michelle gross

It’s an unusually warm spring night on Chicago's Gold Coast, and tucked behind plush purple drapes in the private dining room of Maple & Ash, buckets of Krug Grand Cuvee and Dom Ruinart champagne are starting to sweat. The James Beard Awards are always an exciting time to visit the windy city, and on the eve of the biggest night in food at an intimate candlelit gathering hosted by LVMH heiress and entrepreneur Stephanie Watine Arnault, sweaty buckets of bubbly are just about the last thing on...

Move over Smorgasburg, there's a new market in town . Time Out Market New York will officially open their doors to the public on Friday, giving tourists and locals one more reason to visit downtown Brooklyn's bustling metropolis.
The market, which spans 21,000 square feet across two floors along Water Street in Dumbo, will feature 17 restaurants along with two full bars and in true Time Out Market fashion communal-style seating. The fifth-floor will have four additional chef-driven eateries, ...

Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner which means if you’re still looking for some last-minute New York City escape plans you’re in luck. While there's certainly no shortage of options to choose from, if you're wanting to maximize your time whether its in the mountains or on the beach, less than two-hours away by car or train are a number of incredible hotels for every traveler at every budget. So, from a Scandinavian-style hideaway in the Catskills to a hip beachfront hotel in Asbu...

Better get your pinot-egregious chilled for this one. Amy Poehler’s new movie Wine Country debuted on Netflix over the weekend and in addition to the killer dance moves, laugh out loud one-liners and yes the occasional fart joke, it’s serving up some serious travel wanderlust.
The film, which features a lineup of SNL all-stars including Poehler as the self appointed bossy pants travel planner Abby, along with Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer and a garden variety of cameos by Tina Fey...

Sometimes dreams really do come true. In this case, it’s in the form of a brand new 508-foot mega-yacht that will be circumnavigating the globe in 2021. Innovation by SeaDream Yacht Club, will be taking the seven seas by storm when it travels to more than 200 ports in 49 countries from Australia to Antarctica in its inaugural year alone.

Built for both tropical and polar destinations, Innovation's “boutique luxury” concept is the third ship in SeaDream's fleet and will feature a total of 110-...

Sex isn’t exactly synonymous with cruising. Still, as I’m standing half naked in the steam room aboard the Viking Sea, someone is telling me to “bend over and put my hands on the glass” before I get spanked with water soaked birch leaves by a buxom Transylvanian massage therapist named Paula.

Paula has been hired to perform a ritual, called Nordic Nights, meant to be an educational offering for passengers interested in learning about the bathing practices of, well Nordic people. As we bounce ...

Chef Daniela Soto-Innes has been named the elite Vodka World’s Best Female Chef of 2019 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurant. The award, which was announced today, recognizes the achievements of one woman every year—past winners have included Dominique Crenn, who helms San Francisco’s three-Michelin-star Atelier Crenn, and Clare Smyth of London’s Core—and this year, it shines its very bright spotlight on 29-year-old Soto-Innes, the chef de cuisine of New York City’s Cosmé.
“I want to be able to ...

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, which means if you live in (or plan on being in) New York City it’s time to start thinking brunch plans. However, in an international city like New York with no shortage of globally inspired restaurants, bars and street carts to choose from, it can be hard to know where to begin. So if you’re looking for a little Mother’s Day inspiration or you’re in search of something other than your run of the mill brunch fare, from dining alfresco in a Parisian-ins...

Picture this: You’re in your favorite pair of Derek Rose silk pajamas, Ketel martini in hand. The smell of freshly baked garlic bread hangs in the air as you and a Michelin-rated chef put the finishing touches on what promises to be the best pasta puttanesca you never thought you could make—especially in your own kitchen.
This can be your dinnertime scenario, thanks to Cozymeal, a fine-dining meal prep service that’s elevating in-home dining by enlisting the private services of professional c...

No flower signifies the changing of seasons quite like cherry blossoms do, and while the period of time between the end of March through the beginning of May officially marks sakura season around the world, mid-April is undoubtedly the best (and in some places the last time) to witness these ephemeral beauties in full bloom. For the uninitiated, sakura—which is the Japanese term of endearment for cherry blossoms—is not only a sacred time of year in Japanese culture, the art of enjoying them i...

One thing Adrienne and Andrew McDermott would never be considered is traditional. However, after leaving everything behind to travel the world full-time in 2014, the peripatetic couple have maintained one very important ritual along the way: Every year, they celebrate their wedding anniversary by dressing in ceremonial wedding attire from countries around the world. “We started this tradition because for 40 years in a row my mom has worn her wedding dress all day on her and my dad’s anniversa...

The pursuit of finding one’s self through travel is a deeply personal one. For best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert, travel has served as a form of truth seeking both in self, and her place in the world. She’s even made a career writing about it, most famously in her 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love in which the author penned: “If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-se...

There are no two words that will get an East Coaster to book a trip to the Caribbean faster than "polar vortex."
Sure enough, as temperatures dipped from a frigid 20 into the single digits for the third week in a row this past January, I gladly packed my bags and made my way south to San Juan. I was invited to spend 11 days cruising the West Indies on the Viking Star, whose itinerary brought with it the promise of perpetual sunshine and back-to-back beach days in "azure blue" water. It couldn...

Who run the world? …Well, you know. While we definitely don’t need an excuse to celebrate the fact that women are doing awesome things, March is Women’s History Month, and a good time as any to champion the sisterhood. From a beer crawl featuring female brewers to a historic feminist hotel shining a spotlight on female artists and comedians, here are some of the best ways to support women and women-owned businesses all over town.

If you’re one of the millions of New York City denizens who rides the subway every morning, chances are at one point or another you’ve dreamed of being somewhere [read: anywhere] else.
Starting today, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in partnership with The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau (HVCB) could make your dreams come true with the announcement that they’ll be giving away a free six-night, seven-day trip to one lucky New Yorker (and a guest) to Hawaii.
“New Yorkers are some o...