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Upon entering Ann Arbor-based Grange Kitchen & Bar on a recent evening, Chef Brandon Johns greeted me at his door with a plate of confit of pig, heart-sugar-cube sized bits of the muscle that kept a certain locally raised Tamworth pig's chest beating for several months before it wound up on Johns' prep table.

It isn't a typical amuse-bouche in this university town, or in most other High Street neighborhoods in the U.S. But as chefs like Johns, San Francisco's Chris Cosentino (whose next Nose-to-Tail dinner is March 24 at Incanto in San Francisco), Cleveland's Michael Symon and Boston's Tony Maws do more to popularize the eating of heirloom pork, a by-product of the trend is the advancement of sensible, and at times fanciful, offal eating.

On this particular night some 27 diners descended on Johns' restaurant, having booked in advance to dine on the Tamworth pig he had selected months earlier at Back Forty Acres in nearby Chelsea, MI.They followed the plates of confit of pig heart to a table where it took its place of honor next to a platter of crispy pork skins and a dish of chili vinegar for dipping.

It was for good reason that Grange's 7-course dinner required advance booking and a bit of special promotion among the restaurant's Facebook fans. A menu that features pork liver torchon,"Extremities salad," and bacon ice cream with a slice of bacon dipped in chocolate requires a certain kind of foodie to commit for $60 per head, and $90 with matching wines.

Johns kept the brains, cheeks and some of the other tasty bits on the sidelines for special guests. Rounding out the menu, though, was crispy belly confit, Grange-made Hunter sausage (spiced with mustard seed, ginger and coriander and smoked over applewood).There was Bo Saam (think Asian burrito) roasted shoulder, roasted without liquid, wrapped in a lettuce leaf along with raw oysters, kimchee and/or a condiment of sherry vinegar, bean paste and chilis. An Asian burrito with perfectly roseted pork and raw oysters makes anyone feel kingly. The final dish was pork loin, peppered with domestic black truffle and served over a white bean puree with a side of glazed carrots that tasted as if they were pulled from a July garden rather than a February larder.

Anticipation ran high for the dessert: a scoop of bacon infused ice cream,

Among yachting historians the name Nathanael Herreshoff is spoken with awe. With a degree in mechanical engineering from M.I.T., Herreshoff - known as "Captain Nat" - revolutionized the world of yacht design and produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup winners between 1893–1920. The elegant yachts he designed for those who could afford them were the largest, most expensive and most powerful ever built to defend the famed sailing trophy. Among the moguls who commissioned sailing superyachts from the Rhode Island-based naval architect were Jay Gould, William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Harry Payne Whitney and Morton F. Plant.

Plant, who liked to be known as "Commodore", was a financier, yachtsman and philanthropist who founded the Connecticut College for Women. These days however he is best remembered as the man who traded his opulent Fifth Avenue mansion to Parisian jeweler Cartier in 1917 for $100 and a pearl necklace. Plant owned several yachts during his lifetime, but one of the most famous was the "peerless schooner" (according to the New York Times) Elena which he commissioned from Herreshoff in 1910. His instructions to the great naval architect were simple: "Build me a schooner that can win!" The yacht claimed several victories before Plant's death in 1918, later passing into the hands of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Elena's crowning triumph came in 1928 when she won the 3,400 mile King's Cup Trans-Atlantic Race from New York to Santander, Spain.

All ancient history, you're probably thinking; but the Elena (above) has now been rebuilt and relaunched in all its original splendor, and what's more it is now listed for sale in the South of France via global online luxury marketplace JamesList for $12 million. Spain's Factoria Naval de Marin tracked down 320 original hand-drawn plans, in the possession of Herreshoff's alma mater MIT, prior to beginning the restoration process. Historic images of the yacht were painstakingly studied to ensure that every detail was restored to perfection, from her towering masts and nearly 1,200 square meter sail plan to the wide teak deck and luxurious appointments. The Elena can accommodate 10 guests in Gilded Age luxury, with beautiful woodwork throughout and elegant, period correct fittings discreetly updated with modern technology. All guest cabins are exquisitely finished with mahogany panellng, while all interior ornamental details follow the original Herreshoff designs. Check out the gallery for glorious images.

It's been said before, but it warrants repeating. The French can do upscale fashion. And they can do cars. (If you're in the market for a minivan or budget hatchback, at least.) Combining the two, however, has traditionally been a sticking point for the country's automakers. But that doesn't mean they're not working to rectify that problem.

Nowhere has that been more evident than at this year's Geneva Motor Show. In the hallowed halls of the Palexpo, Peugeot, Citroen and Renault each unveiled their plans for taking their products into a new level of premium. Follow the jump to see what they had in mind.

A handful of fashion editors got a look at Alexander McQueen's last, unfinished collection on Tuesday, making them acutely aware of the genius the industry has lost.

The 16-piece collection, half of what was supposed to have been shown in Paris this week, was 80 percent finished on Feb. 11 when the designer hanged himself at his London apartment at the age of 40. He had been reportedly distraught by his mother's death and there were rumors of a failed love relationship. Sarah Burton, who worked with McQueen for more than a decade, finished his work.

The presentation was set to opera music the designer was listening to when he was working recently. It was "solemn, funereal and even a little spooky," according to Women's Wear Daily.

Editors said the show was difficult to watch because it was soon clear that McQueen was fixated on the afterlife. The clothes had medieval and religious overtones and suggested battles between angels and demons-themes that take on significantly more meaning in light of McQueen's death. With pale faces and wearing bronze skull caps, models glided out in Jacquards and silks on which Old Master paintings by Botticelli, Hieronymus Bosch and Jean Fouquet were digitally transferred. One print portrayed hell and damnation while another featured doves. A skull, a signature of McQueen's, showed up in this collection crushed and broken.

You'll have to search long and hard to find a British automaker that's still owned by Brits these days. Bentley? Volkswagen. Mini? BMW. Lotus? Malaysian state carmaker Proton. Land Rover, Jaguar? Indian automaker Tata. But don't think, not even for one minute, that the industry isn't still alive and striving in the UK. In fact some of our favorite automobiles come from there, even if the cashflow is traversing overseas.

With the major motor shows in the UK paling in comparison to the scope of Geneva, the annual Swiss auto salon is – much like it is for the other European carmaking nations – Britain's chance to show the world what they've got. And show us they did. Follow the jump to see how.

William Wrigley, Jr. bought Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of Southern California, in 1919. Since then the attention paid to the island has waxed and waned, but it looks as if 2010 will be a year of exceptional waxing. The former haven for wealthy cosmopolites is nearing completion of an $11 million refurbish that will put more, and more exciting, offerings on the menu for visitors.

Eleven million doesn't sound like much, but on a small island of just 4,000 people it can go a long way. New exploring options will come via air, land and sea: a GPS ranger-guided walking tour that can take you up the 2,097-foot Mt. Orizaba; a Zip Line Eco Tour with five lines that drop almost 600 feet from top to toe; and a Sea Trek Undersea Adventure during which you actually walk the seafloor using special helmets. It'll be like The Abyss, without having to breathe like a fish. For lighter fare there are still the flying fish, sunbathing seals, foxes, bald eagles, and buffalo safaris.

When respite from the wilds of an idyllic Pacific island is needed, your eye might run to the renovated Pavilion Hotel and its private lanais that is a 17-second walk to the beach, or the redone Descanso Beach Club with its private cabanas and chaise lounges. Meals can be had at the new Avalon Grille restaurant on the water, and post-prandial ports and dessert wines can be enjoyed during a stroll of the green rooms once occupied by Errol Flynn and Cary Grant. Not bad for a lush lump of rock visible from the distinctly buffalo-free Venice Boardwalk.

The renovations will be complete toward the end of Spring. The seals and flying fish are ready for you now.

The Fine English Company is a recently launched line of luxurious furniture, luggage and lifestyle accessories reminiscent of Britain's colonial past with a contemporary flair, founded by former financial consultant Benedict Wormald. The company was born out of a desire to trade in his City lifestyle in London and turn a lifelong passion for classic British design and antiquities into a business. The Fine English Company's products combine traditional craftsmanship with detailing of exotic animal skins, rare and native woods and veneers to create a range of collectible and desirable objects betokening the best of bespoke British luxury. "I am a great devotee of simplicity and pared down restraint in luxuries," Wormald tells Luxist, "simple items that are executed very well. Luxury to me is not necessarily about adornment or precious materials for vastly inflated prices. I demand a very tactile and aesthetic element from the things I deem to be 'above par'. There is a very definite trend for this that we are seeing in bespoke commissions where people are making much more considered purchases and investing in the construction and execution of the item and not just materials."

Wormald is very passionate about exquisitely made goods and those that are true to the term bespoke, which is increasingly taken in vain. "If you choose to go bespoke from an early age, the lifetime cost is more than borne out in comparison to a larger number of machine made and mass produced brand led products," he notes. "I only wish someone had told me that aged 18! I have Savile Row suits that are as good now at 15 years old as they were new and a good pair of bespoke shoes, a made-to-measure shirt and a bespoke suit will feel more comfortable than any other choice all day and every day - suits only irritate if they don't fit properly and a good suit and shoes will help your posture and the way you comport yourself." Wormald points out that "bespoke need not necessarily be expensive. The power is coming back to the customer to demand something different, something unique to treasure for generations." In the gallery are images of his essential luxuries; continued below you'll find his fulsome explanations about what makes them a must.

How much moxie does it take to start up a book publishing house in the midst of the world's deepest recession? One can only assume that Jordana Woodland, who at 28 is the youngest female owner of a brick and mortar publishing house in the United States, launched her Pixie Press Worldwide in 2009 because she had something to say.

And she speaks volumes with her first public foray -- "About Face," a limited run high-end photography book by celebrity lens man John Russo that captures more than 100 Hollywood male actors and models. Russo shot them in black and white with the soon-to-be extinct Type 55 Polaroid film, creating an emotionally sensual collection that is coffee-table worthy. A portion of sales is being donated to the charity Smile Train, which performs free cleft lip and palate surgeries on children around the world.

All of the participants in "About Face," who include Jason Lewis from "Sex in the City," Taylor Kitsch of "Friday Night Lights," Ian Somerhalder of "The Vampire Diaries," and Giles Marini of "Brothers & Sisters," volunteered to pose for Russo. All were shot in natural light and without makeup. The creative mission, said Woodland, was to "record the raw beauty, intrigue and power of the male face."

The cloth-bound, 160-page edition is being sold for $95, signed by the photographer. It is available through www.PixiePressWorldwide.com, Amazon.com, and at the Minotti showroom in West Hollywood.

Padma Lakshmi has the career of seven women. She's a model, author, a TV host (most notably Top Chef) and now, the new mom has a jewelry line.

PADMA launched in May 2009 and consists of 40+ earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings inspired by Lakshmi's eclectic past. She was born in India, raised in both India and the US, and has lived in France, Spain and Italy. "I love the rich heritage and beauty of traditional Indian jewelry, but I wanted something more modern and delicate. I also wanted to create something that women would love to wear everyday; pieces that work with jeans and cocktail dresses, jewelry that highlights the myriad sides of a woman's personality without upstaging her."

The collection features an India-inspired hand piece, a "back to front" necklace which "adorns a woman's back as much as her décolleté, cascading down the neck on both sides" and a micro-collection called "the Nav," which is based around traditional Hindu beliefs, incorporating stones which represent the nine planets and harnessing their energy.

Even her foodie experience has influenced her designs. "In hunting for the most precious spices, I found the shapes of seeds and pods exquisite, a purity of proportion and form that had an inherent sensuality to them." We find the designs subtle and thoughtful with a distinct womanliness. The collection's seed and pod themes are exceptionally well-suited to make gifts for pregnant women -- how apt that Padma just gave birth to a baby girl, Krishna.

We interviewed Padma via email about her new jewelry collection, her career and her life.

Luxist: How has your multi-faceted career led you to jewelry?

Padma Lakshmi: Even before my fifteen years in fashion, as a child I was always attracted to my mother's jewel box. Over the years I've been lucky enough to gather some beautiful pieces through my travels along the way. But at a certain point, I wasn't finding exactly what I was looking for in the accessories marketplace and it turned out that others weren't either. I started reproducing the bespoke custom pieces that I had created for myself; that's pretty much the organic process of how the company came about.

BMW used the most recent Los Angeles Auto Show to display the production version of its new Activehybrid 7, the first product of its collaboration with Mercedes-Benz to produce a new mild hybrid system. While BMW and Mercedes partnered with Chrysler and General Motors on the more sophisticated two-mode hybrid that is now launching in the X6, the German's have also created an alternative lower cost and modular system. This mild hybrid will likely become the primary type used going forward for both of the German companies.

According to BMW, the point of the mild hybrid system was to create a balance between performance, weight and efficiency. A typical strong hybrid system adds about 300-400 pounds on to the mass of the base vehicle, much of it attributable to the battery pack as well as the complex power-split transmission. The mild hybrid 7 weighs just 165 pounds more than a 750i. We had a chance to take a short drive around downtown Los Angeles in an ActiveHybrid 7 and you can read about it after the jump.



Photos Copyright ©2010 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

World-renowned jeweler Lugano Diamonds has come out with a new set of sunglasses designed by Barton Perriera that feature frames inlaid with clear and colored diamonds. Above is my favorite with pink lenses, gold frame, and 2.85 carats of fancy pink diamonds, and in the gallery below there's a leopard-print design with intense yellow and black diamonds on the frame and also a pretty purple version. Diamonds on sunglasses all too often end up looking gaudy and overly flashy but these are nicely understated. Just a little sparkle at your temple to honor your love of diamonds. Sunglasses priced at about $27,000 each.

In an era of celebrity chefs and big food personalities with TV shows, magazines and books, blogs and cookware lines, French chef Daniel Boulud is in some ways a throwback. A trained chef with farm roots and a fine-dining pedigree whose built a string of successful restaurants, now being replicated all over the world. Boulud is best known for his eponymous Manhattan restaurant Daniel, which this year earned him three Michelin stars – the Academy Award for Best Picture equivalent for a chef – it's considered the highest honor a restaurant can earn.

When your bread and butter is acquired by trotting around the world to tell tales of man- and womankind's finest offerings, you get used to the finest. Akin to being a jeweler, when everything you touch sparkles because everything is a gem, it takes a jewel of the extraordinary variety to get your attention. After hopping on four planes to spend 24 hours in the air traveling from London to New Zealand, all to visit lebua's Lake Okareka Lodge, we expected to encounter another fine, shiny object.

What we did not expect – but what we got – was a the finest 4-day stretch of living we've had in years, and a persistent lesson in what the best living is like. We hadn't been on the property two minutes, and upon seeing the view from our suite we realized we had discovered one of the universe's finest secrets: this is where God goes on vacation.

When Luxist sat in the driver's seat of a Porsche Panamera 4S, before even turning the key there was a conflict: this car is tremendous to sit in. Brilliant. Wonderful even. Which is not exactly problematic, but it isn't the way we expected things to commence. This driver, a dedicated Porsche-phile, has been watching the Panamera nearing its destination on the retail showroom floor like the Black Lagoon visitors watched The Creature: "Oh my god, I think it's headed this way!"

But we gladly accepted the opportunity to drive it. And when we were finished, we knew we'd have to write this piece, which we'll call our "Panamerapology." It begins with this line: Porsche, please forgive us, we're sorry – your car is awesome.