vaccine

Gents in need of jeans have a new place to shop in Beverly Hills. Domenico Vacca wrapped up his three city search for the new face of DV Denim and unveiled his celebrity inspired DV Denim Collection on May 25 (previous stops on the tour were New York City and Miami). Recent Dancing with the Stars contest Chad Ochocino was among the sports stars and celebs who showed up to check out the flagship store on Rodeo Drive. DV Denim's celebrity-inspired jeans including the Jeremy Jean named after Jeremy Piven; the Mickey Jean named after Mickey Rourke and The Forest Jean named after Forest Whitaker.

In an interview with the LA Times, Vacca explained that the DV Denim jeans, which sell for $340 to $595 and are limited to about 200 pair each have all sort of high quality details. Some use Italian and Japanese selvedge denim and are carefully distressed, embellished and embroidered with what Vacca refers to as "sartorial touches."

It's been in the works for a very long time, but Saffire, a new ultra-luxury hotel on Tasmania's Freycinet Peninsula is about to open, on June 1st, 2010.

Let's get oriented first. Tasmania is Australia's southernmost state, and it's actually an island, separated from the mainland by the 150 mile wide Bass Strait. But it's not at all wee -- twice the size Switzerland, about the size of Ireland -- and is widely considered one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. (Check out that sunset, above!)

The Freycinet Peninsula juts off right around the middle of the island's eastern shore, and is home to national park, which is popular for its hiking particularly to the white sand, turquoise to cobalt waters of Wineglass Bay. Freycinet, by the way, is pronounced as you would in French -- the first Europeans on this part of Tasmania were from France.

There's a lodging concession in the park, Freycinet Lodge, and it has some more upscale accommodations in addition to the more basic -- but it's nothing compared to what's being planned for Saffire. (The same company owns both properties.)

I was in Tasmania a couple of weeks ago, and had a chat with Matt Casey, general manager, and Hugh Whitehouse, executive chef. The main point they got across about Saffire is that it is going to be intimate. There are just 20 suites all together, with a high staff-to-guest ratio, says Casey -- plus they're not expecting to be running at full capacity at first. The rooms themselves, however, won't be small: the smallest are 860 square feet and the four largest premium suites are just over 1500 square feet. (Chef Whitehouse will prepare custom meals for premium guests in the suite's kitchen.)

And what about the suite rates?