The zombie menace of anti-capitalist thought November 3, 2011 WHEN the Occupy protest movement began, how twenty-first century it seemed: leaderless, emergent and driven by a fury at unprecedented cronyism between high finance and high politics. But how quickly it has decayed, in its London incarnation at least, into reheated anti-capitalist slogans with nothing original to say. Commerce is ancient, and so is the [...]
Two cookbooks to add flavour to your winter kitchen November 2, 2011 My Kind of Cooking Mark Sargeant Published by Quercus £20 Odd bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal Jennifer McLagan Published by Jacqui Small £20 Mark Sargeant was a Gordon Ramsay protégé and Head Chef at Claridges formerly unnoticed in the shadow of his boss. Now, he’s done it on his own – [...]
CAUDWELL FLIES FROM BULLIES TO BILLIONS October 31, 2011 HOPE FOR everyone who had a miserable time at school – it might not stop you becoming as successful as John Caudwell, the freckle-faced Phones4U founder who rose from his “dog eat dog” start to become a self-made telecoms billionaire. “My childhood was a permanent challenge,” said the once-bullied tycoon. “On my very first day [...]
Reflections on a positive year October 27, 2011 Q.Are you happy with One New Change a year on? Has it been a commercial success? A.In just 12 months, and despite tough economic conditions, One New Change is playing a leading role in transforming the City of London into a desirable weekday and weekend shopping and eating destination for Londoners and visitors to the [...]
When black bowler hats gave way to red braces October 26, 2011 THE BIG Bang set the City on a course of profound expansion, not just of wealth, but of people and culture and even location. Twenty-five years after deregulation, London’s financial and legal districts are full of the sort of people that would have made the bowler-hatted old boys of the post-war period shudder. Women, foreigners, [...]
All souped up in Soho: yet another super-cool food bar enters the fray October 24, 2011 DUCK SOUP 41 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4PY www.ducksoupsoho.co.uk FOOD *** SERVICE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £30 IT’s all part of the Soho experience – the perch at the bar, the swiveling stool, getting up close and personal with the waitress pushing past you. Duck Soup, which is staffed by alumni [...]
A-listers die in quick succession as Contagion’s terrifying virus spreads October 20, 2011 Film CONTAGION Cert: 12A IT’S unusual to watch an A-lister die from violent convulsions in the opening five minutes of a film, but director Steven Soderbergh promised ultra-realism and on the whole, Contagion does the job admirably. Set in the present, as the world is wracked by a killer virus, there are no exploding heads [...]
Learning to cook El Bulli-style October 19, 2011 The Family Meal: Home cooking with Ferran Adrià Ferran Adrià £19.95, Phaidon WHERE the allure of Jamie Oliver’s and Nigella’s books comes from the idea that you’ll cook like them, “The Family Meal” is less “cook like Ferran”, but “eat like Ferran”. The recipes are a fresh insight into the working life at the now [...]
Following Soho’s Norman invasion October 19, 2011 RUSSELL NORMAN was the former operations director at Caprice Holdings, where he launched concepts such as the Ivy Club with Mark Hix, chef director at the time. He left in 2008 to set up Polpo, a Venetian bacaro, which serves small Italian plates in an informal setting. Following Polpo’s success (which was recently named 25th [...]
MAYFAIR’S FINANCIERS HELP EAT ALL THE PIES October 18, 2011 PIES AND prosecco were yesterday on the menu at Dartmouth House at Mayfair’s answer to the long-running annual Gull’s Eggs lunch. Mayfair hedge fund managers met hotel brokers at the Macmillan Cancer Support fundraiser, including Jones Lang LaSalle’s Jonathan Goldman, who has a personal connection to the cause, having recently endured a 20-hour operation for [...]