David Hockney at Tate Britain review: A Bigger Splash still makes a bigger splash than the artist’s weak newer works February 9, 2017 This major David Hockney retrospective, the first for 30 years, flits between brilliance and nonchalant mediocrity, with virtuoso paintings hanging metres away from self-cannibalising pastiches of the artist’s best work. Hockney is the nation’s favourite painter, a national treasure on a level with Alan Bennett, popular enough for The Sun to ask him to redesign [...]
The Robots exhibition at the Science Museum is a fascinating (and a little creepy) history of human-like automata February 9, 2017 Greeting you when you first enter the Robots exhibition at the Science Museum is an animatronic baby, pinned like some prized insect to a wall of pulsing lights. Commissioned especially for the exhibition and built by a special effects company, the mechanical baby repeats a series of pre-programmed animations, sneezing and wavings its arms and [...]
Huawei Mate 9 review: The latest Huawei flagship fills the phablet gap left behind by Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 February 8, 2017 Having had its reputation scuttled by the exploding Galaxy Note 7 – a phone that’s now as welcome on an aeroplane plane as a wet fart – Samsung has left a slightly singed gap in the phablet market. Men and women with very large hands who need giant telephones to make them feel momentarily normal [...]
Property of the Week: This former hosepipe factory in Peckham is made for people who love hidden bookcases February 8, 2017 The Hosepipe Factory, Peckham, £2.295m It’s surprisingly easy to walk past this enormous former hosepipe factory. I did, three times, to be exact, pacing between a timber merchants and a row of Victorian terraced houses. Eventually, I spot the estate agent from Urban Spaces and he ushers me past a slim electric gate, like he’s [...]
The bastard’s guide to business: How to grow a company the Ray Kroc way February 8, 2017 Ray Kroc may be the man who created arguably the western hemisphere's most recognisable symbol – but he wasn't always nice about it. In new movie The Founder, Michael Keaton stars as McDonald's founder Kroc, telling the story of his unlikely rise from small-time milkshake mixer salesman to big bucks entrepreneur after he was dazzled by Mac and Dick [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on how to celebrate the year of the rooster in style February 7, 2017 I hadn’t realised what a big deal Chinese New Year had become in England until I tried to get a table in the Mayflower in Cheltenham last weekend. It was packed out and I had to call in a favour to get in. The weird thing was, there wasn’t a chicken in sight! Maybe nobody [...]
Pizza and pasta restaurants continue to flourish in the capital, here are some of the top new openings February 7, 2017 Dough-nt settle for anything than the best pizza and pasta. 1. Hai Cenato 2 Sir Simon Milton Square, SW1E 5DJ Victoria’s new Nova development is now open, housing over a dozen restaurants, including Hai Cenato, an Italian from globetrotting chef Jason Atherton. The Pollen Street Social and Berners Tavern owner will serve up a wide [...]
Working Lunch review: Roast in Borough Market unleashes a dinner in a burger that’ll put your mum to shame February 7, 2017 Roast Borough Market, SE1 WHAT? Roast celebrates British food in all its gravy-sodden, stodgy glory. As you’d expect, it’s famed for its roast dinners, custard-drenched puddings and fantastic fry ups. Tourists flock to it to get a taste of proper British cuisine done well, and City types go there to stock up on red meat. [...]
Is the British motorist falling out of love with diesel cars? February 7, 2017 Ever since news of the VW emissions scandal broke in 2015, the automotive industry has been waiting for a sign that British motorists are falling out of love with diesel cars. The latest new car sales data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows a definite swing away from diesel in [...]
BMW 740Le xDrive review: The latest BMW 7 Series is a City-friendly plug-in hybrid February 6, 2017 When he’s not running across sand or wooing Audrey Roberts, actor Nigel Havers likes nothing better than to walk around London tapping on the windows of chauffeurs sitting with their engine running, telling them to turn it off. The number of cars sat idling by the side of the road, doing nothing, is “extraordinary” he [...]