Get away from it all in style January 26, 2014 From pristine African beaches to chic European winter bolt-holes, 10 luxury island retreats that are guaranteed to get you far from the madding crowd 1. Naka Yai Island, Phuket, Thailandluxurycollection.com/nakaLocated on the southern part of Naka Yai island, just off the eastern coast of Phuket, the Luxury Collection resort has 67 villas, all with private [...]
Where to drink January 24, 2014 Bars and clubs continue to open as London recovers from the post-Christmas blues. Chakana is a new Incan-themed nightclub next to Selfridges, spearheaded by Nick House (Steam and Rye, Mahiki), who recruited international clubland superstars Andrew Dax (London, Ibiza), Corrado Mozzillo (Italy) and Augusto Rosillo (Argentina) to create a nightlife experience akin to Tarantino’s From [...]
Coen brothers deliver the goods January 23, 2014 FILM INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Cert 15 | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars INSIDE Llewyn Davis is an offbeat, directionless sulk through the unforgiving streets of early 60s New York. These 60s don’t so much swing as shiver: winter-time Greenwich Village is wan, washed-out, freezing. The aspiring musicians who shuffle through it aren’t carried forth by [...]
Restaurant review: Andina, Shoreditch January 21, 2014 @steve_dinneen 1 Redchurch Street, E2 7DJ Tel: 020 7920 6499 FOOD Four Stars VALUE Four Stars ATMOSPHERE Three Stars Cost for two with a fair bit of booze: £150 IF I could go back five years and give myself one foodie tip, it would be “never set foot in Trader Vic’s”. If I could give [...]
Why Madeira deserves to be saved from obscurity January 21, 2014 Bottle.opener@cityam.com Call it a busman’s holiday but I have just had a sunny week in Madeira, sampling the delights of… Madeira. I was lucky enough to meet Chris Blandy, the seventh generation of the Blandy family to run the Madeira Wine Company (MWC), the mainstay of the island’s remaining wine industry. Madeira is the most [...]
Peugeot’s sporty coupé has punch January 20, 2014 The French carmaker has come up with the goods with this car that marries performance and style THERE are, no doubt, plenty of French products you’d be proud to call your own – a Christian Dior suit, maybe, or a bottle of Dom Pérignon. But when was a Peugeot last one of them? Probably the [...]
Not convinced? January 20, 2014 CHECK OUT THESE ALTERNATIVES… AUDI TTS COUPÉ PRICE: £36,045 0-62MPH: 5.5 secs TOP SPEED: 155mph CO2 G/KM: 184g/km MPG COMBINED: 35.8mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Four Stars PERFORMANCE Four Stars PRACTICALITY Two Stars VALUE FOR MONEY Three Stars RENAULT MÉGANE RENAULT SPORT PRICE: £26,925 0-62MPH: 6.0 secs TOP SPEED: 158mph CO2 G/KM: 174g/km MPG COMBINED: 37.7mpg THE VERDICT: DESIGN Two [...]
We let the truffle dogs loose in rolling fields of southern France January 20, 2014 Frederika Whitehead goes in search of pungent fungus that drives foodies crazy SERGE, our guide on the truffle hunt, is twinkle-eyed as he tells us about the aphrodisiac properties of truffles. “Truffles,” he says, “are like women: round, firm and very sensuous. I am passionate about truffles because they are the food of love.” We [...]
A gourmet Tuscan break with a splash of luxury January 19, 2014 From fine olive oil and rolling vineyards to hunting for truffles in the forests surrounding San Gimignano, the heart of Italy is the perfect place for a foodie winter getaway ON MY second day at Castello di Casole, the concierge told me that an American tech supremo recently booked out the entire villa complex for [...]
The Wolf of Wall Street is a joyous tale of decadence January 16, 2014 FILMTHE WOLF OF WALL STREETCert 18 | By Steve DinneenFour Stars THE WOLF of Wall Street is a film about awful people doing awful things in a company where being awful paid unbelievable dividends, for a while at least. Thankfully, in the hands of septuagenarian director Martin Scorsese, this doesn’t translate into an awful film; [...]