Modern Tel Aviv is a place of constant reinvention set against the backdrop of a Bauhaus architectural legacy and multicultural heritage that tells the story of its thorny history even as it rightfully earned a reputation as a hub of innovation. After a decades-long stretch of development, Tel Aviv seems primed to take its place among the pantheon of the world’s great destinations. Like all great tales of post-Cold War evolution, this one begins with techno.

“There was nothing more desolate than Tel Aviv in the early ‘90s, but the DJs and underground scene of London would play on Thursday and Friday at these wonderful places that were better than any I saw in New York, even Limelight,” says Mati Broudo, the hospitality impresario behind a collection of Tel Aviv’s standout venues such as Hotel Montefiore, Delicatessen, and Herzel 16. “It started with nobody here and it evolved into a weekend destination.”

Broudo has been shepherding Tel Aviv’s hospitality evolution since debuting Coffee Bar in 1994. The café took its cues from the 24-hour diner Florent in New York’s Meatpacking District, famous for its cultural impact during the ‘80s until it closed in 2008. Night after night, a crowd of artists, drag queens, club kids, celebrities, and counterculture misfits coalesced to revel together in one of the underbelly’s most electric atmospheres.

“My favorite place at the time was Forent in the Meat Market [now Meatpacking District]. It was at the end of the world, the waitresses were in drag, and the heels were as big as two floors. It was the most amazing scene—also, French cuisine in a diner!” Broudo says. “I wanted to recreate that idea in Tel Aviv.”

Coffee Bar is a trailblazer whose cultural magnetism hasn’t diminished nearly 30 years later. The landscape around it, however, has changed dramatically. These days, in any direction you look, someone is building something new. International hotels, high-end condos, experimental restaurants—the backwater town of a few decades ago is showing some gravitas.

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Every two years, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery honors a group of luminaries who’ve made major contributions to the U.S. by enlisting esteemed artists to create their portraits. The results not only help grow the museum’s collection of 23,000 artworks “in a way that recognizes the diversity of the country,” director Kim Sajet says, but also taps into the creative vitality of “dynamic artists who are pushing the boundaries of what portraiture can be.” This year’s honorees are no exception: chef and humanitarian José Andrés, music mogul Clive Davis, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman, physician-scientist Anthony Fauci, and tennis trailblazers Venus and Serena Williams.

DuVernay and the Williams sisters each collaborated with an up-and-coming Black artist to spellbinding results. Serena Williams set her sights on Toyin Ojih Odutola, the Nigerian-born artist whose charcoal drawings explore identity. Ojih Odutola rendered Serena—who recently announced her evolution away from tennis—in a moment of unbridled joy, grinning and enveloped by foliage.

Venus Williams, who perused a shortlist before landing on Bronx artist Robert Pruitt, opted for a more serious tone. Pruitt recast a mirror selfie as a venue for introspection—Williams dons a Wimbledon trophy dish as a chestplate while her reflection is encircled with the hair beads she often wore on court early in her career. Nodding to DuVernay’s mastery of the moving image, L.A. artist Kenturah Davis used a long exposure to capture her face turning from side to side. She then translated the image pixel-by-pixel using rubber stamps and inscribed a hidden message that DuVernay’s father told her before he passed away.

“Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees” goes on view at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., starting Nov. 10.

Laila Gohar made waves this year when the New York–based culinary artist and her sister, Nadia, launched Gohar World, a collection of fashion and dining accessories. The sisters’ first product line nods to a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and an appreciation for trompe l’oeil. With the holiday season approaching, Laila is joining forces with Mette Hay to launch a jubilant collection of tableware that celebrates all things hosting and hospitality. Named “Sobremesa” in honor of the Spanish tradition of lingering in good company after a meal, the collection includes hand-painted stoneware, embroidered table linens, and wearable goods like an apron and a market tote woven in Morocco.

How do Gohar World and Sobremesa differ? “The pieces feel democratic; that’s why a collaboration with HAY was so exciting,” Gohar says. “I wanted to make a line that people can use in their everyday life: Maybe you have a tablecloth you inherited from your grandmother, which you can then mix with the Sobremesa Vase. I generally like this idea of mixing and matching, and being able to create your own visual story with different pieces.” Regardless of which collection speaks to your inner host, both are guaranteed to jumpstart conversations at your next dinner party.

The World Monuments Fund hosted its 33rd annual Hadrian Gala at the Rainbow Room in New York City. The celebration honored Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation; philanthropist and cultural preservationist Suzanne Deal Booth; and renowned fashion designer Christian Louboutin for their dedication to protecting monuments around the world. Guests arrived at Rockefeller Center donning red-inspired black tie attire and helped raise a record $1.4 million toward the World Monuments Fund’s ongoing preservation efforts.

When was it? Oct. 24

Where was it? The Rainbow Room, New York

Who was there? Fairfax Dorn, Michael Govan, Ashley Olsen, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Glimcher, Annabelle Selldorf, and Bénédicte de Montlaur.

The Georgian Revival–style building at 65 I Street, less than a mile away from the National Mall in Southwest Washington, D.C., has quite the backstory. It opened in 1906 as an elementary school serving the area’s primarily Black population and was repurposed two decades later as Randall Junior High School. Though it shut down in 1978, the building withstood the southwest redevelopment program that destroyed much of the neighborhood’s fabric in the decades prior. Since then, it has housed artist studios, spaces for arts and educational programs, and even a men’s shelter. But years of neglect are giving way to its next chapter: an outpost for Mera and Donald Rubell’s giant trove of contemporary art, which recently opened to much fanfare.

The Rubell Museum D.C. arrives as an anomaly within the nation’s capital, a city rich in cultural institutions but not yet established as a center for contemporary art. But the Rubells are intent on moving the needle—their collection, which spans nearly 8,000 works, transforms the former schoolhouse into a world-class showpiece for today’s most celebrated artists. Mera aims for the setting to reveal art’s potential as a conduit for important discourse: “As a former teacher, I see artists and teachers playing parallel roles as educators and in fostering civic engagement,” she says. “With the preservation of this building, we honor the legacy of the Randall School’s many teachers, students, and parents.”

Combining know-how, passion, and a curiosity for new ways to evolve, Mas founder Marie-Philippe Thibault designs limited-quantity, hand-crafted leather bags designed for the conscious, humble, and ambitious woman. The Mas ethos is rooted in presence, simplicity, and integrity, taking pride in challenging industry norms by centering its vision around the people and provenance. Mas materials are procured through ethical suppliers—from French-grain and nubuck leathers to black walnut accents sourced in Canada—and the company works with the makers who assemble each component of every bag by hand.

Surface Says: It’s clear that craftsmanship is intrinsic to the design ethos of Mas. Their designs mix heritage quality with refreshingly contemporary silhouettes and environmentally aware material palettes.

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