Koffman’s pop-up proves that he’s still the king of London fine dining November 9, 2009 NOSTALGIA is a wonderful thing. When it was announced that Pierre Koffman would come out of retirement to run a restaurant on the roof of Selfridges for one week only, the phones rang off the hook with former customers who remembered his Chelsea restaurant Tante Claire, which closed several years ago. But the crowd wasn’t [...]
TOP FRENCH RESTAURANTS November 9, 2009 HELENE DARROZE AT THE CONNAUGHTThe holder of two Michelin stars for her Parisian restaurant, Darroze picked up her first star for the Connaught restaurant this year. The food is inspired by her native Landes region in south west France, with dishes including chicken stuffed with mushrooms and spit roasted wild pigeon with grilled foie gras. [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS November 9, 2009 SKETCH POPS UP IN THE ART WORLD Mayfair destination restaurant Sketch is going to be getting in with the art crowd next month by launching a pop-up café at the Royal Academy of Arts. It’s designed to reflect the themes of the Piccadilly institution’s exhibition GSK Contemporary, Earth: Art of a Changing World, focusing on [...]
OUT OF OFFICE November 8, 2009 JAPANESE WHISKY TASTING AT TSURUWhisky is almost as popular as sake in Japan and it goes surprisingly well with sushi. Japanese whisky is similar to Scottish in style and as good. To prove it, Tsuru restaurant will hold a tasting with five whiskies, and Japanese whisky expert Jen Dickson will demonstrate subtle difference between the [...]
Berlin is still emerging from the shadows of the past November 8, 2009 WHEN you walk across the joint expanse of Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz in central Berlin, you’re surrounded by futuristic architecture, vast advertising hoardings, neon-lit brand names and thundering traffic. It makes it easy to forget you’re crossing what was once known here as the “Death Strip”. A cobbled line marking the old route of [...]
The best Christmas markets in Germany November 8, 2009 BerlinThe German capital is also very much the country’s Christmas market capital, with over 50 taking place – and there’ll be extra festivity this year as the city marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. The most popular market is the one in central west Berlin’s shopping district, next to the [...]
TRAVEL NOTES November 8, 2009 Le Grey brings designer luxury to BeirutThe Paris of the Middle East with an edgy local twist, Beirut now has a luxury boutique hotel from the group behind One Aldwych and Duke’s Hotel in London. The sleek and sexy hotel has a rooftop restaurant, with spectacular views out to the Mediterranean and Mount Lebanon and [...]
Who you gonna call? Goat busters November 5, 2009 FilmTHE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATSCert: 15 YOU couldn’t make it up – and indeed, the makers of this film didn’t. Based on British writer Jon Ronson’s book, this film takes us inside the US military’s most nutty experiment – an attempt to create a unit of soldiers with psychic powers. The film begins in [...]
OUT OF OFFICE November 5, 2009 FILM BRIGHT STAR Ben Wishaw stars as Thomas Keats in Jane Campion’s powerful biopic. A CHRISTMAS Carol Animated version of the Dickens classic, with Jim Carrey as Scrooge. CD ROBBIE WILLIAMS Robbie’s first album in three years is called Video Killed the Radio Star. SNOW PATROL The Irish band’s Best Of should show they weren’t [...]
Fulham’s back in the property game, so jump in quick November 5, 2009 LONDON’S Holy Grail of property, SW6, all but died after Lehman Brothers fell. “A year ago I was sitting at my desk wondering if I’d ever sell another house,” says Lindsay Cuthill, of Savills’ Fulham office. According to Savills’ research director Lucian Cook, prices in Fulham fell by 25 per cent after the crash, compared [...]