Do you hear that? It’s the powerful sound of Women Who Rock.
Day three of the Mammoth Film Festival kicked off with a daytime pop-up hosted by White Claw. The Après-Ski event featured lively DJ sets at the main lift, and everyone from talent to filmmakers dropped in.
It took all of eight episodes of this season of BMF for Lucille to find out that Charles cheated on her.
NFTs? Check. Live Cuban music? Double check. Signature cucumber gin and tonics from Épicerie Boulud? Triple check! This is how Clandestina, Cuba’s first private fashion brand parties. They celebrated the launch of their new collection, Metavelso at The Canvas 3.0, a new gallery space located in the World Trade Center here in Downtown Manhattan.
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Owner Debbie Ellen Jones of Ellen’s Wine and Spirites, brings a unique and new concept to the usual liquor store environment. Her creative use of categorization immediately caught my eye once I walked into the store for our one-on-one tasting and interview. Everything is organized by price, colorful dots, and charming emojis. The colorful dots spotlight whether the product embodies, “female power, minority, kosher, I love NY, biodynamic, organic and off dry and sweet” options. The charming emojis are displayed like a fun game game of literal verses symbolic flavors, for example, mushrooms for earthy, and wood for smoky. The store being displayed by price also provides a go-to comfortable area for each individual customer that walks in. Owner Debbie’s hospitality, enthusiasm, vast knowledge, and huge passion come from her 11 years of expertise as a Sommelier, including at a 2 Michelin Star Restaurant, Jungsik in Tribeca.
Owner Debbie Ellen Jones of Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
N: I love the categorization of your liquor store. What brought about this idea and made you want to do that?
D: I’ve been in the restaurant industry in NYC for about 11 years now, and being a female in the wine industry for a long time, it is still represented majority by males. And being a female in the wine industry, I understand that there’s very few of us, and I wanted to represent the underrepresented. There are very few females in the wine industry, there are even fewer minorities in the wine industry, so this is where the ideas sort of came from. But also, I’m keeping in mind about the quality of the product that we have, and representing also the local industry as well, such as, we are in Queens, in Ridgewood, so we want to represent…about 20-25 percent of our inventory is from New York and then everything else is globally. We also have a great sticker system so females in the wine industry are represented by pink, minorities in the wine industry are represented by purple, we have a small amount of Kosher represented by blue, organics by orange, biodynamics is green, and then also off dry-to sweet styles of wine, for ease of locating different products that someone might be interested in. Our wine section is organized by price point so, $14, $20, and $28 on the long wall there, and inside those respected price points, you have about 40 different selections of wines ranging from white, rose, and also reds from all around the world, and each wine has a label and also emojis, because I think emojis are very simple to understand, and when somebody walks into a wine shop, they might feel a little bit intimidated, so I try to make this wine shop as easy as possible to navigate. We also have a small section of orange wines, sparking wine, such as champagne, pet nat prosecco, for example as well, and then we have our spirites section where we represent scotch whiskey, also whiskey from Japan, a lot of American, urbans, and ryes, and then also, Irish whiskey, mezcal, tequila, vodka, gin, and then after dinner drinks such as cognac, amores as well. Some Vermouth, so you can shake up some cocktails.
Owner Debbie Ellen Jones of Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Owner Debbie Ellen Jones of Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
Owner Debbie Ellen Jones of Ellen's Wine And Spirites. Photo By Dijana Mesin
N: Nice! I would love to know since you did come from a Michelin Star Restaurant, what was that transition like into more retail, more ownership, and more entrepreneurship?
D: I’m still actually a part of the restaurant industry. We just opened the wine shop about 2 months ago. We had our soft opening, and our grand opening was November 16th, so we are a very new wine shop located in Ridgewood, and we’re still expanding as you can see in the center of the store. We have another price-point, categorized, so anything above $30 is in the center, reds, and whites, and in the future we are going to expand these sections, so that it’s a larger section…that is our improvements for the future though. I, in the Michelin Star Restaurant industry, am at the Jungsik, it’s a 2 Michelin Star Restaurant in Tribeca. That transition was relatively easy because I have such an amazing staff at the wine shop to run everything on the day to day. I have great support!
N: Can you speak a bit about being a Sommelier and being that representation, and how you hope to leave your mark in this industry?
D: I hope to leave a mark in the industry by raising awareness of females and minorities in the wine industry. I think that the more that we talk about the equality or the opportunities for some verses others, have to be a little more equal because as a Sommelier, the certifications are very expensive, buying wine itself is very expensive to expand your palette, and to also learn about spirites as well. All of this has a dollar amount. So I would like to expand the awareness of how the restaurant industry and the wine industry can help those who need it.
Life of a Neuron is an exhibition by ARTECHOUSE in partnership with the Society for Neuroscience (SfN). ARTECHOUSE is a showroom for projects that bring together various elements of art, science and technology. The space is built for “experiential art” and their mission includes, “inspiring genre pushing artists to create with technology.” ARTECHOUSE looks to be evolving in numerous directions, veering between a gallery, a museum, and an adult playground. Couples and their infused drinks were strewn throughout the main exhibit.
The exhibition lives up to their mission to create experiential art. After a short introduction in a separate room, visitors are released in groups into the exhibit, onto a loft at the far end of a long bar, overlooking the Life of a Neuron. Projected onto the floor and all three walls below the loft is a video playing the birth and death of a neuron in the neocortex. I wouldn’t call the silent video informative but it was very beautiful. The blurb for the video was upstairs by the bar. Most of the couples were to be found down stairs on the floor against the pillars, romantically gazing at the neuron.
Off to the side of the bar and the main room were smaller interactive exhibits. All of them reacted to different movements and represented different functions of the brain. The blurbs gave me a relative idea of what function was being represented but the exhibit still felt more playground than science fair. The installations are all by various artists (Synthestruct, Yamashita Fuse, Gil Castro, and Server Demetrius) and presumably informed by scientists. Life of a Neuron runs from May 14th to November 13th in their NYC location, one of three along with D.C and Miami Beach.
The Knockturnal attended a Glenmorangie and Ardbeg Whisky tasting at Horses in West Hollywood. To begin the evening, we were handed a delightful themed cocktail titled “Winter in LA”. The cocktail was made with original Glenmorangie, lemon, chamomile, honey, pink grapefruit juice, manzanilla sherry, cinnamon, and soda. Then we sat at an intimate dining table decorated with roses and candles.
We proceeded to try the first nose tasting of whisky, glenmorangie’s truffle oak reserve 26 year old whisky. The flavor profile in this consisted of maple syrup, peaches, and cinnamon. Then, we were served our first course which was a delicious salad. Next we nosed and tasted Glenmorangie’s Cask 0004 which was a rare and unique whisky, with a molasses-like flavor. This whisky was spicier and more impactful than the first. Our main course for dinner was steak which paired well with the spirits. Finally, we were able to taste a rare Ardbeg, Ardbeg Cask NO. 0343. This was much stronger than the other two, and this encapsulated a smokiness while also having a floral side. To conclude the evening the guests were given the choice of tiramisu or cheesecake for dessert. Glenmorangie and Ardbeg even gave their guests a send off gift consisting of one their favorite whiskys, “A Tale of the Forest”. Overall, it was a lovely evening with Glenmorangie and Ardbeg.
The Knockturnal attended an exclusive screening of season 2 of ‘The Game,’ held at Paramount Studios in partnership with the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA).
Prior to the screening and reception, The Knockturnal spoke with cast members Analisa Velez, Toby Sandeman, Adriyan Rae, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Vaughn Hebron on the red carpet, gaining a sneak peek into the brand-new season and the characters’ ever-changing dynamics.
Especially following the success of season 1, the screening was a lively and joyous celebration where guests could catch up with their favorite characters and get a taste of the new drama brewing in season 2. Football-themed appetizers and drinks were served to match the scenery of ‘The Game,’ and the night concluded with a Q&A moderated by Hip Hollywood and Jasmine Simpkins.
Watch season 2 of ‘The Game’ on Paramount+, with new episodes airing every Thursday!
What happens when a never ending war ends?
Director Matthew Heineman captures the final months of the 20 year long war in Afghanistan in his new documentary “Retrograde.” Heineman is known for his Oscar-nominated doc “Cartel Land” and his narrative feature “A Private War.” His films are gonzo in the most dangerous and intimate of moments. His unfettered access lets you feel like you’re there — often in places you feel like you shouldn’t be.
“Fly on the wall” comes to mind when describing his films, but Heineman says he hates the term. “No offense to flies, but they don’t have a lot of agency,” he said. He, as a filmmaker, does, however. And he gained access to those “fly on the wall” shots by building trust with his subjects and pounding at bureaucratic hurdles and logistical setbacks.
After a Monday screening of “Retrograde”, the director sat down for a Q&A to discuss how the film came together.
“The goal is to become part of the fabric of the daily lives of our subjects so they can be comfortable,” said Heineman of his style of filmmaking. “You can have those surprising human moments you would never ever get if you just helicoptered in and tried to film.”
Heinman put himself in some life threatening situations. “A lot of people think I’m this adrenaline junkie and love getting shot at, which I don’t —for the record. I don’t do this for the thrill of it,” he said. “If you’re risking your life for something it has to be for some form of a greater purpose or story I really believe in.”
He recounted the filming of a scene where he’s backseat in a helicopter in a particularly dangerous area. The Taliban began firing. He said, “When you’re in the helicopter and rockets are being shot at you there is no object button. There is no I want to go home. You are there. You’re in it.”
He continued, “In those situations the only thing I have agency over is my camera. And that is what I choose to focus on. I focus on framing and exposure. I’m mixing sound when I’m filming. Those are things I can control. If I’m going to risk my life to get a scene I’m going to get it right.”
“Retrograde” is produced by National Geographic and available for streaming on Disney +.
Carter Kench was a delight to interview as we discussed moving and celebrating the holidays in the West as fellow Southerners, his TikTok presence and inspirations, and his partnership with International Delight this season.