If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair, but the hand sanitizer and the electric toothbrush. And in celebration of New York Taste, we’re going to be asking some of the 40-plus chefs and mixologists whose food and drinks will be served on October 21 about the things they can’t live without. (You can learn more about New York Taste and buy tickets here.) First up is Angie Mar, chef and owner of the Beatrice Inn, on her must-have French lip balm, diamond dog-tag necklace, and her “everything” Dutch oven.
I Clarisonic religiously, twice a day. Every day. I’ve used Clarisonic for probably like five years. I use the Clarisonic Pro, and I do the deep pore cleansing head. I do the massage attachment as well, especially in the morning, because I don’t get a lot of sleep, you know? I sleep maybe four hours a night. So, for me, I will cleanse and then I’ll swap the massage attachment to it, and you lose all of the puffiness and lack of sleep. Because I use it so religiously, it doesn’t matter how little I sleep — I will always look well-rested.
What I love about this lip balm is, it doesn’t feel heavy. It doesn’t feel sticky. It’s just super, super luxurious and velvety. And come on: What girl doesn’t want to open up her lip balm and just smell rosewater? I use it every day, and I use also use it as a base under my lipstick, so my lips don’t dry out.
Everyone always says, “Your hair is so insane, it’s so shiny, you’ve got so much of it, what do you use?” And I say, I use a bunch of products that I love, but really, I believe it’s the fact that I consume so much meat. It’s got protein and collagen. I’m on the go so much that I always keep this bone broth at my apartment and also at the restaurant. I personally love a really good beef bone broth. I start out with just lots of really beautiful roasted bones, and then cold water. And then I just bring it up to a simmer and let it go for hours, so it can really extract all of this beautiful collagen out of the bones. And then I season it with salt. A lot of times you’ll catch me running out of the restaurant with one of those to-go coffee mugs, and it’s actually filled with bone broth.
So when I make it at home, I have this one pot that I just love. I’ve had it for forever. It’s this Staub enameled cast-iron pot, and it was given to me by my father. And it’s just really old and beautiful. That’s the pot I use to braise my oxtails or make bone broth or whatever. It’s kind of like my everything pot.
I use this Lierac every night. I found it in Paris a while back, and what I love about it is that it absorbs into my skin. There’s a lot of serums that will absorb into your skin a little bit oily, and this one, it just absorbs into my skin, and it makes my skin super velvety and supple. It just feels very weightless, which I love. I stock up every time I go to Paris, and I keep them in my refrigerator. If you came over, you would see probably like three steaks, five bottles of Champagne, kimchi, and French skin-care products in the fridge.
I’m on a plane all the time. And one of the things that I absolutely have to have is an external phone charger. Because even if I’m on a plane, I’m always connected to Wi-Fi. The work, the hustle, the brand never stops. I have one, it’s Anker, and it’s amazing, because I can charge it, and my phone never dies. Because that’s my biggest fear: If my phone dies, what’s going to happen? What am I going to miss out on?
I always say I have two modes: glamazon or Biggie Smalls, because if you see me around, I’ll either be dressed to the nines or it’s like oversized hoodie and all of the diamonds. What I love about the Painkllr joggers is that they’re super chic. My favorite pair are gray, and I wore them out the other night with this great Sally LaPointe cashmere turtleneck and the highest Louboutin heels that I could find. And it’s still super chic, and it’s a little bit more casual when I don’t want to get super dressed up. I’m Chinese, so anytime I can support Chinese designers, I always will, and this one is a Chinese designer, and I’m always about supporting, so that’s why I love it, too.
Chris Aire is a jeweler in L.A., and he is so amazing, but I’ve always loved his designs, so a few years ago when I bought my restaurant, he made me this custom, diamond-encrusted dog tag with my name on it. And it’s a piece that I never take off. It’s all white diamonds. My jewelry is a little edgy, a little classic, pieces that I can wear every day. But I actually do mix it up. I have this other chain from this jeweler, in downtown L.A., which was like a chain-link of black diamonds. So I mix that up with the Chris Aire, which is white diamonds, and then I also wear Jennifer Fisher, and I just adore her as well.
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