In Glenview, Illinois, you’ll find Taco-Bout-Joy’s, a restaurant owned by sisters Joy Milan and Kack Keomanivong, which boasts a menu full of delicious, authentic Mexican cuisine.
Only a short while ago, business was anything but booming for the family-owned shop. Joy’s daughter Isabel posted a heartbreaking video to TikTok showing her mother watching the door in hopes of customers. Meanwhile, the restaurant remained painfully empty.
Feeling for her mom, Joy wrote that her “Christmas wish” was to give Milan customers. Her sincerity clearly struck a chord with people, because the post garnered more than 39 million views and received a flood of compassionate comments from folks near and far.
“Op not me crying over this lady’s taco place thousands of miles away from me,” wrote one person.
Only a day later, Isabel posted an update. Taco-Bout-Joy’s underwent a complete turnaround—so many customers arrived that Joy had to enlist a new crew immediately. The video shows nine people working together in the bustling kitchen to fulfill a surge of orders.
“If you found tears in your tacos, I’m sorry,” wrote Isabel.
The good luck hasn’t slowed down. The restaurant shared on its Facebook page that Taco-Bout-Joy’s had been voted by netizens as one of “Chicago’s Best Mexican Restaurants.” And things are so busy now that the shop is currently hiring additional staff. Can you say Christmas miracle?
Viewers continue to share their love online as well. The business now has 244,000 followers.
“I’m so happy to be here to watch y’all grow,” one person commented.
People have driven from hours away to try Chef Joy’s food, and the reviews are glowing.
“Drove 3 1/2 hours and definitely worth it love supporting small businesses” one person commented.
Another wrote, “seriously thinking about driving the 7.5 hours from Nashville just to support and eat!”
On Dec. 10, Isabel sent a heartfelt thank-you in another TikTok update, saying that the experience has been “incredible.”
Joy, who’s Laotian, bonded with her mother-in-law, who hailed from Michoacán, Mexico, by learning traditional Mexican recipes. Their shared love of cooking broke any language barriers. Now, Joy blends both culinary traditions to create something new and honor both sides of the family.
“We all embrace our two cultures and food together as a family, and are so excited to be able to share that with you guys! Proud of my Lao-Mexican family,” Isabel wrote.
Thanks to the kindness of people—and the power of TikTok—a Christmas wish was granted. And now we all know a place we can go to get a delightful flavor fusion.
Anyway, we’ve given you the support you need to not come off like a total jerk this holiday. Plenty of it. At this point, all you have to do is write something heartfelt on the card.
But we’re not quite done yet! Now it’s onto the home — the items that, if you cohabitate with your giftee — have the potential to improve your quality of living too. Now that’s a true gift that keeps giving! See all 11 items across all price ranges below. Everything on the list has been tested and vetted by our team.
Platin Audio Monaco 5.1.2 Speaker System
Platin Audio
Price: $1,299
This stereo is double-fire. The performance is extraordinary and the look is incredibly sleek. Wireless! Clean looking! And that sound quality is so freaking crispy. I don’t quite remember the movie experience (I haven’t been since the pandemic, is the popcorn tasty? I forget) but I remember the impact of movie sound. This is that.
The White Lotus finale chaos just hit harder without the sound scraping its way out of the tiny speakers on my TV. Huge impact for the viewing experience, for sure.
Here’s something better — quite important in my book: As an electronics idiot, it took roughly two minutes for me to want to call the Platin helpline for help with setup. And four minutes for me to actually do it. They got me set up quickly and didn’t rest until the whole system was dialed. Exactly what I needed on a product that was a splurge (especially with that aforementioned show waiting in my queue).
If you’re giving of gift of this scale and price, it has to feel easy for the giftee — this sound system nails that while fitting with a wide range of design aesthetics.
I did an insane amount of research for my most recent couch (honestly, the first couch I’ve ever bought). I actually spent $2K on a couch on Amazon and returned it, which is sort of a nightmare (okay, so this Inside Weather couch is technically my second couch). The Amazon couch just… wasn’t right. A week later, getting desperate, I was reading online reviews and found Inside Weather. I loved their Bondi sofa. It looked like a blend of midcentury and sort of “beach cottage folksy” which is my intended vibe.
But without a showroom, I couldn’t be sure. Still, I took a flyer on it — those reviews were persuasive and there’s a great return policy that extends for a full year (with a 25% restocking fee).
Well, friends, I have had this couch for a week and it has absolutely been life-changing. It’s the material and cushions are quality. It looks cool (the images don’t lie — folksy meets modern). Best of all, it’s oversized. To have a couch where people can stretch out and guests are comfortable feels kind of like a big life move.
No lie, this definitely stretched my budget (I got the three-seater — not the colossal couch in the image). But having a couch that feels like something I will have in my life for a substantial amount of time feels like some real adult shit. And I absolutely love the look of this. If you’re looking for a gift for yourself or your partner that will really get you daily appreciation, this is a great pick.
We actually reviewed the Lettuce Grow two years ago. I still have mine and have purchased a second one (this one with glow lights so that it can grow inside too! It is just so easy and the produce that comes off of it is absolutely incredible. Plus people are wowed by it and it fits with mid-century design. Also… not to go too deep, but there is something that I find metaphorically important about growing some of your own food.
In a perfect world, I would have 10 of these lined up (like J.B. Smoove). That would not be a massive time requirement either — because, as I said before: they are incredibly low maintenance. Speaking personally, I don’t know if I have a unifying theory of what makes a house a home but I know that when people come over and I can cut herbs and pluck lettuce and grab tomatoes off of a hydroponic tower, it makes them feel more connected to the meal that I am serving and in some strange way it makes me feel more connected to the space that I inhabit.
That’s a pretty huge win for any giftee in your life. I know because I got one of these for Uproxx publisher Jarret Myer last year and he still raves.
I guess the true trick with the lamp is if you like it. So this is me recommending a lamp that I like because it fits with my personal aesthetic. I have terracotta tile in my house and I like things in brass — so I bought these lights in terracotta and brass. It really doesn’t mean anything to anyone else. Nor should it.
Does your giftee have the same aesthetic as me? If so, this lamp in terracotta or even one of its more basic colors is fantastic quality and definitely feels like a lasting, well-built, suitably minimalist product when it’s hanging inside your home. If your giftee has a different aesthetic, it won’t be for them. I guess what I’m trying to say is that lamps are personal and ultimately, by the very fact that they illuminate a room, they naturally draw the eye — so having something that looks cheap is going to be corny and having something that looks nice and lasting is going to feel cool.
On second thought, a lamp might be a difficult gift, unless you cohabitate with someone.
Now here is a surefire gift! This brand was started by Eva Longoria and that’s great and all, but this is bigger: As the lead editor of our cooking section I test a LOT of pots. There are so many brands! We could legitimately rank 50 brands and not have covered 1/1000th of the market. And I’m telling you right now: This is my favorite pot I’ve ever tested.
It’s non-toxic. Non-stick. Extremely functional. Perfectly sized (so that you don’t need to have fifty pots, I only own two entries from this line and already I do 80% of my stove cooking in them). Whew, I could go on — aesthetically pleasing! Cool handle for balancing a spoon!
But I already said it all: This pot and its accompanying pan are the best I’ve ever tested. If you’re giving them as a gift, you can quote me on the card!
I’m a sheet aficionado. I like silk in summer. I splurge on thread counts when it comes to cotton. I even created a category of our “Hotels We Love” series titled “Bed Game.” This sheet might be my favorite all arounder. It’s almost as sexy as silk or satin (nothing can match those GOATs) but it feels cleaner longer and is somehow both lighter and more substantial. It’s soft and looks cool on the bed.
Earth tones — which match my home — was the obvious choice for me, but there are plenty of options.
My favorite aspects of these sheets are 1) that you really get a sense of the weave and therefore the nature of the fabric (it feels very real), and 2) that they soften with washes and sort of… evolve as you own them. Like a pair of nice jeans. Perfect for a friendship or relationship that feels similarly built to last!
I’ll be real. Unlike the other items in this guide, I haven’t sampled Chris Rodriguez’s artwork personally — in that it’s not hanging in my home. But goddamn would I like it to be! I’ve seen it hanging in houses of friends and it stayed with me.
The way that Rodriguez plays with light and color (not in edits but beforehand, when taking the photos) makes my mind conjure stories. Just look at this gem:
Or this one:
The dude is telling wild, bright, borderline unhinged tales through photography, not just rending pictures. That takes talent. If you have the money to give away one of his pieces, you will win crazy points. Especially if the person you decide to give a piece to is me, the editor of your favorite LIFE section.
This speaker is like a one-person EDM show. Not only is the sound quality exceptional but the light dances to the beat of the music. As far as Bluetooth speakers go, that’s a pretty wonderful hook.
This speaker is perfect for someone you might listen to music and chill on a big-ass couch with. Because that soft flickering light is enticing as all hell and pretty romantic. I don’t think you want to bang the thing around to the beach and on hikes — once the glass is smudged or messy it might lose its luster. But if your giftee likes hosting meals in the backyard where the “big firefly energy” of this speaker will be most captivating, it’s a great gift. I had mine playing as a table centerpiece during a recent meal and it drew a lot of compliments.
Mushrooms are all the design rage in 2022. And supporting US National Parks is always cool. This poster does both. If you’re buying a gift for the sort of person who appreciates those things, it’s a winner. Especially at that price point and especially since it supports our National Parks.
Of course, only you and your giftee know their style. But this is hanging in my home and it looks pretty fly!
Houseplant Ashtray Set By Seth
Houseplant
Price: $98
You don’t have to smoke weed to appreciate Seth Rogen’s super fancy pottery. Really, I know this firsthand because I own this moss-colored ashtray set and there isn’t a guest, stoner or otherwise, who comes over that doesn’t remark on this ceramic beauty.
Designed by Seth himself, this ashtray set comes with a deep well ceramic ashtray with a notch to hold your joint, blunt, or whatever, and a saucer that serves as a base for the tray, or another ashtray itself. The set also comes with a matching vase meant for holding flowers or anything else you’d like. — Dane Rivera, Senior Writer, Uproxx LIFE
Modeled after the legendary Technics 1200 turntable, the same turntable that made DJing an art form in itself, the Audio-Technica AT-L 120xUSB has all the features you could ever want in a turntable at an affordable price with some modern updates that’ll fit right along your contemporary stereo set-up.
Featuring adjustable dynamic anti-skate control, adjustable tracking force, and a pitch change slider control, the AT-LP 120 will allow you to play any 33 1/3, 45, or 78 RPM record in your collection and is equipped with a USB output that will allow you to connect to your computer and convert your hard to find records into audio files so you can take even the rarest grooves on the go with you.
Thanks to a built-in selectable photo preamp, you can connect this turntable directly to your existing home stereo environment so you won’t need a fancy expensive preamp or any external equipment to listen to your records. No other turntable is this feature-packed while still being relatively affordable. — Dane Rivera, Senior Writer, Uproxx LIFE
It took over a decade and lots of dangled carrots in front of fans’ eyes, but the long-threatened revival of Party Down — one of the great cult shows that inconveniently became popular after it had been cancelled over low ratings — is for real. How for real? It has a teaser and a release date. As per Deadline, the show will return for six more “are we having fun yet?”-packed episode starting on Friday, February 24, and on the very channel that birthed and killed it: Starz (and on its app and streaming platforms).
Party Down ran for a mere two seasons, 20 episodes total, in 2009 and 2010, and it concerned the largely amusingly unamused staff of a catering company. Each episode found them at a different, non-fun (for them, at least) soirée: the after party of a porn awards show; a celebration for a Russian heavy (Steven Weber) who may have just been acquitted of murder; the birthday of Steve Guttenberg (as himself).
The stellar cast, meanwhile, included Adam Scott as a formerly struggling actor who had consigned himself to the oblivion of a crappy job after peaking with a catchphrase-heavy hit commercial that basically wound up destroying his career. Scott is back, as are Ken Marino, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen, Jane Lynch, and Megan Mullally, who took over in the second season. One catch is it’s missing Lizzy Caplan, who played Scott’s on-again-off-again love interest but who was unfortunately too busy with other very nice gigs. Ditto Jennifer Coolidge, who subbed in for two episodes and who’s also doing pretty, pretty well these days.
It’s been 12 years since last we saw the crew of Party Down; they’re not really still catering crap gigs, are they? Not really. Here’s the logline:
10 years later, most of the Party Down catering team have moved on, including actor/bartender Henry Pollard (Scott). After a surprise reunion, the gang find themselves once again stoically enduring the procession of random parties and oddball guests all over Los Angeles.
The guest cast list currently includes Jennifer Garner, Tyrel Jackson Williams, and Zoë Chao, with James Marsden as a recurring character.
You can watch the teaser in the video above. Party Down returns starting February 24 on Starz and its attendant platforms.
The Greeting Committee has come a long way since forming as high schoolers in Kansas City, Missouri. With several EPs and two albums to their name — including last year’s mighty Dandelion — The Greeting Committee have returned with one goal in mind: They’re on a mission to make you dance and cry.
Returning to their indie pop roots and honing in on their relatability with their latest singles “Anything But You” and “Hopscotch,” The Greeting Committee are here to bring unfettered joy back to indie music. The wistful and shimmering ballad “Anything But You” manages to pull on heartstrings while the upbeat “Hopscotch” is one of their catchiest and most endearing numbers to date.
Celebrating the release of their new singles, The Greeting Committee band members Addison Sartino and Pierce Turcotte sat down with Uproxx to talk Death Cab For Cutie, staying at gnarly motels, and how magical a gifted book can be in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Sartino: To dance and cry.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Sartino: Timeless and true.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Sartino: Depends on the tour. So far, San Francisco has won this round.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Sartino: My bandmate Pierce has most inspired my work because he approaches music so innocently. He wants it to be fun and interesting. He doesn’t look through a lens of pretension. He doesn’t ask me to bleed for it.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Sartino: The Southern in Nashville has the best fried chicken dinner I’ve ever had.
What album do you know every word to?
Sartino:Plans by Death Cab for Cutie or The 1975’s self-titled record.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Sartino: The Killers at Madison Square Garden.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
Sartino: Although I’m branching out now, suits were my go-to for a long time. They’re comfortable but elevated.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
Sartino: I put The National on shuffle in the van multiple times a week.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Sartino: “How old is Suki Waterhouse?” She’s 30, by the way.
What album makes for the perfect gift?
Sartino:Bambi by Hippo Campus.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Sartino: A gnarly motel where our van broke down in Yonkers, New York.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
Turcotte: I got my first tattoo with my older brother and sister. We ended up deciding on each getting one of the Powerpuff Girls. However, my brother and got the Rowdyruff Boy version so mine is Butch, the boy version of Buttercup. Still my only tattoo so far.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Turcotte: I definitely have my comfort artists that will keep me from changing the channel, but I always love listening to new music from stations/playlists that I generally trust. 90.9 The Bridge in Kansas City is one of those stations where I can leave it on and be happy.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Sartino: My stepdad gave me 18 of his favorite books with little notes in them for my 18th birthday. He would get me books for my birthdays growing up with a check as the bookmark. I could only cash the check once I had written a one page essay on what I learned from reading the book.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Turcotte: I remember feeling really stuck when I was 18 and trying to figure out what to do with my life. I would tell myself to not hold on so tightly to that version of myself.
What’s the last show you went to?
Turcotte: I went to see Phoenix and Paramore in the same week. Phoenix had an incredible light show, but it was such a blast seeing Paramore and singing songs I grew up with.
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
Turcotte: Back when I would watch a lot of cable TV: Star Wars, The Matrix, or Lord Of The Rings would be on all the time. It was always these fantasy movies that would replay throughout the day. I couldn’t help but watch at least some of it, even if the commercials made the movie twice as long.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
Turcotte: Creative writing is a big passion of mine. Any free time I get at home, I will chip away at a fantasy novel that I’m working on. Outside of that, I’ve always been interested in coffee culture. I’ve worked in coffee for several years and it’s often where I spend my time at home or on the road.
The original Avatar was a game-changer, and its very belated sequel hopes to be the same. It’s at least bigger, which is to say it’s even longer. It’s got a new take on the high-frame rate business that has never quite taken off before. It’s also not content to simply feature strong female warriors. Indeed, James Cameron found a way to go one step further than Marvel and the lot.
“Everybody’s always talking about female empowerment,” Cameron said in a new chat with fellow filmmaker (and Alita: Battle Angel cohort) Robert Rodriguez for Variety’s “Directors on Directors” series. “But what is such a big part of a woman’s life that we, as men, don’t experience? And I thought, ‘Well, if you’re really going to go all the way down the rabbit hole of female empowerment, let’s have a female warrior who’s six months pregnant in battle.’”
He went on:
“It doesn’t happen in our society — probably hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. But I guarantee you, back in the day, women had to fight for survival and protect their children, and it didn’t matter if they were pregnant. And pregnant women are more capable of being a lot more athletic than we, as a culture, acknowledge. I thought, ‘Let’s take the real boundaries off.’ To me, it was the last bastion that you don’t see. Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel — all these other amazing women come up, but they’re not moms and they’re not pregnant while they’re fighting evil.”
Sure enough, for The Way of Water, Kate Winslet didn’t just break records for holding her breath longer than Tom Cruise. She also played a Na’vi warrior with a noticeable baby bump during the battle scenes. Marvel — and the DCEU, when it finally figures out what’s up there — have to step up their game.
The most recent example of that came on Wednesday, when an account that tracks Musk’s jet was suddenly suspended, followed by the teen that runs the account, and eventually all of the flight tracking accounts on Twitter. Musk, who once offered $5,000 to the owner of @ElonJet to turn the account off, had Twitter update the rules to disallow sharing live location data.
Update, Twitter has changed their policy on open source flight tracking-https://t.co/gHZIiCWnx4
“Under this policy, you can’t share the following types of private information, without the permission of the person who it belongs to:” pic.twitter.com/JPGdd3ZgUl
While the main goal was clearly to get rid of the accounts that track his jet and other famous people live — which all use publicly available flight data — there could be some consequences that go well beyond the intended goal because the rule was written so vaguely. (Note: @ElonJet returned on Wednesday night, promising to follow the new terms of service but others remained suspended)
For a long time, college football fans have looked to flight tracking data to find out what coaches might be coming to town when a program has a vacancy, as finding a private jet going to a small college town is usually a pretty good indicator something is up. Golf writers and fans will regularly monitor Tiger Woods’ jet to see if he might be planning on playing in an upcoming tournament by flying to get a secret practice round in. Even beyond flight tracking, breaking news reporters across the sports landscape will report on players, agents, and front office personnel having meetings in various locations, all of which could be violations of Twitter’s newest regulation, should they want to enforce it.
While Twitter doesn’t seem likely to want to suspend every account that does this and the company was obviously targeting these flight tracking accounts, it opens up a lot of gray area that folks will have to be at least a little concerned about when trying to report on meetings and talks taking place.
I will say it would be an all-timer on Twitter if one of the big newsbreakers like Shams or Woj ended up suspended for firing off a tweet about a player being en route to a meeting in the Hamptons or something.
Gunna and Young Thug were among 28 YSL members arrested in May and charged in a 56-count grand jury indictment that included “conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, murder, armed robbery, and participation in criminal street gang activity,” as reported first by WSB-TV’s Michael Seiden. Gunna remained optimistic — sharing an open letter from Fulton County Jail in June that partially stated his innocence and intention to “never stop fighting to clear my name” — despite being denied bond three times.
Today, December 14, Gunna was finally freed. WSB-TV reported that Gunna “entered a negotiated plea, known as an Alford plea, in which a defendant doesn’t admit he committed the crime but acknowledges that it is in his best interest to plead guilty.” Gunna pled guilty to one charge of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, and his subsequent five-year sentence, with one year being commuted to time served and the remaining four-year sentence “suspended and will be subject to special conditions, including 500 hours of community service,” per WSB-TV.
This evening, videos began circulating of Gunna leaving Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. The multiplatinum-certified rapper was all smiles, embracing a woman and walking hand-in-hand with her to his car.
TAKE A LOOK: Rapper Gunna is officially out of jail. This is video of his first moments walking out of Fulton County Jail after he pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charge in what’s called an Alford Plea @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/k8RXO8OijA
“When I became affiliated with YSL in 2016, I did not consider it a ‘gang’; more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations. My focus of YSL was entertainment — rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community,” it reads, in part.
Gunna emphasized he chose to enter an Alford plea to “end my personal ordeal by publicly acknowledging my association with YSL” and his plan to “look at this as an opportunity to give back to my community and educate young men and women that ‘gangs’ and violence can only lead to destruction.” The two-time Grammy nominee additionally clarified that he has “absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way.”
re testifying, Sadow says, “If called by any party in this case, he will testify truthfully, but he reserves his right to assert his 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination.” pic.twitter.com/0WMJo9vTaC
seven months later, during what was shaping up to be the biggest year of his career by far
as part of the plea, Gunna will do 500 hours of community service, including 350 hours with “young men and women about the hazards and immorality of gangs and gang violence” https://t.co/wjnDdS6eoc
Let the superhero dissection era continue! Hulu‘s Extraordinary looks like an absolute blast, stuffed to the gills with tropes and the existential crisis of everyone being super duper.
Except you.
Here’s the official synopsis:
“Extraordinary is set in a world where everyone develops a power on their 18th birthday… everyone, that is, except for Jen (Máiréad Tyers). She’s turning 25 and is still waiting to get hers. She’s not even fussy about what that could be: super speed? Laser eyes? The ability to plug in a USB the right way every single time? She’ll take it. Like a caterpillar surrounded by butterflies, Jen feels unable to move forward, stuck in a dead-end job in a party shop and occasionally hooking up with Luke (Ned Porteous), a flaky young man with the irritatingly cool ability to fly. Luckily, Jen has Carrie (Sofia Oxenham) to stop her from wallowing in her own self-pity. Inseparable since school, their relationship cycles between sister, parent, and wingman. Together they share an East London flat with Carrie’s long-term boyfriend, Kash (Bilal Hasna). Carrie has the power to channel the dead but feels she’s been overshadowed by her own party trick: doesn’t anyone care about what she has to say? Kash takes his power – the ability to turn back time – very seriously, but he’s not above using it to undo minor embarrassments, or moments when he says exactly the wrong thing to long-suffering Carrie. The fourth member of the flat is a stray cat, named Jizzlord (Luke Rollason) by the gang, who’s harboring a surprising secret: turns out even cats have more power than Jen. Adrift in a big, confusing world and armed with nothing but a bit of hope and a lot of desperation, Jen begins her journey to find her maybe-superpower. But in doing so, she might discover the joy of being just kind of ok.”
In other words, what it Encantoinvolved every single person on the planet, and it took place in Ireland? The series from comedy writer Emma Moran premieres on Hulu January 25th.
All I ever wanted was the ultimate SicilianSpring Break: to eat at the overloaded buffet, to crush my Vespa driver, to sip the finest wine while watching Mt. Etna erupt, to have an affair with a rich lady in a cove, and to drown after falling off a boat… In short, to be like the cast of the White Lotus. As soon as the season finale concluded, I shattered my piggy bank, booked a flight to Sicily, and went online to find a room at the iconic Four Seasons San Domenico Palace (the hotel where filming took place).
Sadly, I soon realized that I wasn’t the only one with that dream. My heart was broken — the entire hotel was booked for the Spring of 2023.
Luckily, I still had my flight and a mind full of questions: 1) How could Valentina find an empty room for affairs so easily, why didn’t she just hook up in the chapel like a normal person? 2) Is the San Domenico the only luxury option in Taormina? And 3) can I still live out my White Lotus Spring Break fantasy this year?
The answer is “Yes, I can. And so can you.” Here are some options.
I — The Grand Hotel Timeo
The Grand Hotel Timeo
When choosing the grandest hotel in Taormina, most are going to pick San Domenico Palace, hence the predicament, but Taormina has some other five-star gems. First up is The Grand Hotel Timeo.
The first hotel ever built in Taormina; this place has a ton of history. Christ, right next to the property is The Teatro Antico — an ancient amphitheater older than that qualifier. The hotel shows off a “Feng Shui” of lush magnolia gardens and mythic stone architecture, really honing in the vibe of the White Lotus title sequence.
The Grand Hotel Timeo
Accommodations:
Room prices are similar to the luxury San Domenico Palace. A standard villa will cost around 800$ a night while a deluxe sea view suite will cost around $2,000 a night and more, adjoining door latches included.
The Grand Hotel Timeo
Dining:
Just like the San Domenico Palace, The Grand Hotel Timeo boasts a Michelin restaurant in Otto Geleng. Each evening only sixteen guests get to enjoy Executive Chef Roberto Toro’s unique take on Mediterranean cuisine while overlooking an exquisite view of Mt. Etna from high in the hills.
Otto Geleng
Pool:
The Grand Hotel Timeo offers a heated panoramic swimming pool serving drinks, cocktails, and snacks. Not only does it offer an ocean view, but this pool is also surrounded by enchanting foliage that mirrors the palazzo in Noto that Harper and Daphne adventured to in episode three.
The Grand Hotel Timeo
II — Villa Sant’ Andrea
Villa Sant
For a more coastal experience to match the cabana scenes and mid-ocean spars, there’s a spectacular option in Villa Sant’ Andrea. Nestled in the secluded Mazzaró Bay, this hotel was once a posh English family’s secret hideaway (did they sell it after a plot to murder a rich lady backfired? It’s possible!), and the attitude has remained the same. The hotel has hosted Winston Churchill, Francis Ford Coppola, and Burt Lancaster.
Accommodation:
Here there is much variety as a standard sea view room will cost around $600 with breakfast. Yes, it’s a luxury buffet! On the higher end, an elegant tiled and marble columned suite with a private pool will go for about $5-6,000.
Villa Sant
Dining:
The gentle azure Ionian Sea lies right below Ristorante San Andrea, a highly sought-after restaurant with a menu boasting Mediterranean-inspired selections like beef tomato carpaccio, purple eggplant parmigiana, bronze-drawn spaghetti with Ganzirri clams, and bronte pistachio-crusted rack of lamb.
Ristorante Sant
Pool:
While a pool is on the cards, the real selling point is to enjoy their private beach in a cabana that includes a comfortable sofa, minibar, tented veranda, and two sun loungers (Rocco! The beach club!). After basking in the sun, there’s a wellness center to exfoliate, soothe, and breathe in aromatic Sicilian herbs while the rest of the guests bicker, ruminate, and plot.
Villa Sant
III — Hotel Villa Belvedere
Villa Belvedere
One last option is a boutique hotel. While only four stars, Villa Belvedere has garnered praise and near perfect reviews from virtually every guest, some even claiming that four stars don’t do the place justice.
Built in 1902, with exquisite rooms, an incredible ocean view, amazing Sicilian hospitality, and within walking distance to Taormina’s cultural center, this could be the dark horse in achieving the White Lotus fantasy without having to break the bank.
Accommodation:
Here’s where this hotel stands out. For $300-500 a night, one can find equivalent comfort offered by the previous hotels in a charming room with a balcony and ocean view. All for a more modest price. However, their flagship experience, the private Villa Maddalena is a step up. It blends luxury and Sicilian tradition harmoniously in a two-story “cozy spa lounge” with terrace access, unique decorations, and an archway of Sicilian brick.
And those ominous sculptures! That’s what a White Lotus Fantasy is all about.
Villa BelvedereVilla Belvedere
Dining:
On a panoramic terrace, this is a wonderful place to enjoy sparkling wine, fresh pastries, and a rich buffet of traditional dishes a la carte. Another buffet! In the evening the bartenders go crazy concocting cocktails of Sicilian liquors, local red oranges, Etna Gin, and juniper.
While not boasting a Michelin star, this is the perfect incentive to get out on the town and see what Taormina has to offer for dining — something the White Lotus guests were heavily critiqued for not doing.
Villa Belvedere
More:
A beautiful pool overlooks the sea from high up, with the bar and restaurant handily a step away, but the villa should serve as a headquarters for outings into the town, rather than a place to spend most of the day.
The Final Verdict:
There are plenty of options to make The White Lotus fantasy a reality. Personally, the Villa Sant’ Andrea seems the most fun to really replicate the shenanigans of the show. And of course, you can always wait for the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace to open up a little. It really depends on your price range and whether your budget leaves you the flexibility to drop $50K getting scammed by a very stylish escort.
For his fourth Netflix film, Tyler Perry is looking to inject a fresh angle into the massive pantheon of WWII dramas. Instead of watching the same aces shoot at each other from wildly-painted biplanes or following a ragtag team try to break into Hitler’s bunker, he’ll be focusing on the trailblazers of the 6888th Battalion. It was the first all-Black, all-female battalion, comprised of 855 women whose duty was to get through a gargantuan backlog of vital mail that hadn’t made it to troops. That includes letters and cards and all the things that helped keep the fighting men sane during the fight.
Six Triple Eight will shine a spotlight on these women, who served in Britain and France to get millions and millions of packages and letters to their rightful recipients throughout Europe. They were guided by a self-styled motto: “No mail, low morale.”
Perry will write and direct the project, adapting a WWII History Magazine article by Kevin M. Hymel. It sounds a bit like Monuments Men meets Hidden Figures, with a dash of Imitation Game. Wartime prestige and a big logistical lift with plenty of room for different characters to shine.
The film comes on the heels of President Joe Biden awarding the women of the 6888th the Congressional Gold Medal, which means we could see the film hit Netflix around the same time specially minted coins of these women hit circulation. It’s always serious synergy to have the United States Mint help with your movie’s advertising campaign.
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