Head to Lapland for a trip that is truly wondrous December 16, 2012 WE ARE due to land in Kittila in 20 minutes. There are light winds and it’s a little bit chilly on the ground with temperatures of minus 38,” the captain says as we descend on Finnish Lapland. Many people know Lapland as the home of Father Christmas, and some might recognize its snowy scenes from [...]
Why banishing fraudsters isn’t such a bad idea November 4, 2012 IN 1814, my ancestors Mary and William met and fell in love on a cruise from England to Australia. It must have been romantic, sailing the three month ocean journey, eating fresh fish while watching the crimson red sunset merge with the sapphire blue waters. Except for one thing, of course. They were convicts. Both [...]
Hard-to-beat meat at Beard To Tail October 22, 2012 RESTAURANT BEARD TO TAIL 77 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3BS Tel: 020 7729 2966 FOOD ***** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost for two people with wine: £100 I’m ONE of of those awful meat eaters that should really be a vegetarian but in actual fact, loves poor-quality canned meat and a post-pub kebab too much [...]
No automatic happy ending for publishers that merge October 29, 2012 IT IS hard not to wince at the self-delusion of yesterday’s press release from Pearson and Bertelsmann. Describing the firms’ agreement to merge Penguin and Random House, Pearson’s outgoing chief executive Marjorie Scardino says: “Together the two publishers will be able to… be more adventurous in trying new models in this exciting, fast-moving world of [...]
Fish Market may look a bit like an aquarium but the food is ace October 8, 2012 RESTAURANT FISH MARKET Old Bengal Warehouse, New Street, EC2 Tel: 020 3503 0790 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE *** Cost per person without wine: £30 The Fish Market is one of the four new creations by restaurant group D&D to have found a home in the newly renovated Old Bengal Warehouse. Alongside the fish restaurant [...]
Guard yourself against the dangers of biting inflation November 18, 2012 INFLATION is a silent thief that can rob the value of your investment capital. The consumer price index rose by 2.7 per cent in the year to October, up from 2.2 per cent in September. Though some argue that it will come down again, it has overshot the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target [...]
Find sanctuary from the Indian bustle November 25, 2012 ENSCONCED in a luxury yoga hotel in the Himalayas, or in a resort matrix like Goa, you might just be able to avoid the clanging, overwhelming reality of India as you go about your daily business. Not in the cities. No matter how luxurious your hotel, enclave, or colony (as certain leafy districts are known), [...]
FTSE drifts lower as fears over UK’s economic outlook leads to caution September 20, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index wilted yesterday after economic data painted a bleak picture of prospects for a rebound in activity in the United States, Europe and China, heightening concerns over company earnings and valuations. The UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 33.84 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5,854.64, continuing to edge away from 6-month highs [...]
Hel-Yeah January 13, 2013 YOU can’t see much from the back of a twin-engine Bell 212 helicopter when it’s packed with eleven adventurous skiers. Resembling ski-masked marines on a mission, we sit opposite each other, tightly buckled into our seats as we fly through the Canadian Rockies in spectacular fashion. Heli-skiing is the ultimate off-piste, backcountry skiing experience, in [...]
North Road is a Scandinavian joy July 2, 2012 RESTAURANT NORTH ROAD 69-73 St John St, EC1M 4AN Tel: 020 3217 0033 FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £75 Scandinavia is having quite a moment. We watch its TV shows, we wear its jumpers, we buy its furniture (while hoping people won’t notice it came flat-packed in a cardboard [...]