Vertu has released its Signature-model smartphone in a sleek new chocolate-brown version for fall. The Signature Pure Chocolate ($16,600) features the brand’s PVD-coated stainless-steel case and trademark sapphire-crystal keys in deep brown, with red-gold numerals. Handmade in Hampshire, England, the phone features Vertu’s complete range of services, including the travel-security feature Vertu Certainty and the Vertu Concierge service, which provides users with dedicated on-call assistance 24 hours a day. Each…

One would think that the multiple-award-winning chef, author, and restaurateur Thomas Keller’s similarly multiple-award-winning French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley had attained perfection. It is consistently voted one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, and reservations are taken two months in advance. Each day’s menu includes vegetables from Keller’s two-and-a-half acre garden across the street that are picked, prepped, and plated within 24 hours. And the extensive wine list—compiled by the head somm…