The river views in Istanbul are fit for a Sultan January 3, 2010 IF you have never been to Istanbul, then this is the year to do it. the Turkish capital is one of the two European Capitals of Culture for 2010 it is sharing the privilege with Pecs, in Hungary. Istanbul is an interesting choice: it has long been considered the meeting place between east and west, [...]
London is the big smoke for cigar connoisseurs January 3, 2010 Those resolutions are going up in flames in the city’s new breed of smoking terraces, writes Timothy Barber SITTING back on a luxurious sofa with a glass of fine champagne in one hand and a cigar in the other, I’m among a group of around 25 men and a couple of women sending up a [...]
Lollipop colours for a party goddess look December 7, 2009 IT’s the one time of year when you can let your hair down – within reason, of course. No drunken snogs at the office party please, or embarassingly short skirts.But fun party makeup?Why not?Sure, you might not wear green sparkly nail varnish to work, or sumptuous gold eye makeup or even siren-red lippie, but you [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 7, 2009 WAITING FOR GODOT RETURNSActing heavyweights Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart made the revival of Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece one of the year’s stand-out theatrical events. The show is going to be back at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for 11 weeks early next year. Stewart won’t be returning, but John Rees will be stepping ably into his [...]
PRE-PARTY PAMPERING December 7, 2009 24 Karat Gold Mask FacialThe ultimate luxury from master therapist JohnTsagaris, who fuses Eastern medicine with modern science to bring you a face mask made from pure gold, a substance with skin-boosting effects that was favoured by Cleopatra. An LED light mask follows to make sure your face will truly glow. £350, www.energybodies.co.uk Diamond Polish [...]
Galvins open a temple to fine food December 7, 2009 Galvin La Chapelle35 Spital Square, E1 6DY, tel: 020 7299 0400FOODSERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: £50 THE Galvin brothers first struck gold with their close-to-perfect Bistrot De Luxe in Baker Street, which fused rusticity with the fineness of serious French cuisine. Then they took over Windows at the Park Lane Hilton, turning it into a [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS December 7, 2009 LE BOUCHON’S FESTIVE CHEESEBOARDIf you’re short of ideas of what to put alongside the stilton on the Christmas cheeseboard, help is at hand from Spitalifields’ Le Bouchon Breton. The French restaurant’s in-house cheese expert – or, um, “frommelier” – will be running a festive cheese masterclass on 23 December. Priced at £100 per head, it’ll [...]
THREE OTHER FRENCH BISTROS December 7, 2009 MON PLAISIRNo one does the classics better than London’s oldest French restaurant, which serves up seriously hearty dishes like French onion soup, entrecote with “pommes allumettes” and coq au vin in quirky, rustic surroundings in the heart of Covent Garden’s theatreland. 19-21 Monmouth Street, WC2H 9DD, tel: 020 7836 7243 LA TROUVAILLEA wine list from [...]
Copenhagen will set the agenda for carbon trading December 7, 2009 AFTER months of preparation, wrangling and hype, the world’s leaders have finally descended on Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Summit, where they will attempt to thrash out a successor to the 1992 Kyoto Treaty. The stakes could not be higher. The Kyoto agreement expires at the end of 2012 and it has done little [...]
US JOBS DATA STRENGTHENS HAWKS’ CASE December 7, 2009 DAVID MORRISONCFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT FRIDAY’S non-farm payroll report was, on the face of it, a really positive piece of news to take us up to the end of the year. Although 11,000 jobs were lost in November, this was the lowest number of losses for two years. On top of that, there were hefty [...]