Oakland’s Ever-Evolving Den Sake Brewery

Experimentation and dedication drive this fledging but flourishing company

While most of the sakes that line the shelves at Oakland’s Umami Mart are made in Japan, Den Sake Brewery produces just two miles away. Until recently, the company made just one small, numbered batch at a time, garnering attention from sake enthusiasts and experts (the brand has twice been a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer). This year, …

Russet Fills Several Gaps in the Modern Furniture Market

Affordable, easy-to-assemble items that emphasize durability and style

Furniture, when bought new, largely exists at two poles: low-end and affordable or high-quality, long-lasting and loan-requiring. For NYC-based duo Stephanie Rales and Sophie Lavet, the process of purchasing essential pieces and accessories for their respective apartments became so cumbersome and costly that they decided to ideate their own brand, one that would fill evident gaps in the home goods market. Their brand, Russet (which …

Interview: Exterior Design Trio, Manscapers

Around NYC, LA and Miami, a talented team assembles verdant oases and floral dreamscapes

To have stepped into an event designed by the Manscapers—Garrett Magee, James DeSantis and Mel Brasier—as we did in 2019, meant entering a living vision of the potential for plants. But the trio does more than assemble the occasional spectacle (all of which are on pause anyway, due to the pandemic); they piece together private clients’ personal outdoor escapes. Their full-service boutique design firm helps to …