Meet elBulli’s Ferran Adrià: We interview the world’s greatest chef July 29, 2014 Once upon a time, the language of culinary pretension was French. If a chef wanted to bump up the prices on his menu, all he had to do was add a dash of “jus”, a splash of “vin”, perhaps a little “petit”. French words forged a connection between whatever slop the chef was serving up [...]
What your business card says about you July 29, 2014 A man pats his slicked back hair as he slides his business card across the table to his colleagues. It’s off-white and the words “Patrick Bateman, Vice President” are embossed on it in a finely etched black font. “Picked ‘em up from the printers yesterday. That’s bone. And the lettering is something called Silian Grail,” [...]
The New York power breakfast: A world of billion-dollar deals and $23 bowls of cereal July 29, 2014 Every morning, Leigh Wynn, the maitre d’ of the most expensive and exclusive breakfast spot in New York, wakes up at 4.30am. From 7am to 10am, her job is to find a table for some of the biggest and most demanding names in business, media and politics, and personally cater to their every whim, while [...]
Time flies: the best pilot’s chronographs July 29, 2014 Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now? Pish and tush – as any 13-year-old boy ought to know, the greatest war movie ever made is Where Eagles Dare. In its fabulously mysterious opening scene, a camouflaged trimotor Junkers 52 flies low over the German Alps to deliver Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood to [...]
How the watch industry is finally recognising girl power July 29, 2014 Even the most unobservant of you cannot have failed to notice Watches of Switzerland’s advertising billboards for its new three-story watch emporium at 155 Regent Street. In the underground and on the sides of buses have appeared Hitchcock-esque, black and white images of a beautiful young blonde woman being attacked by magpies anxious to relieve [...]
Dive into the past July 29, 2014 Squale is a name from one of the more obscure corners of the Swiss watch industry (the Italian-Swiss bit, as it happens), but the family-owned company has a rich tradition when it comes to making beautiful dive watches in the classic mould. But a recent collaboration with a British retailer has really brought out its [...]
Why the Jaguar F-Type Coupé is the best sports car of its generation July 29, 2014 Getting into an F-Type coupé is like the first haircut you have when you graduate. You’re starting to face reality and a job interview is on the horizon. Every mirror solicits a double-take – you never knew you could look so smart. But this car is stunning from every angle. There are great works of [...]
The New York penthouses getting a touch of British style July 29, 2014 In a corner of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, there is a tower that is an homage to quintessential European elegance. The Charles, named for its connotations of quality and regality, stands on First Avenue and 72nd Street, in among international schools, and five star hotels, with Central Park to the west. Each apartment [...]
The Chic Geek’s style advice: wearable tech July 29, 2014 What goes around comes around. And around, and around. Outside of a handful of innovative brands – many of whom you will see on these very pages – fashion is stuck in a continual retro-regurgitation of past styles, lightly polished to look new and desirable each season. In recent times, these cycles have gotten smaller [...]
Dish of the Day: Vivek Singh’s lamb and sweetcorn curry July 29, 2014 I’ve been executive chef with the Cinnamon Group since 2001. That was at the start of the wave of modern Indian cuisine in Britain. The Cinnamon Club in Westminster was the first restaurant in the group to open about 14 years ago and it’s a temple of gastronomy. It’s very close to the House of [...]