2010’S BEST COMMUTER BIKES March 29, 2010 Cannondale Bad Boy A sleek, edgy urban commuter bike that’s a great all-rounder and excellent value. £549.99 Trek 7.7 FX A fast, versatile road bike with plenty of advanced tech, including a saddle that pivots to ease your pedal stroke. £1,249 Brompton S2L If you need a folding bike, the two-speed Brompton remains the benchmark [...]
The arrival of spring is the perfect time to start commuting by bike March 29, 2010 WHAT a little bike,” said a four-year-old as I cycled past him the other day. My little red Brompton tends to get attention – puzzled looks, smirks, and chuckles of “nice bike, mate” from the kids in the town centre. Do I care? I do not. If I was cycling to look cool, then I [...]
The celebrity chef bringing peasant food to the City March 29, 2010 I’M like a snail,” drawls chef supreme Raymond Blanc in a French accent that, 38 years after he arrived in the UK, remains as textured and ripe as a perfectly aged Camembert. “I’m stuck in my shell, and can only move very slowly.” The reason for Blanc’s despondency is a fall he took at his [...]
OUT OF OFFICE March 29, 2010 BEDROOM FARCE Alan Ayckbourn is back in fashion at the moment, and his old mucker Peter Hall has directed this revival of one of his funniest and most ingenious plays. Set in three different bedrooms over the course of a night, it follows four married couples as they get entangled in a delicious comedy of [...]
A taste of the Raj in Marylebone March 29, 2010 Colony Bar & Grill 7-9 Paddington Street, W1U 5QU, tel: 020 7935 3353 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £50 Anyone who has eaten at Benares will have a soft spot for its executive chef and owner, Atul Kochhar, who makes brilliant, inventive Indian food that made it the first [...]
THREE OTHER MARYLEBONE GEMS March 29, 2010 RISTORANTE SEMPLICE Possibly the best Italian restaurant in London, mainly for being so under-hyped. The dining room evokes swirls of honey, thanks to some great textured walls, and the food is simply knockout. Do not miss the saffron risotto, a Milanese dish that glows and tastes as good as gold. Wine and cheese are tops, [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS March 29, 2010 UMAMI DINNER AT NOBU Nobu Mastuhisa, of Nobu, will be flying in to London to host a special dinner at his restaurant in Old Park Lane. The idea is to showcase the “extra” taste umami, best described as tasty savoury, and common in Asian cuisine. After a talk by Mastuhisa, a dinner will take place, [...]
American-style glitz and glam come sailing into Barcelona March 28, 2010 WHATEVER the brand values are that the W Hotel group holds dear, subtlety probably sits low on the list. Take, for instance, the way it classes its rooms. Not for W those fuddy-duddy words like Superior (meaning bog-standard) and Deluxe – instead, W offers you Mega rooms and Fabulous rooms, or if you want a [...]
TRAVEL NOTES March 28, 2010 Get adventurous in the Caribbean You can head to St Lucia in the Caribbean and lie on the beach, or you can do something a little more active. The Cap Maison resort is offering action-packed breaks – for seven nights at the price of six – with activities including kite surfing, horse riding, diving, deep [...]
Bullock is Miss Sentimentality in her apple pie Oscar role March 25, 2010 Film THE BLIND SIDE Cert: 12A IT’S certainly a remarkable story. “Big Mike” Oher, a poor black kid from the Tennessee projects abandoned by his junkie mother, became a major star in American football after being rescued by rich housewife, Leigh Anne Tuohy. She and her millionaire husband (Tim McGraw) adopted him as a teenager, [...]