This is a boring old loafer. And that’s a good thing. In a world of overcomplicated styles—platform heels, lug soles, unnecessary contrasting panels and textures—there’s something to be said for a more pared-down aesthetic. These Pierre Hardy beauties are made of calfskin and with a stacked heel and rubber sole (for repelling moisture). Plus, they hail from Italy and slip on easily. All good things. But it’s their inherent un-trickiness that makes them so special. They’re the kind of shoes that will almost always be selected for daily use, over those vertiginous heels, splashy sneakers, and high-maintenance sandals. And they’re up to the job. ($845, bergdorfgoodman.com) —Ashley Baker

The illustrator Tug Rice has never taken a professional art class. He thought he wanted to be an actor, so he studied drama in Pittsburgh while he drew as a hobby. Inspired by the characters he met after moving to New York City, Rice switched from acting to illustrating and has since become a favorite among fashion brands (Dior and Harry Winston) and glossies (Harper’s Bazaar and Travel + Leisure). For Valentine’s Day, he has collaborated with the quintessentially English homeware brand Halcyon Days to make a trinket box made of bone china. The Only You box, which features Rice’s witty, lopsided hearts, comes in white and red. It’s the perfect way to present a loved one with jewelry, but it’s also a delightful gift on its own. ($70, halcyondaysusa.com) —Bridget Arsenault

Fran Camaj opened Gjelina, on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice Beach, nearly 15 years ago. In 2011 he opened a to-go outpost for pizza and salad a block away, and in 2014 he opened Gjusta, a sister café, less than a mile away. And yet it’s still hard to get a reservation at Gjelina. Since December, the Gjelina Group has let its partners, chefs, and managers reveal what goes on behind the scenes via Substack. There’s a lengthy ode to the restaurant’s small ceramic bowls followed by a recipe for yogurt panna cotta with winter citrus (to be served in those bowls). Their farm liaison explains his love for stinging nettles, which are supposedly delicious on polenta. Gjusta pastry sous-chef Jon Koeckeritz gives a simple molasses-cookie recipe he’s been making since childhood. The posts are brief, include cookbook-caliber photos, and come often. (gjournals.com) —Jensen Davis

If you are excessively invested in the second season of All Creatures Great and Small, the PBS show about British veterinarians in the 1930s, then surely you won’t hold it against us for searching far and wide for new Fair Isle sweaters. (Tweed jackets are optional but highly encouraged.) Oh, loads of designers are riffing on this age-old art, but we urge you to resist. Instead, go straight to the eponymous island nestled between Orkney and the Shetland Islands, where artisans have been churning out these charming knits since the late 1800s. Today, Mati Ventrillon and her knitters are hard at work making jumpers that would look smashing in the Yorkshire Dales (or on the streets of New York City). For the moment, we’re very happy with the brand’s ready-to-wear styles, but there is always a chance that we’ll go broke for bespoke. Surely you understand. (From $556, mativentrillon.com) —Ashley Baker

How this documentary, released in the summer of 2021, failed to be nominated for the Academy Awards’ best documentary feature is a mystery and a shame. In a taut 90 minutes, The Lost Leonardo takes viewers through one of the craziest stories to come out of the art world in the past 25 years. By now you’re probably familiar with Salvator Mundi, the “lost” Leonardo da Vinci painting that was snapped up at auction two years ago for $450 million (reportedly by Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud), making it the most expensive painting ever purchased. What you probably don’t know is the incredible story of its journey—from being “discovered” in New Orleans by an art historian who bought it for $1,175 to the scammers who got London’s National Gallery to validate it, to the Swiss dealer who made a killing selling it to an oligarch. It makes any fictitious caper, such as Ocean’s Eleven, look like amateur hour. (tv.apple.com) —Michael Hainey

The new annual magazine Inque is formidable, both in terms of the contributors and in terms of sheer heft. Its trim size (13¼ by 9 ¾ inches) is a statement, its mass (a little more than two pounds) a counterweight to the gravitational pull of the metaverse. Founding editor Dan Crowe admits that “Inque is a little more expensive than most magazines,” but you can see every cent of its Kickstarter-raised capital in the finished product. It’s engaged with the issues of the day, though usually with a detour through the past: an essay on pandemic art highlights John Beard’s graphite homage to Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa; another piece looks at W. E. B. Du Bois’s interest in data visualization as a tool for achieving racial equality. There are portfolios (Seymour Chwast, Paul Davis), stories (Ben Lerner, Leïla Slimani, Will Self), and poems (Ocean Vuong, Tom Waits). The issue also inaugurates a few recurring features: “The Dead Interview,” in which Margaret Atwood communes with George Orwell; a showcase for young African writers selected and introduced by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; and, from Jonathan Lethem, part one of a new novel to be published in 10 annual installments, like a Victorian serial with the gestation time of Boyhood. ($75, inquemag.com) —Ash Carter