People, Places, Things is a regular, essential news report on all things culture and style.
Chefs Reimagine a Classic Side
For Haitian Americans like the chef Gregory Gourdet, 49, potato salad bears little resemblance to the deli counter mainstay. Growing up in Queens, he instead ate salade russe, a traditional Haitian recipe in which potatoes are combined with peas, onions and beets, which turn the dish bubble gum pink. Today, Gourdet serves his own take on that dish as part of the summer menu at his restaurant Kann in Portland, Ore., smoking the beets and binding the ingredients with creamy rémoulade. It’s just one of a number of variations on Russian potato salad, known as Olivier — which was created in 19th-century Moscow and now shows up everywhere from Sweden to Korea — currently appearing on restaurant menus. At Eel Bar on New York’s Lower East Side, the chef-partner Aaron Crowder, 39, makes what he describes as a “New York version of the Spanish version of Russian potato salad,” informed by the ensaladilla rusa served at tapas bars that often includes green olives and roasted red peppers. He tops his with orange trout roe. Tyler Akin, 41, the chef and a partner at the Mediterranean restaurant Bastia in Philadelphia, makes potato confit in chicken fat and then mixes it with saffron-spiked aioli and shavings of Sardinian bottarga. Potato salad, he says, “just so clearly wants to be served warm and soft,” like the bacon-flecked, mayo-free German-style version that his family favors.
At the Los Angeles sake bar Ototo, the chef-owner Charles Namba, 41, drew on childhood memories of lunchtime bento boxes to create his take, which is served with a soft-cooked egg and the mini-hot dogs known as arabiki. The add-ins change occasionally but, he says, there’s always “a lot of Kewpie mayo.” And although the potato salad at Penny in New York’s East Village looks Spanish, dusted with pimentón and topped with octopus, Joshua Pinsky, 39, the chef-owner, was also inspired by the versions he tried in Japan that included everything from corn to cheese. While Pinsky, who adds smoked, pickled daikon and scallions to his mix, didn’t grow up eating potato salad, he says its throwback comfort-food appeal gives him “some nostalgia I believe I’m supposed to have.” — Martha Cheng
A Rainforest Getaway in Trancoso, Brazil
Trancoso — once a fishing village and hippie hangout in the Brazilian state of Bahia — now draws celebrities and other travelers looking for quiet beaches and laid-back yet luxurious places to stay. Perhaps the best known of these is Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa, co-owned by Wilbert Das. During the pandemic, Das and his partners purchased a 15-acre stretch of rainforest along Itapororoca Beach — an isolated strip of coastline about three miles up the road from the hotel — and transformed it into Uxua Maré, a collection of 10 vacation rentals. In an effort to preserve the area, which is known for its tidal pools, Das committed to not cutting down a single tree on the property and repurposing existing structures whenever possible. A laundry shack, for example, was remade into a fisherman’s house with a wood-shingled roof, and three of the other rentals were rebuilt from century-old farmhouses that Das had disassembled and transported to Trancoso from the neighboring state of Minas Gerais. Das and his design collaborator, Peter Kempkens, outfitted each house with modern ceramics produced at Uxua’s on-site atelier, sofas made from hand-dyed vintage Italian linen and private plunge pools. Large verandas and outdoor dining spaces open onto the surrounding forest, which is populated by monkeys, parrots and sloths. By the end of 2025, Uxua Maré plans to have a freshwater swimming lake, a private restaurant, a glass-walled gym and a hiking trail planted with fruit trees, allowing guests to enjoy fresh-picked snacks while they walk. Rates from about $950 per night; accepting reservations beginning Dec. 24, 2024, uxua.com. — Nora Walsh
A Necklace Inspired by Walks Through Seville
Around the 10th century, the Moors, who ruled much of the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years, became enamored of Citrus x aurantium, a type of bitter orange. Convinced that the fruit, now used primarily for marmalade, had healing powers, they planted thousands of the evergreen trees in Seville, then known as Ishbiliya. To this day, the Spanish city is perfumed in spring by their powerfully fragrant white blossoms, and the fruits hang heavy on the boughs come winter. This necklace by Harry Winston is meant to evoke long days and moonlit nights spent wandering Seville’s historic boulevards. Set in platinum and rose gold, the gems — from the central 9.5-carat reddish cabochon rubellite to pear-shaped pale coral morganites and tapered baguette topazes — conjure the colors of ripening fruit. Suspended by delicate strands of round diamonds, the bejeweled bib shines almost as bright as the Andalusian sun. Harry Winston Seville necklace, price on request, harrywinston.com. — Nancy Hass
Photo assistant: Sarah Gardner. Set designer’s assistant: Joseph McCagherty
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