Three other chinese restaurants December 14, 2009 HAKKASAN Still one of the most glamorous and fashionable of London’s restaurants, Hakkasan is also one of the best places to eat Oriental food anywhere. Taking Cantonese food as its inspiration, it spins this into the kind of wondrous cuisine that gets you Michelin stars and gourmet adulation. Hakkasan, 8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HD. www.hakkasan.com. [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS December 14, 2009 DEAN STREET TOWNHOUSE OPENS There’s a new place to go to in Soho, from the people behind Soho House. Dean Street Townhouse is a chic little boutique hotel with a restaurant overseen by The Ivy’s former senior sous chef, Stephen Tonkin. There’s an old school British sensibility with oysters, fish and chips and mince with [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 14, 2009 V&A’S MEDIEVAL GALLERIES The Victoria & Albert museum’s newly-opened rooms of exhibits from the era of 300-1600 are a magnificent triumph, perhaps the finest museum space in London now. Discover why the Dark Ages were anything but, with extraordinary tapestries, clothes, sculptures, paintings, wedding chests, manuscripts, reliquaries and an awful lot more besides. Entry free, [...]
TRAVEL NOTES December 14, 2009 A winter wonderland break in Prague Try a visit to central Europe’s most beautiful city for New Year’s, where fairytale gothic spires, golden rooftops and plenty of beer are sure to delight when the clock strikes 12. Stay at the four-star Casa Marcello in the Josefov district for £696 per person for three nights over [...]
Sun, sea and Hinduism all come together in Mauritius December 14, 2009 THE first thing that you notice about Mauritius is that it is a real place. By that I mean that it is a contrast to its holiday competitors in the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles and Maldives. They are made up of dozens of tiny islands which are often owned by resorts and have been turned into [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 14, 2009 BOO SAVILLE British artist Boo Saville has created a collection of prints that should be unsettling but are actually calming and contemplative – and quite beautiful. Her Ghost series works from images of dead bodies that Saville has found in books and the internet, but she lifts and changes the images through drawing and burning [...]
Lollipop colours for a party goddess look December 7, 2009 IT’s the one time of year when you can let your hair down – within reason, of course. No drunken snogs at the office party please, or embarassingly short skirts.But fun party makeup?Why not?Sure, you might not wear green sparkly nail varnish to work, or sumptuous gold eye makeup or even siren-red lippie, but you [...]
OUT OF OFFICE December 7, 2009 WAITING FOR GODOT RETURNSActing heavyweights Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart made the revival of Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece one of the year’s stand-out theatrical events. The show is going to be back at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for 11 weeks early next year. Stewart won’t be returning, but John Rees will be stepping ably into his [...]
PRE-PARTY PAMPERING December 7, 2009 24 Karat Gold Mask FacialThe ultimate luxury from master therapist JohnTsagaris, who fuses Eastern medicine with modern science to bring you a face mask made from pure gold, a substance with skin-boosting effects that was favoured by Cleopatra. An LED light mask follows to make sure your face will truly glow. £350, www.energybodies.co.uk Diamond Polish [...]
Galvins open a temple to fine food December 7, 2009 Galvin La Chapelle35 Spital Square, E1 6DY, tel: 020 7299 0400FOODSERVICEATMOSPHERECost per person without wine: £50 THE Galvin brothers first struck gold with their close-to-perfect Bistrot De Luxe in Baker Street, which fused rusticity with the fineness of serious French cuisine. Then they took over Windows at the Park Lane Hilton, turning it into a [...]