Cleveland is a beautiful city, old and grand and never is she at her loveliest than at Christmas time. Lights are everywhere and so are the strands of beautiful Christmas carols coming from the many church bell towers found around our city . We have the Ritz Carlton where you can enjoy a traditional Christmas Tea , but we also have many wonderful specialty coffee shops and tea rooms filled with the scents of eggnog and peppermint! Our Little Italy is not to be believed in the month of December and everywhere you look is another beautiful cake beckoning you to indulge in just one more slice! All down the Mayfield Road the smell of chocolate ganache, chestnuts and garlic are tantalizing and the bakery and shop windows are irresistibly loaded with special holiday gifts and treats. The Algebra Tea House on Murray HIll Road in Little Italy is a warm and wonderful place to enjoy a cup of tea. With it's toasty warm little wood stove in the back , classical music ,wafting incense and a abundance of comfy chairs, there's no nicer place to take a break from the seasonal madness!
In University Circle , Severance Hall, home to the magnificent Cleveland Orchestra has wonderful holiday concerts all season and if you go to one, please come down to the Smith lobby to say "Hello". I'll be the girl in the elfin cap and Caron's fabulous "Nuit de Noel", drinking champagne and selling the little Silver Bells that benefit the children's education fund. "Nuit de Noel" is one of my favorite fragrances and one of my personal holiday pleasures. I put it away for all of the year and I take out my bottle November 1st and wear it until New Years day. As a "perfumista" I get teased about this a lot because of it's more than obvious relationship to the season. But I truly love it, with it's quiet woods, soft rose, jasmine and oakmoss beauty. Wearing it makes me feel like I'm strolling down 5th Avenue with Jim gazing into the holiday windows, stopping for roasted chestnuts, silvery dry martinis and stolen kisses!
While you're still in University CIrcle be sure to stop by the Cleveland Botanical Garden for their fabulous WinterShow. They've fresh pine, herbs and flowers everywhere, a fantastic model train and the most fragrantly beautiful gingerbread houses that you've ever seen by the dozens! Outside the Botanical Gardens is "The Rink at Wade Oval", a polymer skating rink open all winter long with a concession stand with yummy hot chocolate and a view of all of University Circles most wonderful cultural institutions including our newly renovated Cleveland Museum of Art. Admission to the rink is free and skate rentals are 3.00 dollars.
After an evening of symphony or skating, take yourself to my favorite favorite hideaway in Cleveland , The Velvet Tango Room for a perfectly crafted Rye Manhattan or a fragrant Rangpur Gimlet. The Velvet Tango Room is a beautiful bar, lovingly created to reflect the days where as it's written on its manifesto " It was a declaration of character to walk into a bar and order a Manhattan up, extra bitters." Every drink is crafted by hand and from scratch from the finest ingredients and there's not a single pre-made mixer in sight. You owe it to yourself to try it once this holiday season.
When you walk into the Velvet Tango Room you'll be greeted by the fragrance of fresh lemons, limes and oranges and the smell of the beautifully polished wood bar. Try the tableside Banana's Foster for a fabulously decadent treat. The aroma of the bananas caramelizing slowly with fragrance of the toasted cinnamon is simply incredible.
Last Saturday night after enjoying a wonderful Hunger Network benefit with good friends we found ourselves snuggled at the VTR in the amazingly beautiful back room, listening to the piano and watching the fire. On each of the tables were two little bottles, one of homemade bitters and the other a handcrafted pomegranate grenadine. I was floored by the fragrance and the flavor of the grenadine and it was reminding of something. Suddenly I realized that one of the other fragrances that I do love to wear during the holidays is Jo Malones lovely "Pomegranate Noir" . Pomegranate Noir is filled with pomegranates , luscious raspberries and a very sensuous bit of juicy plum. and it smelled just like that grenadine! If I could have rubbed that precious elixir all over my body I would have, but the Pomegranate Noir is a satisfyingly close second! The Velvet Tango is decorated for Christmas and I'm told that the eggnog is sublime. Do try it for yourself and let me know what you think!
If you're more country than city mouse , perhaps some December evening you'll find yourself sitting by Jim and me in Chagrin Falls, sipping wine by the fire at 87West, the wonderful little wine bar next door to Gamekeepers Tavern. Be sure to have bundled up for a walk down to the beautifully lit falls and around the lovely town square. It's full of lights this year and they even have horse drawn carriage rides available during the weekends. The jingle bell sounds as the carriage winds it way around the lovely old streets by the falls are fantastic for getting you into the seasons spirit!
For a quiet evening drive, there is nothing as pretty as the drive down the old Mill Road that runs through the historic little town of Gates Mills. There you'll find a beautiful bridge, always joyfully lit at this time of year that spans the Chagrin River and looks towards the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club where more beautifully lit trees are twinkling. Then treat yourself and drive down the quiet old River Road towards Hunting Valley. On the corner of Fairmount and River Road there is a tree, at least 70 feet tall and covered with beautiful lights. It comes upon you quickly and leaves you breathless because it is so gorgeous, tall and quiet. If you roll down your window and take a deep breath you'll smell all of fresh pine and woodsmoke and you may even see a beautiful herd of deer. Be sure to take a thermos of steaming hot cocoa, someone that you love and a lot of time. Trust me when I say that there is no more peaceful place to be on a Winters eve than this corner for a moment , for it's truly the most beautiful living Christmas card that I've ever seen.
From my family to yours, warm wishes for a wonderful holiday season filled with fabulous fragrance,wonderful parties, some peace and quiet as well as joy, love and kisses and for all of you who remember driving past the GE plant every year for their wonderful display of lights I present this video.....
