The Old Man and the Gun review: Robert Redford bows out on a high in this future classic crime caper December 6, 2018 Dir. David Lowery (12A) Robert Redford announced he’s retiring from acting during the summer, which means this festival favourite is his final performance. It’s fortunate, then that this film is perfect for his own brand of enigmatic charm. Presented in a retro style, evoking the stylish 70s dramas of Redford’s heyday, everything about it is [...]
Working Lunch: We review the Express lunch menu at St Leonard’s in Shoreditch, the restaurant from the team behind Brunswick House December 5, 2018 St Leonard’s Leonard Street, EC2A WHAT? An uber hip restaurant with earthy undertones, akin to Native in London Bridge and Lyle’s nearby in Shoreditch. Only, this one has a more primal feel to it, incorporating a ‘raw bar’ of pick-your-own shellfish, a speck-carving station and a flaming hearth. WHO? This is the second restaurant from [...]
The Drinks Master: Wine expert Harry Christie looks into his crystal ball and predicts what’ll be big in wine in 2019 December 5, 2018 As 2018 draws to a dark and damp close, it’s an attractive time to look ahead to the wine we’ll be drinking in 2019. For starters, there are many who think it won’t be Italian sparkling wine. Have we reached ‘Peak Prosecco’? The figures would suggest so. Sales in 2017 rose by their lowest amount [...]
Our resident chef columnist Mark Hix has a fool-proof Persian dish that will spice up game season December 5, 2018 As we are in game season, people are always asking me for alternative game dishes. I usually recommend Fesenjan, a Persian dish traditionally made with duck, lamb or chicken. But for our purposes, it also works well with wild or pintail duck and widgeon. You could use pheasant, too – especially as the first part [...]
Weekly Grill: Michelin-starred Adam Byatt, the chef patron of Trinity in Clapham, on his most accidentally successful restaurant December 5, 2018 Who are you and what do you do? I’m Adam Byatt, chef patron of Trinity restaurant, Upstairs and Bistro Union, all situated in leafy Clapham Common. I’ve been a chef for some 28 years now. Most of my waking hours are spent cooking, being around, writing about, talking about or eating incredible food. I feel [...]
The Abarth 695 Biposto is a hardcore hot hatch in a pint-sized package December 3, 2018 Born in the back streets of Bologna in 1949, Abarth celebrates its 70th anniversary next year. Its story began when racing team owner Carlo Abarth bought five unsold Cistalia sports cars. These were modified, then rebadged as the Abarth 204 A – thus initiating a tradition of tuning that endures to this day. Abarth’s first [...]
Anna and the Apocalypse review: A festive merger of zombies, Christmas and high-school musicals November 30, 2018 A zombie high-school musical set in a provincial Scottish suburb at Christmas, Anna and the Apocalypse occupies a vanishingly thin sliver of a Venn diagram of mostly maligned sub-genres, but manages to be more entertaining than the sum of its body parts. Plucky heroine Anna (Ella Hunt) is about to graduate, with her plans to [...]
Dick Whittington at Lyric Hammersmith pantomime review: wholesome fun for children and utter filth for adults November 30, 2018 Dick Whittington at the Lyric Hammersmith is just the smutty, heart-warming silliness you need to kick off the festive season. Like all good panto, it works on two levels, with wholesome fun for children and utter filth for adults. In writer-director Jude Christian’s production Dick Whittington (Luke Latchman), a good-natured simpleton from Cardiff, somehow bumbles [...]
The Wild Pear Tree film review: A languorous exploration of cultural change in modern Turkey from Palme d’Or-winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan November 30, 2018 There are two Turkeys in The Wild Pear Tree. One – the film’s backdrop – is the shabby provinces, where the summit of prestige is a career as a teacher. The other, lying at the story’s edge, is the cosmopolitan realm of high culture and aspirations. Sinan (Aydın Doğu Demirkol) is trapped in between. After [...]
Déraciné review: A virtual reality puzzler about haunting a boarding school November 30, 2018 From the studio that created Dark Souls, a twisted Gothic action RPG so infamously challenging that it’s become gaming shorthand for punishing difficulty, comes Deracine, a ponderous virtual reality puzzler set in a Victorian boarding school, in which you take on the role of a mischievous fairy playing tricks on the residents. Headset on, you [...]