Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production

This week we’re journeying to the storied past of NYC and the East Village as Ariel welcomes the founder and visionary behind the Il Buco hospitality group, Donna Lennard. For the last thirty years, Donna has been at the forefront of ingredient-driven Italian/Mediterranean cuisine, winning numerous accolades, including a rare three star New York Times review for il Buco Alimentari. With the recent launch of Il Buco Vita, the group's foray into the home space, Lennard's impact on creating warm, inviting and lasting interiors is even more impactful. 

Donnabegan her career as an independent film producer and worked in restaurants all over Manhattan during her school years, where she initially met Alberto Avalle, a “foodie” from Umbria. In 1994, she and Alberto stumbled upon a storefront on cobblestoned Bond Street and created il Buco, which was initially opened as an antique shop. Il Buco catered to the tastes of the artists living in the area who quickly discovered thatDonnaand Alberto not only had an eye for beautiful antiques, but also a refined taste for delicious food and wine. It didn’t take long before the store transformed into the buzzy restaurant it remains to date, in a gorgeous interior setting to boot.

Since the opening of il Buco,Donnahas opened three more restaurants in New York City, the Hamptons and Ibiza, along with their coveted tabletop and lifestyle brand - il Buco Vita. The common thread weaving each area ofDonna’s locations is an inviting atmosphere of quiet luxury with an exquisite attention to detail.

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Visit one of Donna’s Restaurants: https://ilbuco.com/

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilbuco_av/

And shop for your own piece from il Buco Vita: https://ilbucovita.com/

This week we’re joined by a guest whose prolific work in the architecture and interiors worlds is, quite literally, historic. Ben Pentreath is an English architectural and interior designer, whose firm has become known for its brilliant master-planning and urban development, along with incredibly detailed and beautiful private homes and playful interiors all over the world. As Ben says, “we love designing spaces that work beautifully for the long term, and feel right for the place.”

Ben’s background is in Art History, which he studied at the University of Edinburgh before attending the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture. He worked for five years in New York at Fairfax and Sammons, and then with the Prince’s Foundation, before starting his own practice in 2004.

In 2023, Ben Pentreath was awarded the Richard H. Driehaus Prize, given to a living architect whose work embodies the highest principles of traditional and classical architecture and urbanism in contemporary society, and reflects positive cultural, environmental and artistic impacts. Ben is one of the youngest laureates of the award.

Along the way, Ben has also established himself as an author, with regular contributions to the Financial Times and other journals, as well as three fantastic books which I adore. His most recent book, An English Vision, a monograph of the work of the practice, is out now with Rizzoli!

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Learn more about Ben Pentreath’s Firm: https://www.benpentreath.com/

Follow Ben on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benpentreath/

Pick up a copy of Ben’s new book: https://pentreath-hall.com/products/english-decoration-copy

Architecture and Design Books Recommendations:

Jame Gibbs' Book of Architecture - https://www.amazon.com/Gibbs-Book-Architecture-Eighteenth-Century-Classic/dp/0486466019

Ben’s Blog on Living in Vogue -  https://pentreath-hall.com/blogs/bens-posts/you-can-t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover

This week we’re joined by a designer who found her calling for interiors through a lifestyle blog she started on the side of her day job, back in 2009. Alexandra Kaehler (known as Alex!) is a talented interior designer whose work has been recognized on prestigious industry lists such as House Beautiful’s Next Wave and Luxe Magazine’s “Gold List”. 

Alex began what she believed to be her dream career in advertising, and soon realized interior design was actually her calling. Through her blog, and a postgraduate program at Harrington College of Design, Alex began to take on clients, and eventually opened her firm, Alexandra Kaehler Design, in 2011. Alex believes the most important element of design is to fill your home with things you love – nothing should be so fragile or delicate that you aren’t able to enjoy it. If you ask Alex, a home is meant to be loved and lived in. (And we agree!) 

More than a decade out since founding her firm, Alex still calls Chicago her home, with her husband and children. Her beautiful work has been featured in numerous publications and websites including House Beautiful, Domino, Luxe, Vogue, The Chicago Tribune, and The Wall Street Journal, and you can follow the behind the scenes of her own home renovation of a historic property in the Chicago suburbs, on her Instagram account, @alexkaehlerdeisgn. 

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Learn more about Alexandra’s firm: https://alexandrakaehler.com/

Follow Alexandra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexkaehlerdesign

This week we’re honored to welcome an incredibly talented interior designer with a prolific career, Alessandra Branca. Born and raised in Rome, Alessandra has called Chicago home for over 30 years. Alessandra acquired her love for classical beauty from her Italian upbringing, and those roots still speak to her soul today. Her designs are anchored by classical details: rich colors, patterns and textures, antique and custom furnishings, modern and European art, and distinctive accessories.

As an Art History student, Alessandra started collecting architectural and natural history prints, and after attending college and then moving to America, she opened a print business. Her shop, fashioned to look like a charming home, led to requests from customers to decorate for them, and the rest was history. 

Alessandra’s work has been featured in countless magazines, including Architectural Digest, Town & Country, The New York Times, Veranda, and Elle Decor, and has been recognized within the industry with a myriad of awards, including House Beautiful’s Master Class. 

Inspiration comes from all facets of Alessandra’s life, including design, history, art, nature, and travel, and she is continually seeking and exploring – I was incredibly inspired by this conversation and I hope you will be too. 

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Follow Alessandra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abranca

Learn more about her work: https://branca.com/

This week’s guest cut her teeth on the fabulous sets of Hollywood, before transitioning her set design experience into a career: as one of the most sought-after interior designers in LA.

Mandy Cheng launched her solo design career first as a production and graphic designer in the film industry. You can find her design work in music videos for chart-topping names such as J.Cole, and One Republic, & DJ Snake, and her graphic design on projects ranging from 20th Century Women and Ladybird to Beyonce's Lemonade.

Mandy quickly realized she had a passion for interiors, and she has received widespread acclaim: her work on Emmy Raver-Lampman and Daveed Diggs’s home, landed the April 2021 cover of AD, and she most recently designed Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita’s home, which was featured in AD and their fan-favorite platform, Open Door.

Since she founded Mandy Cheng Design, Mandy has been named to the prestigious AD 100 list for three years in a row, and has designed a wide range of spaces, including residential and commercial, all spanning the country.

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Learn more about Mandy Cheng’s Design Studio: https://www.mandychengdesign.com/

And follow Mandy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandychengdesign/

For this week’s episode, it’s a Talk Shop first, as we welcome a duo (!) – lifelong friends and now co-founders,Hannah Weil McKinley and Leah Melby Clinton.

Hannah and Leah first met over a decade ago, during their time spent in editorial at POPSUGAR–a pop culture site that covers all things from fashion to beauty to shopping. After the birth of Hannah’s first daughter, she felt a seismic shift, and began to look for and share more candid stories around motherhood and womanhood. Across the country, Leah started to kick around an idea of creating a space for community. Then the pandemic hit, and the beginnings of In Kind took route.

Printed twice yearly, and available digitally, In Kind is thoughtfully curated and touches on the conversations modern women are having:  about motherhood, career, ambition, personal style, and of course, interiors. As Hannah and Leah say, In Kind is a conversation around the things that really matter, focused on capturing, exploring, and supporting the questions and dreams that women are having with each other. (And I agree, as a personal fan of the magazine.)

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Learn more about In Kind: https://inkindmagazine.com/

And follow Hannah and Leah on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/hannahmck20

https://www.instagram.com/leahmelbyclinton

We’re thrilled to kick off Season Three with the fifth-generation creative leader of an incredible 125 year-old family business: Jennifer Gracie. Gracie creates some of the most beautiful and beloved custom hand-painted wallpapers in the world, utilized by many esteemed designers and celebrities around the globe.

Founded in 1928 in New York City, James Gracie originally sold custom lamps and home furnishings, until the 1920s, when the company began to offer Chinese and Japanese furniture, screens, and porcelain. Soon after, Gracie became the first company to import hand painted wallpapers to the United States since the 1700’s. Today, the studio has showrooms in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas, and several exclusive collaborations with luxury companies such as Aerin, Estee Lauder, Stubbs and Wooton, and more.

Our guest this week is Gracie's Creative Director, Jennifer, who oversees the company’s day-to-day operations, social media, new collections, inspirations for custom projects and more. Alongside her brother and company president, Mike, and Jenn’s son and Sales Director, Zach Shea, they continue to carry out Charles R. Gracie’s legacy and maintain the family’s generations-long commitment to exceptional design. 

“The Art of Gracie”, available now from Rizzoli, is a glorious celebration of America’s most storied hand painted wallpaper company, featuring dozens of rooms by today’s top interior designers.

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Follow Gracie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graciestudio/

Pick up your own copy of “The Art of Gracie” plus learn more about the upcoming book tour: https://graciestudio.com/the-art-of-gracie-book

Join me, Ariel Okin, interior designer, editor and writer, as I kick off season three of my design podcast, Talk Shop. Each week, I welcome the foremost tastemakers from around the globe to chat about how they built their businesses, where they find inspiration for new projects, and key pieces of advice they’ve learned along the way. And you don’t have to wait long, as we welcome our first guest of season three next Wednesday, September 25th. 

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. See you soon!

In our final episode for the season, the theme is all about lighting a room, live from our second panel from the Fenimore Lane Design Summit, held at the Mayflower Inn & Spa. In partnership with Mitzi, Ariel is joined by fellow Mitzi Tastemaker, Anthony D’Argenzio of Zio and Sons, on the how-tos of decorative lighting and how they've styled some of the most popular fixtures from their Mitzi Tastemaker collections. With a special nod to our moderator Luxe Magazine’s Grace Beuley Hunt. Tune in for their bright and lively discussion! 

Thank you again for joining us for this season and stay tuned for season three coming this Fall!

Follow our panelist and moderator:

Anthony D’Argenzio: https://www.instagram.com/zioandsons/

Grace Beuley Hunt: https://www.instagram.com/gracebeuley/

Learn more about Mitzi’s ceiling, wall and lighting offers: https://mitzi.com/

And their Tastemakers: https://mitzi.com/Tastemakers

Recorded live this past Saturday at the Mayflower Inn and Spa, in partnership with Farrow & Ball, Ariel is joined by two fellow best-in-class panelists to chat color and interior design: This Oak House’s, Annie Meyers-Shyer and Farrow & Ball's Colour Consultant and author, Joa Studholme. Special thank you to our moderator Luxe Magazine’s Grace Beuley Hunt. We sit down to discuss our love of color, how we interact with it in a room, and share a few tips & tricks for choosing the right color for your home. 

Follow our panelists: 

Annie Meyers-Shyer - https://www.instagram.com/thisoakhouse/

Joa Studholme - https://www.instagram.com/joastudholme/

Grace Beuley Hunt - https://www.instagram.com/gracebeuley/

Learn more about Farrow & Ball’s new wallpapers and current color catalog: https://www.farrow-ball.com/