Athleisure Mag MAR ISSUE #87

ISSUE #87

PHOTO CREDIT | SERGEY SHMIDT

@AthleisureMag

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PUBLISHER

Paul Farkas

EDITORIAL

Kimmie Smith

Co-Founder, Creative + Style Director

Paul Farkas

Co-Founder, Artistic Director + Tech Director

FASHION CONTRIBUTIONS

PHOTOGRAPHERS | Missy Bania |Paul Farkas | Scott Gries |

Will Hart | Virginia Sherwood | Autumn Sonichsen | STYLIST |

Kimmie Smith |

BEAUTY CONTRIBUTIONS

MUA | Hannah Lauren| HAIR STYLIST | Brooke Bogle |

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table of contents

issue #87

mar 2023

133

STYLE FEATURES

THE PICK ME UP

144

116

IN OUR BAG

153 ROCK THIS WHEN YOU’RE

ON THE ROOFTOP

BEAUTY FEATURES

SEA SALT + LIME BEAUTY

Food is Medicine

Chef Todd English

This month, we kick off the Spring with Restaurateur, Entrepreneur, Best-Selling

Author, TV Host/Personality and Philanthropist, Chef Todd English. We talk about

his career, his passion for food and upcoming projects that we can’t wait to see.

16

157

ATHLEISURE BEAUTY

®

THE 9LIST

Leah Van Dale

We caught up with Leah Van Dale who wrestles under the name, Carmella, a WWE

Superstar to find out about her must-haves in beauty, style and fitness.

50

134

LIFESTYLE FEATURES

ATHLEISURE LIST

ESCAPE

Chef Kristen Kish

We catch up with Chef Kristen Kish to

talk about her new show on Nat Geo.

56

Weekend Muse

68

Our editorial shares WFH, fitness, active

and date night looks at Muse Hotel NY.

136

ATHLEISURE LIST

DÖNER HAUS

AthleisureMag.com - 10 - Issue #87 | Mar 2023

Path to Set

Tetiana Gaidar

90

We caught up with choreographer, dancer, tactical trainer and actress Tetiana

Gaidar who talks about how learning an array of skill sets, and her passion for David

Duchovney, in the X-Files would eventually led her to working with Keanu Reeves in

John Wick 4.

Decade of Intrigue

104

Hisham Tawfiq

With the final season of NBC’s The Blacklist

coming to an end, we talked with

Hisham Tawfiq to hear how he got into

the industry and playing Dembe Zuma.

9PLAYLIST

Marshmello

TM

120

EDM DJ/Producer Marshmello shares his

9PLAYLIST with us to rock out to.

Art of the Snack

122

A Fish Called Avalon

This month, we’re heading to Miami’s

Avalon Hotel to enjoy a meal at the iconic

A Fish Called Avalon in the city’s Art Deco

district.

THE 9LIST

R3DCARP3T

164

We recap our favorite looks from this

Awards Season. See the looks at 9LIST.

com, as the actors and glam team share

with us.

Issue #87 | Mar 2023

- 11 - AthleisureMag.com

This month, we're kicking off our transition

into the Spring! It's always an exciting

time to find more reasons to be out and

about with friends, travel to new destinations

and to have the best meals at new

and treasured restaurants. When it comes

to the culinary industry, there have been

a number of luminaries that elevated this

space and showcase how they interpret

and infuse their passion in this field.

Our March cover is an innovator and trailblazer

in this field. We're pleased to have

4 x James Beard Award winner, Emmy

nominated, Las Vegas Food & WIne Festival's

2022 Chef of the Year, restaurateur,

entrepreneur, food advocate. best-selling

author, philanthropist, and Host/TV personality,

Chef Todd English. We enjoyed

eating at his restaurant Olives, here in NY

back in the 2000s as well as eating at his

restaurants in Las Vegas.

His passion for his love of cooking rustic

Mediteranean, creating an immersive ambience

when you're at his establishments

and having that Todd English aesthetic

when you're at his properties is something

that we enjoy. He has blown our collective

minds, palettes and senses with such utter

delights over the years - with so much

more coming!

We caught up with Chef Todd to talk about

his culinary background, how he got in

and navigated the industry, providing insight

into what it meant to be in the indsustry

when there weren't the resources

that we have access today, English Hospitality

Group (its portfolio includes Olives,

Figs, The Pepper Club, Bluezoo at Walt

Disney World Dolphin Resort, The English

Hotel to name a few), an array of projects,

luxury in hospitality, cannabis and food

advocacy. In this interview, we get an inside

look on how he approaches food, the

state of food and the power of relevancy

as a brand.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It is such an honor to

be able to talk with you and to you have

you as this month’s cover of Athleisure

Mag. We used to go to Olives here in NY

quite a bit, it was definitely our hangout

spot! So to be able to have you and

to talk about your background, all the

things that you have been involved in

and what you're working on is a great

moment. It’s been inspiring to see what

you have done in the culinary scene and

how you have pushed boundaries.

CHEF TODD ENGLISH: Well thank you

very much and the honor is mine as

well. Thank you for being a patron of

mine over the years and we will have

to continue that down the road with

all of the new stuff that’s going on.

AM: I know I saw that you are doing

a lot of amazing things that’s coming

down the pipeline, we definitely want

to check out your restaurants. For me

personally, when I first came to NY in

2002, you kind of showed me what being

a Celebrity Chef was like in terms

of having the restaurants, having the

programs that you were on, the cookware,

cookbooks and so on. It’s really

interesting to see where the industry

has gone and how you continue to do

these really amazing things.

CHEF TE: Yeah, it’s fascinating you

know? I was talking to somebody else

yesterday and it’s somebody that I actually

cooked with who was one of the

first people that I worked with when

I got my amazing cooking jobs when

I got out of culinary school. It was in

1980!

AM: I was 1 year old then ha!

CHEF TE: Haha it’s crazy where the

world has gone as far as in the cuisine.

There was no Food Network at that

time, there was no Internet, there was

no Instagram. I remember that when

you wanted to learn something about

cooking, you went to the library for culinary

or you went and read a book or

that was pretty much it! There was no

Internet or Google!

AM: Versus now, where everything is



so much at your fingertips. This issue

marks our 87th, and when we first started,

food has always been a big category

for us in our coverage, you were always

someone we'd love from the beginning

to have share your story. So to be chatting

with you now 7 years later with all of

this comingi up is a thrill for the Athleisure

Mag team.

CHEF TE: Well thank you and that’s so cool.

I will first and foremost say that I still really

love what I do. I’m always working on

different categories of things that interest

me. My sons, Oliver and Simon, they did

a documentary called Feeding Tomorrow

that just won a bunch of awards at the LA

film documentary and they were just invited

to Sundance. It talks about sustainability,

regenerative soils and etc. etc. and

all of the things that we’re starting to pay

attention to here. So I have been working

with one of my cool – because I have

gotten into working with cannabis as well

mostly from medicinal standpoints from

my sister way back when it wasn’t legal.

So having to work through this all these

years I found that there all sorts of interesting

things that are coming out of that

whether it’s the hydroponics (editors note:

hydroponics is the technique of growing

plants using a waterbased nutrient solution

rather than soil) and the way that

they grow it and etc. Now, we’re learning

to do that and I’m working with one of my

good friends who has one of the leading

hydroponic companies in North America,

not to mention the world. I was talking to

them about sustainability, hydroponics

and how we’ve been working on a project

to make wine and to do it in a hydroponic

way and wild stuff like that.

So, I’m always interested in what is the future.

I worked in Dubai with the Museum

of the Future on a project there. What is

the future of food, how are we going to

provide food for 10 billion people in 20, 25

years or whatever that number is going

to be? How do we produce healthier food

that’s not full of GMOs. One of my first

cookbooks was Alice Waters' cookbook,

Chez Panisse and her dedication to local

farms and obviously, being in California

that was a lot easier than when I was in

Massachusetts at the time. I mean, we

went local, but in the summer. I would

buy exotic seeds, sometimes legal and

sometimes not, but we would buy stuff

from all over that was not being grown

and so it was fun. To me, that’s the

beauty of what we do. Not to get sidetracked,

but that’s what I do and why I

love it.

AM: Well that’s the thing that I have

seen about the different projects that

you have been involved in. You continue

to trailblaze and really dig deep into

these areas. I find it fascinating!

When did you first fall in love with food?

CHEF TE: Well, if you ask my mother,

my mother tells a story where I grew up

part of my life in Georgia and I was 8 or 9

years old and I wanted to figure out how

to make ice cream. Again, there’s no Internet,

so we went and bought a White

Mountain hand churned ice cream machine.

I figured it out, once again, it was

a hot August day in Atlanta. We went

to the Farmer’s Market and I bought a

bunch of peaches and I made Georgia

Peach Ice Cream!

AM: Wow!

CHEF TE: I was so young and it was handmade!

There was no Food Network.

My family were pretty good cooks, but

where the hell that came from, I had no

idea!

AM: That is crazy and it takes a long time

to! We used to have one as a kid that had

salt in the tumbler and you had to keep

churning it and churning it and my dad

loved doing it. It was great ice cream,

but as a kid, I was like, “can’t we just buy

it out of the tub?”

CHEF TE: It’s definitely a real labor of

love.

AM: Exactly.

CHEF TE: It’s worth it in the end when it

comes out of there and it’s delicious and

the Georgia peaches were super ripe.

AM: At what point did you realize that

your passion for food and you’re love for

it would be a career path that you wanted

to take?

CHEF TE: You have to remember that

when I got out of the Culinary Institute

of America, it was 1982 and I started

working in French restaurants, then Italian

and I ended up going to Europe and

cooking just because I had just met with

someone who said, “here, I will give you

a letter,” it was Tony May (founder of

San Domenico NY, SD26, Palio) – I don’t

know if you know, but Sirio Maccioni (Le

Cirque), Tony May, they were the super

Tuscan guys that came over from Italy and

opened restaurants in NY. Tony May had

a restaurant called San Domenico and he

was a wonderful mentor to me because

again in those days, I went over in the

80s and knocked on someone’s door and

said, “can I have a job?” with a letter in my

hand! They ended up giving me a job and

one thing led to another and I worked in Italy

and it was the 80s. I don’t know, there

was something about it - it was amazing.

You’d go to the markets to cook, you’d

make fresh bread, fresh pasta and you

did all those great things and that’s what

I did. The same with the French, you’d

make sauces and I think that that’s one of

the things that I was most fascinated by

– learning about flavors, learning about

extractions of flavors, sauces, technique

and there’s nothing easy about it! It’s 14

hour days and I was also going to school.

So, I’d go to French school, bakeries and

it was pretty crazy.

AM: I didn’t even think about that. That’s

crazy so you must have slept for 4 or 5

hours in a day, but you were either training

or working.

CHEF TE: Pretty much!

AM: Wow!

CHEF TE: Luckily, I was born with a lot

of energy. I was also studying music, I

love music – I was studying the classical

guitar at the NY Guitar Institute in NY.

So I would go home and practice guitar

and classical guitar is a lot of practice. It

was fun!

AM: Who were some of the people that

you trained under when you were coming

up?

CHEF TE: In NY, it was Jean-Jacques

Rachou at La Côte Basque and he was

like a papa to me he was very very encouraging

to young American chefs although

he was still an old school chef

where you really didn’t want to mess

up, let’s put it that way. So that’s the

old school. He would invite me in and

he was from Toulouse and they are famous

for their cassoulet. I would have

these obsessions with certain types of

food. So cassoulet, he found out that I

wanted to know more about it and he

brought me in early and he came in early

and he taught me cassoulet. To this

day, I still think that I make the best

cassoulet - learning from Jean-Jacques

Rachou. Then he also spent a lot of time

in Provence and he talked about Bouillabaisse

and I was obsessed with it. I did

a whole thing on Martha Stewart when

she had me on and we went through

the whole process. You can Google it –

it’s crazy!

AM: I remember that!

CHEF TE: She didn’t want to skip one

step!

I guess I try to teach the glamor of this

which is interesting how it has obviously

become so glamorous. You have Food

Network, Instagram stars, TikTok stars

that do food. I watch all of these Instagrams

where you have these people

and they just go out and cook food and

they have millions of followers. It’s wild!

I think it’s great! With my chefs when we

have menu writing sessions, I tell them to

go out and find me your 10 top Instagram

moments on food and bring those to the

table because I want to see the perspective

of everybody out there. Everyone follows

different people, what are people

eating, what makes them excited? What

is the entertainment of food now? That’s

something where I think that you have to

stay modern and to keep your finger on

the pulse to see what’s out there and I’m

constantly always out there researching

that and we try to always stay ahead of

the curve. It’s not easy because it moves

so fast now.

AM: Exactly!

CHEF TE: I think it’s great. I think it’s wonderful

what’s going on and I’m very encouraged.

The only thing that concerns

me is the cost of goods. We need to figure

that out and do better because at some

point, where is luxury defined? I have always

felt like food is our greatest democracy.

AM: Yup.

CHEF TE: If we don’t continue to look at

our democracy of food, we are not going

to and you know – when I go to Italy,

food is very reasonable in most cases and

in most restaurants. You can pretty much

have the most incredible pasta in the

world that you could ever have for not a

lot of money. I find that is something that

is concerning. I feel that we can grow

more vegetables nearby or on our own

gardens and let's do things that aren’t

going to be so prohibitive as far as what

we eat. That is one of the things that is so

important to me. It really really bothers

me that the biggest aisle in a big grocery

store in a big chain one, not like a Whole

Foods, is the cookie aisle and the sugary

aisle! It’s disgusting!

AM: Absolutely, the sodas!

CHEF TE: Yes. Sugar pumped up foods

that people eat. It’s just, what? Unfortunately,

a lot of bad things are happening

out of that from diabetes, obesity, etc. I

find that I always like the 5 or 10lbs that I

lose when I go to Italy because you’re

just eating good food. How did all these

allergies come about? Being allergic to

celiac and these other things. Maybe

they have always been there, but why is

it worse than ever?

No one ever really wants to admit it, but

it’s the way that we process food.

AM: Absolutely.

CHEF TE: It’s pretty simple and yet Big

Agra and the government are not going

to ever admit it –

AM: That’s their bread and butter.

CHEF TE: That’s their bread and butter.

It’s how they make their money, no pun

intended. I think that there’s a much

bigger awareness out there for sure

and that’s what my sons are doing and

I think that that’s why their docu is getting

so much attention because it’s actually

calling out these people. Not necessarily

by name, but it’s saying that we

have 50 years and we won’t have any

more soil that has the nutrients that we

need etc. etc.

AM: But that is a big part of it. As I said

earlier, I’m originally from the Midwest.

Although I was from a large city, we

would talk about soil, supporting local

farms as opposed to factory farms that

were moving in and you grew up knowing

about food sourcing and the importance

of being able to know about the

environment and how your food supply

was affected. There are a lot of people

walking around not understanding that

the labels on their food don’t really say

all the things to say and so you could be

eating things that are contributing to an

allergy or other underlining particular

conditions.

CHEF TE: I don’t even know if we know!

AM: Yeah!

CHEF TE: I think that it has gotten to the

point, and I preface this by saying that I

don’t think that it is everyone’s intention

to do this, there are those people who do

have these intentions. It’s troublesome!

AM: Exactly! When did you realize that

you wanted to own your own restaurants

and what was that point that you said

that this was something that you wanted

to take on? Did you think it would be as

large as it is today?

CHEF TE: Not at all. No, no, no. I was working

at a job, that I was like, oh ok. I had

been there for a while and being a little

bit wild I guess I could put it and feeling

like I wanted to prove something else and

my ex-wife and I had a baby die at birth in

1986 and it was shocking, I was young and

25 years old. I was like, ok well what is the

meaning of life? Trying to get a different

perspective and at 25, you think you’re really

old.

AM: This is true!

CHEF TE: We had a baby and it was very

traumatic and it was a very complicated

process. So I had to make the decision

on whether we were going to try to save

her from a very – what would have been

a very terrible existence from what we

were told.

Anyway, so I remember sitting there on a

mountain top looking out over the valley

and I went out on a journey through Italy

and I’m by the ocean and I go, “you know

what? It’s time to do my own thing.” I

ended up leaving the job, I didn’t have

anything set up. I did a little catering here

and there with the clients that we knew

about. Long story short, we opened the

restaurant and never looked back!

AM: That’s amazing!

CHEF TE: Yeah, it was the original Olives

and we did 50 people I think the first night,

100 people the next night and then there

was a line around the corner for 16 years.

AM: Tell me about English Hospitality

Group and the brands that make up this

portfolio?

CHEF TE: Yeah, yeah, I mean that’s – it’s

really about us – I mean incorporating

my family, incorporating what I think

that the business is very much about not

just the food, but the whole hospitality

world that we’re in. Hospitality to me, I

like to have a good time and have people

over as I’m more than just the food.

It’s a whole ambiance.

AM: As someone who has had a number

of different restaurants, how do you

go about deciding which one it will be,

what location you want to take on as it

seems like it would be a strategic situation

when you’re thinking about this.

CHEF TE: Right. I don’t know I just kind

of like exploring a lot of different things.

I look at it like, I like music in the same

way. I love exploring different types and

genres of music and I find that it’s really

the same kind of thing. It is the same

thing – to me. Truly, the food end and

the music are the most when it comes

to emotions, energy and synergy – all of

those kinds of things. I think that when

you put on a song that you can listen to,

it reminds you of something or whatever

that moment may be in your life as

well as aromas or something that you

might eat – it evokes the same kind of

things. So that’s why I like to explore different

genres of things and it’s kind of

one of the most exciting things and why

I love what I do!

AM: Why did you want to open The English

Hotel. It looks stunning in the pictures.

CHEF TE: Haha – thank you! For all the

same reasons!

AM: I thought that you would say that!

How do you define the Todd English aesthetic?

CHEF TE: It’s pretty simple. I don’t like

for it to be too complicated or uptight.

It’s come in and have a good time, let

your hair down, be in the moment. That’s

what I try to evoke and it’s like those are

the special memories that will hopefully

come out of it. It’s those simplest things

that are the fondest memories.

AM: Pappas Taverna, what can you tell me

about this? It seems like a very exciting

project and I know you’re working with

Stratis Morfogen (Jue Lan Club, Brooklyn

Chop House Steakhouse, Philippe Chow)

on this.

CHEF TE: That has been a great project.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Greece over the

years and I have always loved and have

a lot of really great Greek friends. I have

spent a lot of time traveling the country

and enjoyed the amazing food. So it’s

been a great project to work on and what

I want to do, I call it Greek Unplugged and

I have been working on a couple of other

projects that the English Hospitality

Group is working on with that and actually,

exploring Greece as an outlet for us to

do something in Mykonos over the summer

as a pop up.

"I mean incorporating my

family ... the business is very

much about not just the

food, but the whole hospitality

world that we’re in.

Hospitality to me, I like to

have a good time and have

people over as I’m more than

just the food. It’s a whole

ambiance."

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF TE: It’s like you can create songs

out of 3 notes like The Beatles have done.

A lot of great rock songs are only 3 or 4

chords. Food is the same thing, it's how

you mix it up, you know? What’s your interpretation

of it, how you change the

notes or the ingredients around it just

a little bit to make it something that

is unique to you and makes your own

song. So that’s how I kind of always look

at it.

AM: Very cool.

Are there other projects coming up that

are here in NY?

CHEF TE: Yeah! I’m working on doing my

sort of revised version of Figs which I

opened up 30 years ago. I’m very excited

about that. I think that pizza is having its

moment again. I’m very excited to dabble

back into that. With Figs, it’s always

been over the years, Lobster and Corn

Pizza, Peking Duck Pizzas, Foie Gras and

Confit Duck Pizza! We’ve always pushed

those limits and taken it out of the tradition

and that was always happening in

the beginning. So my outlook on food is

the same way. I always say that it’s common

things and uncommon ways. When

I do cooking seminars or classes and I’ll

say, well you know, let’s look at this

for a second here. As an example, we

all have a beautiful Hen of the Woods

Oyster – Oyster Mushrooms, there’s 10

of us at the table and we’re all going to

make our own version of whatever this

is, but it’s the one ingredient. How does

one take that ingredient and how do we

make it special? How do you make it different

or is it just the technique? How do

you grow? So that is always what I am

looking at.

AM: I love how you get into different

kinds of details and how you challenge

yourself basically. Looking at something

in a different way, taking that same item

and having various variations out of it. I

think that that is very interesting.

CHEF TE: Well, it certainly is what it is.

You have to challenge yourself every

day. You don’t have to, but I believe

that’s what keeps me coming back. We

always say in the business that you’re only

as good as your last dish, but in retrospective,

that is true! Life changes and things

move on. I don’t cook things that we used

to cook when I first started cooking you

know? Veal kidneys – have you ever eaten

them?

AM: Um no, I don’t think so.

CHEF TE: Right? You’re the generation –

what about sweetbreads?

AM: No, I’m not a sweetbread person, no.

CHEF TE: What about brain?

AM: No just no! I had sweetbread once I

believe – but still no.

CHEF TE: See, if I made it for you and you

were sitting at my table, you may go,

“eww gross” or you may go, "I have no

idea!"

AM: Right!

CHEF TE: Yeah, because I’m the generation

that if you kill an animal, you eat it

head to toe. Early on in my career, that’s

what you did and not so much anymore.

I would seek small farms with lamb that

they would raise like I would see in Rome.

They would be 35lbs and you would roast

it and it would be the most delicious

thing that you ever ate in your life. That

appreciation for killing an animal, one of

the things that I have always loved about

my roots in the Mediterranean diet is not

only are they finding that it is actually one

of the healthiest ways to eat and live,

only 20% of the diet is protein, meat or

fish. Again, that’s very localized and eaten

head to toe whether it’s rabbit, lamb or

something that’s freshly caught that day,

It’s a highly based vegetable diet and also

very legume oriented. So that’s where a

lot of the protein comes from. Again, I’m

not getting on my stumping stool here,

but it’s something that I believe in and I

believe in it in a sense of eating it for animals

as well.

AM: I can appreciate that, but I will pass

on the sweetbreads.

You have a private restaurant at the

Bentley Residences.

CHEF TE: Yes!

AM: It sounds amazing. Can you tell me

about that and why did you want to be

part of that?

CHEF TE: You know what it’s going to

end up being? First of all, I like the idea

of – it doesn’t have to be that the food is

exclusive or the exclusivity of it, but I do

like the specialization or the exclusivity

of have something that I hope can be a

very interesting experience – it’s different

than what you normally might have.

Luxury is being defined in very different

ways, now. This to me is a fun way to

look at luxury and it will actually be more

of a test kitchen. Even though Gil Dezer,

the developer is a good friend of mine,

he said, “Todd do whatever you want.

It’s fine.” I said, ok I may be down there

being like a mad professor in there, people

will come in and try – it’s some mad

professor stuff! He said it was cool and

that he loved that.

AM: He’s like, whatever you want to do!

CHEF TE: Yeah, whatever I want to do!

It’s not going to be just one genre of

cuisine and cooking. I’m hoping that

people will use it as their daily basis to

and to create stuff that they can place in

their fridge, we’ll run it up to your condo

and give you instructions on how to

throw it into the Todd English Air Fryer

that we’ll sell to you and will come along

with it!

AM: Nice!

CHEF TE: It’s so often that in these large

condos, nobody even knows where

there kitchen is.

AM: And very clean because it’s not used.

CHEF TE: The design is a very cool kitchen.

It gets kind of put away behind a cabinet.

AM: You’re also in the Ghost Kitchen space.

Why did you want to be part of that as I

love that concept.

CHEF TE: I think again, those people that

don’t know their kitchens and have busy

lives as you do, there’s just different ways

to be able to get people their food. I look

at it like another outlet. As an example,

Figs delivery, our pizza delivery is over

35% - it’s a lot and it’s the kind of food that

transports very well.

AM: For the Ghiost Kitchens, is that just

for your restaurants and brands in your

portfolio or can others partner with you in

this as well?

CHEF TE: It will be other people as well,

yes. I don’t try to take all of the glory or

to pretend that I could do it better than

some places where that’s what they do. I

respect that and I would never – I may try

to mimic it and do my best to be –

AM: Right!

CHEF TE: It’s always to pursue things and

to have different goals and perspectives

of things.

AM: We were talking about cannabis earlier

in our conversation and I love Mac &

Cheese, you have this Mac & Cheese from

LastLeaf that is cannabis infused. What

was that process like?

CHEF TE: I actually changed it. The name

is no longer LastLeaf, it’s actually called

Bougie.

AM: I like that even better!

CHEF TE: We’re going to be making that

out of Nevada now with some very prominent

doctors out of that field that are

pretty cool. One of the things that I got

a call on was from St. Jude. I used to do a

lot of stuff on HSN and during the holiday

season, I would have a certain pot during

Breast Cancer Awareness, we can talk

about that too as a I do a lot of charitable

stuff. With St. Jude’s Hospital, we always

had that we would sell and the proceeds

of that would go to St. Jude’s. In

Oct., we would manufacture these hot

pink pots that were really cool and we

would sell those for proceeds going to

my sister’s foundation, Wendy English

Breast Cancer Research Foundation as

she passed away from that. So that was

another motivating factor for me to get

into my own business too.

Having said that, so with Bougie and its

Mac & Cheese, we’re going to be creating

this and also at St. Jude’s Hospital,

I don’t know if they have cleared it yet,

but they called me and asked if we would

be willing to donate the Mac & Cheese

to their terminally ill kids. And I said yes,

without me crying, I would certainly be

willing to do that. I know we’re following

up on that and they will be following

up with us, but I’m very very excited to

have the ability to do this for these poor

kids that are amazing.

AM: Wow, that’s amazing.

CHEF TE: Food is our medicine, baby!

AM: Absolutely!

CHEF TE: It is our medicine, and we can’t

ever forget that. Any legacy that I would

want to live by in my life is – let’s look

at this in a different way and let’s think

about how we can provide healthier

food to people in the world. I think especially

because I’m doing something

as well with a super food group that is

pretty interesting called BOKU Superfood

that are friends of mine that I met

through the shopping channels when

they would sell their products. I used

to joke with them that I loved that they

had 75 different types of mushroom

powders, but the taste, I can’t drink it. I

have to choke it down! We joke about it.

They laugh about it too and I told them

that I get it, but here’s the thing, let's

make it taste good, because that's what

I do and I will do my best to make it taste

good. Let’s talk about the nutritional contents

of what it is that makes it. During

the pandemic, I actually ended up staying

with them on their ranch in Ojai, California

for a little bit of time. We were working

on some stuff there and we’re looking to

put those things out there as well.

AM: That’s exciting!

CHEF TE: Yeah, that’s what I love.

"Food is our medicine baby!"

AM: Do you think, as I remember watching

you on your show Food Trip on PBS, do

you think that you would come back and

do a series?

CHEF TE: Yes! We’re working on that now!

AM: Yay! There are so many awesome

food shows like Top Chef and different

things like that, but I thought that you

would have to come back to a network or

whatever streaming platform.

CHEF TE: Yes, probably a streaming platform.

I’m very excited about it. I think that

people really love and most of my friends,

they travel for food.

AM: I do as well! So yeah. I love knowing

where things come from.

CHEF TE: I’m sure you do, yeah. What

restaurant you’re eating in is a pretty big

on the agenda right?

AM: Absolutely and even if it’s something

that we’re doing in work as I’m also a fashion

stylist, if I’m pulling, I need to know

the different things that we can try if I’m

in a certain neighborhood or other city.

CHEF TE: You’re also in fashion?

AM: Yes! I am also a fashion stylist. I’ve designed

a number of lines and I was also on

HSN and I had a collaboration with Sebago

shoes so I did that for 3 years. There’s

a lot of things from my background and

everytime you’re talking about music,

my great uncle was a jazz artist and I

used to see him and Herbie Hancock.

CHEF TE: Oh my God!

AM: Yeah my great uncle was Joe Henderson.

CHEF TE: Oh wow! See, I’m old enough

to know all of those names! That’s great!

AM: Yeah, I loved his music, continue

to play it. I do like how music, food and

fashion – all of these things, come and

play together which is why we created

Athleisure Mag. We shoot a lot of our active

lifestyle wellness content in luxury

residences here in the city. We just love

having that blend together. Food with

me is huge. Even on our sets, we have to

have something tasty. I’m not satisfied if

I’m not happy with what I’m eating.

CHEF TE: Right, I love that!

AM: Absolutely and in this industry, it’s

great to know so many people and in

food, it was an honor and super fun to

have had Cat Cora, we shot with her right

before the pandemic and I’m always interested

in the space and thinking in the

mind of a chef.

CHEF TE: I love Cat, she’s great! Well tell

her I say hi!

AM: I will for sure! I think that one of the

things that we enjoy about the magazine

and our podcast equivalent for Athleisure

Kitchen was just hearing the stories

of the why and the how. Seeing it on one

side, like going to your beautiful restaurants

is one thing. But now, being able to

talk with you and to see how you sketch

things out, I find that highly impactful.

CHEF TE: It’s crazy!

AM: What are some other projects that

you’re tackling that we should know

about?

CHEF TE: One of the things is that I have

my charity called Hunger Pains. Hunger

Pains is about figuring out ways to get

food to people in places so that we can

set up commissaries for people so that

we can actually feed the 1 million kids that

go hungry every day. This happens even

in NYC where people only have 1 meal a

day and that’s kind of crazy how we live

in one of the wealthiest countries in the

world – what’s the deal here? That’s a big

movement on my side right now.

AM: We were speaking with Tom Colicchio

last month and he was talking about

the Food Bill and other initiatives that he

is involved in to drive awareness to the

government, do you do things like that

where you’re partnering with local or the

federal government to push these initiatives

along?

CHEF TE: Yeah. That’s certainly the goal.

My son was showing me a clip where there

is a place that they grow these beautiful

melons, but they only grow them for their

seeds. So they have a way of extracting

the seeds and then they throw out the

meat. Wait a second?

AM: Wait what? That’s so strange.

Our readers always like knowing what ingredients

or spices that you love using and

is in your kitchen? If you could only have

3 spices that would be the main theme in

a dish that you’re creating, what would it

be?

CHEF TE: If it’s a fresh herb, it’s usually a

rosemary, not to sound boring.

AM: I love rosemary it’s also great in cocktails.

CHEF TE: I’m pretty much a rosemary guy.

Not to mention basil and all the sweet

herbs, but sometimes, depending on

what I’m making, I like some dried herbs.

Dried herbs, I mean I remember growing

up that on the Italian side, tomato sauce

would be made, it had to have dried

oregano. Only dried! You’re talking about

flavors and blooming flavors, essential

oils and bringing things to their peak flavors,

learning how to work with herbs

and how to extract flavors out of them.

I definitely love aromatic spices and

there’s no question! I’m also a salt freak!

AM: Me too! I’m obsessed with various

kinds of salts.

CHEF TE: Yeah, there are times when I

have over 40 or 50 kinds of salt in my cabinet.

I’m always picking one up whether

I’m in the desert of Ibiza or I’m in Sicily

or wherever, I’m getting salt and bringing

it home.

AM: Absolutely, I like sauces, spices and I

like salt. Those are my things.

CHEF TE: Good, there you go. We’ll get

along really well then.

AM: Yes!

If we were coming over for brunch which

is my favorite meal to have, what would

be the meal that you serve and what

cocktail would you pair with it?

CHEF TE: Brunch to me is a fun all day

meal.

AM: Exactly.

CHEF TE: I like it to be ever so evolving.

Let’s say we were in the Hamptons over

the summer, which is one of my favorite

places to do a Sunday Brunch kind of

thing. Obviously, you want to go over

to the Farmer’s Market which is amazing

out there and so you say, ok, they

just harvested those beets, those beautiful

tomatoes just came in or peaches

for example or fennel. Whatever all the

amazing stuff there is that comes out of

the ground over there. Sometimes what

I will do is courses that are about 1 topic.

AM: I love that.

CHEF TE: So, if it’s a topic. Today is going

to be tomato day and what are we

going to do with these tomatoes? We're

going to have various courses that are

about tomatoes. We’ll be doing tomato

shots with fresh tomato juice that I

have squeezed with a knife and then we

would do a Clear Bloody Mary.

AM: Oh, that’s awesome!

CHEF TE: So we’ll start you with a Clear

Bloody Mary so it’s just the tomato juice

that is infused with horseradish and all

the things that make a little bit of spice

like black pepper and that kind of thing.

So that’s sort of where I would go with

that and that’s kind of fun because I’d

serve them chilled – they’d be shaken

and chilled and placed in martini glasses

and then I’d float tomatoes in the glass.

AM: Oh wow!

CHEF TE: So that’s fun and it’s a fun little

experiment for you!

AM: I love that ok, I thought I was doing

something when I had Green Bloody

Mary, but this sounds fantastic!

CHEF TE: And to me, I just go back to

the beauty of tomatoes – tomato sauce

– however that would be interpreted.

My Sicilian grandmother used to make

tomato sauce with Italian tuna or it

might be with poached eggs. So, it’s not

one particular item, but you might have

a beautiful harvested tomato day with

me including dessert!

@cheftoddenglish

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | FRONT

COVER/BACK COVER + PG 16-47 Chef

Todd English

Over the past few months, we have caught

up with Chef Kristen Kish to talk about

TRU TV's Fast Foodies as well as her partnership

with Jongga Kimchi. We love how

she enjoys exploring food and the stories

that it tells for those that also have taken

care to share their experiences through it.

This month, she hosts National Geographic's

Restaurants At the End of the World

that takes her to exotic locales and showcases

how people bring their visions to life,

creating meals that pull from items that

are local to their area and learning about

how she can apply these lessons to her

personal life; how she navigates her kitchen;

and how she approaches food.

In this interview, we are talking about the

4 episodes that will drop each week on

Nat Geo as well as streaming on Disney+.

We talk about how the show took place,

the process of selecting those that are

featured and her feedback on dishes that

were created during the episodes.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We had the pleasure of

chatting with you a few months ago so we

got to hear about your latest show and I

just saw the 4 screeners in prep for chatting

with you and I really enjoyed it! Why

did you want to be part of this show and

how did you get attached to it?

CHEF KRISTEN KISH: It started back in

2019 with conversations of this idea from

a woman named Julia, and it was a scene

of food, self-exploration and journey kind

of show. Then 2020 happened and things

went to a screeching halt and then we

were able to pick it up back again. As we

started to develop this treatment, the

pitches come and when it got pitched, Nat

Geo was like, we like this, but also, we’re

Nat Geo and we can do something like

this! I was like, yes whatever this is I’m totally

in for it too! So although they’re very

different, it started with this original idea

that the core and the heart of this show

is very similar to the 2 projects. I love Nat

Geo.

AM: It was so good! Watching you immerse

yourself in so many different situations, I

had anxiety for you!

I saw the 4 screeners, but how many episodes

will there be in total?

CHEF KK: We did the 4 and we filmed

them over the summer. With any new

series, we have a trial and error to see

what works and what doesn’t and I can

only just hope that we can continue exploring

parts of the world.

AM: What was the criteria in terms of the

locales you went to and the people that

you featured? Everyone was so different

and yet there was a common throughline

as well.

CHEF KK: We have Missy, who is one

of our Executive Producers and she

was part of the creative and Nat Geo

of course, has their resources obviously.

As you can imagine, there are a lot

of moving pieces. There were 100s of

locations and subjects that were a potential.

You know, it’s coming down to

scheduling with them, especially with

this first 4 and how we develop them,

that we are able to communicate with

them in English. I wish that I was able to

speak another language and that I could

speak all of their languages, but I can’t.

It also came down to whether they had

a real life thing that they were working

towards. Like Chef Rolando wanted to

cook for Charlie. Chef Gisela had these

important guests that were coming into

town – things like that were real. So

they needed to have the story already

happening in order for us to come in.

There were so many that were a possibility

and I just hope that we will be able

to tap into them one day.

AM: What was your favorite dish to create?

I know you didn’t create this, but I

loved the Kimchi Sorbet, that blew my

mind.

CHEF KK: Same! That blew my mind and

I wish that I could take the credit for that

one but I mean, he just dreamed that up

in his head and I was just like, how is this

going to work? I said, it’s not going to

work, there’s no way that this is frickin’

going to happen and then I tasted it and

I was like, “oh my God!” It makes sense,

it’s actually, a really well balanced dish! I

think that the best part of this series for

me was that I got to go in, especially for

this first 4 and some I created dishes on

my own and others I didn’t. I got to go in

with a place and to say, I’m your sous chef

and I’m so happy doing that! I gave my 2

cents when they asked for it or asked my

advice for things – no judgment or hard

feelings. If they didn’t take it, I didn’t care,

it was about the bigger experience not

what I could give to them and what they

could give to me in return. It was like this

overall experience that we were working

towards.

I think that the feeding bag cocktail challenged

–

AM: I was going to ask you about that!

CHEF KK: Mind over matter on that one

because it didn’t taste great, but it wasn’t

awful. It was the color, the idea of what it

was and it kind of throws your brain for a

loop. Sometimes, you have to work your

way through these. But I did find it incredibly

impressive because I thought, who

thinks of something like that?

AM: Yeah seeing it –

CHEF KK: Oh I know! The brown on the

bottom – I was like, oh God!

AM: Just watching your face I thought,

nope!

CHEF KK: But I will say that all of them as

adventurous as it all was and as different

as they each were, they had this care about

what they were cooking. They genuinely

wanted to show you and they cared for

the product and they were excited about

it. So that’s all you can really ask for when

it comes to food!

AM: Yeah and I actually liked what you just

spoke to, that you were happy being the

sous chef. In other circumstances, I can

see someone wanting to jump in and I

could see the thrill that you had taking on

something new and seeing through your

eyes the sweet scallops! I would totally

want to try that as it looked so amazing.

CHEF KK: Those! It was a wave of sugar!

Normally, you’re judging scallops on

their brininess and the sweet, salty, salinity

and all of that good stuff. These

were pure sugar and they were crazy!

AM: That is insane!

CHEF KK: It was absolutely wild! We

got to go and I don’t know if it showed

in the episode as there’s so much that

happens in a week’s time to film this episode.

Not everything can make it in. We

go to go down and I went diving into it

and I swam in between all of the scallops

nests and oh my God, it was amazing!

AM: That sounds insane!

What is your biggest takeaway from doing

this experience?

CHEF KK: There’s a lot! Professionally,

I need to leave more room for experimentation

and play without judgement.

Whether I’m judging myself or having to

serve it to someone that is going to judge

me. I think personally, it was continuously

layering in this empathy! I cared

so much for these people. I cried in every

episode for their kindness because

these people were so nice to me! We’re

often jaded and I think that the state of

the world often jades us because reality

sucks sometimes. There are a lot of

things that are wrong. But when I got

to meet these people and to spend so

much time with them on camera and off

camera with them and they were exactly

the same kind of person – they were

just so excited to show you who they

are. That shit got me and I cried everytime!

AM: That is beautiful!

What would be the next places that you

would like to go to should this continue?

I hope it does because it is so beautifully

done and I love the format.

CHEF KK: There are so many places that

I know of and I don’t know of! There are

pockets in this world that I don’t even

know the name of! Things that were being

tossed around during these first few

episodes in trying to figure out where we

could go, Mongolia was a place, different

parts of Peru, there were places in Africa

and I was like yes! Get me there! I want

to go and I want to feel all of this stuff.

There’s countless places that we can go, I

just have to find the time and all the things

need to align!

AM: Exactly! Well it was amazing to see

it come together and of course, it always

takes a community for things to thrive.

In these stories, you really saw how those

with different roles in the culinary community

come together for sourcing, transportation

etc and I feel like you really brought

that out. I’m sure we’ll be talking soon

about whatever amazing project you have

going on whether it’s additional seasons/

episodes of this show or something else!

CHEF KK: Oh yes! I’ll be talking to you soon

and I appreciate you watching it!

@kristenlkish

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 56 + 62

National Geographic/Autumn Sonichsen

| PG 59 + 60 National Geographic/Missy

Bania |

We're officially in Spring and while the

weather settles itself over the next few

weekends, we're dreaming about all the

activities and looks that we'll wear to enjoy

it! Our Spring 2023 Weekend Style Editorial

featuring models from STATE Management,

wore looks that we'd wear for

a lowkey weekend that allows us to take

some time for ourselves, workout, enjoy

our favorite sport, have a date night in and

to WFH or to lounge enjoying our favorite

shows! This shoot took place at The Muse

New York Hotel which is in Times Square.

SPRING WEEKEND STYLE CREDITS

CREDITS | PHOTOGRAPHY Paul Farkas @

pvfarkas | STYLIST Kimmie Smith @shes.

kimmie | MUA Hannah Lauren @hannahlaurenmua

| HAIR STYLIST Brooke

Bogle @brooke_bogle | MODELS via

STATE Management @statemgmt - Tora

Rozario @torarozario + Christopher Aldea

@christopherjaldea | LOCATION The

Muse New York Hotel @musehotelnyc |

FITNESS LOOK PG 68 + 70 | Tora - MPG

SPORT Tangent Strappy Medium Support

3D Geo Sports Bra + High Waisted

26" Side Pocket 3D Geo Legging, LAGOS

Ceramic Diamond Circle Bracelet + Citrine

Caviar Bracelet | Christopher - FABLETICS

Fundamental Shorts II + ATHLETIC PRO-

PULSION LABS TechLoom Chelsea |

ATHLETIC LOOK PG 73 - 77 | Tora - TRACK-

SMITH Run Cannonball Run Bra, Run Cannonball

Run Shorts, Fells Shorts Tights +

Inverno Arm Warmers, ATHLETIC PRO-

PULSION LABS TechLoom Bliss + LAGOS

Silver Station Statement Ceramic Caviar

Bracelet | Christopher - TRACKSMITH Van

Cortland Singlet, ATHLEISUREVERSE

Jogger + Bomber |

WFH LOOK PG 78- 82 | Tora - ATHLEI-

SUREVERSE Tie Dye Hoodie Set + DAGNE

DOVER Jemi Cargo Tote | Christopher -

ATHLEISUREVERSE Sweat Pant + LAGOS

Compass Pendant Necklace |

DATE NIGHT IN LOOK PG 85 - 87 | Tora -

COLMAR Lightweight Jacket, ATHLEI-

SUREVERSE Rolled Tee, MAVI JEANS

Paloma Wide Leg Jeans, LAGOS Turquoise

Necklac, + Medium Caviar Ball

Hoop Earrings, SEQUIN JEWELRY Cleopatra

Evil Eye Necklace | Christopher -

PSYCHO BUNNY Polo |

We enjoyed our set for the day which allows

us to be in one of the hotels suite's

that had a large balcony. We wanted to

know more about this property which

is in the heart of it all. Whether you're

staying here for a vacation, traveling

for work or are enjoying a staycation,

we wanted to find out more about the

history of this property which goes back

to 1912 and how the hotel supports the

community. Nicole Hendrix, the General

Manager of The Muse New York gives us

the inside scoop on this property as well

as the portfilio that it has joined.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did The Muse

New York Hotel launch?

NICOLE HENDRIX: The history of The

Muse New York Hotel dates to 1912 when

the Leavitt Building was constructed by

Nast & Springsteen as a home for jewelry

manufacturing and warehousing.

For almost a century, the building served

its original purpose until 2000 when it

was transformed into The Muse Hotel,

an independent hotel that offered luxurious

accommodations and exceptional

service to its guests.

In 2006, The Muse Hotel joined the

Kimpton family of hotels and continued

to provide its guests with an unforgettable

experience. The hotel's unique blend

of historic charm and modern amenities

made it a popular destination for travelers

from all over the world.

In 2022, the Muse New York returned

to its independent roots, continuing to

provide its guests with the same level

of luxury and personalized service that

has made it a beloved fixture in the New

York City hospitality scene for over two

decades. Despite the changes over the

years, The Muse New York remains a symbol

of timeless elegance and sophistication,

honoring its past while continuing to

look towards the future.

AM: The Muse New York is located in

Times Square. What can you tell us about

the property in general?

NH: The Muse New York is a boutique hotel

that prides itself on offering its guests

authentic and personalized service in a

chic and timeless setting. Located in the

heart of Midtown and Times Square, the

hotel is ideally situated for travelers looking

to immerse themselves in all that New

York City has to offer. Guests of the hotel

can easily access world-famous shopping,

iconic landmarks, museums, theaters, and

vibrant nightlife.

The guest rooms and suites at The Muse

New York are designed to provide the ultimate

in comfort and luxury. Guests can

choose from a variety of room types, including

some with balconies, that offer

stunning views of the city. The hotel also

features several amenities to ensure a

memorable stay, including a fitness center

and business lounge. Whether you

are in town for business or leisure, The

Muse New York offers the perfect blend

of convenience and luxury. With its prime

location, personalized service, and elegant

design, the hotel is sure to exceed

your expectations and make your stay in

New York City unforgettable.

AM: Working out is always key whether

we’re traveling for fun, business or a staycation

– tell us about your fitness center.

NH: The fitness center at our hotel is a haven

for fitness enthusiasts and wellness

seekers alike. Boasting state-of-the-art

equipment and a modern layout, it provides

the perfect space to elevate your

fitness routine. Our facility features a variety

of cutting-edge equipment, including

Peloton bikes, Life Fitness treadmills,

and Precor Ellipticals, so you can tailor

your workout to your preferences. You

can also indulge in some stress-relieving

exercises like yoga or meditation, making

the fitness center the perfect place

to unwind after a long day. And with

24/7 access, you can squeeze in a workout

no matter how busy your schedule.

AM: For those that are traveling for business,

what is available at your business

center?

NH: The hotel's business lounge is the

perfect place for guests to stay connected,

catch up on work, or prepare for a

meeting. The complimentary business

lounge is conveniently located on the

lower level of the hotel, providing a quiet

and productive space for guests to work

in comfort. The lounge is equipped with

high-speed internet access and features

a variety of seating options to suit your

needs. Guests can use the in-house iMac

to catch up on emails, create presentations,

or print important documents,

ensuring that they have everything they

need to stay on top of their work while

on the road. Whether you are traveling

for business or leisure, the hotel's business

lounge is the perfect place to stay

connected and productive.

AM: Is your hotel pet friendly and do you

offer amenities that are specifically for

our four-legged friends?

NH: Yes, we are a pet-friendly hotel and

we do not charge any fees for pets!

We understand that your furry friends

are part of your family, and we welcome

them with open arms. We offer a

range of pet-friendly rooms and a special

welcome package that is designed

specifically for our four-legged guests.

Our Pampered Pet package includes

bedding, a cat tree, water bowls, and

small treats to make your pet feel comfortable

and at home during their stay.

We take pride in providing a comfortable

and convenient experience for our

guests and their pets.

AM: For those staying at the hotel, can

you tell us about the amenities that

guests can enjoy in their room?

NH: At The Muse New York, we delight

in providing our guests with exceptional

amenities to make their stay as comfortable

and enjoyable as possible. Our rooms

are outfitted with high-quality amenities

such as Fine Frette linens, spa-inspired

bath amenities from Atelier Bloem, plush

bathrobes, and luxurious showers. In addition,

we provide ample workspace with

a desk and chair for those who need to

work during their stay. We also offer a

hair dryer and in-room safe for added

convenience. We strive to ensure that our

guests have everything they need for a

comfortable and memorable stay with us.

AM: Our Weekend Spring Style Editorial

showcased key looks that one would wear

when optimizing their weekend with all

the activities that could take place. We

had the pleasure of shooting this editorial

in your Muse Suite with Balcony. Can you

tell us about the amenities that are in this

room?

NH: Certainly! The Muse Suite is one of

our most luxurious accommodations, offering

guests a king-size bed fitted with

high-quality Italian Frette linens for a

comfortable night's sleep. The suite's

spa-inspired bathroom features a soaking

tub, walk-in shower with luxurious

amenities from Atelier Bloem, and guests

can indulge in plush bathrobes during

their stay. We were mindful of all the little

details when designing these spaces.

Making sure to provide good lighting and

make-up mirrors for application. The suite

also includes a spacious balcony, perfect

for enjoying a cup of coffee or glass of

wine while taking in the view. And for

those who need to stay connected while

traveling, the suite also features ample

workspace.

AM There are other suites available at

The Muse New York. Can you tell us about

them?

NH: In addition to the Muse Suite, The

Muse New York also offers other suite options

for guests. Our King Suite features

one king bed with Italian Frette linens, a

separate living area with a pull-out sofa

bed, a walk-in shower, spa-inspired

bath amenities from Atelier Bloem,

plush bathrobes, ample workspace,

and upscale interiors. Our King Suite

with Balcony includes all the same features

as the King Suite but also features

a spacious balcony with outdoor

seating. We also have Accessible King

Suites that include one king bed with

Italian Frette linens, a roll-in shower,

spa-inspired bath amenities from Atelier

Bloem, plush bathrobes, spacious

workspace, and upscale interiors.

AM: As we’re getting closer to the

Spring and Summer, what kinds of

packages are offered for those that are

making travel plans to come to the city?

NH: We are excited to offer a range

of packages that cater to all types of

travelers visiting the city in the Spring

and Summer. Some of our upcoming

packages include a Mother's Day offer,

Broadway packages, as well as others.

We are thrilled to offer a PRIDE package

this coming June, which celebrates

the LGBTQ+ community with exclusive

events and experiences. Please stay

tuned to our website for the latest

packages and offers that we have available

for our guests.

AM: For those that may be looking to

book the property for sales meetings or

other corporate events, what does The

Muse New York offer for these guests?

NH: Great question! For those looking

to book the property for sales meetings

or other corporate events, The Muse

New York offers a partnership with

Convene, a premium business space located

across the street from the hotel.

This is one of the largest event venues

in Midtown Man hattan and is an ideal

space for a range of events, including

summits, awards dinners, town

halls, and galas. The partnership with

Convene ensures that we can provide

a range of flexible and modern event

spaces, and state-of-the-art technolo-

gy and amenities to ensure your event is

a success.

AM: There are a number of events coming

up in the city whether it’s a Broadway

show, parade or even those that are

seasonal from the kick off of the solstice,

PRIDE and summer tourism.

Does The Muse Hotel NY do anything in

tandem with those events or the city?

NH: Yes, The Muse New York is always

looking to engage with the city and events

that are happening in the area. We have

some exciting activations planned for the

summer season, including events for the

solstice, PRIDE, and more. We encourage

you to stay tuned by subscribing on our

website or follow us on Instagram (@

musehotelnyc) for the latest updates and

offers. We look forward to welcoming our

guests and helping you make the most of

your stay during these exciting times!

AM: How does The Muse Hotel NY give

back to the community whether it’s initiatives

with the neighborhood or the city at

large?

NH: At The Muse New York, we believe

in giving back to our community and supporting

local businesses. We often partner

with neighborhood businesses and

initiatives to promote local events and

support our neighborhood. We have several

sustainability initiatives in place to

reduce our environmental impact and

support our community's health. We are

committed to making a positive impact

in our community and are always looking

for ways to contribute and give back.

AM: The Muse New York was formerly

part of Kimpton and is now part of Crescent

Hotels & Resorts'Latitude:Lifestyles

by Crescent Collection. What does being

part of this portfolio mean for this property?

NH: Being part of Crescent Hotels & Resorts’

Latitude: Lifestyles by Crescent Collection

is a wonderful opportunity for The

Muse New York. As an independent

hotel, we can now focus on providing

a unique guest experience that is tailored

to the needs of our guests.

The Latitude: Lifestyles by Crescent

Collection is known for managing a

portfolio of distinctive hotels that are

designed to connect with travelers

who want elevated experiences. This

means that we have more flexibility

in offering personalized services and

amenities that reflect the character of

our property and the surrounding community.

Additionally, Crescent Hotels

& Resorts’ expertise in hotel management

and operations can help us continue

to improve our service standards

and enhance our guests'

experience.

@musehotelnyc

When we watch our favorite TV shows and

movies, there are many people who come

together in front of and behind the camera

to bring a story to life. Some people hold

roles which gives, us additional insight

into the time, dedication and care that is

involved for our programs!

This month, we caught up Tetiana Gaidar a

choreographer and actress who has been

in Amazon's FreeVee BOSCH: Legacy as well

as Netflix's Day Shift. But she is also known

as a tactical trainer due to her martial arts

work. She worked with Keanu Reeves (The

Devil’s Advocate, The Matrix, 47 Ronin) to

prepare him for John Wick: Chapter 4 as

well as a number of Hollywood's top talent!

We wanted to know how she got into

the industry, how she combines the talents

that she has acquired along the way, the

community in the industry and upcoming

projects we should keep an eye out for.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize

that you wanted to be in the arts and

wanted to be an entertainer?

TETIANA GAIDAR: When I was 10 years

old, I saw X-Files with David Duchovny

(Twin Peaks, The Estate, You People)! My

first instinct was, “oh my God, I love David

Duchovny, I want to marry him and I

want to be an FBI agent!” Ha! I think that

I didn’t really think that I would be an artist

or an actress. I was inspired to be a

spy. To become an actress and to act and

turn it into a career, this happened when

I saw John Wick with Keanu Reeves and I

saw how beautiful the action was and the

choreography and it looked so mesmerizing.

I thought that by being a spy I would

have that action and life, but he was doing

that up on the screen with himself! So

I thought, “wow, ok well, maybe that’s a

career for me and maybe I can just do that

in the movies and can portray those characters

like assassins and my family would

be a lot happier with that.

AM: In prep for this interview, your background

is amazing from acting, dancing,

choreography, professionally training in

Kung Fu - how did you embrace all of these

skills?

TG: I think that I just honestly, I don’t

think about it. I go with one skill at a time

and I try to be really good at it and then

I go for the next skill and the next one.

I’m just so hungry for it because I love it

so much. It’s so inspiring to be able to do

those things and I never thought about

how I embrace them! I just love learning

and growing!

AM: Clearly you do! You started as a ballerina

in the Ukraine and due to your training,

you found yourself being a choreographer

on So You Think You Can Dance

Ukraine. What was that experience like

for you and how long did you do that?

TG: When I was a little girl, my mom,

she dreamed of me becoming a ballerina

because that was her dream. So she

said, “well I always dreamed to dance,

but why don’t you become a ballerina?”

I kind of rejected the idea of doing it as

a career. Dancing and ballet really came

into my life because my boyfriend died

and I was 18 and it became a beautiful

therapy that I was able to tell so many

stories through dance. So You Think You

Can Dance, because I was dancing so

much as a therapy, I was coming from

a very poor family and we didn’t have

money for a therapist. So to go through

a trauma like that, I was dancing day and

night like seriously, 24 hours a day learning

choreography and training myself. I

was so into that so things were happening

around me so fast and people were

noticing my talent and pulling me on

the show to assist and then I auditioned

myself and was on the show. Everything

was happening so fast and we’re talking

about a time frame of 6 months, such a

super fast process. I think it happened

because I was so focused on healing myself

through dance that I wasn’t paying

attention about the things that were

happening around me as I was advancing

in dance and booking jobs. It was the

storytelling that was so inspiring to me

and it was mesmerizing and so healing

– that’s what I was drawn to. To me, it

didn’t matter if it was So You Think You

Can Dance or a dance studio. To me, the

story that I get to tell through this dance

is what matters. I think that that’s why

things happened so fast in my life and in

my career because I wasn’t orienting myself

in terms of planning to get on a show.

I just loved the process, what could I say

more about the story, could I dance more?

AM: At what point did you get your first

acting gig? Was it after being on the show?

TG: The first acting gig, it was actually a

short film music video with Max Barskih,

a Ukranian singer who has is very famous.

He has actually been at war this year as

he was fighting and I am very proud of

him. He’s very recognized in Europe and

in Russia. He actually has some music videos

in English. So his first project for an

American audience was called Dance and

it was about zombies and it was dancing,

acting and it was like a short film basically,

but still very musical. It was my first acting

experience playing a zombie wife and

choreographing a dance like a zombie and

I fell in love with that. I thought, “wow,

this is awesome!” I get a chance to choreograph

for his music video, to dance in

it and to act, “I’m like, ok – I love it!”

AM: Yeah! It’s a nice trifecta!

TG: Then it was so funny because my first

acting experience, was playing a zombie

in Ukraine – a hot girl that becomes

a zombie and dances! When I moved to

LA, my first breakthrough was participating

in Day Shift directed by JJ Perry (Iron

Man, Machette Kills, Gangster Squad) starring

Jamie Foxx (Ray, White House Down,

Spider Man: No Way Home), Dave Franco

(21 Jump Street, Now You See Me, If Beale

Street Could Talk), Meagan Good (Eve’s

Bayou, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,

Harlem) and Snoop Dogg (Training

Day, Soul Plane, Pitch Perfect 2) and I was

a zombie in this one too! So that was interesting!

AM: So how did you start incorporating

Kung Fu into this ecosystem?

TG: Kung Fu came way before dance.

My mom wanted me to be a ballerina.

I told my mom that I wanted to be

a spy, I didn’t want to do ballet and I

was learning English from subtitles and

I was going to marry David Duchovny

and dancers don’t make money. So my

mom was like, if you want to be a badass,

then you’re going to go to martial

arts school. She literally dragged me

into the first martial arts school on the

way home and they had Kung Fu, karate,

jiu jitsu and other kinds of disciplines.

That day there was a Kung Fu class and

my mom asked if she could sign me up.

I saw the swords, how they were fighting

and dancing and I felt that that was

so cool and it was like Buffy the Vampire

Slayer. So I was in and that’s where my

journey in Kung Fu started way back in

school. My parents were very strict and

my said that if I didn’t win the competition

that she wouldn’t go home with me

and there were a couple of times when

I lost competitions that my mom would

just leave me there and I would find my

own way home. My parents are very

strict and I appreciate it so much and I

appreciate the journey through Kung

Fu because it gave me the core inside

of my heart to be a good person and I

think martial arts is very beneficial for

everyone to do because it is a very good

discipline to have inside of you for who

you are, to stay loyal to yourself and to

have good qualities in this life. I’m very

thankful for my mom to do that.

AM: It seems like your mom put you on

such a great path for you to acquire all

of these skill sets that you have and that

you can use them interchangeably.

TG: She did and my dad too! My dad and

my mom, they’re both scientists. My entire

family does physics! Everybody in

my generation, even right now, my sister

and brother – they’re scientists. I’m

the only one that is loving the arts and

acting.

AM: You’ll have that!

TG: I did! Even when I saw my mom and

dad recently a few weeks ago in Poland,

because I just rescued them from Ukraine.

My mom said, “why didn’t you tell me

that you wanted to be an actress when

you were in school? I would have put you

in theater. You always wanted to be a spy

and an agent, I don’t understand how you

are doing this now! How did this happen?”

I told her I didn’t know it just happened

because I was inspired by Keanu and John

Wick – it truly did. I’m thankful that my

mom put me in dance and Kung Fu and

my dad gave me the freedom to choose

who I want to be and I think that that is

very important.

AM: I’m a huge fan of BOSCH and I had

the pleasure of interviewing Titus Welliver

(Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy) a few

weeks prior to the premier of the spinoff,

BOSCH: Legacy last year.

TG: Oh!

AM: Yes, loved it. We remember watching

the series and loved it. You were this

badass that had us holding our breath in

those episodes! When you hit the screen

you had my attention. What was it like

for you to be on that show, to have that

role that embodies the assassin/spy and to

showcase all of those skills together?

TG: It was absolutely a dream come true!

We were on set for John Wick 4 later on

and I told Keanu that I had just came from

shooting BOSCH: Legacy and I told him

that he inspired me to be an actress and

now I’m working with him because I was

training him on weapon manipulation.

The BOSCH team gave me such creative

freedom to show the character in the way

that I saw it and the way that I wanted to

play it. The entire BOSCH family was so

nice. You have no idea, it felt like family.

Everyone loved each other, the energy on

set was unbelievable and we were working

crazy hours like all night and then

havng a 5am call time. Everyone was positive

and Titus was just a sweetheart. He is

one of the nicest people and an incredible

human being and very talented. It was

such an honor to play scenes with him.

It was an absolutely fun night shooting

each other, going after each other like

cat and mouse. I was so proud of him because

he actually wrote those episodes!

AM: I wasn’t aware!

TG: Yeah it was his first writing and it

were those scenes that I was in. He did

an incredible job. In post-production,

they didn’t have anything that they

needed to change or edit. I had the best

time in my life and it was a dream that

came true that you didn’t even believe

that you were in it until a year after that

it actually happened to me! It inspires

me to keep going and I hope it inspires

other people to keep going for their

dreams as one day it can happen to you.

Keanu was like, “wait, I inspire you?”

He got so shy and he was so cute and

humble. He couldn’t believe it. I told him

that I had just done BOSCH: Legacy and

he knew what that was. I mean BOSCH is

such a famous show and loved by people

because of the people who are actually

making the show – the creator, producers,

Titus, everyone puts their hearts in

the show and that’s what makes it so

successful.

AM: We're fans of the franchise and can’t

wait for future seasons as well as spinoffs,

but seeing you in those episodes

from last season, you had such a presence

and love programs that have assassins

and spies.

So being able to work with Keanu for

John Wick 4, you and your fiancé worked

with him for his tactile training. What

was that like?

TG: For me, it was surreal, that was the

person who inspired me to be an actress

and here I am helping Taran to train Keanu.

I was very honored and at the same

time, I felt very at ease because Keanu

is one of the most humble people that

I have ever met. Recently, I also worked

with Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels, Vanilla

Sky, Gangs of New York) another example

of humble people that you can work

with. They make you feel relaxed, they are

so into you and what you do. They are not

into themselves.

Keanu was into training, being better, listening

and he is such a sweetheart. It’s so

true what people say about him. He’s very

focused and I didn’t even feel like I was

working with him. I am working with one

of the biggest actors in the world and it

didn’t feel like that. It felt like I was working

with a friend that was very interested

in becoming better and I found him inspiring.

It’s great when you meet people like

that to be honest with you.

AM: You’re a trainer at Taran Tactical. What

is this and what do you do as a trainer?

TG: I help Taran get actors prepared for

their action films and we work with some

of the biggest people out there. I feel very

grateful but when I am out there doing my

job and the people we work with make it

feel like a friendly relationship. I love helping

them and knowing that I have the skills

to help them to where they want to be.

AM: In your role with Keanu, did you help

him prior to him going on set to prepare

him for his role or were you on site to

tweak things as filming was taking place?

TG: On set, they have armors who will

help them there. All the training for the

films are done prior to shooting. So when

you’re on set, the moment happens when

you’re filming and so you’re not thinking

about training anymore. Keanu has a le

git and incredible reputation for being

the actor who actually puts in 100% into

his training before. So it’s like on BOSCH,

same for me, all my prep and training was

done before filming so that when you’re

on set, you have this beautiful space to

create and do the choices that you feel

you need to do for the character. For Keanu,

when he was on set, he was able to

make the choices that he felt was right for

his character in the moment.

AM: Amazing, it’s always interesting to

see what is involved behind the camera

and in many cases, before you’re coming

to set to shoot. You have worked with so

many people from Kevin Hart (Little Fockers,

Jumanji franchise, Night School),

Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, The

Many Saints of Newark, American Gigolo)

and Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse,

The Newsroom, Six) to name a few. You

must be busy meeting those schedules.

TG: Very busy!

AM: I heard that pause!

TG: Yes! It’s sometimes nice to have

that break because it just gets too busy

sometimes with things happening all

the time.

AM: As someone who is in great shape,

we always like knowing what are 3 workouts

that you do that we should think

about incorporating into our own practices

as we prepare for the spring and

the summer.

TG: I honestly know that from my own

life experience, workouts are great, but

your diet is the priority always! You have

to figure out your diet first and what

works for your body. But workouts that

I love and that I personally suggest is to

stretch everyday 10-20 minutes, every

morning or afternoon – whenever you

have time. For me, it’s mornings because

I have the most time and I feel like

I have accomplished something if I have

worked out for 20 minutes in the morning.

I like an ab exercise because that's

in our core. Abs and stretch for me! My

third workout is my stunt, but it’s not

for everybody! I would highly suggest

to do 20 minutes every morning before

you eat. Warm up your body, stretch a

little bit and do your abs and then you’ll

see your body start to have this beautiful

definition.

AM: Do you have any projects that we

should keep an eye out for?

TG: I did my first short film, my own. I was

very inspired last year after BOSCH so I

decided to learn how to produce, how to

find the right people, getting the ideas

– everything and I am very happy about

it. It’s in post-production right now and it

should be done in a week or two. It’s close

to being done and hopefully we will get to

go through some of the short film festivals

so it’s very exciting and we’re looking

forward to releasing it publicly. I showed

some pieces to Cameron and some other

friends of mine and they love it! I’ve

learned so much and I have also learned

about how much work it is to produce and

shoot your films. It’s not easy and there

are so many things involved. It’s not just

about having the right idea, script and

actress. It’s about finding the right producers,

negotiations, locations – so many

things.

@tetianagaidar

PHOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 90, 95, 9LIST

STORI3S PG 139 + 140 Josh Ryan | PG 92,

96, 99, 101 + 9LIST STORI3S PG 140 Images

courtesy of Tetiana Gaidar | 9LIST STO-

RI3S PG 140 Tony Duran |

For the last 10 years, we have enjoyed NBC's

The Blacklist where we are introduced to

Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader)

a former ex-US Naval Intelligence officer

who became a prominent criminal and

has evaded the FBI and been on their Most

Wanted fugitive list for decades. He voluntarily

gives himself up to FBI and lets them

know that he has created a list known as

the Blacklist. In his exchange to inform

on their operations, he wants to receive

immunity from prosecution as long as he

works exclusively with FBI Elizabeth Keen

(Megan Boone).

We learned about their relationship with

this rookie agent, Blacklisters and Dembe

Zuma, played by Hisham Tawfiq who is his

number 2. We have seen him be his confidant

and navigate his way to joining the

FBI himself! We caught up with him to talk

about his service in the military, being a

first responder, how he got into the industry

and his role in the series.

If you have yet to watch The Blacklist, this

interview will include discussions about

plot points about the show and specifically

Season 9 and the current and final season,

Season 10 which is airing now.

ATHLEISURE MAG: In doing the research

into your backstory, you have always fostered

your work in the arts as well as being

a literal super hero with your time in the

Marines and being a firefighter in the FDNY

for 20 years while still focusing on being an

entertainer, when you were growing up,

what did you want to be?

HASHIM TAWFIQ: When I was growing

up, I had dreams of becoming a pilot! And

I think that at the time, to be a pilot, you

had to have 20/20 vision so that quickly left

my vision. But I was always an outdoors

type of person. I was always into physical

activity and I think my dream was to be

a football player, but then I got injured. I

took a dance class and I fell in love with

dance and that was my introduction into

theater and that allowed me to make that

transition. But, my ultimate dream was to

be a pilot.

AM: Tell us about your earliest memory

as an actor and what was the path for

you to decide that this was also something

that you wanted to do?

HT: In the 90’s I started to dance and theater

and I was doing this intensive acting

and I went to this workshop which

also had students that included Denzel

Washington and Debbie Allen. It was at

that moment what I took that class that I

realized that I really liked this and I could

see myself doing this as a career. But at

the same time, I was already a firefighter,

so there was already this struggle between

being a firefighter and pursuing

this career as an actor.

AM: How did you end up being a firefighter

as you were Station Chief for the

FDNY in Harlem?

HT: So when I was in the Marines, I already

started thinking about what I

would do when I came out. I took all

of the tests, I took police exams, corrections,

and I knew nothing about the

fire department. There was a flyer in my

home from this organization called the

Vulcan Society which is an organization

of Black Firefighters (editors note: the

Vulcan Society was founded in 1940 and

is a fraternal organization of black firefighters

in NYC). At the time I was coming

out of the Marines, out of 10,000

NYC firefighters, less than 2% were African

American. The Vulcan Society was

active in the inner-city high schools to

recruit people of color to the fire department.

I came home and I saw that postcard

and I filled it out. Like I said, I knew

nothing about the fire department, but

I filled it out and I started learning about

the job and the hours. I was a physical

person and I like to get dirty and dusty

and all of those type of things. I found

out that it was an exciting job and that it

was something that I would love to do.

At the time, I was a Correction Officer at

Sing Sing when they called me and I left

that and went to the fire department

and never looked back.

AM: Wow! A lot of people talk about the

training or you see it when you’re watching

shows like FOX’s 9-1-1, its spinoff 9-1-1:

Lone Star and ABC’s Station 19 which are

my favorite first responder shows. Did you

find training to be a firefighter difficult?

HT: No ha ha! I guess because I was just

out of the Marine Corp and I think that

that was the most toughest thing that I

had ever experienced physically! So when

I went into the firefighter training, it was

kind of easy for me. I was a squad leader

and I stood out. There was nothing really

about the Firefighter Academy that

was challenging for me. Like I said, I had

just gotten out of the Marine Corps and

that was the most challenging thing that I

had done. I remember taking the physical

and it was a breeze for me and I remember

blowing through that. People were

like, “oh man, this guy is moving through

it!” Being fast, being physical and being

strong is part of my attributes and that’s

what led me to go towards those kind of

jobs.

AM: Were you still acting while you were

being a firefighter?

HT: By this time, I was dancing with a

dance company ha! So, when I was at correctional

officer and a firefighter, I would

spend my weekends going to rehearsals

for dance and I slowly transitioned that

into the theater. So I started doing plays,

but I always had my firefighter job and it

was one of the reasons that I took it. Not

only because of the adrenaline rush, but

I knew that as a firefighter, I had a lot of

time off and I used that time off to do all

of the things that I was passionate about.

AM: In your acting career, you have done a

lot of things on the stage and a number of

TV shows from NBC's Law & Order to The

Blacklist, do you find when you’re preparing

for a role for the stage vs. on TV that it

is a different process for you?

HT: Yes! I love the theater because you get

time to really rehearse, practice and to really

live in these spaces. When you're with

the people that you’re working with, you

get to create and work through the costumes.

It’s just a different process that

goes into theater that I really love! I love

being being on TV too! There is a different

way that you have to create and prepare

for theater then you do with TV or

film. I love that process in theater.

AM: I remember when The Blacklist started

that it would be a show that I was going

to enjoy. I’m a huge fan of James Spader

(Stargate, Secretary, Boston Legal) as

well as Amir Arison (Law & Order: Special

Victims Unit, Billions, The Dropout) and

Harry Lennix (The Matrix Reloaded, Ray,

Billions) that are core and original castmembers

with you. There have been so

many people that have been guest stars

with the show from Stacy Keach (Mickey

Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Sin City: A Dame

to Kill For, Blue Bloods), David Costabile

(Breaking Bad, Suits, Billions), Anthony

Michael Hall (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast

Club, The Goldbergs) the late Lance

Reddick (Oz, The Wire, BOSCH), etc. You

play Dembe Zuma. How did you find out

about the show and what did you know

about your character when you read for

the part?

HT: I knew nothing! My character wasn’t

in the pilot, but that was the only episode

that I missed. After the pilot,

James requested that he should have a

team around him. So initially, I was this

Muslim African Freedom Fighter who

was rescued by Red from human trafficking

as a child. So my audition was

all improv. I had no lines so I just made

up a backstory that came from my life

and experience. It was only supposed to

be for 1 episode, so there wasn’t really

any pressure or angst about it. Then, it

turned into something different than

what I had anticipated or even expected!

But that was that journey of that

process. But it wasn’t like I was initially

being brought into a series regular role!

But this is where we are after 10 years!

AM: You’re character has such a presence

whether it was when he wasn’t talking,

or he was a man of few words and now

having more evolved storylines, how do

you approach your character?

HT: I really draw a lot from personal experiences!

I take a lot from my personal life

and I put it onto this character. I wouldn’t

say that it was easy, but what I have

learned especially in not taking the traditional

route in acting – the hard thing for

me was getting the training and learning

how as well as what tools need to be used

in order to tell a story. I pull from these

experiences that I have had from getting

into character and doing all of that, that’s

the easy part because I have had such

a colorful life. So it was just getting the

training and learning about pulling the

different emotions and experiences so I

could put them into Dembe.

AM: Up until Season 9, we see Dembe

and Red and their dynamic and you really

create a sense of humanity and a bit of a

moral compass for him. What was it like to

play off of James Spader?

HT: The interesting thing was, I didn’t

know anything about James Spader! Luckily

for me I didn’t come in with all of these

notions about him so it worked out great.

As I started to work with him, that’s when

it really became evident to me. He is so intense

and that’s when I was like, “oh My

God, this guy!” It’s not even that I’m working

with James Spader – it was that I am

working with this extremely talented human

being. You know, our chemistry – we

just have it! Anytime we got into a scene,

it was like these sparks just flew whether

we were improving certain things or reading

off the page, we have always had this

amazing chemistry. It’s an amazing thing

to have and to play off of and I am greatly

appreciative of!

AM: In Season 9, your character joins the

FBI! What do you think about this twist in

the storyline and being able to work in a

different way with other members of the

cast? We’re assuming that you played off

of things in your own life to bring these

nuances to life as well for the switch in his

character.

HT: Absolutely, it was definitely different

especially going from not really speaking

that much to downloading the Task

Force on who the next Blacklister is so

it was definitely a shift. I went out and

got myself an acting coach to make sure

that I was approaching it right and putting

on a whole other layer of Dembe

which was challenging but also exciting.

I welcomed it and also enjoyed it. A lot of

people disagree and say that I should go

back with Red! I think that as an actor,

it was something that I definitely welcomed

and I had fun playing with even

though I missed the chemistry that I had

with James.

AM: Before we delve into the final season,

how do you describe Dembe and

what are the similarities between you

and the character? Have you been able to

give back feedback to the writer’s room

in terms of how Dembe develops?

HT: Oh absolutely! I think that in the beginning,

because Dembe wasn’t scripted,

there was just so much that we

didn’t know. It wasn’t until Season 3, 4

or even 5 that I started having conversations

with John Bokenkamp (The Call,

The Blacklist, The Blacklist: Redemption),

the creator of the show and we talked

about who is Dembe and what did he

look like? We knew he was Muslim and

we didn’t get to see any of that so it was

really important to me especially since I

am Muslim that we make sure that we

are authentic about that and that we

show that. They agreed. We talked a lot

and we had a lot of conversations and

we see him praying and doing these

things which meant a lot to me. That’s

also hard to let go because I’ve been

part of building this character and flushing

him out as opposed to this character

being presented to me. I enjoyed all of

that!

Who is Dembe? Dembe because of the

evolution of how he came to be, Dembe

is kind of me! I kind of consider myself a

quiet guy and I think that the only thing

that you won’t see Dembe do is that I’m

a funny/silly guy! Sometimes we see Red

and Dembe have these card games and to

play like kids. We see a little bit of that. A

lot of Dembe is really me minus the violence.

AM: What can you tell us about the final

season or what should we be looking for?

HT: I think that we all know that all The

Blacklisters are coming after Red. We also

know that because they’re coming after

Red and because of Dembe’s affiliation

with him, now he is also in danger. It just

sets the stakes really really high. I think

that what it also does is that Dembe has

dealt with conflict, but now he’s really

conflicted because of not being with Red

in this most dangerous time since he is on

the Task Force. I think that what we’re going

to see play out in Season 10 is this back

and forth of being able to choose a side.

At the same time, being this moral compass

and what that conflict looks like.

AM: You have been in this cast for the past

10 seasons. What are some of your favorite

moments from the show?

HT: I loved when I got to play with Mr. Solomon,

Edi Gathegi (Twilight, The Twilight

Saga: New Moon, X-Men: First Class) character

– I love that episode with the pool

balls and getting tortured and going after

him. That one stands out. There are so

many, but I also loved just because of how

I came into acting and all of these people

that I looked up to. I loved the time that

I got to play with Benga who was in Season

9 – being my daughter and being kidnapped

that was an amazing episode for

me. I loved the episode where we got to

explore my religion and faith not only personally,

but also with Dembe. Then there

are some amazing episodes in Season 10

that I can’t speak on, but I’m really excited

about that. There’s one episode where

we have never seen about Dembe. I’m excited

to see how that played out. Out of

10 years, there have been so many beautiful

moments as you know. But those are

some of the moments that I really enjoyed.

AM: What will be your biggest takeaway

from being part of this production?

HT: That’s hard, I learned so much watching

James and how he works and how

specific he is. Just how he approaches

everything – that’s something that I

will take away from it. Being prepared

for the unexpected because this was

definitely unexpected. In 10 years, I’ve

grown so much, I’m a whole different

person and there’s so much growth that

I have had. Not just professionally, but

also personally. The biggest takeaway

in terms of the craft is just seeing how

dedicated James was and learning how

he approaches it and putting those tools

in my pocket as I’m moving forward.

AM: What will we see you doing next?

Are there any projects that you’re able

to share with us or things on your bucket

list whether it’s in front of or behind the

camera?

HT: I’m a Sci-Fi geek, so I’d definitely like

to do anything Sci-Fi! I love westerns so

I would love to be a cowboy, but after a

show like this, I’m also in love with doing

something that doesn’t have fun and

just a drama between me and my son,

me and my wife or something like that.

Anything and everything! I’ve also been

working on a documentary about my

life so all of those things, I would love to

tackle. That’s the scary thing about not

knowing what’s next up for me professionally.

Like I said, I would love to be an

astronaut in space or riding around on a

horse!

@elainewelteroth

PHOTGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 104, 106, +

113 Will Hart/NBC | PG 109 Virginia Sherwood/NBC

| PG 110 Scott Gries/NBC |

THE ART OF

THE SNACK:

A FISH CALLED

AVALON

In this month's The Art of the Snack, we

made our way down to Miami's South

Beach which is known for a number of their

iconic eateries that have been included in

some of our favorite films. Years ago, we

had the pleasure of catching a meal at the

iconic A Fish Called Avalon which is located

at The Avalon in South Beach's Art Deco

Distrct on Ocean Drive. We love the good

vibes that are felt here whether you're

eating inside of the restaurant or outsideso

that you can also take in the sites and

sounds that are around you!

Known for their seafood and good vibes,

we talked with Giorgio Riccobono, who

is the General Manager. He tells us about

the Art Deco District, The Avalon, its place

in pop culture and of course the kinds of

dishes that we should keep in mind when

it comes to our next visit!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did A Fish Called

Avalon open?

Giorgio Riccobono: 1989

AM: Tell us about the Art Deco District that

it resides?

GR: We are located in the heart of the iconic

South Beach Art Deco district. Nestled

on the corner of Ocean Drive and 7th St,

The Avalon and A Fish Called Avalon are

one of the most prominently recognized

Hotels and Restaurants on the strip.

AM: The restaurant is located in The Avalon

hotel. What can you tell us about this

iconic hotel as it has been in films and video

games?

GR: The Avalon has made its appearance

in Scarface, Miami Vice, Bad Boys for Life

and has many references in the video

game Grand Theft Auto.

AM: With Harrison Ford, Emilio and Gloria

Estefan and Guy Ritchie and more frequenting

this hot spot, can you tell us about the

recent renovations that have taken place

and what can guests expect whether they

are eating inside or on your outdoor dining

dining patio?

GR: The Hotel and Restaurant have undergone

many recent renovations. All

rooms have been updated with new

hardwood floors, mattresses, new furniture

and larger TVs. All new carpeting

within the hallways. The restaurant has

been updated with new furniture and

dishware.

AM: We love the Oldsmobile that is in

front of your patio dining.

GR: Yes, she is our Mascot. The most

photographed car in the country.

AM: What kind of cuisine is served here

and tell is about the background of Executive

Chef Kal Abdalla?

GR: We are a seafood concept with locally

sourced fish and shellfish, international

flavors and extensive wine list.

Chef Kal Abdalla is the Executive Chef

at A Fish Called Avalon. He started his

culinary career at the age of 18. He is

a native of the Syrian island of Arwad

where he grew up with an appreciation

of the eastern Mediterranean's bountiful

fish, seafood and organically grown

fruits and vegetables. He background is

in French classical cuisine.

For over 4 decades, he has a vast experience

in preparing haute cuisine, is

a master of delivering beautifully composed

plates that focus on simple, fresh

and perfectly prepared ingredients.

Chef Kal offers diners a satisfying range

of styles, ingredients and cooking techniques.

These reflect his broad experience

abroad European and American

cruise lines, and the sophisticated techniques

and tastes he absorbed during

travels to countries including France, Argentina,

England, Ireland, Morocco and

Japan.

Prior to being here, he was the Executive

Chef at The Forge Restaurant in Miami

from 1983 to 2003. He has accumulated

significant honors including multiple DiRo-

NA Awards (Distinguished Restaurants of

North America), Wine Spectator’s “Best

Steak in America” and the Miami chapter

of Chaine des Rotisseurs’ “Best Restaurant

of the Year” award.

During that period he had the honor of

preparing dinners for both of President

Ronald Reagan’s inaugural galas, and participated

in Johnson & Wales University’s

The Distinguished Visiting Chef series.

His most recent accolades come from his

peers in the culinary industry, who have

voted him among the prestigious “Best

Chefs America” for the last three years.

Under his leadership since 2010, A Fish

Called Avalon restaurant continues to be

recognized for the superb dining experience

that has made it a culinary legend in

South Beach for 26 years.

AM: You offer Happy Hour nightly. Are

there 3 dishes that are on this menu that

you suggest?

GR: Definitely. Bang Bang Shrimp with

brown sugar butter, curry & turmeric, cucumber

mint yogurt and pepper relish.

North Atlantic Wild Mussels with tarragon,

fresh herbs and Pernod.

Burrata with tomato coulis, micro basil

and garlic Parmigiano crostini.

AM: What are 3 appetizers that you suggest

that we should have when visiting?

GR: Grilled Spanish Octopus with fennel

salad and squid ink Madeira.

Bang Bang Shrimp with brown sugar butter,

curry & turmeric, cucumber mint yogurt

and pepper relish.

Seared Jumbo Sea Scallops with charred

leeks and asparagus coulis.

AM: For a main course, what are 3 dish-

es that you suggest as we know that you

have 3 main categories - seafood, meat

and poultry as well as vegetarian options.

GR: Our Most famous Seafood dish is

the Macadamia Crusted Snapper with

spinach risotto and a raspberry Beaujolais

Beurre blanc.

Pan seared Filet Mignon with rapini, leek

potato mash and a shitake Madeira reduction.

Grilled ½ Chicken with truffle sweet potato

mash, garlic ginger haricot verts,

gorgonzola cream.

AM: What are 3 desserts that you suggest

that we should enjoy when dining?

GR: We are still reigning national Key

Lime Pie Champions. Ours is served with

a pecan crust and fresh whipped cream.

Our Coconut Crème Brulee with fresh

raspberries.

Grand Marnier Chocolate Mousse served

in a maple pistachio tuile.

AM: What are 3 cocktails that we should

think about enjoying and sharing on our

Instagram feeds?

GR: Havana Super 88, a new twist on a

negroni and named after our Oldsmobile

which combines, Brugal 1888 Dark rum,

Aperol and Perfect vermouth. Served in

a mini replica of the Oldsmobile.

Maracuya, a passionfruit martini with

orange infused vodka, dry curacao, passionfruit

juice and pressed pineapple,

garnish with a perfect marigold.

Boomshine, a spicy margarita with jalapeno

infused tequila, cilantro, agave,

and goslings 151 float and jalapeno salt.

AM: For those that are making plans

for Easter dinner, do you have a special

menu for that?

GR: We will serve our a la carte menu

and have some exquisite specials that

have yet to be determined.

AM: As we’re moving from the winter

and beginning to think about the Spring,

are there any live performances that you

would like to highlight that are coming

up?

GR: We have live music 7 days a week.

Our current roster is Salsason, Neo Big

Band, The French Horn Collective and

Tony Cruz.

@afishcalledavalon

PHOTOS COURTESY | A Fish Called Avalon

When you're on vacation, you think

about where you want to stay whether

it's staying with friends, a hotel or

having a house to yourself! Escape is

a luxury rental service that allows you

to unmatched privacy and an elevated

experience. Being able to enjoy

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a night on average in a 4+ star hotel

room, this luxury rental is $1,500 to

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You receive personalized amenities

such as tailor-made services from butlers,

private chefs, private masseuses,

and more.

Escape offers 13 hand-picked properties,

ranging from exquisite Mediterranean-style

homes to ultra-modern

villas. Most are waterfront properties.

ATHLEISURE LIST: Miami

ESCAPE

Properties are on boarded via a thorough

check system that evaluates

every aspect of a property, including

location, aesthetics, features, linen,

cleanliness, security, pool, appliances,

price point, and even the character

of the homeowner. This ensures that

every property that is offered meets

Escape's high standards and provides

an unforgettable experience to the

guests.

Miami is a hotspot that has a number

of activities where travelers visit

for Art Basel, Formula 1 Miami Grand

Prix, Miami Swim Week and Ultra Music

Festival. For guests staying at the

villas, they have access to a curated

experience tailored to the purpose of

their trip. Escape's guest service team

takes the time to get to know their interests

and personalities so that they

can create an itinerary that exceeds


their expectations during their stay.

In addition to having access to a luxury

property for your next stay, Escape

also offers you the ability to rent a

yacht complete with your own ownonboard

private crew. There are a

number of options for you to choosefrom.

Just like when you're on land,

your concierge team will co-ordinate

activities that you can enjoy onboard

from private chefs to massage therapists.

For those that enjoy participating

in watersports, you'll be able to

enjoy snorkeling, jet skis, water floats,

parasailing, water slides, and more.

ESCAPE

1800 Michigan Ave Ste 700

Miami ,FL 33139

escapelux.com

@escapelux

PHOTO CREDITS | Escape



ATHLEISURE LIST: East Village, NYC

DÖNER HAUS

On March 20th, Döner Haus opened

and introduced the East Village to their

German-style Kebas. The Döner kebab

is a popular meat dish that originated

in Turkey. In Germany, the Döner - as it's

simply called there - came to life when

Turkish immigrants in the 50s came

to Germany and brought their cuisine

along. Missing many classic Turkish ingredients

for the kebab, they started

using German ingredients such as cabbage,

or even sauerkraut and other

pickled vegetables. They also started

catering to the German preference of

having “crispy” food and offered the

Kebab in a pressed Turkish flatbread,

as opposed to serving it with rice. It's

more like a sandwich, with all ingredients

placed into a "triangle pouch" flatbread

and flavored with garlic sauce.

Other differences include the meat in

Turkish-style Döner kebabs is usually

lamb or a mixture of lamb and beef,

while in German-style Döner kebabs, it

is usually chicken, turkey, or just beef.

Turkish-style Döner kebabs are typically

served with rice and vegetables,

or in a soft, thin bread called lavash,

while German-style Döner kebabs are

usually served in a pressed crispy flatbread

called pide.

German-style Döner kebabs may have

cabbage, sauerkraut or other pickled

vegetables as well as commonly used

onions, tomatoes and salad in Turkey.

Turkish-style Döner kebabs are typically

served with mediterranean sauces


such as tzatziki or tahini sauce, while

German-style Döner kebabs generally

come with a special dill based garlic

sauce.

You can select from Chicken, Beef, and

soon Vegan for your protein. Notably

all the meat from Döner Haus are 100%

halal and 100% free of any fillers, which

is uncommon for gyro in NYC.

If you're counting carbs, you can order

their Döner Box without fries and

you'll be able to enjoy an almost zero-card

meal. Keep in mind that tomatoes

have carbs, but the menu is customizable

so you can leave something

out or get anything extra.

When ordering, there is the Döner

Kebab Sandwich, which is the classic

German Döner experience featuring

sliced rotisserie meat in a bread-pock-


et with garlic sauce, as well as the

Döner Box, which is shaved meat over

fries and salad with plenty of garlic

sauce. There is also the Haus Fries,

French fries with a secret German seasoning.

All city workers get 25% off, there is

20% off for students and if you come in

after midnight you will get 20% off.

DÖNER HAUS

240 E 14th St

NY, NY 10013

doner.haus

@realdonerhaus

PHOTO CREDITS | Döner Haus


STEP UP TO STOP

THE SPREAD, NYC!

GET

VACCINATED

AND BOOSTED

GET

TESTED

if you have symptoms,

were exposed, or traveled

MASK

UP

to protect yourself and those around you

STAY

HOME

if you are feeling sick

For more information,

visit nyc.gov/covidvaccine

or call 877-VAX-4NYC.

Health

Bi

M

D

C


Stay connected and follow us across our

social channels on @AthleisureMag!




Bingely Books

LIVING WILD: HOW TO PLANT

STYLE YOUR HOME AND

CULTIVATE HAPPINESS

CICO Books

Hilton Carter

We follow Hilton Carter on Instagram

and enjoy learning about how to turn our

spaces into a natural environment with

plants. He shows us what kinds of plants

we can use, how to maintain them and

how to find the perfect plant for our personality

types. This plant stylist has taken

us along on his journey and how he is

even training his young daughter

how to live with them. This book

talks about interior design choices,

finiding the right materials,

schemes and textures to match

your home. He even shares 8

unique homes that he has styled

along with tips we can use in Living

Wild: How to Plant Style Your

Home and Cultivate Happiness.

THE GOURMAND'S EGG.

A COLLECTION OF

STORIES & RECIPES

Taschen

The Gourmand

In The Gourmand's Egg. A Collection

of Stories & Recipes highlights

one of the most versatile

ingredients that we can enjoy for

breakfast, lunch and dinner in an

array of dishes. We learn how in

ancient Rome, eggs were used

to dispel evil spirits and were woven

into Egyptian mythology as

well. This book (as well as future

ones in this series), looks at the

intersectionality between food

and culture through original recipes

while highlighting culinary

traditions with the egg from

around the world. There are also

artworks that are also included

from Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel

Basquiat, Frida Kahlo, David

Hockney, and Man Ray.

We can't wait to see additional

foods that will be in this series so

that we can learn about other ingredients

that are staples in our

kitchens.


dishes that hail from Nigeria to Madagascar

and Morocco to South Africa.

We're looking forward to trying Spice

Island Coconut Fish Curry, Tunisian

Tagine and one of our favorites, Jollof.

AFRICANA: MORE THAN 100

RECIPES AND FLAVORS

INSPIRED BY A RICH

CONTINENT

Amistad

Lerato Umah-Shaylor

In Africana, we are taken on a culinary

tour! In this book, we learn about the

cuisines that are found throughout this

continent and learn about the culture,

traditions and flavors that are found

there.

We learn about dishes that have beenpassed

down from one generation to

the next along with stories that are collected

along the way to give them new

and enhanced meaning!

This cookbook will allow you to make



Bingely Streaming

BOSTON STRANGLER

Hulu Original

Hulu

In terms of True Crime, the Boston Strangler

was a series of murders that many of

us have heard of, and interestingly enough,

there are a number of details that we're not

aware of. In Hulu's Boston Strangler,

we learn how 2 reporters, Loretta

McLaughlin (Keira Knightly)

and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) broke

this story about a man in 1960s

Boston who strangled women

with their stocking and tied them

into a bow. We learn how they had

to fight to be involved in the story,

the blow back when the story

hit the papers and then the revelations

that have continued to

emerge from this case and what

we know about it now!

TED LASSO

Apple Original

Apple TV+

We've always enjoyed the good

vibes that you get when watching

Ted Lasso which brings us on

a journey from an American football

coach who goes across the

pond to coach British footballers.

Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis)

encourages everyone surrounding

him to be their best selves by

looking on the bright side of life

and never giving up - even when

you're going through tough times

in your life.

Even when he isn't aware of how

the game is played, his optimism

and determination is one that

leaves you rooting for him. It even

makes the wins his team achieves

even better. We also see how he

brings the team and front office

management together through

his can do attitude.

This 11X Emmy Award winning

show definitely gives you the giggles

when you watch it and has


great cameos of those that have

been included in the show. Now in its

third season, it's the perfect time to

binge previous seasons to catch up

or to rewatch some of your favorite

memories!

We can't wait to see what happens

to the AFC Richmond team and what

one-liners Ted will share throughout

the season!

created by choreographer, George Balanchine

who was brilliant in his artistry, but

also created a number of systemic issues

for those that trained under him. Erika, a

former ballerina interviews a number of

people who worked with him to talk about

their experience and where they are now.

THE TURNING: ROOM OF

MIRRORS

Rococo Punch + iHeart Radio

Spotify

We enjoyed Season 1 of The Turning

focussed on a group of women

who joined the Missionaries of Charity,

Mother Teresa’s secretive order

of nuns. Minnesota-based producer

and reporter Erika Lantz is back

with Season 2 Room of Mirrors which

looks at the ballet system that was





Athleisure Mag MAR ISSUE #87

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