Here and There
by Andrea RademanSno:la (pronounced “snow-la”) is not involved in the current frozen yogurt wars because they have no competitors. Unlike the yogurt shops that proliferated during the 80s craze, the greatly improved modern versions offer mostly low- or non-fat products, although many are made from powdered mixes blended with milk. The basic flavor is “plain” or “original,” which tastes like old-fashioned yogurt, only frozen. Many places offer green tea and a couple of fruit flavors, along with fruit or regular cereal toppings.
Such simple innovations barely impress Masako Kawashima, a successful business executive and entrepreneur who is president of JEC International, the largest concert promotion company in Japan, and Randy Phillips (who manages Justin Timberlake and Lionel Richie, et al), CEO of AEG Live, a subsidiary of the powerhouse Anschutz Entertainment Group, a world leader in live entertainment and sports (Staples Center is just one of many projects).
Both JEC and AEG Live are committed to the health and well being of people and the environment. Masako, who arranges concert tours of Japan for headliners such as Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Prince, Tony Bennett and The Rolling Stones, put those concerns into play. When her clients lamented that they couldn’t indulge in desserts without packing on the pounds, she bought a soft serve machine and started experimenting with yogurt recipes in her kitchen. She says, “After reading studies that suggest white sugar may cause hyperactivity and possibly even contribute to violent behavior, I decided to use natural, organic fruit purees in place of white or refined sugars for our yogurt and original sauce.
Working on her own and with a food developer, and using only organic dairy, the Italian aficionado, who brushes up on her language skills by reading opera librettos, came up with a seasonally rotating array of up to 10 flavors such as Italian Tart (unflavored), Dulce de Leche (a not overly sweet replacement for regular vanilla), Chocolate Cremita (intensely concentrated), Pomegranate, Sour Cherry, Mango and Espresso Chip, and swirls like Chocolate/Sour Cherry or Fig & Date with Italian Tart. An in-house chef is developing new toppings and yogurt flavors, such pumpkin pie; vitamin A-rich goji berry (used in Far East medicine to enhance the immune system, eyesight, and liver); sesame; and mint. A “produce hunter” procures the freshest, highest quality fruits available.
For a unique treat, try a verrine, a yogurt parfait served in a clear cup made from corn. Four rotating choices might include: Chocolate Opulence (chocolate cremita layered with sno:la original chocolate sauce and fresh strawberries, topped with flaky wafers; Prana Burst (pomegranate yogurt layered with fresh berries and topped with organic granola); Angel Symphony (sour cherry yogurt layered with sno:la original chocolate and sour cherry sauces, topped with hazelnut streusel); Tropical Passion (tart yogurt layered with fresh pineapple and strawberries, topped with toasted coconut); Caramel Decadence: dulce de leche yogurt layered with flaky wafers and hazelnut streusel, topped with crunchy chocolate nibs); espresso; or just create your own.
Masako uses unusual ingredients and original recipes in her 35 or so gourmet toppings: Sno:la original sour cherry sauce is made from fresh fruit; chocolate sauce contains a mix of gourmet chocolates; nata-de-coco, made from coconut milk and popular in Japan since 1993, has been touted to reduce cholesterol; aloe vera, which tastes like grape, is rich in fiber; natural mochi in regular, green tea, and strawberry; and fat-free organic gummy bears that adults like as much as kids for flavors like hazelnut streusel, toasted coconut, and chocolate nibs.
She sources as much as possible locally and donates a portion of proceeds to Slow Food and the UN World Food Program. Further, the interior is constructed from recycled materials, including a counter made from recycled computer chips; wooden walls; table tops fashioned from the sustainable eucalyptus tree, hand-painted soy art and soy-stained concrete. A solar panel, scheduled for installation, will power some of the yogurt machines and there’s not a plastic spoon in sight. Take-out and Party Packages for 6 or more come packaged in a specially designed reusable insulated bag (think NASA technology), which you can buy separately for $8. Neighborhood delivery, using eco-friendly bicycles, will be available soon. Some women lust for designer clothes but Masako’s ultimate goal is to have her own cow and make every last drop of dairy from scratch.
Hours: Open daily at noon, until 7PM Sunday-Thursday and 10PM Friday and Saturday; extended hours in the summer. Park on the street or a block north, in the city parking structure next to William-Sonoma. Info: 310/274-2435 or www.snolayogurt.com
Sushi and Sake advisor and friend, Nobu Matsuhisa, has just opened NOBU LOS ANGELES (903 N. La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood; 310-657-5711) in the former L’Orangerie space. New York-based designer, David Rockwell, tucked it behind a purple façade and filled it with handwoven water hyacinth panels, cocoon lighting fixtures, and a sushi bar. The menu features his classic black cod with miso; “fish n’ chips” Nobu Style; and squid pasta with garlic sauce; as well as brick oven dishes; washu beef; and, of course, omakase. Open Monday through Saturday for dinner only.
Directed by William Maher from a screenplay by Zac Stanford (The Chumscrubber), SLEEPWALKING is a dark family drama. Forced out of her home after her boyfriend is arrested, Joleen Reedy (Charlize Theron) and her 11-year-old daughter, Tara (AnnaSophia Robb), move in with her younger brother, James (Nick Stahl), a tentative, uncentered man who nevertheless welcomes them into his seedy apartment. Almost immediately, restless, aimless Joleen runs off with a stranger. Although he wants to care for his distraught niece, he loses his road crew job and Tara is put into foster care. He rescues her but, with no resources, financial or emotional, he heads for the farm owned by his abusive, rejecting father (Dennis Hopper). After a tragedy that occurs when he rescues Tara from the sadism he endured in his youth, he finds a true purpose in life.
SNOW ANGELS, written and directed by David Gordon Green, stars Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Angarano, Griffin Dunne, Amy Sedaris and Olivia Thirlby, in two stories of love and loss that converge in tragedy. A recently separated couple attempt to pick up the threads of their future and an awkward young man, in the throes of discovering his first romance, must deal with the separation and strife of his parents’ relationship.
BOARDING GATE Written & Directed by Olivier Assayas, Starring Asia Argento, Michael Madsen, Carl Loong Ng, Kelly Lin. In this erotic noir-thriller, Asia Argento plays sexy ex-prostitute Sandra, who is forced to flee London after a steamy S&M encounter with a debt ridden ex-lover (Michael Madsen) ends in violence. Fleeing to Hong Kong in search of a fresh start, she becomes involved with an attractive young couple, Lester (Carl Ng) and Sue (Kelly Lin), who promise to help her obtain papers and money. But nothing turns out as expected for Sandra, and she finds herself trapped in a sordid game of manipulation.
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY, directed by Bharat Nalluri, stars Amy Adams as Delysia Lafosse, a delectably ditzy American actress in 1939 London, who is sleeping her way to West End stardom. Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), an uptight governess in need of a job, steals one as Delysia’s social secretary. Keeping track of the three lovers who hustle in and out of Delysia’s borrowed ultra-glam Art Deco apartment is a shocking situation for the strait-laced Guinevere, who is even more shocked when she discovers that she is having fun for the first time in her life. Reinvented with a swell new hairdo, makeup and clothing, she catches the eye, and heart, of successful (and somewhat scandalous) lingerie designer, Joe (Ciaran Hinds), who gladly discards his caustic would-be bride, Edythe (Shirley Henderson). It’s true love all around and even the foreshadowing of the London blitz can’t dampen this frothy tale and Paul Englishby’s bubbly score.
MERCHANT IVORY PRESENTS
BEFORE THE RAINS
BEFORE THE RAINS is the English language film debut of acclaimed Indian director/cinematographer Santosh Sivan (THE TERRORIST, ASOKA), starring Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Jennifer Ehle (BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice”) and John Standing (V FOR VENDETTA). Written by the late Cathy Rabin, it takes place in southern India in the late 1930s against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement. T.K. Neelan (Bose), a Western-educated idealistic young Indian man, finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when the local villagers learn of an adulterous affair between his boss, Henry Moores (Roache), a British colonialist striving to build a road to expand his spice harvesting business, and Moores’ beautiful married Indian housemaid Sajani (Das). Mira Nair calls the film, “Unforgettable…a hothouse of sensuality, empire, class and guilt.”
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS is Wong Kar Wai’s debut English language feature. After a rough break-up, Elizabeth (songstress Norah Jones in her screen debut) sets out on a journey across America, leaving behind a life of memories, a dream and a soulful new friend – a café owner (Jude Law) – in search of something to mend her broken heart. Waitressing her way through the country, Elizabeth befriends a troubled cop (David Strathairn) and his estranged wife (Rachel Weisz) and a down-on-her luck gambler (Natalie Portman) with a score to settle. Through them, Elizabeth witnesses the true depths of loneliness and emptiness, and begins to understand that her own journey is part of a greater exploration within herself.
March 26 SALT & SAKE at 3 on Fourth (1432 Fourth St., Santa Monica; 310-395-6765). Chef Daniel Snukal presents a unique tasting menu highlighting gourmet global salts paired with premium Gekkeikan Sakes. $45 per person, including tax. Special prix fixe dinner available after the event.
March 30th (11am - 3pm) Wanda Wen, owner of SOOLIP PAPERIE & PRESS (fine paper, the art of letter writing and gift wrapping; custom letterpress printing department) and SOOLIP BUNGALOW (home crafts), presents A SOOLIP WEDDING, featuring cake, champagne, and conversations with experts from Harry Winston, Carolina Herrera, Tiffany & Co, Monique Lhuillier, Bacara, Sephora, William Sonoma, Godiva, and Wedding Papers, limited edition innovative paper concoctions. At Vibiana, Downtown; 310-860-1300, www.asoolipwedding.com . Her book, The Art of the Gift, is due out in fall 2009 from Random House.
YOUNG & RESTLESS IN CHINA China’s new generation is coming of age full of hope, energy and ambition. They are driving the blazing economy and grappling with huge challenges and changes, unlike the days when families needed ration tickets to buy simple things like clothes and groceries and Mao was the unquestioned leader. The film follows nine young people from across the country for four years, charting the twists and turns of their lives as they defy eastern cultural traditions in pursuit of more western values, struggling through (often corrupt) government protocols to start a new business or fight for the rights of others.
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