Back to the real world!! Got home around 11:30 last night. Jet lag be damned. I owe you! Here are my notes from Thursday which was officially day one of our Blanco/Bosch Blogger Retreat. So without further ado:It's beautiful here! The sun is shining but no sweat! They tell me it's because it's dry. I could get used to this no humidity stuff. Last night the first arrivals gathered for dinner at Bayside, a beautiful restaurant in Newport Beach.
The food was delicious, the scenery beautiful and I was so excited to be in California with such an impressive group! This morning we went on a walking tour of the amazing Segerstrom Preforming Arts Center which is right around the corner from our hotel. It's a world class venue for concerts, theater and especially dance. In fact it's the largest privately funded performing arts center of its kind in the nation. The oldest part was built in 1986 and the newest twenty years later. The design is comprised of an interesting juxtaposition of triangles and undulating curves.
The 3000 seat theater is currently running the musical American Idiot featuring the rock group Green Day. We got a sneak peak back stage. I had no idea it was so complex behind the scenes!
After a delicious lunch at Seasons 52 it was time to descend on the brand new BSH Design Center located close by in Irvine. BSH will feature not only Bosch but also Thermador and Gaggenau appliances when completed. Blanco and Bosch are two German based companies who value fine German engineering so it makes sense that they are collaborating to offer consumers the whole package, sinks, faucets and appliances of unmatched quality and design.
After a champagne reception we got to participate in a panel discussion on kitchen design trends moderated by Dwell Magazine Contributing Editor Erika Heet.
Thursday's dinner was a real treat. The event was titled Designed to Devour. That was a pretty apt description. True Food Kitchen, Newport Beach is a new restaurant specializing in a very "California" type of cuisine, very whole, healthy and organic. I had the best panang curry ever (vegetable, of course). The acai-pomegranite mojito was not too shabby either!
Enough for day one? Day two we entered the "design lab" (lab coats and all, honest!). We got a first hand view at the design process, materials and more. Check back next post for round two where we really dig into the nitty gritty of what makes Bosch appliances so extraordinary.