Hunker down in a cosy bar this autumn October 19, 2009 WHEN temperatures drop – as they did rather suddenly at the weekend – it’s time for a change of tack when it comes to drinking venues. Those breezy summer cocktails in light-filled bars don’t seem quite the thing when it’s dark and blowing a freezing gale outside. What we need is intimacy and comfort – [...]
DINING OUT ON THE DOWNTURN October 18, 2009 CAPRICE Holdings, the restaurant empire behind celebrity haunts The Ivy and J Sheekey has defied the consumer downturn by posting a 20 per cent lift in underlying profits. The group, owned by rag trade millionaire Richard Caring (pictured), has grown earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to £16.7m in the financial year to the [...]
Live in style in one of the great Victorian buildings but hurry October 15, 2009 IT’S not that often that you get a chance to live in one of London’s great Victorian buildings. Those who fancy a spot of Grade 1-listed Gothic should get their skates on, because there are now just two apartments remaining in the revamped St Pancras Chambers Apartments. With bonuses back, if you fancy living in [...]
Du pain, du vin, du Cornish Yarg October 14, 2009 IT’S a historic moment. British cheeses are outselling French fromages at a rate of two to one as shoppers choose the homegrown beauties now available by the hundred. The figures are not, to be fair, applicable across the populace, but rather relate to the tastes and inclinations of M&S shoppers. Still, as a barometer of [...]
Booker cuts debt pile as sales jump October 13, 2009 BOOKER, the UK’s largest cash and carry business yesterday said its first-half profits had climbed by 12 per cent. The group, which runs over 170 branches supplying corner shops, grocers, and restaurants, said it made a pre-tax profit of £29.7m in the 24 weeks to 11 September, up from £26.5m the year before. Booker said [...]
RYANAIR’S CHIEF O’LEARY PROVES HIMSELF A SUCKER FOR PUBLICITY October 13, 2009 RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary isn’t exactly renowned for taking criticism lying down, so the BBC’s Panorama programme will probably have seen yesterday’s tirade coming. After Monday evening’s programme on the airline, Ryanair unleashed a campaign to maximise publicity from the episode – offering 1.1m free flights, labelling the show a “hatchet job” and slamming 11 [...]
Tootsies folds after Clapham House hires administrators October 12, 2009 TOOTSIES, the restaurant chain, yesterday fell casualty to the credit crunch after its parent Clapham House called the administrators in. Clapham House said it had put Tootsies into administration because “there was little prospect of the Tootsies business as a whole generating a profit in the near future”. The group said it was acting to [...]
Dolder Grand Hotel &Spa October 11, 2009 PERCHED just outside Zurich, the Dolder was built in 1899 as an escape for the good citizens. In 2001, though, it was taken over and given a thoroughly modern makeover, opening in early 2008. The old, castle-style hotel still exists, but is now embraced by a slinky and utterly fabulous new building. The old part [...]
OUT OF OFFICE October 8, 2009 MAHARAJA AT THE V&AThink thrones, gem-encrusted weapons, Rolls Royces – such were the trappings of the Maharajas that ruled from the collapse of the Mughal empire in the early 18th century to the end of British rule in 1947. The show is full of bling but also uses art, textiles, jewellery to examine the maharajas’ [...]
Take yourself out for a lovely dinner alone October 7, 2009 IT’S not just about where you eat, but who you eat with. Nothing says quiet confidence like dining alone. Indeed, Suzanne Pirret, the pin-up chef, wrote a whole book called The Pleasure’s All Mine, about the joys of dining alone. If the thought of sitting at a table for two on your own puts you [...]