Neck Warmers
Fight the chill of winter by wrapping up in one of these cozy scarves.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Red cashmere scarf, Target, $25, www.target.com // Black motif scarf, Urban Outfitters, $24, www.urbn.com // Chenille scarf, Textile Designs by Brooke, $195, www.melaniegayle.com // Striped wool scarf, Chelsey by Joseph, $75, www.nordstrom.com // Duma beige and ivory cashmere scarf, Oyuna, $410, www.urbanflowergrangehall.com
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A WEEKEND IN > NEW ORLEANS
 You can’t keep a good city down. It’s been a little more than two years since Hurricane Katrina came crashing down on New Orleans, and the city is proving that it’s still got the goods as a tourist darling, with beloved landmarks and new attractions opening (or reopening, as the case may be) almost every week. Here are some of the highlights. — Jaye Revell
Eat New from noted chef Josh Besh is a little slice of Alsace called Lüke (333 St. Charles Avenue, 504-378- 2840, www.lukenew
orleans.com), which serves traditional brasserie dishes and daily specials like pan-roasted calf livers over pommes sauté. Reopening its doors and joining the list of local institutions like Brennan’s, Drago’s, and Ms. Hyster’s Bar- B-Que is the Camellia Grill (626 South Carrollton Avenue, 504-309-2679), whose fans so missed its burgers and breakfasts, they plastered the building with sticky notes during the restaurant’s absence.
Sleep Two of the city’s largest hotels, the Hyatt Regency New Orleans and the Fairmont, remain closed. But the Avenue Plaza Hotel (from $119, www.avenueplazaresort.com) is a picturesque property located in the Garden District. It’s known for its reasonable spa rates and the serious panorama afforded from its rooftop hot tub.
See Back in business since October, the Old U.S. Mint (lsm.crt.state.la.us) has debuted the exhibit Gold, on view through January 2. The hundreds of golden treasures on display include a 108-pound boulder containing more than 22 pounds of crystalline gold and a few of the millions of coins minted at the facility between 1838 and 1909. After having been displaced for the past two years, the city’s pro basketball team, the Hornets, has returned to New Orleans Arena for the current NBA season.
Shop Making a home for itself on bustling Magazine Street is a new shop called Perch. (2844 Magazine Street, 504-899-2122, www.perch-home.com), which is devoted to unique interior goods and designs by the likes of Barclay Butera and Todd Hase. The store’s private label, Privé Collections, features local artisans’ and furniture makers’ handiwork. Best of all, a portion of the store’s sales goes back into the community.
Do Not only are people coming back to New Orleans, but so are the fish: Many claim that the fishing is better now than it was before the storm. A great place to try your luck is the Chandeleur Islands, about 90 minutes south of town, which happen to have some of the best wade fishing on the Gulf Coast. If you can’t imagine traveling to New Orleans without seeing exactly what the city has had to come back from these past two years, then consider a post- Katrina city tour from Tours by Isabelle (www.toursbyisabelle.com). And, by the time you read this, the St. Charles Avenue streetcars (www.norta.com) should be back up and running, ferrying riders on the historic line between Canal Street and Napoleon Avenue.
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 Winter Brews
While
a beer-enhanced cooling off is always welcome during a sweltering
summer day, hearty winter beers offer such a burst of flavor that,
quite frankly, we look forward to the return of snow all summer long.
Here are six flavor-soaked brews to get you through the cruelest
months. But take them slowly — their alcohol content is a bit higher
than that of their run-of-the-mill brethren. And since everybody needs
a hobby, try brewing up a batch of your own. We tapped (pun intended)
Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association, for some
tips on how to get started and what to expect. — Jenna Schnuer
SCHLAFLY BEER’S BARREL-AGED IMPERIAL STOUT
Chocolate
desserts will thank you for treating them so kindly if you pair them
with this concoction, which has hints of caramel, oak, and Bourbon.
Brewed in St. Louis, Missouri. www.schlafly.com
HARPOON’S WINTER WARMER
If
you like pumpkin pie (or want to charm somebody who does), buy all the
cinnamonand- nutmeg-spiced Winter Warmer ale you can fi nd. Brewed in
Windsor, Vermont. www.harpoonbrewery.com
DOGFISH HEAD’S CHICORY STOUT
Even
though the brewer uses oatmeal and organic Mexican coffee to produce
this hearty stout, you still might want to wait till, say, the
afternoon to crack one open. It’s delish with barbecue. Brewed in
Milton, Delaware. www.dogfish.com
ALASKAN BREWING CO.’S ALASKAN WINTER ALE
Salmon, shmamon. Our favorite taste of the state right now is this
beer, brewed using glacier-fed waters and Sitka spruce tips, which add
a bit of a fl oral aroma to every sip. (Don’t worry, it’s still quite a
manly beverage.) Brewed in Juneau. www.alaskanbeer.com
ODELL BREWING CO.’S ISOLATION ALE
Odell
shies away from anything fruity or spicy for its boldly traditional
winter warmer, a higher-malt, big-fl avor brew. And though we don’t
judge a beer by its label, we love this one so much, we’d like to hang
a poster of it on our wall. Brewed in Fort Collins, Colorado. www.odellbrewing.com
REDHOOK ALE BREWERY’S WINTERHOOK
This
is another big one with a smooth caramel fl avor. And the deep ruby
color? It’ll make many a glass of wine hide in shame. Brewed in Seattle
and Woodinville, Washington, and also in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. www.redhook.com
Make Your Own
In
four to six weeks, and with enough patience, you could have some fine
beer to show off to your friends. “[These days] people who are home
brewing can expect to make beer that’s just as good as anything they
can buy in the store,” says Gary Glass, director of the American
Homebrewers Association. “You actually have a much wider range of
possibilities than somebody who has a commercial brewery and has to
sell their beer.” First, do a little learning about brewing by checking
out the American Homebrewers Association guide, Zymurgy for Beginners
(303-447-0816, www.beertown.org/homebrewing/beginning.html).
Then, for a quick start, Glass recommends buying an all-in-one kit: “It
doesn’t give you much room to experiment, but it’s a good way to get
your fi rst batch in.” After that, it’s brewer’s choice. Chilepepper
beer? Cinnamon beer? Paprika? If you can dream it, you can brew it. The
website Beertown.org lists
home-brewing supply shops throughout the United States. Beginner beer
kits — with your choice of extract, which will produce beers such as
American cream ale, Irish red ale, American Amber Ale, and many more —
hover around $120.
Leeners Northfield, Ohio (800) 543-3697, www.leeners.com
Keystone Homebrew Supply Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (610) 997-0911, www.keystonehomebrew.com
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TO MARKET WE GO
Gift cards be gone. This
impressive array of gift and craft markets around the world will help
you finish your shopping in one-of-a-kind style. And the biggest gift
of all: a mall-free shopping experience. — J.S.
 BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA
Also
known as Christmas City, Bethlehem does it up big for the holidays. Its
Christkindlmarkt includes a juried craft show with works from more than
150 artists. Through December 31; adults, $10, children ages six to 12,
$7; corner of Spring and Main streets. www.christmascity.org
BudAPEst
The report from a picky shopper is that Budapest’s outdoor Christmas
Market on Vörösmarty Square features fantastic pottery, stunning
decorative ironwork, jewelry, candles, and much more. Through December
29; free. www.budapestinfo.hu/en/calendar_of_events/
budapest_christmas_2007
CHICAGO
Snap
up a sausage to munch on (and a German beer to wash it down) as you
wend your way through Christkindlmarket Chicago. It’s the perfect place
to pick up a slew of ornaments to really deck out your tree — and also
to find that cuckoo clock your aunt Myrtle has been dreaming of. Daily
through December 24; free; Daley Plaza between Washington, Clark, and
Dearborn streets. www.christkindlmarket.com
COLOGNE, GERMANY
At
least eight Christmas markets dot Cologne every year. One of the
biggest is the Cathedral Christmas Market. Sip mulled wine as you shop
the market’s more than 150 stalls. Through December 23; free. www.koeln.de/en/whatson/christmas/dom.html
NEW YORK CITY
The elegant Vanderbilt Hall lights up with high-end housewares made by
local artists, New York–centric gifts at booths run by local museum
shops, and a world’s worth of other treasures during the annual Grand
Central Holiday Gift Fair. Through December 29; free; Vanderbilt Hall
in Grand Central Terminal. www.grandcentralterminal.com
SAN FRANCISCO
It’s
a jolly good time (in a Victorian England sort of way) at the Great
Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco. Get an earful of the carolers,
who stroll through the re-creation of Victorian London as you shop at
stalls selling fashions of yesteryear (corsets, anyone?), pewter
goblets, and much more. Weekends through December 23; adults, $22,
children ages five to 11, $10; Cow Palace Exhibition Halls, 2600 Geneva
Avenue. www.dickensfair.com
STRASBOURG, FRANCE
If
Cathédrale Notre-Dame doesn’t take your breath away (though it will),
the variety at the Strasbourg Christmas Market in front of it sure
will. Started in 1570, this holiday market is the oldest one we’ve come
across. Through December 24; free. www.strasbourg.fr
SURREY, ENGLAND
Make
merry (and lighten your wallet) under the tents at the Royal Kingston
Christmas Fair. With loads of handmade items and other gift-ready goods
available, you’ll surely be able to tick off all the remaining items on
your shopping list, licketysplit. Through December 30; free; Grounds of
the All Saints Parish Church, along Clarence Street. www.edencrafts.co.uk
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IN-BETWEEN MEALS
We
don’t know about you, but we hate making decisions. So when it comes to
the question of having a late breakfast or an early lunch, you can
pretty much guess where we stand. Yep, brunch. (Plus, it just sounds
good.) — Becca Hensley
 WHIST AT THE VICEROY SANTA MONICA SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
Enjoy
a lazy Sunday by sipping unlimited glasses of Champagne or Bloody Marys
at this whimsically elegant dining venue designed by Los Angeles design
diva Kelly Wearstler. Nibble on New American cuisine such as truffle
grilledcheese sandwiches, citrus duck confit, and strawberry mascarpone
French toast in the dining room, where more than 200 china plates adorn
one wall, or outdoors, in a private poolside cabana. 1819 Ocean Avenue,
(310) 260- 7511, www.viceroysantamonica.com
POOGAN’S PORCH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
The
go-to brunch spot in Charleston for 30 years now, this charming
Victorian-housed eatery lures locals longing for low-country victuals.
Feel nurtured by the Southern comfort food, including flaky buttermilk
biscuits with spicy sausage gravy, friedgreen- tomato Benedicts with
bacon, fried-oyster omelets, and shrimp with grits and blue-crab gravy.
72 Queen Street, (843) 577-2337, www.poogansporch.com
ORCHIDS AT THE HALEKULANI HONOLULU, HAWAII
The
open-air Orchids sits beachside in the luxurious Halekulani Hotel, in
Waikiki. Its Sunday spread celebrates the many cultures that, together,
define the islands. Feel the aloha spirit emanating from the native
Hawaiian dishes and sample the cuisines of Japan, Korea, and Thailand.
2199 Kalia Road, (808) 923-2311, www.halekulani.com
CAFÉ FLEURI, AT THE LANGHAM HOTEL BOSTON
Eat
dessert first at Café Fleuri. The Saturday brunch’s spectacular
chocolate bar wows with its four themed stations, named for the
elements: earth, fire, wind, and water. Find such concoctions as
chocolate spring rolls, orange-cocoa crème brûlée, and warm chocolate
doughnuts. 250 Franklin Street, (617) 451-1900, www.boston .langhamhotels.com
FOREIGN CINEMA SAN FRANCISCO
Enjoy
food and film alfresco at the Mission District’s most inspired brunch
experience. While foreign and independent movies roll in the courtyard,
gobble up one of these goodies: a Champagne omelet with golden
chanterelles, organic fruit tarts, or baguette French toast served with
raspberries, blackberry sauce, mascarpone, and maple syrup. 2534
Mission Street, (415) 648-7600, www.foreigncinema.com
tAVERN
oN thE gREEN NEW YoRk Brunch at this iconic Central Park eatery evokes
the magic of your most cherished childhood birthday party. Twinkling
lights adorn the garden’s plane trees, Murano chandeliers dangle above
your head, topiaries delight, and waiters treat you like royalty. Best
of all, the food’s as delectable as the atmosphere. Central Park at
West 67th Street, (212) 873-3200, www.tavernonthegreen.com
SUSHISAMBA RIO CHICAGO
As
vibrantly hybrid as the Windy City itself, this restaurant, located in
the chic River North neighborhood, has a brunch that offers something
for everybody. Since entrées are served family-style, plan to have a
bite of everything, including the Asian-pear pancakes, warm churros,
and South American frittatas. 504 North Wells Street, (312) 595-2300, www.sushisamba.com
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