visuals artist, editor + producer
Before I moved from Astoria to Brooklyn, I used to frequent the Bohemian Hall beer garden since it was just a few blocks from my apartment. When I found out Travel + Leisure was doing a feature about America’s Best Beer Gardens I immediately knew I wanted to shoot my local hangout and had the opportunity to stop by on a sunny afternoon and snap a few shots:
Cheers!
Just this week one of my photographs of Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ (which ironically enough is actually located in Missouri) was featured in Travel + Leisure’s Best Barbecue Restaurants in the World package. It was one of those rare times a T+L shoot list floats by and not only have I actually visited one of the places, but have also photographed it. While I dug through the files on my laptop to unearth the images, it triggered major positive memories of exactly a year ago, when I originally visited the joint.
Flashback to July of last year, 2010. I had recently graduated from Elon, was freelancing in Columbus and was heading into a two week vacation with my boyfriend to embark on a road trip from Columbus to Boulder to Chicago and back again to catch up with a few friends. Our first rest stop was in St. Louis, where we crossed the Illinois border and were immediately greeted by the St. Louis Arch:
We had an amazing lunch at a tapas restaurant downtown and a quick walk around the park, then loaded back up into the car to spend the night in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a Friday so after we got settled in the hotel we made a dash for the Power & Light District, where we stopped by Howl at the Moon for some dueling pianos … and a bucket of liquor:
The next day, before we geared up to drive across the rest of the Midwest, we did a quick search on Yelp for barbeque restaurants. And what we found was nothing short of astounding — Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ. Not only does Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ function out of a gas station (which also is fully functioning), but it also has a line that typically snakes around the entire restaurant and almost out the door and it also tops Anthony Bourdain’s 13 Places to Eat Before You Die list. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and onion rings and Dan had to try the burnt ends (what they’re famous for), coleslaw and a half rack of ribs:
It was an epic and amazing meal, and I’m happy to be able to cross off at least one restaurant on Bourdain’s list. The rest of the trip was lovely, and you can read more about my killer breakfast in Boulder at The Buff here. A few additional highlights from the road include a sunset visit to Colorado’s Flatiron Mountains, a perfect garden lunch in Omaha and the best open-mic night I’ve ever been to in Chicago.
Way back in freezing cold February, I made the trip from Travel + Leisure’s 6th Avenue office to shoot a little bit of Barcelona, Spain at Borne Confections on Park Avenue. I was tasked with shooting Oriol Balaguer’s Mascletà chocolates for Travel + Leisure’s World’s Strangest Chocolates slideshow. While some of the “strange” chocolates on the shoot list ranged from Shiitake Mushroom to Tobacco to Pig’s Blood, the Mascletà was quite mainstream — it contained hazelnut praline, crunchy Maldon sea salt and Pop Rocks (!) coated in cocoa butter.
While a small selection of the Mascletà will set you back quite a few bucks, I was lucky enough to end up with a goody bag full of the chocolates I had shot. Before my friends and I devoured them I took a few more photographs, which you can see below. And yes, they were like fireworks in our mouths.
In May I was assigned to travel to Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn to shoot Alma Restaurant for Travel + Leisure’s online package featuring the World’s Hottest Rooftop Restaurants.
Even though I didn’t get the opportunity to dine at Alma, it is definitely on my New York City bucket list. I met with one of the co-owners during the afternoon, who was extremely nice and opened up the restaurant early so I could shoot. With a background that almost looks fake from the cozy comfort that the owners have built from scratch, Alma definitely looks like it would be up my ally. The pollo fajitas and cucumber margaritas don’t seem to hurt either. Below are a few more sneak peaks from the shoot that didn’t make it to TravelandLeisure.com:
Update July 19th:
I finally visited Alma! Had a beautiful birthday dinner there with a fresh watermelon margarita and Poblano Relleno con Picadillo de Puerco. I also discovered that the image I took for Travel + Leisure’s feature on them is the main image on Alma’s press page on their website:
In January, Travel + Leisure pitched a new slideshow that was perfect for the cold and dreary winter months — America’s Best Comfort Foods. I culled all of the art for the feature, which ranged from Fried Chicken with Waffles in Maryland to Chili in Seattle to Mac ‘n Cheese in Detroit. However one of the best comfort foods is also home to New York City, so I headed down to Jacques Torres on Hudson Street near SoHo to snap a few images of their perfect (and still warm) Chocolate Chip Cookies. After admiring and photographing the gooey cookies stacked into columns larger than my head, I did get to take one back with me after the shoot. And I must say, it did make me feel like I was right at home. Below are two more images of Jacques Torres’ specialty:
My latest assignment for Travel + Leisure was a shoot at the Manhattan restaurant One if by Land, Two if by Sea on Barrow Street. The second I walked in the door I was greeted with a warm and gorgeous interior, and I instantly realized why it was being featured in the America’s Most Romantic Restaurants package.
Here are a few more shots: 
andie diemer 