the tastemaker’s issue, no. 9

WHAT IS IT THAT DRAWS SO MANY tastemakers upstate? Designer (and my childhood hero) Todd Oldham, who bought a house in Milford, PA almost 20 years ago, describes upstate as, “the right kind of sophisticated, but also really low-key,” in our Ruralist interview. When our cover girl, Sunrise Ruffalo, turned her back on Los Angeles a decade ago, she was at a critical moment in her life. Upstate NY offered her the restorative tranquility her family needed, she tells senior editor Mimi Vu. Aside from being known as Mrs. Ruffalo, Sunrise is a model, jeweler, mother, now a Narrowsburg shopkeeper—and just one of the many fascinating women in our Tastemakers issue. Finally, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the Michelin-starred big-city chef, has a similar take on upstate life. “Everyone knows each other, everyone says hello,” he says, referring to the customers who patronize his restaurant, The Inn at Pound Ridge, NY. Jean-Georges, who owns restaurants worldwide, prefers to spend weekends at his house in Waccabuc, NY. Judging by the sheer diversity of our subjects—from CFDA president Steven Kolb to artisans Kiva Motnyk and Taylor Forrest to interior designer Juliette Hermant—it’s clear that the creative scene in our little neck of the woods is thriving.

Nhi Mundy, Editor in Chief