John Lewis starts the year on a high February 12, 2010 JOHN Lewis has reported one of its healthiest starts to a financial year. Total sales in the first week of February were up 32 per cent. Fashion, including lingerie snapped up for Valentine’s Day – led sales gains by rising 47 per cent as new season ranges came into stores. John Lewis’s flagship store in [...]
HEDGE FUND FASHION GURU HAS A SALES BOOM February 11, 2010 WE ALWAYS knew women were good at multi-tasking, but Britt Lintner really does take the concept to a new extreme. Regular readers may remember Lintner, who heads up her own flourishing womenswear label while managing to hold down a tough job in hedge fund sales at GLG Partners. And now I hear that not only [...]
Firth shines in fashionable drama February 11, 2010 Film A SINGLE MAN Cert: 12A Fashion designer – and world’s most stylish dude – Tom Ford makes his directorial debut with A Single Man, and boy won’t he let you forget it. An adaptation of a Christopher Isherwood novel about a day in the life of a college professor named George who is grieving [...]
What to cook your Valentine February 10, 2010 SHANE PEARSON, THE ARCH LONDON HOTEL “I will be focusing on simple, easy-to-make dishes – I want to spend more time with my partner enjoying their company than in the kitchen. Consider sharing food – for example cook a Chateaubriand. Consider food that looks great, and seems special with minimum effort such as a selection [...]
Out of office February 9, 2010 REALLY OLD, LIKE FORTY FIVE This new play by Tamsin Oglesby is an imaginative and rather moving look at the issue of old age. While Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art addresses ageing from a different angle in the National’s Lyttleton theatre next door, Oglesby takes a queasy look into a future in which people [...]
MILLION-DOLLAR MAN THAIN LEARNS ERROR OF HIS PRICEY OFFICE WAYS February 8, 2010 HAPPY days for John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch chief executive who demonstrated yesterday that not only has he managed to stage an impressive comeback on Wall Street, but has actually learnt a lesson on the way as well. Thain, of course, is best remembered among the financial community for the dual distinctions of having [...]
Stylish Valentine’s wining and dining February 3, 2010 THE GREENHOUSE Chic but inviting, with a rustic touch and no expense spared on either the food or the opulent interior, and there’s an impressive wine selection – the owner has been collecting since he was a teenager. An ideal destination for the hardest-to-impress lover, and the Valentine’s menu cannot fail to thrill, either. Canapes [...]
Marcus Wareing’s top five European romantic tables February 3, 2010 TO me a great restaurant must encompass location, ambience, as well as great food, wines and service. Top fine dining restaurants must have the element of romance in order to achieve the ambience to match everything else.” BRAS, LAGUIOLE, FRANCE “A stunning restaurant set high in the mountains of Laguiole in the southern Auvergne. The [...]
Valentine’s escapes for every taste February 2, 2010 Valentine’s Ball and Massage Lesson at Culloden Estate, Belfast First, an opulent Valentine’s Ball on Saturday, with drinks and dinner. Make a night of it and stay over – then, on Sunday, after a deluxe breakfast, learn the art of massage a deux. A personal masseuse will explain how it’s done, introduce you to a [...]
TRAVEL NOTES January 31, 2010 Venice for Valentine’s Still looking for a romantic getaway this Valentine’s Day? Kirker Holidays is offering four nights for the price of three at the four-star superior Liassidi Palace in Venice, a luxury boutique hotel a short walk from St Mark’s Square. Price from £528pp includes flights (London airports, with regional departures on request), hotel [...]