
here is a quick list, more to come when I dig out the cards soon I hope
numbers are for when you are in berlin! add +49 and drop first 0 if you are abroad!

Kwik
kiosk sister shop in berlin, need I say more! check out the site..they have many kiosk type goods and we feature some of their products in the shop…
kastanienallee 44
10 119 berlin
030- 41 99 71 50
website: kwikshop.de
online store too!

Cash & the Apartment
the apartment is the best place for clothing in berlin that we found, we were really into it
hidden in a basement, they have left the whole main floor empty, it is really beautiful, upside down
great collection/eye for pieces, the have a second hand store Cash around the corner
Memhardstr. 8
10178 Berlin
030 – 280 42 253, call for hours
website: apartmentberlin.de
online store too!

RSVP paper shop
great paper store/pens/stationary from all over europe mainly
really lovely shop interior too!
mulackstrasse 14
030-28094644
website:rsvp-berlin.de

Katalka
kids store, the most amazing one I have yet to find, huge selection of wooden toys from germany
a realy dream to me, nothing flashing but stuff for entertainment and the brain
perfect to bring a kid in or get gifts, we need this in new york
raumerstr 21
030-49853377

Über
this store is a sister concept to Kiosk, they do a theme based on a word and change every few months
the owner has a terrific eye and the store interior is really nice, she often has regional products that have passed her hard edit
auguststr 26a
030-66779095

more to come….sorry for the bad photos, we were rushing and the light was always low in janurary
alisa

Hi, today I was talking to a friend about Hotels in Cologne, she was really sad as the Hotel Chelsea was booked-up during the art fair. I don’t blame her, we stayed at the Chelsea per a friend’s advice and we had one of our best hotel stays ever. Arty but not in a bad way, truly, it was just right: the room, the people, the hallway, the colors, the art and the restaurant in the hotel had a good crowd (rare) and really good food/menu (even rarer), NOT EXPENSIVE. We are looking for a reason to go back to Cologne; it’s a great town for many reasons.

Hotel Chelsea
Jülicher Straße 1D – 50674
Cologne Germany
phone 49 – 221 – 207 15-0
Fax 49 – 221 – 239 137
Mail mail@hotel-chelsea.de

Home

I came across the Wakana Inn business card today in my pile
It is an amazing, small, traditional ryokan run by a lovely older woman in a great part of Tokyo called Kagurazaka, the old geisha area. It feels very relaxed and everyday. In the past it was more bustling and frequented mainly by writers, now it is pretty calm but still very, very charming and very unusual for Tokyo. One night the inn owner walked us to a local restaruant, Koto no Fuji (5 Wakamiyacho, Shinjuku-ku), a small izakaya popular with sumo wrestlers and big drinkers, it was a great time. Staying there was a wonderful experience, I recommend it, you really are staying in someones home.
Sorry, no good pictures

Wakana Inn
4-7 Kagurazaka
Shinjuku-Ku
Toky
phone: +81 3-3260-3769

Our friend Kip is going on a crazy tour of Europe and I offered to give him some resources for Amsterdam and Stockholm, etc. So, here are my favorite places in Amsterdam, granted, I have not been there for sometime and there are not many since I was only there for three days but I hope everything is still good and exists. It is a lovely town even though our car was both broken into and had a boot put on it, damn! It was a expensive trip! Only after this happened were we warned not to drive into Amsterdam! Gee, thanks! So please Kip, don’t drive! Take this as a warning. I don’t have a good hotel to recommend, if anyone knows of a place please comment…also, if anyone knows if these places have closed or has additional recommendations please do comment

+31 (0)20 before the numbers…

De Bast
a healthfood store, great selection
Huidenstraat 19, Western Canal Belt (624 8087)

Wegewijs
Rozengracht 32, the Jordaan (624 4093)
for cheese, really nice people and great selection, we are really into cheese and Dutch cheeses are fantastic

‘t Kuyltje
Gasthuismolensteeg 9 (620 1045).
excellent and really cheap, I went there every morning (opens early) for a fresh OJ and Dutch broodje, really yummy Dutch sandwich, I hope the place is still there it was so traditional, not dead in the center which was good as it got me out on a morning walk to check things out, not expensive which is also a plus

I was looking for good local herring and the best i found was at a street cart, I hope the man is still parked there…go down utrectsestraat, past 85, as you come to a park on left hand side if you are walking south, it’s a little outdoor wagon thing and the only one in the area

Lanskroon
Singel 385 (623 7743)
really nice little bakery, where you can sit-down, I am into their honey waffles, but the coffee ones were even better

for some reason all the amsterdam places I noted are food related, we were not there for Kiosk, I guess food is a big priority for me, seems like we need to go there for Kiosk!
hmmmm