In a city where property is in short supply, why do buildings still lie derelict? November 27, 2015 From the top floor the Royal Docks’ Millennium Mills there’s a stomach-churning, 10 storey hole in the floor. It used to house a Rube Goldberg-esque, flour processing helter skelter back in the building’s heyday in the first half of the last century. Now it’s little more than a skeleton, stripped back to brick and concrete, [...]
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 movie review: Last instalment draws the film series to an entertaining conclusion November 20, 2015 Cert 12A | ★★★★☆ The Hunger Games is a rarity in Hollywood franchises; all three instalments have maintained a high standard. Action-packed, intelligent stories with solid performances, and in Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss a heroine the audiences can get behind. Can the finale, wedged between the loud juggernauts of Bond and Star Wars, deliver an end [...]
The Dressmaker, Steve McQueen, The Perfect Guy and Momentum: This weekend’s new films reviewed November 20, 2015 The Dressmaker | Cert 15 ★★★☆☆ A quirky comedy-drama that’s lifted out of the ordinary by Kate Winslet as glamorous seamstress Tilly. Her character returns to her home in Australia to care for her mother. But once she arrives, old rumours linking her to a murder in her childhood resurface, and she rekindles a romance with [...]
I Want My Hat Back review: National Theatre’s production of beloved children’s book sends kids wild November 20, 2015 National Theatre | ★★★★★ So there’s this bear, right, and he’s got an amazing hat. All red and pointy and with an elastic strap to keep it nice and secure on his big bear head. Where did the hat come from? It doesn’t matter. What matters is where it goes. Because shortly after the bear falls [...]
The Bermondsey Yard Cafe review: Is this SE1 restaurant keeping up with its trendy neighbours? November 17, 2015 The times they are a changin’ down on Bermondsey Street. One of the finest Italian kitchens in London and a long-time standard bearer of transpontine dining, is set to close before Christmas. Rising rent prices have reportedly forced the closure. The arrival of Fulham Shore-owned Franco Manca further points to an area of London commanding increasingly [...]
Mix it up: Sip cocktails with an older, wiser crowd at The Goring Hotel November 17, 2015 It must be a sign of age but I'm increasingly uneasy hanging around youngsters on a night out. It's probably because I've been there, done that and made the same "mistakes" already. They were awful the first time so I’d would rather not relive them (not even vicariously). Perhaps that’s why I found myself propped [...]
Lessons in wine: Tis the season to get tipsy on our top Christmas picks November 17, 2015 Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat and it is time to start planning Christmas lunch. While the true meaning of Christmas is peace and goodwill to all, a delicious lunch and good wine comes in a strong second. Sometimes the only way to get through TV re-runs, that protracted and competitive game of [...]
The fine art of Nordic cooking November 13, 2015 Chef Magnus Nilsson has compiled the definitive guide to the subtle art of Nordic cooking. The Nordic Cook Book combines a series of stunning photographs of his epic culinary journey through Scandinavia – from the grandiosity of the frozen fjords to simple strips of mutton hanging to age in a Faroese warehouse – with recipes [...]
Everybody loves Raymond: How Blanc launched a thousand careers November 13, 2015 Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons first opened its doors 30 long years ago, to instant acclaim. A year later it won two Michelin stars; it still has them today. Many of its former chefs have gone on to become the biggest names in the culinary world – Sat Bains, John Burton-Race, Heston Blumenthal, Marco [...]
The Burgundy Puzzle: a frustrating wine that can astonish or appall, here’s how to get it right November 13, 2015 The other day I was invited to a friend’s birthday party where the wine was given star billing. It was a Santenay 2012 and we were told it was “amazing”. I was bitterly disappointed: it was green and desperately thin, like over-diluted Ribena without the vitamin C. And probably cost a fortune. It put me [...]