Fitness advice: There’s more to getting fit than losing weight – it’s a psychological journey with myriad benefits February 6, 2019 We’re all bombarded with fitness articles and adverts at this time of year. Gyms do a huge portion of their annual recruitment during January, when we’re all feeling fragile and fat after the excesses of the holiday season. But the big gym chains will have already started to notice a drop-off in attendance. Despite all [...]
We’re now in the new lunar year – the Year of the Pig – so get out there and eat dim sum in some of London’s finest restaurants February 5, 2019 1. Din Tai Fung Henrietta St, WC2E 8PT If you’re a dumpling fan, you’ve probably heard of Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain that’s currently taking Covent Garden by storm. It’s known for its magical xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings). The new British restaurant seats 250 but still expect a queue during busy times. [...]
Our resident chef columnist mixes up a mighty mulligatawny to write home to your mother about February 5, 2019 Have you ever ordered mulligatawny in an Indian restaurant? I did once and wished I hadn’t: they added water to the dahl and poured it into a bowl. Mulligatawny is a staple of the classic British Indian restaurant menu, always there, yet never ordered. Like kedgeree and mango chutney, it is part of the culinary [...]
Weekly Grill: Launceston Place head chef Ben Murphy on creating simple, no-nonsense food, and vegans who eat butter and cream February 5, 2019 Who are you and what do you do? My name is Ben Murphy and I’m 28 years old. I’m head chef at Launceston Place in Kensington and I’ve been cooking professionally for eight years now. Cooking has always been a personal passion, so being paid to do what I love is a bonus. What’s new [...]
Green Book review: Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen shine in a bromance that’s as insightful as it is charming February 1, 2019 A Best Picture nominee about racism in the USA isn’t usually an uplifting experience. On paper, Green Book, the true story of a New Yorker chauffeur tasked with safely getting an African American pianist from gig to gig in the segregated South, sounds like it could be a long, hard grind. But Viggo Mortensen and [...]
Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams at the V&A is a thorough investigation of the haute couture brand, if not the man himself February 1, 2019 By 1955, over half of all haute couture exported from France was designed by Christian Dior. Not bad for someone who started out selling sketches outside his house for 10 cents apiece. Not that you’d know that having been to this exhibition as, unlike the V&A’s blockbuster retrospective on the late Alexander McQueen, this show [...]
Leave to Remain play review: Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke brings sparkle to this relationship drama February 1, 2019 Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke and co-star Matt Jones play a pair of troubled young lovers in this touching, physically impressive play that dwells far less on Brexit than its title suggests. If follows smitten couple Obi and Alex who, after 10 months together, risk being parted when Alex’s company posts him to the Middle [...]
Burning film review: Lee Chang-dong’s Haruki Murakami adaptation is more proof he’s the best director you’ve never heard of February 1, 2019 Lee Chang-dong may be the best director you’ve never heard of. He has made just six films, each of them wonderful and largely unknown to Western audiences, over a peripatetic career that has also included a stint as culture minister in the South Korean government. Burning, adapted from a Haruki Murakami story, is his best [...]
Can You Ever Forgive Me? film review: Melissa McCarthy shines in this odd-couple heist movie February 1, 2019 The normally jovial Melissa McCarthy completely transforms herself to play Lee Israel, a New York biographer who finds a new stream of income forging personal letters from famous writers of the past. It’s a fascinating premise (adapted from the real life Israel’s 2008 memoir), playing out as a simple but well executed heist movie. The [...]
Opinion: Sadiq Khan should be careful what he wishes for when it comes to rent controls in London February 1, 2019 The recent news that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is moving ahead with plans to impose rent controls on London’s housing market comes as no surprise. Khan’s been contemplating regulation for some time and it featured in his 2016 pre-election manifesto, but nearly three years later, we still haven’t actually seen a concrete policy. Khan [...]