Jessica Taylor

Cooking is a way of life in Bilbao, so much so that the city contains several gastronomical societies (formed mostly of men and numbering anywhere from 20 to 100 members). These societies often take over an empty building, add an industrial kitchen, some tables and chairs, and meet a couple of times a week to cook, […]

How long has wine been a part of your life? I was born in Waco, Texas, but my father was a lover of the great things in life. I remember driving to Louisiana in our baby-blue Cadillac with the big fins. We would go to restaurants—Galatoire’s and Antoine’s and all those traditional old places. My […]

Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to the concepts of bigger, faster, and first. In 1986, the Virgin Group founder broke the speedboat record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A year later, he and the Swedish aviator Per Lindstrand completed the first hot-air-balloon trip across the Atlantic. Then, in 1991, the duo covered 6,700 miles […]

’Tis the season for toasts, and to fortify ourselves for these welcome occasions, we have assembled a list of spirits that move us. Many of these have been around for some time, while others are new releases. Most, however, are small-production and therefore somewhat elusive. Ideal for giving, savoring, and collecting, they are the most […]

Michael Chiarello may be a native of Northern California, but he is a son of southern Italy. “I grew up in a household that spoke and lived Italian,” says the 47-year-old chef, who—in addition to cooking in his new Bottega restaurant in Yountville, Calif. (see “Grape Awakening,” page 86), cultivating grapes for his Chiarello Family […]

The time is close to 2 am, and we are among the last guests of the evening. We are also the most fortunate, having gained entree to the kitchen of Zortziko, chef Daniel Garcia’s Michelin-starred restaurant, which occupies a 19th-century mansion within walking distance of Bilbao’s famed Guggenheim Museum. Here, in customary Spanish fashion, we […]

It’s no secret that Sam Nazarian loves Los Angeles. “Everywhere I go—Milan, New York, Shanghai—I rave about the opportunities here, especially the cultural diversity,” says the Iranian-born entrepreneur, who has lived in L.A. since age 3. Now 33, Nazarian recently opened the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. The hotel is the first of several he […]

In 1985, when Viscount David Linley founded the London-based furniture-design firm that bears his name, he wanted to rattle some cages. “At that time, the industry was making things that could be thrown away; I wanted to make things that would be lasting,” he recently told Robb Report. Today, in addition to overseeing his firm, […]

At a London auction in December, Laurence Graff—the founder of Graff Diamonds International—paid about $25 million for the 300-year-old Wittelsbach diamond, a 35.56-carat grayish-blue stone once owned by King Philip IV of Spain. That it was Graff who ultimately acquired the stone surprised no one. The 70-year-old diamond dealer and art collector is among the […]

Robbb Report spoke with Abercrombie & Kent founder Geoffrey Kent in Los Angeles during a recent promotional tour for the company’s new Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club, which launched this past fall. A tireless traveler 220 days out of the year, he had just returned from a trip to Rio de Janeiro, where, in his […]