Spaghetti alla carbonara is one of my favorite dishes to make. It’s not as hard to cook as people make it out to be as long as you keep it simple.

The Essential Man - Spaghetti alla carbonara

I’m not 18 anymore. My apartment shouldn’t look like a dorm room. Roman and Williams new book “Things We Made” is perfect interior porn inspiration.

1 - “BEST” IS A MATTER OF OPINION

Katsu talked about his first real experience in cupping (coffee tasting) with a group of professional baristas in New York City. One taster commented how a cup tasted chocolately and bright. Katsu was surprised at how she described it. He realized that people’s own backgrounds, their food culture, the house they grew up in, their jobs, all influenced how they process and form opinions. A smell might remind you of a room in your home, while the same smell can remind a woman of her office. Because of this, the idea of “best” is unique from person to person. Instead of aiming to have something be proclaimed “the best” universally, the only true thing we can offer is an expression of our experiences and background. What is best to us. Some will like it. Some won’t. That is Bear Pond’s goal. Not to try to be the best espresso bar, but to offer what an espresso bar is according to Bear Pond.

Read more on The Essential Man - 5 Things I Learned from Katsu of Bear Pond Espresso

In 2009, I launched The Essential Man as an anonymous blog - covering style, work, wealth, dating and all the little things that occupy the waking hours. For many of you readers here, you might remember this pre-Peternyc era.

It was an exercise of self-reflection. It served as a source of inspiration for others. After 2 years, I decided to abandon the project for a general blog. 

Recently, I left my job of five years at Robert Geller to start my own design company. The desire to revive The Essential Man started to creep in. I was in a transition. A complete overhaul of my career, my finances and my relationships. I wanted to write about it. And this is it. 

I’m happy to announce that The Essential Man is coming back with an official website (theessentialman.com!). Bonus, I’m also working on my first book. 

The Essential Man Vol. 1 is part archive, part new work, illustrated and organized. A place where old readers can find their favorite writings and for new readers discover them. 

While I gear up to relaunch the website in a few weeks, I’m giving away 20 signed copies. 

All you have to do to snag a copy is sign up for The Essential Man newsletter. You’ll get notifications of new posts, invitations to future Q&As and events, and exclusive information on new products before I post them on blogs. I promise I won’t share your information with anyone.

This will be a first come first serve basis.

You’ll get a copy of the paperback book signed and for all your Kindle owners, a free digital download. (Estimated release date Jan 2013)

Be sure to follow The Essential Man on Twitter, Facebook and RSS, where I’ll be updating on the status of the launch.

Thanks to everyone who’ve been reading over the years.

The Essential Man was never about creating a black and white image of what it is to be the ideal man. Rather, it’s about exploring and discovering the elements of living well. This is just the start.