Is your house killing you? Why some people think paint, carpets and furniture could be poisonous October 31, 2019 Think back to the last time you redecorated a room. Did you paint a wall? Lay a new carpet? Buy a shelving unit with a Swedish-sounding name? According to some housebuilders, architects and designers, all of these things could be making you ill. They say that many common types of paint, carpets, flooring, kitchen and [...]
Artist Gavin Turk on getting arrested, collecting junk and trying to save the planet October 30, 2019 A generation of artists and musicians and filmmakers are starting to engage with climate change in the way creators in the mid-1960s engaged with the anti-war movement. You couldn’t move during this year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, for instance, without falling over an oblique reference to the planet dying. But in the case [...]
Where to find the best massage in Marrakech – we put four hammams through their paces October 30, 2019 In Morocco a weekly hammam bath is a must, an integral part of life that is about so much more than simply having a wash. It’s a way to decompress and purify the body before going to the mosque for the Friday prayer, and a form of mindfulness in itself. In the countryside and remote [...]
Star attraction: Why, after more than 100 years, the Michelin Guide still matters October 30, 2019 This year’s Michelin guide was released to the usual chorus of dissent, complaints that fashionable, progressive restaurants were overlooked in favour of high-ceilinged, soft carpeted establishments where classic cooking is dished up on white linen. “It’s like asking why the Oscars are the number one film award,” says chef and restaurateur Victor Garvey. “There are [...]
How whiskey became Kentucky’s multi-billion dollar cottage industry October 30, 2019 Standing in the private dining room of a Louisville hotel, I angle a roasted marrow bone towards my face and pour a shot of Wild Turkey down the emptied channel. It sluices the remaining beef fat into my mouth, adding a rich, silky finish to the oaky caramel of the bourbon. A cheer goes up [...]
Mark Hix heads to the Tuscan hills to bring home the bacon October 30, 2019 I recently went on my third boar hunt in the hills of Tuscany. The first time was 20-odd years ago, and I only managed to get a single shot off, which went about a foot over its head. It didn’t even flinch, just continued to stare at me, indignant. Since then I’ve taken up game [...]
How to mix: Hide’s Oskar Kinberg on the inspiration behind his Smoke & Mirrors cocktail October 30, 2019 Many of the cocktails we drink today are recipes that have been passed down through the generations, from bartender to bartender, their measurements exact and their flavours timeless. These are the mainstays of cocktail books that pass between collectors for many hundreds of pounds, perfect and unchanging. Some, on the other hand, are the result [...]
The Last Supper: Actor, rapper, comedian and YouTube star Michael Dapaah tells us why his last meal on earth would be his mum’s jollof rice October 30, 2019 Food has always been a big thing in my house. My mum was a catering officer back in Ghana and she’s a great cook. She cooks everything from Ghanian dishes like jollof rice to a really good Sunday roast or lasagne. I do a bit of cooking myself, too. I started learning how in food [...]
Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits at the Royal Academy review: There’s genius at play, but it’s shrouded in darkness October 25, 2019 Wandering through the life of Lucian Freud, from awkward teen to darkly handsome young man to disheveled old artist, I was reminded of Nietzsche’s famous line, “If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” The longer you spend in the presence of Freud’s self portraits, taking in their raw, [...]
Bridget Riley at Hayward Gallery review: Art meets psychology in this brain-bending exhibition October 25, 2019 Bridget Riley, one of the defining figures in the op art movement of the 1950s and 60s, was as much a psychologist as she was a painter. Her works aren’t really about what’s on the canvas (although her flawless brush strokes are certainly nice enough) – they’re about the sensations they provoke, the strange, hypnotic [...]