“We were the first ever agents to sell a building through Twitter” – Meet the social media moguls dragging commercial property sales into the 21st century April 29, 2016 While residential estate agents have been dragged into the internet age, their commercial counterparts have – mostly – continued to resist such a move. There’s no Rightmove for office blocks, or warehouses. And it was this inherent conservatism that seemed to offer a great opportunity when three young surveyors decided to set up shop in [...]
Property of the Week: The three-bed Chelsea penthouse of the Sex Pistols’ visual designer April 29, 2016 Most property developers start out with a humble investment and move on to create homes that superstars want to live in. But Margaret and Michael Stanford began with icons, largely thanks to their job as visual designers – of album covers, videos and stage sets – for some of Britain’s most revered artists, including Queen, [...]
New Builds: From Notting Hill to Battersea, here are the hottest new developments on the market this week April 29, 2016 Alto, Wembley From £715,000 High rise apartments have gone on sale at Alto, a development by Keystone and Quintain, which is part of the 83-acre regeneration of Wembley Park. The two and three bedroom apartments sit in the Pienna building, the 19-storey ‘crowning glory’ of the scheme designed by Flanagan Lawrence Architects, which worked on [...]
Elegy is a haunting sci-fi tale about love, loss and memory April 28, 2016 At just over an hour, Elegy churns through an ocean of subject matter in a very short space of time. Its three characters tackle issues including marriage, death, the science of selfhood, shattered minds and lobotomised memories. It does all of this backwards too, with its handful of skilfully arranged scenes unfolding in reverse chronological [...]
A Comedy About a Bank Robbery is a triumph of physical comedy April 28, 2016 A Comedy About a Bank Robbery | ★★★★☆ | The Criterion First, there was The Play That Went Wrong, followed by Peter Pan Goes Wrong; now The Mischief Theatre Company – the improv outfit behind the surprise West End hits – is actually trying to do something well. The cast have taken the slapstick perfected in [...]
Jake Gyllenhaal destroying an expensive set of drawers with a mallet can’t save this unconvincingly surreal dramady April 28, 2016 Demolition | ★★☆☆☆ | Dir. Jean-Marc Vallé Jake Gyllenhaal plays Davis, a businessman who escapes unscathed from the car crash that killed his wife. His reaction is stunned. He disconnects from reality, listlessly ghosting about the place like a sad mannequin, forcing out tears in front of a bathroom mirror and trying to fake up [...]
Captain America: Civil War – a slick, fun blockbuster that’s happy to play the hits April 28, 2016 Captain America: Civil War | ★★★★☆ | Dir. Joe and Anthony Russo You can draw all kind of political parallels from Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. Right vs left, libertarian vs statist, Stronger In vs Brexit. It boils down to this: are you on the side of the faceless bureaucrats who want to stifle our [...]
Kojawan restaurant at the Hilton Metropole is like a retro-futuristic art gallery in the sky April 26, 2016 Andrew Baggs overcomes a fear of high restaurants to thoroughly enjoy this Asian fusion izakaya Food | ★★★★☆ | Value ★★★★☆ | Vibe ★★★★☆ | Hilton Metropole, 225 Edgware Rd, W2 1JU Tel: 020 8088 0111 | Cost for two with wine: £140 I have, over the years, learnt to read the restaurant warning signs. There is an inverse relationship between [...]
Who fancies a cow’s milk vodka and asparagus cocktail? Mark Hix serves up a storm in his new column April 26, 2016 Asparagus is one of our most fantastic seasonal vegetables, which traditionally would have a short season from about May to June. But things have changed and these days there’s high demand for cheaper imported stuff from Peru and Spain, which has put a bit of strain on our British growers. Believe it or not, I [...]
The first ever right-hand drive Mustang hits British shores – but has the trip been worth it? April 25, 2016 It’s a damp, autumnal morning at the Pebble Beach golf resort on the coast of California, a couple of hours north of San Francisco. During the summer, it’d be nudging 30 degrees, and keen golfers would pay $495 a game while their partners enjoyed the luxury spa. This morning, though, it’s just me and a [...]
