Audi’s dream-mobile September 29, 2009 IS it me or have Audi toned down their design approach? They used to love a bit of flared wheel arch where possible, stance and statement arriving hand in hand. Has the recession blunted their flair? I’ve recently spent a week with another of thier cars, the awesome S3, which for me offers one of [...]
OUT OF OFFICE September 29, 2009 RAT PACK AT THE ADELPHINewly opened this week, Rat Pack – Live from Las Vegas celebrates the world of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr in their Vegas heyday. Recreating the glitz, glamour and heady atmosphere of Sin City in the 50s and 60s, the show includes a 15 piece orchestra and a [...]
Feeding the skin organic veggies, fruit and honey are the new cream September 28, 2009 PORRIDGE was drying stickily on my face and the smell of strawberries wafted towards me, past the little pot of goat’s milk yoghurt by my head. No, I was not the victim of a breakfast explosion – I was on a treatment table at Belgravia’s Glow Urban Spa, trying out the new talk-of-the-town treatment: American [...]
Where the cool suits go to play September 28, 2009 EIGHT Moorgate is the essence of the new City. Rather than being brash and in-your-face, everything about it says discretion, from the near-impossible to find location (behind Liverpool Street) to the matte, fairly plain-Jane interior design – there are no cascades of crystals here, no Cuban cigars or magnums of Bolly spread about enticingly. Instead, [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS September 28, 2009 ASIAN COOKING SCHOOL Hooray – a cooking school that focuses on Asian food. Instead of sweet or savoury, mains or dessert, Angela Malik’s new cookery course will focus on the tastes: hot, sweet, salty, sour and the fifth flavour, umami. Courses include Indian Express Lunch, Real Vietnamese Cooking, How to Create the Perfect Indian Dinner, [...]
THREE OTHER CITY SLICKERS September 28, 2009 RHODES 24Sitting at the top of Tower 42, Gary Rhodes has got himself a perfect spot in which to dazzle City high-flyers. Dishes are named after their bare ingredients, from lobster (glazed lobster omelette thermidor) to rabbit (potted, with potato and bacon salad) and are – on the whole – done well. 25 Old Broad [...]
ABOVE PAR golfbreaks September 28, 2009 AS the nights start to close in, golfers will be looking at the skies with some nervousness. Before the sleet and hail start, though, autumn is the perfect time to squeeze in a few rounds. Luckily for those of us who live in and around London, there are plenty of stunning golf courses just a [...]
OTHER GOLF VENUES September 28, 2009 BROCKET HALLJust 22 miles north of London, Brocket Hall is a spectacular location with two championship courses which are at their most beautiful in autumn. There is also a driving range, a putting green and you can hone your skills at the Faldo Golf Institute. To make the most of the location, you can also [...]
Sri Lanka’s beauty reborn September 27, 2009 Ask British travellers why they return to Sri Lanka again and again and they will enthuse about the friendliness of the people, the stunning scenery, the incredible variety packed into an island roughly the size of Ireland. Even through long years of civil war, the tourists kept coming, lured by cheap beach holidays and whistlestop [...]
A funky mountain spa that’s ideal for soothing skiers’ weary legs September 27, 2009 SPA towns are not generally known for their thrusting modernity. Merano, in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy, is at first sight just another sleepy town whose glory days are behind it. Indeed, in the second half of the nineteenth century – when this area was still in the Austro-Hungarian Empire – it was [...]