Over a perfect dinner at Whitehall in NYC, I meet Elettra Wiedemann for the first time. We are with stylist extraordinnaire, Chloe Hartstein, and my beauty guru, Daniel Martin. And while ordering mushy pea fritters, a plate of oysters, a few branzini, and frites for days, I look over at Elettra and think — “My lord, she is so beautiful. So stunningly naturally ‘what kind of moisturizer do you use’ beautiful, that she looks like those girls in magazines.” And then you realize, oh wait, she is. She was discovered by photog icon, Bruce Weber, she has graced every magazine with caché from French Vogue to Harpers Bazaar, and has been the face of Lancome, Ferragamo, Agent Provocateur, and countless others. But when you sit next to her and break bread (or in this case pea fritters), you forget that she is that girl. What you see instead is the kind of chick you just wanna hang with. The girl gardens, and sprouts her own lettuces, she trains with a swim team for (ya know) fun, competes in triathlons, and laughs loudly and unapologetically like the friends you’ve had since you were 14. And lest we forget that she also happens to have her Masters degree from the London School of Economics in Biomedicine. Oh, and that her dad is a former Calvin Klein model turned Microsoft exec (who she effusively adores), her mom is esteemed actress, Isabella Rosellini (from the lineage of iconic film director Roberto Rosselini), and, well, her grandmother was (brace yourselves) Ingrid Bergman. But you wouldn’t know it, because she would never lead with it. She is just that f-ing fantastic.
Elettra is soon starting her own website, entitled The Impatient Foodie, and I for one, could not be more excited to see what she has in store. Because, lady, I feel ya… when you need to serve something yummy for guests and that soufflé is just not rising as planned… Cue the moment you serve up some vodka soaked gummy bears** over some vanilla gelato – a move that both Elettra and I vouch for whole heartedly. And, frankly, is as TIG as it comes.
- My nickname is: Ree, Effa, Bambi, Bambs, Bird, Electric Bird.
- The first thing I do when I wake up is: Make a hot matcha green tea latte with almond milk or soy milk.
- I can’t live without: My dog, Happy.
- If I had one week to escape: I would go back to Shela on Lamu island in Kenya.
- If I only had $10 in my pocket: I would get an espresso macchiato and a magazine or newspaper.
- Everything tastes better with: Extra virgin, deep green, olive oil.
**TIG TIP** – To make vodka soaked gummies, simply take a container of gummy bears or gummy worms in a glass dish and fill the dish with vodka so that it just covers the candies; cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for two days; the gummies will absorb all the alcohol leaving you with boozy & fun little gummy treats