England

Boutique hotels gain online visibility

Popular... London

A report to be released later this month will uncover the most visible boutique and lifestyle hotels online and the most common strategies employed by prospective globe-trotters when it comes to searching for bespoke accommodation.

Two Temple Place – architecture, art and food

Exquisite... Two Temple Place

An unsettling, architectural gem of a building, it is a clutter of wood paneling, pictures and paranoia. So visually overpowering that if it weren’t for the immediate mugging by fabulous Mediterranean and Cornish aromas, you could easily miss lunch, altogether.

Wings, woks and world peace

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Just off Shaftsbury Avenue, in the heart of London’s Soho neighbourhood, a glut of Vietnamese restaurants is emerging. It’s a Saturday night, and, as usual, I’m in charge of the restaurant plans for a group of friends. We’ve just been to see The Gatekeepers, the Oscar-nominated documentary featuring interviews with the former directors of Shin Bet, the Israeli version of the FBI.

The business behind English whisky

Not just a novelty... English whisky

Move over Scotland, it’s time to make room on the shelf for English whisky. London’s first distillery in over a century is about to begin production of single malt whisky in a former Victorian dairy. Darren Rook and his partner set up The London Distillery after reading about Australian distilleries. “We wondered why there were none in London.”

Norman Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell, 1950

It’s easy to see where America’s greatest illustrator took inspiration from as we pull into Stockbridge, a small, New England town in the Berkshires. Norman Rockwell, considered by many America’s most popular artist of the 20th century, made his home here in 1953. He became so attached to the community, he established a trust while he was still alive, ensuring his works would be left to the Stockbridge Historical Society, who later created the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Life in the fast lane

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When it comes to luxury, nothing spells it quite like a sleek and swanky sports car.

Gordon Ramsay butters me up at Bread Street

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St Paul’s in the City, is a neighbourhood that hardly beckons me from my comfy West London surroundings.

After all, I don‘t work in the City, and there are plenty of good restaurants between South Kensington and Mayfair, which don’t even require a Tube journey.

But, a networking event at the relatively new One New Change complex, built to provide lunchtime and after-work distractions for all those office workers keen to blow their wages on the latest trendy togs and fashionable cocktails, lured me east.

Emergency gastronomical help

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London is home to some of the finest restaurants in the world, but how do the city’s hotspots keep customers coming? Many enlist the help of a secret weapon – a menu consultant. And it may be one of the best jobs around, for serious foodies.

No west end in sight for Soho hostess

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In the heart of London’s theatre district, one woman has been serving customers for more than 70 years and she’s still going. Elena Salvoni is heralded as the unofficial Queen of Soho, greeting a loyal, and famous fan base once a month for lunch.

Watatsumi – life after Nobu

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It’s a lovely, unseasonably warm, early spring evening. The perfect evening for a cold, refreshing cup of Sake. A big-shot publicist friend is in from LA and has a hankering for Roka. I suggest Watatsumi instead, since it’s on my list of places to check out. The chef-owners met working in the kitchen at Nobu Park Lane, which seems like a good sign.

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Boutique hotels gain online visibility »

Popular... London

A report to be released later this month will uncover the most visible boutique…

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Suzhou – the Venice of the East »

Picture-perfect... Master of Nets Garden

Perched atop the Metropolitan Tower, overlooking Suzhou's heritage-listed gardens, famed Grand Canal and the majestic Taihu Lake is the Shangri-La…

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