Perfumers' Afternoon Tea @ Alembique 23.03.2013
Apr 01, 2013
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Filed under Alembique, Babak Nahid, Bruno Fazzolari, Elise Pearlstine, Mandy Aftel, Mario T Gomez, Perfumers Afternoon Tea Party, Ragna Rostad-Ruffner, Sherri Sebastian, Yosh Han

Perfumers' Afternoon Tea @ Alembique 23.03.2013

Alembique Window & Butterfly Visitor by Ayala Moriel

Alembique Window & Butterfly Visitor, a photo by Ayala Moriel on Flickr.

Last Saturday, on March 23rd, we hosted a perfumers' afternoon tea at Alembique - an up and coming perfume boutique in Berkeley (901 Hearst Ave) that will open to the public exactly a month from today, on May 1st.

Alembique's sign - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

It was my dream come true: hosting a tea party for all the wonderful perfumers in the Bay Area who have been most kind to me in my countless visits to San Francisco in the past 2 years. It was my way of expressing my gratitude, and giving back to this very warm, vibrant, supportive and creative community. There was also a hidden agenda - I wanted to try out hosting a tea party with my daughter outside of my own studio space. We both love hosting those parties, and I have a vision of traveling the world with her when she finishes school, connect with new people and cultures through tea, and get to know the world. This was a very successful experiment!

THE PREPARATIONS

Perfumers Afternoon Tea at Alembique March 23, 2013

Me and Miss T arriving in Alembique, Berkeley

Team Alembqieu painting the shop, hanging the signs...
Photo by Babak (Alembique's shop owner)

Setting up the window display
Photo by Babak (Alembique's shop owner)

Put a bird on it!
Love how that big shadow looks like a perfume bottle...

Lineup outside of ACME bakery in Berkeley

They do everything at ACME - excpet slice your bread for you... SO Berkeley...!

There is more bread than a girl!

Miss T making halva cookies (tahini shortbreads)

Email break while preparing for the tea party

Social media break in the Alembqieu courtyard...

Rose and almond ice box cookies - before and after. These turned out so good that I didn't even have a chance to taste one... Will be making more for my Hanami tea party on Sunday, April 7th.

Rose Petals & Almond Biscuits - Fresh from the oven!

Ras El Hanout Fudgey Brownies - fresh from the oven!

The fudgiest, tastiest, most exotique brownies ever: with ras el hanout, and gluten free.

And here's a little glimpse into tea-party central (photo by Babak Nahid, Alembique's owner):

Making the truffles with Miss T, Bruno Fazzolari and his daughter, Lily (Babak took that one too).

Making Ylang Ylang & Cassis Truffles with Bruno, Lily and Tamya

Ragna Rostad-Ruffner (Divine Life Perfumes) and Elise Pearlstine (Bellyflowers Perfumes) helping me at the kitchen. The preparations were just as fun as the tea itself: A true community effort, and so great to work with everyone. Did I mention yet that it was my dream come true?

Whimsical displays at Alembqiue (photos courtesy of Yosh Han)

Ayala Moriel Parfums display at Alembique - notice the new packaging!

Ayala Moriel Parfums display at Alembique - with and without the perfumer (photographed on my iPhone by the Phil, the generous and gentle Alembique landlord, who kindly let me take over his kitchen for 2 days!
Notice my new packaging...!

THE GUESTS
Everyone who came to the salon was invited, but not everyone could come. And then - I did not take photos of everyone either... But there were wonderful perfumers and scent artists from all over North America - even from as far away as Florida (Elise Pearlstine from Bellyflowers Perfume/Tambela), Magie Mahboubian (Parfums Lalun), Dannielle Sergent (COGNOSCENTI), Yosh Han (YOSH Olfactory Sense), Miriam Vareldzis (40notes), Josh Meyer (Imaginary Authors), Ineke Ruhland & Bill O'Such (Ineke Perfumer San Francisco), Bruno Fazzolari, Bill and Lily (Bruno Fazzolari Editions), Mandy Aftel and Foster Curry (Aftelier), Ragna Rostad-Ruffner (Divine Life Perfumes), Mario T. Gomez (Fragrance Ambassador extraordinaire), JK DeLapp, Ross Urrere (Urrere Aromatics), who in the spirit of sharing brought his incredible loose incense blend Ocean of Night (I will have to dedicate a post to that), Jennifer Caine (Smells & Bells), Sherri Sebatian (Sebastian Signs), Lisa Camasi, Laurie Stern (Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery), Lisa Fong (Artemisia Natural Perfume), Sanae Barber (Sanae Intoxicants), Yuko Fukami (Parfum Phyto); and of course team Alembique - Babak Nahid, Erinn, Jasper, Phil, and Dodger.

Bruno Fazzolari sharing his debut collection that debuted at the show the next day. Everyone enjoyed it so much! In the picture above you can see Bruno proudly watching Magie Mahboubian from Parfums Lalun explore his scents. And below, Miriam Vareldzis from 40notes and having a moment of bliss while inhaling his first fragrance creation, Five. It's a classic citrus scent that was the 5th piece in an art show that included 4 of his paintings.

Miriam Vareldzis experiencing Bruno's perfume

Bruno Fazzolari Editions pre-reveal at the tea!

Bruno's debut collection of 5 perfumes.

Mandy and Foster have served Aftelier's amazing scented teas - GABA Oolong with Frankincense and the Jasmine & Mint oolong.

Miriam Vareldzis, Foster Curry, Mandy Aftel and Mario T. Gomez having a conversation over a cup of tea.

Babak Nahid and Ross Urrere - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Apple Blossom wall at Alembqiue - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Bruno and Bill - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Dodger - the alchemical dog - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Erinn Nahid - Alembqiue partner and curator (and the event's ad-hoc decorator and florist) - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Glowing Ineke - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Elise and Yosh - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Jennifer & Sherri - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

Another stellar portrait courtesy of Yosh Han this time of the hostess.

Mario, Dannielle and a parallel-universe group photo! - photo courtesy of Yosh Han

THE FOOD

The full spread... Was too busy hosting, so did not have time to take photos of each individual plate.

The menu was as follows:
Tea sandwiches:
Spicy Moroccan carrots with roasted pepper hummus.
Minted radishes
Cucumber & watercress
Classic egg salad

Scones: aniseed & malepi (black cherry pit) scones served with creme fresh (Berkeley Bowl did not have fresh Devonshire cream, if you can believe it!) and with raspberry jam and fig preserves.

Desserts:
Raw & vegan coconut macarons
Rose & Almond Shortbreads
Saffron Shortbreads
Fudgey Brownies with Ras el Hanout (my secret recipe, which really has the best spices imaginable!)
Ylang Ylang & Creme de Cassis truffles

Teas served:
Osmanthus flower tea (herbal)
Ayala Moriel's Espionage tea (lapsan suchong with jasmine petals, rosebuds, vanilla and ambrette seeds) - not yet released
Aftelier's Frankincense GABA Oolong
Aftelier's Jasmine & Mint Oolong
Thai tea (courtesy of fragrance ambassador Mario T. Gomez)

Lost In California
Mar 28, 2013
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Filed under Artemisia, California, Journal, Northern California, Redwood, Sage, Tilden Regional Botanic Gardens, Travel, Wild Plants

Lost In California

In California, a photo by Ayala Moriel on Flickr.

The best part of traveling is getting lost.
It's the street corner I never intended turn into, the subway I boarded in the wrong direction (easy to fix, but still...), the dangerous neighborhood you somehow managed to get out of safely, the cafe that nobody ever talks about in any travel guide, and might not even be worth mentioning - but was just the right place to sit at after walking an extra hour on those sore feet... And then there is the perfume shop tucked away behind a flower market that you must only visit on Sunday...

I had two days for playing tourist in San Francisco, and most of them I actually spent in Berkeley because of a couple of injuries I had to be careful about. The first day was still raining and misty and cool (Wednesday, March 20th), we took the ferry from Jack London Square to the Ferry Building, got our fill of cutesy pastry shops, hopped on a cable car (so we don't need to walk, aforementioned injuries still in effect), and ended up at the wrong side of Powell street (wrong being needing to go downhill). Taking a cab for 5 blocks down Powell, I finally but sought refuge from the pain at Barney's, where I spotted a couple of favourite new perfumes (I'll tell you about them later). It might have not have been fun at the time, but I'm already remembering it fondly. We toughed it out, and survived.

The second day (being Thursday, March 21st), the sun finally showed her lovely face on Northern California again, and I decided to be adventurous again and go to the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens, which I tremendously enjoyed in my last visit to the Bay area. Information about how to get there by public transit is nearly non-existent. But for the record: you should take the Bear Bus, a black vehicle that serves the inter-campus transportation within UC Berkeley. There are clear signs for the bus stops where it does stop; but you actually have to wave it down. Of course, I did not know that at the time, and let a Bear Bus slip by. So I hopped on the No. 65 (from the corner University & Oxford), the line that was promised to be stopping "very close" to the botanical gardens. Somehow the route did not look right. But what else is new with public transit? They are known for their roundabout. I got off where I was told I should, and a lovely lady gave me directions. I was puzzled at how completely different the place was than what I thought I was visiting. Turns out I was heading to the Tilden Regional Park Botanic Gardens, which are "much better", as the lady assured me, "they are free". OK, I thought to myself - this could go either way.

Sonoma Sage

I walked on following her instructions to the best of my ability. There was no sign in sight for the Botanical Gardens or any gardens for that matter. I avoided the gold course, as per her instructions - only to find myself walking slowly up a hill alongside the very same gold course I was instructed to avoid. After about 20 minutes of walking, and no gardens in sight except for the gold-course fenced-up green, I've decided to stop a car for directions. And we got a lift right to the gate of the gardens from a young gentleman who was driving that way anyway. Upon entering the garden (a vague point in space, when there are no gates or admission) I immediately thought to myself - no surprise this is free. It's just a bunch of native Californian plants growing about, with some plaques stuck every now and then to indicate their botanical names.

Well, that was just the tourist way of looking at that. If you love plants, and especially if you are a perfumer - every garden is a little piece of heaven. This particular one happened to be a perfumer's heaven. A very rustic perfumer, to be exact.

The air was filled with the scent of aromatic plants warmed by the sun - sage (aka artemisia) of all shapes, sizes and kinds. Cacti in full bloom, towering over the sun-warmed lichen-covered rocks. Sweet scent of pollen and the vegetal, surprisingly barely evergreen at all scent of redwood needles. And the opportunity at every corner to just bask in the sun. What more can a tourist ask for?

Redwoods

Five Fingered Fern

Pittosporum & Rain
Mar 28, 2013
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Filed under Berkeley, Bruno Fazzolari, California, Inspiration, Journal, Northern California, Pittosporum, Rain, Travel

Pittosporum & Rain

Pitosporum, a photo by FOTOGRAFIES CATA on Flickr.

After our brief Portland encounter, we arrived in Berkeley in the late afternoon of Tuesday, March 19th.
The moment we got out of the rabbit hole and got out, three distinct realizations hit me:
First of all, it was raining, in California - which is a most profound cognitive dissonance for a Vancouverite (and what we supposedly hate the most when on vacation). I didn't only not mind this rain (which was soft, and slightly warm, at least in comparison to its relatives up north). I liked the smell of the rain, which we rarely actually get in Vancouver (where it rains about 90% of the year). Besides, I wasn't exactly on vacation. I had lots of work to do - and the lack of sun would make me feel less like I was missing out on fun.

Secondly, the street dwellers of Berkeley turned out to be the most colorful bunch, and far outweigh their brethren in Vancouver in most categories (except, perhaps, politeness). To prove my point: they were wearing war paints all over their face when we arrived, made probably from flower pollen and exotic spices.

Thirdly and lastly - the air smelled fantastic, and it wasn't just the rain hitting the dry pavement; and it wasn't laundromat either. I spent the remainder of my time trying to find out where the smell came from. And it turned out that the majority of Shattuck Avenue is lined with tall evergreen trees, whose blossoms release the most intoxicating aroma reminiscent of osmanthus, orange blossom and orchid.

A few days later, I learned from Bruno that those trees are non other than Pittosporum undulatum. I'm not sure which kind exactly, but they certainly grow tall, beautiful and fragrant - something you might want to consider when planning your garden!

Smelling Good in San Francisco
Mar 27, 2013
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Smelling Good in San Francisco

Visit Té de Violetas for a report and more photos of the Artisan Fragrance Salon, from all the different perfumers.

On The Road...
Mar 26, 2013
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On The Road...

I've been on the road and way too busy to blog much, and am just arriving in Vancouver now. In the meantime, until I unpack and get over travel-fatigue and gather my thoughts and photographs from my many adventures at the Artisan Fragrance Salon and beyond - you can read about my little perfume company's 12th anniversary on Fragrantica, and indulge in a favourite perfume of your choice. All products are 12% off until the end of March. This is only while quantities last, and can't be combined with other discounts (i.e.: sample packages or wardrobes). It applies to everything else though, and you will get manually refunded after you checkout your cart - if you either send a comment in the checkout (part of "instructions to seller" - or an email to wish me happy 12th anniversary.

Perfumes

Bath & Body

Edibles