It could well be a rom-com with a literary theme come to life, where the characters are so suave, attractive and polished, their homes and boutiques so exquisitely designed, so expertly curated
Full disclosure: it was a recipe for octopus ink fried rice that had me browsing Malaysia Tatler this week, and that was when I stumbled across this fascinating insight into the luxury publisher Assouline.
Explains Bambina Olivares,
Prosper and Martine Assouline have defined an era of stylish luxury fashion and art books. Now their sons are writing the next chapter.
The story of Assouline … could well be a rom-com with a literary theme come to life, where the characters are so suave, attractive and polished, their homes and boutiques so exquisitely designed, so expertly curated. And then there are the books: sleek, alluring, delightful and irresistible, adjectives that apply just as aptly to the Assoulines themselves. For indeed, they—Prosper, Martine and their sons, Alexandre and Sébastien, who are now part of the family business—inhabit the same world of luxury that their books embody.
Assouline did not so much reinvent the book business as stake out a niche all its own when it launched in 1995. Other revered publishing houses … produce books that can be equally lavish and beautiful, but Assouline books have a je ne sais quoi in their DNA.
“Our creation of Assouline,” Martine says, “was led by the desire to propose a new style in publishing. Bookstores in the early ’90s were filled with volumes that were a bit too conventional and boring for us book lovers.”
Read the full story over at Malaysia Tatler.
And for those wondering, the recipe for octopus ink fried rice and fried Hokkaido scallops is here.
The squid ink fried rice of Madame Fan’s executive chef Mike Tan is packed with umami flavours achieved by the natural saltiness of the squid ink.
