Hot chocolates for that seasonal glow November 18, 2009 IF, like me, you’re impervious to the charms of caffeine drinks, or else – also like me – you’re powerless to resist the lure of cocoa, the idea of the perfect hot chocolate takes on holy grail status. When I meet people in cafes, I often watch glumly while they strain exotic tea through a [...]
cruise control November 17, 2009 IF I told you that I recently indulged in a spot of mid-week mud-larking, then where would you picture me? The wilds of Scotland? The Yorkshire Dales? Well, not quite. This time I was in the EJ Churchill Sporting Ground near High Wycombe. When I emerge from my car, it sounds like I’ve arrived at [...]
OUT OF OFFICE November 17, 2009 FAHRENHEIT TWINS AT THE BARBICANThere’s seasonal fun of a very cold kind at the Barbican, taking you into the world of two siblings who live with their scientist parents on a remote Arctic exploration station. This adaptation of Michel Faber’s novel is devised and performed by two person stage company Told By An Idiot (Hayley [...]
Italian food by a superstar chef just doesn’t cut it in a downturn November 16, 2009 Apsleys 1 Lanesborough Pl, SW1X 7TATel: 020 7333 7254FOODSERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: £75 APSLEYS at the Lanesborough is doing its best to be classed as a restaurant in its own right, rather than an add-on to a hotel. It really is. Its latest incarnation as “Apsleys – a Heinz Beck Restaurant” (to give it [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS November 16, 2009 SERPENTINE BAR & KITCHEN GOES FESTIVEHyde Park’s Serpentine Bar & Kitchen has opened a Christmas restaurant to coincide with the park’s Winter Wonderland. The restaurant, in its own festive marquee, will offer traditional English food and drink – hog roasts, stuffed guinea fowl and the like, with mulled wine, ciders and cask ales – from [...]
THREE OTHER HOTEL RESTAURANTS November 16, 2009 Marcus Wareing at The BerkeleyWareing broke loose of his boss Gordon Ramsay earlier last year and since then, his double Michelin-starred restaurant has been a major draw. It is critically adored for its innovative food and elegant décor and service. Stand-out dishes include a 24-hour cooked Welsh suckling pig with chicory. The Berkeley, Wilton Place, [...]
When crossing the Atlantic, getting there is half the fun November 15, 2009 It is a glorious morning in New York. The sunlight is sparkling on the skyscrapers as I look out over Manhattan island having just arrived in the United States. I couldn’t be more relaxed after an early morning visit to the spa while I was on my way. There’s not a hint of jet lag [...]
Get your hands dirty in Sardinia November 15, 2009 THESE days, you can hardly turn on a television without seeing somebody rummaging around in hedgerows, or cooking a meal with something they have just picked or plucked from a tree. Foraging is in. The idea of wandering around the British countryside in November looking for my dinner doesn’t exactly appeal – but doing so [...]
The disaster film to end disaster films November 12, 2009 Film2012Cert: 12ABYTHETIME you come blinking out of the cinema, you’d be forgiven for thinking it is 2012, so long and exhausting is the latest film from large-scale disaster specialist Roland Emmerich. In Independence Day he had aliens lay waste to the planet until Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum fought back; in Godzilla the giant dinosaur [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND November 12, 2009 FILMCOLD SOULS Existential comedy about an actor who loses his soul, with Paul Giamatti. AMELIA Lacklustre biopic about the pilot Amelia Earhart, starring Hilary Swank. TAKING woodstock Comedy about the famous sixties music festival. DVDSTAR TRECK XI The greatest sci-fi franchise of them all gets a surprisingly good prequel. MOON Sam Rockwell stars in this [...]