http://www.squaremile.com Check out what is new on SquareMile en Copyright (c) SquareMile 2010 60 http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10343/A-Terrace-Favourite.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/tqLwJKCA/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Already one of the City’s best drinking spots come rain or shine, now Devonshire Terrace has a menu and wine list that don’t get left in the shade, says Jon Hawkins.In a former life, the warehouse where you’ll now find Devonshire Terrace was filled with the exotic booty of the East India Trading Company, which built it in the late 18th century to store, among other things, cotton, silk, tea and elephants’ tusks. These days the restaurant swaps bounty from the East for the riches of the City, as you almost certainly already know because it’s just a five-minute stroll from Liverpool Street station and buzzes with a smart Square Mile crowd day and night. Historically, Devonshire Terrace’s main draw has been its al fresco terrace inside the west courtyard’s glass atrium that makes for one of the best all-weather drinking and eating spots in the capital, let alone the City. But until recently the food has played second fiddle. Which is a crying shame, because even without its courtyard, or the private balconies on the opposite side of the main dining room, Devonshire Terrace is a fantastic venue, with an eclectic style and clever use of space that elevates it above the local competition. Now though, a thorough overhaul of the food menu and the introduction of an extensive and varied list of wines by Corney Barrow (the group owns the venue) means Devonshire Terrace finally has the restaurant that its setting deserves. That much is evident from the word go. A modern European menu so spoils me for choice that I could have a different meal ten times and go home equally happy on each occasion. It’s a good start. I opt to begin with a tuna tartare, dotted with sesame seeds and served with a smear of avocado and coriander puree as fresh as a lung full of Alpine air. It’s a delight, as is the Californian 2009 Carmel Road riesling I glug down to accompany it. The service is friendly and efficient, too. My companion forgoes a starter and leaps headlong into a picture-perfect Devon Rose steak, while I follow fish with fish; this time pan-fried cod marinated in vanilla bean, topped with deep-fried rocket (think a peppery Chinese seaweed) and served with sweet golden beetroot. It’s a beautifully balanced and flavoursome dish, and light, too, which offers me all the excuse I need to follow it with a steamed apple pudding and another glass of the riesling. A dry January is not allowed at DT. Devonshire Terrace was good before, but there was a nagging sense that with a couple of tweaks – to the food, in particular – it could be even better. Now, I’m happy to report, it is. And then some… Devonshire Square, EC2M 4WY020 7256 3233devonshireterrace.co.uk <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10343/A-Terrace-Favourite.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10343/A-Terrace-Favourite.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10337/CityBird-Flambe-at-the-Drift.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/CDM2muMI/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird visits The Drift to try its flambé menu, but will it get her seal of approval?The Drift part of Drake Morgans successful City chain, of which The Anthologist and The Folly are part is one of those bars that is even busy on a Monday. Monday is the new Friday, comments a waiter, breezily. Are we now so desperate for a drink it has come to this? The bar, with all the same quirks at the others, boasts fruit pastilles in the ladies, fresh basil as tablepieces and a towering shelving unit stacked with bright white crockery and teapots. Theres cubbyholes styled as birdcages, and a huge aquarium visible through the glass. Its aprs-ski meets slick rooftop bar. But why stop at serving cocktails and a decent wine list (of which it does both, the skinny rose martini especially is worth noting, FYI)? The Drift is bringing back the 1970s with its flamb menu: think antiquated dinner parties, cord flares and bouffant hair, but with food to match. As it transpires, not many foods take easily to being fried in something 40% proof, not that it matters. The scampi mornay flamed with cognac, in a creamy cheese and chilli sauce went down in a matter of seconds. I like food, I like booze: bringing them together is just the best thing EVA. (Watching it being done is also a treat, with a dedicated chef and tall flames rippling from the pan like the Citys version of Man vs Food.) The mains on offers are steak diane flamed with cognac, and a beef stroganoff, also flamed with cognac, both of which are a plate of drunken heaven. One word of warning here, though: spirits and the rich sauce, its not for the faint-hearted. Monday is, apparently, the new Friday. Not only is the food flamed with alcohol, the dishes come paired with flaming cocktails. Flaming mai tais, a rum punch and an old fashioned (among others, I hasten to add) appeared, all lit and beautifully presented. Let me just remind you again: its 8.30 on a MONDAY night. Intoxicated food must be EC4s new obsession. And, since you ask, Tuesday morning was painful. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10337/CityBird-Flambe-at-the-Drift.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10337/CityBird-Flambe-at-the-Drift.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10330/Liquid-Gold-Rush.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/k8Jj7Aih/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> An 1858 Cognac Croizet Cuvée Léonie is the costliest snifter in town. Worth every drop, smiles Mark Hedley.The most expensive bottle of cognac ever made was priced at a crunch-defying $2m back in 2008 (just before Lehmans collapsed, presumably). But that’s exactly what it was – a bottle. Eight kilogrammes of gold and platinum bottle, to be exact. The liquid inside it was, frankly, incidental. The actual world record for the most expensive cognac in its own right was set at the tail end of last year. An 1858 Cognac Croizet Cuvée Léonie sold at auction for $156,740 in Hong Kong. As it happens, the bottle itself couldn’t be more understated. You know that bit in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he chooses the real Holy Grail, eschewing the golden bejewelled chalices, and picking the beaten, weathered cup. Well, it’s a bit like that – but with less cheesy quips. The bottle itself doesn’t even have a label, and the glass is pale, light and perilously thin. Of course, it’s what’s inside that is really important. The 153-year-old cognac was produced from the grape harvest of 1858. What’s especially significant about this is that it’s currently the only cognac in the world on the open market that was produced before the Great French Wine Blight in 1875, where phylloxera devastated the European wine industry. The rare spirit was part of a dowry given in 1892 to Leonie Croizet – great granddaughter of Leon Croizet, who founded the firm in 1805 – by her father. The barrels remained in the company’s vaults – until now. There are 44 bottles in total, of which only six have been allocated to the UK. There were seven originally, but I’m afraid square mile has already drunk one. Well, someone has to make sure it’s worth all the hype, right? And I’m happy to report that it is, by far, the most elegant cognac I’ve tasted. It has exceptional length – in fact, I can practically still taste its dried flower tones now, a month on. Proof, as cellar master Jean-Emmanuel Roy says, that “someone, a very long time ago, did his job properly.” The good news is that if you don’t have the readies for a whole bottle, the Jumeirah Carlton Tower’s recently re-launched Rib Room Bar is selling it: at £2,500 a shot. cognac-croizet.frtheribroom.co.uk <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10330/Liquid-Gold-Rush.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10330/Liquid-Gold-Rush.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10328/Top-Ten-Car-Investing-Tips.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/NvR6hWwy/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Rob Myers is the CEO of RM Auctions, the largest auction house for investment-quality classic automobiles in the world and a first-class restoration facility to boot. Pretty much every significant classic car sale in the last decade has been made under his command. Here, Myers gives us his unique insight into how to make money from your motor…1. Do Your HomeworkOnce you decide on your ultimate dream car, do your homework. The internet is, of course, a valuable research tool but classic car clubs and live auctions are also great places to network with knowledgeable enthusiasts. Before you buy, have an expert check it over to make sure you are getting exactly what youre paying for. And always buy from a reputable source. 2. Study the MarketSeveral publications offer insights into the market. Magazines like Car Collector and Classic Sports Car track auction results. Market price guides such as Hagertys Cars That Matter, Kelley Blue Book and NADA Guides offer current values based on recent sales and most auction houses publish their sales results online. 3. Do It for LoveDont buy a car with the thought of making money overnight. Buy something you are going to enjoy driving and owning. But dont fall in love at first sight, either. Some cars have great sex appeal but that doesnt always translate into value or reliability. 4. Buy a Significant MakeClassic cars with famous heritage such as Ferrari, Duesenberg or Porsche are better long-term investments than less desirable marques. But note that not every famous manufacturers model is valuable. Each has had its share of winners and losers. 5. Make it Rare, PleaseLow production numbers and survival rates are important factors in the value. Fewer than 100 produced is good. Fewer than 50 is even better. Think of the great European sports cars like Jaguar C-Types (50 made) and Ferrari GTOs (39). Unique, pre-war luxury cars like Duesenberg and Packard, and certain 1950s and 1960s American cars built in low numbers, are ones that will hold their value more. 6. Bigger is Sometimes BetterBigger engines can sometimes mean a bigger return on your investment. The most desirable 1960s muscle cars are the special, high-performance, big-block V8, four-speed cars, produced in limited numbers. The V12-powered sports cars of Italy took many victories on the track because of their sheer power, aerodynamics and performance, making them instant classics, much like their derivative road cousins. 7. Learn Your HistoryKnowing a cars complete history is one of the most important factors to consider. Any factory-issued paperwork or documentation can add considerable value to a cars selling price. Who was the original purchaser and where was it sold? Did a celebrity or notable individual formerly own it? Are there any photos? Did the owner keep a service log? These are important questions to be asking. 8. Consider a Sports or Race CarCurrently, one of the strongest segments of the market is the sports and racing sector. For a real thrill, buy a vintage sports or race car. These cars are always in demand, so buying the right car almost ensures a lasting market. For example, the current market for a nice Jaguar D-Type is about $(US)2m, but the car Stirling Moss drove at Le Mans is worth considerably more. There are also many established vintage events across the country that will let you exercise your prize. 9. Build the Right PortfolioBuilding a great collection with the right cars will help build a reputation that can be good for the future value of the entire collection. A well-planned portfolio will draw interest from a specific and much attuned market of potential buyers at auction time, helping to secure a strong return on the original investment. 10. Care for Your CarDont forget to make allowances for upkeep. Classic collectibles require climate-controlled system garages or special storage facilities, plus regular service and maintenance. And dont forget to add vehicle insurance to the equation. Surprisingly, it is more affordable to own insurance on a classic than a new car if you keep an eye on the mileage covered. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10328/Top-Ten-Car-Investing-Tips.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10328/Top-Ten-Car-Investing-Tips.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10327/Dark-Side-of-the-Vrooom.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/cB6VJXiT/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Rock stars and flash cars just go together but Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s garage of classic racing cars is more about a lifelong passion rather than a cold investment…I generally try and avoid using the word ‘collection’ to describe the cars I own. It sounds too deliberate, too passionless. Like a lot of people who buy old cars, I’ve ended up with an idiosyncratic (with an emphasis on the ‘idio-’) mix of models that reflect my own personal enthusiasms. There’s not much point in collecting just one marque, because all manufacturers – even Ferrari – made some less than great cars alongside their classics. My passion for cars and motor racing predates any involvement with music. My father, a director for Shell’s documentary film unit, used to take me in his four-and-a-half litre Bentley to the vintage car events he was competing in, and some of my happiest childhood memories include the smell of leather, hot oil and blended racing fuels, accompanying the ticking sound of hot metal. From that introduction, I was set on a course towards wanting to race cars for fun, particularly old ones, although fortunately I never had the ambition, or delusion, of being the Graham or Damon Hill of my day. One of the joys of motor racing is the split between the lonely responsibility of being at the wheel in a race – you can’t have a band meeting as you go into a difficult corner – and the dry humoured camaraderie of the paddock. There is an extraordinary willingness among fellow competitors and team mechanics to share experiences, jokes, knowledge and spare parts. It’s a world I love being part of, and my membership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club is an achievement of which I am particularly proud. It is even possible to become friends with some of the dealers, despite the relationship of hunter and hunted that inevitably exists between us. I respect their ability to trail some tempting bait across my path, patiently waiting for it to be taken. And off they go, laughing merrily all the way to the bank, the kinder ones making a pit stop to buy me a drink from the profits. Buying old cars is a risky investment. Prices have roller-coastered alarmingly over the last 30 years or so: the Ferrari 250 GTO, which I bought for £35,000 in 1973 suddenly soared during the boom of the 1980s to hit £10m in 1987 before plunging back down. I was once invited to appear on a financial TV programme as an investment expert. By the time the recording was due to take place, car values had plummeted and I was promptly uninvited. If the fluctuations of the market are erratic, there is one safe bet in owning old cars. The re-builds will rarely, if ever, come in below budget or on time. The cars are so individual that replacement parts have to be specially sourced or more often hand-made. It may then seem particularly odd to risk all this work on the road, let alone the track. Unfortunately for my own pulse rate and cheque book, I find that although many of these cars are extremely elegant at rest, they only achieve their true beauty in motion, being driven somewhere near the limit of their potential. Stuffed tigers are all very well, but are no substitute for the version in the wild: graceful in motion and capable of delivering a really nasty bite. Sadly, my taste in choosing cars has not always been impeccable. For a while I was looking hard for a mid-1950s Indianapolis car. I tracked one down and restored it. But on the track it was terrifying: only two gears, an extraordinary driving position, poor suspension and brakes that would fail any modern MOT test. I later discovered that Fangio had refused to drive the same car after a number of practice laps, so I felt I was in good company. On the other hand, the Maserati Birdcage was love at first gear. I hadn’t driven one before I bought it, so I was unprepared for the treat of sitting behind the wheel. There are no excuses offered for the older cars: races in my pre-war Aston or ERA can be just as exciting as competing at Le Mans. Of course, it’s fun to see people enjoy the cars, although alarming to see the abandon with which grown men drape themselves over a car bonnet to drool over the bodywork. However, I have to confess I’m not totally selfless – most of the pleasure has been personal. Passion for Speed, by Nick Mason and Mark Hales is out now. Published by Carlton Books, £25 <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10327/Dark-Side-of-the-Vrooom.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10327/Dark-Side-of-the-Vrooom.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10322/CityBird-Oyster-Shed.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/ms3irgvQ/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird discovers a new bar with a great view, that wont have you breaking the bank.For a bar in the City, a river view comes at a serious premium. Nowadays, youll have to dig deeper in your wallet to find somewhere non-schmaltzy, with decent food and booze PLUS a feted view, at a price that wont break the bank. Step forward the unpretentious newness of the Oyster Shed on Angel Lane the new easy option. The new bar and gastropub (technically part of a chain, although they dont want you to know that), behind investment bank Nomura off Lower Thames Street, is quintessentially British. Think cushioned booths, wooden stools and huge recliners, all surrounded by floor to ceiling glass. Taking the nautical theme, the bar has imagined cutesy names for its sections: the mezzanine level becomes the observation deck, downstairs is the main deck and theres even a captains table for special events. Chintzy, yes. Effective, definitely. One might expect Valentines Day (yes, when we visited) to be stuffed full of couples, all swooning over each other and poncy bunches of flowers. Here, not so. The observation deck, which doubles up as the restaurant, allows a wide view across the Thames, from London Bridge to Southwark Bridge, which in turn ensured I turned to IT guy once every two minutes to slur about just how nice the view is. But one should not forget it is the day of love, and we were one of the few parties of reluctant diners trying not to moan about the over-commercialisation of the day while trying to suppress our enjoyment of the evening. Old-school boozehounds are well-catered for here. It might model itself on a traditional British boozer, but the champagne list is no less than impressive. The wine list is small, but the real treat is the cask ales and ciders. Its traditional drinking meets waterside City wankiness, but with none of the pretension. For a food fix, fill your boots with the British menu of rock oysters, steak and oyster pie or a daily catch of the day. Not a fish fan? Theres the usual steak, ham hock, plus some daily specials (I had the delicious half a roast chicken, FYI). The desserts are also pretty special sticky toffee pudding and a gargantuan cheeseboard among others. The bar is so new it almost has that lingering smell of paint (and to go to the bathroom you have to go in a lift) but dont let that put you off. Bury yourself in a mound of cushions by the window, order a bottle of Billecart Salmon Ros and stare out to the burgeoning Shard and relax. Repeat if necessary. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10322/CityBird-Oyster-Shed.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10322/CityBird-Oyster-Shed.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10311/CityBird-Deals-At-Corney-And-Barrow.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/7BDVVtH8/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird has been scouring the City for the best drinks deals so you don't have to.Theres nothing better to wake up to than a deluge of booze deals in your inbox, all from City bar chain Corney Barrow, all valid until the end of the month. First up: in aid of Valentines Day, take your personal assistant (or just a nice-looking chick from another department) out for lunch at any CB, and get a glass of pink on the house. Only valid today, mind. Cross the Finnish line with a free bottle of Finlandia vodka (geddit?) when you pre-book an area between 5-8pm for eight or more people. Devonshire Terrace, the chains premiere restaurant, is offering a lunchtime deal of two courses for 15, and 50% off the wine list. Caveat: the wine list is extensiveand proper high-class. Ever loving their geographical references, its Chile in the City: CB is giving away free bottle of vino from the Vina Mar Reserva range to City folk who book a table for two or more for lunch. Not around for lunch? Dont fret get a bottle of Chilean for half price at 11.95 in the evening. See you there! <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10311/CityBird-Deals-At-Corney-And-Barrow.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10311/CityBird-Deals-At-Corney-And-Barrow.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10318/Valentine-s-Day-How-To-Seal-The-Deal-With-Food-And-Drink.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/X7Qv1tEW/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Weve got some food and drink advice to help you make Valentines Day be as fun as you want.Easily one of the most exciting London restaurant openings of 2011, Hedone’s Chef Owner Mikael Jonsson has received international acclaim for his obsessional approach to sourcing. Here he shares his expertise to create a bit of magic if you’re planning to cook at home. Hedone is, after all, Greek for pleasure.  A glass of NV pink champagne Appetiser Flame grilled Langoustines Slow cooked duck egg, green peas and Morteau’s sausage Slip Sole, ginger and lime Hedone’s beef Rossini to share Pre dessert Chocolate and Vanilla Millefeuille “If you can’t rely on making your partner weak at the knees anymore, a glass of champagne will help proceedings. The bubbles mean that the alcohol hits the blood faster, creating that lovely dizzying effect straight away. The aromas are also similar to female pheromones, stimulating sexual attraction. Then, what to cook? There are lots of foods which famously have aphrodisiac qualities, but it’s so predictable to go down the oyster route. Thinking outside the box shows more thought, instantly earning you brownie points. At Hedone our Valentine’s menu is packed with aphrodisiacs but not the obvious ones. For example, we’ll be serving duck eggs and Morteau’s sausage as a course because a) it’s outstanding, and b) seeds (like eggs) are said to have sexual powers. The sausage, well it speaks for itself surely (genuinely, the shape of foods is a great stimulant)? A fantastic flavour for people to cook at home with is also ginger- it’s said to encourage arousal in women. Think about a sense of theatre, even when dining at home. For Valentine’s we’re serving a beef Rossini to share, because it’s a fantastic, impressive looking dish, the origin of which comes from Italian opera, which surely is the most romantic of all art forms. Sharing is also good too, it’s a joint venture and requires and invites a level of intimacy perfect for lovers. For dessert, chocolate really is the only way but try and modernise it. We serve our dessert with incredible vanilla, which few people know, but its scent and flavour increase lust (it stimulates adrenaline for starters). It’s also the world’s second most expensive spice (after saffron), and let’s face it, in the world of romance money talks” Visit hedonerestaurant.com for more information. And what about drinks? Champagne is great to start but its always fun to get a bit more experimental with cocktails as the evening moves on. For a little excitement treat your cocktail loving paramour to a cocktail session with a difference. 69 Colebrook Row, the infamous bar owned by Tony Conigliaro, the Heston of the drinks world, are offering couples the perfect combination on February 14th with a package which includes 3 cocktails each, served with some delectable and unique limited edition Paul.A.Young chocolates based on 69 Colebrooke Rows own Vinus Lupus and Master at Arms cocktails. The package is priced at £60 and is available from 5pm to midnight. Guests can reserve a table by calling 69 Colebrooke Row on 07540 528 593 or emailing drinks@69colebrookerow.com Alternatively if youre looking for somewhere quiet to enjoy Valentins day with your other half the Purple Bar at Sanderson is a great choice. This year they will be serving up aphrodisiac cocktails to entice your senses. Offering an intimate setting, and dark corners you can share mouthwatering cocktails off the newly created "Lust List" including a home-made white chocolate and vanilla martini, muddled with fresh strawberries and shaken with Creme de cacao. For a stiff option, guests can opt for a shot cocktail made with El Dorado 5y/o, shaken with flowering Jasmine Tea, home-made honey water, a dash of angostura and orange bitters and fresh lime juice, served over ice. The Lust List ensures you are channeling your inner Aphrodite this Valentines Day. Visit the Sanderson website for more details <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10318/Valentine-s-Day-How-To-Seal-The-Deal-With-Food-And-Drink.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10318/Valentine-s-Day-How-To-Seal-The-Deal-With-Food-And-Drink.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10262/CityBird-The-Runner-Bar-Cornhill.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/baxniCKb/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird visits the Runner Bar on Cornhill and enjoys a slightly more refined drinking experience than shes used to.Thursdays at the Runner Bar on Cornhill get REALLY busy, according to staff. Packed-to-the-rafters type busy. Which suits me, natch, as its next door to City stalwart Abacus (its my favourite club in London, as if you didnt know). Historic Cornhill is one of the more pleasing City streets. Its got luxe (The Door, Laduree) and pheromones (Abacus, the Jamaica Wine House) as well as a heaving happy hour trade from local Pitcher and Piano. To my chagrin, Ive never given the Runner Bar at Greens, at the western end of the street outside the Royal Exchange, no more than a cursory glance on the way past to neighbouring Abacus it always looked too upmarket. Fortunately, its still upmarket and old-school City chic trickles out of the immaculate floor tiles and winding pillars. The bar itself is an old banking hall (theres a Lloyds horse displayed at the bottom of the grand staircase), with sweeping ceilings and an impossibly grand floating level: all of which just adds to its Square Mile history. Banking halls, even masquerading as bars, have always attracted an attractive clientele. Its buzzy, swarming with eligible suits (sorry IT guy) you get the feeling deals get done here. Greens, the restaurant on the mezzanine level, is no different but as usual, Im here for the booze. And so its on a Friday night that myself and my dazzling PR girlfriend are settling back in a comfy recliner armed with several champagne cocktails, wide-eyed with tiredness after an impossibly sober January week. Luckily, a sharer plate arrives soon after the booze, to stop us no doubt from flouncing drunkenly around the bar like ladies of EC1. Picture premier scotch eggs, artichokes and pate: its about as far away from the Abacus sharing platter as it's possible to be. Fridays might not live up to the lively Thursday night tradition on Cornhill (and every other Square Mile alley), but this is the real McCoy a true slice of City history. Just drink it all in, readers. The Runner Bar is possibly the most upmarket pre-game drink youll ever have. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10262/CityBird-The-Runner-Bar-Cornhill.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10262/CityBird-The-Runner-Bar-Cornhill.html http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/57/Proud-Camden-Proud-Cabaret-Camden/ <img src='/filestorage/generic/clubphoto/normal/proudevent1-329RXe6B/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Proud Camden is located in the 200-year-old Grade II Listed Horse Hospital in the Stables Market, Camden. The venue has been systematically designed and painstakingly restored to retain many of the beautiful and genuine features, including the original stables that once housed injured horses. Adorned by images of rock royalty throughout, during the day Proud Camden is the ideal place to come and relax with friends. Hot beverages and food are available, and each individually quirky stable has HD flat screen TVs with Sky Sports and Movie channels, games consoles until the venue is transformed in the evening to house live music. By night, Proud is a music institution serving up a heady, eclectic mix of live acts and DJs to a music-wise crowd through its phenomenal state-of-art sound system. The Gig Room has seen the likes of everything from Dirty Pretty Things to Roots Manuva to NME-crowned The Enemy, and a range of spaces, including an outdoor terrace, ensure this unique Grade II-listed building is many things to many people - but never dull. Stables and tables can be privately hired out by groups most nights. The terraced café means Proud guests can escape indoor gig madness to relax or enjoy the sun by day with drinks and food served all day. The recently re-launched Proud Cabaret Camden, has now become Londons most sociable and entertaining place to dine, with burlesque beauties performing cheeky and charming shows and free entry into the club afterwards there really is no better place to spend an evening! <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/57/Proud-Camden-Proud-Cabaret-Camden/'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:51:10 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/57/Proud-Camden-Proud-Cabaret-Camden/ http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/56/Proud-Cabaret-City/ <img src='/filestorage/generic/clubphoto/normal/club2-gexcmmBc/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> An elegant City destination, London’s famed Proud Cabaret nightspot and restaurant is modelled on a 1920s speakeasy, exuding all the glamour of a decadent bygone era. Designed by Russell Sage Studios and Danielle Proud, the venue, located just moments from Fenchurch Street, is darkly impressive, not only in its setting but in its notoriously titillating and extravagant programme of entertainment. A constantly changing list of events ensures guests enjoy something new and exciting every visit, from the best music played by top DJs to beautiful burlesque performances, live jazz sounds and clever cabaret, all by well known and breaking acts. Special event parties, one offs and series’ alike, provides an extra surprise and, of course, whenever you visit you’ll be treated to not just captivating cocktails and mouth-watering moonshine but superbly executed British dishes enjoyed retro Hollywood supper club style and an informal bar menu featuring lighter offerings. After dining the Proud Cabaret party continues long in to the evening. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/56/Proud-Cabaret-City/'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:48:50 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/56/Proud-Cabaret-City/ http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/55/Proud-Cabaret-Brighton/ <img src='/filestorage/generic/clubphoto/normal/club1-KbZOOpAL/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Proud Cabaret Brighton is now run by Brighton-born Alex Proud, owner of the Proud Group, a conglomerate of six UK locations based in entertainment & the arts. The Brighton Ballroom has been many things and as a member of the Proud Group it will continue to live up to its legacy of a popular live music and retro venue. The venue features a swanky cocktail bar with a well-placed balcony, offering guests a bird’s eye view of all the club’s goings-on. Proud Group reopened the iconic venue with the promise of a gradual yet extensive restoration project. The transformation began with the launch of the Ballroom’s new restaurant offering a bespoke dining experience under the direction of Michelin-trained chef Finlay Logan. A constantly changing list of events ensures guests enjoy something new and exciting every visit, from the best music played by top DJs to beautiful burlesque performances, live jazz sounds and clever cabaret, all by well known and breaking acts. The launch has established the Ballroom as the retro supper club of the south at the same time bringing a touch of old-world glamour back to this historic venue. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/55/Proud-Cabaret-Brighton/'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:43:17 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/55/Proud-Cabaret-Brighton/ http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10247/CityBird-AAA.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/tbdqEzDZ/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> AAA might sound more like a grammatically-challenged version of Alcoholics Anonymous than the City’s hottest clubs, but forget the semantics. AAA is EC1 slang for Abacus, Apt and Agenda – three of the Square Mile’s premium nightclubs, with eye-wateringly cheap drinks to boot, just because it’s January.First up Abacus on Cornhill. STILL my favourite London nightspot (some may groan, but its absolutely true). If some dirty dance track, rows of skittlebombs and great company in the form of boozed-up City financiers isnt your idea of a good Thursday night out, I dont really know what is. (P.S, Im going tonight, natch if you spot me gurning on the dancefloor, come say hai.) Deal? 50% off all drinks and platters until 10pm in January. Apt is slightly less popular with the after-work crowd, mainly due to its location its tucked away in a little alley by Mansion House station, although it could be said the clientele is slightly more upmarket than its Cornhill cousin. On my last visit an investment banker bought my friends and I a bottle of champagne, no questions asked enough said.Deal? 50% off all drinks and platters until 10pm in January. Last, but by no means least, is Agenda, off Fenchurch Street. Kudos to this place for being the only London club ever with a St Johns ambulance parked permanently outside.Deal? Are we seeing a theme here? Its 50% off all drinks and platters until 10pm for the rest of the month. Whaddya waiting for? Just dont forget the alka seltzer in the morning <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10247/CityBird-AAA.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10247/CityBird-AAA.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10241/CityBird-Your-Thursday-Night-On-The-Cheap.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/SZHFHvxd/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Ever the altruist, CityBird has helped planned the perfect Thursday night in the City.Week before payday but in dezzo need of a beer? I’ve got your night all wrapped up for under £20. (Yes, boys, even you too.) 5.30pm – One drink down. If you hotfooted it to the Exchange Square, Fleet Place or Monument branches of Corney Barrow, you’re in for another cheap treat. Pay just £10 corkage and get the bar’s finest wines at cost price.  6.30pm – With any luck, you won’t have spent much but the world will have started to look a bit more squiffy. But you need food to soak up the booze: so where next? Head to the nearest All Bar One, where the chain has rolled out its ‘dine out for £5’ menu. Snarf a burger and chips for a mere fiver and you’re ready to roll. Next! 7.30pm – Find a Balls Brothers (shouldn’t be too difficult, they are EVERYWHERE in the Square Mile) for yet another cut-price drink. The chain is banishing the January blues with 50 per cent off all booze until the end of the month. 9pm – It’s ABACUS TIME. My favourite bar of all time has extended its happy hour throughout January until 10pm, and all drinks are half-price. You can thank me in the morning, readers. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10241/CityBird-Your-Thursday-Night-On-The-Cheap.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10241/CityBird-Your-Thursday-Night-On-The-Cheap.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10213/Nespereira-A-Rural-Paradise.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/2yqRG9rE/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> If youre looking for a quiet retreat to escape the City to; it doesnt get more picturesque than the Nespereira estate.Nestled high on the edge of Portugal’s picturesque Alentejo National Ecological Reserve the Nespereira estate overlooks 240 hectares of outstanding natural beauty. Consisting of four luxury villas and four Nature Hideaways, you will find something to suit you whether youre heading out for a romantic weekend or a family getaway.  Of course, places like this are often in the middle of nowhere, right? Mercifully Nespereira is less than 90 minutes from Faro airport and under an hour to the Algarve coast so youre not going to be stuck out in the sticks. Each of the villas have their own distinctions but all share spacious bedrooms with local antique furniture. The bathrooms are all characterised by locally sourced marble surfaces and baths, giving them a charm youre not likely to find in a hotel. Ideal for honeymooners is the romantic Windmill, which offers breath-taking 360 degree views of the surrounding rolling countryside and a beautiful mezzanine bedroom reached only by a stone spiral staircase. Whilst all accommodation is self-catered, an al-fresco cafe serves a variety of local and international dishes including locally-sourced fish from the nearby village of Zambujeira do Mar. A selection of Portugals finest wines can also be enjoyed and in the winter months, guests have the option to dine in the warmth of the intimate dining room. On-site, mountain bikes are available to hire enabling guests to explore their nearby surroundings in the cooler months, whilst 15km of signposted tracks and paths throughout the estate invite keen walkers to discover the area further by foot. For the spiritualists, Yoga classes are held twice a week in the dedicated yoga area – a beautiful large space complete with oak floors, an authentic fireplace, and stunning views. Jeep tours and fishing are also on offer whilst the absence of any surrounding artificial light paves way to some spectacular stargazing at night. Nature Hideaway accommodation is available from £67 per night / £533 per weekLuxury villa accommodation is available from £127 per night / £888 per week www.nespereira.eu <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10213/Nespereira-A-Rural-Paradise.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10213/Nespereira-A-Rural-Paradise.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10199/CityBird-Cheapest-Happy-Hour-In-The-City.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/Yjz2q9L8/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> I’ve found the cheapest happy hour in the Square Mile, if not in the whole of London – so cheap, I’m not even sure it’s legal.Barcelona Tapas with branches on Middlesex Street in Aldgate, Lime Street by Leadenhall and Well Court off Cannon Street charges only 99p for house spirits between 5-7pm Monday to Friday. Even the manager didn't believe how cheap it was - I had to physically drag him outside to check the sign outside, which confirmed that yes, house spirits are only 99p before 7pm. (With a mixer that makes 1.35, he added for the sake of clarity.) During the hora loca (happy hour in Spanish, Im guessing) fill yer boots with a pint of draught beer for the price of a half, and a litre of sangria for only 6.50. Whats more, get a free tapas dish when you order a bottle of wine. Im assured by colleagues that the food a) isnt great and b) is bladdy expensive one spent 60 on a lunch for him and his missus, and they only had one glass of wine each so make it a happy hour pre-drink rather than a destination eatery. The best thing? Not only is the Middlesex Street branch opposite my office, its near enough to stumble to Mary Janes on Minories where the happy hour lasts until 11pm on a Thursday. Go forth and ruin your livers for under a fiver, City folk. If you think you know of a cheaper happy hour let me know in the comments below. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10199/CityBird-Cheapest-Happy-Hour-In-The-City.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10199/CityBird-Cheapest-Happy-Hour-In-The-City.html http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/54/Beaufort-House/ <img src='/filestorage/generic/clubphoto/normal/champ-v11KXmh8/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Beaufort House Chelsea is the Kings Road’s premier cocktail bar, brasserie and private members’ club. Set over three floors and boasting a stunning lounge, restaurant, & cocktail bar, an exceptional champagne bar with an endless selection of fine champagnes, and a club room complete with surround sound and state-of-the-art screening facilities, Beaufort House Chelsea private members club excels where other clubs merely strive. It has developed a reputation for outstanding service and beautiful yet comfortable interior, making it London’s official ‘home away from home’ and one of Chelsea’s premier venues. The public brasserie on the ground floor opens daily for breakfast, lunch & dinner. It offers modern English cuisine and even has something for the kids. Beaufort House has built its reputation on its huge range of cocktails created by some of London’s top mixologists and their stunning wine list is second to none. This exclusive venue was voted "Best Private Members Club in London" in 2010 and is deserving of such an accolade. Inundated with membership and event requests on a weekly basis, Beaufort House Chelsea has established itself as the place to be in the Kensington and Chelsea area. For membership enquiries please contact us on 020 7352 2828 or email info@beauforthousechelsea.com. Facebook us: facebook.com/beauforthouselondon and Twitter: @beauforthouse <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/54/Beaufort-House/'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:22:56 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/54/Beaufort-House/ http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10189/CityBird-De-La-Panza.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/Diaps7Do/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird was resolutely sticking to her New Years diet... until she was invited to De La Panza this weekend.In my office, dry January was still continuing with muted enthusiasm until we hit the first weekend of 2012. By Friday, the original willpower had petered out to a pitiful splutter, and by the time I arrived at De La Panza late Saturday night, I’d given up with this ridiculous resolution completely. Recently-opened Argentine restaurant De La Panza, on Southgate Road in De Beauvoir (pronounced ‘de beaver’, apparently), is home to some of the best red wine north of the City, as well as some of the best steak outside of South America. Caveat: it’s not strictly in the Square Mile, but close enough for a cheeky long, Malbec-fuelled lunch or cosy tête-à-tête. When IT guy rocked up to this self-styled neighbourhood restaurant, we were dribbling out the sides of our mouths. One bottle of the 2007 Mendel Malbec down, and our nerves had tempered slightly. (If there’s one good thing about 10 days of dry January, it’s that even the sniff of booze will succeed in giving you wine legs.) The wine list is small, but perfectly formed – a bottle of house red will set you back only £15, and a bottle of top-range Cab Sav only £45. We’d barely taken a sip of the wine before a sizzling dish of baked provolone cheese (me) and a warming fish soup (IT guy) arrived. The cheese is quite literally to die for (literally? - ed). A hefty chunk of lomo fillet steak - unfortunately, even in the interests of ‘trying’ the menu, we couldn’t resist what DLP does best: fillet steak) – was cooked to perfection. With a dab of chimichuri and some roasted vegetables on the side, it’s worth not only giving up the draconian new year diet, but throwing out the book altogether. My advice – finish off with a delicate coffee crème caramel, swathed in dulche de leche. It’s heaven on a plate: and those extra few pounds WILL be worth it. Time Out guides to Buenos Aires and litre bottles of Argentine beer Quilmes line the walls. There’s no mistaking – this place is the real deal, and it’s close enough to wine and dine a hungry broker without resorting to somewhere better know like Gaucho. Just make sure you wear elasticated trousers first, yeah? http://www.delapanza.co.uk/ <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10189/CityBird-De-La-Panza.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10189/CityBird-De-La-Panza.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10175/CityBird-Cheer-Up-In-January.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/MhKJPV7Z/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> With the wind and rain outside you’d be forgiven for thinking we’re in the grips of the year’s most miserable month. Drink your sorrows away, my friends, because top City haunts are ready to ply you with booze to forget there’s a whole three months before the next bank holiday.Steam Wine Bar, MonumentThe City best-kept secret, this insurance brokers haunt is offering a bottle of house wine for 10, prosecco for 15 and a bucket of Becks beer for only 10 throughout January. Whats more, reserve a table for 10 or more people and get a free bottle of fizz to boot. Corney BarrowThe City chain doesnt disappoint with its first deal of 2012, giving all customers who pre-book a table for lunch 50% off the bill. Bonus point if you book a table at the Broadgate Circle branch youre guaranteed a view of a lonely banker skating around the ice rink. Lamb Tavern, LeadenhallRegister with the pub on its website and you can download a voucher whichll give you two main meals and a bottle of wine for only 25 in their dining room. The pub is also home to Old Toms Bar, which, if youre going dry for the month, will satisfy your acrid tongue with a cheese board. Slug Lettuce, Fenchurch StreetIts cold outside and everyone is just a tad miserable says the email but fear not, as Slug Lettuce is giving City diners 50 per cent off food until the 16 January. Cinnamon Kitchen, Devonshire SquareGet two courses for 16 and three for 19 at the Citys favourite modern Indian haunt. Thankfully, both come with a winter martini so theres no good in claiming youre doing a teetotal. Revolution, Tower HillFortunately Vodka Revs takes its drinking culture seriously, and is having none of this dry January malarkey. Book in advance for you and up to 20 (!) friends and get NOT ONLY a free drink on arrival, but if you book an area, the bar will double your bar tab. Spend 50 at the bar, get 50 free my kinda place. Know of any other bars plying suits with cheap booze just because its January? Let me know below. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10175/CityBird-Cheer-Up-In-January.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10175/CityBird-Cheer-Up-In-January.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10173/Snowtimea-s-Here-Again.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/jJJKiy9b/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> For the finest winter breaks head to Graubünden in Switzerland and find 2,200km of piste, luxury resorts, stunning scenery and fabulous spas for relaxing aprés-ski.In eastern Switzerland, the canton of Graubnden is home to some of the worlds classiest ski resorts including St Moritz and Davos Klosters. Crammed with soaring, snow-covered mountains, it boasts 460 peaks over 3,000m hosting 25 superb ski resorts. Over a long winter season, lasting from November until April, more than 2,200km of piste can be enjoyed byall ability levels of skiers and boarders. Quality and choice are threads that run through Graubndens winter offering and this is equally true away from the downhill pistes. Take your pick from ice skating,snow golf, winter walking, tobogganingand world-class cross country skiing. As well as participation, there are also plenty of opportunities for spectator enjoyment, encompassing horse racing on the frozen lakes at St Moritz and Arosa, snowpolo in Klosters and St Moritz, plus the annual The Brits snowboarding championships in Laax. Off the snow, Graubnden offers many superb spasin hotels and resorts. Visitors will be presented with a wide choice of hotels, ranging from the ultra modern to the traditional chocolate box style. An example of the former is the award-winning rocksresort in Laax, where seven buildings (representing the rocks) at the base of the Laax ski area house chic apartments and a host of guest facilities. A fine traditional example is the Hotel Guarda Val above the resort of Lenzerheide. From the outside, the appearance is similar to traditional alpine huts built from wooden beams and stone, but the inside is a total revelation, where simplicity is swapped for luxury in an idyllic mountain retreat. Not nearly so old but nevertheless a Graubnden tradition almost since it opened in 1938, is the Chesa Grischuna in Klosters, which because of its popularity with writers and film celebrities became known as Hollywood on the Rocks. St Moritz St Moritz is probably the most famous ski resort in the world, and is arguably the original winter resort. In 1864 Johannes Badrutt, owner of the five star Badrutts Palace Hotel, persuaded a group of English summer visitors to come back in the winter; if they didnt like it, he would refund all of their expenses. They did like it and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, St Moritz is a byword for luxury, and the skiing isnt bad either. There are 80km of piste at Corviglia, expanded to 185km when including the nearby areas of Diavolezza and Corvatsch, easily reached by an excellent transport system. If you have an aversion to public transport and dont want to risk a lift queue, there is the option of renting a helicopterto drop you off at the top of the piste. Davos Klosters Davos, Switzerlands biggest ski resort, also hosts the annual World Economic Forum each January. Klosters is famous as the favourite ski resort of Prince Charles and Prince William. This pair of resorts are linked by the Parsenn cable car and visitors can enjoy 300km of piste on a combined lift pass, with a snow range of 1,100m to 2,844m. Although a long established resort, innovation and renewal is constant in Davos. This seasons new hotel openings feature fiftyone, aimed at younger guests and the four-star Grischa in Davos Platz re-opens after a two-year renovation. Laax The Laax ski area links three villages Flims and Falera are the other two to give 220km of connected piste, more than anywhere else in Graubnden, with a snow range of 1,100-3,018m. Laax has successfully set about building a reputation as a cool freestyle destination of great appeal to a younger crowd with an emphasis on snowboarding (and partying). It includes four snow parks and Europes largest half pipe, at least 40km of marked, but not groomed, piste as well as a wonderful 14km run from the Vorab glacier back to Flims. Spa heaven Really top class ski areas are measured not just by their pistes, but by the quality of spas and Wellness facilities. Many Graubnden resorts have top class spas, but perhaps the most intriguing isnt resort-based at all; the stunning Vals Hot Springs is away from the bright lights, but makes for a perfect day of relaxation and reflection with several indoor pools at various temperatures plus an outdoor pool with a mountain panorama. The complex is housed in a remarkable and beautiful building made from local stone, and has won many architectural awards. A shorter journey from a resort base, the new Mineral Bath Spa in Samedan, near St Moritz, opened in December 2009 and is only the second of its kind in Europe. The baths extend over five floors, including the roof top bathing with mountain views. Elsewhere, guests of the Tschuggen Grand in Arosa can enjoy the famous and impressive Bergoase spa. Over four floors high and carved into the mountain with natural light from the sail-like glass light-trees, the luxuriously appointed spa is exclusively for guest use during the winter. Another superb in-house experience is offered at the Waldhaus Mountain Resort Spa in Flims, where guests are pampered with saunas, pools and treatments in a spacious spa with mountain views. For a touch of Middle Eastern exotica under a cloak of Swiss tradition, the Hotel Schweizerhof, Lenzerheide, boasts the biggest hamam in the Alps, where soft light and gentle heat will set you up for another day on the slopes. Flims Laax Offer Ski Solutions is offering readers of square mile a unique seven-night trip at the 5* Waldhaus Flims Mountain Resort Spa in Laax from 1,950pp. The offer includes return flights on SWISS, free airport lounge access at London Heathrow, return two-for-one Swiss Rail transfers and seven nights accommodation withdaily breakfast. For further details or to book, please call 020 7471 7749; email skihols@skisolutions.com; skisolutions.com Competition Win a ski holiday for two to Laax tothe 4* signinahotel including flights with SWISS and lift passes. To enter and for terms and conditions: graubunden.com/winterholiday graubunden.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10173/Snowtimea-s-Here-Again.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10173/Snowtimea-s-Here-Again.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10152/CityBird-Carluccioa-s-Smithfield.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/J4WEMSH8/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Pre-Christmas week should hereby be named Christmas get lashed week. My office all jumped gamely on the bandwagon – Tuesday was taken as a bonafide half-day as we all trooped off to a curry house down the road, Tesco bags of prosecco in tow.Hours later, and we finished off the lunch with a knees-up in the dingy Aldgate local. By 6pm, my colleague was so drunk she had to go home and nap for several hours. Where did I head? To carry on the party in style, obviously. Italian chain Carluccio’s in Smithfield might not be the obvious choice for an after-Christmas-party bev, but the branch has just launched its aperitivo menu – small sharing plates, accompanied by prosecco, natch. Small plates equals perfect post-Christmas blow-out snack.  The stuzzichini (small plates) are all deliciously Italian. There’s soft foccacia, polpette (Italian meatballs), gamberoni (prawns wrapped in parma ham), caponata (aubergine stew with flatbread) and bresaola (slices of cured beef) among others. Wash it down with a bellini – you can choose from peach, passion fruit or cherry – or a Campari and prosecco. For those less inclined to cheap fizz, the selection of Italian whites aren’t to be sniffed at.  The aperitivo bar sits apart from the main restaurant, which is a blessing – you can just roll up without the hassle of booking or sitting between two loud, gurning office Christmas parties. Extra bonus, Carluccio’s can sort you out with a panettone: guaranteed to make you look like a City knob when you turn up at home on Christmas Eve.  Happy Christmas readers, see you in the New Year! <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10152/CityBird-Carluccioa-s-Smithfield.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10152/CityBird-Carluccioa-s-Smithfield.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10145/The-Art-of-Darkness.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/foakkBLR/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> If Bruce Wayne’s in the market for a new ride, here it is. “Quick, Robin, to the Genty Akylone,” doesn’t quite have the same ring, though. By Mark Hedley.The French can make three things well: wine, women and, well, supercars it would appear. First was the Bugatti Veyron. (OK, I know that’s technically a VW, but it’s still a French marque). And now there’s the Genty Akylone. Despite the dodgy name, the statistics speak for themselves: 1,000bhp 4.8-litre V8 engine; 0–60mph in 2.7secs and a top speed of 220mph. Sure, it’s not quite as quick as a Veyron – but at least it’s not built by Germans. And with only 15 cars being produced each year, there will be fewer of them parked outside Harrods.  genty-automobile.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10145/The-Art-of-Darkness.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10145/The-Art-of-Darkness.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10135/Great-Escape-to-Berlin.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/9vhf598p/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> The capital city of Germany has plenty of invigorating attractions to revive weary travellers, as Saul Wordsworth found when he checked into the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.There aren’t many hotels that command their own adjective. Few of us will ever describe a restaurant as “a bit dorchestery”, for instance. That’s because The Ritz is still the first name in luxury, albeit one that is now mostly owned by the Carlton Company. And so it was we pulled up at the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin after a taxing 24 hours that included the delivery of a best man speech, a vodka-fuelled party until 6am and a bumpy three-hour trip from deep in Poland to the heart of Berlin with what can only be described as ‘a bit of a head’. We arrived to the kind of welcome normally reserved for international heads of state or Elton John. I’ve never been smiled at so intensely. Maybe they thought I was ill and had only weeks to live. It probably looked like it. Regardless, they were astonishingly friendly. As luck would have it we were given a room on the Club level. This ‘hotel within a hotel’ experience means you get to stay on the 10th or 11th floor and need never leave, remaining instead in luxurious seclusion while being fed endless goodies or exotic booze in the Club Lounge area. The room itself was spectacular: gargantuan bed, endless TV channels, exceptional fruit – but what was this? A lamp that didn’t work? At the Ritz?? We giggled, imagining how mortified the staff would be if only they knew. This may sound ridiculous but the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin is all about customer service. ALL about customer service. It’s nigh-impossible to go anywhere in the hotel without being pleasantly bombarded with smiles, polite enquiries as to your wellbeing and even (gulp) banter. Call reception and they’re there in a flash. The thought that one of their guests has a faulty lamp could be enough to push one of them over the edge. After a club sandwich and a short kip we headed downstairs to the Curtain Club bar for further refreshment. The ambience of this place, named after a former London private club, evokes images of TS Eliot, fat-cigar decadence and the 1920s. The cocktails were great: the bloody mary found under Hangover Cures was potent, spicy and to the point; the toffee martini delicious; the white Russian verging on the illegal. There was also a piano. I was just about to play it (the bloody marys were kicking in) when much to the relief of my girlfriend an employee stepped up and tinkled ivory for a small group of Americans. I feel it’s important to point out that the hotel comes complete with its very own Beefeater. He’s there to look English, frighten little children and announce the grand opening of the Curtain Club at six every evening. I didn’t catch his name but he was jocular and bearded. Perhaps the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin is where old Beefeaters come to die? If only for the purpose of a rounded review we began the following day at the hotel gym. Though limited in size it’s clean, new and high quality. The pool too is bijou and swanky, featuring a crystal ceiling and a raised Jacuzzi at one end. In that respect it’s certainly up there with Park Road Baths of Crouch End. Breakfast in the Club Lounge was a delight. Obviously there’s everything you could want and more (you should be getting the picture by now). Owing to its limited size – you’re dining with, at best, six other tables – the service is highly personal. I recommend the omelette. With only 48 hours in Berlin, we barely scratched the surface of one of Europe’s greatest capital cities. Whether you want to see the remnants of the Berlin Wall, drink coffee in the modern Sony Centre, visit the Reichstag for a tour, tea and teacake combo (book online in advance, it’s worth it) or try the fine restaurants across this sprawling metropolis (we ate at two, both astoundingly good), you won’t be disappointed. Our evening was rounded off in style at the hotel’s French restaurant Brasserie Desbrosses. Steak for me, tuna for m’lady. Both perfect. We turned in happy. You may recall that the Berlin Ritz is all about customer service. Truth be told, it goes well beyond that. The staff here go some distance out of their way to make you feel at home, to engage and ensure your stay is as pleasant as it truly could be. More than the luxury on offer – and there’s plenty of that – this is what characterises the place. For here is a hotel with personality, one you will most likely want to spend some time with. €295 per single room, €325 per double; +49 (0)30 33 7777; ritzcarlton.com. For more lifestyle insight and ideas visit tenlifestyle.com or follow @tenlifestyle <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10135/Great-Escape-to-Berlin.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10135/Great-Escape-to-Berlin.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10124/Shooting-Range.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/v9pShOfk/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Martin Deeson took the new Range Rover Evoque to his local gun club and discovered that, with the unlikely help of Mrs Beckham, it’s bang on target…Land Rover lore has it that 67 years ago a man called Maurice Wilks crouched down in the sand on his farm at Red Wharf Bay in Anglesey and sketched the first Land Rover design right there in the dirt. He was using an American Army surplus Willys Jeep at the time and with his brother decided it was high time the British automotive industry used some of its excess manufacturing capacity after the end of World War II to create a utilitarian workhorse for farmers. It was 1947, and his design was so successful that if you buy a Land Rover Defender today you are, to all intents and purposes, buying nothing more than a refinement of Wilks’s original sand sketch. Sometime between 60 and 70 years later, Victoria Beckham sat down and sketched out her ideas for the interior of the new Range Rover Evoque. I suspect Posh Spice didn’t use a stick and some sand, she probably used an iPad, or maybe some mascara on the back of a napkin, or perhaps a team of designers. Either way, Maurice Wilks came up with a design classic 65 years ago, probably the most recognisable car in the world and the only car of which it can be said two-thirds of all those ever built since 1948 are still on the road. Now, Victoria Beckham and the Range Rover team have come up with a new doozy. On first impression, in white the two-door Range Rover Evoque looks like a Star Wars Imperial Storm Trooper’s helmet, which is a very, very good thing indeed. We’ve all seen them on the roads of Britain since they first hit the dealers this summer and, admit it, you’ve stared, haven’t you? Because the Range Rover Evoque is, like Victoria Beckham, certainly a head-turner. Mine was silver, but you’ll get no complaints here, with a massive glass sunroof, side mirrors like elephants’ ears (one of the very few quibbles) and an attitude that makes the Spice Girls look like a bunch of Methodist librarians. The Range Rover Evoque is sexy, that’s the bottom line. Over the past year I’ve driven review cars from Bentleys to Jaguars – and no car has grabbed people’s attention like this puppy. First burn on our weekend of fun was a quick spin across the New Forest to the Spitfire Shoot, a clay shooting range near Winchester. The Evoque made a tasty job of the twisting country roads, sticking to the wet leaf-laden tarmac like a tram on rails and gliding through the bends with such little roll my father-in-law in the passenger seat (a diehard XK fan and motorracing competitor) was heard to mutter, “It’s coping with your driving very well.” I took this as a compliment and threw the Evoque into another tree-lined bend in the hope of dislodging his cool, to no avail. Technically, this smoothness of ride is down to the same technology they use in the Audi R8 (dampers filled with a fluid rich in magnetised iron filings that react to adjust the firmness of the ride). The fact that the Evoque’s dampers react twice as fast as those in the R8 is a pleasing fact to rub in the face of Audi owners. Naturally the car park at the clay shooting range was populated by the usual handful of Defenders, three Range Rovers, two Discoverys and a Freelander (to which the Evoque is loosely related – they share some DNA), but still the site of Land Rover’s latest offering coming tearing into the car park in a spray of wood chips brought the Landie, Rangie, Disco and Freelander owners piling out of the clubhouse to check out Vicky Beckham’s work first hand. All agreed that the interior is, if anything, even smarter than the outside. The seats give a leather-upholstered driving position which sits somewhere between ‘aggressive’ and ‘d’you want some?’, the dash has a sensible layout and the comfort, for those in the front, is as good as a Range Rover Sport. I didn’t take the Evoque off road in the time I had it (which is something I will probably have in common with most people who eventually own one) but I do know there’s no low range, just an electronic terrain response which (judging by James May’s Top Gear review earlier year in Death Valley) actually takes care of business far better than the Posh interior would ever have you suspect. On the treacherous terrain of London streets the Evoque made an admirable urban 4x4: sturdy enough to see off rioters and cool enough to make a fashion model happy in Chelsea. On the less demanding surface of the M3, she took the 70-mile run at a skip. Get the five-door if you plan on ferrying many backseat passengers around, the two door starts at a frankly not bad £28k, my particular model pushed it up to nearer £40k, but in uncertain times there are some things you don’t want to economise on – and a stylish set of wheels, from the world’s best marque, that could plough through a burning urban riot with ease, might just be the best investment you can make. The Range Rover Evoque is available from £27,995 from Lookers. www.lookers.parkroyal.landrover.co.uk 152 Dukes Rd, W3; 0844 649 2112 www.lookers.battersea.landrover.co.uk 50 Lombard Rd, SW11; 0844 649 5028 <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10124/Shooting-Range.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:00:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10124/Shooting-Range.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10123/Dining-at-City-on-Sea.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/Zui39WC5/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Stupendous squid, perfect pork, and a lively tapas-bar buzz that belies the restaurant’s ten years in situ. You could be in Iberia, says Jon Hawkins.Visiting a Spanish restaurant in Londons urban east when recently returned from a gastronomically-spectacular trip to Spain isnt something Id usually advise Old St has a lot to recommend it, but it cant offer a sun-baked Iberian backdrop. Instead, Leonard St where youll find the rustic Spanish and Portuguse-styled cuisine of Eyre Brothers is a sleepy urban road with buildings that cant quite decide whether theyre achingly trendy or plain-Jane utilitarian; you couldnt easily confuse it for the Iberian peninsular. The food Eyre Brothers (David and Robert, in case youre interested) serves is a different story flavours are big and punchy, the seafood is so good you can practically feel a coastal breeze on your face as you tuck into it and the meat is its equal. In October the restaurant celebrated its ten-year anniversary, and its clear Eyre Brothers has lost no momentum; even mid-week it buzzes with a varied cross-section of clientele that reflects its location on the blurred boundaries between the City and Shoreditch. Theres a promising whiff of charcoal as we walk into the room, through the centre of which runs a strip of dark-wood panelling on the floor, walls and ceilings, and on the far side, away from the big glass windows looking out onto the street, is a casual, kitchen-facing tapas bar with the customary scrawls on a blackboard. The smoky aroma wafting from the kitchen positively begs me to order the grilled squid to start, and Im glad I do because its stupendous delicate squid with a perfectly-judged, simple marinade of garlic and chilli that went beautifully with a glass of Terras do Demo, a pale-pink Portuguese sparkler from Tvora-Varosa. To follow, I submit to the autumnal charms of venison casseroled with pancetta and red wine on a bed soft corn milhos. The venison is excellent rich and intense, and expertly partnered with the equally intense, fruit-driven Marco de Pegoes Tinto 2006, also from Portugal and the milhos is good, if slightly overpowered. Better than either, though, is my companions acorn-fed Iberian pork (I tried acorn myself as a child and it was terrible, so well done to the pigs for persevering) with patatas pobres. Eyre Brothers serve the wild pig chargrilled and pink in the middle, which is as it should be I challenge you to find a more enjoyable piece of pork in London. When we exit onto the chilly, grey streets its a shock not to see the sun beating down and the Med lapping at the curb, like leaving a cinema in the day only to discover its dark outside. Eyre Brothers is a small, brilliant slice of Iberia on the Citys urban fringes, and for that I almost love it even more than the genuine article. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10123/Dining-at-City-on-Sea.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10123/Dining-at-City-on-Sea.html http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/53/Dicks-Tea-Bar/ <img src='/filestorage/generic/clubphoto/normal/dicks_web-iUnnn5fE/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Dicks Tea Bar, the legendary Val dIsère institution, looks set for even bigger things this coming season with even more surprises. Entrepreneurs Seb Hall and Alex Fateh have reinvested this summer and introduced a brand new comfy après-ski bar, open from 4pm. As the afternoon turns into night, the bar opens up to the larger nightclub area allowing ski bums and nighttime aficionados to dance, as nature intended especially as Dicks stays open until five in the morning.  Dicks and Val dIsère have gone hand in hand having grown up together for nearly forty years. Dick’s spirit derives from a fun chaotic atmosphere where body shots on the bar are inevitable and chalet-girls dancing on tables lives on from year to year!  New Après-ski Bar:Those who spent their ski youth partying in Dicks during the 80s and 90s will appreciate the earlier opening times. The new interior is second to none with large comfy sofas, log piles, stone arches and LCD fire screens making you feel right at home. The bar now offers homemade hot chocolate, malt wine and hot butter rum along with their extensive range of beers, wines and spirits. Live DJs are accompanied with music acts on a daily basis and all information for upcoming events is regularly updated on the Dick’s Tea Bar website. Dick’s après bar is the perfect follow up to an afternoon’s skiing or dancing at La Folie Douce! The Nightclub: The après-ski bar turn nightclub features a brand new DJ booth, dance floor tables as well as an exceptional VIP area over looking the dance floor. A chauffer service to and from the chalets for those wanting VIP service is available on request. All VIPs are met at the door by the front of house and introduced to their hostess for the evening that will lead them to their table. There will be a full table service with an array of drink choices, from Champagne and Spirits to the infamous Ski-Boot Cocktail! Last season saw a host of celebrities party the night away at Dick’s Tea Bar, such as; Heston Blumenthal, Sarah Harding, Steve Coogan, Eddie Jordan and Jake Humphries.   www.dicksteabar.com   <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/53/Dicks-Tea-Bar/'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:18:02 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/clubs/53/Dicks-Tea-Bar/ http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10113/CityBird-VoluptA.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/PjorhS4b/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird visits Volupté and discovers a distinctly City take on afternoon tea.The City’s answer to afternoon tea was never going to be salubrious. Volupté, cabaret venue behind Chancery Lane station, is a shining example: it’s taken sandwiches and scones (which, admittedly, The Dorchester does better) and thrown in nipple tassles and glitter.  One otherwise flat Saturday afternoon, IT guy and I found ourselves round the backstreets of High Holborn, searching for London’s quirkiest supperclub. Volupté has turned the recent institution of afternoon tea into a decadent burlesque cabaret event – boobs and cucumber sandwiches sit side-by-side. Usually to be found in an overly glitzy area such as Soho, Volupté is trying its luck with City types – and good news, it’s just in time for a pre-Christmas blow-out. We eventually find it, tucked between two offices opposite a dreary staff car park, but the atmosphere inside is far from bleak: there’s a buzzing bar upstairs, filled with groups of young women dressed as flapper girls, dripping with feathers and beads. (FYI, we wore jeans and jumpers. Error.) It’s downstairs where the nipple tassles happen though. An intimate cove becomes a grotto with Christmas tree, tinsel and lashings of glitter. It’s the same effect of being covered in glue and being pushed headfirst through MS’s festive section. At 3pm, guests are seated with plates of thinly-cut, no-crust sandwiches: roast beef and horseradish, ham and mustard and salmon and cream cheese. It’s accompanied with a glass of cava and a choice of tea in quaint floral teapots. Amber Topaz, Diva Hollywood, Beatrix Von Bourbon and Gateaux Vivant make up the cabaret entertainment – IT guy looked awkward throughout, so ladies, take your girlfriends along to this one – complete with pasties, feathers, glitterballs and cheese-wire esque suspenders, which they then proceed to take of/throw at the audience/eat. Two hours later, we’d overdosed on Earl Grey, prosecco, gingerbread cakes and voyeurism. And with a finishing time of only 5pm – it gives you the entire evening to while away in a Holborn pub. Christmas, booze and casual nudity just about sums the Square Mile’s take on the Queen’s favourite tradition. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10113/CityBird-VoluptA.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10113/CityBird-VoluptA.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10099/Top-Five-Steps-to-Getting-Your-Home-Ready-to-Party.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/hkc7Ypcr/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Despite the current economic climate and rumours of continued gloomy times, the party crowd has not been deterred! Instead theres an intelligent sensibility in soldiering on and while corporate budgets might not be what they were five years ago, the party spirit at home seems to be as big as ever.Less can be more, and generosity in hospitality at home can still be conveyed at times like these. No matter how you like to entertain, its important to make sure that the home is ready to invite your guests in over the festive season. Some of us will throw boozy all-night parties and others will host sophisticated dinners. I quite like the idea of having friends over for supper. It has that less formal, less planned feel and almost automatically conjures up the vibe that those invited will play their part in the preparations upon their arrival. I like to entertain loosely, but there are a few things Ill always take into consideration when getting the home ready to party. Pre-Party Spring Clean Give your home a good freshen-up ahead of the party season, which should be more than spending 10 minutes before your guests arrive fluffing the cushions! Check all of your glassware is polished and that youve got enough cutlery and crockery. Organise the fridge and lose anything thats not been used in the last 12 months. Freshen up the bathroom, you could splash out on some good quality cotton hand towels, plus a luxury hand soap and moisturiser. Tidy away everyday clutter to give the home a lift and create a space youre proud to invite others into.You can easily liven up a room that looks tired with large bowls of fresh seasonal fruits keep it simple, selecting just one colourful fruit and buy enough to fill a large vessel. Make some extra space You may need to move some furniture around or even take it out of the main entertaining area when entertaining at home. Reposition the items that are taking up too much space or pop them into a spare room thats unlikely to be used by your guests. Try to keep the party in one area of the home, this will help to avoid the guests becoming dispersed and give your party more of an opportunity to gather traction a busy, buzzy room is a much more desirable place to be! Lighting Its sometimes neglected, but is such an important part of creating the right atmosphere for a party. We all know when the lights dim in any room something fun is about to happen - this doesnt just apply to the night out at the theatre. Lose any bright ceiling lighting and buy in a truckload of good church candles and scatter around your property. I also think we all find something mesmerising about a naked flame and if you have the luxury of an open fire, get it lit and have plenty of logs to keep it going for the entire night. Planning an appropriate menu If I am hosting a dinner party or preparing a menu for a client, I generally go easy on the canaps. Meals are often spoilt by showing too many of your cards too early, or by filling people up too soon so their capacity for enjoying a meal is somewhat diminished. Planning a menu for home is more than throwing together a collection of recipes from your cookbook shelf. It needs to be balanced and flow from one dish seamlessly to the next. Too much cream, too much butter, a clash of flavours or muddled origins of ingredients, ultimately will leave the diner feeling less satisfied than one whos been served a simple, delicious and carefully crafted menu. With all this in mind and although the actual food is important - a great host is someone who gets the ratios of ambience, meal and service right, not someone who arrives at the table with the souffl and beaded brow. Whatever you decide upon, make sure youve got your kitchen organised and youve thought through how you intend to serve each course, where youll clear the dirty dishes to, where the empty bottles will go, and how youll limit the time youre away from the table. Plan for a few spills Ive been to many parties where a glass of red wine goes over and the guests hurry around throwing various solutions at the spillage; white wine, soda water or even milk someone once told me that milk draws the colour out of fabric, but Im not sure they were thinking about how itll smell in a couple of weeks time! Be prepared and have a cloth/paper towel, a dustpan and some stain removing spray to hand. If youre planning a really lively occasion, it might even be worth lining up some hired help to arrive the following morning, so you dont have to worry when you might not be feeling at your strongest! Paul Squire, Owner of London-based boutique caterers Cook and Waiter: Cook and Waiter020 8758 9165cookandwaiter.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10099/Top-Five-Steps-to-Getting-Your-Home-Ready-to-Party.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:15:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10099/Top-Five-Steps-to-Getting-Your-Home-Ready-to-Party.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10094/A-Cut-Above-in-Park-Lane.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/KjPmwQQ6/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Never mind proprietor Wolfgang Puck’s undeniable celebrity credentials, the sublime food takes the starring role at his new London outlet, Cut. Martin Deeson is reduced to slavering fandom.The term ‘celebrity chef’ is one of the great irritations of modern life, like the congestion charge and Louis Walsh. Many who aspire to the title are no more ‘celebrities’ than the cast of Made in Chelsea; like them they just happen to be on TV, and some others are not ‘chefs’, they’re just cooks who have never faced the wrath of the Michelin men. Wolfgang Puck, on the other hand, is both a celebrity and a chef. His world famous and ground-breaking Spago in Beverley Hills holds two Michelin stars and he has appeared in both The Smurfs movie (as, of course, Chef Smurf) and The Simpsons (as himself). If you want to chuck in that he also got a namecheck in no less iconic cultural artefact than Die Hard (by the evil baddie, Richard Thornburg who, when on the phone, reassures the person on the other end, “Of course we can get a table. I know Wolfgang personally. I interviewed him”) then it is clear a bona fide Hollywood star has arrived in town. But is his food any good? Well, I have never eaten a better steak. And steaks are what Cut is about. It is a self-described ‘modern American steak restaurant’ but they also do some spectacular things with lobsters. Highlights were the Wagyu short ribs with Indian spices, slow cooked for eight hours. Spectacular and addictive. The sautéed scallops, with Yuzu Kosho butter, and the lobster with black truffle emulsion are both probably the best use of either main ingredient I have ever tasted. The decor? 45 Park Lane (the micro-hotel from The Dorchester, a two-minute walk from the mothership) is breathtaking – a rich wo/man’s pleasure dome of Damien Hirst adorned walls, modern deco vistas and the best conference/screening room I have ever seen. The bar is the perfect place for a discreet power meet and in the restaurant they play Led Zeppelin, very quietly. Some celebrity restaurant critics have complained about the prices. I won’t bore you but it’s probably best to budget for £100 a head if you want to enjoy yourself. But then: A) What did you expect? It’s Wolfgang Puck, on Park Lane, for the Dorchester, dummy. B) I suppose restaurant critics have to find something to complain about even when faced with one of London’s top five restaurants. And C) ‘Celebrity restaurant critic’? Don’t get me started… what kind of a job is that for a grown man? Cut, 45 Park Lane, W1K 1PN; 45parklane.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10094/A-Cut-Above-in-Park-Lane.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10094/A-Cut-Above-in-Park-Lane.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10086/Boutique-in-Barcelona.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/9jZoJskt/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Barcelona’s Abac hotel is an oasis of luxurious tranquillity in a chaotic city, finds Jon Hawkins.Everywhere, it seems, is a boutique hotel these days, to the extent that its easy to forget exactly what the boutique concept was ever supposed to be about. You dont necessarily have to go all the way to Barcelona to remind yourself, but in Abac the Spanish capital has one of the finest examples of the breed youll find anywhere in the world. If the archetypal boutique hotel is small, individual and unfailingly luxurious, then Abac is a perfect, concentrated distillation of all of these things (as you would expect its one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World), from the non-descript gated entrance just off the citys perimeter road to the Hermes toiletries, Bang Olufsen TVs and iPads in the rooms, via the hotels two Michelin-starred restaurant. The view from the quiet street, through which the occasional blue tram rumbles past on its way to the hills overlooking the north of the city, reveals virtually nothing of what lies inside: two adjoining buildings, one old and one new. The older part the centennial building is the refurbished former residence of a Catalan intellectual, and though it was originally built in Barcelonas ubiquitous modernist style, previous inhabitants have reshaped much of it. The new, wood and glass-clad block housing the restaurant, which gained a second Michelin-star in November, overlooks a small garden; sat on the gardens outside terrace eating breakfast its easy to imagine youre miles away from the chaotic bustle of Las Ramblas. In fact youre about 10 minutes by cab (or about the same by Metro) from the city centre, yet so potent is the air of tranquillity within the Abac gates it never feels it. Our suite (one of only 15 rooms) is a heavenly, white sanctuary with leather sofas, two vast BO televisions (one virtually backing onto the other) and a bed large enough for Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al to have a kickabout on. It would be easy to never leave the room if the hotel wasnt well worth exploring restaurant aside, theres a basement hiding a dimly lit, well equipped spa and a bar with a 900-wine cellar tucked away in the arches under the old building. The celebrated restaurant is undeniably the heart of the hotel you can even walk through the kitchen to cross from the old building into the new, a novel touch I sense was appreciated more by us than the busy chefs but its far from the only reason to stay there. There can be few more serene, exclusive and downright pleasurable places to spend time in Barcelona, let alone anywhere else in Europe. Abac is boutique, in the truest and very best sense of the word. Abac Hotel Restaurant, Avenida Tibidabo 1, Barcelona, Spain; +34 93 3196600; slh.com/abac <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10086/Boutique-in-Barcelona.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10086/Boutique-in-Barcelona.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10079/Heart-of-the-Platter.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/831xO0Zs/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Martin Deeson discovers that, despite the new look, an old London institution is as good as ever. And, if you don’t have the will to say no, it can be a heart-stopper...Its always exciting to eat in an institution (unless its a mental one, that is), and the Savoy Grill has to be one of the most famous culinary institutions in London, which means in the world. After reopening in late 2010 in a symphony of art deco newness, under the umbrella management of Ramsay Holdings (for a review of his newest venture, see the following page), the Savoy Grill has re-established itself as the place to take your parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, for your agent to take you to sign off your latest book deal or for celebs to meet up before a West End show. It is an event restaurant, for when you want the world to know youve made it (again). With banquette tables that make any dinner feel like a date (not quite so appropriate if you are being wined and dined by your agent or broker) and a menu which, like those other venerable institutions the Ivy and the Wolseley, is long on comfort and short on modern inventions like fusion eating and low fat, this is a room which swallows you up and invites you to spend a long afternoon or an even longer evening wallowing in gloriously saturated fats. Talking of saturated fats, the single most famous dish on this menu is the omelette Arnold Bennett, so we had two of those to start, naturally. An artery-insulting confection of smoked haddock, parmesan and cream, this is the comfort food you would eat before mounting the gallows. Named after the now almost forgotten author of numerous novels set in his native Staffordshire (and the fantastically entitled early self-help book How to Live on 24 Hours a Day), Bennett is also the man whoonce said: My mother is far too clever to understand anything she doesnt like, and for that alone is a legend in my opinion.He also inspired a mean omelette. From the huge range of classic British and French dishes on the menu I opted for a lobster thermidor and creamed spinach, while my partner elected to go for the steamed steak and onion pudding with onion sauce. Yup, we were united in our desire for a light dinner. The steak and onion pudding could have kept a chubby hedge fund manager going all afternoon and the creamy mixture of cooked lobster meat, egg yolks, and cognac plugged the final holes that were left in a previously healthy cardiac system. Rounding off this light snack with rice pudding with poached morello cherries and some welsh rarebit, we then checked ourselves into Papworth Hospital and awaited the arrival of a suitable heart donor. Nah, we didnt, we stayed upstairs but you can hear about that next time. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10079/Heart-of-the-Platter.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10079/Heart-of-the-Platter.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10080/Down-Mexico-Way.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/Td3NKYiZ/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> For years, Cancun has been a hip hideaway for the North American party scene. It’s about time we got in on the action – especially when the tequila’s so good…Where to Eat Ritz-Carltonritzcarlton.com Cancun boasts three restaurants with AAA Five Diamonds, one of the highest accolades awarded in the business. Two of these are to be found in the same hotel the Ritz-Carlton Cancun. The Ritz-Carlton has in fact received this prestigious rating for both the resort as a whole, as well as its two fine dining restaurants Fantino and The Club Grill. The hotel is the only oceanfront resort in USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean thats achieved this triple whammy. Of course, if youre after something a little more rustic, then head downtown. Along the Avenida Tulum and on the Calle Yaxchilan, youll find a great range of restaurants frequented by touristsand locals alike. These tend to be much cheaper than the hotel zone, and here you can soak up more of the local Mexican atmosphere with mariachis serenading you while you eat. Where to Drink Fiesta AmericanaGrand Coral Beach fiestamericana.com Fiesta Americana, sprawled across the shore of Grand Coral Beach, boasts a resident tequila sommelier and a cigar-maker. With five award-winning bars and restaurants to choose from, its worth spending a few evenings here to decide which is your favourite. The Lobby bars huge windows paint a picture-perfect vista of the resort and Caribbean and atelier style bar snacks are provided byneighbouring Le Basilic. Our favourite, though, is the Bikini bar: as the name suggests, it has some of the best viewsin Cancun. The scenerys not bad either. Where to Party Coco Bongococobongo.com.mx Coco Bongo, with its 1,800-person capacity, is located in the heart of the bustling hotel zone. The multi-level seating and nightly rocknroll and salsa bands make it one of Cancuns most lively and unique clubs. Beyond the live music, internationally-renowned DJs will fill the dance floor with an eclectic mix of 1970s, 1980s, dance, trance, hip hop and even rave. If you ask really nicely they may even play Terrorvisions Tequila, it makes me happy. Although, probably not. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10080/Down-Mexico-Way.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10080/Down-Mexico-Way.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10075/Bar-of-the-week-The-Breakfast-Club.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/ZVk5nkBU/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> CityBird hangs out with the hungover RBS bankers at the Breakfast Club on Artillery Lane.I try to convince people a lot of things in this blog. Wednesday is the new Thursday, the giantini is the new martini – and my new motto is that you MUST drink after work in the misleadingly-named the Breakfast Club on Artillery Lane. I might’ve written about it before, but this time I went to the bar proper. Appropriately, the restaurant level of the Brekky Club – as it’s affectionately known – is dead after 6pm. Drop in anytime from 10am, though, and you’ll find hungover RBS bankers (their office is just up the road), lunching lawyers all the way through to 3pm and then a couple of freelancers armed with Macs until 6pm.  Like Cinderella’s carriage, when night falls, the City sacks off the food (which is a shame, as the Brekky Club’s super-loaded burritos, burgers and pancakes are worth the trip alone) and heads through a giant Smeg fridge door into the bar below. The candlelit bar below has all of the nostalgic kitsch of the restaurant, but also all of the atmosphere: it’s packed out with suits, night after night. Perch on coloured stools on high chairs, or find an intimate cubby hole in the corner. And what about the booze? The Brekky Club, predictably, excels in serving up huge fruity smoothies and juices, but you can bet your private sector pension that ain’t what people are drinking. Wine is divided up into three categories: cheap, good and ‘charlie big potatoes’ wine blowing a hole in your bonus with, there’s a decent selection of cider and beer – but what the Brekky Club really want you to drink is from the small, but perfectly formed, cocktail list.  The icy strawberry daiquiri, the Bloody Mary (‘hot and spicy like Judy Finnegan’ – their words, not mine) and four variations of mojito do exactly what they say on the tin. A tin that says get blotto on some serious five-a-day style cocktails. Happy hour runs from 6pm until 8pm, and it’ll knock another £4 off a bottle, as well as a couple of quid off beer and cocktails. You know the drill by now. Hey, the toilet’s even wallpapered with My Little Pony – just one more reason to ditch the local boozer and drop by for an afterwork bevvy. <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10075/Bar-of-the-week-The-Breakfast-Club.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10075/Bar-of-the-week-The-Breakfast-Club.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10061/To-The-Manor-Born.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/jPVeExqM/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> A secluded cliff-top mansion with private beach, incredible sea views and a pub within walking distance – Eugene Costello revels in a luxurious getaway at stunning Carn Cobba in Cornwall.writer DH Lawrence came to Zennor, south-west Cornwall, in 1915 with his German wife Frieda to escape the Teutophobia sweeping the United Kingdom following the outbreak of the First World War. (Ironically, the local villagers believed the couple to be enemy spies and they were moved on by the police after a two-year stay.) While he was here, he penned the following observation: At Zennor one sees infinite Atlantic, all peacock-mingled colours, and the gorse is sunshine itself. Zennor is a most beautiful place: a tiny granite village nestling under high shaggy moor-hills and a big sweep of lovely sea beyond, such a lovely sea, lovelier even than the Mediterranean It is the best place Ihave been in, I think. Its easy to see why he fell in love with Zennor and he didnt even have the benefit of staying at the utterly fabulous Carn Cobba. Zennor is on the north Cornwall coast, some four miles south-east of St Ives and a few miles north of Penzance. Dont come here to party, though, the village consists of one pub, The Tinners Arms (where Dave and Frieda stayed until they found a cottage to rent), and a 13th-century church. What draws a constant snake of ramblers here is the view; a V-shaped, bracken-and-heather-clad gorge frames and enhances quite simply one of the most beautiful views of any sea anywhere in the world. At the mouth of the gorge, rocky cliffs, up to 300ft high, butt into the Atlantic to form a secluded cove with virgin, seldom-visited beach and turquoise-crystal waters. You can climb down on paths hacked through the scrub and gorse to reach the beach. It is a pretty walk, crossing a bridge over the stream that trickles down from the hillsides which offers breathtaking views both inland and out across the Celtic Sea but be warned, its not an easy trek to undertake. That said, the dividends once you reach the private beach are munificent beyond all proportion. The house itself is like the kind of homestead which might be featured on Grand Designs but, thankfully, without Kevin McClouds pontifications. It was built in 1938 by the Brooks family, who made their fortune from the leather bicycle saddle that bears their name and is still beloved of aficionados to this day. The design was somewhat ahead of its time, with a plethora of pitched roofs albeit in the 1930s style, which means squared at the top rather than coming to an apex that call to mind the Valley of the Pyramids (if its sunset, youre squinting and youve had a few strong aperitifs). Beautifully renovated, Carn Cobba shows a perfect, Holy Trinity-like, fusion of landscape, architecture and design. As well as the views (did I mention the views?), the house has landscaped gardens, including ponds, wooden bridges and downhill lawns that have been fashioned from the slopes of the gorge before it falls away and gives way to a stream. The house itself is a thing of beauty and wonderment exploiting the strengths of its setting and content to play second fiddle to nature, cognisant of the fact you dont try to upstage a diva. A balcony or sun terrace has been sympathetically introduced wherever the houses aspect offers a vista. The present owners (the Bones, as I discovered after snooping through the visitors book) clearly have a love of yachting and that nautical aesthetic pervades. Lots of cool, muted colours cream, baby blue and sage, and, naturally, more decking than the Titanic. (Not literally, obviously.) But the only ice youll bump up against is that in your glass of gnt as you make the most of the sun-trap terraces. Inside, no expense has been spared when it comes to fixtures and fittings; there is an abundance of Miele kitchen appliances, Grohe showers and taps and Villeroy Boch washbasins and baths. Naturally, Molton Brown unguents have been thoughtfully placed wherever water springs forth. Meanwhile, my daughter, Evie, 6, and a couple of her little pals were in hog heaven the mezzanine level comprises a games den with huge flatscreen TV, and a twin room with en-suite bathroom. And downstairs are two further childrens bunk-bedrooms this in addition to the four fabulous king-sized rooms, two complete with en-suite bath facilities and all enjoying those staggering views across the world heritage site where the house stands. The point of Carn Cobba is its wild, secluded and rugged beauty. But if you do feel the need to rejoin society while youre here, you have two options. The first is to walk back up the private road that will have led you here from Zennor (there is parking for up to six cars) and spend an evening at the Tinners Arms. Its a traditional Cornish pub with stone-flagged flooring and decent gastro-pub menu, it also has a good range of local ales and live folk music on Thursday nights. Or you can head into St Ives for the bustle and bright lights of the metropolis. For that is how this smugglers village will appear to you, such is the isolation of Carn Cobba. Cobbled streets with interesting boutique shops and lots of pubs. If you want to eat, head for the Harbour Fish Chips Restaurant, overlooking the harbour, funnily enough, on Wharf Road. The best fish and chips I have ever had. Ever. Delights include battered scallops though the coating is more akin to the lightest golden Thai tempura rather than the stodgy beer batter served in so many outlets these days. And dont miss the battered seabass fillet. Leah Trevorrow and her bevy of helpful fellow waitresses will look after you and your party royally. And the restaurant serves decent beers and wine. You can book Carn Cobba through the Cornish Gems website, along with any concierge services that you might require. Youd better be quick off the mark, though. Evie might just beat you to it, when shes grown bored of the CBBC site Carn Cobba costs from 1,995 per week in low season and sleeps up to ten adults and six children. To book: 0844 800 2813; cornishgems.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10061/To-The-Manor-Born.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10061/To-The-Manor-Born.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10056/CityBird-Brigade.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/5kg6S7oJ/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> New cool bar klaxon! If you work for PwC or Ernst Young, you’re probably already in on the secret. All you Square Mile workers unwilling to leave your EC postcode – this one ain’t for you.Newly-opened Brigade, in the refurbished fire station on Tooley Street, is unhelpfully equidistant between London and Tower Bridge but helpfully, backs onto the offices of two massive consulting firms. Read: its always busy with suits, even on a cold Monday night. But is it any cop? Ill admit, I had fairly low expectations. Most City bars and bistros churn out flaccid steak and undercooked chips for the price of your annual bonus. Not so here, thank the SE1 lord. The kitchen is open-plan, with space for diners around the edge, and big, school kitchen-type pots bubbling full of stew give it a wholesome atmosphere. Brigade raises your floppy steak, and serves you a three-course treat: think tender steak, chilli scallops, creamy mushrooms and a chargrilled chicken leg so tasty the skin was flapping out of my mouth even when Brigades operations manager came over to shake my hand (bad call, but so worth it). Coupled with a 2009 bottle of Argentinean Malbec (the 2008 was out of stock, according to the spot-on Italian sommelier so would we mind a slightly younger, fruitier one? Of course not), its clear the bar knows its audience and does booze veh veh well. Cocktails, extensive wine list you name it. But, my high-flying South Bank consulting friends, its not just food and booze that Brigade excels at. On the first floor, theres a wine tasting room, a cooking school, big conference rooms and private dining rooms. In essence, its sorted Christmas functions for every firm around London Bridge. Even downstairs, after a bit of snooping, I found a chefs library a small cove tucked behind the restaurant, shielded by a curtain. Lined with bookshelves, its filled with recipe books that you can even take home, appaz. The newly-launched restaurant might be guilty of being a bit gimmicky, but not of being a jack of all trades. The dearth of decent cocktail bars along Tooley Street makes it an attractive proposition. Its far enough away from the foodies of Borough Market to be too expensive, but close enough to source all its ingredients. Brigade is dipping its toe into Saturday service from this weekend, so ladies, if you fancy bagging yourself a PwC workaholic, you know where to head. http://www.thebrigade.co.uk/ <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10056/CityBird-Brigade.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10056/CityBird-Brigade.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10053/Old-Magic-of-New-Delhi.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/b1wi6vmk/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> From jostling crowds and thundering traffic to superb curries and the breath-taking Taj Mahal, north India is sure to stun all your senses, says Matt Huckle.Landing in Delhi, I was very aware of being the furthest away from home Ive ever been. Stepping out of the arrivals lounge I steeled my resolve for a culture shock, Iknew Id feel off balance at first, everything would be totally differ... oh wait, theres a Costa Coffee here. Given the rich culture I experienced for the rest of the trip it seemed sad it started and ended with a UK coffee chain. Still, at the time it was comforting to know I could get a decent machiato if the situation called for it. A driver ushered our group into a fleet of cars which took us to the ITC Maurya. Greeted with a garland of flowers and a pinch of vermilion powder on my forehead a look I completely made my own I was quickly shown to my room. Except rooms may be more accurate as the suite was more like an apartment than a hotel room. Although size is what initially impresses, details really make a room feel special; there was a chocolate chocolate box that is, an intricate box of chocolates actually made out of chocolate and on my bed was a cushion embroidered with my full name. Fantastic, I thought, cramming it into my suitcase. You may have stayed in luxurious hotels and settings before but its not until you visit India youll experience anything like the level of service they provide. Upon arrival, I was introduced to my own 24-hour butler and my own concierge; both were infallible. It was clear they took the 24-hour part of their job very seriously; they were always available and immaculately presented. I might have spent some time trying to shake my butlers professional veneer but I was clearly outmatched. He didnt even raise an eyebrow when I answered the door for a wake up call wearing a carefully crafted bubble-bath beard. Thats right, I take bubble baths. Its not until your first morning you discover another great thing about India; eating curry for breakfast. And Im not talking about ropey left-over takeaway lamb bhuna. In fact, you can eat curry for every meal should you choose (and Im sure many do) but then youd be missing out on some other fantastic food you may not be aware of. Due to north Indias hot dry climate, the cuisine has a strong Afghan influence (bear with me), where the natural heat of the earth is used to slowly cook food. At the Bukhara restaurant, we were served a leg of lamb cooked in an underground oven until the tender meat literally fell from the bone before you could touch it. Absolutely delicious. My only food criticism is that it had obviously been neutered when it came to spice. I was looking forward to experiencing something really hot but everything was disappointingly mild. I had the impression people are taught Indian food is generally too hot for those unused to it. Also, if youre not a fan of cardamom you might be in for a bit of a shock, it seemed to be in everything. These are only small criticisms and I still managed to gain 4kgs in the five days I was there. We spent our first morning in Delhi being shown the fantastic architecture on offer. One structure, the iron pillar in the Qutub complex, still attracts scientific scrutiny today since it has stood in the open for 1,600 years and withstood corrosion. The pillar is 98% pure iron, which highlights the ancient skills of Indias blacksmiths. We also made the slightly hazardous trip up the staircase of the Jama Majid minaret where the panoramic view of Old Delhi gives a sense of scale thatwould otherwise be missed. We then ventured into the winding alleys to explore. If you have an issue with personal space you might find it uncomfortable, the crowds are never ending and it can be quite stressful. Instead of battling back we opted a rickshaw to take us through Old Delhi. Keep your hands inside the rickshaw and you should be OK, my guide helpfully advised as he helped me onto the frankly terrifying looking bike taxi. I would liken the experience to a roller coaster except the fear of death is completely rational. Shooting through dense traffic and crowds, it would be hard to find a better adrenaline rush. If you only do one thing in the north of India, take the train down to Agra and visit the Taj Mahal. No picture can even begin to reflect how stunning the place really is. A good tour guide to the world famous temple is essential to explain the history of the site and learn its secrets. Ours revealed one of the reasons the Taj Mahal is so striking is because you can only see four colours when you are there: blue sky, white marble, green grass and red bricks. Im not often left speechless by a landmark but it is one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen and certainly worthy of the World Wonder title. While in Agra we holed up at the ITC Mughal. Id recommend staying here purely on the strength of the moustaches worn by the men at the entrance. Theyre easily worth the price of a holiday to India alone. For those less interested in facial hair (an area of weakness for me) there is the fantastic spa which can easily suck up whole afternoons without you noticing. Again the level of service is what elevates India above so many other places. Nothing was too much trouble and the staff were genuinely keen to be helpful rather than go through the motions of their jobs. That isnt to say theyre dull and subservient, far from it, the staff were a lot of fun. Im not entirely sure how it happened but one evening we ended up in the general managers house with him singing IJust Called To Say I love You by Stevie Wonder on his karaoke machine. Ive never experienced anything so surreal but thankfully there was a lot of gin to make it all easier to deal with. During my stay in India the Cricket World Cup was reaching its final stages and as we arrived on the train back into Delhi from Agra, India played the winning ball. The resulting celebrations were incredible. You think the City parties hard? Then you havent been to India. We heard a roar of cheering as we stepped off the train and were met with a sea of people partying as if it was going out of fashion. The usually mad roads were even more manic. At one point a van full of obviously hammered men pulled up next to our car waving an unlabelled bottle of a clear spirit at us, motioning us to have some. Our driver spoke to them for a moment, before sending them on their way. When I asked who they were he turned and said, Oh dont worry, it was just the police. I spent my last morning souvenir shopping, managing to find a statue of Ganesh that was definitely pure marble and not soapstone. The souvenirs were not only to remind me of the fantastic experiences Id had in India but to ensure my final memory of the country was not of Costa Coffee. For more info on hotels, go to: itchotels.inFlights from 316 with BA: ba.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10053/Old-Magic-of-New-Delhi.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:30:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10053/Old-Magic-of-New-Delhi.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10017/Barbados-Discovered.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/cMR1GmQY/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Chris Sullivan – our man in the flip-flops – is delighted to discover Barbados is not Surrey-on-Sea…Barbados never appealed to me. Id pictured it as Surrey-on-Sea, teaming with elderly men in Panama hats, festooned with nouveau riche honeymooners and chock-a-block with aspirational estate agents. Sort of Jamaica with out balls, Cuba without cojones or Martinique minus les glandes reproductive. Id read of its race courses and yacht clubs, glimpsed Simon Cowell large it at Sandy Bay (which itself sounds like an English BB) and it all seemed a bit too close to home and just not foreign enough for yours truly. Still, when the opportunity came to visit the island in the bleak winter months I still jumped at it and, after a splendid BA flight that left cold, rain-swept Gatwick at 1.30pm, we landed in Barbados at 5pm and stepped into all-enveloping Caribbean warmth. And it was goooood. Whisked to our hotel, the Tamarind, I was given a beautiful room with a balcony overlooking the sea lapping the shores less than 20 metres away and by 8pm was sitting down to a marvellous al fresco dinner next to the beach. Food tastes better when eaten outdoors but, when accompanied by the roar of the waves, the smell of the ocean and a warm sea breeze, everything is just peachy. Appropriate, then, that our first chow-down should be a seafood feast featuring a slew of uncommonly succulent scallops followed by rod-caught sea bass all aided and abetted by a wine list to give most London restaurants a run for their money. The standard of cuisine is above and beyond any resort I have ever encountered. The next night we dined at the exquisite House Hotel (also a part of the Elegant Hotels group that comprise five hotels on the island) that, just a few minutes walk from Tamarind, is a five-star, no-kids-allowed, 35-room haven with Jacuzzis at every juncture. If youre going to pop the question, or indeed pop a cork, this is the place to do it. Here we ate a candle-lit dinner of outstanding flame-grilled tuna, king prawn kebabs that were the stuff of legend, and perhaps the finest lobster that has ever passed these lips. On a roll, I thought Id test the waiter with a request for a bottle of something red and Tuscan (I dont adhere to the white wine with fish rule) and he emerged with a 2002 Castiglion del Bosco that was remarkable. Then, if that wasnt enough, the following night we ate at Daphnes again, just a leisurely walk down the beach a modern Italian restaurant better than any modern Italian that Ive ever been to in Italy. I plumped for oysters, a selection of seafood tapas and a rib-eye steak. Suddenly, I grasped why this place is de rigueur for the wealthy-at-sea. Unlike many Caribbean haunts, the food here is as good and as varied and as sophisticated as at home but eminently fresher. This island has for decades catered to the moneyed and, as such, accommodates their every need and it shows. What also sets Barbados apart from many other Caribbean locations is its people. One never feels unsafe here. The locals are very polite, helpful and friendly. There is no hassle at all. You get more grief in the UK. Like all Caribbeans, Bajans are a mixed bunch. The first indigenous people were Amerindians who arrived here from Venezuela. These were followed by Arawak Indians who were in turn conquered by the Caribs (their name derived from cannibal a ritual they believed gave them control over their consumed enemies qualities) who were then subjugated by the Spanish who carted them off to work in South American gold mines and left the island to rot. The Portuguese, Pedro a Campos, while en-route to Brazil in 1536, gave the island the name Os Barbados, which translated means bearded one. Undeniably, the big move came in 1627, when a British ship carrying ten African slaves and more than 80 British colonists claimed the island in the name of King James I. Subsequently, the English cultivated tobacco and, more importantly, sugar the cash crop of the day used in a trendy new drink they called tea and imported African slaves to work the fields. The rest, as they, is history. Of course, added to the mlange were the pirates such as the middle-aged retired British army major and well-to-do plantation owner Stede Bonnet who, in 1717, bought his own pirate ship, settled on the island and went off in search of the craic. A-plundering and a-pillaging he did go. Its obvious what attracted such adventurers and settlers. The Caribbean Sea is astonishing. An unbelievably bright turquoise aqua hue, it is so clear, one wonders how it might exist. Seeing the water I felt the uncontrollable urge to sample the scuba and was rewarded with an experience that, so close to the beach, was simply amazing. To add, non-divers among our party were given a one-hour lesson in the Hilton pool by the affable chaps from Dive Barbados Blue and were subsequently introduced to the real experience some ten meters below while the more experienced ofus took to the most impressive wrecks just ten minutes off shore. And then there was the turtle excursion, whereupon we sailed out to sea, donned our snorkels and were suddenly surrounded by a phalanx of totally brazen sea turtles which we fed by hand. An astonishing, truly once-in-a-lifetime experience, it was worth the journey to the island alone. That night, we visited the renowned Oistins thats basically an open-air market area full of rum bars replete with reggae sound systems that kicks ass. Consequently, we filled our boots with the islands landmark liquor, and off we jolly well went in search of the boogie and found it at The Harbour Lights nightclub. Here, a truly mixed crowd gave it some large till 6am, the ladies wiggling bits most lasses dont own. The music was a potent mix of ragga, dancehall and US RB (Bajan gal Rhianna being a huge fave) which worked a treat in said surroundings. Again no one batted an eyelid and we were left to our own devices which is a rare occurrence inthe Caribbean. Thus, when its said and done and the fat ladys sung her song, Barbados is a quite marvellous island that offers all sorts of distractions. Yet, for yours truly, its main attraction has to be that a chap, good lady in hand, might easily venture there for a long, five-day weekend and even before hes unpacked his luggage, slip into stress-free bliss, then swim, scuba, ride a horse, gamble, play golf and tennis, sail,dive deep in a submarine and return feeling truly satisfied, reinvigorated and replenished. In my mind, a good holiday consists of arriving without grief, slipping straight into relaxation mode, having a beautiful beach on your doorstep, a fantastic dinner to look forward to every night and, if push comes to shove, a chance to let your hair down in a local hostelry of ill repute. Barbados delivered it all and more. This was most definitely not Surrey-on-Sea. Tamarind Pool and Garden View rooms from 235 per night with breakfast. The House Garden View Junior Suites from 438 per night including champagne breakfast, 30-minute jet-lag massage and afternoon tea and canaps. All rates subject to availability. To book phone 0800 917 3534; or visit eleganthotels.com. BA flies to Barbados from Gatwick ten times weekly. (0844 493 0787; ba.com); For more info: divebarbadosblue.com and visitbarbados.org <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10017/Barbados-Discovered.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:00:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10017/Barbados-Discovered.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10019/Maharajah-Mania.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/jtmPdfg0/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> The Nagaur Sufi Music Festival is hosted by a Maharajah and leaves Glastonbury choking in its exotic dust, enthuses Martin Deeson.As a full moon the size of a watermelon rises slowly over the battlements of the ancient Ahhichatragarh Fort in Nagaur, Rajasthan, in the distance the thrum-bidda-bidda of a tabla reverberates from the walls, the musicians ringed fingers striking hard on the rim of the drum. Underneath a stone canopy by the floating pavilion an Indian feast has been laid out for 300 people. The Maharaja of Jodhpur is welcoming guests and the great and good of Delhi and Mumbai are assembling to eat, surveyinga view of this ancient fortress lit by a thousand oil lamps. It is true; the Nagaur Sufi Music Festival is no Glyndebourne or Glastonbury. It is far, far better. Founded in 2008 by His Highness Gaj Singh II, the Maharajah of Marwar-Jodhpur, the festival plays host to Sufi performers (mainly musicians, but also dancers, whirling dervishes, puppet masters and story tellers) from India, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan. Sufi, as most will know, is the mystical branch of Islam, frequently frowned upon or even persecuted by the clerical authorities, it is the form of Islam which is not shy to embrace the sensual delights of music, dance, poetry and mystical, mind-altering ceremonies. Nagaur in Rajasthan, Northern India, a couple of hours drive from Jodhpur, known as the Blue City has long been known as a Sufi pilgrimage centre, and is home to several important Sufi tombs, mosques and shrines. The festival was first created by the Maharajah in memory of the Sufi Saint Nagauri to celebrate the ongoing restoration of the fort at Nagaur (Ahhichatragarh to give it its real name; dont ask me how to pronounce it). A remarkable desert enclave of palaces, battlements, water gardens, fountains and vast courtyards where elephant fights were once held, the fort remains, like the more famous Taj Mahal, a testament to the incredible architectural refinement of Northern Indias most recent imperial rulers before Britains Raj, the Mughal emperors. The restoration of Nagaur is so remarkable that it has won the Award of Excellence for Cultural Heritage Conservation presented by Unesco and the surroundings are so out-of-this-world exotically stunning that the tented accommodation which sits inside the fort, the Royal Jodhpur Camp, was used to accommodate guests for Liz Hurleys marriage to Arun Nayer and has been visited on more than one occasion by those global trekkers seeking inspiration, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler. Inside the fort there is also a remarkable hotel, Ranvas, where we are lucky enough to be staying. Dating merely from the 18th century (the very oldest parts of the fort are almost 2,000 years old, even if the greater part dates from the 12th century) the previously ruined Ranvas Havelis were originally built to house in secluded splendour the wives and harem of the Mughal rulers. Now converted into a luxury hotel, the rooms and courtyards and roof terraces still resonate with atmosphere and to spend a few days here, either during the Sufi festival or at any other time of year, is to enter an other-worldly sense of relaxation and connection with history which I have only ever experienced on a similar level by staying within the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem. Once you have stayed in Ahhichatragarh, London will forever seem a young city, like staying in Detroit after a trip to Rome. In 2012, the festival at Nagaur (which will always remain intimately small at under 500 attendees) is to be joined by a larger world music festival in Jodhpur, running consecutively, and after staying in the remarkable Ranvas you will need an equally opulent base from which to explore the Blue City. Returning from a day climbing the sheer battlements of the Mehrangarh Fort, from which you can look down over the citys roofs and across the planes of Rajasthan, you should make for the grand splendour of the Balsamand Lake Palace, only eight kilometres from the city centre of Jodhpur. Seldom have grander hotel rooms been seen ours was the size and height of two squash courts and we were told that the first person ever to stay in this room when the palace was opened as a hotel was Naomi Campbell. The man-made lake from which the hotel takes its name was constructed in the 12th Century, the hotel itself was built by Maharaja Jaswant Singh I of Jodhpur in the 17th Century and the whole gorgeous oasis is set in over 60 acres of pleasure gardens, exotic orchards of lime and pomegranate, and water features designed to air-condition the often savage heat. The ten suites combine to make a world-class luxury heritage hotel housed within an Indian stately home. This is Downton Abbey, re-imagined for a Maharajah. Many visitors to Rajasthan combine a trip to Jodhpur, the Blue City with astay in Jaipur, the Pink City. Opening this autumn is the Jal Mahal Palace on Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur. This former 18th Century pleasure palace of the Jaipur royal family is located between the Palace of the Winds and the Amber Fort, and was built in 1734 by Jaipurs visionary founder, Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh II. Now, after a six-year restoration, the pleasure pavilion and surrounding lake have been restored to their former imperial glory as a cultural and arts space, hosting the first of a series of exhibitions (currently Painted Pleasures: Water, Gardens Festivals in Courtly Rajasthan), and an 18th Century Rajput garden terrace. Abercrombie Kent offers a seven-night itinerary to India starting from 1,865 per person based on two people sharing and includes two nights in Delhi, three nights at Ranvas, Nagaur Fort and two nights at Balsamand Palace all on a BB basis to include international and domestic flights, all transfers and sightseeing. For Abercrombie Kent booking enquiries please contact 0845 618 2214 or visit abercrombiekent.co.uk The Sufi Festival will take place in 2012 from 17-19 February in Nagaur and will extend to Jodhpur from20-21 February; nagaursufifestival.orgJet Airways, Indias premier airline, flies daily from London Heathrow to Delhi and twice daily to Mumbai. For more information and to book call808 101 1199 or visit jetairways.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10019/Maharajah-Mania.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10019/Maharajah-Mania.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10018/Seven-Eco-Hideaways.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/1gawM6d1/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Eco-tourism is no longer just a fad – but becoming the only option for the ethical traveller, says Bruce Clark.Eco Travel AfricaEast Africa ItineraryEach of EcoTravel Africas itineraries is tailored to the clients individual requirements, and guarantees responsible travel, a contribution to environmental conservation and improvements to the wellbeing of the local communities in the areas visited. On the 17-day East Africa itinerary youll visit mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Ugandas Queen Elizabeth National Park, the Masai Mara and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, and luxury lodges in the Zanzibar archipelago. ecotravelafrica.co.uk Jetwing Vil UyanaSigiriya , Sri Lanka From its inception, Sri Lankas Jetwing Vil Uyana has housed an onsite ecological research station to monitor the resorts own, private nature reserve, so guests can be a part of ongoing conservation efforts. The reserve a wetland system constructed on land destroyed by slash and burn agriculture is integrated into the resort, with some of the stilted luxury rooms built over paddy fields re-grown using traditional methods. Jetwing has also initiated an English-teaching programme for local communities. jetwinghotels.com Nature KindRio de Janeiro, Brazil Nature Kinds high-end adventure and experiential holidays are all founded on a commitment to responsible and sustainable tourism. The Renewing Rio in Style itinerary takes in the citys whole, vibrant spectrum, from boutique eco-luxury accommodation in the bohemian Santa Teresa neighbourhood to an inspirational volunteering project in Rios favelas. Travellers will get to build and fund a new house for an impoverished Carioca family, and see remarkable sights off the traditional tourist route including hidden-away beaches, street markets and an authentic samba club. natureandkind.com The ScarletMawgan Porth, Cornwall You dont have to travel far from Newquay to find an oasis of calm, luxury and environmental sustainability. The Scarlets eco-sensibilities are born of a genuine desire to minimise impact on the surroundings. This is manifested in some things you can see clever design, including curved walls and a green roof, that blends the building into the surrounding cliffs and those you cant, like the biomass boiler used to heat the hotel, electricity supplied solely from renewable energy sources and produce and services from the local area. scarlethotel.co.uk Shamwari ReserveEastern Cape, South Africa The 25,000-hectare Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africas Eastern Cape was founded by Port Elizabeth businessman Adrian Gardiner in the early 1990s. When Gardiner learned that much of the Eastern Capes wealth of flora and fauna had been wiped out by the early 20th century thanks to farming, hunting and drought, he set about returning the land to its former glory. The reserve, which operates an extensive conservation programme, now has more than 5,000 animals, including the big five of lion, African elephant, cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. Seven luxury lodges, each different, are offered. shamwari.com Explora Rapa NuiEaster Island, Polynesia The Explora Rapa Nui lodge, built in 2007, was the first hotel in South America to be LEED (Leadership in Energy Environmental Design) certified by the US Green Building Council. Built on a site deemed inappropriate for agricultural use, and with no archaeological remains, the ingenious and attractive buildings are intended to have minimal impact on the surrounding area. Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is perhaps best known for its 1,000-year-old human monoliths carved from volcanic rock, called moai, and the lodge has partnered with the Archaeological Travel Service of Chile to offer cultural and historical itineraries. These focus as much on the Rapa Nuis rich history as its future, and the impact of human activity on the ecosystems and population of the island today.explora.com/explora-rapa-nui Maison Blancheet VerteChtel, France Tucked away in the extensive Portes du Soleil ski area, the picturesque village of Chtel sits right on the border of France and Switzerland. In a lofty position overlooking the town and slopes youll find Maison Blanche et Verte, a designer six-bedroom ski chalet built to refreshingly eco-concious specs. No oil, gas or electricity is needed for heating or hot water provision thanks to a wood-pellet boiler that uses pellets made from sawdust and offcuts from local timber yards. These same yards provided much of the fast-growing local pine used to construct this new-build chalet. maisonblancheetverte.com <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10018/Seven-Eco-Hideaways.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:45:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10018/Seven-Eco-Hideaways.html http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10016/Eight-Winter-Warmers.html <img src='/filestorage/articles/oryginal/AEWn3jqY/300_200_crop.jpg' align='left' hspace='4' vspace='2'> Leave cold and bleak Britain far behind and treat yourself to a proper winter warmer; Jon Hawkins selects the best boltholes where the sun always shines.Maldives (pictured above)Baros Maldives HotelThe pursuit of winter sun is, in essence, pure escapism escaping the relentless grind of the office, escaping Londons urban jungle and, most of all, escaping a season so bleak and grey we have to invent acronyms for the feelings of hopelessness and misery it causes. For the ultimate relief from the British winter, then, cast yourself away on a remote desert island paradise with all the luxury trappings to match. The incredible Baros Maldives hotel, on a small private island in the North Male atoll, should fit the bill nicely. Secluded, palm-thatched villas overlook a glistening blue lagoon some of the villas are on the water, with private sundecks and steps leading straight into the lagoon, while others are set in flower glades and tropical vegetation by the beach. An on-site Padi diving school, a spa and several restaurants complete the package. If theres a single drawback, its having to go home at the end. slh.com/baros PortugalBlue Green Vilalara You dont have to fly halfway around the world to find a dose of sun while the UK freezes. Portugals beautiful Algarve coast has a mild year-round climate and clear, azure seas. The Vilalara Thalassa Resort is a five-star hotel and spa set in 29 acres of lush gardens on the Praia das Gaivotas cliff overlooking the secluded beach. This stunning resort has one of the worlds finest thalassotherapy and spa centres, offering more than 40 treatment rooms, two restaurants and four seawater pools, one of which is heated. The quiet, sheltered beach can be reached from the hotel via steps, or admired from the restaurant terrace. slh.com/vilalara Costa RicaNayara Costa Ricas Arenal volcano is home to some of the most remarkable sights and scenery in a country not exactly short of natural beauty. Nestled at the foot of the volcano (currently in an indefinite resting phase), Nayara Hotel, Spa Gardens, consistently named one of the most romantic hotels in the world, is a mesmerising and tranquil oasis surrounded by the unparalleled beauty of lush tropical rainforest. Comprising 44 large casitas, all of which have breathtaking views of the volcano and private Jacuzzi tubs, the hotel also has a spa perched high above the rainforest, a restaurant serving gourmet international cuisine with a local flair, and a fabulous wine-tasting bar. Hire a 4x4 and you can take in Costa Ricas astonishing cloud forests and beautiful coastline, too. slh.com/nayara MauritiusHeritage Le Telfair As though a beachfront location on the unspoilt south coast of Mauritius and plantation-style colonial villas werent enough, the Heritage Le Telfair resort also has its own 18-hole championship golf course and a luxury spa. For those in search of nature, the hotel is situated right next to the Frdrica nature reserve, where youll be able to spot monkeys, parakeets and deer, and dolphin-watching trips, horse-riding and snorkelling excursions can be arranged. The majority of the 158 lavish rooms and suites have sea views, and are beautifully decorated in relaxing, pale tones that match the resorts peaceful ambience. slh.com/telfair MalaysiaPangkor Laut Expertly blending style and sophistication into surroundings that include wild rainforest, rocky outcrops and glorious sandy beaches, the Pangkor Laut resort is a truly individual luxury destination. Guests can choose from villas set on stilts over the sea, on the beach or on the hillside among the trees. Villas with two, three or four bedrooms, each on a private estate, are also available. Situated on the island of Pangkor Laut, three miles from the Malaysian mainland, the resort offers rainforest treks with the resident naturalist and yacht charters on the Straits of Malacca, a 500-mile stretch of ocean between Malaysia and Sumatra. slh.com/pangkor South AfricaGrand Roche Hotel Set in an elegant Cape Dutch homestead dating back to the 18th century, the Grande Roche Hotel is renowned for its exquisite location in the Cape Winelands. Declared a national monument, this celebrated hotel provides sophisticated accommodation, award-winning cuisine and the opportunity to go on tailor-made tours to see behind the scenes of several of the finest wine estates in the famous Paarl region. The surrounding Western Cape countryside is ideal for mountain biking, horse riding, parachuting, golf and hot air ballooning, though the hotels own immaculately manicured gardens are spectacular in their own right. slh.com/granderoche AustraliaSmiths Beach Resort Sited on Australias south west coast, Smiths Beach Resort is blessed with a pristine beachfront location, with superb beach houses and villas providing a perfect base from which to explore this magnificent region. Nearby youll find the unusual rock formations of Canal Rocks, spectacular caves along the appropriately named Caves Road, and the numerous wineries of Margaret River for the more oenologically and less geologically inclined. The award-winning resort is nestled between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin and provides an ideal retreat for families, couples and groups. The beach is one of the Cape regions best, with excellent swimming and great surf. slh.com/smithsbeach BarbadosThe Sandpiper The Sandpiper is a peaceful family run beachside retreat sitting in lush gardens, whose visitors return regularly to experience the winning mix of relaxed elegance, fantastic food and a genuinely welcoming atmosphere. Set in lush, tropical gardens with orchids, coconut trees and tranquil koi ponds, the Sandpiper also boasts one of Barbadoss best restaurants, offering modern Caribbean cuisine. Theres plenty on offer for the active, too, with pro tennis tuition and watersports, including snorkelling along the nearby coral reef, and the 18-hole Royal Westmoreland and Sandy Lane golf courses within easy reach. slh.com/sandpiper <p> <a href='http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10016/Eight-Winter-Warmers.html'>Read the full article on squaremile.com</a> </p> Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:00:00 GMT http://www.squaremile.com/reviews/10016/Eight-Winter-Warmers.html