The Green Room review: Find out what corporate hospitality means at the Kia Oval before you fork out to impress clients October 3, 2018 The last time I sat in a corporate box, it was miserable. A relative who worked for a bank had been offered tickets to a Muse gig at Wembley Stadium and invited me along as box meat to fill the space. At the time, I was a fan of the Devonshire space rockers, but I [...]
Working Lunch at Quo Vadis: We review the generously portioned Soho Set menu and rave about an eel sandwich October 2, 2018 Quo Vadis 26-29 Dean Street WHAT AND WHERE? If you haven’t heard of Quo Vadis by now, then quo eras? The once-notorious brothel, and former home of Karl Marx – though not at the same time – first flung open its doors to Dean Street diners in the 1920s and it’s been a Soho staple [...]
Focus On Harrow: Why this west London suburb is popular with families and first time buyers September 28, 2018 With inner city London gradually dividing itself into a series of ‘villages’, mimicking the community, farmers markets and independent high streets of semi-rural life, what’s the point of suburbs anymore? Places like Harrow have traditionally been quite pedestrian places, attracting families to its healthy stock of semi-detached houses and good quality schools. The ultimate – [...]
Property of the Week: The Old Vicarage in Fulham features a baptismal font as a sink in the downstairs bathroom September 28, 2018 If you’re looking for a sacred space to return to after a hard day at work, this quiet – yet large – family home in Fulham is a rare find. The gothic-style detached mansion was built in 1864 as a vicarage, but now it’s a one-of-a-kind home. Old St James Vicarage, Fulham, £10,500 a week [...]
New homes: Our pick of the new builds and conversions going on sale in London this weekend September 28, 2018 New developments on the market this week Lime Quarter, Bromley-by-Bow From £300,000 Help to Buy homes are going on sale next to Devons Road DLR. The first 10 homes launched last night with one and two bedroom apartments available to purchase through the government’s equity loan scheme. Overall, there will be 130 homes, including three [...]
The Wife film review: Glenn Close serves up a career-best performance as Nobel laureate’s beleaguered spouse September 28, 2018 What happens when you win the Nobel Prize? Does a peace dove deliver the news by flying telegram? Is there a banquet of all your favourite foods? Can you invite your mum? This simple dispersal of news becomes one of many fascinating aspects of The Wife. Based on a bestselling novel by Meg Wolitzer, it’s [...]
Working Lunch: Gunpowder Tower Bridge brings its flavour-packed Indian food south of the river September 26, 2018 GUNPOWDER TOWER BRIDGE, SE1 WHAT IS IT? It’s the second outpost of Gunpowder, a critically-acclaimed Indian restaurant that opened in a tiny space in Spitalfields in 2015. The new one joins the Bridge Theatre and a new branch of The Ivy brasserie at One Tower Bridge, the glassy part of the South Bank next to [...]
They’re already a way of life for tens of thousands of people, but are water cities the answer to climate change, rising sea levels and the housing crisis? September 25, 2018 How do you solve a problem like the Houses of Parliament? The neo-Gothic palace, parts of which are nearly a thousand years old, is crumbling and MPs voted recently to decant to another building for around six years – most likely to nearby Whitehall – while refurbishment works are carried out. So far, so [...]
The story behind the steady rise of ethical homeware and why it’s the next frontier in sustainable shopping September 25, 2018 Did you know that the global fashion industry is on track to consume over a quarter of the world’s annual carbon allowance by 2050? Stella McCartney does and she’s been travelling the world with sailing wonderwoman Dame Ellen MacArthur shouting about it for the last couple of years now. Perhaps that’s why so many [...]
Kanye West, rap’s most enigmatic star, has dreams of making affordable, brutalist homes September 24, 2018 The students were a combination of shocked and awed when their lecturer jumped on top of a desk and cried, “The world can be saved through design!” It could have been a scene from 1989’s Dead Poets Society, but in fact it was an overexcited Kanye West taking a class at Harvard Graduate School of [...]