A Warm, Unpretentious Wine Bar Wins Over Williamsburg

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A Warm, Unpretentious Wine Bar Wins Over Williamsburg

When Shanna Nasiri was seeking a more creatively fulfilling day job than her tech background afforded in San Francisco, she spent a few years learning everything possible about wine in the hopes of one day owning her own neighborhood bar. With the springtime opening of With Others on a bustling stretch in South Williamsburg, she finally realized her dream. As the name suggests, she leaned on some help from her community. The women-run hotspot’s nonchalant Japandi-inspired digs came courtesy of friends Homan Rajai and Elena Dendiberia of Bay Area firm Studio Ahead, who dialed back to the rough-around-the-edges Williamsburg of yore, before loft parties and artist studios gave way to Hermès and Michelin Stars. That’s largely achieved through soft-industrial touches like metal-mesh bar shelving and a timeworn storefront whose grime and patina were left entirely untouched, but wooden Fritz Hansen stools and John Gnorski’s cube-shaped washi lanterns lend some warmth.

Back to the main draw: the beverages. With Others offers an incisive list of carefully selected natural wines, emphasizing small-production, low-impact wineries. There’s something for all types of oenophiles, from sparkling, white, skin-contact, and red pours-by-the-glass to a bottle list of nearly 100 varieties that focuses on female vignerons. Enjoy them alongside bites by decorated chef Jay Wolman of nearby haunts Diner and Marlow & Sons, who concocted a tight menu of wine-bar classics like marinated olives, lemony crab toast, and seasoned almonds. The program beckons repeated visits and familiar faces—the wine menu will rotate every two weeks as Nasiri’s knowledge of other regions grows, and she plans to invite guest chefs from the area. —Ryan Waddoups

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On Antiparos, Maison Bardot Melds the Worlds of Craft and Hospitality

These editors don’t often hear of a restaurant being the jumping-off point for a collectible design gallery, but Antiparos bar and restaurant Bardot was exactly that for Thanasis Panourgias and Harry Spyrou. Now, the restaurateurs and their Bardot collaborators—architects Andreas Kostopoulos and James McNally of Manhattan Projects—have unveiled Maison Bardot. Warm and evocative of its island locale, the gallery layers texture, light, and spatial vignettes to create a captivating space in which to collaborate with partner galleries. The first exhibition, staged with Athens-based gallery Antiqua, is a heavy-hitter with pieces by Ettore Sottsass, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, and Gaetano Pesce on view. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz

STAY
With Edgar Suites, Amca Oval Brings Modern Living Home

Just the name of Paris evokes the 19th-century splendor of the city’s Haussmannian architecture. But in the Marais, local studio Amca Oval has fashioned a modern sensibility for a collection of apartment-style lodgings for Edgar Suites. In each flat, ‘70s vintage furniture commingles with finds from the aughts and enviable works of contemporary design, like Starck Tick & Tac clocks, a Fritz Hansen Attitude arm chair, and a Ciancimino coffee table. Of course, since the studio spans fashion and interiors, several of their own objets feature within. The sculptural, aluminum lamps, shelving, and vases of their Aurora series add an unmistakable je ne sais quoi. —J.A.D.

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Zeng Fanzhi and Tadao Ando Reunite in Venice

Tadao Ando and Zeng Fanzhi first met a decade ago, when the latter painter approached the Pritzker Prize–winning architect about designing a museum for his private art collection. That never materialized, but the two stayed in touch, with Ando handling exhibition design for Fanzhi’s 2016 solo outing at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art. The two joined forces again this year at the Venice Biennale thanks to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which organized a solo exhibition, “Near and Far/Now and Then,” for Fanzhi’s latest batch of monumentally scaled oil paintings at Scuola Grande della Misericordia.

Much like his best architecture, what Ando sculpted is minimalist and exacting, harmonizing with the 16th-century neoclassical building while allowing Fanzhi’s abstractions to breathe. A series of self-contained walls with increasingly large apertures forge conceptual links among the works, which employ layers of brushwork and pointillist techniques to render perceptible elements from afar that dissolve when viewed up close. “[His] work is celebrated as a balance of technical mastery and emotion,” says Michael Govan, the museum’s director. “Ando’s intervention illuminates the interconnections that Zeng’s new body of work highlights.” —R.W.

SHOP
Sugarhouse Brings Cult Gaia to the Beach

Since it was founded by Jasmin Larian Hekmat in 2012, Cult Gaia has taken the fashion world by storm with its beachy edit of sculptural handbags and shoes and statement-making ready to wear. After tapping Sugarhouse to expand its store presence from SoHo to the Miami Design District earlier this year, the brand has reunited with the studio to open a third boutique in quick succession—this one tucked in the tony Pacific Palisades. Befitting the neighborhood’s beach-adjacent locale, Sugarhouse’s Jess and Jonathan Nahon weaved oceanic references throughout. Foremost is the store’s moniker, “The Shell.” Then there are the ebbs and flows of its statement aquamarine sofa, wave-like clothing rods, and sculptures that look as though they could have been carved from the cliffs lining the nearby coast. —J.A.D.

OBSESS
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Furniture Is More Accessible Than Ever

When Frank Lloyd Wright was designing a hemicycle house for a mobility-impaired veteran and his wife, he envisioned a Usonian home that focused on capability, not disability. The resulting Laurent House in Rockford, IL, endures as the architect’s only wheelchair-accessible home—and was built four decades before the Americans With Disabilities Act. The home featured furniture that Wright intentionally tailored for his client’s needs, which Steelcase is now reintroducing as the Rockford Collection. It encompasses a rail-backed lounge chair and a grouping of companion pieces including polygonal plywood tables and movable stools. Joining them is the Galesburg Collection, a series of low-slung sofas, sectionals, and lounge chairs cantilevering over a wooden base that draw inspiration from the built-in linear banquettes Wright often included in Usonian homes in Parkwyn Village and The Acres communities in Michigan. —R.W.

SAVOR
A Nantucket Clam “Shack” Rooted in Scandinavia and Shaker Minimalism

Perched among the cedar-shingled architecture of Nantucket, chef-restaurateur Gabriel Frasca’s Straight Wharf Fish toes the line of casual coastal charm and serious culinary—and design—chops. After honing his skills in the kitchens of Michelin-caliber chefs throughout Europe, Frasca started at Straight Wharf in 2003, progressing from chef to chef-restaurateur. Now, with the help of Workshop/APD, he’s reimagined the casual “clam shack” companion to the Nantucket fine dining institution.

The new space’s blond wood interiors offer ambiance in spades, with a blend of Scandinavian and Shaker sleekness of form. Against a backdrop brick, saddle-toned leather, and creamy white accents, guests can indulge in classic New England summer fare. Crowd-pleasers include a brown butter warm lobster roll, the chuck “I’d Definitely Smash That Burger,” and befitting its positioning as a clam shack, steamed clams frites. —J.A.D.