The Vineyard in Berkshire is the perfect pre-summer holiday May 6, 2025 With the weather improving but summer holidays still a way off, it’s the perfect time to cast around for mini-break options closer to home. The UK’s luxury spa market has recovered strongly from the hospitality-wide hit at the beginning of the decade, but how to distinguish between the many options? The Vineyard in Berkshire has [...]
In memory of Richard Vines, a sage and a gentleman May 6, 2025 My friend Richard Vines, chief restaurant critic of Bloomberg for 25 years, passed away this week. A champion of both genius chefs and restaurateurs, he was a wonderful man who I admired hugely. Over the last few days, I have been reminded of some magnificent City lunches with Richard; at Kym’s by Andrew Wong, after [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines Diary: Quaffing Spanish wine in the Parisian Pulitzer April 29, 2025 Paris has often been described as “magical” but I experienced my own miracle this weekend. The Significant Other and I were dining at Le Patio, the restaurant of Hotel Pulitzer in the Opera Quarter of Paris. Over squidgy, crispy croquettes and pesto laden burrata, I realised I had lost an earring. An earring my late [...]
Kioku by Endo at the Old War Office: OWO might be troubled but this sushi restaurant is the real deal April 29, 2025 The Old War Office, or ‘The OWO’ to insufferable industry types, is the most perplexing London hotel opening in decades. After spending over a billion quid turning Churchill’s wartime Cabinet Office into a hotel, industry bigwigs speak in hushed tones of low occupancy. One exec told me the breakfast room had eleven guests one morning [...]
Here’s what to look for when buying Provence Rosé April 28, 2025 We all know what those first glimpses of warm sunshine mean for us Brits. Suddenly the green spaces of London are filled with pasty, sun-craving bodies jostling elbow-to-elbow for a hit of vitamin D. Pubs and cafes fortunate enough to reside on the sunny side of the street overflow come lunchtime. Rosé season is upon [...]
Lidl eyes Mayfair and Chelsea stores amid £500m expansion April 28, 2025 You could soon shop at a Lidl store in the swanky London districts of Mayfair and Chelsea as the low-cost supermarket plans dozens more store openings as part of a £500m expansion plan. The German-owned business, which controls 7.8 per cent of the UK grocery market according to latest Kantar figures, has published a list [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines Diary: Even students can enjoy great wines April 25, 2025 I feel for final year University students right now. When the world is just waking up to those stirrings of spring and longer, sunnier days, they are finishing lengthy dissertations or beginning to cram for exams. Undoubtedly, having left it until the eleventh hour, the next few weeks for many will be spent tangled in [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines Diary: How to celebrate Steak Day right April 24, 2025 Steak. Our nation loves it. So much so that Tesco reported searches for ‘Wagyu” have gone up 87 per cent since last year on tesco.com. With its prestige and price, when it comes to cuts of meat, this is essentially the Grand Cru of beef. Taking this as a call to action, Tesco has launched [...]
Eat, Drink, Sleep, Repeat: Our top food columnist on his favourite New York dining spots April 24, 2025 Restaurants can have a greater purpose than simply offering heightened hospitality; this week I met the CEO’s of the ‘Only a Pavement Away’ charity and ‘Not for sale’ movement, both of which I worked with for the past eight years as CEO of Gaucho and M restaurants. OAPA identifies disadvantaged, vulnerable people often due for [...]
Eat, drink, sleep repeat: From martinis to ceviche – the best London spots past and present April 24, 2025 Studying successful luxury brands is a personal passion of mine; At their best, they inspire the people working within them to achieve what they didn’t think possible, whilst creating a huge following of passionate advocates spreading their brand love and purchasing power. If you have success in both of these areas, the profits will follow; [...]