Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:35:45 -0400 -
Posted in the five chinese brother
INK C.E.O. Charles Khabouth is collaborating with Guy and Michael Rubino to rebrand the Mercer Street restaurant formerly known as Rain, opened by the Rubino brothers in the late '90s. The 5,000-square-foot space, which is being redesigned by the award-winning firm Munge Leung, will open in June as Ame (pronounced Ah-may), a contemporary Japanese restaurant.
The new space will feature heritage woods throughout, a private dining room for 24, an expanded dining area that will hold about 100, and a Japanese lounge and sake bar that will hold an additional 50. “The Rubino Brothers share my passion for creative cuisine and design,” Khabouth said. “They have a dynamic, detailed, and worldy approach to food preparation and presentation along with an established history in the culinary arts. Ame is the perfect venture for us to partner on.”
Executive chef Guy Rubino will oversee the kitchen, which will feature a custom robata grill. The menu will focus on sushi and sashimi. “Ame is the Japanese term for rain,” Michael Rubino said. “After 10 years at this location, we are excited to introduce this new, expanded menu and restaurant concept that will not only offer unique food choices but also give the consumer direct control over how much they would like to spend.”
—Susan O'Neill
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So, the Ultimate space that designers Munge Leung and Charles Khabouth of Ink Entertainment are collaborating on for the IDS is quite the showstopper. I've had a sneaky look during construction and I can't wait to see it finished, especially since I've heard it'll launch their latest venture - a swish hotel/condo project. Now, this isn't the first time these guys have worked together, within the past year they've made a splash with Ame, the swanky re-do of the Rubino brother's famed Rain restaurant, as well as Ultra (yep, the one with the chickens, more here), and have even re-done Khabouth's own condo.
So, to get a slightly more in-depth take at what's going on I cornered both Charles Khabouth and Alessandro Munge, one half of ML, and asked them 5 quick questions. The first two snaps shows what's what inside Ame (the cocktails are stellar btw), the third is a peek inside Khabouth's condo.[Image: Condo interior, National Post. Portrait, Arash Moallemi/IDS]
Arren Williams: What's inspiring you right now?
Charles Khabouth: My recent trip to paris, France.
Alessandro Munge: My travels!
AW: Is there anything that can drive you crazy when you walk into a space?
CK: Bad lighting or an unwelcoming/unfriendly host.
AM: Low ceiling heights and no natural light.
AW: What's the next thing you have your eyes on for your own house?
CK: Art.
AM: Art, and lots of it.
AW: How would you describe your style - personal or design - and has it changed over the years?
CK: I want to say that my look is simple and edgy, though I’ve stopped trying hard to look my best because I just don’t have a lot of time. Now I just wear what’s simple and comfortable – and the result is actually my best look yet.
AM: Eclectic. Timeless. Modern.
AW: What's next on the horizon?
CK: I have four serious projects on the horizon in the near future – but the most prominent and exciting for me right now is a residence and hotel development in the heart of Toronto that will be the launch of a new brand. This brand will represent the ultimate lifestyle in design, comfort, amenities and access.
AM: 5-star hotels worldwide!
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:35:51 -0400 -
Posted in brother intellifax 770
Review by Gary Covington for Lynyrd Skynyrd – Live From Freedom Hall (DVD)
Rating:
This is another great, new, welcome, concert DVD, release by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and probably the last one, you’ll see Ean Evans or Billy Powell on, because they both died after the filming of this concert. They will be greatly missed. Billy Powell was an original member, who was “faithful to the end”. Ean had cancer, Billy had a heart attack. Thank God, they left this great concert for us to enjoy, and it is one great concert!!!
In the dvd package it states: “In Loving Memory of Our Brothers, Billy Powell, and Ean Evans”.
Bo Bice, the “American Idol” contestant in 2004, is a Skynyrd fan. He has performed with Skynyrd also (See my review of Bo’s lastest cd “3″ for more info.) Anyway, on Bo’s album cd “3″, he dedicates the album to his “brother”, Ean Evans.
Johnny Vant Zant states that this concert was filmed in 2007 to commemerate the 30th aniversery of the 1977 Plane Crash, that killed members of the original version of Skynyrd, including his brother, Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Road Manager Dean Kilpatrick.
They begin the concert by honoring members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, that had been killed or died.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. I’ve been there, and I’ve seen their names inscribed in the “Wall of Fame” for inductees. Johnny mentions their induction, during this concert.
This concert was filmed at Freedom Hall, in Louisiville, Kentucky on June 15, 2007, during their “Rowdy Frynds” Tour, which included some concerts with Hank Williams, Jr. I was fortunate to see this exact “line-up” of Skynyrd on this “Rowdy Frynds” Tour.
The line-up:
Gary Rossington – lead guitar (including excellent slide guitar play)
Billy Powell – Keyboards
Johnny Van Zant – Vocals
Rickey Medlocke – lead guitar
Ean Evans – Bass guitar (from Mississippi, he was a former backup bass player, for the late/great original Skynyrd Bassist, Leon Wilkeson)
Mark Martejka – guitar (a former member of the “Charlie Daniels Band”)
Michael Cartellone – drums (a former member of The “Damm Yankees”)
Dale Krantz Rossington – Back-up vocals
Carol Chase – Back-up vocals
The songs:
1.Travelin’ Man (This one includes the late/great Ronnie Van Zant on the big screen singing along with his brother Johnny. This is a great song, starting out with great Bass lines from Ean Evans, the dual vocals are great, and Gary plays some excellent slide guitar play on this one.)
2.Workin’
3.What’s Your Name
4.That Smell
5.Simple Man
Medley:
6.Down South Jukin’
7.The Needle and the Spoon
8.The Ballad of Curtis Loew
9.Gimme Back My Bullets
10.Tuesday’s Gone
11.Red, White and Blue (Johnny dedicates this one to our troops. It includes some great piano play by Billy Powell.)
12.Gimme Three Steps
13.Call Me the Breeze
14.Sweet Home Alabama
15.Freebird (Always, totally awesome!!!)
This is an outstanding concert dvd, and I highly recommend it. Thanks!!!
The country duo Van Zant recently released a new record,
My Kind of Country, and I'm lovin' every minute of it. Their previous record,
Get Right with the Man (2005), has been one of my favorites of the past few years. I've listened to it as often and as consistently as anything else, and really have only grown to appreciate it more. Donnie and Johnny Van Zant are the brothers of the late Ronnie Van Zant, a founding member and lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, who died in a plane crash in 1977. After Ronnie's death, Johnny took his place as vocalist for Skynyrd, and Donnie is the founder and vocalist of .38 Special. These are pretty good credentials for a couple of good ol' country boys. They come by their southern rock honestly, and they bring a good deal of experience with them to their recordings as Van Zant. As far as I have been able to tell,
Get Right with the Man has also been one of those rare records that my Zach and DoRena both like about as well as I do. So, if we all three agree on something like this, who's to argue with it?
My Kind of Country doesn't start with quite the kick and punch that the previous record did, but it has legs and stamina. Maybe it would be fair to say that, overall, it is slightly more subdued and to that same extent more thoughtful and serious. These boys are family men, and Christians to boot, and they bring those values to bear upon their songs. They've also got some history in the rock 'n' roll industry, and it's clear they know how to have a good time. They do live with some regrets about their past, but they seem to be most interested in living their life now and into the future. Is it absurd to speak of southern-rock country as having wholesome values? These guys appear to manage it, in my opinion. They make great music; they write great songs; and they clearly enjoy what they're doing, which makes listening enjoyable.
I've probably listened through
My Kind of Country a dozen times, or more, since I got it. I liked it from the first, but I like it better and better each time I hear it. There's genuine substance here, and equal parts good fun. "Goes Down Easy," the third track, is infectious. It's not my favorite song on the record, but it's often the one I find myself whistling and singing after I've gotten out of my car and gone about my errands or whatever. It may be a toss-up, for now, as to what my favorite song is (there aren't any on here that I don't care for), but the title track, "My Kind of Country," as well as "The Hardest Thing" and "Friend," would all be contenders.
I suspect that, when all is said and done, it'll be "That Scares Me" that remains my favorite here. I love the opening line and the musical pulse of this song. But the fact of the matter is that it cuts pretty close to home for me, as the singer contemplates the growing up of his children and "how sad my life without my wife would be." I'm beginning to suspect that the entire country music industry has it in for me, and I suppose for other fathers out there whose sons and daughters are graduating, going off to college, getting married, etc. This really isn't fair. My friend Karin would remind these songwriters of the Fifth Commandment, because some of these heart-wrenching, tear-jerking songs are coming close to killing me. Honestly, though, I love it. I find it helpful for someone to give me the words and the music to express my feelings out loud, and there's some temporal comfort in knowing that I'm obviously not the only one to feel this way. It's especially nice when guys who really know how to rock, how to sing, and how to play, also have a knack for picking songs that say what needs to be said, and then perform them well.
