Best City spots for a winter warmer November 18, 2009 When there’s a nip in the air, there’s nothing quite like getting your mitts around a nice, hot glass of mulled wine. In these days of online shopping and alternative Queen’s speeches, not a lot remains of the traditional Dickensian Christmas – so when you see a spot of hot wine infused with spices, you [...]
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 [...]