OUT OF OFFICE July 26, 2010 DANTON’S DEATH AT THE NATIONAL Doesn’t Toby Stephens ever rest? Having only just finished a run in Tom Stoppard’s play The Real Thing at The Old Vic, he’s straight into dishevelled hair, frock coat and the bloody purges of the French Revolution in this new production of the play by 19th century German writer, Georg [...]
Dreary place, bright food July 26, 2010 Brasserie Joel First Floor, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, SE1 7UT. Tel: 020 7620 7272 FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £45 MUCH has been made of the unfortunate location of Brasserie Joel – and rightly so. This new outpost of the talented Joel Antunes, fresh from exile in the States, sits in a [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS July 26, 2010 KARAOKE IN KENSAL RISE Karaoke mania continues apace with the August opening of a private room at west London’s quirkiest gastropub, Paradise By Way of Kensal Green. Expect a library of 7,500 classic songs, with 50 of the latest chart hits added each month as well as themed playlists available alongside music-themed food and drink [...]
Fall in love with lava in wild and woolly Iceland July 25, 2010 THIS year Iceland became infamous for the deeply inconvenient glacial eruption of “that” volcano – Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced “AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh”). Its extraordinary qualities as a country were overshadowed by the chaos of grounded planes. Yet it is starkly beautiful and untamed, overflowing with adventure, history and plenty of volcanic action (brilliant to watch when it doesn’t spoil [...]
Banqueting by a Cumbrian fell July 25, 2010 HAVE you ever contemplated travelling from London to the Lake District for dinner? Until last weekend, such a suggestion would have puzzled me. Why go so far for an excellent meal when London is replete with high-quality restaurants? Nonetheless, on a Friday at midday, my husband and I put our nightshirts and toothbrushes in an [...]
FOCUS ON: GREENWICH, SE10 July 22, 2010 ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY Price: From £165,000 A luxury flat in an 18th century military school is not the typical home of a first-time buyer. But a regeneration project has turned the academy into a luxury development with studios, one-beds and two-beds on offer. Contact: Hamptons on 020 8856 0034, www.theacademy-woolwich.com FINGAL STREET Price: £435,000 A [...]
PROPERTY NEWS July 22, 2010 SAVILLS’ PROPERTY AUCTION NEXT TUESDAY Bargain-hunting property investors rejoice. Next Tuesday sees Savills hold one of its residential auctions. There’s a tenanted three-bedroom flat in a portered block on Great Cumberland Place next to Marble Arch is starting at £380,000 and a derelict semi-detached house on the Chiswick High Road is also up for grabs, [...]
BUYING July 22, 2010 MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, I am thinking of selling my property but I am concerned that it is summer and there are fewer buyers around. When is the optimum time to put my property on the market? A.Summer tends to be quieter in the sales market, especially in August when many people [...]
It pays to get your hands on the title deeds July 22, 2010 MORE London leaseholders than ever are taking advantage of their right to freehold enfranchisement – that is, the right to buy the freehold of their property – before the lease length drops below 80 years. “80 years is a magic number and not many people realise that,” says Katie Cohen of Jaffe Porter Crossick, a [...]
When experiments go wrong… July 22, 2010 Film SPLICE Cert: 15 Rhys Griffiths A CONTEMPORARY morality tale, this horror thriller pushes topical science controversies – stem cell tinkering, genetic cloning – to nightmarish extremes. Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are superstar genetic engineers. Endowed with great scientific talent but seriously lacking in common sense, the pair cross ethical boundaries like [...]