All posts filed under: The Squid Stories Address

Where and what to eat in Marrakech?

Published by Kate Stockman

Visiting Marrakech without trying out some of their wonderful flavors, herbs and local specialties is a shame. This is one of the most exciting cities when it comes to authentic traditional food, that is an important inspiration for chefs all over te world. Food is sold and eaten in the streets around and in the souks. You have to get used to it, especially the lack of cooling can be an appetite killer. The habit of selling one product in large quantities is what we know as ‘mono-choice’ retail or nega choice offers. Trendsetting in Europe, a tradition over here. Also the fact that the same products are sold all in the same street. Looking for olives, check out the street where all fresh olives are sold. Go to the one where the locals buy, an ado taste some upfront, before you buy. Not only smart but your food discovery ets more excited. Once you understand how it works, you can start to enjoy the amazing smell of all the dried herbs, the huge piles …

Frank’s Smoke House Amsterdam

Published by Kate Stockman

Last time we were on trend safari in Amsterdam, we visited this wonderful, small, local producer of high quality smoked fish and meats. The place is called Frank’s Smoke House and owner Frank was happy to talk about his passion. The principle of hand crafted quality food is simple: a beautiful piece of meat of fish plus salt, wood, fire and patience. In this ‘rokerij’ they smoke about everything, from Wild Alaska salmon, grain fed pork, mackerel, trout, organic chickens and turkeys, wild boar, to cheeses and much more. Traditional, sustainable and delicious. They use honest and naturel ingredients, produced without hormones, antibiotics or other kinds of manipulation. The wild Alaskan King Chinook salmon is the most famous product. The fish are hook and line caught in the Golf of Alaska and are carefully selected before imported. The Alaska fishing industry is the most sustainable in the world and is even protected by the local laws there. Frank’s Smoke House also smokes Sockeye and Label Rouge Scottish salmon, grain fed pork, halibut, mackerel, trout, free range chickens, wild …

Milan Design Week 2017_Nonostante Marras pop up restaurant

Published by Kate Stockman

Besides the fact that Antonio Marras has a superb poetic fashion store in Brera, his Nonostante Marras space is also consecrated as a venue for multidisciplinary experiments: gallery, atelier, library, garden, shop, showroom, restaurant. A place designed by Marras to his own measure, Marras significantly identifies the places he belongs to, Alghero and Sardinia, with the essence of an aesthetic made up of light, wind, clouds and sunbeams shimmering on the sea. The breathtaking, magical pop-up restaurant at Nonostante Marras was setup specially for Milan Design Week 2017. We just walked in before it was open, so we could stroll around and enjoy the delicate flower, glass and candle decorations. What I loved about it, is the fact that it was not announced as ‘pop up restaurant’ or even worse ‘a concept restaurant’. No, Marras just opens a beautiful styled and decorated restaurant, a place to enjoy the food in a fairytale like setting. Simple and honest. Like you walked in a glass house of an old ant, who prepares a lunch for her friends. …

Milan shopping_Antonio Marras

Published by Kate Stockman

As you all know I visit every year Milan Design Week to sense the new vibes, not only on design & art level but also the new shops, the international crowd, the food, the resto’s… Enfin a yearly energy boost. I also check out with friends, get together and by doing so you sometimes arrive in a hidden gem that’s worth talking about to you guys. Leen Hilde is a friend who lives in Milan for several years, has a Milan boyfriend and kids there, so we can say she’s a local. We wanted to see each other so we agreed to have coffee at NONOSTANTEMARRAS, the flagship & headquarters of artist & fashion designer Antonio Marras. Not your average shop, not a mainstream collection. But what a great garden (with flower shop and lunch terrace), and what a great poetic shop. Check it out for yourself. The images speak for themselves. When in Milan, Antonio Marras NONOSTANTEMARRAS shop is a must go. For Milan Design Week, the Nonostante Marras space hosted a light installation, the outcome …