Long Weekend: Healthouse Las Dunas in Marbella, the five star detox hotel with a menu created by a two-Michelin-starred chef May 16, 2016 The weekend: Smoke too much? Drink too much? Check into Healthouse Las Dunas, where they don’t let you do very much at all. Its detox programmes – lasting between two and 21 nights – use a blend of healthy fine-dining, medical consultations, cooking lessons and spa treatments to relax and re-educate its guests. Or just [...]
Dragon boats and running a firm: What business can learn from this unusual sport May 13, 2016 A dragon boat team has to work in the same direction. If the paddles don’t hit the water at the same time, they knock each other, creating inefficiency. If you don’t reach far enough with the paddles, they don’t deliver enough power and the boat goes slower. If not deep enough, then you are wasting [...]
Renters in London are having the hardest time of all, suffering the smallest pay rises in UK and soaring housing costs April 6, 2016 If you rent a house in London and work full-time, chances are the economic recovery has been something you read about in the newspapers but haven’t felt in your pocket. That’s because over the last three years, London has experienced the slowest growth in average wages of any part in the UK, but the fastest increases [...]
Tom Hiddleston shines in High Rise, a stylish adaptation of JG Ballard’s architectural dystopia March 17, 2016 Dir. Ben Wheatley | ★★★★☆ "Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.” The opening sentence of JG Ballard’s High Rise is up there with the English literary canon’s very best. It’s all [...]
Dreaming of Derby success: Bill Esdaile visits Newmarket ahead of this year’s Classic May 17, 2016 With this year’s Investec Derby just over two weeks away, Newmarket is a hive of activity as the world’s most prestigious flat race draws ever closer. While trainers finalise their preparations for Epsom, breeders in the same equine parish are plotting the creation of future contenders. Trainer John Gosden, who saddled last year’s winner Golden [...]
The Frog restaurant in Shoreditch review: Masterchef contestant Adam Handling launches an intense new venture that defeats our critic June 21, 2016 Pop quiz: who invented molecular gastronomy? Was it Heston Blumenthal, with his test tubes full of liquid nitrogen? Or Ferran Adria in his beach-side epicurean lair, churning out unholy delicacy after unholy delicacy? No, no, no. That’s all PR. Like most things, molecular gastronomy – a term most chefs, including Heston, hate – was created [...]
Our columnist Mark Hix accepts a challenge from an old friend to catch a wild salmon in the weirs of Ireland May 24, 2016 Two or three times a year I’ll visit Ireland, mainly to see my good friend Peter Hannan who supplies my restaurants exclusively with Glenarm estate beef. My stay often includes a little bit of fishing, a lot of very good eating and experimenting with Peter’s new beef, lamb and pork products. But last time I [...]
Shrove Tuesday 2016: Fire insurance claim costs almost double on Pancake Day, and new world record for tallest pancake tower set February 9, 2016 For some people, trying to nail the perfect pancake flip is more than just a cause of frustration – it's a costly fire hazard. According to statistics from home insurance provider Policy Expert, in 2015, claims for fire damage rocketed up to £11,546 on Shrove Tuesday, compared to just £6,543 on an average day for the rest of [...]
Why British homeowners still aren’t buying into the idea of the home connected by smart tech June 29, 2016 Take any object in your home and you can guarantee that at some point a Silicon Valley startup has tried to create a web-enabled version of it. The ever expanding “Internet of Things” (IoT), as it’s clunkily termed, now includes almost every household item under the sun. Many are useful, such as thermostats, light bulbs, [...]
Know your audience: Quantcast CEO Konrad Feldman talks starting out in Silicon Valley and IPO March 14, 2016 Over the last decade, the marketing industry has laid down its scatter-gun and embraced big data, creating a virtuous circle which promises to make the ecosystem more efficient. Extant viewability issues aside, marketers can reach those likely to buy their products, publishers can monetise better, and consumers, in theory, are served ads they are likely [...]