Revitalise for spring May 3, 2010 1.HEAD TO THE PARK ONE of London’s best features is its multitude of open green spaces – and while they’re fabulous places for a jog, they can also be used for more organised training. Fitness company One Element runs group training sessions in spaces including Battersea Park, Wandsworth Common, Richmond Park and Parsons Green, with [...]
OUT OF OFFICE May 3, 2010 STOPPARD’S THE REAL THING Playing now at the Old Vic, Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play mixes the playwright’s customary linguistic fireworks with emotional warmth, and is anchored by a masterful – and very funny – performance from Toby Stephens. He plays Henry, a successful playwright who leaves his wife for an actress (Hattie Morahan) and discovers he [...]
An El Bulli in Bethnal Green May 3, 2010 Viajante Patriot Square E2 9NF, tel: 020 7871 0461 www.viajante.co.uk FOOD ***** SERVICE ***** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £25-£85 IT was love. As I bit off some buttered mini spelt-dusted baguette, lovingly served by Viajante’s chef and ex-El Bulli ingénu Nuno Mendes himself, I froze. My eyes began to roll back in [...]
Vinegar with your martini? When in Italy… May 3, 2010 SOMETIMES you choose something off the menu because it sounds so awful that it will either be completely horrible or totally brilliant, but either way, it will make for a good story. Faced with the cocktail menu at the Four Seasons Florence, a former Medici palace and papal residence that has been lovingly restored into [...]
THREE OTHER EAST LONDON FAVOURITES May 3, 2010 GREEN & RED Buzzy and critically acclaimed Mexican restaurant and bar that’s full of hipsters guzzling the likes of octopus ceviche, cumin-roasted chicken wings and watermelon salad in the cantina. In the bar, they’re sipping from the 200-strong tequila menu. Great non-alcoholic drinks include hibiscus and tamarind juice. 51 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA, tel: [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS May 3, 2010 TRINITY GOES LITERARY Recipe books are ten-a-penny, but not many leave us as watered-of-mouth as How to Eat In by Adam Byatt, chef patron of Clapham’s rather fabulous Trinity restaurant. It’s a tome of serious beauty – the full-page pictures of boiled goose eggs with asparagus soldiers and a sensational fish pie topped with cockles [...]
CAMERON WINS AS BROWN FADES AWAY April 29, 2010 DAVID Cameron won the final leaders’ debate by a clear margin last night, as the Prime Minister’s chances of re-election faded into the distance. Labour aides acknowledged that the debate on the economy marked the last opportunity for Gordon Brown to save the party’s flagging fortunes, but nearly all the instant opinion polls had him [...]
Nick Clegg snaps at heels of Tory victor April 29, 2010 DAVID Cameron might have emerged as the clear winner of last night’s election debate, but the Liberal Democrat leader is still too close for comfort. A instant poll from Populus even put Clegg and Cameron neck-and-neck on 38 per cent each, with the Prime Minister trailing in last place with just 25 per cent of votes. Cameron’s [...]
Sterling crisis fears spread April 29, 2010 STERLING is teetering on the verge of collapse as Spain’s downgrade focuses the spotlight firmly on the UK’s public finances and the political uncertainty ahead of next week’s general election, a top French bank warned yesterday. BNP Paribas’ senior currency strategist Ian Stannard said that the pound faced a no-win situation after the election regardless of [...]
Demagogic debate gives no answers April 29, 2010 HOW unedifying, how disappointing, how distressing. Last night’s “debate” on the economy was the worst yet. It was littered with errors, lies and incorrect claims – from all three leaders. The assumptions were astonishingly retrograde; it felt at times as if we were back in the 1970s, such were the collectivist, class war and protectionist [...]
