New Builds: On the market this week, from the Manhattan-inspired towers in Canary Wharf to hipster pads in Hackney December 8, 2016 Manhattan Plaza, Tower Hamlets From £550,000 Enjoy views of Canary Wharf’s rapidly rising skyline from the tower of a new development that’s less than a ten minute walk from all the shopping and nightlife it has to offer. The Canary Wharf and City View Collection, the third phase to go on sale at Manhattan Plaza, [...]
Watches with power-reserve complications are the latest must-have trend; here are some of the best December 8, 2016 Sometimes, complicating things just a tad can be a good thing. A watch can give you the time with beautiful simplicity; but just as a well-judged pocket square brings a bit of flourish to your look, a little extra on the face of a watch adds interest and horological spice. A power reserve display – [...]
My Inspiration: Jake Burger, chief gin instructor at Portobello Road Gin’s Ginstitute on fabled recipe tome The Savoy Cocktail Book December 8, 2016 The Savoy Cocktail Book was first published in 1930 and it’s been in print ever since, apart from a brief break during the second World War. Lots of the drinks remain relevant today, although there were far fewer ingredients back then than we’re used to today. I did a bit of analysis and about a [...]
Give the gift of time this Christmas: the top new watches to declare your undying love to another human being December 8, 2016 The hot-list: our favourite new watches to buy your loved ones this Christmas. Tudor Pelagos LHD £3,020, tudorwatch.com If the “LHD” of the title – standing for “left-hand drive” – doesn’t give it away, the position of the winding crown should: Tudor’s latest diving watch is for the left-handed. Hence the crown is on the [...]
The alchemists of time: How watch companies combine age-old techniques with cutting edge materials December 8, 2016 Let’s face it: a finely made timepiece is, in a rather nice twist of irony, a flashy anachronism. For starters, no one really needs a watch these days, finely made or not. Secondly, the delicate concoction of wheels, springs and levers driving a mechanical watch is based on an ancient principle – 200-year-old technology that [...]
Gotta catch ‘em all: how extreme collectors hunt down the world’s rarest watches December 8, 2016 In a thankfully deserted café near the river in Battersea, my acquaintance extracts an unassuming plastic shopping bag from a rucksack. From inside it, he unfurls 12 wristwatches, laying each one gently on the table; were the sole waitress present paying us any attention, she might think it a rather suspicious scene – even more [...]
Foodie predictions for 2017: top chefs, writers, restaurateurs and food producers give us their thoughts on the year ahead December 7, 2016 Vivek Singh Executive chef of The Cinnamon Club, cinnamonclub.com Butter is back and fats will be in vogue. Masterclasses will also become key to true foodies, with as much focus on drinks as on food. We will continue to want to know more about the ethics behind our food and its provenance. Shaun Clarkson Interior [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on the perfect way to cook kale, our generation’s hipster superfood December 6, 2016 As a kid my grandmother used to serve curly kale every winter but like a lot of her home cooking, she’d completely crucify it. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't a bad cook per se, but like most people of her generation, she didn't really know when to turn the gas off. There was just [...]
Threadneedle Bar at the Royal Exchange shares its recipe for the Mediterranean cocktail Amalfi Sour with us December 6, 2016 Now the cold snap has arrived, we’re all eager to reach for a warming drink. But what makes a great winter cocktail? There are many ways to heat up a drink; stew it on the hob like a mulled wine, add a few warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg or pour in the booze, that’ll [...]
City Social’s gender-bending cocktail is now one of the most popular on the menu December 6, 2016 How much of a role does gender play in what you drink? Why are some drinks thought of as ‘masculine’ and others ‘feminine’? These big societal and cultural questions inspired the bar at City Social to play around with gender drinking stereotypes, which led to the creation of two of their best-selling cocktails. Freedom of [...]
