Tuesday, May 8, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com


Varvary: Breaking the image of 'barbaric' Russian food

Posted: 07 May 2012 07:47 PM PDT

by Hiufu Wong

Anatoly Komm, chef of Russia's first haute cuisine restaurant, Varvary, has turned Russian black bread -- that hard-as-cement staple -- into a dainty dollop of brown pudding.

Following a switch in career paths, Komm has been all about using his cooking to alter perceptions of Russian culture. He was a geophysicist and luxury fashion importer in a former life before becoming a chef of haute cuisine.

"When people think about Russia, they only think about vodka and caviar," said Komm. "We also have other amazing ingredients and I want to open people's eyes to this so that they can better understand the Russian soul."

Komm is in Hong Kong this week at the pop-up Varvary at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, unleashing the Russian spirit onto the city's palates.

The original Varvary, located in Moscow, was included on the list of "World's 50 best restaurants" in 2011 -- the first Russian restaurant to make the cut. The word "varvary" is Russian for "barbarian." It's Komm's touch of confrontational irony.

read more

U.S. and Europe’s most eco airlines revealed

Posted: 07 May 2012 07:29 PM PDT

by James Durston

Virgin America has been declared the most environmentally friendly airline in the United States for the fourth year running and Air France the most eco in Europe.

The report, released May 8, 2012 by U.S.-based eco directory site Greenopia, is the fourth in a series of annual reports ranking airlines on various eco credentials, including:

Fuel conservation practices Progress on alternative fuel types Recycling programs Green food options Green building design Carbon offsets

Scroll down for full list of airlines

Virgin America aircraftVirgin America led the field in the United States by some way.

Virgin America takes four in a row

"For the fourth straight year, Virgin American was the greenest overall airline in the U.S. (by a considerable margin)," the report said. "It has one of the youngest and most efficient fleets around. They are a leader in in-flight food offerings, recycling, and biofuel research … and offer some of the best carbon offsets."

read more

British Airways heads back to Seoul after 14 years

Posted: 07 May 2012 02:53 PM PDT

by CNNGo Staff

After more than a decade, British Airways (BA) will start flying to Korea again this December, with 12 nonstop flights a week between Incheon and Heathrow. 

The airline's last direct flight to the peninsula was in 1998, when the Asian financial crisis hit Korea. Hard. Hard enough to knock BA out of Korean airspace for a while. 

Korean Air and Asiana were the only airlines that provided nonstop service from Korea to the United Kingdom. 

"But over the last 14, nearly 15 years Korea has demonstrated blinding progress, economically, climbing to the top in several rankings," said Song Gyo-yeong, head of sales at BA's Korean office. South Korea's GDP ranked 15th from the top as of 2010, according to data from the World Bank.

And with so much money floating around, the British flag-carrier wants a slice of the pie. 

read more

10 fabulous U.S. music venues

Posted: 07 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT

by Dana Joseph

music venuesNo matter who you are and how great a show you put on, be prepared to be upstaged by geology at Red Rocks. In theory, why anyone would attend a concert? 

After all, the best performance of a musician, captured with the best technology on CD, is available for less than 20 bucks on Amazon. Or via the DVD recording of a concert, so the viewer can actually see the performers' faces (for better or for worse). 

But as anyone who has ever been to these 10 venues knows, nothing beats the adrenaline, the exhilaration of watching an amazing performance live in a beautiful space, or the rush of discovery that comes with witnessing the birth of a newcomer who you know will become a massive star. 

Spanning eras and genres, these music venues rock the best sound, location and legends. 

  Severance Hall, Cleveland, Ohio

music Venues The beautiful home of the Cleveland Orchestra. Music lovers call the Cleveland Orchestra's historic Severance Hall the most beautiful concert hall in the United States.

read more

The coolest sculpture park you’ve never heard of

Posted: 07 May 2012 09:01 AM PDT

by Mike Ives

Before I visited the Changchun World Sculpture Park, its website nearly persuaded me not to.

"Grade AAAA tourist attraction," a header proclaimed. The online gallery displayed bland stone sculptures with murkily translated titles like "Harmony Continue" and "Picture of Touring in Spring."

But I was traveling through Changchun anyway, so on a frosty winter afternoon, photographer George Henton and I hailed a taxi in the city's nondescript downtown. Some 20 minutes later we cleared the turnstiles at the nine-year-old sculpture park's stadium-like entrance gates.

And I'm glad we bothered.

Although Changchun, a city of more than seven million in northeastern China's Jilin Province, doesn't feel particularly international, its 92-hectare sculpture park contains around 450 works by artists from more than 210 countries.

read more

10 reasons art lovers should visit Hong Kong right now

Posted: 06 May 2012 07:55 PM PDT

by Payal Uttam

art in Hong KongArt buying for beginners at the Art Flat at ART HK 12: Take home a Tracy Emin creation (left) for £50, or a few Wilson Shieh plates for HK$3,800.

Four years after the Hong Kong International Art Fair (ART HK) burst onto the scene, the city has transformed itself into Asia's largest art market.

When Art Basel bought a majority stake in ART HK last year, it sent a clear message that Hong Kong was becoming the regional capital for the contemporary art trade.

There's no better place to see and buy art in Asia than Hong Kong in the spring when ART HK becomes a catalyst for tons of art happenings. 

"There is an incredible buzz out there this year," says Magnus Renfrew, ART HK's fair director. "If you scratch beneath the surface there's a huge amount going on."

read more

Asiatique: A riverside tourist trap even the locals can love

Posted: 06 May 2012 01:33 AM PDT

Asiatique the Riverfront, a massive new shopping and lifestyle complex beside Bangkok's Chao Phraya river, is set to become one of the city's top entertainment destinations for tourists.

With a design inspired by Bangkok's days as a riverside trading post during King Rama V's reign, from 1868-1910, Asiatique resembles a tradional pier with rows of warehouses. Suitably, it's actually on land once owned by the Danish East Asiatic Company and some of the original architecture, over 100 years old, has been retained. 

For now it's packed with locals, many of whom can't help but compare it to the dearly departed Suan Lum Night Bazaar. And with good reason. Open from 5 p.m. to midnight, Asiatique has some of the same shops that were at the Night Bazaar, and the traditional Joe Louis Puppet Theater and Calypso -- the famed ladyboy cabaret  -- will be moving in next month. 

But that's where the similarities end. Asiatique is far more contrived than the gritty night bazaar, which closed in early 2011 after its lease expired. 

More on CNNGo: A new home for Bangkok's masters of puppets

read more

No comments:

Post a Comment