La Vie en Rose July 1, 2009 SOMETHING is up with rose wine. Its image as the cheap and cheerful, distinctly low-brow summer tipple is evaporating like water on a hot summer’s day. It’s gone from being the sort of thing you’d drink on holiday in Great Yarmouth or Blackpool while getting sunburned to the colour of a lobster to the drink [...]
A City restaurant in the crypt of St Paul’s spells an identity crisis June 29, 2009 THE RESTAURANT AT ST PAUL’SST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, ST PAUL'S CHURCHYARD, LONDON EC4M 8AD (entrance through north-west crypt door)Tel: 020 7248 2469Web www.restaurantatstpauls.co.uk Cost per person without wine: £20 ONCE, stepping down into the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral must have been a spooky experience. All those corpses and bones – even if they do belong [...]
OTHER HOT SUMMER MOROCCO IDEAS June 28, 2009 VINEYARD TRIPMorocco is an Islamic country, but away from the major northern cities it is fairly relaxed about most things, wine included. In the hills of Meknes in northern Morocco there are acres upon acres of vineyards, and 35m bottles of wine are produced a year. Wine-lovers can now take a four-day tour, which includes [...]
GLAMOROUS DRAGON HAS SIGHTS ON TV DEN June 24, 2009 ENTREPRENEURIAL types and their brave backers packed the Institute of Directors yesterday for the fifth bi-annual Entrepreneur Country conference, hosted by BBC Dragon, Ariadne Capital chief executive and City A.M. columnist Julie Meyer. Meyer was proud to introduce her new protégé, Warren Cole, to the investors in the room, after he became her third investment [...]
IRC to launch 2.1m cash call June 22, 2009 Piccolino owner, the Individual Restaurant Company (IRC), is to raise £2.1m through a share offering to pay down debt. The restaurant and bar grill chain will give investors the opportunity to subscribe for 4.1 shares for every 10 existing ones. The AIM-listed chain said the fundraising would help reduce its borrowings and may enable it [...]
GLAMOUR GALORE AT ASCOT’S LADIES DAY June 18, 2009 IT WAS Ladies’ Day yesterday at Royal Ascot, traditionally the most hotly-anticipated event in the calendar for dressing up to the nines. As usual, the racegoers didn’t let us down – among the extravagant hats on show were a blackbird, a giant ice-cream cone, a creation made out of 800 marshmallows, and even a headdress [...]
GLORY DAYS FOR ROYAL ASCOT CITY RACING SET June 16, 2009 IT WAS smiles all round for the property world’s keenest racegoers yesterday, as a group of City real estate heavyweights toasted a win (and a hefty £167,472 prize pot) for their horse Paco Boy in the Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot. I hear Parkwood Property Investments partner Derek Lucie-Smith, one of the owners, was in [...]
Gastronauts land on King’s Road with tasty but predictable results June 15, 2009 THE CADOGAN ARMS 298 KING’S ROAD, SW3 5UG Cost per person without wine: £25 UNTIL it was closed for a grand refurbishment a few months ago, the Cadogan Arms, a roomy pub half way along the King’s Road, was defined chiefly by a clientele consisting of teenagers and those on gap years. For years, the [...]
Reuben bros launch bid for bars June 14, 2009 The billionaire Reuben brothers have launched a bid for troubled bar operator Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR), which owns the Living Room and Prohibition chains. David and Simon Reuben have tabled an offer of up to £40m for the group, to include senior debt, and one of £30m with no debt. It is believed the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 11, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GAZPROM IN IRAN PIPELINE TALKSGazprom is in talks with Iran and Pakistan to build a large section of a long-awaited gas pipeline between the two countries, a senior Iranian energy official says. The participation of Russia’s state-controlled energy group could kick-start the pipeline project, which has been delayed because of disagreements that have [...]