FORLINO AT
ONE FULLERTON,
SINGAPORE. It entered the local dining scene in July this year with little fanfare but FORLINO, an Italian restaurant on the second floor of One Fullerton has since been wowing diners with its traditional Italian cooking.
    Chef Osvaldo Forlino is the same Forlino who brought Il Lido Restaurant to new heights with his take on contemporary Italian cuisine.
    This time, Chef Forlino has uprooted his entire family from their one- Michelin-star restaurant in Tortona, northern Italy’s Piedmont region —essentially transplanting their successful restaurant into the heart of Singapore’s CBD.
    The family-run restaurant has Osvaldo’s mother Amida baking fresh breads daily; his wife Patrizia is chef de cuisine; their daughter Serena cooks in the kitchen while another, Gaia, assumes the sommelier’s role; cousin Simone is Maitre’d while his wife Cinzia takes on chef’s duties in the kitchen.

SOLAR HIGHWAY,
OREGON, USA. In the drive towards sustainable renewable energy, Oregon in northwestern America recently installed an 8,000 sq ft solar photovoltaic system. The solar panels convert the electricity harnessed by day to keep the highway lit at night — going some way to offset the 45 million kilowatt-hours needed to power the state’s transportation system.
    While not new in Europe —such highways are already in existence in Switzerland and Germany —Oregon is the first US state to move towards a sustainable highway. Bravo!

SEAT OF WEALTH,
When you’ve designed car seats for the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati —super automobiles with a discerning clientele —it’s not inconceivable to want to branch out into designing the world’s most luxurious office chair.
    And that’s just what Pininfarina, the Italian car design company, has done: created an uber luxe, ergonomic office chair for the Middle East luxury market.
    At a whopping US$1.5 million, the ARESLINE XTEN comes with Technogel, a material which conforms to the body’s curves, thus reducing seating pressure and fatigue. Dynamic Synchronized Tilting allows for autonomous tilting of the back and seat. Even the fabric that drapes the chair has pedigree: it’s a material favoured by Olympic athletes for its durability.
    Guess you’d have to seat it to believe it.

• Bouquet Chair Fancy sitting on a bed of roses? Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka came up with the idea of the Bouquet Chair and presented it at Milan Design Week 2008. Made up of a bouquet of fabric squares applied onto an eggshaped frame, the result is a whimsical piece of furniture, too pretty to sit on.

• Tour de France Lounger Lance Armstrong-wannabes will love the Tour de France lounger, with its black padded seat and back supported by spoked rims. Equipped with a foot-activated horn and glow-in-the-dark armrests, the good news is it’s handcrafted from recycled and new bicycle parts.

HIS OWN PRIVATE SKYSCRAPER
MUMBAI, INDIA. When you have US$45 billion to your name, what’s a $2 billion skyscraper built just for you and your loved ones’ comfort? That’s probably what Mukesh Ambani —the world’s fifth wealthiest and India’s second richest man —had in mind when he commissioned the building of ANTILLA.
    When completed in 2009, the 27-storey skyscraper in downtown Mumbai, India, is expected to stand 550 feet high, with 400,000 sq ft of interior space. The family of five (Ambani, his wife Nita and their three children) are expected to live in the skyscraper which features a separate gym for every family member, a 65-seat movie theatre, wine room, six floors of parking lots, nine elevators, an ice room to escape the Indian summers, and even a large ballroom. Other ostentatious touches include silver-covered railings, and a directive that no two floors are alike, whether in floor plans or materials used.
    In a patriotic nod to their Indian heritage, elements of India will be incorporated into the design, and carrying out the work will be Indian companies, contractors and craftsmen.
    The architectural firm behind it —Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates — are the same ones behind the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York.