Eastway Brasserie review: A slick and Manhattan-styled diner serving classic dishes May 24, 2016 This slick and moody Manhattan-style brasserie is tucked inside the illustrious Great Eastern Hotel by Liverpool Street Station. The glossy walnut and polished marble decor suggests Mad Men cool, but Eastway Brasserie turns out to be a more casual lunchtime spot, a charcuterie and grill serving burgers, sandwiches and steaks to hungry commuters. Here's the [...]
Warwickshire is surprise entrant in the top 10 European tourist destinations this summer May 24, 2016 It might seem like a left-field candidate, but Warwickshire has been voted one of Europe's top destinations for travellers this summer by Lonely Planet. The West Midlands country earned sixth place in the Best in Europe 2016 list thanks to its breadth of offerings including "bucolic hills, sublime castles and historic market towns". The Bard is [...]
Now you can live in the apartment where D-Day was planned – if you have a cool £4.7m May 24, 2016 It's the ultimate piece of war memorabilia: an apartment in the building that served as a base for the Special Operations during the planning of D-Day has just gone up for sale. The only catch? You'll need a cool £4.75m to live in it. The five-bedroom duplex apartment is in Montagu Mansions, used as a headquarters [...]
Have women’s smartwatches just gone mainstream? There’s more to high-tech horology than the Apple Watch May 23, 2016 Bettridge’s Law states that if a headline ends in a question mark, then the answer is “no”. If that were always the case, then a column such as this would be a very short read indeed. But the question “can a stylish woman wear a smart watch?” is more complex than a simple “no”. A [...]
Beautiful Things: The items on our shopping list this month, from instant cameras to invisible teapots May 23, 2016 Votteler Chair £POA, walterknoll.de This Walter Knoll armchair, based on a 1956-design by Arno Votteler, is a perfect example of Scandinavian objectivity and austerity. The angular volume of the upholstery rests on a delicate tubular steel framework, while the armrests are made from elegantly shaped solid wood. German industrial designer and academic Votteler, who founded [...]
The best dive watches 2016, from Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak to the perennial Omega Seamaster May 23, 2016 A dive watch is the most conspicuous timepiece you can own, and the most hard-wearing: designed to shrug off the toughest life can throw at it, and look bloody marvellous while doing so. In fact, some of the greatest, most daring watch designs of all come down to those twin requirements of endurance and visibility, [...]
Ferrari California T Handling Speciale review with price and specs: a £150,000 delight, but better suited to the Tuscan Hills than the Tooting school run May 23, 2016 Everyone should have a ‘bucket list’ – a checklist of things to do before kicking the bucket. Yours might include a meal in a Michelin-starred restaurant, a bungee jump or running a marathon dressed as a rhino. Mine was driving a Ferrari. Now, I should explain that, in eight years as a journalist, I’ve been [...]
Beat the post-Eurovision blues with a trip to Stockholm, where these waxen ABBA nightmares stand in perpetual, staring horror May 20, 2016 Landing in Stockholm, bleary-eyed and frizzy-haired, I wondered if this was all going to be a bit too cool for me. People have got their act together in Sweden. They eat well, they look immaculate and everything they do is world-beating – from their achingly cool subtitled dramas, to their forward-thinking paternity leave policy and [...]
48 Hours in… Port Lympne, Kent: from rhino to bistros May 20, 2016 Where to stay Port Lympne’s Treehouse Hotel sits on the tree tops with views across 600 acres of greenery and animal reserve. The double rooms come with a golf buggy and use of the luxury clubhouse. Visit aspinallfoundation.org Where to go Ride in an open-sided safari truck at the award-winning Port Lympne wildlife park, where [...]
Long Weekend review: Le Pavillon des Lettres is Paris’ hideaway for linguists and bookworms May 20, 2016 THE WEEKEND: They may still deliver the wow factor but we’ve all done the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre more times than we can remember. For a trip to Paris with a difference, brush up on your rusty GCSE French and soak up the city’s vast cultural history while indulging in world famous patisserie, wine [...]