It’s always more than a little suspicious when a company claims they do produce the best in the world. It is one thing if it’s a New York deli saying it has the best coffee in the world. The credibility of that claim is pretty low. But if a commercial franchise chain with the ambition to conquer the world says it has the best burger in the world and makes it part of the companies promise – this is pretty bold. Well, Madero does exactly this. 
The brasilian burger chain with outlets as far away as Miami is bold. Super bold. But surprise surprise – they deliver. As Trendengel’s favourite In N out Burger Madero promises not to use anything out of a can. They bothe have a few things in common. But it stops with the meat, The Madero meat is out of this world. This is what flame grilled should taste like (sorry Burger King). The bun is the other surprise. What looks like a dry roll is the perfect alternative to the brioche or the old school hamburger bun. Well, what can I sa: last it if you have the chance.
Tangerine – Everything You Always Wanted To Know…
Freshly decorated with a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for best movie Tangerine is on fire.
It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
Director Sean Baker’s prior films brought rich texture and intimate detail to worlds seldom seen on film. Tangerine follows suit, bursting off the screen with energy and style. Exhibiting fierce chemistry with his actors to fashion a dazzlingly distinctive film filled with humor and heart, Baker’s talent is on full display. A decidedly modern Christmas tale told on the real streets of L.A., Tangerine defies expectation—a veritable cinematic jolt.
Daughter – Numbers – Heartbreak Can Be Beautiful
Elena Tonra always sounds heartbroken. On this typically emotional cut, she’s begging “I feel numb, make me better,” as a relationship goes up in flames. Daughter is an amazing band – one of the best out there and the the song Daughter is living proof. I detect a little of The XX – and that is a good thing – a very good thing.Starting life in 2010 as an outlet for the musings of Elena and Igor, then fellow class-mates studying music in college, they soon gained attention with their self-released four-track EP, His Young Heart, in April 2011, and the Communion Records sanctioned The Wild Youth EP, which followed that October (around the same time as Remi joined the band). On the strength of those two releases alone and impressive early live shows, the now trio quickly gained a loyal fan base, one which continues to grow daily, and record deals with both 4AD and Glassnote (for North America). Their gestation was completed with a stunning performance of their now anthem ‘Youth’ on the prestigious The Late Show with David Letterman, a rare feat for a young, European band.
The new album “Not To Disappear” will be out soon.
The Man in the High Castle – What If the Nazi’s Won the War
I did a double take when I heard Amazon planned to adapt Philip K. Dick‘s 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle. Unlike the stories that inspired Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, it’s not a sci-fi brain teaser. It’s not sci-fi at all, but a piece of speculative history, a dark Orwellian thought experiment. It asks us to imagine what life would be like had the Axis Powers won World War Two – definitely an odd premise for a drama produced for a 21st-century audience.
But series creator Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, Millennium, Harsh Realm) has managed to turn Dick’s story into a truly exciting, original espionage thriller. Amazon posts the 10-episode first season on Friday.
Epic in scale, gorgeous, and beautifully acted, The Man in the High Castle is set nearly two decades after Nazi Germany defeats America by dropping an atom bomb on Washington.
The country is divided into three parts. The East and Midwest belong to Germany, and the Pacific states are a Japanese colony. Only the Rockies remain free of occupation.
Alexa Davalos (Defiance, Mob City) stars as a San Francisco native who gets caught up in the machinations of an anti-occupation spy network. She is passed a piece of film and told to deliver it to a small town in the Rockies.
Rupert Evans (Rogue, Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond) plays her Eastern counterpart. A naïve New Yorker who grew up hearing stories about his dad’s service during the war, he’s recruited by the Resistance to drive a truck to the same town.
Graffiti of the Week – Street Art Nr. 189
Trancoso – A Little Piece of Brazilian Heaven
The beaches are beautiful, the food is amazing, the location stunning. If there is a place in the world where you would rather do nothing than something – this is it. This is one of the hottest vacation places on earth. Not yet discovered by the mainstream. Enjoy this beautiful place. If you can’t afford the 600$ a nicht Uxua – stay in one of the poussadas where you can spend the night for around 100 $ and be pampered all around.
After the hippies came other free spirits: painters, sculptors, dancers, musicians. The actress Sonia Braga visited frequently in the 1980’s, as did the tropicália singer Gal Costa. Her former summer house on Praia dos Nativos is now a Relais & Châteaux resort, Pousada Estrela d’Água (with the best bar on the beach). Elba Ramalho, the high priestess of forró music, owned a local club called Bar Bossa, where she often took the stage.
Since the turn of the millennium, another breed of biribando has arrived, landing private jets at the Terravista airstrip and flying choppers into town. The new wave uses not fish or dentures but actual money—a lot of it—to scoop up beachfront villas and rustic pieds-à-terre. Naomi, Eddie Vedder, and Gisele have joined the Quadrado promenade. Sig Bergamin, a Brazilian interior designer with an international clientele, and Olivier Baussan, founder of L’Occitane, both own property nearby. With them came outposts of fabulous Brazilian boutiques like Lenny and Richards.
Like Goa and Ibiza before it, Trancoso would seem to be at the tipping point between high freak and high fashion, hippies and hipsters. Yet despite recent incursions, Trancoso is curiously glamour-resistant—high-end shops are usually dead-empty, and besides, nobody wears heels on the Quadrado. Here the dominant pretension is the lack thereof.
My Crazy Ex- Grilfriend – Guilty Pleasure
As the title makes no pretense of hiding, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is playing with some tricky stereotypes of obsessive women. But it’s also conscious that it’s playing with them. I’m guessing that this will be the only TV series this year with a rap interlude that contains the adjective “patriarchal.”
Smartly, the pilot grounds Rebecca’s fixations in more than guy-craziness. She was pushed into law by her mom (not seen, but heard in a series of hectoring voice-mail messages), and she dealt with her parents’ ugly breakup by acting out. There’s a reference to a past suicide attempt, although her mother dismisses it: “You didn’t even break your skin!” Rachel Bloom is the star of the show and she is great. – so great. Shoe was a youtube stare before she was discovered – and boy are we glad shoe was.
My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, if it survives, will have many more hours to fill every year. (Ms. Bloom has songwriting help from Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and the producer Jack Dolgen.) And we’ll see if the risqué humor — more “Avenue Q” than “42nd Street” — can survive the transition to broadcast. (The pilot was originally shot for Showtime.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17LJy-DKIXo
Sushi Tetsu – Definetely the Best Sushi on the Planet
Yesterday TrendEngel gave asked the question if Kinoshita is the best sushi on the plantet. The answer is: Close but not quiet. The best is Tetsu sues in London – Promise. Size isn’t everything when it comes to sushi restaurants: even the smallest venues can have big reputations. Since opening in July 2012, this seven-seat sushi bar in Clerkenwell has proved so popular that finding a perch is nigh-on impossible. Try your luck, though, as chef Toru Takahashi offers one of the most authentic Japanese sushi experiences in London. Opt for the omakase (chef’s choice) if your budget can stretch to it (up to £70 per head), then sit back and let the artfully crafted pieces keep on coming
Chef Toru Takahashi (ex-Nobu) is centre-stage behind the imposing pale wood counter, where he carefully compacts glistening grains of rice into plump pellets before topping them with shimmering slivers of fish. Each nigiri is inspected with a contemplative look and finished with a dab of soy, sprinkling of sea salt or lick of flame from a blowtorch before being placed on a glossy bamboo leaf in front of the diner. Each piece arrives individually to be eaten by hand.
For the full experience, go for the omakase menu, and let the chef choose what’s freshest that day. Just say when you’ve had enough – be warned though, the bill can add up.
Kinoshita – Possibly the Best Sushi Ever
Sao Paulo is not only the biggest city on earth it is also the home to the most Japanese outside of Japan – more than 1.5 million… This makes the more than 1000 Japanese restaurants easier to comprehend. Kinoshita has won numerous Brazilian accolades and operates at the very highest level.
If you want a benchmark, think Nobu, and were this restaurant in Europe it would certainly be Michelin starred. The more cutting edge dishes – like seared foie gras – are underpinned by ultra-fresh, ultra-traditional nigiri sushi and whisper-thin crisp tempura. The presentation is elegant in the extreme – for once you really do get a “picture on each plate”. The master himself is behind the sushi bar and will strike a conversation with everyone around him. Worth the trip!
Graffiti of the Week – Street Art Nr. 188
