view in pdf format - Hazelnut New Orleans

Our Favorite
Store
Hazelnut, New Orleans
It’s not enough that Bryan Batt is a TV star on the
wildly popular Mad Men. He also gets to own
an enchanting home decor shop in The Big Easy!
You’re a successful actor
in L.A. playing Salvatore
Romano, the art director
on the hit AMC series Mad
Men. But you also run
this stylish home boutique
in New Orleans. What’s
the story?
taining, and giving just the
right presents, so that’s
why we’ve focused on
gifts, furnishings, tabletop
objects, and beautiful
home accessories. Everything is new. There’s a lot
of color, and a sense of
whimsy. I love things that
make you smile.
I was born and raised in
New Orleans, and I still
live here part-time—and
having a shop was always
a dream of mine.
What are some of your
favorite wares?
Alison Evans’s line of
oyster ceramics. They
have raku-style glaze in
shapes like oyster shells.
I’m also wild about our
Byzantine leaded Italian
crystal decanters and
glasses with a 14-karatgold Greek key around
the top. We have a white
ceramic elephant side
How do you film in L.A.
and still run Hazelnut?
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Life is not an either/or
proposition. You can do
many things—you just
have to be organized!
And thank God for Tom
­Cianfichi, my partner in
life and in the store. We
both love design, enter-
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Interview by
mimi read
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table that’s really fun.
And there’s a collective
called Art Department, a
group of Russian potters
in Massachusetts who do
ceramics. We have some
of their vases and their
little houses, all handpainted in bright colors.
You seem to make animated conversation with
anyone who pops in.
I run from stores where
salespeople act snooty!
I want people to have a
good time and be visually stimulated. The first
thing that happens when
anyone walks in is that
they’re bowled over by
the marvelous Japanese
quince perfume of Seda
France candles, which are,
funnily enough, made in
Texas. ‘What smells so
good?’ they’ll ask. I always
say, ‘It’s me.’
It’s after my grandmother,
Hazel Nuss. “Nuss” means
nut in German. She was a
well-known New Orleans
dance maven—she had
three dancing schools—
and I just adored her! *
HazelnUt, 5515 Magazine St.,
New Orleans , LA; 504-891-2424;
hazelnutneworleans.com
1. Hazelnut’s mix of
accessories, art, and
furnishings. 2. Ceramic
oyster bowl and tray. 3. A long view of the interior. 4. Photographs of The Big
Easy’s City Park by Roy
Barloga. 5. Batt’s new
fabric design, Pontchartrain
Beach. 6. His New Orleans
toile, in Café au Lait (there
are four other colorways). 7. The historic storefront on Magazine Street.
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HOUSEB E AU T IF UL .COM
don’t miss
•Batt’s own fabric designs:
Pontchartrain Beach,
a collage of Louisiana
motifs in Palm Beach‑y
pink, yellow, lime; and
New Orleans toile, featur‑
ing such classic images
as a courtyard, a street‑
car, St. Louis Cathedral
(both $36 a yard).
•The fabulous selection of
tabletop items like silk
flower napkin rings ($6),
and mother-of-pearl salad
servers ($64), and the
alligator place-card hold‑
ers ($32 for a set of 4), and
crab bowl ($125).
•Reverse decoupage plates
and platters by artist
•The charming accesso‑
Laurel Wilder. Her cre‑
ries (trays, guest towels)
ations could upstage your
handmade from Batt’s canapés, but you can two fabrics by local crafts­
also hang them on walls
people (from $15).
(from $82).
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lara robby/studio D (3)
Okay, why the name
Hazelnut?