The Gaul the world loves June 30, 2010 I’VE visited a lot of restaurants in London: flashy ones, rustic ones, refined European ones, rooftop ones, flamboyantly ethnic ones and ones that closed after not very long at all. My favourite, on many levels, is Sketch – less a restaurant than a pleasure dome. I love that an eccentric man greets you and speaks [...]
Three hotpots for rooftop drinks June 30, 2010 EVEN a hint of clemency in London weather sends people out onto the streets to try to lap up a ray or two. This summer, though, we seem to have a proper excuse to drink outside. The only question is: where? Well, banish thoughts of rammed pubs or overly exclusive venues. London is now home [...]
London is buzzing with new openings June 30, 2010 THE summer is normally a time when the club scene quietens down and everyone heads off on holiday or out into the countryside. However, there’s a surprising amount of activity in London’s clubs and bars right now and encouragingly they’re trying harder than ever to win your loyal custom and put the fun back into [...]
Get your top off June 29, 2010 Weather like we’ve been having lately in the Big Smoke might make you yearn for a cruise out of town with the wind ruffling up your hair. But then this weather is a bit of an anomaly because, frankly, our summers aren’t usually this good, and the sun only occasionally puts in an appearance in [...]
OUT OF OFFICE June 29, 2010 GO RUNNING, BOUTIQUE-STYLE Ever feel that your girls’ nights out are a little on the unhealthy side? If so, try this one on for size: a boutique run, 5 or 10k, in Battersea Park followed by free champagne, hot showers, massages, free makeovers from the Powder Puff Girls, a fabulous after party featuring music and [...]
Tastes of the garden in St James’s June 28, 2010 The Avenue 7-9 St James’s Street, SW1A 1EE www.danddlondon.com HUGE place, The Avenue. It has sat near the bottom of St James’s Street since the Nineties when its spacious minimalism was quite the thing, if hardly what you’d expect to find just off fusty old Pall Mall. Earlier this year it was given a paint [...]
TASTING NOTES June 28, 2010 1) PREPARATION is everything when throwing a summer party. Since cold dishes are the order of the day, definitely have food ready in the fridge that can be pulled out as your guests arrive. Dishes such as frittatas and salads will fit the bill perfectly. You should enjoy the evening as much as your guests [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS June 28, 2010 ANTUNES SETS UP SHOP ON SOUTH BANK French chef Joel Antunes built a laudable reputation for himself back in the Eighties and Nineties working around France, Asia and the UK before launching Les Saveurs in Mayfair, where he picked up a Michelin star. After that he went to the States, but his latest venture is [...]
The king of scent and his powers of perfume picking June 28, 2010 WHEN we meet, Roja Dove is wearing a billowing turquoise silk shirt tucked into trousers held up by a diamante belt with a skull clasp, and has skin so dewy it could be that of a 20 year-old boy. Such remarkable self-presentation, not to mention his mellifluous voice, is immediately suggestive of the fact that [...]
Fishy feet may be the best June 28, 2010 THE hot weather will be a mixed blessing for anyone for whom sandal wearing means feet resembling parched deserts cracked with jagged canyons. There are all the usual ways of dealing with this – creams, sanding down with pumice, going for a full-on pedicure – but sticking your tootsies in a tank full of flesh-eating [...]