New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend October 5, 2018 11 Fitzjohn’s Avenue, Hampstead From £695,000 Live in a Victorian mansion designed in the Arts and Crafts style that has been converted into 12 apartments with two new build townhouses at the back. Developer Godfrey London has re-introduced period features, along with heritage timber wall-panelling and limestone fireplaces. Call joint agents Goldschmidt & Howland (020 [...]
A Star is Born review: Lady Gaga shines like a supernova in Bradley Cooper’s remake of a Hollywood classic October 5, 2018 A Star is Born is a simple idea that just won’t die. This version, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper as rock star Jackson Maine, is the fourth retelling of the starstruck fantasy. Famous boy meets girl in bar, makes her a star, they fall in love, get married and she cares for his tortured [...]
M&S, Tesco and Primark bosses to face MPs over fast fashion ‘waste’ October 5, 2018 Parliament's environmental audit committee has asked the bosses of 10 UK clothing retailers to reveal their environmental records, amid concerns about serial clothes dumping. High street staples Marks & Spencer, Primark, Next, Tesco, Asda and Sports Direct – among others – will also be summoned to parliament to face questions from the committee in November. Fast fashion is shorthand [...]
Focus On St John’s Wood: Why the genteel life on offer in this north west London village has endured for over a hundred years October 5, 2018 The rapid gentrification of the grottier parts of London has dominated the capital’s housing chat over the last few years. Everyone loves a rags to riches story, but as boring as it sounds, there are some parts of London that have always been, well, lovely. St John’s Wood is one of those places, a north [...]
Don’t write off this kitsch cultural phenomenon, the Golden State is seeing a third wave of these Polynesian-themed bars. October 5, 2018 Tiki hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons this summer, when a bunch of neo-Nazis and white supremicists fired up tiki torches and took to the streets in Charlottesville, prompting not only international revulsion, but also a stern rebuke from the makers of the flaming implements. “Our products are designed to enhance backyard gatherings [...]
Editor’s Notes: A subversive Brexit comedy? It’s about bloody time; art’s in the right place and Conservative party conference diary October 5, 2018 Whenever Brexit is introduced as a subject for comedy, it is invariably the Remainers laughing at the Leavers. I don't say this to make a populist point, it is simply an observation. Think of Radio 4 comedy, BBC panel shows and the stand-up circuit. It’s risk-free to be a Remainer – and laughing at the Leavers, [...]
Johnny English Strikes Again review: More than ever this half-arsed spy spoof feels lazily out of touch October 4, 2018 Here’s why Mr Bean is funny and Johnny English is not. The former character is comically inept, but morally pure. In the opening sequence, Mr. Bean literally descends to Earth in a beam of light, as though ejected from the Pantheon, or deposited by an intergalactic spaceship. A choir sings “ecce homo qui est faba”, [...]
The Green Room review: Find out what corporate hospitality means at the Kia Oval before you fork out to impress clients October 3, 2018 The last time I sat in a corporate box, it was miserable. A relative who worked for a bank had been offered tickets to a Muse gig at Wembley Stadium and invited me along as box meat to fill the space. At the time, I was a fan of the Devonshire space rockers, but I [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on what to do with all that nice stuff you scoop out of your gourd October 2, 2018 It’s almost Halloween and we’re about to undergo a form of international mass hysteria, buying a shed-load of pumpkins, scooping out all the lovely edible bits, putting them in the bin and carving faces into the remains. Madness. Pumpkins and squashes are delicious, and they deserve better than being unceremoniously ditched in the name of [...]
Working Lunch at Quo Vadis: We review the generously portioned Soho Set menu and rave about an eel sandwich October 2, 2018 Quo Vadis 26-29 Dean Street WHAT AND WHERE? If you haven’t heard of Quo Vadis by now, then quo eras? The once-notorious brothel, and former home of Karl Marx – though not at the same time – first flung open its doors to Dean Street diners in the 1920s and it’s been a Soho staple [...]