Te Casan Folds!: Am I the Last to Know?

I am just reading this tragic news on Bluefly:

In more sad retail news, SoHo, New York fave Te Casan, the
shoe shop famed for carrying Natalie Portman's vegan pumps, recently folded.
Personally, I've enjoyed many a party 'n' cocktail at this space and simply
adored the sales staff (I even did a photoshoot there once) but alas, Bluefly.com
comes to the rescue--Te Casan shoes anyone?

Dec. 11: Yves Saint Laurent Event at Housing Works Thrift Shops

This is some crazy sh*t!:

Special Yves Saint Laurent Event at Housing Works Thrift Shops!
Nearly 500 gorgeous YSL pieces available from from $45 to $250. Get the pictured vintage YSL evening dress for $150.

WHAT: Housing Works Thrift Shops recently received a generous donation of nearly 500 vintage Yves Saint Laurent pieces from a single donor. This amazing collection—including leather skirts, slinky evening gowns, pinstriped power suits, flirty blouses and elegant coats—will be unveiled in its entirety at a free and open-to-the-pubic cocktail party.

A sampling of what’s available (click on links to see photos!):
Black evening dress: $200
Fuchsia evening dress: $150
Red leather skirt: $90
Double-breasted pinstripe suit: $150
Floral blouse and matching jacket: $65
Sheer ruffled blouse: $50
Metallic cocktail jacket: $125

WHERE: Housing Works Thrift Shop at 157 East 23rd St. between Lexington and Third Avenue, 212-529-5955

WHEN: December 11, 6pm to 9pm

Get Fitty Dollars from Club Monaco, 12/5-12/8

Dec. 7-10: LeSportsac Sample Sale

LeSportsac

"Return to Classics"Sample Sale

December 7-10, 2008

Sunday: 10am to 7pm

Monday: 8am to 7pm

Tuesday: 8am to 7pm

Wednesday: 8am to 7pm

Metropolitan Pavillion123 West 18th Street (between 6th & 7th Avenues)

4th Floor Gallery

212-736-6262 x 2007

60%-80% off Current and Past Collections

Classics - Beach - Artist in Residence - Men's - Guys'
Visit LeSportsac.com

Cash, Mastercard, Visa and American Express accepted. No checks. All sales final. No exchanges. No refunds.

Dec. 4-8:Canterbury of New Zealand Sample Sale

What the hell is Canterbury of New Zealand? Well it looks like it's some kind of rugby gear. If you're into that kind of thing. Overprice preppy nonsense. But hey! Get it for cheaper here!

Another Mediocre Sale from BoConcept, Dec. 1-24

Unimpressive sale pricing is as follows:

Queen Size Walnut Veneer

Was $999 Now $899

Black-Stained Oak

Was $1,099 Now $899

King Size and California King Size Walnut Veneer

Was $1,099 Now $999 (WHOA! A WHOLE HUNDRED DOLLARS!)

Black-Stained Oak

Was $1,199 Now $999

To find your nearest BoConcept location, visit http://www.boconcept.com/

Dec. 3-5, Nooka Sample Sale: Damn These are Ugly Watches!

But what do I know? If you're into this kind of stuff, check it out:

Nooka Sample Sale
40-60% off select Nookas
December 3rd, 4th and 5th
9am until 9pm

Location: 262 West 38th street, Suite 1002 NY, NY 10018, 212-842-2763

Cash and Credit Cards accepted!

Exclusive Bare Escentuals Offer from Sephora

This in from the KING KONG of guerilla shoppers (one of my stringers):

Exclusive Bare Escentuals Offer from Sephora!
Buy a full size Bare Escentuals foundation from Sephora (your choice of 5 shades) and get a full-size kabuki brush for FREE ($53 Value) for $25! Limited quantities so buy now!

Rouge Tomate: 4 Stars / Barneys: $2,500

I wrote about this fabulous-yet-health-conscious restaurant a few weeks ago. The raves continue. So if shopping at Barneys (or just ogling at Barneys), eat here afterwards!

Speaking of which, did you know you can sign up to win a $2,500 shopping spree at Barneys by just providing them with your email address? The winner will be notified on or about January 15, 2009.

New York Daily News Restaurant Review
At midtown restaurant Rouge Tomate, less is more
Tuesday, December 2nd 2008

The interior of Rouge Tomate.10 E. 60th St., between Fifth and Madison, (212) 237-8977;

Open seven days, noon-4:30 p.m., 5:30-10:30 p.m.;

CUISINE: Modern American;

VIBE: Glossy culinary spa;

OCCASION Midtown lunch, business dinner, detox dining;

DON'T MISS DISH: Arctic char, yellowjack crudo, rabbit with chestnut pasta; PRICE: Appetizers $10, entrees $20, desserts $10;

RESERVATIONS Accepted in downstairs dining room. Different menu in upstairs cafe; both equally good.

There are 393 calories in the rabbit Fleischnacke at Rouge Tomate. The nutritionist counted. How many restaurants do you know that have a nutritionist?
Fleischnacke is German for minced meat rolled in pasta and cooked in a stock. At Rouge Tomate, this means farm-raised, braised rabbit rolled up in chestnut pasta and sautéed in rabbit jus. None of the ingredients requires quotation marks.
There's not a mock anything anywhere in this dish. Those 393 calories also include a celery root purée, roasted celery root, roasted chestnuts, chestnut foam and a salad of apples, celery leaves and tarragon.
And that's one of the more caloric dishes on the menu.
My favorite appetizer - the celery root and almond panna cotta - is only 155 calories. The panna cotta is made with unhomogenized whole milk and topped with lots of peekytoe crab, grapefruit segments and fresh tarragon. The calories matter, but only because the food is so exceptional.
Usually the thought of self-consciously healthy food makes me depressed - so depressed I get the urge to curl up with a jar of peanut butter and a spoon.
But I don't feel that way at Rouge Tomate, even though they've replaced most of the fats we associate with haute cuisine. Take butter, cheese and cream away from most chefs and they would throw their hands up in despair. But Jeremy Bearman, chef at Rouge Tomate, has had a few good mentors, including Joel Robuchon and Daniel Boulud.
Here's how it works: Take the lobster à la plancha with green fennel risotto. Usually, what binds a risotto together is butter and cheese. Instead, Bearman uses fennel stock, fennel purée, fennel juice and fennel-fronds purée - the quintessence of fennel. He finishes the dish with sauce Americaine, a brandy-spiked lobster stock with a splash of Pernod. These are robust flavors and you never pine for the absent fats.
Rouge Tomate adheres to an 85-page S.P.E. charter - Latin for Sanitas Per Escam. That means health through food, a phrase that comes from Emmanuel Verstraeten, the founder of the original Rouge Tomate in Brussels. What this really means is sourcing, preparation and enhancement. It's the cult of culinary balance - the balance of taste and nutrition - not a bad cult to be in. But it's bigger than that.
Rouge Tomate may be a prototype for a restaurant of the future - a new way of thinking, a new way of eating, a new way of dining out.
Let me just point out some of the highlights of this wonderful menu: squab and slow-roasted faro salad; Arctic char with smoked sea salt and Asian pear sorbet; and yellowtail amberjack crudo with vanilla salt, a mung bean salad, crispy ginger, kaffir lime and fresh tropical fruit.
There's also dessert, which is where you would really mourn the missing calories. Except you don't here. The chocolate and banana tasting is 272 calories - a chocolate and caramelized banana napoleon, roasted baby banana split and a teacup of rich hot cocoa. James Distefano, the pastry chef, makes a terrific parfait with yogurt, fresh huckleberries, candied lemon and a chamomile crisp. In fact, the only dessert that doesn't work is the Hudson Valley apple soup.
I hope Rouge Tomate is going to be here for a long, long time. Especially if Jeremy Bearman stays in the kitchen.

Coming Feb. 13: Confessions of a Shopaholic

As if we didn't have enough films and TV shows on our addictions...