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 [...]
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 [...]
At least world won’t end in 2012 January 22, 2012 AMONG the many gloomy predictions for the coming year, what really catches the eye is the one that says the world will end on 21 December 2012. This is, debatably, the prognosis of the Mayan calendar of eschatology. If the world were really to end on that date, one suspects it would come as a [...]
Hitting the right note at 34 December 19, 2011 Restaurant 34 34 Grosvenor Square, W1K 2HD Tel: 020 3350 3434 FOOD *** SERVICE ***** ATMOSPHERE ***** Cost per person without wine: £50 YOU missed Bill,” my companion informed me as I sat down to dinner at 34, the new restaurant from Richard Caring’s Caprice Holdings Group. “Bill Clinton,” he clarified. Like fellow Caprice outposts [...]
Backbenchers bite back over fat tax October 9, 2011 DAVID Cameron could face stern opposition from backbench MPs if the government attempts to launch a “fat tax” on foods that are high in fat. The Prime Minister has said that the government “should look at” following in the footsteps of Danish authorities, who recently imposed a tax on foods with more the 2.3 per [...]
A Bajan palace with Bali twist October 13, 2011 A BAJAN dream house – complete with home cinema, gym and several pavilions – would really be something to show your friends. Well – providing you have the dough ($27m) – your showstopper has arrived, in the form of Alang Alang Bay on the beachfront of St James (45 minutes from the airport), for sale [...]
A Bajan palace with Bali twist October 13, 2011 A BAJAN dream house – complete with home cinema, gym and several pavilions – would really be something to show your friends. Well – providing you have the dough ($27m) – your showstopper has arrived, in the form of Alang Alang Bay on the beachfront of St James (45 minutes from the airport), for sale [...]