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ESPRESSO For finicky coffee fans, De'Longhi's new, upgraded Magnifica, a digital compact brewing system with an automatic latte function, is a must for the holidays.
F FLORAL JEWELRY When it comes to precious stones, everything's coming up flowers, from Dior's blossom-shaped kunzite earrings and Kwiat's brooch bouquet blooming with pink tourmaline petals and garnet pistils to a Vera Wang 18-karat white gold brooch boutonniere and a Van Cleef & Arpels clip budding with yellow gold and pink sapphires.
FOOD FOR LESS Forget vip phone lines, advance reservations and jaw-dropping dinner bills. Some upscale restaurateurs have set up shop in more humble locations such as, uh, the sidewalk. Danny Meyer (of Blue Smoke, the Modern and Tabla fame) last year unveiled a “roadside” food stand in New York City's Madison Square Park. The Shake Shack serves up affordable fare like cheeseburgers, crinkle-cut fries, hot dogs, frozen custard, beer and even breakfast—you can eat your warm heirloom apple fritter and Shack-a-ccino (total: $5.31) on a folding plastic chair under the shade of a tree. In nearby Bryant Park stand four 'wichcraft kiosks, offering such gourmet handheld meals as stone-ground grits ($4) and marinated white anchovy sandwiches ($8). Owner Tom Colicchio (Craft and Gramercy Tavern) also has an outpost on a Tribeca street corner and even caters to Hampton Jitney passengers. But don't be fooled by these eateries' casual façades and low prices. Fine ingredients and culinary methods can transfer from ritzy kitchens to patches of grass.
G GLASS Collectible glass is on the rise. And some of the best pieces are made from recycled bottles. Los Angeles design studio Artecnica has introduced tranSglass, an environmentally conscious line of glassware that has landed in MOMA's tabletop collection. London-based artisans Tord Boontje and Emma Woffenden have molded and handcrafted the hard, sharp, clean forms that retain the original colors of the shards fished from the Dumpster.
H HIP HOTELS The new trend in luxury lodging is the creative lifestyle hotel. Breaking from traditional cookie-cutter conformity, five-stars are inviting artists to reimagine guests' aesthetic experiences without sacrificing comfort. To achieve this harmony of form and function, Hotel Fox in central Copenhagen let loose 21 graphic designers, urban artists and illustrators in 61 of its rooms. From wacky comical styles and fantastical street art to Japanese manga and simply spaced-out fantasies, each residence is an individual work of art. Madrid's Hotel Puerta América has also gone eclectic. The boutique's 12 floors have been transformed by 19 architecture studios from 13 countries. Each level showcases a different avant-garde interior-design concept, from Zaha Hadid's sinuous lines and fluid spaces on the first floor to an exercise in geometry and light by London-based Plasma Studio's Eva Castro and Holger Kehne on the fourth. Other designs include Teresa Sapey's colorful parking garage, Christian Liaigre's Latin-inspired restaurant, Marc Newson's glass-enclosed cocktail bar and an oasis-like garden by Harriet Bourne and Jonathan Bell.