Luxist

Insider Interview: Foxwoods High Roller Butler Anthony Garry

McLean Robbins — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:01:00 EST

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Services, Tell Us Everything

A love of gambling is one thing - being a high roller is another. For the real "big timers," those who gamble more than $1 million per trip, resorts roll out all the stops - private penthouse suites, insider-only casinos and dining, and service so dedicated, that so long as it's legal, the task will be accomplished.

Foxwoods bears the distinction of being North America's largest casino property. High rollers are comped stays in the hotel's 23 special penthouse suites, which range from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet and offer views of the Mashantucket reservation from 20+ stories up. High rollers are allowed access to private dining a dedicated casino above the hotels' AAA Four Diamond Paragon Restaurant.

Many of New England's elite, including sports figures and celebrities frequent Foxwoods and employ these services. Some utilize the private facilities as a way to evade professional sports regulations that prevent gambling, while others are drawn simply by the allure of convenience - at just under two hours from cities like Boston and New York, it's a much faster "fix" than Las Vegas.

And who would know better what goes on behind the velvet ropes than the men and women who see it all unfold? We got the scoop about what really goes on from Anthony Garry, Foxwoods' head butler and a 20+ year industry vet.

How did you get into the business?

In college, I worked part-time in Atlantic City, and that's what first exposed me to the industry. I was a Chemistry major in college, and originally wanted to be a Pediatrician. I'd like to think I am still in that business. I take care of people and their needs.

How does one train for a job like this?

I started out as a "regular" hotel butler. I was lucky enough to train under two talented individuals who had worked for Steve Wynn at Golden Nugget. I worked my way up the ranks to eventually take over the head butler role.

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Insider Interview: Foxwoods High Roller Butler Anthony Garry originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, Travel Entrepreneur Katrina A. Garnett

Carrie N. Culpepper — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:02:00 EST

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Tell Us Everything

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Katrina Garnett recently launched My Little Swans, a luxury family travel web site for adventurous families looking for one-of-a-kind adventures that involve things like lunch at a Bedoin camp in Jordan and sailing Alaska's Inside Passage on a private yacht. Unlike her previous, very-techie businesses, this one was born out of Garnett's hobby: She's originally from Australia and she and her husband regularly take their three children on ambitious trips across the globe.

Garnett's not intimidated by traveling with kids, instead she's passionate about the advantages of exposing children to world cultures. MyLittleSwans.com aims to cut out the travel agent by featuring itineraries from her many trips with restaurant, hotel, shopping and other suggestions of places she and her concierge partners have personally vetted. Plus, the site's selected list of tour operators in each of those destinations can arrange for custom adventures from a backstage tour of a Chinese opera to a hiking trip with the Maasai tribe in Tanzania.

Garnett - and by extension her site - is like that in-the-know friend always up on the newest, hottest and best. But she also shares the little-known, like her personal watchmaker in Switzerland and jeweler in Paris. She spent two years and more than $2 million of her own money developing the site and made sure it included a social media aspect, which she believes is essential for web 2.0 success. We chatted with this firecracker over drinks at New York's Gramercy Tavern and asked her to Tell Us Everything.

Why did you decide to go into travel?
I've been planning world adventures for my family for 15 years, from the time my firstborn was less than a year old. Over the years, numerous friends and acquaintances have sought me out for travel advice, so I've shared my itineraries and photos with them, and they've taken the same or similar trips and loved them.

But as the number of requests grew - and the Web became increasingly difficult to navigate from a discerning point of view - I saw there was need for a comprehensive trustworthy online resource that makes it easy for families to plan extraordinary journeys and to go straight to the source for the best guides and insider experiences.

My Little Swans is not just a bunch of pretty pictures and opinions. There are, of course, countless travel websites and online sources, but I think few that are developed with an eye to the future and a deep understanding of the tech underbelly; I'm a total tech nerd. And as most of my friends know, I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and can be a nut when it comes to research, so the MLS content reflects this 150 percent and always will - nothing is "pay for play" or ad-driven.

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Tell Us Everything, Travel Entrepreneur Katrina A. Garnett originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, Fashion Consultant Amanda Brooks

Carrie N. Culpepper — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:01:00 EST

Filed under: Apparel, Tell Us Everything

The fashion world knows Amanda Brooks and, although you may not know her name, you've likely seen her - on the pages of the J.Crew catalog; appearing in a TOD'S ad campaign, and sporadically being featured in fashion magazines and on society pages. The former creative director of Tuleh, Vogue writer, and consultant to top designers recently published her first book: "I Love Your Style," a conversational style guide that mixes personal history with lessons from style icons. Brooks' writing is down to earth, yet she can't help but come off as the cool, in-the-know sister. She cites examples from styles worn by her famous friends and other fashion icons she admires using photos of herself and others at A-list parties looking great and daring to be different.

She was born into it: Raised in NY and Palm Beach, her mother's bridesmaid dresses were designed by Lilly Pulitzer. After Brooks' book was released Sept. 9 she made appearances at top boutiques across the country. Channel threw her two parties, Tod's threw three and Diane Von Furstenburg, who wrote the forward, hosted the book launch party in New York. We caught up with Brooks, now Fashion Director at talent agency William Morris Endeavor, and asked her to Tell Us Everything. Here's what she said...

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Tell Us Everything, Fashion Consultant Amanda Brooks originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 18 May 2010 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, "American High Style" Curator Jan Glier Reeder

Carrie N. Culpepper — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:02:00 EST

Filed under: Apparel, Events, Art, Tell Us Everything

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's already-incredible Costume Institute just got 23,500 objects better. The Brooklyn Museum's Costume Collection, the oldest and greatest collection of fashion from the 18th to 20th century was recently transferred to the Met for safe keeping and preservation in the Met's incredible facility, which will be getting a state-of-the-art upgrade in the near future. To celebrate this new partnership between the two museums, they're running concurrent fashion exhibits celebrating American style. Although the exhibits include works by European designers, all the garments were worn by stylish American women such as Millicent Rogers and Austine Hearst, great patrons of the Brooklyn Museum.

My colleague, Bobbie Leigh, recently wrote about The Met's exhibit, "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity." The Brooklyn Museum exhibit "American High Style" takes visitors through the last century in fashion with focus on the French couture designers who influenced American fashion, early American women designers of the mid-century and certain important designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, shoe designer Steven Arpad and others.

We sat down with curator Jan Glier Reeder and asked her to Tell Us Everything. Reeder spent the last three years assessing the collection, mounting the exhibit and putting together its weighty book.

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Tell Us Everything, "American High Style" Curator Jan Glier Reeder originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 11 May 2010 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, Menswear Designer Grahame Fowler

Carrie N. Culpepper — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:02:00 EST

Filed under: Apparel, Tell Us Everything

Walk into Grahame G. Fowler's cozy West Village, New York men's shop and you'll want to grab a chair and stay a while. First, the tiny shop, feels like a cool, men's club, packed with all sorts of things; layered rugs, armchairs, scooters and photography from Santa Monica's Rose Gallery. But also, there's Fowler, an amiable British chap; the man behind the look, who has parlayed his background in textiles and design into the made-in-New-York specialty shop. And looking around you know Fowler must be an interesting man. You've got tough, broken-in, black-leather Falstaff jackets and vintage Omega watches next to colorful bow ties, pink-gingham button downs and bright, striped belts. This is the closet of an interesting man.

We sat down with Fowler, across from the mechanical clothes rack (a relic from the shop's days as a dry cleaner), to talk with him about menswear, his 1960s Manchester inspirations and his collection of more than 50 Lambretta scooters.

Gallery: Grahame Fowler's New York Shop

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Tell Us Everything, Menswear Designer Grahame Fowler originally appeared on Luxist on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, Chef Daniel Boulud

Carrie N. Culpepper — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Dining, Tell Us Everything

In an era of celebrity chefs and big food personalities with TV shows, magazines and books, blogs and cookware lines, French chef Daniel Boulud is in some ways a throwback. A trained chef with farm roots and a fine-dining pedigree whose built a string of successful restaurants, now being replicated all over the world. Boulud is best known for his eponymous Manhattan restaurant Daniel, which this year earned him three Michelin stars - the Academy Award for Best Picture equivalent for a chef - it's considered the highest honor a restaurant can earn.

Gallery: Daniel Boulud Restaurants

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Tell Us Everything, Chef Daniel Boulud originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, Event Designer Preston Bailey

Carrie N. Culpepper — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Events, Tell Us Everything

Last week, high-end event planner Preston Bailey gathered hundreds in the sprawling 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan to celebrate the launch of his fourth book, "Preston Bailey Celebrations." The gorgeous book is filled with images of the lavish events he's designed the world over (with rates starting at $250,000), from a stunning Tiffany-glass inspired wedding in New York to a reception with giant floral animals in Bali. So you can expect his own party would be a stunner - not to mention celebrity-tinged.

Bailey created a magical environment with no shortage of glitz (above). Two giant disco balls dramatically projected light throughout the room and dreamlike trees glowed at the entrance. A giant runway ran down the middle of the room, which was projected with a rotating image of pages from his book, giving it the illusion of a printing press. The runway served as a stage for performers such as Martha "Everybody Dance Now" Wash and Gloria Gaynor, then later was filled with attendees dancing. Bailey was true to his theory that a diverse crowd makes for the best parties. He was feted by quite a diverse crowd.

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Tell Us Everything, Event Designer Preston Bailey originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tell Us Everything, Winemaker Patricia Kluge

Carrie N. Culpepper — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Wine, Tell Us Everything

Patricia Kluge, 61, is probably best known as the former wife of Metromedia billionaire John Kluge, although their divorce happened nearly 20 years ago. It takes a while for folks to forget about that much money. In the 1990s they were said to be the wealthiest couple in America known for their lavish parties and high-profile friends like Malcolm Forbes, Frank Sinatra and Katherine Graham. But more recently the English-Iranian Kluge has put her fortune to work.

Ten years ago she began planting grapes on her 1,800 acres of rolling Albemarle County, Virginia property - one of the most enviable plots of land in all of Virginia. Her ambition was to become the most prestigious winery on the East Coast and with advice from Robert Mondavi, top wine consultants from France and a state-of-the-art winery, she's getting there. Her wines, which sometimes seem a bit ambitiously priced, have done well in competitions (especially the Blanc de Blancs sparkling Chardonnay and sparkling rosé), are now available in 16 states and China, and she has one of the most lovely tasting rooms in the area.

Most recently in the news for putting her 25,000-square-foot, 45-room estate on the market for $100 million, Kluge and her husband, William Moses, are downsizing, but still keeping 1800 acres and the winery. They had architect David Easton build them a 6,500-square-foot "old Virginia"-style home on another portion of their land which they've designated to be "Vineyard Estates," an über-high-end community of which, they'll be the first residents.

On the 10 anniversary of her Kluge Estates winery, we asked Patricia to tell us everything:

1. What made you want to go into winemaking 10 years ago?

I've always loved wine, particularly the art of pairing wine and food. I'm an avid gardener and consider myself a steward of the land so I was not surprised to learn, when studying my genealogy, that I have farmers in my ancestry. For some time I would look out over the rolling hills and the many acres surrounding my home and felt that creating a vineyard and winemaking operation was a natural choice. I also researched this very thoroughly, studied the soils, consulted with experienced individuals within the industry. Their affirmation of my dream proved that my gut was pointing me in the right direction.

2. For many in Virginia a vineyard is something of a gentleman farmer's pursuit but from the start you have been very serious about making Kluge world-renowned. Did you ever consider just dabbling in it as a hobby?

Although I have hobbies, gardening for instance, I don't do anything halfway. I really throw myself into every endeavor and try to be as educated as possible. So to enter into the wine business with anything less than 100 percent commitment, the utmost passion and excitement never crossed my mind.

3. How close are you to your goal?

The problem with goals is that I keep raising the bar! When we started we had about 30 acres and a handful of varietals. We launched with three wines. Kluge Estate now has over 220 acres under vine, 8 varietals planted and 4 brands. My new goal is to see our wines available in all 50 states.

4. What have you learned in that time about the art/science of winemaking?

In addition to our fabulous vineyard staff and winemakers at Kluge Estate we work with two great consultants from France: Michel Rolland for our red program and Laurent Champs for our sparkling program. Their time in the field and blending in the cellar prove that there is an art and a science to it. There is a saying that anyone can be a cook but a handful of people study and train to become great chefs. There is that difference when working with an experienced winemaking team.

5. What's a common misunderstanding about wine?

I think people can take wine very seriously, to the point where the fun is taken out of it. As a business I do take it seriously but wine is meant to be enjoyed, shared and it can enhance an experience much like music. When I think of a meaningful evening, a great meal or special celebration, there is always wine involved.

Gallery: Kluge Estates Vineyard

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Tell Us Everything, Winemaker Patricia Kluge originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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