Turbot charged Hawksmoor turns attention to the fruits of the seas November 19, 2012 RESTAURANT HAWKSMOOR AIR STREET 5a Air Street, London, W1J 0AD Tel: 020 7406 3980 FOOD **** VALUE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost for two people: £140 PROPPING UP a cocktail bar amidst the art deco surroundings of Hawksmoor’s Air Street branch, my mind mused over the agonising misfortune of having been born into the wrong era. [...]
Oil baron: How to profit from a chance discovery November 18, 2012 THE argan tree isn’t found in many suburban gardens. Native to southwest Morocco and the Israeli Negev, it grows knotted and thorny, thriving only in harsh semi-desert environments. But Dana Elemara, organic food enthusiast, import-exporter, and supplier to the cosmetics industry, found a way to capitalise on this exotic survivor. Formerly of Goldman Sachs, Elemara [...]
Derwent makes £23m acquisition November 15, 2012 Derwent London has snapped up 9 and 16 Prescot Street in Whitechapel for £23m. The buildings, which total 111,000 square feet, are let until 2015 to the Cooperative Bank and an Indian restaurant. Reporting its third quarter figures, the developer said it expects a four to five per cent growth in rental values over 2012, [...]
TfL to open the Waterloo & City line on Sundays November 13, 2012 THE WATERLOO & CITY line is set to run a regular Sunday service for the first time in 65 years, City A.M. has learned. The news will be a welcome boost to shops and restaurants in the City of London – as well as good news for commuters who are forced to work on the [...]
Chrysan: lost in translation? November 12, 2012 RESTAURANT CHRYSAN 1 Snowden Street, EC2A 2DQ Tel: 020 3657 4777 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE ** Cost for two people with drinks: £160 A FRIEND of mine has recently taken up learning Japanese. So, last month, I found myself spending a surreal afternoon watching a Japanese detective drama series, Deka Kurokawa Suzuki, which really [...]
Tom Aikens: The comeback kid November 11, 2012 TOM AIKENS is tired, and it shows. It’s 9am on a Friday morning and he’s already clocked up 72 hours during the week, working in his hugely successful eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant in Chelsea. For a chef, those kinds of hours are standard but Aikens has had to work particularly hard this last few years after [...]
CapCo tightens hold on West End November 7, 2012 CAPITAL & Counties (CapCo) said yesterday it has snapped up a further £60m worth of sites in London’s Covent Garden area as it steps up its expansion in the area. The group raised £149m in July to accelerate growth plans and has since bought properties on Wellington Street, Floral Street and Henrietta Street with offices, [...]
Mutton doesn’t have to dress like lamb: it’s just fine as it is November 5, 2012 Head chef, Paternoster Chop House I don’t know why but people have started asking me about mutton. Maybe it’s because I run a British restaurant and I have big mutton chop sideburns – but whatever: it’s got me thinking. Why don’t we eat more mutton in this country, and could there be a demand for [...]
Thrill seekers put one foot in La Grave November 4, 2012 I am teetering on the edge of a cliff at the top station of Les Deux Alpes. I normally feel confident on my carving skis but this feels like no ordinary black run. Around me are some of the most spectacular views of the French Alps known to man, but all I can do is [...]
Boisdale restaurant chain returns to profit October 28, 2012 BOISDALE, the Scottish seafood and steak restaurant chain, swung back into profit in the year to April 2012 and almost doubled its turnover to £10.5m. Companies House filings showed the group made pre-tax profits of £235,000, up from a £585,000 loss in the year to April 2011. Boisdale described the results as a “Curate’s egg [...]