I always enjoy eating out, especially when it's with dear friends celebrating special occasions.
At the end of every year, I always host a "Sagittarian" lunch - a fun meal with several close colleagues and friends who all have one thing in common... a birthday between late November and late December. Last month, this tradition was held at Café Boulud, Chef Daniel Boulud's exquisite culinary oasis located in the heart of Manhattan's Upper East Side. Attendees included Jane Heller, Kevin Sharkey, Darcy Miller Nussbaum, Judy Morris, Brett Albright, Heather Kirkland, Fernando Garcia, Heath Golden, Terre Blair, Peter Grant, and myself - the group's lone Leo. It was a wonderful lunch and gathering.
Enjoy these photos.
Darcy Miller Nussbaum, who worked with me as Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings for many years, is now a celebrations expert and entrepreneur. She attends this luncheon every year and never comes empty handed. This year, she brought everyone individual mini birthday cakes – with candles in charming hand illustrated boxes.
Here I am with Executive Chef Daniel Boulud – it was so nice to see him and to have him recommend some of his favorite dishes.
I am a big fan of oysters. Here’s a plate of delicious fresh oysters.
Another appetizer is this Thon et Kaki, a citrus cured yellowfin tuna with persimmon, rainbow Swiss chard, and bottarga, which is a salted, cured fish roe that’s a delicacy in the Mediterranean and Asia.
This is a beautiful Bouquet d’Hiver with endives, chicory, mimolette cheese, provençal crisp, served with black truffle dressing.
Here’s Darcy, along with two other attendees – “Snoop on the Stoop” and “Martha on the Mantel.” Did they visit your home this holiday?
Kevin Sharkey and Heather Kirkland. Kevin’s birthday is December 18, and Heather’s is December 8th.
Some of the other wonderful dishes at Café Boulud include this Pork Loin Feijoada. Roasted pork loin, chorizo cream, collard green and black bean, orange pork jus.
This is Ravioli de Homard – lobster raviolis, fennel confit, preserved lemon, in a bisque emulsion.
Heather enjoyed ths Velouté de Champignon – mushroom velouté or soup, poached egg, chanterelle and black trumpet mushrooms, pear, on crispy pain d’epice, which is spice bread.
Here’s Fernando Garcia with a mini birthday cake. Fernando is creative director at Oscar de la Renta and Monse.
You all know Kevin, our own Chief Creative Officer of Home at Marquee. “Snoop on the Stoop” and Martha on the Mantel” are over his shoulder also.
Kevin had the hanger steak, with sweet potatoes, confit pearl onions, braised Brussels sprouts, and sauce aux poivre.
And of course we all had a fry or two…
What was dessert? Birthday cake, or course.
And here is our entire group – Peter Grant, myself, Kevin, Jane Heller, Judy Morris, Brett Albright, Heather, Darcy, Fernando, Heath Golden, and Terre Blair. Another fun and delicious lunch with my Sagittarian friends.
Here's a blog that was originally posted on January 22, 2022. It includes photos from my trip to the Dominican Republic, enjoy.
Here in the Northeast, it's bitter cold. Temperatures are expected to hit 30-degrees Fahrenheit at my Bedford, New York farm today - very different from the weather on the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic, where I recently spent a glorious week with friends.
If you follow me on Instagram @MarthaStewart48, you may remember my trip to the Dominican Republic over the holidays. Most of our time was spent in La Romana, at the beautiful resort complex of Casa de Campo, about 70-miles from the historic city of Santo Domingo. We went fishing, enjoyed delicious meals, and relaxed on the most pristine beaches. We also visited the village of Altos de Chavon, home to the Altos de Chavon Cultural Center Foundation, a non-profit educational and cultural entity dedicated to maintaining an arts community within the Dominican Republic. It was a fantastic trip with perfect weather every day.
Enjoy my photos.
My friend, Dominique Bluhdorn, owns the most gorgeous home called La Favorita. Look at the breathtaking views.
Dominique’s house has many seating arrangements in many different scenic locations such as this covered loggia, which is a covered space running along the length of a structure similar to a porch, but with columns or arches on the open side.
This is the formal living room — where we did not sit once.
And here is her swimming pool – also with such delightful views.
These are the steps to the beach and to the swimming pavillion at the end of the pier.
And these are the sitting arrangements on the way to the hot tub, where I went every single day at 7am.
This is the swimming pavilion, with its thatched roof – it’s definitely a favorite place to sit and relax. Dominique’s home is within the boundaries of Casa de Campo Resort and Villas – a seven-thousand acre hotel, resort, and residential community on the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic. The exclusive retreat was built by Dominique’s father, industrialist, Charles Bluhdorn.
Here is one of the dinner dishes we enjoyed – cooked wahoo fish with butter, capers, herbs, and lime. Wahoo is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas – it’s in the same family as mackarel and tuna.
Here is my plate along with rice, avocado, and traditional Dominican Republic empanaditas, or bite-sized empanadas.
And of course… Martha’s Chard, my new wine from 19 Crimes. It was unanimously everyone’s favorite wine at dinner. Look out for it – it will be in stores near you very soon.
For breakfast the next morning, we had house eggs poached with broiled tomato, potato balls, cauliflower, onions, and herbs.
Here are two poached eggs with scallions – perfectly cooked.
The sunrises and sunsets were absolutely amazing. This photo was taken at 7:25am.
We saw some beautiful marine animals. This is a star fish, or sea star. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. They also all have spines covering their upper surfaces…
… And soft undersides. When looking at the underside of a live sea star, one can see its tube feet wiggling.
For another meal, we shared a platter of grilled meats and chicken. Dominican cuisine is made up of Spanish, indigenous Taíno, Middle-Eastern, and African influences. And the largest, most important meal of the day is lunch.
Here is a platter of lobster, grilled to perfection.
And here are the Island tamales, known in the Dominican Republic as pasteles en hoja – often stuffed with meats.
We had salads with every meal – fresh, ripe tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, pickled onions, and more.
Here’s my first helping – it may, or may not have been, my last. Everything was so flavorful.
On another day, I went to Puntacana and visited its Ecological Foundation, a project of the Puna Cana Resort and Club. I learned about their composting process. The garden is completely farmed using organic waste and soil from a worm-composting shed. The processed compost at the bottom is then sent back to the resort’s kitchens as well as other local restaurants, and a weekly local farmers’ market.
Here I am with Jake Kheel – sustainability innovator and Vice President of Grupo Puntacana Foundation.
The beaches stretched for miles and miles.
Here I am on the fishing boat – I wonder what we’ll catch.
I learned some great techniques from fishing with Kevin Fox.
And look, we caught a nice sized wahoo.
Casa de Campo is also home to Altos de Chavón a one-of-a-kind 16th century replica Mediterranean village. This project was conceived by Bluhdorn and the Italian architect, Roberto Copa. Dominique is the current president of the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center Foundation.
The entire village is located atop the Chavón River. The project began in 1976 when the construction of a nearby road and bridge crossing the river was blasted through a mountain of stone. The stones were used to create the village and celebrates the artisans of the Dominican Republic.
Much of Altos de Chavon is made from coral block and terra cotta. This giant fish sculpture is part of a fountain – it looks like it has been here for centuries.
Each stone was hand cut, each wooden door frame was handcrafted, and each wrought-iron detail hand-forged. The village was finally completed and inaugurated in 1982.
Another attraction in Altos de Chavon is this five-thousand seat amphitheater. It is mainly used for music concerts and other performances. The amphitheater is so beautiful and carved all from stone. The term “amphitheater” derives from the ancient Greek words meaning “on both sides” or “around” and “place for viewing”.
It was a such a wonderful get-away. I hope to return again sometime soon.
As we continue with our holiday memories, here's another encore blog from the beginning of this year. It was originally posted on January 06, 2024.
It's become a bit of a tradition for me to travel somewhere warm for New Year's - a brief trip south to escape the cold winter can be so invigorating.
You may have seen photos from my recent holiday trip to Palm Beach, Florida. I was joined by my dear friend, Terre Blair. I always try to include as much as I can during my trips, so they are productive, informational, and fun. We spent most of our brief stay touring farms, enjoying great meals, shopping along Worth Avenue, attending parties, and visiting with friends.
Enjoy these photos.
This large cruise ship is Margaritaville at Sea – a cruise line that operates two-day voyages out of West Palm Beach, Florida to Grand Bahama Island. Our hostess, Lisbeth Barron, has a home overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, a 3,000-mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and sees this vessel pass by every day. If you want to drink
margartitas, or Martha-ritas, and listen to Jimmy Buffet songs while relaxing under the warm sun, a trip aboard the Margaritaville at Sea is a great way to do it!
Soon after arriving in Palm Beach, we attended our first holiday party. Here I am with Lenny Lauren, Ralph Lauren’s brother – always looking so dapper and fun. I am wearing a comfortable Azzedine Alaïa kaftan.
The next morning, we went to Chikmonk Coffee, a unique farmer owned, locally roasted Indian specialty coffee company. Here I am at the pop-up coffee bar with owners, Nandini Jayaprasad and David Beil. They import the coffee from their family’s plantation estate in Chikmagalur, India. It was so delicious, I brought some home with me.
This is the front façade of the private club, Carriage House. Its owners, Michael Bickford and his wife Paula, enlisted the help of architect Keith Spina to handle the restoration of the Palm Beach landmark buildings and worked with Madrid-based designer Luis Bustamante on the interiors. The front is decorated with thousands of holiday glass ornaments.
I also stopped at the Paul Lebrecque Salon for a blow-out. Here I am with Paul on my right and the salon’s manager, Collin Adams, on my left.
Here I am for an evening of fun and celebration with my friends Terre Blair and Susan Magrino. I am wearing my new crisp white Oscar de la Renta kaftan.
On this night, we attended the 65th birthday part of my friend, Laura Slatkin. Pictured in this selfie – George Ledes, owner of the iconic fragrance Fracas by Robert Piguet, myself, Terre Blair, makeup artist Daisy Schwartzberg Toye, my longtime publicist Susan Magrino, and photographer Douglas Friedman.
Here I am with Douglas in another photo. this was taken inside the Slatkins’ beautiful home.
At Swank, they grow all their own crops from seed. Here are the starter trays with tomato seeds.
In another section are trays with developing seedlings. Everything is carefully watched and monitored. These plants look very healthy.
Because of rising waters and sandy soils, all the plants go from trays to individual grow buckets. There are more than 25-thousand plastic containers here at Swank.
This area has growing frisée or curly endive. The tan tops are blanching caps put on the head of frisée to keep the sunlight away, turning it into a beautiful yellow and making the leaves more tender and less bitter.
These are the peppers – millions of peppers growing and thriving in these plastic containers.
Here is a closer look at some of the hot peppers growing. Peppers need room for their roots to spread, so when growing in containers, remember to choose pots at least 12-inches in diameter.
The farm grows more than 350 varieties of produce consisting of leaf lettuces, specialty greens, cooking greens, baby and full size vegetables, edible flowers, herbs, tomatoes, micro greens, strawberries, wild flower bouquets and more.
Here I am with Swank Specialty Produce proprietors, Darrin and Jodi Swank. Aside from the farm, they also have a market held in an open-air 8500 square foot barn where they host about 25-bakers, growers, gardeners, and sellers of quality, all-natural fresh foods and products.
This is Dan Lembessis, owner of Blis Farms, where they make authentic Greek virgin olive oil, vinegar, jams, salt, and many other items.
They also had boxes of delicious sourdough bread.
Blis also sells a variety of honey – Wild Greek Forest Honey, Wild Greek Island Honey, and Greek Golden Vanilla Honey.
This honey is made from rare vanilla fir trees. It looks very creamy.
Here I am with Dan and his son. I purchased several items to take home with me. The market is filled with so many wonderful and flavorful items.
I stopped for this quick photo with a bunch of fresh baby fennel.
And one could smell the porchetta by Pork-etta – after it was cooked for eight hours.
There was also a table showcasing a large selection of Paulie’s Pasta.
Of course, I couldn’t visit Palm Beach without stopping at an orchid farm. There were so many beautiful blooming plants.
I selected a few vandas for my greenhouse collection. Vandas are rare orchids and are loved for their stunning colors. Vandas range from tiny orange flowers to gigantic blue and pink ones with interesting markings.
Here is one in beautiful dark pink. Vanda is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. There are currently up to 90 species of Vanda orchids.
And then we had some of the best Latin street food I have ever had at Cholo Soy Cocina. We enjoyed one of every kind of taco and a sweet corn salad. Cholo Soy Cocina is in the Antiques district, and features a large variety of tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, and other dishes.
I didn’t notice it at first, but look at the sign… I definitely approve! Do stop in if you’re ever in the area. You’ll love everything you try! In my next blog, more photos from my short trip to Palm Beach. Stay tuned.
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