New York Times

Considered "a legend in fine dining", Le Bernardin is one of the most influential seafood restaurants in America, if not the entire world. The midtown Manhattan restaurant holds three stars from the formidable The Michelin Guide and has a coveted four-star status from the New York Times.

Le Bernardin lives up to all that is expected from one of the finest restaurants in the world. From the exceptional food to the understated elegance of its dining room and formal, yet friendly service, Le Bernardin is the whole package, and thus it has been selected as Luxist's Editors' Choice Award Winner for the Best in Fine Dining.

A seafood restaurant with French roots, Le Bernardin's Executive Chef and co-owner is Eric Ripert. Born in Antibes and trained in France, the award-winning chef's background is impressive and includes stints at such legendary restaurants as the Tour D'Argent in Paris. He has worked with and learned from some of the most famous chefs around, including Joel Robuchon and Jean-Louis Palladin. A student no longer, Ripert is now considered one of their peers. "Ripert is unquestionably the finest seafood chef in the world," wrote Alan Richman in his article The Seven Temples of the Food World in the October 2007 issue of GQ.

Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim has beat out Warren Buffet and Bill Gates to capture the title of World's Richest Man, according to Forbes' newly-released rich list. With an astonishing net worth of $53.5 billion, Slim, whose most recent acquisition is a major stake in the struggling New York Times, is the first person from a developing nation ever to be named the world's richest person. The 70-year-old mogul's ever-expanding fortunes - his net worth jumped by $18.5 billion over the past year - is attributable to a spike in value for his his enviable cell phone holdings.

Gates (No. 2) and Buffet (No. 3) have not suffered any reversal of fortune that knocked them down on the list; in fact, Gates is up by $13 billion and Buffet by $10 billion for the year. Rather, the magazine notes, their declining position is due to having given so much money to charitable causes. Slim is known for wearing inexpensive suits and rarely using the computers his companies sell, preferring old-style paper notebooks. While he owns an impressive collection of art, including works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, the AP notes that he works out of a set of somewhat dowdy, 1970s-style offices.

Following in the footsteps of the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times is getting into the wine business with a new wine club. The New York Times Wine Club will have two tiers of membership $90 (Times Sampler) or $180 (Times Reserve) per six-bottle shipment Customers can choose to have wine delivered every one, two or three months. The NY Times is looking at various ways to raise revenue and extend the brand. On the wine website NY Times food and wine content runs along one side. Wine club members will also receive booklets of Times recipes meant to be paired with the wines. The shop also sells select wines like the Pahlmeyer Jayson Chardonnay and the Brokenwood Semillon in six and 12 bottle allotments.

The wine club is operated by the Global Wine Company. Other media-related wine clubs include ones started by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Bay Area public broadcasting organization KQED, Sunset Magazine and Forbes. Will wine save media? The wine industry has been going through its own turmoil lately but maybe if newspaper readers won't pay for content they will pay for wine.

This bright burst of spring color is the tote bag and scarf set created exclusively for the New York Times by designer Isaac Mizrahi. Vivid red twill and leather are paired with a tangerine hued silk chiffon scarf and a bright yellow New York Times signature medallion, the color combination inspired by the New York Times building designed by architect Renzo Piano. Only 600 are available (through the New York Times store) and each comes numbered with a cotton storage bag and gift box for $299.

The NY Times Co.'s annual proxy revealed an interesting detail, the company is selling its private jet. Cityfile shows that the company has been trying to sell the 1997 Dassault Falcon for close to two months. It costs $9.5 million and listing pics reveal a cozy cabin with gleaming wood and soft gray padded seats.

If your ancestors came to the U.S. through Ellis Island the NY Times has created a unique way to commemorate your past. The Times/Ellis Island Legacy Keepsake includes the passenger record, with your relative's name and arrival date, personalized text that displays your ancestors name, a photo of the ship on which they arrived (or a picture of the Statue of Liberty if the ship image is unavailable), and the front page of the New York Times on the date of arrival. The piece measures 32" across x 27" high and is framed in gold with a Liberty-Ellis Foundation brass plaque. It sells for $495.

Since jewelry is always a hot choice for the holidays, it's important to stop for a moment and take into consideration what it is you are purchasing. Those special prices can look tempting, but it's worth putting in a bit of extra effort (and perhaps a bit of extra cash) to ensure you get something worthwhile. It will pay off in the long run when you have a lovely diamond that will probably increase in value. In fact, that is just the point that the New York Times makes with their tips on the ABCs of diamond-buying. The first thing to do is forget the setting and look at the quality of the stone. Color, clarity and cut are paramount. Once you've got a good one, you can think about the setting and the jeweler. But don't let yourself be blinded by a special sale price unless you're blinded by the brilliance of the diamond you're buying, too.

Andreas Spiegel, when it came time to bury his father, took note of the fact that the vast majority of coffins are rectangular, heavy and heavily ornate. They were old fashioned, and Spiegel decided that he had a design to revolutionize the coffin industry. Or, at least, a design that would give discerning coffin buyers an alternative to designs that have been overused for years. The Cocoon is an ovoid shaped box made out of natural materials which, unlike traditional coffins, will decompose 10-15 years after being placed into the ground. Fourteen colors are offered as a finish to the natural soybean-based resin and the natural jute lining can be replaced with silk, as part of the customizing "haute couture service" Spiegel offers. Prices start at $3,500.

How much would you pay for a hat by designer Nic Ghesquiere of Balenciaga? After seeing it in so many editorials over the last few months, the Balenciaga riding hat was featured in the New York Times, complete with commentary. It was a relief to see that, even after all that seemingly positive photo coverage in the fashion mags, that it was accurately described as "bulbous", "alien" and even light bulb-like (in white). The NYT also mentioned that it is priced at $1,175 - steep for headgear that sort of floats above one's head.

You'll have to visit a boutique if you actually want to wear the thing.

The New York Times reports that the kitchen is the most expensive room in the house to renovate. The average cost is $25,000, with some experts saying that it is easily double that in New York City - a somewhat surprising discovery, given that space can be so tight there. Some New Yorkers are looking to do things on a budget of less that $15, 000, though, and by limiting their luxury purchases to one or two big-ticket items, they can have a kitchen that looks fantastic and saves them money.

The best ways to save include doing most of the labor yourself and salvaging some of the more expensive items, such as a refrigerator or range that can last for another five years. Getting some furniture from Ikea also proved to be a popular choice with the home redecorators in the article, as they could get a specific look without going with custom-made cabinets. The final thing to keep in mind is that it's important to compromise. As one woman said, after ending up with a green kitchen when she was originally thinking of blue, "green is kind of blue."

But what items did people splurge on when they didn't have $162,000 to spend?

The Human Nest Chair is a creation of designer Emily Pilloton. It is a compilation of thousands of scraps of fabric and textiles, woven and tied together onto a bamboo frame. The idea came about after the designer observed the way that birds build and maintain their nests and, like those natural nests, this chair can be replenished with new fabrics of your own to keep if fluffy and soft over time. The designer says that this makes it into a modern heirloom.

Since it was featured in the New York Times this past Sunday, the fact that only one chair has currently been sold is bound to change, despite the fact that the chair is a startling $1,800. Perhaps it would be best for someone who likes the shabby chic look. Or the ultra shabby chic look.

This New York Times article about the TV show My Super Sweet 16 really got me thinking about spending. The show, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a reality program that follows the planning and preparation for some of the most expensive teenage birthday parties in the country. Many of the parties cost upwards of $200,000, not including the gifts of cars, clothes and jewelry that many of the lucky kids receive in addition.

The show has its fans and its critics, but the critics are always the most vocal, saying that such "celebrations of self... [are] an excuse to prolong the whiny, self-centered greediness that gives infantile a bad name." In contrast, a mother whose daughter appeared on the show said "Unless they were crazy or hated their child, any parent who was financially able would do it." Would they? Is there a point where the spending for a child's entertainment should stop?