Why Slovenia is the perfect place for a spot of posh hiking September 19, 2014 First things first: backpacking is a lot more fun without the backpack. Forget any student holidays spent hauling grubby camping gear from hostel to hostel. Today’s self-guided walking tours are altogether more grown-up. The company supplies a route, takes care of accommodation and transports your bags. There’s no group walking, you’re free to stride up [...]
Theatre Review: Billie Piper stars in Great Britain at the National September 18, 2014 ★★★★★ With inquiries, investigations, MP select committees and dodgy dealings between opaque institutions, phone-hacking was a very broadsheet kind of scandal. Sex was there, but it was in the background: at root, this was a story about people being in each other’s pockets, not beds. Great Britain gives phone-hacking the tabloid treatment. It ratchets up [...]
Where to drink in the City: The changing face of Square Mile nightlife September 17, 2014 The City of London: engine-room for the country’s economy, working place of some of the most powerful decision-makers in the Western world. But the Square Mile is strangely anachronistic in terms of its watering holes. If you fancy a drink after work, the choice has tended to be between good old spit and sawdust boozers [...]
Car review: The new Audi TT feels more like a top-end VW than a thrusting sports car September 16, 2014 What’s your take on the Audi TT? A brilliant interpretation of Bauhaus design language? An unusually attainable, good looking sports car? Or so commonplace it barely even registers? The original TT was something special. No car manufacturer had built such a bold interpretation of the coupe away from a motor show concept. And no one [...]
Dish of the day: Salt cod beignets with scallops and blood orange September 9, 2014 Salt cod is dried and salted and needs to be soaked before use. It’s popular in Mediterranean cooking, particularly in Spain (it’s known there as bacalao), where it’s incorporated into many different meals. One of the most popular involves deep-frying it in croquettes, similar to this beignet dish we cook at the Boundary. It works [...]
Car Review: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde September 9, 2014 I have solemnly sworn to not mention the words “soul” or “passion” even once in a review of an Italian car. With the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta Quadrifolgio Verde hot hatchback, it’s an easy promise to keep. This Alfa is devoid of either. A quick bit of history. The “Quadrifoglio Verde” boot badge comes from [...]
Film Review: They Came Together September 4, 2014 ★★ The curtains pull back and swing jazz rolls over the opening credits: white serif font on black background. Enter two couples sat chatting in a plush New York restaurant. A scene in which they discuss the relative merits of the broadsheet newspapers gives way to sweeping aerial shots of the Manhattan skyline. We might [...]
Film Review: Before I Go To Sleep September 4, 2014 ★★ It’s always the same. She awakes startled in what she thinks is a stranger’s bed, creeps into the bathroom and looks in the mirror. The face she sees is hers, but different: lined, framed by hair that’s thinning, a little dry with middle-age. She screams and runs from the bathroom back into the bedroom [...]
Theatre review: Little Revolution September 4, 2014 ★★★★ Is there anything left to say about the riots? Despite the avalanche of think-pieces chewing over possible causes – from the left: poverty, racism, a lack of opportunities; from the right: irresponsibility bred by welfarism and failures in state education – no one provided a wholly satisfactory diagnosis. The riots were simply too big, [...]
Open House 2014: Our pick of the best events in the City of London September 4, 2014 It’s hard work running a city – especially one that leads the world in culture, heritage and population growth, like London. The increasing demand for housing in the capital has put more pressure than ever on our open spaces and buildings. The pace of urban change is fast and cities need creative solutions to stay [...]