#13: Try 10 New LA Restaurants

L & E Oyster Bar. Excellent. 12 Varieties of raw oysters every night. Always straight from the farm.

Oysters and branzino at The Edmon.

Fashion is fleeting. After more than six years, we have decided to let Basically Me, as well as all private production, die a quiet death. Since launching the line, we have witnessed a tremendous change in the industry. Luxury brands have gotten more expensive and everyone else is in a race to the bottom. So many multi multi million dollar brands have gone under in the last few years, so we think now is the time to bow out. The effort and money it would take to keep Basically Me alive is not worth the headache as the passion is gone.  It was a great six years. We’ve learned a ton, traveled a lot, and provided a respectable income for the production team. That last part is what we’re saddest about. Remarkably, all five of those team members were more grateful and appreciative than upset about losing a job. Fortunately for them, their unique talents are in high demand and they will likely be employed within a week.  As for us, we will reboot LA Fashion Insider, Inc. and  concentrate on building the buying company with a four person team. Once we establish 50% growth, Sonia and I will explore our next passion. I will forever credit the success of Basically Me for affording us the life changing safari in the Serengeti.  On to the next chapter.

IMG_5500 from henry james on Vimeo.

A boutique experience at a private residence.

Correcting last year’s mistake. Dog food is now being made at home.

#38: Watch a Sunset

I fell in love with Havana.  At first, I was a little nervous. After leaving the airport we drove through revolution square and you could feel the repression. But once we got into Havana, the island began to open up.  Despite being poor and oppressed, the Cuban people were warm and welcoming.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US turned the screws and the city began to decay.  There’s a beauty in the colorful ruins, but also a sadness that this once jewel of the Caribbean resembles Syria in places. But it’s beginning to change. Once Raul Castro took power in 2008, he began to loosen the screws. Artists and Musicians and Chefs are beginning to make money and in turn are restoring the Spanish style masterpieces into boutique hotels and restaurants.  You can feel these mini revolutions bubbling to the surface, giving the people hope for a better future. I can’t wait to go back to the place Hemingway called home for nearly two decades.

There are no book stores in Cuba. Unless you want a book celebrating Fidel or Che, you’re not going to find anything. Even so, my mission when I landed was to find the book, Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway wrote while living in Cuba. And I wanted the first and only edition published in Cuba. I put out the feelers when we landed and on the last day hit the lottery. A young Cuban met me at the hotel and produced a handful of Hemingway books, one of which was exactly what I was looking for. It was a literal drug transaction. The best souvenir to date.

Habana Nights from henry james on Vimeo.

salsa? from henry james on Vimeo.

Art is resistance. It’s alive and growing stronger in Cuba.

#21: Salsa

Thank God there is no real footage, but we took Salsa lessons with the local Habana Salsa Company.

We walked down this street and found this seemingly abandoned movie theater where we were invited to take in an intimate performance with the country’s top dance troupe. At times it was incredibly intense and mesmerizing to watch.

IMG_5209 2 from henry james on Vimeo.

IMG_5288 2 from henry james on Vimeo.

La Guardia is the most sought after restaurant in the city. Put it in LA or New York and it’s a six month wait list. Great food, but it’s the space the puts this one on top.

These are special experiences. We were invited into the home of Cuban Jazz star, Yasek Manzano for a private show in the equivalent of a broom closet.  He was a student of Wyton Marsalis at Julliard.  Another pinch yourself moment,

Yasek from henry james on Vimeo.

la taverna from henry james on Vimeo.

Malecon from henry james on Vimeo.

The Cuban government has begun to allow Cubans to buy internet cards and access the world wide web along the Malecon (boardwalk). At night, it’s the thing to do.

A beautiful afternoon at the Havana Beach Club where old Hollywood and the Rat Pack spent their days.

Brick road made of wood blocks and sand to muffle the sound of the carriages.

All of the statues are of the Cuban revolutionaries who defeated the Spanish back in the Spanish-America-Cuba war.

The house where the Cubans declared their revolution against Spain.

The boat and sea plane terminal where the mafia and Hollywood elite entered the island.

Another Hemingway haunt that made it’s way to Key West.

Along the Malecon.

The rot has its own beauty, The seaside homes along the Malecon will all one day be restored. It’s happening now every other ten.

The National Hotel. Home of the Caribbean’s premiere casino that was run by the Myer Lanski.

This is where the casino was. It was the one and only spot where 500 mafia bosses from America and Italy once met under the guise of a Frank Sinatra concert.

The building behinds the poles is the United States Embassy. The embassy used to broadcast images on a ticker board to the Cuban People, so Fidel put up all of these flag poles in front, so when the flags were flying you couldn’t see the embassy. They took down the flags, but the poles remain.

Another incredible “restaurant”. It’s the garage of an adjoining home, but it would fit right in in LA or New York.

sushi from henry james on Vimeo.

Ate sushi at the only sushi joint in Havana. Incredibly fresh sushi in the middle of a typical run down neighborhood. Viva Revolution.

Three channels to choose from, let’s see what’s on TV. All the same. 24/7.

night2 from henry james on Vimeo.

We had a magical private rooftop dinner with live music that couldn’t be captured with our phone cameras. Music and food is the life blood here. After dinner we wandered through the allies and listened to music in makeshift bars and talked with old Cuban famous musicians. It was a quintessential Cuban experience.

#23: Visit a Hemingway Haunt

Hemingway moved to Cuba and lived at the Ambos Mundos hotel where he began to write The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway’s ghost is everywhere in Cuba.

Started the day off with a walking tour of Old Havana.

Even stray dogs are tagged and taken care off in a socialist country.

#28: Smoke a Cuban

A Cohiba to be exact.

The island is a car museum.

IMG_5061 from henry james on Vimeo.

Gangster’s Paradise.

Crusin' from henry james on Vimeo.

Revolution Square from henry james on Vimeo.

View From Hotel from henry james on Vimeo.

We’re not in Kansas anymore.

I actually don’t mind things starting out this way. Bring on different.

A great view to wake up to on my 44th.

Our work neighbor in LA hooked us up with Jay-Z status security at one of Miami’s hottest clubs.

Untitled from henry james on Vimeo.

I spent what in 2016? Dogs are going on a diet in 2017.

We are moving closer to rebooting of our company and I need all of the help I can get.

Pool day!