February 13, 2016 - After years of not attending, this year we decided to check out the festivities of Modernism Week in Palm Springs. The annual eleven day celebration of anything and everything modern — as in mid-century fashion, design and culture — transports you back to an era of Tiki drinks, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Since there are over 250 events scheduled for this year, we decided on just one event, the big Modernism Show and Sale held at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Barbara Sinatra, Frank's fourth and final wife, is scheduled for a book signing later today.
Some of the posters on sale were unbelievable.
The reddish wall hanging above and the white and brown hanging below really caught our eyes, and it took a while for us to figure out what they were.
Just about everything being displayed was on sale, including this Heywood Wakefield bureau made in the 1940's.
There was even an Eames kitchen set available!
This show is amazing and a lot of fun. We took an hour to go through everything and then it was time for lunch. We went to a new restaurant in town, Simon Kitchen + Bar located in the Hard Rock Hotel. This is the latest restaurant from celebrity chef Kerry Simon, dubbed the "Rock ‘n’ Roll Chef" by Rolling Stone Magazine. We loved it! We shared an appetizer of "Salt & Pepper Calamari" with a black garlic aioli and pickled Fresno Chile peppers. My entrée was "Kumamoto Oysters" with a Japanese cocktail sauce, wakame and radishes. Judy had Simon's "Iron Chef Burger" with red onion jam, white cheddar and a fancy sauce. Our beverage today was old-fashioned Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, in honor of Judy's father Jay. The menu offered a lot of interesting choices and we knew that we'd be back again.
