Hot Chef: The Dalloway’s Vanessa Miller

Photo: Nicola Tranquillino

Hot Chef: The Dalloway’s Vanessa Miller. Written for lifestylemirror.com. Published January 16, 2013.

Last month, Kim Stolz (the first openly gay America’s Next Top Model contestant) andAmanda Leigh Dunn (a cast member of The Real L World) opened the new SoHo restaurant and bar, The Dalloway. As the first “lesbian leaning” restaurant in New York, The Dalloway has been anticipated as much by foodie-focused sites like Eater and Grubstreet as by the city’s queer community.

While neither reality star is unfamiliar with the limelight, Stolz, who went on to become a vice president at Citigroup after her time on ANTM, and Dunn, who was previously in the world of music licensing, are both total strangers to the restaurant business.

“It wasn’t that I had some lifelong dream of opening a restaurant,” says New York native Stolz, while sipping cava from a black leather booth in The Dalloway’s dining room. “I wanted to open a space that served the needs that I was hoping for for a lot of my life.” (In other words, a lesbian bar that wasn’t as divey as the city’s few and famous.) Meanwhile, Dunn, having just moved back from a stint in Los Angeles, had similar plans in mind. The two met and decided to open The Dalloway, named after the acclaimed Virginia Woolf novel.

Inside Chelsea Leyland’s Cool Crash Pad

Photo: Matt Borkowski

Inside Chelsea Leyland’s Cool Crash Pad. Written for lifestylemirror.com. Published January 9, 2013.

It’s 10 a.m. on a quiet Thursday morning in DJ Chelsea Leyland’s Williamsburg apartment. Sunlight streams into the living room through large warehouse windows, warming the space on a chilly winter day.

We’re chatting in what’s now her third apartment since moving to New York five years ago from her Victorian home in England. After her first stint in a tiny SoHo apartment (“I wanted to live in the cool trendy area,” she says) and her second attempt in a sterile, white box in Tribeca (“I thought that’s what I wanted”) she’s found the perfect spot right off the main drag in Brooklyn’s hipster haven.

“Sometimes I look at my home and I think it really reflects me,” she says of the spacious two-bedroom she shares with her boyfriend, entrepreneur Ben Pundole of Ruschmeyer’s fame, and their cat, Louie. “Then other times I’m like, ‘God I look like some kind of crazy hoarder!’”

Weekend Escapes: Eat Your Way Through Montreal

Weekend Escapes: Eat Your Way Through Montreal. Written for lifestylemiror.com. Published January 7, 2013.

After the holidays and required family time, you could use a break. The catch? You’ve used up all your vacation days.

For those looking for a place that feels far away, there’s always Montreal—that taste of France that’s a quick plane ride away.

From January 18 to March 24, Montreal is hosting its Snow Village, fully outfitted with an ice hotel, ice chapel, and ice bar. But for those faint of heart, there’s always the underground city, or a Canada Goose parka, to keep you warm and out of the chill. Check out our perfect weekend agenda.

FRIDAY: EASE IN

5 P.M. Warm up to the city at Bota Bota, an old ferryboat turned sleek, modern spa. Relax and rejuvenate for hours in the water circuit, and take in the views from the spa’s outdoor hot tubs as the sun sets over the old city.

8:30 P.M. Grab dinner at Garde Manger, the flagship restaurant of the Cooking Channel’s Chuck Hughes. (His new brasserie, Le Bremner, is just a few blocks away if you can’t get a seat at Garde Manger.) To pregame a raucous night out, try trendy spots like Santos tapas bar, or leave the neighborhood for Wood35 for a DJ-spun dinner.

10:30 P.M. Kick it in the historic Old Port section of the city and saddle up to the bar at Philémon. Watch hipster bartenders mix classic drinks from the barstools that surround them like a playpen, or grab a table off to the side for some intimate conversation in this low-key environment.