Lions and luxury in SA’s top resort March 14, 2010 IF the job of a hotel is to make guests feel at home, then you can’t really beat the Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa. When the French football team arrive there this summer they will be greeted with a barrage of “bonjours” from the staff, who are all taking French lessons, just to ensure that [...]
Riverside views and posh Euro nosh March 8, 2010 Battery 34 Westferry Circus E14 8RR Tel: 020 8305 3089 Cost per person without wine: £55 YOU have to really want to go to Battery to make it inside. In the Phillipe Starck-designed space formerly occupied by the now-defunct restaurant Ubon, it’s at the top of a building within the cloistered Four Seasons complex in [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS March 8, 2010 TURKISH WINES AT TIKE A hit among the upwardly mobile of Istanbul, Tike opened last year to the delight of City folk who like a good bit of meat with fresh warm hummous.?Now a wine list has been added, which features Turkish grapes as well as a selection of more traditional varieties. A unique opportunity [...]
Restaurant Group serves up profit rise March 3, 2010 RESTAURANT Group – which owns the Garfunkel’s and Chiquitos chains – saw a slim rise in profit last year. Revenues were up five per cent to £436m while pre-tax profits rose two per cent to a higher-than-expected £50m, the company said yesterday. The company has weathered the recession without the massive discounting seen by some [...]
The comeback cad trying his luck in the Med March 2, 2010 JAMES Hewitt – former lover of Princess Diana, ex-solider, comeback cad – throws his head back and laughs at what I have just said. “Yes, I suppose this is like Rick’s in Casablanca,” he says when he recovers. “And everyone comes to Rick’s.” We are having dinner in a corner of Polo House, his bar [...]
The Americans are coming to Battersea, and it’s no wonder February 25, 2010 WHEN do you know if an area is going up in the world? Normally an influx of luxury hotels and award-winning restaurants should be a good enough sign, but the arrival of the embassy of the world’s most powerful country might just trump those. The American Embassy may not be due to open in the [...]
Got the cash? Well then it’s lobster ‘n’ caviar all round February 23, 2010 ASTAR Tokyo chef, Shoichi Fujimaki, has delighted wealthy locals by charging £70 for a single serving of his signature ramen noodles, a price commanded by his special blend of broth. A less gourmet version of the staple can be bought for £4 down the road. So if cash-stripped Japan can rustle up dishes so extravagant, [...]
Candys set to lose US deal February 22, 2010 THE Candy brothers have been dealt a fresh blow as their plans to develop luxury apartments in the Beverley Hills district of Los Angeles are set to be scrapped later this week. The eight-acre site was to be turned into 235 apartments, shops and restaurants. Instead it will be sold at auction on Thursday after [...]
London Fashion Week retains its young counterculture edge that rivals lack February 22, 2010 London Fashion Week remains in full swing over the next few days as designers say the capital’s strong youth culture still gives the event an edge that rivals like Milan, New York and Paris lack. US designer John Rocha who showed off his latest designs in London over the weekend, said: “There is a great [...]
CITY SET FOR HERON’S ROOM WITH A VIEW February 18, 2010 BUSINESS hotshots out to impress in the City’s culture of superlatives, take note: plans are finally afoot to find a restaurateur to take on what will soon become the venue with some of the best views over the Square Mile. Heron Tower, the 46-storey Bishopsgate glass and stainless steel giant due for completion just over [...]