The newly crowned king of pastry Pierre Hermé talks about getting a sweet deal July 7, 2016 This time, it was personal. Experts across the world had voted on the world’s best pastry chef for two years running, and neither time did the accolade go to a Frenchman. For this proud nation of dessert-makers, this is tantamount to a national disgrace. This year Pierre Hermé, the man variously called the Picasso of [...]
Luxury hotels are engaged in a race to the top to treat their wealthy customers to ever more extravagant perks, from designer wardrobes to private jets July 7, 2016 Back in the late 1800s, the Savoy famously became the first hotel in London to run on electricity, a sign of true luxury at the time. It also had lifts, “speaking tubes” so that guests could call for a maid and, later, en suite bathrooms with showers. Over the decades, it has continuously evolved to [...]
Women’s watches: A touch of guilloche just doesn’t cut it any more, dials are becoming much more dynamic July 7, 2016 It’s all Dior’s fault, as so many things are. It’s Dior, or rather Raf Simon’s, fault that I have too many swishy, dramatic skirts that just aren’t practical when you’re dealing with a seven-month old. I blame Dior for making me think that white broderie anglais-esque shorts are appropriate attire for a 37 year old [...]
These world timer watches from the 1930s mark you out as a global citizen, while snazzing up the dial of your wristwatch July 7, 2016 There are plenty of ways to add interest to the dial of a wristwatch, but few do it in such style as the world-timer. It’s like an app from a time before there were apps: invented in the 1930s, in the early days of passenger aviation, it enables you to read the time anywhere in [...]
Ferrari 488 Spider review: This most perfect of sports cars has a lasting effect on Adam Hay-Nicholls, who gets cosy with it in Maranello July 7, 2016 The 488 Spider drove me to drink petrol. There was no warning when it ran out of fuel. OK, the gas light came on about 40 miles back but the way I was driving it, with ‘race’ mode selected on the manettino dial and some heavy application of the right pedal, that distance came and [...]
Property Entrepreneurs: We caught up with the founders of YOPA after Savills’ significant cash injection into the hybrid estate agency July 6, 2016 Selling your home online just got a whole lot more interesting. In just one week in June, two newcomers into the estate agency market received major injections of cash, to help grow their businesses. Established estate agent Savills has backed upstart YOPA, while Carphone Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone has put his substantial bet on HouseSimple. [...]
Raise a pint to City Beerfest 2016, the Square Mile’s very own summer festival with live music, booze and vintage cars July 6, 2016 Set in the heart of the City in the elegant and historic Guildhall Yard, City Beerfest returns to the Square Mile for its fourth outing today. The Worshipful Company of Brewers has attracted an impressive range of breweries, while the City Music Foundation (CMF) has arranged a varied line up of music, from jazz to [...]
Foley’s in Fitzrovia review: Food that’s from everywhere and nowhere, but still impresses with its sense of fun July 5, 2016 The spice trail, if your GCSE history is a little cloudy, is the network of shipping routes linking Japan to Europe, via China, Indonesia, India and the Middle East. It formed the primitive tentacles of globalisation that began to inch around the planet from around 2000BC, giving man the first opportunity to screw over his [...]
Eight of the best cheese boards in London: Post-Brexit, are you wondering where your next brie is coming from? July 5, 2016 1. Fenchurch at Sky Garden, 20 Fenchurch Street, EC3M If you like to scoff cheese and wine while looking down at the great thronging crowds of London town, then there are few places that can compete with the glass magnificence of the Walkie Talkie. Its cheese platter comes from Covent Garden-based Neal’s Yard Dairy and it’s accompanied [...]
Audi S5 Quattro review: Efforts to improve on this masterpiece deserve our respect but not our necessarily our love July 4, 2016 How do you improve upon a masterpiece? Would Van Gogh’s sunflowers look better if they were brightened up in Photoshop? Perhaps Exile on Main Street needs some AutoTune tweakery to smooth out Mick Jagger’s trademark drawl? Such was the task facing Audi in replacing the A5, the car that designer Walter de Silva called his [...]
