Carve yourself a very merry Xmas December 21, 2011 IN the Lord Byron room of Brown’s Hotel on Albemarle Street, a slow-grown just-roasted chicken rests on a bespoke stand and our mission is to carve it – properly. Mark Hix, ex-chef-director of Caprice Holdings, is hosting a masterclass to revive “the lost art of carving”, and he is teaching over a long roast lunch [...]
Loosen those belts: no diets allowed at City beef-house November 14, 2011 HOW much can one genuflect to the gods of steak? In London these days, the answer is a lot. And when an outlet of Hawksmoor opens up, it’s practically illegal not to sink to one’s knees in praise. And then sink one’s teeth in. You’ve probably already been to Hawksmoor in Spitalfields or Seven Dials. [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD November 20, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Mitie Group announces its half-year results today. The facilities management company offers a range of building and support services, from industrial painting and engineering, to catering and cleaning. ● Mitchells & Butlers announces its final results and De La Rue announces its interim results tomorrow. M&B runs about 2,000 pubs and restaurants [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD November 20, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Mitie Group announces its half-year results today. The facilities management company offers a range of building and support services, from industrial painting and engineering, to catering and cleaning. ● Mitchells & Butlers announces its final results and De La Rue announces its interim results tomorrow. M&B runs about 2,000 pubs and restaurants [...]
Patron saint of retailers says co-ops won’t work for everyone January 29, 2012 RESPONSIBLE Capitalism. Moral Markets. Whatever you call it, the debate raging around executive pay and “predator” business shows no sign of dying down. All political parties have tried to claim the issue as their own, but they have struggled to articulate what a fairer form of capitalism might look like. Enter John Lewis, the patron [...]
Following Soho’s Norman invasion October 19, 2011 RUSSELL NORMAN was the former operations director at Caprice Holdings, where he launched concepts such as the Ivy Club with Mark Hix, chef director at the time. He left in 2008 to set up Polpo, a Venetian bacaro, which serves small Italian plates in an informal setting. Following Polpo’s success (which was recently named 25th [...]
The zombie menace of anti-capitalist thought November 3, 2011 WHEN the Occupy protest movement began, how twenty-first century it seemed: leaderless, emergent and driven by a fury at unprecedented cronyism between high finance and high politics. But how quickly it has decayed, in its London incarnation at least, into reheated anti-capitalist slogans with nothing original to say. Commerce is ancient, and so is the [...]
Here is the Next step for Marks & Spencer to take November 8, 2011 TWENTY years ago, the UK was in recession and Marks & Spencer had just changed its boss: some things never change. Under Rick Greenbury, M&S went on to have a good 1990s, before over-expansion led to the inevitable and painful correction, under a new management team. Twenty years on, the competition is much tougher and [...]
All souped up in Soho: yet another super-cool food bar enters the fray October 24, 2011 DUCK SOUP 41 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4PY www.ducksoupsoho.co.uk FOOD *** SERVICE *** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £30 IT’s all part of the Soho experience – the perch at the bar, the swiveling stool, getting up close and personal with the waitress pushing past you. Duck Soup, which is staffed by alumni [...]
Learning to cook El Bulli-style October 19, 2011 The Family Meal: Home cooking with Ferran Adrià Ferran Adrià £19.95, Phaidon WHERE the allure of Jamie Oliver’s and Nigella’s books comes from the idea that you’ll cook like them, “The Family Meal” is less “cook like Ferran”, but “eat like Ferran”. The recipes are a fresh insight into the working life at the now [...]