Smartbuy issue dated August 3, 2011

SmartbuyWednesday, August 3, 2011

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Kitchen CoutureMouthwatering styles for your kitchenPage 12

2 August 3, 2011Smartbuy

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this weekWHAT’S HOT

This USB charging station from Belkin allows you to save energyby using just one power socket to charge up to four USB devices.An inbuilt timing device shuts it off after a specified time period,and Valet itself draws zero power when not in use. Effective cord

management system keeps the area clutter free. The deviceincludes two cables – USB to USB and USB to micro-USB.

Rs 2,399

Conservation station

Belkin Conserve Valet

The new series of multimedia projectors from Epsonoffer brightness ratings from 2,600-3,500 ANSI

lumens, enabling them to project clear images evenin ambient light. Advanced features include

Ethernet, optional Wireless LAN projection, multi-screen projection capability and central network

control. Low power consumption at just 0.4 wattsmakes them eco-friendly too.

Rs 58,200 onwards

Eco projections Epson EB-9 series

This 23-inch all-in-one desktop PC from Lenovo combines multi-touch along with 3Dvision. It features 5-channel speakers, a second generation Intel Core i7 processor, NvidiaGeForce GT graphics, 4GB DDR3 memory and up to 2TB hard drive. Connectivity optionsinclude USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, a 5-in-1 card reader and integrated DVD writer. An optional

accessory is the 3-in-1 mouse which doubles up as a motion-drive games controller. Rs 71,990

All-in-one fun Lenovo IdeaCentre B520

Cover Photo Courtesy: Poggenpohl


The new 23-inch, LED-backlit ASUS PA238Q is the latestentrant in the ASUS ProArt Series of displays. With anative resolution of 1920 x 1080, the monitor reproduces100 per cent of the RGB colour space with every monitorprecision calibrated to ensure unmatched colouraccuracy. The monitor ships with ASUS-exclusiveQuickFit Virtual Scale software to display photos anddocuments in their true size on screen. With a fullyadjustable stand, the connectivity options of the monitorinclude HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI-D, D-sub, and multipleUSB ports. Rs 17,600

A master stroke

Asus ProArt 238Q

Weighing a little more than one kg, the Samsung N100packs in Intel’s MeeGo operating system. The 10.1-inchLED display eliminates glare with its matte finish and isenveloped in Duracase to keep the netbook protected.The interface has been designed to enable easy webaccess as well as efficient offline processing. A fast boot-up and energy-efficient design makes the N100 adesirable device for those on the move. Rs 12,290

The small wonder

Samsung N100

The new set of earphones by Sennheiser guarantee full-bodied stereo sound with their powerful bass. Inspired bythe colours of the season, the Sennheiser CX 215 isavailable in red, orange, bronze, green and blue. Withevery set of earphones, you have the choice of earadapters in three different sizes that ensure optimumblockage of background noise. Rs 1,990

Ear candy

Sennheiser CX 215


TABLET preview

Is Apple going to keep things sameon the outside but beef it up withquadcore, full HD and NFC on theinside? We may not have to wait

long to find out…

Rumour grindmillThe iPad 2 may be just finding its feet, butwe’re already inundated with rumoursabout its successor, including one that re-fuses to go away - that Apple will release anew tablet this year. “The iPad 2 is a fantas-tic device, but this market is changingmore rapidly than in any other chip war Ican remember,” says Football Manager su-premo Miles Jacobson, who is alreadyworking on games that use quadcoreprocessors.

Under the hoodIf Apple sticks to its usual, yearly releaseschedule, it’s at a real risk of falling behindits competitors, who have already closedthe gap. But what would the iPad 3 looklike? We can confidently say it’ll look much

mobile payments and possibly remotecontrol of your Mac over the web. If it canfit in the iPhone 5, it’ll fit in the iPad 3.

We say: Mobile operators are currentlyinvesting millions in NFC and there will bemoney to be made. Apple will want some ofthat, for sure.Super Retina Display

Concord Securities analyst Ming-ChiKuo, who has a good record on predictions,believes iPad 3 will have a 2048x1536display: more HD than full HD. Mind you,he also believes it’ll be five or six inchesacross. Hmm…

We say: Changing the screen size wouldcause major problems for app developers.Higher-res screen, yes. Smaller, no.

What iPad 3 won’t haveDifferent screen sizes

An entire industry has spawned from the9.7-inch standard, so if Apple suddenlydecides to change its screen ratio, it’ll haveapp developers all over the world weeping.Android and other rivals, however, will

continue to offer a broader range. Wireless sync

Most things folk say they want on Appledevices are usually un-Apple-esque andwould involve spoiling its beautiful/over-designed lines. However, wireless syncingwith iTunes and your hard drive is soelegant, it’s surprising Apple has notimplemented it until now. Physicallydocking to sync media seems just so 2007.Can an Android dev make it work?Flash

Apple’s stand-off with Adobe has been along-standing bugbear, with Applefavouring the less battery-intensiveHTML5. Use of Flash may have diminishedas a result but there are still vast swathes ofthe web that will be denied to the iPad 3 if itships this year without Flash. Why shouldyou have to stand for that?

Predicted launch date: September 2011

like the current one, at least from the front,though we’ve heard a carbon-fibre chassismay be in the offing. More critical is what’sinside. We’re looking forward to a bigger,128GB storage option, 4G outside of theUK, NFC, a Spotify-style streaming versionof iTunes, dual-HD cameras, a higher-resscreen, a quadcore processor and a baseprice that’s about £10 cheaper than the lastone (as usual). Chop chop then, Apple…

What the little birdie saysiPad 2 is just a stop-gap

“An Apple staffer” reportedly told theCult of Mac blog that iPad 2 was rushedinto production and that the “third-geniPad is the one to make a song and danceabout”. He also said it’s due out this year.

We say: If quadcore tablets are the normby autumn, will Apple want to wait a fur-ther six months before updating its dual-core slow-coach?Finger-lickin’ NFC

Cult of Mac also predicts that the nextiPhone will have a NFC chip to allow

Apple’s thirdcommandment

This material is translated or reproduced from T3magazine and is the copyright of or licensed to Future

Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK2011. Used under license. All rights reserved


MEDIA PLAYER review

If you spend most of your time in and out of airports,you may not always be in front of your telly to catchyour favourite TV shows. Luckily for you, it’s Sling-box to the rescue! This nifty device streams live TV

to your PC, smartphone or tablet, so you never have to missa show again. Read on to find out how it really works.

Out of the boxThere are two versions of the Slingbox, a standard versionand the Pro-HD, and we tested the latter. The SlingboxPro-HD comes in a slab format almost the size of a smallnotebook. It’s a fairly basic device in terms of looks, cut outin the shape of an aerobic step bench with tiny grooves onthe front fascia.

TechnologyThe basic principle of the Slingbox Pro-HD is ‘placeshift-ing’. It is a concept that enables consumers to view live,recorded or stored media on a remote device via an in-ternet connection.

Placeshifting technology allows anyone with a broad-band internet connection to have direct video streamsfrom their home television sets, DVR or other video sourc-es, such as a DVD player or home security camera, for-warded for viewing remotely on a computer, netbook or amobile phone at any location where they have a high-speed Internet connection, cellular data network, or Wi-Finetwork.

Although it sounds very similar to controlling yourcomputer over a network connection, the major differencehere is that placeshifting essentially deals with deviceslike television, DVD players, etc.

While there are a lot of software solutions to controldevices in your house from a remote location using acomputer and an internet connection, the Slingbox Pro-HD enables you to not only control your video sources

from a remote location but also stream content over thesame. Moreover, it doesn’t require a PC to do it.

The Slingbox Pro-HD is a top-of–the line product fromSling Media and comes with a total of four inputs in-cluding one coax connection where you can directly con-nect the cable TV BNC connector. It also has component,composite and S-video connections with stereo audio con-nections. All these inputs work as throughputs whereinthere is an ‘output’ for every input on the device.

PerformanceSetting up the device is fairly simple. The idea is to connectthe Slingbox Pro-HD to your TV and the video source(set-top-box, DVD player, camcorder, etc.) by using thethroughputs on the Slingbox Pro-HD. So there is practi-cally no addition of a new device in your regular signalchain as the Slingbox Pro-HD fits in seamlessly with theexisting set-up.

The next thing that you have to do is connect it to thehome network. Since there is no integrated Wi-Fi in theSlingbox Pro-HD, you are left with no option but to con-nect it to a LAN cable. If your network router and theset-top box are in different rooms, then Sling Media hassignal jumpers/boosters called SlingLink, which come atan extra cost.

Once you have the connections ready you need to confi-gure the Slingbox Pro-HD to the device that you will beusing it with. The only pre-requisite here is that the deviceand the Slingbox Pro-HD have to be on the same network.

Slingbox Pro-HD is as easy as using a set-top box. Thebest part is that you get an exact replica of the remote foryour set-top box (whatever the brand) on your device’sscreen. This makes it very easy to control the set-top boxand browse through the menu options. This also standstrue for most of the other video sources like a DVD playeror a camcorder. In case the device that you are using is not

mentioned in the exhaustive list of devices on the website,you also have an option of using the generic virtual re-motes provided by Sling Media.

In terms of playback, the Slingbox Pro-HD is flawless.Another good feature of the Slingbox Pro-HD is that thevideo streaming is not dependant on the speed of thebroadband connection that you are using.

Instead, the picture resolution of the stream is depend-ant on the speed of the connection. The player automat-ically adjusts its picture resolution according to yourbroadband connection. This implies that you will get aseamless stream of video content as far as you have abroadband connectivity of approximately 100kbps ormore.

You get an option of letting the player know your broad-band speed (approximately) and it will automatically ad-just the picture resolution for the stream accordingly. Andif you set the same on auto then you don’t have to botherabout the speed at all. The player automatically adjusts theresolution for the picture.

If you are using a HD set-top box then the Slingbox canstream all the way up to 1080i as well. But if you are using aBlu-ray player then don’t expect the player to stream1080p. That feature is yet to come.

The only drawback that we see for the Slingbox is thefact that if a user is using the Slingbox then the peoplesitting at home will have to compulsorily watch the samechannels that the remote user is watching; this is becauseright now in India we get set-top boxes with only onetuner installed as a result the same tuner is engaged whileyou watch it through the Slingbox Pro-HD. In the future,once we get set-top boxes with multiple tuners, this prob-lem will be easily solved.

Our verdictIn India, there have been devices in the recent past whichclaimed to feature placeshifting but incorporated it inparts. The Slingbox Pro-HD marks the beginning of theplaceshifting era, especially with the mobile internet con-nectivity hitting 3G. The launch is well-timed in India. Asfar as the device is concerned, the Slingbox Pro-HD isfairly easy to set up, very easy to use and also effective interms of streaming performance.

Love: Well priced, effective performance

Hate: Lack of integrated Wi-Fi

Rs 14,999

Slingbox Pro-HD: ‘Telly’-portation

AV MAX


GAME review

LA Noire, Rockstar Games and TeamBondi’s near seven years in the makinglove letter to noir cinema and pulp fic-tion is a hard dame to hate. She’s got the

looks, she had the plan, and she nearly pulled itoff, but what she didn’t figure out was heraudience digging deeper than the grave: youhit the sewer lines and it ain’t pretty.

GameplayL.A. Noire comprises of a series of bite-sizedcases spread across five desks that chronicleCole Phelps’ journey through the ranks of theLAPD. As a war veteran, you start off as a beatcop and then move on to traffic, homicide, viceand arson. Each desk gives you a differentpartner to work with, and they’re all fleshedout, interesting characters that keep the gameexperience from stagnating.

Each of these cases has you performing aseries of tasks that will hopefully lead you tothe perpetrator. These include investigatingcrime scenes, collecting evidence that you thenuse to corner suspects during interrogations,and an action beat that has you using yourvehicle, weapon or fists to subdue a suspect.

Examining evidence is especially entertain-ing as the game lets you pick up objects from

the game world and inspect them. While not allitems can be examined, there are some thatcan have an amazing degree of detail; enoughto make out the serial number off a handgun,for instance. There’s some flexibility built intoyour crime solving, so much so that you can endup accusing the wrong individual, miss cluesand even get interrogations wrong. These thenlead to new story threads that you wouldn’totherwise have experienced.

The ambienceThere’s plenty to like about the experience thatL.A. Noire weaves. Everything from the menuscreens to the music to the open world envi-ronment positively drips atmosphere. Post-war Los Angeles just feels right, with TeamBondi using aerial photographs taken in thedays before the cloverleaf invasion to model amassive city that you just want to drivethrough for no reason other than to take in thesights. There are authentic period cars andpedestrians in period dressage on show. Store-fronts are true to the time period, and get this -you can sit down anywhere and just take in theview.

You could let your partner chauffer youaround during missions, but it’s so much better

picking out real world landmarks and respon-ding to random street crimes. The neat grid-like street layout makes finding your destina-tion relatively easy, especially since there’s noguided navigation of any kind (apart from thelocation marker). The lack of an automatedday/night cycle does sting, but then you do seethe time of day (and weather) vary at specificpoints during the story. There’s a beautifulselection of licensed period music and radioshows that pipe in over the radio, along with asmall set of original songs by Andrew andSimon Hale.

The interiors sets are meticulous in theirdetail, deserving a nice tip of the hat for TeamBondi’s digital prop wrangler. Weaponry ispleasingly varied and is punchy enough for agame whose focus is clearly on thinking withyour mind than your trigger finger. Suspectshave a nice solid weight about them as theycrumple to the ground, as does Cole while he’sdoing a bit of parkouring in some of the games’on-foot chases. While there may be some wrig-glyness to the driving, you’ll soon learn to workwith the driving model and its ability to deliverthrilling edge-of-the-seat vehicle pursuits andcrunchy crashes.

Team Bondi’s path breaking MotionScan

Post-war Los Angeles is not apretty place. It’s up to you to

clean up the scum of the city, asyou don the guise of Detective

Cole Phelps and climb the ranksof the LAPD


works as it says on the can, delivering the mostauthentic faces ever seen in a video game.You’ll be picking your jaw off the floor as youwatch a procession of talented television ac-tors (near 400 of them) bring even the smallertwo-bit roles to life.

Whether this kind of investment in lieu ofmore traditional animation techniques issomething that’ll catch on is another question,however. Also, there’s a very evident discon-nect between the faces and the bodies of NPCsthat were hand-keyed rather than motion cap-tured. The game clocks in at around 20 hours,which is sizable enough in this day and age.Your mileage may vary if you get stuck intohunting down the collectibles or responding torandom street crimes. There’s also a free roammode that lets you drive around and indulgeyour destructive side, especially important giv-en that you’re penalised for every traffic in-fraction you commit during the course of themain story.

Lie to meWhere does it all go wrong then? Let’s startwith the basic interrogation mechanic. You’regiven a measly three choices (truth, doubt andlie) of responses during conversations, but it

becomes increasingly difficult to predict whatCole will say or what tone he’ll take. Also, it’salmost too easy to use the lie option since itallows you to back out of a false accusation.You never feel like you have true control overconversations, which hurts a game that’s soreliant on conversation.

Reading people’s faces isn’t nearly as intrigu-ing when they’re so obviously acting crafty(twitchy eyes, the works), and what’s evenmore galling is when you’re slapped with onered herring after another, with no control overwhich way to steer your investigation. Thecases are set up exactly the way Team Bondisaw fit and damned if you try something youweren’t meant to. Also, why does everyoneunder the slight glare of suspicion become arunner? You’ll lose count of the suspects you’llbe chasing down just because the game wantsto add some action to the proceedings.

A lot of these issues wouldn’t have been aproblem if the resolution of some of the laterstory arcs was anywhere near satisfactory.Instead, you’re left with muddled, inconceiv-able, contrived story turns that leave you ques-tioning whether the hours you put into the lastfew cases could have been put to better use.Saying any more would spoil the story, but

suffice to say that what’s here just isn’t satis-fying enough for a discerning gamer. On theother hand, the cases during the beat andtraffic desks were much better, because theywere designed as compartmentalised nuggetsof storytelling.

While these are sizable caveats for a quasi-adventure game that L.A. Noire quite clearly is,it’s hard to whole heartedly dissuade gamersfrom sampling the stellar work Team Bondihas put into so many of its other facets. If onlythe same love and care that went into itsaesthetics had gone into refining the story andthe interrogation, we’d have a certified classicon our hands.

Rs 2,499 (Xbox 360)Rs 2,499 (PS3)Rating: 4.5/5

Love: Excellent presentation, decentlength and sense of progression.Hate: Clunky storytelling, stiltedinterrogations

Publisher: Rockstar

Developer: Team Bondi

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3CHIP

AUTO focus

Jason H. Harper

It’s 3 a.m. and we’re in the airport parkinglot in Long Beach, California, hollow-eyedafter delays turned the flight from NewYork into a 12-hour ordeal.

In front of us is the car I’ll be testing for theweekend. My fatigue flutters away. I’m thrilled.My wife: Not so much.

“It’s puce,” she says.“It’s a Porsche,” I answer.“A puce Porsche.”Just a trick of the overhead fluorescent lights

on the paint job of the $66,300 Cayman R. Actual-ly, the sports car is an odd shade of green thatreminds me of diluted absinthe. Peridot, Porschecalls it, like the gem stone. So that’s better. Sort of.

“Look, how practical,” I say, throwing Miran-da’s rolling bag and my two backpacks into therear hatch. Impressive for a two-seat sports carbuilt for speed.

We’ve got more than an hour of driving ahead,so I insert the key into the left-hand ignition, apeculiar Porsche idiosyncrasy, and start the six-cylinder, mid-mounted engine. I hear a pleasantbuzz behind my head.

“This trip is already worth it,” I declare, il-lustrating the danger of marrying a car nut. Thesports seats are narrow and extremely firm. Idealfor cradling you during G-turns on the track; not

so great after being crammed on an airplane.Porsche first released the Cayman in 2006 as a

fixed-roof sibling to the Boxster roadster. Bothare light and have motors located behind thecockpit. The R is lighter, faster and more expen-sive than the regular $51,900 Cayman and$62,100 Cayman S models.

The car takes to corners like a bloodhoundsticks to the trail of a chain gang escapee. Point itin the right direction and its instincts areirrepressible.

Catching the 911The conspiracy-minded among us believe there’sa good reason Porsche has never released a Cay-man with an engine as powerful as the venerable911 - it just might whip its more expensive uncle.The 911 has a rear-mounted engine, a quirk that isalso an engineering liability.

The R model Cayman we’re driving would givea base 911 a run for its money. That’s $66,300versus $79,000; 330 horses versus 345. The R hasdumped 121 pounds over the Cayman S, weighingonly 2,855 pounds. It also bumped up the engineby 10 horsepower. The bloodhound’s diet hasgiven it more bite.

The vehicle gets a small fixed wing in the rearand rather immodest Porsche lettering along thesides. Peridot is not the only available colour.

The 2012 PorscheCayman R at a GlanceEngine: 3.4-litre six-cylinder with330 horsepower and 273pound-feet of torqueTransmission: Six-speed manualSpeed: 0 to 60 mph in 4.7secondsGas mileage per gallon: 19 city;27 highwayPrice as tested: $81,685Best features: Drives like apurist’s vehicle; space for luggageWorst feature: Pricey add-onsTarget buyer: The driver wholikes a car lean and mean

Lean, mean and

BarkWe zoom onto the I-405 South, and I engage aswitch that opens flaps to the muffler - a $2,810option that lets the engine bark more freely.Snick-snick-snicking through the perfectly sit-uated manual gears, we’re soon in sixth. A dou-ble- clutch, PDK automated transmission isavailable for $3,660 more. Those who spend timeon the race track might also consider the $8,150ceramic composite brakes.

At this hour there’s still traffic, but fellow driv-ers are bombing along at speeds far above theposted 65. A simple dip of the gas is all that’sneeded to keep up. The weight of the gas pedaland steering are perfectly tuned and utterly har-monious - better than any Porsche I’ve driven.

There’s no doubt that the Cayman R wouldhandle miraculously on the racetrack. In the realworld, however, the less-weight/more-powerformula requires a bit of explanation.

Weight watching“What’s with these dorky pull straps?” my wifeasks, fingering a floppy piece of fabric where theinterior door handle should be.

“Taking off the handles saves weight,” I reply.“Really? Then why does it have that huge

clock?” she asks, pointing to the dial atop thedashboard. Not a clock, I explain, but the sport

chronographer, which records laps times on theracetrack. “Now that’s needless weight,” shesays. What she can’t see are the lighter alumini-um doors and re-engineered wheels, which alsowhittle away pounds. Oh, there’s no air condi-tioner, either. That’s a $1,760 option.

We exit on a toll road leading toward theocean, taking us through rolling hills. It’s ex-tremely dark and misting lightly. It feels as if wehave this part of California to ourselves and Ileave the stereo off, enjoying the sound of 19-inchtyres confidently grabbing slick pavement.

There’s something about the feel of a two-seatPorsche that remains mechanical and linear, di-vorced from the cold digital sensation of manynew sports cars. The Cayman R embodies this.

It’s after 4 a.m. when we finally arrive at ourrented house in Oceanside, north of San Diego.Some dozen friends are already here, gatheredfor an annual 10K charity foot race. Every year Ishow up in a different sports car. It’s become partof the event itself, somehow.

The next morning several early risers are sip-ping coffee and standing around the Cayman R.

“Awesome ride,” says one. “But what’s up withthat colour?”

(The author writes about autos for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News.

The opinions expressed are his own.)

Peridot greenPhotos: Bloomberg


BLING corner

C. Krishniah Chetty andSons launches its new

cocktail jewellerycollection for the

cosmopolitan woman. Thepieces dazzle with

brilliant-cut diamonds,gold and brandy topaz.Available at its stores.

Rs 75,000 onwards

Cosmopolitancocktail

Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaverilaunches The Gentlemen’sCollection, a range of gold anddiamond rings, bracelets andother jewellery for the modernman.Available at their stores in selectcities.Rs 20,000 onwards

Gentlemen! Here please

Sprinkle yourmonsoon moodwith some sparklyjewellery fromD’damas. Theirnew Rain Dropletscollectioncombines goldand diamonds influid designs forthe rain goddessin you. Available at theiroutlets.Rs 10,500 onwards

Monsoonmagic

Unleash your feline charmwith the Panther ring byVaruna D Jani. Wrap thissapphire and diamondencrusted beauty aroundyour finger and let it do allthe talking. Available at her boutiquein Mumbai.Price on request

‘Purr’fectpanther

Accessorise your wristwith bracelets from PopleyEternal’s collectionArmilla, made from 18kwhite and yellow goldwith diamonds. Available at its store inMumbai.Rs 6 lakh onwards

Curvaceousbeauty

Fill reams of paper with your thoughtsusing the new Ondoro range of luxury

pens from Faber-Castell. The hexagonalshape makes for comfortable use and thechrome end pieces add a touch of class.

Available at all William Penn outlets.Rs 6,000 to Rs 6,800

‘Pen’ny foryour thoughts

Outrun the competitionwith shoes from the

new PUMA FaasCollection. A rocker-

shape outsole andgrooves help increase

speed while maintainingstability. The shoes adda dash of colour to your

‘shoedrobe’ too.Available at all PUMA

outlets.Faas 300: Rs 3,999 and

Faas 500: Rs 5,999

Faas, Faaster,Faastest

This summer, Reeboklaunches stylish

slippers as part of itsEasytone range.

Stride out in thesesilver and purple

stunners or choosefrom their other

funky options.Available at allReebok outlets.

Rs 3,999

Slip it on

Be a show-stopper withthe new Chameleon

Laser-cut leather pumpsby Fendi. The metallic

leather cover carries aunique perforated design

while the four inchchameleon heels are

adorned with a delicateswirl pattern.

Available at its boutiqueat Emporio Mall, New

Delhi.Rs 41,500

MetallicMagic

Feel refreshed with Viva La Juicy, the newfragrance from Juicy Couture. With notesof caramel woods, honeysuckle, mandarin

and wild berries, this perfume can add that spring to your step.

Available at select lifestyle stores.Rs 4,930 (100ml) and Rs 3,780 (50ml)

Juice boost!

luxury redefinedMELANGE


KITCHEN trends

Ventilation and hygiene? Check.Fancy appliances? Check. Styl-ish cutlery? Check. Passion forcooking? Check. Amidst all

these ingredients that go into creating theperfect place to cook and eat, the décor ofthe kitchen is perhaps one of the mostimportant. Functional yet stylish, kitcheninteriors are getting snazzier, bolder, in-novative and interesting. This year sawsome fun and classic styles seeping in.Here are a few we loved which will trans-form your kitchen into a visual delight.

Island hoppingSingle, L-shaped and U-shaped platforms

are passé. For those who have the conve-nience of space, it’s the addition of theisland counter in the middle of the kitchenthat is popular. The island can either be aplatform to gather and eat, a workspacewith sink, dishwasher and preparationspace or a combination of both. Hacker hasinteresting two-tier islands that are a clas-sic way to separate the work and diningspaces. Since the island is the visual focalpoint of the kitchen, brands stylise it withtwo different countertops to demarcatethe space, or even better, accommodatetwo islands. The island usually blends inwith the rest of the kitchen décor, but thisseason is all about adding that surprise

element. A pop of colour, a striking coun-tertop or exquisite carvings, the island is avisual highlight.

To top it offWith the range of countertop materialavailable today, those who love to experi-ment are steering clear of granite or lami-nate options. The countertop can be madethe cynosure by choosing something as ex-otic as fossil stone, glass or semi-preciousstones. The Green River Stone Companyhas innovative countertops where the slabscontain fossils of fish sourced directly fromnature. You can also go for a glass counter-top from ThinkGlass or CBD Glass Studios.

Keeping with thetrends of kitchendécor doubles the

pleasure of cooking.2011 adds its own

zesty style to modernkitchens by dabbling

in exotic countertops,colour pops, island

styles and innovativelighting.

ARCHANA ACHAL andANUSHYA MAMTORA

chalk out someinteresting kitchen

fashion to indulge in this season

What’s cookin’!Florida FamilyKitchen:Tangent-The Furniture Mall

Hacker Flying Bridge: Hacker Kitchens

When lit from below, these glass counter-tops can soften or brighten the ambience ofyour kitchen. Countertops made fromsemi-precious stones like amethyst and ti-ger-eye are a sure-fire way to add oomph toyour kitchen. The Concetto series by Cae-sarstone carries a number of exotic coun-tertop slabs like blue agate, apple jasperand petrified wood. Metals are in too, withsheets of copper, zinc and stainless steelbeing popular picks.

Art thou inspired?Art movements have been the inspirationfor home décor for a very long time now.Now, the artistic touches flow from theliving room to the kitchen, with recentstyles being Art Deco and Pop Art. A wel-come change from the much-used andmost popular minimalist style is the ArtDeco style kitchen which uses details pure-ly for art’s sake. You can add some Deco toyour kitchen décor by introducing the sun-burst pattern to your cabinets. You can alsoadd a rounded finish to your countertopwhile using geometric-patterned tiles forthe backsplash to create contrast. VenetaCucine’s Tulipano Calice kitchen has softlymoulded cabinets below with sharp-edgedcabinets above making for interesting con-trast in lines. Their Oyster series plays withthe colour blue and incorporates interest-ing textures in the backsplash and cabi-nets. If colours are the focus of yourkitchen, take a bite out of the Pop Art pieand paint your cabinet bright yellow, or-ange or neon red. You can even add anAndy Warhol print or two to emphasise thestyle. Tangent’s Florida Family style kitch-en has bright red cabinets alternating withdark toned ones, along with quirky etchingon the backsplash. Veneta Cucine’s Atlan-tica kitchen plays up the summery feelwith a bright yellow breakfast nook andblue walls. The Pop Art style kitchen is likehaving a unique style statement.

Let there be lightWho thought that exquisite chandeliersand unique lighting fixtures would findspace in the kitchen! Brightening up con-temporary kitchens today are well-planned lighting styles that highlight dif-ferent portions of the kitchens and add tothe drama. Even if your kitchen is small,the right lighting can add life to it. Populartrends this year include one prominent fix-ture in the centre of the kitchen, pendantlighting above island counters and inbuilt-lighting through onyx or glass countertops.Chandeliers this season are mostly in syncwith the kitchen décor, though some de-signers do add in a quirky element.

Apart from the above four fashionableoptions, this year also saw a lot of classicall-white décor, stainless steel and alumin-ium highlights, smart storage solutions anda slice of nature adorning the kitchen.

Guests coming in for dinner? Well,who’s complaining!

[email protected]@thehindu.co.in

Porsche Design Kitchen P’7340: Poggenpohl

CBD Glass Studios

Johnson Kitchens

John Mariani

The oft repeated advice to fledgling wine drinkersis to just “drink what you like,” in the hope theywill at some point graduate from five-dollarplonk to 10-dollar plonk and maybe one day ap-

preciate much better wines.Such counsel is about as effective as telling a kid to

read what they want, hoping they will soon ditchHarry Potter and graduate to Dostoevsky.

My advice to the budding wine enthusiast is to goout and buy a very good wine that is typical of its type,thereby having a standard by which to measure otherwines. Were I to recommend an introduction to fineCabernet Sauvignon, I’d suggest a third- or fourth-cru Bordeaux or a Napa Valley estate in the $30-$50range. For a premium Italian wine, a Barolo orBarbaresco. When it comes to Chardonnay andPinot Noir, however, I’d shy away from recom-mending big, flashy, oaky California examplesand instead focus on French Burgundies.

The problem is, the very best Burgundiesare out of reach for most consumers - a bottleof Romanee-Conti costs about $10,000 - and,unlike the wines of Bordeaux, which comefrom single estates, a single-vineyard Burgun-dy may be owned by many negociants (mer-chants) who buy the grapes or wine, mustthen make blends bottled under their ownlabel.

Becoming familiar with obscure Burgundynegociants is a lifelong project. But manywell-established companies like BouchardPere & Fils, Louis Jadot, Domaine Leroy, andJoseph Drouhin are not only readily available

in the global market but produce a wide range of consis-tently good wines, including some of the most illustriousand expensive.

Father’s Day pairSo on Father’s Day this year, I celebrated by opening two

Joseph Drouhin bottlings, a 2009 Meursault ($45.50)and a 2009 Morey-Saint-Denis ($50), the firstwith spaghetti with a basil pesto sauce, the latterwith a grilled veal chop.

These are wines of enormous refinement, notto be drunk without food, and they vividly re-minded me how distinctive Burgundian Char-donnay and Pinot Noir can be.

The Meursault’s Chardonnay grapes arepicked by hand in selected vineyards from

“trusted growers.” They are gentlypressed and aged nine to 10 months,using only 30 per cent new oak bar-rels, so that the subtlety of the wineremains and the complexity of thefruit itself is revealed both in thenose and the palate, with a creamyfinish that is quintessentiallyChardonnay.

Spiders under controlMorey-Saint-Denis, on the Cotede Nuits between Gevrey- Cham-bertin and Chambolle-Musigny,only garnered its own appellationin 1935. Relative to its more fa-mous neighbours, which havegrand cru status, Morey-Saint-De-

nis wines are generally less expensive yet express the samelush virtues of the best Pinot Noir grapes. Drouhin drawsfrom its partner vineyards with very low yields in order to“reveal every nuance of the terroir,” as well as deep colourand lilac-like bouquet.

Using 20 per cent new oak, Drouhin’s bottling spends 14to 18 months in the barrel, blended after extensive tast-

ings of each one. I might well let the wine age a year ormore, but at this point, on a summer’s night, it couldnot have been a better expression of great but affor-dable Pinot Noir.

Drouhin is also a fine representative of Frenchvineyards’ 21st-century attention to biological andbiodynamic cultivation - designed to limit theamount of chemicals by using organic compost andallowing natural predators to control spiders.

Under Chief Executive Officer Philippe Drou-hin, the 131-year-old company, with 73 hectares

(182.5 acres) in Burgundy, switched to bottlesthat are 10 per cent lighter, thereby reducingtheir carbon footprint.

Those are applaudable commitments, espe-cially since global warming is making it in-creasingly difficult to grow the finicky PinotNoir grape.

Right now, wines like these, in this pricecategory, set the bar for a novice wine drinkerby which to judge fine Chardonnay and PinotNoir. And for those of us converted long ago,we are reminded of what it was we loved aboutthem in the first place.

(The author writes on wine for Muse, the arts andleisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions

expressed are his own.)

TASTER’S choice

Burgundies on a new high

Photos: Bloomberg



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For alloccasions

Documents

Smartbuy issue dated August 3, 2011