Reviving the Mary Celeste of property: Wandsworth’s most astonishing home May 5, 2016 When city recruiter Susan Cuff first viewed her home in Wandsworth, it was a bit like a residential Mary Celeste. Abandoned 18 months previously, there was still washing in the machine and uneaten food lying around. But underneath the debris of bachelors gone by, she saw there was potential for it to be an incredible [...]
Shit-Faced Shakespeare review: a hilarious, unpredictable and booze-fuelled remix of A Midsummer Night’s Dream May 5, 2016 In Shit-Faced Shakespeare, five actors attempt to rattle through a condensed version of the bard’s pixie-fuelled sex comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each night however, one member of the cast gets catastrophically pissed before curtain call, drinking their way through a trolley of booze as showtime approaches. Audience members are armed with a gong and [...]
The £18 million view: designer Martin Kemp on overlooking the Tower of London May 5, 2016 Of course the money shot is the view,” says interior designer to the world’s squillionaires, Martin Kemp, pointing out the vista of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Thames at close quarters. I can spare a glance out of the window, but turn back to the job at hand of stroking my way [...]
Settled aims to make the home buying process far smoother May 5, 2016 While most people will start a home search these days on Rightmove or Zoopla, less of us are ready to ditch the traditional estate agent and go online, when it comes to the selling process. And the reason why the online agents have failed to grab a larger market share so far is, according to [...]
Mona Hatoum at Tate Modern is a visceral, intestinal revelation May 5, 2016 Tate Modern | ★★★★☆ More than 20 years after it first went on display, the inside of Mona Hatoum’s rectum is as impressive as ever. Housed in a darkened cylinder, the alien tunnels of the artist’s bowels are projected onto the ground, a surgeon’s colonoscopy camera delving through a gurgling pink landscape that looks like [...]
Mark Hix on the classic Negroni: A bitter pill to cure your ills May 3, 2016 Although I’m rather partial to hardcore cocktails, I arrived to the Negroni party late – about ten years ago – because the medicinal flavour didn’t really do it for me. Then, like with so many things, the Groucho changed my life: now it’s my cocktail of choice. My bar staff even put one in my [...]
Grenada: The chocolate capital of the Caribbean May 3, 2016 Sitting outside the front of the Spice Island Beach Resort I asked a young bellman where he would go to get the best food on the island of Grenada. He smiled, his eyes glazed over and he described how his mother makes the local porridge called tanya log. “She puts bay leaves and nutmeg into [...]
Beautiful Things: The items on our shopping list this month, from fetish cakes to copper plated shot glasses April 29, 2016 SCP Armchair £1,508, scp.co.uk Luxury furniture retailer SCP unveiled its new collection at this month’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, including this quietly stunning chair from Reiko Kaneko. It features a steel frame, walnut or oak arm rests, an upholstered backrest and a feather seat cushion on an upholstered pad. Its minimalist aesthetic and small footprint [...]
BMW M2 review: we test it to the limit by racing former F1 driver Timo Glock April 29, 2016 I am following ex-F1 driver Timo Glock, in the new BMW M2 around the Laguna Seca racetrack in California. He’s fast. His name sticks in my mind as the F1 driver who Lewis Hamilton needed to pass, in the last race of 2008, in order to win the world championship for the first time. Hamilton [...]
Eight of the best gins to rock your world April 29, 2016 The beginnings of the gin craze are shrouded in notoriety. Just over 100 years ago it was the scourge of the working classes, an unregulated, often highly toxic spirit that was more cheaply and easily available than fresh water (hence its nickname Mother’s Ruin). The following half a century saw its reputation improve until it [...]