When I think of the term “Lavish Lifestyle” I automatically hear the voice of Robin Leach in my head introducing some luxury, exotic location about “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

That’s the type of experience I get when I read “The Posh Review.” A new website started by a friend of mine Luba Patlakh.

I personally enjoy reading about some of the technology (car, boats, watches) that she reviews. The website features reviews that cover several cities including Los Angeles, Miami & New York.

Luba is doing a fantastic job with this new project and I wish her nothing but success in her endeavor.

Visit: ThePoshReview.com and leave her a comment!

Its always nice to see when you’re friends are passionate about something and go forward with their ideas, dreams and drive towards success. One of these friends is Marina Makaron.

She has started a business that I think will be a very trendy and flourishing designer line of products. The name of the brand is Marina Makaron Moscow.

Marina Makaron Moscow is an international silk brand. The idea behind the brand is the fusion of cultural tradition with globalization – a mixture of Eastern European distinct ethnic motives with modern colors of the world.  The predominant focus of the brand is silk neckwear for women.

I had the pleasure of checking out some of these items in person and each one is like a work of art. Each piece of the collection is very exceptional to the detail and superb quality of the silk.

Marina is planning to have the brand in exclusive boutiques in USA and Russia, she already had a soft opening sale in Bloomingdale’s to introduce the collection to the market.

Here are several photos from the recent photoshoot she had in Moscow of her merchandise:

I wish nothing but success to Marina, stay tuned for more updates as she grows this International Brand!

Contact information and product inquires:

Web: www.marinamakaronmoscow.com

Email: international@marinamakaronmoscow.com

Russia
+7 495 9986693
USA
+1 267 2413818

A new steakhouse opened its grandiose doors to a 65-foot ceiling hall, and what is promised to be the fines prime cut of beef you could have in the Philadelphia area.

This new independent steakhouse is dominated by chain steak venues — Morton’s, Capital Grille, Smith & Wollensky and one of Starr’s elite restaurants Morimoto. However the 3 owners — Joe Grasso, Ed Doherty, and Terry White (the chef) pledge that this will be a meat lovers experience that will be unmatched by chain restaurants.

“We’re not anti-corporate. But we’re Philly guys and we wanted to open a steakhouse for Philadelphia, not to Philadelphia,” said Doherty.

This bold statement is already backed up by a huge investment of over $12 million and a grand opening turnout of over 3000 people.

In 1923, the building at 717 Chestnut Street in center city housed the Union Trust Company bank. Then, for decades until just a few years ago, it was a jewelry store — the venerable Jack Kellmer Company.

The Union Trust Steakhouse remastered this historic bulging into the most extravagant fine dining, white tablecloths, top-notch service and extraordinary attention to detail architecture.

“We’re taking everything we learned, and applying it here with a local sensibility. We want a restaurant everyone in the city can embrace,” said White, who will oversee the kitchen as Chef. “And personally, I can’t wait to get back into a kitchen!”

White has big plans for the Union Trust menu, among them Vertical Beef Tastings, a concept he’s been toying with for the last several months. White has secured numerous exclusive deals, among them the only independent contract in Philadelphia with Allen Brothers, leading supplier of USDA prime beef. The kitchens are outfitted with the best of the best that are only used in Chinese Embassy in Singapore to Disneyland to Le-Cirque.

The grand opening served up never ending oysters, jumbo shrimp, crab, and decadent deserts. Even among the thousands it looked like the staff was always available to hand you another fine drink or to take your empty glass.

(View from the VIP Room, overlooking the entire restaurant through a 120 years old glass)

Judging by the turnout, and the luxury cars packed parking lot, this steakhouse will be the topic of food cynosures for years to come!

Here is a great VIP Interview video from Streettalkin.com

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More event photos can be viewed on NBCPhiladelphia Around Town Article & Philly Chit Chat.

We had some delicious appetizers and for the main course I ordered some seafood. Everything came out very fresh and I enjoyed my dinner with a bottle of wine we brought there. This place is BYOB, a great combination with Italian food!

Langostini offers extensive variety of traditional dishes and specialties which are unique to the restaurant. Warm and inviting atmosphere is perfect for dinner for two or large gatherings up to 45 people.

I think I will be visiting Langostini again the next time I’m in that area for lunch or dinner. I highly recommend this place to everyone who enjoys authentic fresh Italian dining.

Langostini Restaurant
100 Morris Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19148.
Tel. 215-551-7709

http://www.langostini.com

Here are few photos of some of the dishes from Langostini Restaurant:

I also saw really cool iPhone apps that were not available in the iTunes App store and decided to Jailbreak it to get the apps. I used QuickPwn to do jailbreak it. Overall it was a quick and painless process and after 10 minutes I was already trying the new apps that came with Cydia Installer.

The top app I was excited to try out was from QIK.com, it allows you to stream live video from your iPhone to the web. I setup my personal DENISTV Channel on Qik to experiment and stream live whenever I want to. Qik also archives the recorded video on their servers to reference or embed for later purposes. I will be experimenting with this as I travel.

PDANet is a neat app that turns your iPhone into a true WiFi router for your computer (MAC or PC), and allows your laptop to go online wirelessly through the 3G network on the iPhone. I often work at locations where Wifi Access is protected or non-existant so this app allows me to connect my laptop to a highspeed internet connection throigh my iPhone – HOW COOL IS THAT?

Here is a screen shot i took of how it connects to my Dell Insipiron 700m:

I also love the Cycorder app that allows you to record videos on your iPhone – a functionality that doesnt exist on a non jailbroken iPhone.

If you are a fan of YouTube.com then MxTube is the app for you – it actually allows you to download videos from YouTube. I downloaded several of my favorite videos that I can watch anytime.

There are few other apps like  Pandora and Facebook that I find myself using frequently and work much better on the 3G network.

Overall I am very happy with the switch to the new iPhone. Looking forward to see these apps actually coming to the App Store so that we do not have to Jailbreak the iPhones.

Last Friday I was working downtown and was invited by my cousin for dinner to Vic Sushi Bar. Several of my friends have been raving about how great the sushi was at this place, so I decided to try it out for myself.

This place is meant for ordering takeout, but if you are lucky enough to grab one of the 6 seats at the sushi bar, then you get to watch the Chefs create their work of art.

I let my cousin Igor order the signature dishes that were recommend by the regulars. First dish we ordered was the Tuna Dumplings. I really enjoyed these Tuna dumplings filled with crunchy mix of avocado, wasabi and a secret ingredient. We had to ask for a second order because it was so good.

The second appetizer we had was the “Spicy Seafood Salad” (chopped seafood with spicy sauce). This Salad was made out of different fresh chopped fish covered with their signature spicy sauce, small red caviar with diced cucumber. It was very fresh and delicious, if you like sashimi then you have to order this salad!

As we ate the appetizers we glanced over the sushi bar as Vic did his magic. The quickness and skill of this sushi chef is amazing. The way he prepared the sushi rolls was truly fun to watch. I have to learn to make sushi!

We ordered several special rolls:

Volcano Roll
(spicy tuna avocado roll with spicy sauce on top)

Black Dragon Roll
(eel avocado roll with eel on top)

3 Roll Specials
(fresh made Alaska rolls)

Sansom Roll
(Vic’s creation)

The beautiful & unique presentation of the sushi plate added to the experience. We couldn’t wait to try the rolls. The spicy and eel sauce on the plate were perfect with this selection!

As Vic finished preparing our order, he quickly transitioned and started working on the 60 piece sushi plate. I had a chance to snap a photo as he gave it to guests.

I would highly recommend this hidden gem for Lunch or Dinner or even a take out. If you have a chance to visit Vic’s Sushi Bar you won’t be disappointed!

Vic’s is located on the northern side of Sansom Street, between 21st and 20th Streets in downtown Philadelphia, just blocks from Rittenhouse Square.

Vic Sushi Bar
2035 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19103
215-564-4339

Web: http://www.vicsushibar.com

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Photos taken by Me with Apple Iphone.

While Steven always encourages me to join different social networks and groups, I mainly stay active on Facebook, and should really take note on the power and potential of business networking on Linkedin.

Steven Burda recently was interviewed on Stan Relihan’s podcast show The Connections Show. Steven explains how he reached such a high number of contacts and what Linkedin has done for him.

To listen to the podcast you click over to The Connections Show.

If you would like to connect to me on Linkedin – click on my profile.

If you are wondering what is seesmic – read this.

I recently met up with my friends Bill & Tushar from PhillyFoodGuys.com to join them for lunch and be part of their podcast show which reviews local lesser-known, food places in and around Philadelphia, PA. I took them to my local lunch spot in Northeast Philly called: Chaikhana Uzbekistan.

We had a great time eating and talking about the different dishes, you can listen to the whole episode at their blog: www.phillyfoodguys.com