Fork to Fork!

Just discovered this show by Monty and Sarah Don. Watched every single episode available online in one day.

Love it!

Les recettes dans chaque épisode sont ultra simples, généreuses et savoureuses. Je recommande les tartines de bettes, et la purée de panais- un délice!

"Je me souviens"...

Miscellanies from our long weekend in Montréal.

Music-wise: Amazing vibes from the 1960s-70s, found at Primitive. Drop by when in Montreal!

Cinematic Candies: French films that we saw at the theatre. I recommend the Cinéma du Parc's selection! Both were breathtaking.

Scrumptious brunch at Olive + Gourmando, miam-miam!

Saturday Night Fever: Nuit Blanche...

We spent most of it @ the CCA (Centre Canadien d'Architecture): A great Art Party was on there!

Photos by Christine Rochet-Jacob

Reading time...For the trip back home to Toronto. Found at the Gallimard Store on Saint-Laurent.

Et voilà!

Mad about Madeleine...

Evening Coat, Summer 1936

It took me by surprise, the other day. Literally, out of the blue in a clear sky...BOOM! It struck me. It happened at the bookshop. I fell in love. Head over heels! Don't misunderstand me, the attraction had nothing to do with what I feel for my husband (NOOO!), but I knew it was meant to be. I was smitten with the beauty and novelty of it all. I frantically browsed, touched, and went through it all. I had to own it, to possess it...But the price to pay was quite high. I would find a way, no matter what. And I found a way. This morning I received it from the post, special delivery from Amazon. This book, Madeleine Vionnet, edited by Pamela Golbin and published by Rizzoli, is simply irresistible! An earthquake in my fashion world.
Few designers have the honour of being labelled the "Couturier of Couturiers", but the revolutionary Madeleine Vionnet was one of them.

Madeleine Vionnet founded her fashion house in Paris in 1912, on the rue de Rivoli. She later moved it to avenue Montaigne, but both are iconic Parisian addresses.

1922: A model wearing an outfit designed by Madeleine Vionnet including a pair of ornate gloves. Picture: GETTY

Vionnet's avant-gardism saw her inventing the bias cut, her greatest contribution to fashion design. Cutting patterns along the bias forces the fabric to cling to the body and move with it - a "trick" John Galliano champions today - creating Vionnet's trademark look of draped, form-conscious clothing that was sleek, flattering, and body-skim.

A model shows off a Vionnet dress in New York

"When a woman smiles, then her dress should smile too," revolutionary Parisian couturière Madeleine Vionnet once noted, eschewing corsets, padding, stiffening, and anything that distorted or artificially moulded a woman's natural curves - instead draping classic Greek-influenced designs that floated freely and flatteringly around the body. Dominating haute couture during the 1930s until her atelier was shuttered in 1939 with the onset of World War II, stars like Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and Greta Garbo were frequently photographed in Vionnet's distinctive designs.

Dress, Winter 1921 (red crepe romain cut on the bias)- Dress, Summer 1920 (Handkerchief Dress)- Dress, Summer 1921 (red crepe romain)

Unlike her contemporaries, she favoured fabrics like crepe de chine, gabardine, silk chiffon, and satin - typically ordered a good two yards wider than was customary in order to accommodate her then-revolutionary draping on the bias.

Four-Handkerchief dress, Winter 1920
Famed for cowl necks, halter tops, and handkerchief hems, her timeless, architectural designs are as relevant today as when they first debuted; she was and is still worshipped by designers like Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Azzedine Alaia who once gushed, "Vionnet is the source of everything, the mother of us all," John Galliano ("Her tailoring has inspired generations of designers"), Karl Lagerfeld ("Everybody, whether he likes it or not, is under the influence of Vionnet"), Cristobal Balenciaga ("Madame Vionnet is my master"), and Christian Dior ("No one has ever carried the art of dressmaking further than Vionnet.").

A Madeleine Vionnet dress. Titled Bas Relief, 1931, by Vogue photographer George Hoyningen-Huene.

Along with a major retrospective at the Musee Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris (through January 31, 2010), Rizzoli has therefore published this equally fabulous new coffee-table tome edited by Pamela Golbin, the Curator in Chief at Les Arts Décoratifs.

In addition to an illustrated chronology of Vionnet's life and career, it includes never-before-seen photos and sketches, an unpublished manuscript about the house authored by Andre Beucler, and stunning images shot by celebrated photographers including Patrick Gries, Horst, Hoynegen-Huene, and Steichen (currently exhibited at the AGO, Toronto, until January 3rd, 2010).

Evening Dress and Cape, Summer 1935 (black tulle embroidered with rectangular mother-of-pearl sequins in bayadere stripes)- 'Les Liserons'(Bindweed)Dress, Winter 1918 (black satin crepe embroidered with multicolored silk flowers)

Detail of Evening Dress, Summer 1931 (Pink chiffon overlaid with black lace and chiffon in a geometrical pattern, belt of black velvet ribbon, buckle of amber resin)

MADELEINE VIONNET Edited by Pamela Golbin (Rizzoli New York, 2009) is available for order at Amazon.com.

Evening Dress, Winter 1938

Curtains of Rain / Jour de Pluie

Rain puddle

Yesterday was a rainy, melancholy day. When I woke up at 8 A.M., the sky was dark as night; the clouds were brewing with a violent storm - and what a storm it was, buckets of water! The rain started to make its way in the apartment as my windows were opened, I regretfully shut them - as I enjoy the smell of rain a lot- it then kept on hitting sharply against the window panes. Curtains of rain.

Hokusai, Katsushika: "The wave", c.1830

Through the windows, I could see the rain pouring down and form big puddles, or shall I say pools, as it was flooding the neighbour's backyard. I decided it was a wonderful morning to sit down and relax, write or read and listen to music...

My pile of books, CDs and DVD for the rainy day

Nice! I first listened to Peruvian salsa to wake up in good shape with Eva Ayllon, then I cooled down a bit with The Clientele and their Suburban Light album, and went for a mix of classical and tropical music of my choice with The Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (a recently-bought vinyl found at a book sale for $5!) and the amazing Dr Buzzard's original "Savannah" Band album (full of gold nuggets like Cherchez la Femme and... Sunshower, how appropriate!).

Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, released in 1976

As for my reading list, it included pages of : one of my reference cookbooks, Beyond Nose to Tail (Fergus Henderson & Justin Piers Gellatly), The World of Interiors magazine (June issue), Carlo Scarpa: Architect - Intervening with History (CCA , The Monacelli Press), "Venise - Cartoville" (Guide Gallimard, France), and Pinnochio by Collodi - but, wait a minute, writing about it now, I clearly see that there is an obvious leading thread here: Italy. That must be because I am travelling to Venice in September...

Carlo Scarpa, detail, Olivetti Showroom, Piazza S. Marco, Venice, 1957-58

Well, any pretext to stay in was good then and as I was on my own, my fiancé being away in Montréal for the weekend, I walked through the hallways of my inner self to look for a source of bright light. I literally felt like a frog in Toronto and I liked it!

All of a sudden, an image came back to the bubbling surface of my mind; I saw my sister and I, in the country, on our after-the-rain ritual expedition. We would invariably go out and breathe the air after a heavy shower in the summer or the fall. With our rubber boots on, we were ready to marvel at the colourful spirals hidden in the bushes along the roads of my parents' village... Along the way, we would open wide our nostrils to take in this very unique and earthy smell of nature after the rain (smell that varies but that can be enjoyed right before, during and after the rain!). The game was to count up the snails and mentally classify them in colour-coded categories; the pink ones and the yellow and black ones were our favourites.

Escargot jaune, escargot rose et escargot blanc à spirale noire

To tell you the truth, we were not interested that much in the big brown snails, far too common, and also we would see them on our plates when, occasionally, we would eat a dish of Escargots de Bourgogne...

Helix Pomatia, Escargot de Bourgogne
Mousse d'escargots

Thinking of snails, here is a souvenir from Lyon, where there are many instances of breathtaking spiral Renaissance stairs.

Spiral Renaissance stairs, at 52 Rue Saint-Jean, Lyon

The rain stopped in the afternoon and the sky cleared up as if nothing had happened. At 5 P.M. I decided to go out for a walk and, guess what, it may sound trivial but I went for a pedicure. I ended up with a beautifully irised shade of pink nail polish (called Privacy, Please by O.P.I) on my toes! I came back home and watched Diva by Jean-Jacques Beineix with my feet up. From snails to nails, or the story of a rainy day.
Today, Sunday, is a very sunny day and my Jules (French expression for my man) is coming back from Montréal before the sun sets - Every cloud has a silver lining! Après la pluie, le beau temps.

Cynthia Hawkins and Jules in Diva by Jean-Jacques Beineix