Buried Child at Trafalgar Studios: Ed Harris shines in this searing portrait of a decaying America that’s the perfect prelude to Trump December 8, 2016 Buried Child, first performed in 1978, feels like it was written for the dog days of 2016. Sam Shepherd’s quietly crushing portrait of entropy and despair is concerned with those disillusioned white working classes that have dominated the news agenda since 8 November. It’s about the death of the American dream in the wake of [...]
Opinion: Head of Savills’ Auctions on why owner occupiers are still the minority buying homes under the hammer December 8, 2016 Property auctions have changed dramatically over the last 30 years, evolving from small-scale events focused on lower value property, to day-long sales featuring a wide cross-section of the market. And the sector continues to grow. Savills Auctions has sold over £300m worth of property in 2016. Over the past three decades the reasons for selling [...]
New Builds: On the market this week, from the Manhattan-inspired towers in Canary Wharf to hipster pads in Hackney December 8, 2016 Manhattan Plaza, Tower Hamlets From £550,000 Enjoy views of Canary Wharf’s rapidly rising skyline from the tower of a new development that’s less than a ten minute walk from all the shopping and nightlife it has to offer. The Canary Wharf and City View Collection, the third phase to go on sale at Manhattan Plaza, [...]
Watches with power-reserve complications are the latest must-have trend; here are some of the best December 8, 2016 Sometimes, complicating things just a tad can be a good thing. A watch can give you the time with beautiful simplicity; but just as a well-judged pocket square brings a bit of flourish to your look, a little extra on the face of a watch adds interest and horological spice. A power reserve display – [...]
My Inspiration: Jake Burger, chief gin instructor at Portobello Road Gin’s Ginstitute on fabled recipe tome The Savoy Cocktail Book December 8, 2016 The Savoy Cocktail Book was first published in 1930 and it’s been in print ever since, apart from a brief break during the second World War. Lots of the drinks remain relevant today, although there were far fewer ingredients back then than we’re used to today. I did a bit of analysis and about a [...]
Give the gift of time this Christmas: the top new watches to declare your undying love to another human being December 8, 2016 The hot-list: our favourite new watches to buy your loved ones this Christmas. Tudor Pelagos LHD £3,020, tudorwatch.com If the “LHD” of the title – standing for “left-hand drive” – doesn’t give it away, the position of the winding crown should: Tudor’s latest diving watch is for the left-handed. Hence the crown is on the [...]
The alchemists of time: How watch companies combine age-old techniques with cutting edge materials December 8, 2016 Let’s face it: a finely made timepiece is, in a rather nice twist of irony, a flashy anachronism. For starters, no one really needs a watch these days, finely made or not. Secondly, the delicate concoction of wheels, springs and levers driving a mechanical watch is based on an ancient principle – 200-year-old technology that [...]
Gotta catch ‘em all: how extreme collectors hunt down the world’s rarest watches December 8, 2016 In a thankfully deserted café near the river in Battersea, my acquaintance extracts an unassuming plastic shopping bag from a rucksack. From inside it, he unfurls 12 wristwatches, laying each one gently on the table; were the sole waitress present paying us any attention, she might think it a rather suspicious scene – even more [...]
Foodie predictions for 2017: top chefs, writers, restaurateurs and food producers give us their thoughts on the year ahead December 7, 2016 Vivek Singh Executive chef of The Cinnamon Club, cinnamonclub.com Butter is back and fats will be in vogue. Masterclasses will also become key to true foodies, with as much focus on drinks as on food. We will continue to want to know more about the ethics behind our food and its provenance. Shaun Clarkson Interior [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on the perfect way to cook kale, our generation’s hipster superfood December 6, 2016 As a kid my grandmother used to serve curly kale every winter but like a lot of her home cooking, she’d completely crucify it. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't a bad cook per se, but like most people of her generation, she didn't really know when to turn the gas off. There was just [...]