Luxury London Magazine - December 2019

November 2019 £7.00

IT’S THE MOST

OF THE YEAR THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE STARRING: ALAIN DUCASSE, HÉLÈNE DARROZE, JASON ATHERTON, PHILIPPE SEREYS DE ROTHSCHILD & PRINCE ROBERT OF LUXEMBOURG PLUS: TRAILBLAZING TUXEDOS & WHERE TO BE SEEN THIS NEW YEAR’S EVE

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CONTENTS

66 UP FRONT

114 36 PARTY PEOPLE

50 FROM PLATE TO WALL

Where to celebrate New Year’s

12 EDITOR’S LETTER

Eve in London

fine art with fine dining

15 THE BRIEFING

38 MASTER CHEF

58 HOT PLATES

Alain Ducasse on sending

Chef-approved tableware

Jaguar and Rankin partner for

Michelin meals to Mars

an artistic collaboration. Plus discover the Copenhagen chef

42 HOW TO START

combining theatre with food

CONNOISSEUR

A WINE CELLAR A sommelier’s guide to collecting wine

Hélène Darroze on the best

66 FAMILY FORTUNE

Philippe Sereys de Rothschild

on making the world’s best vino

72 PRINCE OF REDS

Raising a toast to millenial

wine drinkers with Prince Robert

CHRISTMAS WINE LIST

of Luxembourg

Stocking fillers for oenophiles

76 HEART OF THE MATTER

44 THE ULTIMATE 28 ON LONDON TIME

The restaurants merging

47 THE BIG CHEESE

Jean-Guillaume Prats of

30 TASTING NOTES

The niche academy churning

Château Lafite Rothschild

Where to eat, drink and be

out masters of cheese

80 THE BEST VALUE

merry, from award-winning

48 A MATTER OF TASTE

IN BORDEAUX

bars to Michelin meals

The bottles worth investing in

places to eat in the capital

Jason Atherton’s holiday haunts

50

36 COUTURE

28 112 RICCI RICH

Stefano Ricci, the super-tailor

84 2020: YEAR OF THE TUX

of choice for Presidents Macron

The trailblazing designers

and Putin

touting life-proof partywear 88 ’TIS THE SEASON

Opulent occasionwear to take

you from Christmas to New Year

ESCAPE 118 ISLAND TIME

102 SUIT YOURSELF

The best British island retreats

Alternative evening attire for

for solo travellers on a soul-

the sartorially-inclined

searching sojourn

104 IN THE PINK

124 COWORTH PARK

The rebranding of Thomas Pink

Ascot’s country estate provides

– the city’s go-to shirtmaker

a suitably festive escape

110 SPENCER MATTHEWS

126 FIELD TO FORK

A bucolic bolthole in a quiet corner

diamonds, first-date disasters

of the Cotswolds, Thyme is a haven

and martial arts

for R&R-seekers and foodies alike

The Made in Chelsea star on

30

COV E R Photography by Arved ColvinSmith, styling by Graham Cruz @ A&R Creative. For full credits, visit page 88.

FROM THE EDITOR December 2019 Issue 19

EDITOR Richard Brown DEPUTY EDITOR Ellen Millard SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR Anna Prendergast EDITOR-AT-LARGE Annabel Harrison

‘Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.’ As well as banking and mining and farming and pharmaceuticals and property and philanthropy and exploration and environmentalism, the Rothschilds have, of course, gone into wine – the auction-topping, holy-grail sort of wine that is: Bordeaux.

CONTENT DIRECTOR Dawn Alford

It began in 1853, when England’s Nathaniel de Rothschild purchased Château Brane Mouton, one of France’s most cherished estates, and promptly renamed it Château Mouton Rothschild. Fifteen years later, not to be outdone by his nephew, Baron James de Rothschild, of Germany, secured another of France’s grandest wineries, the neighbouring Château Lafite, which he rebranded as Château Lafite Rothschild.

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Rob Crossan Josh Sims

Sitting side by side on the slopes of Pauillac, rivalry between the two houses – each still in the hands of a Rothschild descendant – has raged ever since. For much of the 20th century the estates were barely on speaking terms. No surprise, given that opposition to Mouton’s decades-long attempt to be recognised as a premier cru – or first growth – was spearheaded by Lafite.

SENIOR DESIGNER Ismail Vedat

We thought it appropriate then, given the time of year – feuding families, frosty get-togethers, microaggressions escalating into full-on dust-ups not uncommonly on account of some French plonk – to dedicate a good lashing of this festive-themed December issue to that ultimate of stocking-fillers – vintage clarets, that is – and the châteaux that produce them.

Starting on page 62, we interview the heads of three of Bordeaux’s five premier crus: Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, of Château Mouton Rothschild; Prince Robert of Luxembourg, of Château Haut-Brion; and Jean-Guillaume Prats, of Château Lafite Rothschild, on whose bottles you’ll find the Rothschild family motto (above) depicted as a five-arrowed emblem (one for each of Mayer Amschel Rothschild’s five financier sons).

Sticking with a theme of over-indulgence, and following the release of the latest Michelin Guide, we talk food trends and favourite restaurants with Hélène Darroze (p.28), Alain Ducasse (p.38) and Jason Atherton (p.48). Elsewhere, there are gift guides (p.82), festive fashion shoots (p88), partywear inspiration (p.84), ideas for New Year’s Eve (p.36) and suggestions for an enriching staycation (from p.118).

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas.

ONLINE EDITOR Mhairi Graham

HEAD OF DESIGN Laddawan Juhong

GENERAL MANAGER Fiona Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Alice Ford COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Rachel Gilfillan BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORS Samantha Lathan Danielle Thirsk BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Madelyn Curnyn BRAND EXECUTIVE Dom Jeffares MANAGING DIRECTOR Eren Ellwood PUBLISHED BY

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T H E B R I E F I NG T H E L AT E S T N E W S F R O M T H E W O R L D O F L U X U R Y P.16 THE EXHIBITION The winners of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019

P.18 THE BOOK Instagrammer Pie Aerts captures his travels in a new tome

P.20 THE CAR Jaguar partners with Rankin on an anniversary project

P.22 THE ARCHITECTURE Norwegian design house Snøhetta marks 30 years in business

P.24 THE RESTAURANT The Copenhagen eatery turning dinner into peformance art

Luis Vilariño’s photograph of red hot lava from the Kilauea volcano was awarded first prize in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019’s Earth’s Environments category (p.16)

01

THE EXHIBITION

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2019 THE WINNER OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM’S ANNUAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD IS ANNOUNCED

A startled marmot has become the unwitting star of 2019. Yongqing Bao’s expressive snap, The Moment (pictured above), was crowned the overall winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 competition, capturing a life-and-death moment between the Himalayan rodent and a Tibetan fox – a rarely observed species.

The image joins an exhibition at the Natural History Museum, where 100 photographs from this year’s finalists and category winners are on display. Among them are Emmanuel Rondeau’s highly-commended Striking Gold snap (pictured right), Zorica Kovacevic’s Plants and Fungi category-winning Tapestry of Life (pictured top left), and Ripan Biswas’s Face of Deception (pictured top right), which won first prize in the Animal Portraits category. The winners were selected by a panel from almost 50,000 entries. EM Until 31 May, £14, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7, nhm.ac.uk

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THE BRIEFING

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Chris Packham in the Natural History Museum’s Hintze Hall

Following its stint at the Natural History Museum, the Wildlife Photography of the Year exhibition will embark on an international tour

02

THE BOOK

TALES FROM THE ROADS LESS TRAVELLED PHOTOGRAPHER PIE AERTS CAPTURES THE REMOTE CORNERS OF THE PLANET IN A NEW BOOK WITH TENEUES

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THE BRIEFING

The Steve McCurry of the social media age, Instagrammer Pie Aerts turns his road trips into roving art, documenting his travels and garnering a hefty following in the process – 121,000 and counting. From the deep jungles of West Papua to a Himalayan mountain village in the heart of the Okavango Delta, the photographer captures the lesser-travelled corners of the planet. In a new book by teNeues, Tales From the Roads Less Traveled, Aerts showcases some of his best snaps. Each page reveals a new, breathtaking landscape or intimate portrait.

Captivating communities living in extraordinary habitats are brought to life by the photographer, who shares first-hand anecdotes throughout the book. EM Tales From the Road Less Traveled by Pie Aerts, £50, published by teNeues, book.teneues.com

LEFT MYANMAR; ABOVE BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH A SHEPHERDS’ DAUGHTER IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF PUSHKAR, INDIA, RAJASTHAN, BOTH ©TALES FROM THE ROADS LESS TRAVELED BY PIE AERTS, PUBLISHED

BY TENEUES, BOOK.TENEUES.COM, MENDO.NL, PHOTOS ©2019 PIE AERTS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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03 THE CAR

RANKIN AND JAGUAR COLLABORATE ON A PHOTOGRAPHIC ODE TO BRITISH CAR DESIGN THE PROJECT MARKS THE JAGUAR MK SPORT SALOON’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

Introducing ‘Rooms by Rankin’ – not the photographer’s first foray into interior design, nor his latest chain of hotels (although these are but opportunities missed). Instead, it is the catchy name of a series of snaps created in partnership with Jaguar. In honour of the marque’s collection of sport saloons – the XF, XE and legendary Mk 2, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year – Rankin has created a collection of zany set designs, each themed around a different motor.

For the project, the photographer was presented with an open brief, with the simple instruction that each set capture the unique characteristics of these highly-distinctive cars.

For the Jaguar XF, this was a flock of tangerine paper cranes, chosen in reference to the motor’s precision engineering.

The natural elegance of the XE, meanwhile, was shrouded in an ephemeral mist, created using layers of translucent sheets and multiple wind machines. Finally, a period drama-inspired polka dot backdrop dutifully captured the nostalgic aesthetic of the Mk 2. EM

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THE BRIEFING

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THE BRIEFING

04

THE ARCHITECTURE

THIS PAGE, FROM TOP EXTERIOR OF NORWEGIAN NATIONAL OPERA AND BALLET, PHOTOGRAPHY ©ENS PASSOTH; INTERIOR OF NORWEGIAN NATIONAL OPERA AND BALLET, ©HELENE BINET; THE 7TH ROOM AT TREEHOTEL, ©JOHAN JANSSON; OPPOSITE PAGE TVERRFJELLHYTTA, THE NORWEGIAN WILD REINDEER PAVILION, PHOTOGRAPHY ©DIEPHOTODESIGNER.DE

NORWEGIAN ARCHITECTURE FIRM SNØHETTA MARKS 30 YEARS IN BUSINESS A NEW BOOK HIGHLIGHTS THE COMPANY’S TOP 24 PROJECTS

Since 1989, Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta has been reshaping landscapes across the world with its innovative, and often environmentally-sensitive, designs.

From large scale commissions such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to nicher projects – including The Norwegian Wild Reindeer Pavilion (pictured left) and a treetrop retreat in Sweden (pictured bottom right) – the company has left its mark in a multitude of ways.

In honour of its 30th anniversary, Snøhetta has collated 24 of its best projects into one book. Snøhetta: Collective Intuition is published by Phaidon and offers an encyclopaedic look at a series of select designs, each one chosen to highlight the firm’s underlying influences.

Naturally, Snøhetta’s inaugural project, a competition-winning entry to design Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, is included. This is the firm’s first project to receive the coveted World Architecture Festival Award. It scooped its second in 2008 for the landscape-enhancing Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo (pictured top right), which went on to win a slew of additional accolades.

Also mentioned are Snøhetta’s impactful New York-based designs. In 2014, Snøhetta created the entry pavilion to The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, utilising glass and mirror-striped metal to create an interactive, personal experience.

The city called on the firm again in 2017, this time to redesign Times Square, for which the team doubled the amount of public space with a new pedestrian plaza. EM

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SNØHETTA: COLLECTIVE INTUTION IS OUT NOW, £60, PUBLISHED

BY PHAIDON, PHAIDON.COM

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THE BRIEFING

05

T H E R E S TA U R A N T

INSIDE COPENHAGEN’S EXPERIMENTAL RESTAURANT, THE ALCHEMIST THEATRE MEETS FOOD AT CHEF RASMUS MUNK’S PARADOXICAL PALACE

Go big or go home is the motto at The Alchemist, Copenhagen, where the tasting menu comprises no less than 50 courses. It takes between three and five hours to eat, but this is the restaurant’s least mind-boggling attribute. Chef and founder Rasmus Munk has previous in OTT, and The Alchemist takes this up several

notches. An edible passport kicks off proceedings, granting you access to a veritable tour of Munk’s eccentric mind, with laboratory-style spaces, a planetarium dining room and a rainbow, LED-infused corridor.

Drama leaks into the food too – think molecular gastronomy for the politically-charged. EM alchemist.dk

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Get into the Christmas spirit at The Langham, London! Boost your culinary confidence with a festive class at Sauce, our cookery school, or treat yourself and friends to a dining or drinking experience with us. From hot toddies at The Wigmore to chic cocktails at Artesian, from a charming afternoon tea at Palm Court to an indulgent New Year’s feast in Roux at The Landau, we have a world of ways to enjoy the very best of the season at The Langham.

1c Portland Place, Regent Street, London, W1B 1JA T 44 (0) 20 7636 1000 F 44 (0) 20 7323 2340 langhamhotels.com

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CONNOISSEUR TA S T I N G N OT E S F O R T H E U R B A N E E P I C U R E A N

P.28 HÉLÈNE DARROZE Where the Michelinstarred chef dines in the capital

P.36 LIFE OF THE PARTY The best New Year’s Eve events in London

P.38 ALAIN DUCASSE On his grandmother’s cooking & sending food to space

P.47 CURD YOUR ENTHUSIASM Inside the Academy of Cheese, a masterclass in all things fromage

P.50 TASTE MODERN The restaurateurs combining fine art

PHOTOGRAPHY ©MARK COCKSEDGE

with fine dining

More than 10 creatives have imagined Sketch’s ethereal winter wonderland – a series of installations themed around Christmas traditions from across the globe. In the Glade, Figa & Co’s creative director Kim Beedie has fashioned an enchanting floral installation entitled A Storm in a Tea Cup. Until 5 January, Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, W1S, sketch.london

O N LO N D O N T I M E

HÉLÈNE DARROZE W I T H I N S I X M O N T H S O F O P E N I N G H E R E P O N Y M O U S R E S TA U R A N T AT T H E C O N N A U G H T I N 2 0 0 9 , H É L È N E D A R R O Z E E A R N E D H E R F I R S T M I C H E L I N S TA R . N O W T H E R E C I P I E N T O F T W O S TA R S , A N D 1 0 Y E A R S I N TO H E R R E I G N , S H E TA L K S H E R TO P LO N D O N E AT S , T H E B E S T C H E F S I N T H E C A P I TA L A N D H E R R E S TA U R A N T ’ S R E C E N T R E F U R B I S H M E N T

Interview: Ellen Millard

LUXURY LONDON

CONNOISSEUR

Where do you like to eat in London? There are so many great places to eat out in London. Borough Market is a firm favourite as I often spend time there buying fresh ingredients following lunch with my girls. I love Japanese food, and often visit Cubé in Mayfair. They do great modern Japanese tapas. I’m also a big fan of Isaac McHale, so will often go to The Clove Club.

Who are the best chefs in the capital right now? There is so much incredible talent in the capital! To name just a few: Brett Graham, Clare Smyth, Isaac McHale, Claude Bosi…

It’s a never-ending list.

Where is the best place for a nightcap?

Annabel’s has a great atmosphere.

What is your favourite London memory? I have too many! Any big London events such as Prince William’s wedding, Trooping the Colour, the London Olympics – there is a sense of solidarity, everyone is joyful and happy; it’s a true celebration of togetherness and pride.

each dish to tell a story. For example, my grandfather used to forage ceps [mushrooms] from the nearby forest, and my grandmother would cook them with garlic and parsley, which inspired me to serve Scottish ceps with fresh walnut, snail, lardo di Colonnata and persillade emulsion.

You celebrated 10 years at The Connaught this year, what has changed since you first opened? I feel truly rooted and part of The Connaught, and most importantly, the London family. I’ve also really learnt to get to know the culture better, and love London.

I know the city well and feel comfortable knowing where to go and recommend places to friends and family who come to visit. There is still so much to discover.

How will you spend Christmas this year? I’ll be celebrating with my family in Biarritz, and will definitely be cooking.

What is your favourite festive thing to do in London?

I love to have afternoon tea at Claridge’s over the Christmas season. The seasonal cakes are delicious, and the atmosphere is wonderfully festive. The music, the choir singers, the Claridge’s Christmas tree adorning the lobby – there is so much to look at!

How has the recent refurbishment improved the space? The restaurant’s interior has been given a fresh, contemporary sensibility by the French designer Pierre Yovanovitch, who stripped back the mahogany stained panels to create a lighter, brighter aesthetic. I wanted not only to make the food lighter but to do the same with the design of the interior.

What is on your Christmas wish list? An airplane ticket to take me somewhere warm for a week-long holiday!

What can we expect from the new menu? The spirit of the restaurant is to show respect for quality cuisine, and I like

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K, the-connaught.co.uk

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TA S T I N G N O T E S E AT, D R I N K A N D B E M E R R Y W I T H T H I S M O N T H ’ S M O S T D E L I C I O U S D I S C O V E R I E S

Words: Richard Brown & Anna Prendergast

STAR PLAYERS T H E C A P I TA L ’ S T O P TA B L E S F O R 2 0 2 0 W E R E O F F I C I A L LY R E C O G N I S E D I N T H E M I C H E L I N G U I D E I N O C TO B E R

The Michelin Guide has operated under the same system since it was created in 1900, assigning stars based on how worthy a restaurant is of a stop (one star), a detour (two), or a journey of its own (three). Originally, it was used by French motorists planning long drives (they weren’t known as roadtrips back then) but now, it’s used by fine diners all over the world. This year, chefs congregated at The Hurlingham Club for the 2020 announcements, with several London-based teams taking to the stage to collect the accolade.

The Lecture Room & Library at Sketch was awarded three stars for ‘cooking that is original

and immaculately rendered but also generous’; while Mayfair neighbour The Araki, which received its third star in 2018, was removed from the guide altogether. Cornerstone and The Laughing Heart were also unexpectedly omitted, and The Clove Club didn’t gain a second star despite anticipation. White City’s Endo at the Rotunda, Da Terra in Bethnal Green, Mãos (run by James Brown and Nuno Mendes) and The Dysart Petersham all took home their first stars, while Anne-Sophie Pic’s La Dame de Pic was awarded its second. AP guide.michelin.com

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP PROFESSOR GREEN, TINIE TEMPAH AND ELLA EYRE; HOPE IKPOKU JR AND FADY ELSAYED; CHRISTINA ULFSPARRE AND LILY TRAVERS; LUDOVIC DU PLESSIS; LOUIS XIII BACCARAT DECANTER; AIMEE KELLY AND ASHLEY WALTERS; DU PLESSIS AND MARTIN SCORSESE

LOUIS XIII

Coming of Age T H E C O G N A C H O U S E R E S C U E S A C E N T U R Y- O L D S T O R Y

More than 90 per cent of silent films have been lost or damaged beyond repair, but Louis XIII has teamed up with Martin Scorsese’s organisation, The Film Foundation, to painstakingly restore a piece of forgotten cinema. The Broken Butterfly, a film by maverick director Maurice Tourneur, hasn’t been seen since 1919, but under the Louis XIII 100 Years project it has been carefully restored for a new audience a century after its inception. Following 100 Years: The Movie You Will Never See, the 2015 film starring John Malkovich that was buried in a time capsule, the project aims to parallel the many generations of cellar masters who presided over the house’s doubledistilled liquid. When Scorsese came across the concept, he suggested global executive brand director Ludovic du Plessis shift the focus from the future to the past. The director’s foundation was founded in the nineties to help preserve cinema from the early 20th century, and brought black and white silent film The Broken Butterfly back to life this November, when it premiered at The British Film Foundation on the Southbank. “Restoring this piece of memory is for us, at Louis XIII, a real pleasure and honour,” says du Plessis. “Time is our raw material.” louisxiii-cognac.com

TWO’S COMPANY

B OX SET Mix on the move with Clos 19’s doctor’s-style bag, which includes a shaker, strainer, bar spoon and jigger, plus a Belvedere mixing glass. £339, clos19.com

F I R S T T H E W O R S T, S E C O N D T H E B E S T : W H Y T H E C O N N A U G H T I S AT T H E TO P O F I T S G A M E ( A L M O S T )

Voted second best in the world (after Dante in New York) by the World’s 50 Best Bars, what The Connaught’s bar does so well is distraction. Distraction from everything in London we occasionally need to shut out – the weather, the commuters, Brexit, Boris, the endless conveyor belt of inferior bars opening and closing with disturbing regularity. And it’s exactly what got Ago Perrone, The Connaught’s director of

mixology, into bartending.

He began working in bars to pay for university – and got distracted. Now, Perrone is laser-focused, and with 11 years at the hotel under his belt, nobody knows his clients – or his cocktails – better. As ever, The Connaught keeps good company – the list also includes London drinking spots The American Bar, Three Sheets, Coupette, Scout, Lyaness, Kwant and Artesian. AP

Seasoned sommeliers and amateur oenophiles alike will love using Atelier du Vin’s heritage collection designed for serving and preserving wine.

Approx. £470, atelierduvin.com

Infinitely better than a scented candle, this is homeware you don’t mind finding under the tree. £160, mrporter.com

Experiment with new tools using this bamboo and stainless steel barware handcrafted in Italy by Lorenzi Milano. £2,700, mrporter.com

Inspired by vintage race cars from the fifties, Asprey’s sterling silver cocktail shaker is a great gift for motoring enthusiasts.

Approx. £10,500, asprey.com

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F E AT U R E

Not-so-little Italy L O N D O N , N E W YO R K C I T Y A N D I TA LY C O L L I D E AT K N I G H T S B R I D G E ’ S T H E B U LG A R I H OT E L

Bulgari has taken some of the Big Apple’s best bits and planted them in London LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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Next year, The Bulgari will open its seventh city hotel in Paris, with properties in Moscow and Tokyo to follow, but the glossy Italian brand has yet to add New York to its portfolio. It has, however, taken some of the Big Apple’s best bits, planted them in London, and watched them grow into some of the capital’s swankiest hangouts.

In Knightsbridge, there’s live music, camp cocktails (whose menu reads like a singalong set-list: Living La Vida Loca and Tiny Dancer) and a late-night DJ at The Bulgari Hotel’s subterranean social space, Nolita. Named after the Manhattan neighbourhood which was once characterised by its heavy Italian presence, it’s got attitude as well as city smarts.

Upstairs on the ground floor (and accessible to everyone, not just guests) is Sette, the second under NY staple Scarpetta’s wing (whose name means to savour every last mouthful). The London debut took a little while to get off the ground, but now its handmade pasta (such as the simple ‘spaghetti, basil, tomato’ dish) and braised octopus has catapulted it onto the capital’s radar and encouraged a bout of regular returners.

This December, we rather like the idea of Christmas lunch at Thomas Juul-Hanson’s glamorous restaurant, with tortellini in brodo instead of turkey and tronchetto di natale in place of inedible Christmas pudding. Pick up gifts at The Edward Sahakian Cigar Shop and hire out the private screening room while you’re at it – there’s nothing quite like watching Home Alone in a hotel on Christmas Eve. AP From approx £850 per night including breakfast, bulgarihotels.com

BOTTLE BANK F R O M S T J A M E S ’ TO S I N G A P O R E : F I N E W I N E LOV E R S N O W H AV E A S E C O N D H O M E I N T H E M E T R O P O L I TA N C I T Y- S TAT E

ROAST B O R O U G H M A R K E T ’ S O D E TO BRITISH CUISINE UNVEILS A R E VA M P E D B A R A N D N E W M E N U

Like many great ideas, London’s first private members club for oenophiles started because owner Grant Ashton ‘had too much wine’. He meant, of course, that he hadn’t enough space to house his impressive personal collection of Rieslings and Riojas, needed somewhere to put it, and managed to pull together a neat £8m from investors for the project (quite the feat, considering the city trader had never worked in hospitality).

That was in 2015, and this year Ashton announced plans to open 67 Pall Mall’s first international outpost in Singapore.

At the top of Shaw Centre in Orchard Road’s shopping district, the double volume penthouse is home to more than 5,000 wines from 42 countries (a fifth of which are available by the glass). It will undoubtedly have a rather different feel to Edwin Lutyens’ Grade II-listed building on Pall Mall – an Art Deco-style bank in a previous life, with original Austrian wainscoting and parquet floors – but design is still a priority, with a seven-metre Wine Tower domineering the bar.

London members can put their bottles into storage in the cellars, where a bespoke air handling system maintains the temperature between 13°C and 14°C and keeps humidity between 65-70 per cent (a feature that will be recreated in Asia) – but the point is to provide a space where members are encouraged to pop a cork or two and share a great bottle, without paying the extortionate markup prices slapped on by restaurants and bars simply because they can. AP 67pallmall.sg

ROAST PORK SCOTCH EGG WITH PICCALILLI

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CONNOISSEUR

LINDISFARNE ROCK OYSTERS WITH SCRUBBY OAK APPLE VINEGAR AND SHALLOTS

Belonging in the Ronseal category of restaurant names, Roast opened in Borough Market in 2005 and did exactly what it said on the tin. The British-themed restaurant – opened by Bangladeshi-born businessman Iqbal Wahhab OBE (of The Cinnamon Club fame) and occupying an ornate glassed portico that was formerly part of the Royal Opera House – has since become something of an institution.

Earlier this year, Roast refurbished its bar and has recently launched its autumn menu. Rents in this foodie tourist trap must be astronomical because a steak and kidney pie will set you back an eyewatering £24.50. Elsewhere, charging £19 for a cauliflower steak is presumably a ploy to discourage vegetarians from visiting.

The exorbitant prices would be more of a problem if the food wasn’t some of the best of its kind in the capital.

Hearty, homely British cooking at its cosy, comforting best. Luxury London thoroughly recommends the scotch egg starter and the truffle hen and leek pie.

Though, admittedly, we did suffer an acute case of food envy when a scandalously tasty-looking chateaubriand was delivered to the neighbouring table. RB

A KO KO West-African fine dining (with a focus on Senegalese ingredients) in Fitzrovia with Masterchef: The Professionals semifinalist William Chilila in the kitchen.

21 Berners Street, W1

Yamazaki 18 Year Old, £695, whiskyshop.com

The Hakushu Single Malt, £62.50, masterofmalt.com

Togouchi Premium, £39.90, masterofmalt.com

AMAZÓNICO A fusion of Latin American and Brazilian cuisine by way of Madrid, with peacocks propping up the rainforest-themed sushi bar and interiors by Lázaro Rosa-Violán.

10 Berkeley Square, W1 Chichibu On The Way, £120, thedrinkscabinet.co.uk

Nikka Whisky From The Barrel, £36.99, masterofmalt.com

Suntory Whisky White, £115, dekanta.com

Suntory Chita Whisky, £52, thewhiskyexchange.com

roast-restaurant.com

H AYA This year’s best foodie destination, Tel Aviv, arrived in Notting Hill this autumn with Oren King’s Israeli menu and Mediterranean sharing plates.

184A Kensington Park Road, W11

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SUSHISAMBA Bring New Year’s Eve to the next level – the 38th floor of the Heron Tower to be exact. Sushisamba has a sturdy reputation for throwing some of the wildest parties in town and this year is no exception. The restaurant will be transformed into an Amazonian rainforest with an immersive design, Amazon-themed cocktails, colourful performers and proceeds donated to charity partner Cool Earth.

From £200 per person, sushisamba.co.uk

PARTY PEOPLE N E W Y E A R ’ S E V E I S P R O B A B LY T H E N I G H T O F T H E Y E A R W H E N E X P E C TAT I O N S A R E T H E H I G H E S T, D I A L L E D R I G H T U P T O F E V E R P I T C H . F O R A N I G H T T H AT W O N ’ T D I S A P P O I N T, F O L L O W LUXURY LONDON’S GUIDE TO THE HOTTEST TICKETS IN TOWN, WITH HAUTE CUISINE AND AN EPIC VIEW TO BOOT

AMAZONICO Madrilleno restaurant and celebmagnet Amazonico made a splash in Mayfair even before it opened.

With its luxe rainforest ambience and a menu that straddles Europe, Asian and South America, it’s the flavour of the month. Get bookings in for NYE now, where there will be a house band and DJ to see you into 2020. restaurantamazonico.com

Words: Nick Savage

MILLBANK For exceptional views of the fireworks, head to the famous Millbank Tower in Pimlico, which offers views north and east across Westminster and Big Ben to the Southbank and City of London.

The 28th floor will be Moulin Rougethemed with burlesque performances, while the 29th will be ‘Decadence Defined’ with top-shelf free-flowing food and drink throughout.

From £325 per person, londonskybar.com

DECIMO Peter Sanchez-Iglesias and his restaurant Decimo have been the talk of the town since opening atop The Standard King’s Cross.

Offering views of pretty much every sight that London has to offer, it will undoubtedly be a wild night to ring in the New Year. decimo.london

©LÁZARO ROSA-VIOLÁN STUDIO

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CONNOISSEUR

©NICKY KELVIN

Q U O VA D I S Private club Quo Vadis will be opening the doors of its second floor to the members and public alike with an evening of fun and frivolity. After gourmandising on an exceptional Jeremey Lee feast featuring such classic dishes as baked salsify, sirloin and meringue tumbles, guests can pull shapes to a DJ from 10pm onwards. £75 per person, quovadissoho.co.uk T H E S AV O Y Renowned for hosting some of the best parties in the capital for more than 130 years, The Savoy offers one of the best vantage points for watching the fireworks. Whether celebrating in the River Room, the Beaufort Bar, Kaspar’s (pictured above), the Thames Foyer or the Savoy Grill, it will surely be an incredible night. savoychristmas.com

Man-about-town, Innerplace’s Nick Savage, gives you the insider lowdown on London’s most hedonistic haunts

AQ UA S H A R D Ascend to the rarefied height of the 31st floor on 31 December, when Aqua Shard hosts its famous New Year’s Eve shindig in one of the city’s most famous skyscrapers. You can treat yourself to an elegant five-course dinner in the restaurant or, if you’d rather focus on liquid sustenance, opt for the celebration bar, where you’ll be plied with champagne, canapes and entertainment.

From £395 per person, the-shard.com

AQ UA KYOTO Ring in the New Year from a celebrated Soho rooftop at Aqua Kyoto. There will be a DJ performing from 10pm until 4am and attendees can either opt for a bar ticket with entertainment or a dinner ticket with champagne upon arrival.

From £70 per person, aquakyoto.co.uk

1 2 T H K N O T AT S E A C O N TA I N E R S L O N D O N Perched atop Sea Containers hotel on the South Bank, 12th Knot at Sea Containers London offers peerless views of the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

This year the restaurant is hosting a pink-themed event with a rosé champagne reception, an open bar a DJ, and bacon sandwiches served at 2am to keep you moving.

From £185 per person, seacontainerslondon.com

Innerplace is London’s personal lifestyle concierge.

Membership provides complimentary access to the finest nightclubs, the best restaurants and top private members’ clubs. Innerplace also offers priority bookings, updates on the latest openings and hosts its own regular parties. Membership starts from £100 a month, innerplace.co.uk

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MASTER CHEF S I N C E W I N N I N G T H R E E M I C H E L I N S TA R S

AT T H E AG E O F 3 3 , A L A I N D U C A S S E H A S BECOME ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST

D E C O R AT E D C H E F S , W I T H A G A L A X Y O F S TA R S A N D A G LO B A L E M P I R E TO H I S

N A M E . A S H E C E L E B R AT E S T W O L A N D M A R K A N N I V E R S A R I E S AT H I S T W O P R OV E N C E -

B A S E D E AT E R I E S , T H E R E S TA U R AT E U R TA L K S E N V I R O N M E N TA L AWA R E N E S S , N U R T U R I N G YO U N G TA L E N T A N D S E N D I N G M I C H E L I N MEALS TO MARS

Words: Ellen Millard

W

hen Alain Ducasse decided, aged 12, that he was going to be a chef, he was yet to step foot in a restaurant. He learned to cook from his childhood home, a 200-year-old farmhouse in provincial France where the complexities of silver service and Michelin-standard meals were far from his mind. To Ducasse, the greatest chef was his grandmother, Jeanne, and he was her devoted pupil.

“My grandmother used to prepare our meals, and she was often sending me to the kitchen garden to pick ripe vegetables. I loved to see her cooking, transforming the produce of our farm into delicious food,” the chef recalls.

“I still remember the smell and taste of the roast chicken she used to prepare for Sunday lunches. This is what inspired me and is still the source of my inspiration.”

Little did Jeanne know how important her tutelage would be. Today, it’s hard to imagine how the restaurant industry would look without the influence of Ducasse. One of only two chefs in the world to hold 21 Michelin stars in his career, the cook’s culinary prowess has been felt far and wide, not least because his 34-strong restaurant empire spans three continents and seven countries.

Having begun his formal training at the age of 16, Ducasse learned the skills of the trade under the guise of legendary cooks Michel Guérard, Gaston Lenôtre, Alain Chapel and

Roger Vergé. Head chef positions followed and in 1984 Ducasse earned his first Michelin star as the executive chef of La Terrasse in Juan-les-Pins. It was to be the first of many.

Today, Ducasse’s list of record-breaking feats is exhaustive, but the highlights are enough to give you an impression: in 1990, aged 33, he became the youngest chef in the world to be awarded three Michelin stars. Eight years later, he doubled his own record, becoming the youngest ever chef to receive six Michelin stars. In the year following, he became the first chef to earn three Michelin stars twice in the same year. He’s also the only chef to date to score a hat-trick of stars in three different cities.

It’s all the more impressive considering the circumstances.

In 1984, Ducasse survived a plane crash that killed everybody else onboard. He was travelling with four colleagues to open a new restaurant in Courchevel when bad weather hit. The low clouds obscured the pilot’s vision, and the plane struck the mountainside. Ducasse spent six-and-a-half hours hanging from a tree, waiting for the rescue team to find him.

It was while the chef was in hospital that he began to look at the culinary industry from the viewpoint of a restaurateur.

Unaware whether he would stand again, let alone cook, Ducasse dreamed of recipes and restaurants, and realised he could continue his career by sharing his expertise with others.

He made a full recovery, but the seed of his global empire

was planted. Today his kingdom runs from Las Vegas to Tokyo, and includes not just restaurants but hotels, a training school and a series of chocolate shops.

In Provence, two inns harbour all that Ducasse set out to achieve; excellent service and exquisite French cuisine can be found at L’Hostellerie de l’Abbaye de La Celle and La Bastide de Moustiers, which mark 20 and 25 years in business this year respectively. The latter provided the starting point for Ducasse’s fledgling hotel business, and was originally planned as a holiday home for him and his family.

“Hedonists who come to La Bastide are almost like family, aren’t they?” He jokes when I ask why he chose to turn it into a hotel instead. “I love everything about Provence: the light, so pure, which magnifies the landscape; the architecture, altogether modest and refined; and, of course, the produce – colourful and so tasty.”

It’s the food that provides the biggest draw, and which he perfects in the hotels’ respective Michelin-starred restaurants.

Both are headed up by two of Ducasse’s protégées, Frédéric Garnier and Nicolas Pierantoni. His passion for nurturing young talent has afforded him a loyal team and spawned a number of Michelin moguls in the process – London’s own Hélène Darroze and Clare Smyth both undertook stints at Ducasse’s Parisian flagship Le Louis XV. “All of my chefs have been working with me for long years – many of them for more than 20 years,” Ducasse says of his team. “This is pivotal to ensure the consistency of the cuisine offered in my restaurants. They are totally instilled with my vision and I know they can perfectly interpret it with their own personality.”

It’s a vision that spreads far and wide. Few chefs reach such a global audience as Ducasse, and his influence is reflective in his food. In Idam, a restaurant in the heart of the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, a Mediterranean-meets-Middle Eastern palate is served. At Rivea Las Vegas, a hybrid menu of Italian and French dishes is offered to visitors of Hôtel Delano’s 64th floor. Within France, too, Ducasse deviates from tradition; at the Parisian restaurant Spoon, the chef takes diners on a journey inspired by the Spice route – from India to Levant.

“The food reflects the location,” Ducasse explains. “To create a menu, I always start with local resources: what can I get locally? Here is the advantage of French cuisine: an immense array of techniques, which can be applied to almost all sorts of products. The results are the dishes I produce.”

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CONNOISSEUR

“Today, talented chefs and remarkable restaurants are everywhere across the globe”

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT BREAKFAST AT LA BASTIDE DE MOUSTIERS; ALAIN DUCASSE AT LA BASTIDE DE MOUSTIERS; PASTA SERVED AT L'HOSTELLERIE DE L'ABBAYE DE LA CELLE; BAKED APRICOTS SERVED AT LA BASTIDE DE MOUSTIERS, ALL IMAGES ©PIERRE MONETTA

enjoyed the chef’s strive for innovation. The first cook to send food to outer space, Ducasse has crafted a series of Michelin-standard meals for astronauts on the International Space Station. Far from the powdered packets sold at the Science Museum, this new era of space food is delicious: think spiced baby chicken and tuna in lemon sauce. It’s the final food frontier, the last box ticked for a chef whose influence spans the globe. Where could he possibly go next?

“I could mention Mars, since this project is seriously developing,” he muses, referencing a career-long goal to open a restaurant on the red planet. He’s getting closer, thanks to an ongoing partnership with the European Space Agency, which is looking for methods to feed astronauts destined for Mars.

It’s a project that certainly befits the world’s best chef – he’s already conquered one planet, after all.

An increasingly accessible international audience is one of the many positive changes, the chef says, that he has experienced during his career. “Many things have changed in the industry since I started, from the technical equipment of the kitchen to social media influence, from vocational training to TV programmes devoted to cooking. However, I believe the two key changes are the globalisation of the restaurant scene on the one hand, and environmental awareness on the other.

“Today, talented chefs and remarkable restaurants are everywhere across the globe. This makes the competition tougher yet also very stimulating and very beneficial for food lovers. The development of environmental awareness is another crucial change and we, chefs, have to contribute. It’s mandatory for the planet, as well as crucial for people’s health.”

It’s comforting to hear a chef of such prominence supporting sustainability – but it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Ducasse has been at the forefront of culinary innovation throughout his career, and ecology is just another challenge for him to tackle.

Even those outside of the earth’s stratosphere have

L'Hostellerie de l'Abbaye de la Celle offers superior double rooms from approx £200 per night based on two sharing, abbaye-celle.com; La Bastide de Moustiers offers superior double rooms from approx £230 per night based on two sharing, bastide-moustiers.com

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H O W T O S TA R T

A WINE CELLAR A SOMMELIER’S GUIDE TO COLLECTING WINE – FROM STORAGE SOLUTIONS TO TOPICAL TIPPLES

Words: Wieteke Teppema, Sommelier & Co-Owner Of Gezellig Restaurant

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B

eginning her professional career in media, Wieteke Teppema changed direction in 2006 to become a commis sommelier at Prism Restaurant in the City before stints at two Michelin-starred restaurants The Square and The Ledbury. In 2019, Teppema opened Gezellig, a wine-focused restaurant and bar in Holborn.

W H E R E T O S TA R T

The world of wine is vast and confusing with many rabbit holes to go down. To narrow your selection, focus on one red grape and one white grape that you like, or one region you love.

HOW TO STORE

The days of large stately homes with deep vaulted cellars are gone. In London, we tend to be flat dwellers and as such finding suitable storage space for wine can be difficult. Wine is a fairly delicate creature. The ideal temperature to store wine at is 13-14 degrees; it doesn’t like sunlight, heat or excessive humidity/dryness, which can damage the cork and spoil the wine – which means kitchens are wine killers. Throw away that rack on top of your cupboard and instead invest in a small wine fridge. This will offer you a temperature controlled space to store your wine. Once

your collection has outgrown your fridge, you can consider opening an account at a Bonded Warehouse.

Many merchants will sell you a case of wine and deliver it straight into your warehouse account. For a small annual fee, your wine can be correctly stored until you are ready to drink it.

in a case. Wines by the case are cheaper than by the bottle – plus, you have the added benefit of drinking the same wine over the course of a number of years and seeing how it evolves.

WHO TO BUY FROM

Developing a relationship with an independent wine shop is a good start. Ask what they are excited about or what they would recommend – they know their selection best. Once you trust their recommendations you can broaden your horizons. Many shops will host small tastings that will give you an opportunity to try new wines and see what you like. Lea & Sandeman, Bottle Apostle and Humble Grape are oenophile favourites.

The internet gives you a lot of options and merchants tend to specialise in certain countries – one may delve deep into the delights of German Riesling while another highlights South African specialities. The Wine Society (thewinesociety.com), Woodwinters (woodwinters.com), Howard Ripley (howardripley.com) and Stannary Wines (stannarywine.com) are all good places to start.

Start with a few different bottles and narrow down which grape or region you prefer. Once you find a wine you like you can invest

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HOW TO SERVE

Keep opened wines in the fridge (even reds – just get them out 30 minutes before you want to drink them). This will slow down the rate at which the flavours oxidise.

Be aware that not all wine is built to age, and some are better young, when they have all their fresh, crunchy fruit flavours.

When it comes to drinking, be sure to buy some nice glasses.

Larger glasses that taper at the top allow the aromas to stay within the glass. If you keep your glasses stored in a box, wash them before you pour in the wine.

You don’t need a fancy crystal decanter if you want to aerate your wine – a jug will do. Simply pour the wine into the jug, and pour back into the bottle when you’re ready to serve. Magnums (2x 750ml bottles in one) are great fun for parties, especially Rieslings from Germany.

ABOVE GEZELLIG WAS LAUNCHED IN GRADE II LISTED HOLBORN HALL IN 2019

Gezellig Restaurant & Bar, 193-197 High Holborn, gezellig.co.uk

Champagnes L E N N Y K R AV I T Z LIMITED EDITION DOM PÉRIGNON 2008 Lenny Kravitz and Dom Pérignon were made for each other. The artist has designed a limited-edition Dom Pérignon bottle, a candelabra box and a tablebar, elevating Champagne tasting to a ritual. The artistry is remarkable, but the wine is even better.

The 2008 edition is generous, structured and refined. Divine. £165, Selfridges.com

TA I T T I N G E R COMTES DE C H A M PAG N E 2 0 0 7 Comtes de Champagne has long commanded a cult following. Famous ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev used to say: “When I drink Comtes de Champagne rosé, I no longer dance, I fly.” The 2007 vintage is the best yet – powerful, structured and lacy smooth. £150, jeroboams.co.uk

YO U C A N ' T C LO N E F I R S T G R OW T H S A N D, U N L I K E M O S T L U X U R Y C O N S U M E R G O O D S , T H E L E G E N D A R Y V I N TA G E S O F L AT O U R A N D K R U G C A N N O T B E R E P R O D U C E D – M A K I N G T H E W O R L D ’ S R A R E S T W I N E S T H E U LT I M AT E S T O C K I N G F I L L E R S

B R U N O PA I L L A R D N . P. U 2 0 0 4 A relatively new house, Champagne Bruno Paillard was founded

by Monsieur Paillard in 1981. Over the past two decades, it has acquired a formidable reputation for the quality and ageability of its Champagnes. Its prestige offering N.P.U. (Nec Plus Ultra) from 2004 represents the crème de la crème of luxury Champagne. £240, hedonism.co.uk B I L L E C A R TSALMON CUVÉE NICOLAS FRANÇOIS 2006 A blend of the finest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir has produced a deep, intense Champagne with aromas of white flowers, mint, brioche, biscuit and ginger. Magnificent. £125, champagnedirect.co.uk

P H I L I P P O N N AT CLOS DE GOISSES 2010 Venerable Champagne house Philipponnat acquired the Clos de Goisses vineyard in 1935, and immediately it became its jewel.

The 2010 vintage is spectacular and in short supply – only 5,000 bottles of this exquisite wine were made. £330 for three bottles, justerinis.com

2 0 1 9 Words: James Lawrence

T H E U LT I M AT E C H R I S T M A S WINE LIST

Reds

CASTELLO DEI RAMPOLLA VIGNA D'ALCEO 2011 Alceo is a seminal Super Tuscan, which was created by Giacomo Tachis at the gorgeous Rampolla estate. It is a remarkable 90 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 per cent Petit Verdot

VÉRITÉ LA MUSE 2014 Vérité's winemaker Pierre Seillan believes that La Muse is in the same league as Bordeaux's iconic Pétrus. I disagree. I think La Muse is superior. A marvel of Californian terroir, this Merlot-dominant wine is exquisite, offering a complex smoky nose full of black fruit, spices and incense. The palate is exceptionally refined, the finish long. Like all great wines, this will age and improve in bottle – but who could wait? £354, vinatis.co.uk

ORNELLAIA 2016 Another superlative vintage of Ornellaia to date, this prestigious winery was founded by Lodovico Antinori in 1981. Exploiting a lucrative inheritance from his mother's family, he planted Bordeaux varieties in 1982 on what was then an unremarkable, 70-hectare patch of countryside in Bolgheri, coastal Tuscany.

Today it is one of Tuscany's finest wines. £900 for a case of six (price in bond), armitwines.co.uk

C H Â T E A U L AT O U R 1996 It needs little introduction – Château Latour is one of the most magnificent red wines in the world. The 1996 is currently at its peak, an outstandingly complex and elegant wine, that effortlessly merges force and finesse. It may not have quite the status of Lafite, but it is every bit the equal in quality.

Some would say superior. £1,250, harveynichols.com

DOMAINE B AC H E L E TM O N N OT : B ÂTA R D M O N T R AC H E T 2 0 1 3 While the fine wine world is predominately obsessed with the colour red, the Chardonnay vineyards of Bâtard Montrachet are virtually priceless and in massive demand. This is white wine on another level – strong, perfumed and utterly moreish. £310, harveynichols.com

wine, with reserves of flavour beyond imagination. Critically lauded, the estate has been fully biodynamic since the 1980s and uses minimal sulphur (indeed, they also make sulphur-free wines aged in amphorae). £115, jeroboams.co.uk

E I S E L E V I N E YA R D SAUVIGNON BLANC 2016 Is this California's finest Sauvignon Blanc? It is certainly a close contender – Eisele's terroir is legendary, resulting in a creamy, highly aromatic expression of Sauvignon Blanc that invokes the best white wines of Bordeaux. £125, harveynichols.com

DOMAINE DE C H E VA L I E R BLANC 2012 Much hype is levied at Bordeaux's red wines, but the whites can be equally as spectacular. The 2012 vintage in Bordeaux was exceptional for whites; Domaine de Chevalier makes one of the best white wines in any vintage.

Force and finesse merge in perfect harmony. £63, laywheeler.com

PRIVATE DINING This December, step inside a dazzling world of Art Deco Shanghai and celebrate the festive season in elegant style. Nestled in the heart of Mayfair, China Tang offers an array of glamorously curated, exclusive dining spaces. Resonating the late founder Sir David Tang’s great love for the arts - our private dining rooms, Ping, Pang and Pong serve as an illustrious background for any special celebration. With its unmistakable stamp of unrivalled service and world-class Cantonese cuisine, it evokes old world decadence with an immaculate eye for detail. Hosting your special event in China Tang’s private dining rooms is a promise of perfection.

For enquiries please contact Nadine.Barcelona@chinatanglondon.co.uk.

CHINA TANG at The Dorchester CHINA TANG CHINA at The at The Dorchester CHINA CHINA CHINA TANG TANG TANG at atTANG The The atDorchester Dorchester Dorchester The Dorchester CHINA TANG at The Dorchester 53 Park Lane,53 London W1K 1QA Park 53 Park London Lane, W1K London 1QA W1K 1QA 53 53 Park Park 53Lane, Lane, Park Lane, Lane, London London London W1K W1K 1QA W1K 1QA 1QA CHINA at The Dorchester CHINA TANG at The Dorchester 53 TANG Park Lane, London W1K 1QA (0)20  7629 9988  44 7629 9595 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 (0)20 53 (0)20 Park Lane, London 53 W1K Park 1QA Lane, London 1QA   44 7629 9988 7629  9988 44 W1K 44 7629 9595 7629 9595  44 44 44  44 7629 7629 7629 9988 9988 9988  44 44  44 7629 7629 7629 9595 9595 9595 (0)20 (0)20  44 44 7629 9988  44 7629 9595  (0)20 44 (0)20 7629 9988  44  44 7629 7629 9988 9595 44 (0)20 7629 9595  (0)20 reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk  reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk  reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk  reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk  reservations@chinatanglondon.co.uk : www.chinatanglondon.co.uk www.chinatanglondon.co.uk www.chinatanglondon.co.uk www.chinatanglondon.co.uk : : :www.chinatanglondon.co.uk :: www.chinatanglondon.co.uk : www.chinatanglondon.co.uk : www.chinatanglondon.co.uk : www.chinatanglondon.co.uk

CHINA TANG at The Dorchester 53 Park Lane, London W1K 1QA 

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London’s Ultimate Food Snob Courses

THE BIG CHEESE T H E N O T- F O R - P R O F I T A C A D E M Y O F C H E E S E O F F E R S A F R O M A G E A P P R E C I AT I O N L A D D E R C U L M I N AT I N G I N T H E U LT I M AT E A C C O L A D E : M A S T E R O F C H E E S E

Wine Berry Bros. & Rudd hosts wine courses starting with the one-day, WSET Level 1 wine qualification. The day includes a picnic lunch and glass of champers to celebrate graduation. £295pp, bbr.com

Words: Chris Allsop

“I

’m Helen and I’m a cheese eater,” says the woman at the front of the classroom, who’s been asked to introduce herself and her favourite cheese.

Helen is one of 20 cheese fanciers who have gathered to attend the Academy of Cheese’s Associate course. The one-day programme intends to improve our fromage tasting skills and all-round cheese knowledge. My mind has already been expanded by the first thing, an eight-cheese tasting in the flagship Paxton & Whitfield cheesemongers on Jermyn Street.

Launched in 2017, the not-for-profit Academy of Cheese is the brainchild of cheesemaker Mary Quicke. The irrepressible Quicke – whose company Quicke’s produces award-winning clothbound cheddars – first conceived the idea while on a cheese judging visit in the US. Witnessing the excitement of the cohort primed to sit the American Cheese Society’s Certified Cheese Professional exam, Quicke was inspired to fill the gastronomic gap back home, using the Academy to raise the profile of artisan cheese in much the same way the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has done for wine since the 1970s.

Back in the classroom, we begin the Academy’s unique tasting module. Five clear liquid shots are arranged before us. These correspond to salt, sweet, bitter, savoury, and sour tastes – the five core flavours anchoring

the Academy’s flavour wheel. Branching out from this are more detailed tastes (acid splits into: ‘other sour’, ‘fruit sour’, or ‘lactic sour’), which then split into more subtle, precise options such as ‘roast chicken pan’ or ‘Himalayan salt’.

During the lunch break, I speak to 30-somethings Lewis and his wife Megan. “We’ve taken the Berry Bros. wine tasting course and thought this would be similar,” Megan says.

They’re keen to do the next level at Berry Bros. and will probably do the same with the Academy of Cheese, which has just rolled out the second of its four certificates. This latest ‘Member’ certificate is for “cheese lovers who seek a more profound understanding of the world of cheese”.

Everyone I speak to has a deep desire to earn the elegant Academy of Cheese pin badge.

There’s one for each progression through the Academy, with a majestic gold pin for its final certificate – Master of Cheese.

The day in the classroom ends as it began with a substantial cheese tasting, this time starting with feta and ending with whiffy Époisses. We stagger out into the afternoon, vaguely cheese drunk. On to the multiplechoice exam, taken at home online, to earn that sought-after pin.

The Associate Course starts from £160, the Member Course starts from £595, academyofcheese.org

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Chocolate The International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting takes chocolate tasting to the next level with its certificates delivering a “deeper understanding of flavour in fine cacao”. £950pp, chocolatetastinginstitute.org

Whisky (and Cigars) In partnership with Hunters & Frankau, Hotel Xenia offers a Cigar and Whisky Pairing Masterclass for two people hosted in its herb garden. £138 per couple, hotelxenia.co.uk

A M AT T E R O F

TA S T E W I T H 1 8 R E S TAU R A N T S S PA N N I N G S I X D I F F E R E N T C I T I E S , JA S O N AT H E R TO N I S W E L L-V E R S E D I N T H E A R T O F T R AV E L . A S T H E M I C H E L I N - S TA R R E D C H E F E N T E R S H I S F O U R T H Y E A R O F PA R T N E R S H I P

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W I T H H E AT H R OW V I P, H E S H A R E S H I S F O O D I E H I G H L I G H T S F R O M AC R O S S T H E G LO B E

irports and Michelin-standard meals don’t often go hand-inhand. A departures lounge feast of sandwiches and crisps is the typical pre-flight dinner, while plane food has a whole reputation of its own. At Heathrow VIP dishes are decidedly tastier. An exclusive service for First Class and Business travellers, Heathrow VIP has been designed to ease the necessary airport transit, with a chauffeur service and eight individual private suites. Jason Atherton is behind the contemporary menu, which is inspired by dishes served in the chef’s awardwinning restaurants – from Berners Tavern to Pollen Street Social. Here, the chef shares his top gastronomic haunts from around the world.

What is your favourite international cuisine? French food. As I learnt so much about cooking there in my early career, it holds a special place in my heart. I also love Filipino food, which I cook a lot at home as that’s where my wife Irha is from. I think it’s important that my daughters grow up knowing their heritage.

Which city would you regard as the food capital of the world? I may be biased, but I believe London has it all and the restaurant industry has developed so much over the past few years. It has every cuisine you could want and changes so often; there is always somewhere new to try.

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Which city/country has the best street food?

Hong Kong. Curry fishballs are their most famous street food snack, but I love their siu mai [dumplings] and rice noodles.

Where would you recommend for a nightcap?

The American Bar at The Savoy is always a special bar to visit. My favourite cocktail is a classic negroni.

What is your most memorable meal from your travels? When I was in Positano on the Amalfi Coast, I discovered Da Aldofo. It’s a tiny beach restaurant that’s more like a shack built into the rocky coastline and you can only access it by boat. Once you jump on the restaurant’s little rowing boat and get dropped off, you sit at plastic tables in your beachwear and lap up the atmosphere – you can just imagine all the movie stars from the 1950s sitting there by the sea.

The restaurant serves lunch only from a short, authentic menu where everything is delicious; the baked clams in particular were so fresh and tasty, and the pasta is amazing.

Which restaurant would you most like to visit abroad? TAK Room from chef Thomas Keller.

The French Laundry is one of my favourite restaurants, so I can’t wait to try this one next time I’m in New York.

Which chefs are causing a stir overseas?

Mauro Colagreco has had an amazing achievement this year at Mirazur in Menton, France, as he was awarded his third Michelin Star and named number one in the World’s 50 Best in the same year – definitely well deserved as he puts so much work into the restaurant.

You’ve recently opened The Betterment at The Biltmore, what’s the secret to a good hotel restaurant? Creating an atmosphere and identity in the restaurant, and making sure it has its own personality and is not just another part of the hotel.

You have restaurants in six different cities; do the audiences vary much between them?

They do. For example, in Shanghai, people have taken longer to adapt to a fully British menu but in Doha and Dubai, people are going crazy for Sunday roasts!

What did you consider when creating the menu for Heathrow VIP? I made sure I was creating dishes that are substantial and will keep you satisfied on your flight, but are also made using healthy, fresh ingredients so they’re not too heavy as you’ll be sitting down for a lengthy amount of time.

Where’s next on your travel bucket list? I travel lots for work, mainly Asia and the Middle East, and then Europe on holidays with my family, so exploring South America would be nice. It’s somewhere I haven’t seen as much of, especially Peru and Argentina where the food is incredible.

For more information on the Heathrow VIP service, visit heathrowvip.com

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OPPOSITE PAGE JASON ATHERTON; THIS PAGE DISHES SERVED AT HEATHROW VIP

FROM

P L AT E TO WA L L U N D E R M I C H E L R O U X J R , L E G AV R O C H E H A S HUNG WORKS BY PICASSO, MIRÓ AND DALí; THE NED HAS ITS OWN PERMANENT ART C O L L E C T I O N ; A N D P H A R M A C Y 2 H A S A LW AY S BEEN MORE ABOUT THE DAMIEN HIRSTS THAN M A R K H I X ’ S F O O D . B U T D O P E O P L E R E A L LY WA N T T O E N J OY F I N E A R T A S T H E Y F I N E DINE? OR, AS ONE CRITIC QUIPPED, IS MOST R E S TA U R A N T A R T A B O U T A S G O O D A S A R T GALLERY FOOD? LUXURY LONDON POSES THE Q U E ST I O N S TO TO M K E R R I D G E , W H O L AST Y E A R H I R E D A N A R T C O N S U LTA N T T O H E L P LAUNCH KERRIDGE’S BAR & GRILL IN THE CO R I N T H I A H OT E L

Words: Josh Sims

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Opposite page: Selfridges' flagship restaurant The Brasserie of Light opened last year with a big emphasis on design and art. The Martin Brudnizkidesigned space sees visitors dine beneath the largest scale artwork by Damien Hirst.

This page: Tom Kerridge (pictured left with head chef Nick Beardshaw) has amassed a beautiful art collection at his eponymous restaurant at Corinthia Hotel London, with each piece available to purchase.

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ere it not for the red-leather banquettes and sparkling cutlery, you could easily confuse Kerridge’s Bar & Grill at the Corinthia Hotel with one of the contemporary art galleries on Mayfair’s Cork Street. On the walls is an eclectic mix of photography and painting, montages and mixed media, most of it from up-and-coming British artists such as Chris Moon, Matt Roe and Robi Walters. Most strikingly, right in the middle of the restaurant, where a waiters’ station or some floral display might typically be found, is an impressive sculpture by the artist Beth Cullen. It’s not quite the size of her 16ft marble piece outside Dubai’s Opera House, but it’s a statement nonetheless.

Indeed, having taken said wrong turn, you’re likely to find yourself not just alongside diners, but alongside people who aren’t eating at all.

They’re here for the art.

“Anything that gets people through the doors is a bonus, whether they end up eating or drinking anything or not,” says Tom Kerridge, the chef best known for getting Michelin to give two stars to pub dining, with his The Hand and Flowers inn in Marlow. “But what we’ve done here is, in effect, to create a small gallery within the restaurant. And we’re more than happy for people to come in and just look at the art for its own sake.”

Art displays in restaurants is not a new idea, of course. London establishments the likes of Langan’s in the 1980s or L’Escargot in the 1990s won reputations as much for the art on the walls

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as the food on the plates. Before then, Warhol designed bottle labels for the likes of Dom Pérignon and Absolut; Dalí for Chupa Chups.

Food in the UK started to gain credibility much the same time as the Young British Artists turned global attention on the nation’s artistic output.

Some might even argue that there’s something of a crossover between artistic and culinary pursuits – “though I’ve always thought of cheffing as being more a trade than an art,” says the ever down-to-earth Kerridge.

In recent years, however, the use of restaurant space to showcase non-culinary arts has gone up a gear: whether that be Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy

restaurants; chef Mark Hix filling the walls at his eateries; art showcases at Carousel in Marylebone or Scott’s on Mount Street; or pieces from the likes of Tracey Emin, Phyllida Barlow and Sarah Lucas at The Ned. What’s more, Kerridge argues that the idea of restaurant space doubling as gallery space is being taken considerably more seriously.

Perhaps too seriously by some: one work on display at Kerridge’s, by artist Carne Griffiths, uses tea, alcohol, paprika and rock salt among its materials.

“It’s not hard now to be in a beautiful restaurant with great art on the walls, but the combination so often seems without reason and the result feels soulless,” Kerridge argues. “Art is put on the walls without much thought, or it’s brought together by an interior designer who’s more concerned about using it to match the curtains. The art doesn’t add another layer to the experience.

And for me that’s what a restaurant should be – not a temple to gastronomy but with food part of the overall whole that includes the tableware, the service, the room.

“It’s not that idea of having the most expensive art to marry with some posh menu either,” continues Kerridge, whose father was a graphic designer and infused within him a love of all things arty. “We’re moving away from that dated idea. I’ve never been one for using caviar or truffles or gold leaf with

a dish for their own sake. I just aim to use the best ingredients for the job. And that’s what we’re doing with the art – I’ve seen a lot of work by superstar artists and, well, a lot of it isn’t all that good.”

So with Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, he’s teamed up with Liam West, founder of art consultancy West Contemporary – who’s worked with the likes of Hotel Café Royal and the Royal Albert Hall – to carefully curate a selection of works in a space that felt like it was begging for it. The work on show – all available to buy, with prices from £150 to around £90,000, should your guard be down after a tipsy lunch – will change quarterly, with dedicated shows on occasion in between. It’s not big-hitter stuff – unlike Le Gavroche, which showcases Dalís and Mirós – but deliberately less rarefied and more accessible. They’ve even printed a brochure for viewers to read and take away.

It still helps, of course, that art makes any restaurant more Instagrammable – which may be why you might have heard of La Colombe d’Or in Provence, Kronenhalle in Zürich, or Osteria Francescana in Modena.

“The whole point is not just to have the art as decorative, but to show art to people who might not typically go into Mayfair galleries,” explains West, who has known Kerridge for some years and represents Kerridge’s wife, Beth Cullen (sometimes

Left: In 2017, The Ned launched its permanent art collection, the Vault 100, featuring works by 93 women, and seven men – or as curator Kate Bryan put it, "a deliberate subversion of the FTSE 100 CEO gender ratio at the time of curating".

Right: Diners at Mark Hix's Shoreditchbased Tramshed can enjoy dinner while admiring Damien Hirst's formaldehyde cow. Part of the artist's Natural History series, the Cock'n'Bull sculpture makes a nod to the restaurant's Beef and Chicken menu.

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LUXURY LONDON

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Left and opposite: When Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery opened in 2016, Pharmacy 2 opened with it. The cafe operates during gallery hours and has been designed entirely by Hirst, who didn't miss the opoprtunity to show off his own works.

known as Beth Cullen-Kerridge). “You still get that Pretty Woman effect in a lot of those galleries – the pressure to deliver sales is so intense there’s a tendency to judge books by their covers, and only respond warmly to people who look like they might buy. We’re aiming at art in a more open-armed setting. You enjoy great food, a nice glass of wine, and you’re comfortable. That makes it the perfect setting for looking at art. Much as Tom is known for taking away the white table cloth stuffiness of restaurants, we want to strip back the typical gallery environment so it’s possible to enjoy art.”

That, West argues, could prove something of a game changer for artists, too. As he notes, it’s not just about introducing art to people who might not have considered it before so much as reaching a wider audience. The daily footfall in a restaurant with a ‘name’ chef – around 300 diners in Kerridge’s case – dwarfs that of your typical small London art gallery.

Simply by removing art from the traditional, white-walled, whisper-if-you-dare setting and putting it in an atmosphere that encourages easy enjoyment, can result in properly careerboosting exposure for some artists. Not that a ‘name’ restaurant is necessary: West insists that his professional eye has been caught by art hung in branches of Nando’s.

“I think the idea of art presented with careful consideration in a restaurant is one that’s only

Below: A restaurant where Pablo Picasso hung out surely has a bountiful art collection. La Calbome d'Or in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, has an enviable selection of modern artworks – from Picasso to Matisse to Calder.

going to provide great opportunities for both industries to grow,” argues Kerridge, who’s now working on a second ‘art restaurant’ project with West. “For the restaurant it shapes and gives added purpose to the space. From the artist’s or gallery’s point of view – and I speak here as someone married to an artist – it’s a tough market out there with lots of hidden costs, so this is a chance to perhaps show more and sell more, without having to work in all those expensive Mayfair rents. I reckon it’s an idea that will go from strength to strength.”

Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, SW1, corinthia.com

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GLORIA Photo opportunies abound at Gloria. Whether it’s the one-way mirror bathroom stalls, the garden ceiling or the pasta carbonara served in a wheel of cheese, there’s plenty to keep your eyes – and camera – occupied.

But should your focus turn to the food, another occulant delight awaits: Gloria’s kitsch crockery is just as madcap as it’s interior design, and all the better for it. Parent company Big Mamma Group commissioned Italian ceramic producer Fima Deruta to create these dishes, but similar designs can be bought directly from the brand, or found on Etsy should your bargain hunting skills be up to the challenge. fimaderuta.it

HOT P L AT E S LO N D O N ’ S M O S T I N S TAG R A M M A B L E R E S TA U R A N T S S E R V E S O M E S E R I O U S I N T E R I O R S I N S P I R AT I O N . S T E P U P TO T H E P L AT E W I T H T H E S E C H E F -A P P R OV E D TA B L E WA R E P I E C E S

Words: Ellen Millard

R OV I Yotam Ottolenghi’s sixth restaurant Rovi was a curveball. Focusing on “fermentation and cooking over fire” the chef took a gamble and won, receiving a welcome reception with each dish. Equally successful has been the restaurant’s adjoining shop, where you can pick up the rainbow plates and glassware you just ate your meal from.

Six bottle green tumblers, £35, Cake plate, £16, ottolenghi.co.uk

PETERSHAM NURSERIES Petersham Nurseries’ Covent Garden branch opened in spring 2018 and with it came a selection of dainty tableware.

Pick up the restaurant’s glass teastand or a pair of these handblown Amber Spot water glasses, both of which are part of the Petersham Nurseries Interiors Collection. £26, petershamnurseries.com

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SKETCH Sketch’s artist-in-residence David Shrigley transformed the walls of the powder pink afternoon tea haven The Gallery in 2014 with 239 satirical prints.

In keeping with the theme, the Turner Prize-nominated illustrator crafted a whismical crockery set to match, with each piece artfully mishapen (“It looks like a six-year-old made it,” Shrigley said of the teapot) and featuring a different message. Because who doesn’t want their morning cuppa to tell them “It’s OK”?

From £65, sketch.london

H A M YA R D H O T E L How do you like your eggs in the morning? We like ours boiled and served in Kit Kemp’s fanciful Sailor’s Farewell egg cup – created in partnership with Wedgwood and used in Kemp’s Sohobased Ham Yard Hotel. £55 for two, firmdalehotels.com

CLARIDGE’S Claridge’s is something of an expert in afternoon tea, having been serving scones with a side of champagne for more than 150 years. Its signature mint green and white seersucker striped crockery was created in partnership with porcelain specialist Bernardaud. While this particular colourway is bespoke – and designed to match Claridge’s house hue – the set is a variation of Bernardaud’s Galerie Royale service, which is still available today in a charming cornflower blue.

From £40 for a bread and buttler plate, artedona.com

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FORTNUM & MASON In 1902, when King Edward VII requested “the finest tea in all of the land” Fortnum & Mason rose to the challenge, scouring the earth to bring back assam from India and Flowery Pekoe from Sri Lanka. The result was the Royal Blend, a cuppa fit for a king. It’s best sipped from the brand’s turquoise St James teaset, adorned with a Chinoiserie and bamboo design and used to serve high tea in The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon.

From £38 for a tea plate, fortnumandmason.com

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FROM EAST TO WEST S I N C E 2 0 0 5 , C H I N A TA N G AT T H E DORCHESTER HAS BEEN SERVING AUTHENTIC CANTONESE CUISINE WITH A SIDE OF 1930S SHANGHAI G L A M O U R . A S T H E M AY FA I R E S TA B L I S H M E N T G E A R S U P TO M A R K I T S 1 5 TH A N N I V E R S A R Y, T H E R E ’ S N O BETTER TIME TO REVISIT A CLASSIC

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ew restaurateurs have left such an impression as the late Sir David Tang.

His string of grandiose Chinese restaurants have drawn diners from across the globe, becoming staple haunts for politicians, tycoons, dignitaries and movie stars.

With a personality that lit up the room, the entrepreneur counted Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson, Kate Moss and Stephen Fry among his friends. He even claimed to have taught HRH The Queen a card trick during a visit to Sandringham.

His legacy lives on in China Tang. Founded in 2005, Tang’s first restaurant outside of Asia brought a slice of 1930s-inspired glamour to Mayfair, with a flamboyant, Art Deco design befitting the restaurateur’s own tastes.

Walk into China Tang today, and you will see its founder’s unmistakable fingerprint in the silkbound dining chairs, blossom-inspired lacquer walls and eclectic collection of contemporary Chinese art. Every detail is his choosing – from the silver-plated chopsticks to the poems of Coleridge and Frost that provide a backing track to the restrooms.

In the kitchen, head chef Fong Chong Choi crafts a menu of classic, home-style Cantonese dishes, each crafted using traditional ingredients and designed to be wholesome and hearty. Don’t miss the 25 dim sum, each steamed, baked or fried and served in beautiful bamboo baskets.

Signature dishes range from honey Cha Siu pork to stir-fried beef in black pepper,

prepared with minimum 21 day-aged British beef fillet. But most famous of all is the Peking Duck; prepared in China Tang’s specialist duck oven, the dish is carved in front of guests and served over two or three courses in various styles, each one more impressive and delicious than the last. It is pure food theatre. Pure Sir David Tang.

53 Park Lane, W1K, chinatanglondon.co.uk

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WINEGROWER / CREATOR / COGNAC VISIT LA MAISON RÉMY MARTIN RESIDENCY AT CLAUDE BOSI. 81 Fulham Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 6RD Please drink responsibly

To apply for membership and receive access to exclusive events, visit lamaison.remymartin.com or scan this QR code

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

BORDEAUX – the Wine Capital of the World

POPULARISED BY KINGS, COVETED BY COLLECTORS, B O R D E A U X ’ S A N C I E N T C L A R E T S H AV E M A D E M O D E R N - D AY T O U R I S T AT T R A C T I O N S O F T H E C H ÂT E A U X T H AT P R O D U C E T H E M .

A S T H E C A P I TA L ’ S O E N O P H I L E S C O N T E M P L AT E T H E I R F E S T I V E WISH LISTS, LUXURY LONDON PROVIDES THE LOWDOWN ON THE WORLD’S MOST RENOWNED WINE REGION

CHÂTEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD, LOCATED IN THE VILLAGE OF PAUILLAC IN THE MÉDOC REGION

Wine Map of

Bordeaux France

THE WINES

More than 90 per cent of the wines produced in Bordeaux are reds, blended from cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot, malbec and, although rarely, carménère. To combat rising temperatures, however, as of July 2019 Bordeaux’s regulatory body has approved four other dark grape varieties: marselan, touriga nacional, castets, and arinarnoa.

First-growth wines (as defined right) are typically blends of 70 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 15 per cent cabernet franc and 15 per cent merlot. White bordeaux is predominantly made from sémillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle.

GEOGRAPHY

Bordeaux is often defined by the rivers that intersect the region, with the ‘left bank’ falling on the Atlantic side of the Gironde and Garonne, and the ‘right bank’ to the right and north of the Dordogne. In general, the left bank is dominated by cabernet sauvignon and the right bank is known for merlot. With 57 appellations (legally defined grapegrowing regions), Bordeaux is the largest wine-producing territory in France.

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BORDEAUX SPECIAL

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 Names appear as originally listed, followed by modern names, followed by estates and villages

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FIRST GROWTHS (PREMIERS CRUS) Château Lafite, now Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac Château Latour, Pauillac Château Margaux, Margaux Haut-Brion,[a] now Château Haut-Brion, Pessac, Graves Mouton,[b] now Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac SECOND GROWTHS (DEUXIÈMES CRUS) Rauzan-Ségla, now Château RauzanSégla, Margaux Rauzan-Gassies, now Château RauzanGassies, Margaux Léoville, now - Château Léoville-Las Cases, St.-Julien - Château Léoville-Poyferré, St.-Julien - Château Léoville-Barton, St.-Julien Vivens Durfort, now Château DurfortVivens, Margaux Gruaud-Laroze, now Château GruaudLarose, St.-Julien Lascombes, now Château Lascombes, Margaux Brane, now Château Brane-Cantenac, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux) Pichon Longueville, now - Château Pichon Longueville Baron, Pauillac - Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac Ducru Beau Caillou, now Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, St.-Julien Cos Destournel, now Château Cos d’Estournel, St.-Estèphe Montrose, now Château Montrose, St.-Estèphe THIRD GROWTHS (TROISIÈMES CRUS) Kirwan, now Château Kirwan, CantenacMargaux (Margaux) Château d’Issan, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux) Lagrange, Château Lagrange, St.-Julien Langoa, now Château Langoa-Barton, St.-Julien Giscours, now Château Giscours, Labarde-Margaux (Margaux) St.-Exupéry, now Château Malescot St. Exupéry, Margaux Boyd, now - Château Cantenac-Brown, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux) - Château Boyd-Cantenac, Margaux Palmer, now Château Palmer, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux) Lalagune, now Château La Lagune, Ludon (Haut-Medoc)

Desmirail, now Château Desmirail, Margaux Dubignon, later Château Dubignon, Margaux Calon, now Château Calon-Ségur, St.-Estèphe Ferrière, now Château Ferrière, Margaux Becker, now Château Marquis d’Alesme Becker, Margaux

1855 CLASSIFICATION

In 1855, at the Paris World’s Fair, the Association of Bordeaux Wine Merchants drew up an official classification of the best wines of Bordeaux at the request of Emperor Napoleon III. The merchants based their conclusions on the prices achieved on the markets over the previous centuries. The wines were ranked in importance from first to fifth growths, or ‘crus’.

All of the red wines that made it onto the list came from the Médoc region except for one: Château Haut-Brion from Graves.

Only twice since the original 1855 classification has there been a change to the grouping: in 1856, Château Cantemerle was added as fifth growth; and, in 1973, Château Mouton Rothschild was promoted from second growth to first (see page 66).

ANGLO-OENOPHILES

The popularity of bordeaux wine in England increased dramatically in the 12th century following the marriage of King Henry II (the Duke of Normandy, also known as Henry Plantagenet) to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152. The marriage made the province of Aquitaine part of the Angevin Empire, which covered roughly half of France and all of England, and made ‘clairet’ – a type of dark rosé – the most common bordeaux exported to Britain. Due to its widespread consumption between the 12th and 15th century – when the Aquitaine region returned to the French following the battle of Castillon in 1453 – the word was anglicised to claret and is still used today as a reference to fine red wine.

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FOURTH GROWTHS (QUATRIÈMES CRUS) St.-Pierre, now Château Saint-Pierre, St.-Julien Talbot, now Château Talbot, St.-Julien Du-Luc, now Château Branaire-Ducru, St.-Julien Duhart, now Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac Pouget-Lassale and Pouget, both now Château Pouget, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux) Carnet, now Château La Tour Carnet, St.-Laurent (Haut-Médoc) Rochet, now Château Lafon-Rochet, St.-Estèphe Château de Beychevele, now Château Beychevelle, St.-Julien Le Prieuré, now Château Prieuré-Lichine, Cantenac-Margaux (Margaux) Marquis de Thermes, now Château Marquis de Terme, Margaux FIFTH GROWTHS (CINQUIÈMES CRUS) Canet, now Château Pontet-Canet, Pauillac Batailley, now - Château Batailley, Pauillac - Château Haut-Batailley, Pauillac Grand Puy, now Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac Artigues Arnaud, now Château Grand-PuyDucasse, Pauillac Lynch, now Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac Lynch Moussas, now Château LynchMoussas, Pauillac Dauzac, now Château Dauzac, Labarde (Margaux) Darmailhac, now Château d’Armailhac, Pauillac Le Tertre, now Château du Tertre, Arsac (Margaux) Haut Bages, now Château Haut-BagesLibéral, Pauillac Pédesclaux, now Château Pédesclaux, Pauillac Coutenceau, now Château Belgrave, St.-Laurent (Haut-Médoc) Camensac, now Château de Camensac, St.-Laurent (Haut-Médoc) Cos Labory, now Château Cos Labory, St.-Estèphe Clerc Milon, now Château Clerc-Milon, Pauillac Croizet-Bages, now Château Croizet Bages, Pauillac Cantemerle,[d] now Château Cantemerle, Macau (Haut-Médoc)

F A M I LY F O R T U N E

Philippe Sereys de Rothschild S O M E O F T H E W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O L L E C TA B L E W I N E S A R E P R O D U C E D B Y B A R O N P H I L I P P E D E R O T H S C H I L D , A F A M I LY F I R M W H I C H H A S O W N E D N O T A B L E F R E N C H E S TAT E S F O R G E N E R AT I O N S . C E O P H I L I P P E S E R E Y S D E R O T H S C H I L D D I S C U S S E S F O L L O W I N G I N T H E F A M I LY T R A D I T I O N A N D H O W H I S C H Â T E A U X ARE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST CLARET

Words: Josh Sims

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P R E M I E R C R U S TAT U S The 1855 Bordeaux classification ranked wine based on quality and price, allocating the best châteaux with a status or ‘growth.’

Originally marked as second growth – supposedly because it had been acquired by the Rothschilds, a nonFrench family, in 1853 – Château Mouton Rothschild was elevated to premier cru (first-growth) status in 1973 after decades of lobbying. There has only been one other change to the original 1855 classification, with Château Cantemerle being accepted in 1856.

The other houses granted premier cru status are Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux and Château Haut-Brion.

hat do I like least about my work?” Philippe Sereys de Rothschild asks himself. “Tasting bad wine – without mentioning any names, I often taste other wines to acquire a better understanding of the market. Also, when someone tells me they’ve drunk one of our wines and didn’t get the 100 per cent pleasure from it that I think they should get. It doesn’t happen that often – but I’m very sensitive about that. You know, when you’re an actor on the stage not everyone is going to love your performance. When you expose yourself, whatever the product, you get praise and you get criticism.”

But one might expect that, as CEO of Baron Philippe de Rothschild – the producer of noted bordeaux wines, among them Château Mouton Rothschild – he mostly receives praise. That’s the wine that became the go-to reference for anyone wanting to express their oenophilic tendencies, their deep pockets, or both. That’s the wine which is namechecked in the writings of John Updike, Agatha Christie and Roald Dahl, and it’s a fine appreciation of Château Mouton Rothschild that enables James Bond to expose the villain in Diamonds Are Forever.

Yet having such a high profile, Sereys de Rothschild insists, is a doubleedged sword. “Look at what the most famous wines in the world are and nine times out of 10 ours comes up. That means that we’re more widely tasted, draw the interest of sommeliers and so on. We have brand awareness – not a phrase I like. But it also means we really have to shoot for perfection.

The difficulty is not getting to the top, but staying there.”

The Rothschild reach goes beyond the liquid itself. “Although it’s a little more than just a liquid, of course,” chuckles Sereys de Rothschild.

This includes the auctioning of 75 limited-edition cases by Sotheby’s in early 2019 to raise money for the restoration of the Palace of Versailles and Notre-Dame. The labels were designed by art heavyweights Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Giuseppe Penone, Bernar Venet and Lee Ufan, in keeping with a tradition established in 1945 by Sereys de Rothschild’s grandfather. Over the years, labels have been designed by the likes of Dalí, Miró, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol and Bacon.

“Château Mouton Rothschild has always been very much part of a wider artistic domain,” he explains. His great-grandfather wrote plays and his grandfather was a major art collector, translated the works of Christopher Marlowe and owned Théâtre Pigalle in Paris. His mother, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, was an actress, and his father, the ComédieFrançaise stalwart Jacques Sereys, is an actor. “There wasn’t any fixed strategy about the labels for these bottles – just the love of wine and of art, although, of course, it plays with the idea that making wine is an art and that blending wine is like blending colours for a painting.”

It’s the performing arts that get him most animated. He runs a foundation which helps school children to experience artistic performances, from ballet to opera and traditional theatrical productions.

“These days, children are very focused on their screens, on their video games,” he observes. “But I believe that it’s essential at some point in their schooling that they get to engage with performing arts, to get behind the scenes and see this whole world of know-how – to see the fascination on their faces is absolute magic. I don’t think young people engage with the arts automatically – I wouldn’t have if my parents hadn’t been actors. You

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THE FIVE CHÂTEAU MOUTON ROTHSCHILD VINTAGES INCLUDED IN THE VERSAILLES CELEBRATION CASE

C H ÂT E A U M O U T O N R O T H S C H I L D V S C H ÂT E A U L A F I T E R O T H S C H I L D Baron Nathaniel Rothschild bought Château Brane Mouton in 1853 and renamed it Château Mouton Rothschild. His uncle, Baron James, purchased Lafite 15 years later – making Mouton the only premier cru estate to have remained in the ownership of the same family since the 1855 classification (although, admittedly, Mouton was only granted the status in 1973, whereas Lafite had been a premier cru since the classification was introduced).

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TERROIR Château Mouton Rothschild spans 222 acres of the Médoc wine region, which covers a total of 41,000 acres. The Mouton vineyard comprises 81 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 15 per cent merlot, three per cent cabernet franc and one per cent petit verdot.

know, education is one thing, but culture is another. And the experience of culture is pleasure.”

Sereys de Rothschild is, it might be said, in the pleasure business himself. Now 56, he’s had a career in banking, as an investor in various tech and environmental start-ups, and as the chief finance officer of the energy company Dalkia. He’s also the partner of French acting icon Carole Bouquet, whose credits include For Your Eyes Only.

He took over the family firm on the death of his mother in 2014. He knew the day would come and, when finally faced with the choice of whether or not to take up the leadership, he went for it, with his brother Julien and sister Camille also on the board.

“I’ve always looked at the wine business as an opportunity and not an obligation, though I knew throughout my career that I’d get closer and closer to it,” he says. He also knew it would bring challenges. “There isn’t room at the top of the wine world for everybody. And the fact is that wine is very fragile – you open a bottle and you don’t really know what will happen. It might not have been well preserved or the temperature might be wrong. My job is not to make the most expensive wine – that’s decided by the market, over which producers have no control – but the best wine.”

Baron Philippe de Rothschild is a vast enterprise, incorporating not just Château Mouton Rothschild but also other family estates: Domaine de Baronarques, Château

Clerc Milon and Château d’Armailhac. Sereys de Rothschild’s grandfather and mother were smart in building equal partnerships with other family winemakers in Chile and the US, producing, in time, well-received brands such as Almaviva and Opus One. “Everybody told us that joint ventures don’t work; that 50/50 is a fragile structure. But it’s been working with various ventures for between 20 and 50 years now,” he says. “We’re in no hurry. The wine business is all about growing slowly but surely. We’re always looking for more joint ventures with other families – there’s something special in that. Château Mouton Rothschild is not 99 per cent family-owned but 100 per cent family-owned and I think that gives it a soul. Our family history gives us a certain approach to the wine world.

Families are around for the long term – and the only way to make wine is to think in the long term.”

There’s even family over the road. Cheek by jowl with the Château Mouton Rothschild estate is Château Lafite Rothschild. One would imagine that there is a little friendly competition: Lafite gained the coveted premier cru (firstgrowth) status in 1855 (an honour given at that time only to French-owned estates and denied to Château Mouton Rothschild, it’s thought, as it had recently been bought

by Englishman Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild). Château Mouton Rothschild was finally granted premier cru classification in 1973 after persistent lobbying of the French

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THE VERSAILLES CELEBRATION CASE

S E C O N D W O R L D WA R During the Second World War, Baron Philippe de Rothschild was detained and stripped of his French citizenship. He eventually managed to get to England, where he joined Charles de Gaulle as part of the Free French forces, and took part in the D-Day landings. His wife, Élisabeth Pelletier de Chambure, was arrested by the Nazis and died in Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1945, shortly before the end of the war.

government by Baron Philippe de Rothschild. Only five estates hold the 1855 premier cru classification of Bordeaux.

“Sentimentally I’m very close to Château Lafite and to my cousins Eric and Saskia who run it – and it’s literally only 500 metres away,” he laughs. “If I have questions or doubts about something I give them a call. It’s a friendship, not a rivalry, but of course we have the normal disagreements. Frankly, the competition for us is not Lafite – it’s the rest of the wine world.”

It makes him very happy, he says, that “more and more people are drinking better and better wine. More people are sensitive to authenticity – they want to know where wines are from, how wines are made, who makes them and how. We have to get that message across with regards to the quality of our wines – that they’re worth the price because they taste better and because they’re better for your health. We work hard to make them cleaner and cleaner.”

It might take a Frenchman to argue that wine is good for you, but Sereys de Rothschild speaks with a persuasive enthusiasm about the craft that has always been in the background of his life, and which is now his professional focus and responsibility. Despite his famous family name, he says he’s careful to take nothing for granted. “My mother always said that because I have this name I have great privilege, but that it also comes with important responsibilities and duties. That’s something I tell my children, too. I long wrestled about how I should explain the Rothschild name to them. Do people look at you differently because you’re called Rothschild? Absolutely. So I just don’t think about it. I think if you did think about it too hard you’d end up not trusting your own judgement. You’d stop living.”

If you’re good at what you do, he says, people will respect you regardless of your name. “When I joined Château Mouton Rothschild I just wanted to be sure that I could add something. I don’t yet know that I will – but I hope to over the next 20 or so years.”

Château Mouton Rothschild is available in London at Justerini & Brooks (61 St James’s Street, justerinis.com) and Berry Bros. & Rudd (63 Pall Mall, bbr.com)

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PRINCE of REDS O N LY 5 0 0 C A S E S O F C H Â T E A U H A U T - B R I O N A R E P R O D U C E D E A C H Y E A R .

P R I C E D A T M O R E T H A N £ 1 0 , 0 0 0 , T H E Y C A N S E L L O U T I N A S I N G L E D AY. AT T H E H E A D O F T H E C O M PA N Y I S P R I N C E R O B E R T O F L U X E M B O U R G , W H O H A S O P E N E D U P B O R D E A U X ’ S D E L I G H T S TO A N E W G E N E R AT I O N O F W I N E LOV E R S B Y C R E AT I N G C L A R E N D E L L E , A B R A N D A I M E D AT YO U N G E R O E N O P H I L E S

Words: Josh Sims

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t’s hard to imagine the president of Domaine Clarence Dillon sitting on a sunlounger by an LA hotel pool, tapping into a laptop and dreaming up his next blockbuster. First off, his manner is friendly but formal, much like his dress – he often favours a collarless Alpine loden jacket in green wool with horn buttons. It’s hard to imagine him in Hollywood, writing screenplays, as he did for a spell in what must seem like another life – back when he and his then girlfriend (now wife) were working up a film version of Don Juan and had “an extraordinary moment” when some very big names in Hollywood were optioning the screenplay. His life in the upper echelons of very fine winemaking suits him much better. Secondly, he is, after all, a prince – Prince Robert Louis François Marie of Luxembourg, to give him his official title.

1521 In two manuscripts dating from 1521 and 1526 discovered at the Departmental Archives of the Gironde, the term ‘cru’ is used to refer to a wine from ‘Haulbrion’ – more than 300 years before Château Haut-Brion was recognised as a premier cru classé in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.

THE FACADE OF CHÂTEAU LA MISSION HAUT-BRION

“I’ve gone by Robert of Luxembourg. It’s just my name and I carry it for better or worse. It’s who I am and I’m not going to hide that. But my title is not something I’ve even considered to be a tool in business,” he says, sounding perhaps just a little bothered by the suggestion. “In fact, it’s something I’ve always been wary of, even though I do what I can for Luxembourg. I’m sure that the title brings an element of intrigue for some people. But it’s not what matters. What matters is the quality of our product.”

Prince Robert is now head of Domaine Clarence Dillon, founded in Pessac, France, in 1935 by his great-grandfather, a Wall Street banker. This fourth-generation family firm is the owner of some of the most prestigious estates in France, among them Château La Mission Haut-Brion and, most famously, Château Haut-Brion (classified as premier grand cru in 1855).

For those who like to pick up a bottle of wine at the supermarket on the way home from work but who wouldn’t consider themselves oenophiles, Château Haut-Brion is a good wine. It is made in tiny quantities – around 500 cases per year – and in 1521 became the first Bordeaux wine to be named after its terroir, rather than its owner. It was, arguably, the world’s first luxury wine brand. A bottle of the 2018 vintage costs in the region of £450. A bottle of the 1902 vintage – for this is a wine that improves with age – sells for around £4,300.

That’s some reputation to be handed the care of. “It wasn’t inevitable that I’d become part of the business,” says Prince Robert, who joined full time in 1997 and started working his way up. “I’d been a board member since I was 18 – though not a particularly active board member, I must admit. I had no interest in joining the company as a caretaker, because the only way to be successful in this kind of family business is to create consistent but measurable growth. It can’t be a trophy asset and survive through the generations. We had the savoir faire but not the faire savoir – we could make wine but weren’t so good at letting people know about it. We found that part slightly embarrassing.”

TERROIR Château Haut-Brion’s vineyard is located in the commune of Pessac, just a few miles southwest of Bordeaux’s city centre. It belongs to the Pessac-Léognan appellation, to the north of the Graves winegrowing region. The vineyard covers an area of 51 hectares, 48 of which are planted with red grapes (merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot) and nearly three hectares are devoted to white grape varieties (sémillon and sauvignon).

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enjoy with dinner. I looked at older wines but couldn’t find anything at the right price that was ready to drink, or with a quality that was always similar to the previous vintage, that I could return to without the next bottle disappointing me. So that’s what we created – a wine that addressed those issues.

A lot of what we did was untested. It was, in effect, a start-up, one we had to get into the right places and on to the right wine lists. A lot of wines from Bordeaux have disappeared from wine lists, replaced by new-world wines, but younger sommeliers are discovering Bordeaux wines. Thankfully, there’s a return to the more traditional wine regions.”

There have been other innovations along with Clarendelle. A few years ago, the company acquired an estate in Saint-Émilion, renamed as Château Quintus, and two years later acquired the neighbouring Château L’Arrosée, with which it was combined. A more distinctive bottle shape for Château Quintus wines was introduced.

Along with a head office in Paris, Domaine Clarence Dillon now offers a fine-wine merchant, Clarence Dillon Wines, and Le Clarence hotel and restaurant, which has earned two Michelin stars under chef Christophe Pelé. All this modernising and profile-building has paid off. Last year Domaine Clarence Dillon joined Primum Familiae Vini, the prestigious association of historic families from the wine world. Membership is by invitation only, and there is a maximum of 12 members at any one time.

It’s a markedly more successful story than Prince Robert’s time in Hollywood – in the end, none of his scripts went into production. It seems that he is perhaps better suited to focusing on those things that take years to produce and which last generations. “Of course, I wouldn’t have said no to a career in screenwriting rather than wine,” the prince admits. “But I’m happy as long as what I do is creative. And winemaking is certainly that.”

In recent years, Prince Robert has sought to bring Domaine Clarence Dillon into the 21st century, thereby playing a key part in helping to overhaul the image of Bordeaux wines. Once considered a rather stuffy wine choice – a problem suffered by many old-world wines – Bordeaux is now gaining traction with younger drinkers. This has come about in part by taking a leaf out of the marketing strategies of more modern winemakers in the new world who recognise that an attractive bottle and label can be as powerful a draw for casual wine drinkers as the liquid itself. Historically, wines from Bordeaux and other well-established winemaking areas have been sold from the vineyard to a broker then to a wholesaler, with the latter traditionally being responsible for marketing the wine. Brand building just hasn’t been on Bordeaux’s radar.

“Today the wine consumer has the largest-ever selection to choose from. But wines from Bordeaux have been seen as being for the older generation, for the kind of people who buy wine and lay it down, like my father and grandfather did,” says Prince Robert. “Younger generations don’t want to do that. And I was amazed to find that Bordeaux didn’t have a super-premium brand, despite being right next to Champagne, which is known everywhere for its brands.”

Bordeaux also has a tradition of blended wines, he notes, which isn’t the case in some other parts of the world.

Prince Robert’s first step in taking the family firm forward was to launch Bordeaux’s first premium brand, Clarendelle, with the aim of initiating wine fans into the blending traditions and techniques of the great Bordeaux producers by offering aged wines which are ready to drink straight after purchase. He was convinced of the demand for such an innovative product based on his own experience. He wasn’t wrong: Clarendelle recently reached annual sales of one million bottles in 85 countries, and Domaine Clarence Dillon is now building a dedicated warehouse in which to house the wine.

The prince says he considers himself “a wine amateur – a wine lover who likes to try different things.” He recalls living in London when he was a young man, remembering “not having a cellar and buying a bottle on the way home to

Château Haut-Brion is available in London at Justerini & Brooks (61 St James’s Street, justerinis.com) and Berry Bros. & Rudd (63 Pall Mall, bbr.com)

R OYA L A P P R O VA L In 1660, after 11 years of Puritanism, the English monarchy was restored, and Charles II served Château HautBrion at the royal table for the first time. Three years later, diarist Samuel Pepys wrote in his journal that he had drunk “…a sort of French wine called Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with.”

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HEART of the MATTER A F T E R 1 4 Y E A R S R U N N I N G T H E P R E S T I G I O U S C H ÂT E A U C O S D ’ E S TO U R N E L O W N E D B Y H I S F A M I LY, J E A N - G U I L L A U M E P R A T S W A S P R E S I D E N T O F LV M H ’ S W I N E D I V I S I O N BEFORE BECOMING CEO OF DOMAINES BARONS DE ROTHSCHILD LAFITE IN 2018. THE M É D O C N AT I V E TA L K S A B O U T C H A N G I N G S T R AT E G I E S A N D P U T T I N G C O N S U M E R S F I R S T

Words: James Lawrence

I THE CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL KENNA IN 2013

f one were searching for a reliable symbol of luxury and tradition, then Château Lafite Rothschild would surely come near the top of the list. In 1855, when the best Bordeaux wine estates were classified, Lafite appeared at the head of the first-growth (premier cru) list. A century and a half later, the world and its consumers may have changed, but Lafite’s ability to beguile palates has scarcely altered at all. Yet despite this formidable legacy, Lafite’s president and CEO Jean-Guillaume Prats is committed to fostering positive change at the estate.

The château itself is charmingly modest: the central part comprises two storeys and dates from the 18th century, while the main tower was constructed in the 16th century. Nevertheless, there is an undeniable sense of awe when sitting in one of Lafite’s elegant saloons, with Second Empire furnishings, silk wall coverings, family portraits and memorabilia all lovingly preserved. Prats is a busy man, so after a brief introduction and a glass of the divine nectar we leap into the subject of Lafite’s past.

“Lafite certainly dates back to medieval times, but we are not certain that vines were planted here at that time,” says Prats. “I believe vineyards were planted at Lafite as a commercial proposition in the 17th century.”

The estate, as was so often the case, passed through the hands of successive owners until Baron James de Rothschild – uncle to Nathaniel de Rothschild, who had already acquired the neighbouring Château Mouton Rothschild – strode onto the scene in 1868, paying the then-astronomical sum of five million francs for Lafite’s vineyards, estate buildings and stock of vintages. The baron died just a few months later, before he had the opportunity to visit his property, which passed to his three sons. It has remained in Rothschilds’ hands ever since.

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TERROIR The Lafite vineyard totals 277 acres at the northern tip of the Pauillac appellation, just below the boundary with Saint-Estèphe. The vineyard is dominated by cabernet sauvignon (71 per cent) with the balance comprising merlot (25 per cent), cabernet franc (three per cent) and petit verdot (one per cent).

FROM TOP THE CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHED BY NICHOLAS VREELAND, 1984; WILLY RONIS, 1976; AND FRANÇOIS-MARIE BANIER, 1994

The Second World War saw Lafite fall under the control of the puppet Vichy government, which thankfully protected the estate from the clutches of Hermann Göring, who reportedly coveted Lafite above all else. The property’s history could sustain hours of conversation, but I’m curious about why Prats left his career at luxury goods conglomerate LVMH to return to Bordeaux. As president and CEO of Estates & Wines at LVMH, Prats oversaw the direction of several champagne houses, including Krug and Ruinart.

“My role at LVMH was a wonderful opportunity to manage a number of properties across the world; that’s been the key transferable skill to pass on to Lafite – a global perspective,” says Prats.

“But in my heart I’m a Médocaine, through and through. I was born in the Médoc and I got married in a little church in Saint-Estèphe.

“After studying at the European Business School Paris, I began my career working in finance in London. So the allure of returning to Bordeaux after LVMH was irresistible – in March 2018 I accepted this position at Domaines Barons de Rothschild. I used to pass by the estate twice a day for 40 years. It’s good to be home.”

All great leaders focus on their legacy, and Prats is no exception.

“I have always believed that the moment a company becomes selfsatisfied or complacent, you lose sight of new trends and opportunities in the market. Look at BlackBerry – it lost its dominant position in the market because it didn’t adapt and learn from the competition.”

Prats’ objectives for Lafite cover both the winemaking and the marketing. “In 2018, we decided to farm some of our vineyards according to biodynamic and sustainable principles as an experiment, to see if this would benefit our wines. We will take our time and analyse the results over several years. At this stage I don’t know the eventual outcome, but we may decide to seek formal certification for some of our vineyards.”

And Prats is acutely aware that Bordeaux can’t simply entice consumers on the strength of its reputation alone. Even Lafite, the most famous of all great wines, faces competition from other top bordeaux wines and from estates in Napa Valley, as Prats readily concedes.

“My key goal is to foster a greater sense of engagement with our final customers. This has to become fundamental to our business – Bordeaux has traditionally lacked business-to-consumer platforms, but this is changing. This year, we started construction of a new hospitality centre at another property owned by the family – Duhart-Milon. It should be ready for harvest 2020. But the marketing message largely remains the same – our incredible history. We are also investing an unprecedented amount into e-commerce channels in China, to build

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“There are so many definitions of luxury,” he answers.

“Some people base it entirely on the price of a product, others on the fact that it is made in tiny quantities. My definition of luxury is a product that combines a strong DNA, tradition and risk taking.”

From Prats’ perspective, everything comes back to engaging with the end consumer. He freely admits that for many decades Bordeaux couldn’t have cared less about the visitor. Traditionally, wine was sold to courtiers (brokers) and then to negociants (merchants). Currently, there are more than 400 negociants in Bordeaux and their strength lies in their diversity. However, the major drawback of this unique commercial system, known as the Place de Bordeaux, is that the châteaux owners forgot about their final customers; nobody ever gave them much thought and doors remained closed to the general public. A warm welcome was definitely not on the cards. “That’s not the case at Lafite,” says Prats.

“We have a completely open-door policy on visits. Any consumer in the world can email us and we will organise a visit. All we need is a bit of notice.”

There is a remarkable, and palpable, synergy between Lafite and its new president. Both bound by tradition, they are concurrently embracing change and a new consumer audience with different expectations. This should ensure that Lafite remains relevant, and uniquely desirable, in the decades to come.

a greater relationship with our Asian customers.”

Asia, and in particular China, remains a perennial topic for the Bordeaux establishment. The market has grown exponentially over the past 20 years, so much so that many guided Bordeaux tours are given in Mandarin, in addition to English. However, it has not all been good news – police raids on counterfeit rings are regular occurrences.

I suggest that Lafite is probably one of the most counterfeited fine wines in the world, hardly a desirable accolade for any estate. “Yes, counterfeiting is of course a problem, but our in-house legal team is doing a fantastic job of combatting fraud. They fight like hell to protect our name, especially in Asia and we pursue court actions with due vigilance. We have invested a lot of resources in this.”

Lafite has been at the forefront of this perpetual battle to fight wine counterfeiting: bottles are secured with a tamperproof digital tag that allows the end consumer to verify the bottle’s authenticity via an app. This is costly for the estate, but a worthwhile endeavour. “Part of the problem is the nature of our business model – the fact that working with distributors and agents means that you lose sight of the final customer. This is why we’re working more closely with e-commerce firms in China to ensure their customers enjoy the genuine product.”

It is clear that Prats, while reasonably relaxed for a man with incredible demands on his time, feels a heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders. He is now responsible for marketing one of the world’s most famous brands, in a fastmoving, uncompromising digital age. How would he define luxury, and how has consumer perception of luxury changed in the 21st century?

Château Lafite Rothschild is available in London at Justerini & Brooks (61 St James’s Street, justerinis.com) and Berry Bros. & Rudd (63 Pall Mall, bbr.com

THE NEW FRENCH CLARETS It is because of the War of the Spanish Succession that the English acquired a taste for Lafite long before the French. At the beginning of the 18th century, cargoes from merchant ships captured by the Royal Navy were sold at public auctions in the City of London, including Lafite wines which were described by the London Gazette in 1707 as ‘new French clarets’.

Between 1732 and 1733, Robert Walpole, the British prime minister, purchased a barrel of Lafite every three months. It was only much later that France began to take an interest in the red wines of Bordeaux.

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THE BEST VALUE IN BORDEAUX T R U E S Y B A R I T E S A R E N ’ T I N T E R E S T E D I N S TAT U S S Y M B O L S O R T H E S P E C U L AT I V E POWER OF WINE. THEY BUY NOT FOR PROFIT BUT FOR PLEASURE – S O M E T H I N G T H E F O L L O W I N G V I N TA G E S O F F E R I N A B U N DA N C E

Words: James Lawrence

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C H ÂT E A U L A F L E U R D E B O Ü A R D 2 0 1 4 , £ 2 4 . 9 5 Owner Hubert de Boüard believes that La Fleur de Boüard is in the top half of all wine produced in the Pomérols region. We’d tend to agree: de Boüard has made substantive improvements to the viticulture and winemaking since he acquired the property in 1998. The wine lacks the renown – and cost – of iconic names such as Le Pin and Pétrus, but it is arguably every bit their equal. lidl-vins.fr

C H ÂT E A U A N G L U D E T 2 0 0 9 , £ 4 5 This much-admired estate is of ancient origin – there were vineyards planted here in the 17th century. In 1961 the Sichel family bought the property, which is located at the heart of the Margaux appellation. Their investment has turned Angludet into one of the area’s most brilliant performers, with offerings at relatively affordable prices. tanners-wines.co.uk

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C H ÂT E A U M O U L I N S T G E O R G E S 2 0 1 2 , £ 3 1 Another standout bargain from the revered Saint-Émilion appellation, Moulin St Georges is criminally underrated by British bordeaux lovers. Owned by Alain Vaultier (of mega-expensive Château Ausone), the château is situated next door to Ausone’s legendary terroir and offers a stunning red for the money. thevinorium.co.uk

C H ÂT E A U L A S S È G U E 2 0 0 9 , £ 3 8 . 7 5 Château Lassègue is one of Saint-Émilion’s best-value wines.

Purchased in 2003 by Jackson Family Wines – a wealthy Californian wine dynasty – Lassègue is run in partnership with senior winemaker Pierre Seillan. Their investment has paid massive dividends: the style is lush yet refined, with wallet-friendly prices. klwines.com

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C H ÂT E A U P E Y L A T O U R 2 0 1 4 , £ 2 1 This estate’s contemporary reputation for value is well deserved: wine merchant Vignobles Dourthe bought it in 1990 and also acquired the services of maestro consultant Michel Rolland, who helped to turn Pey La Tour around. Today it produces some of Bordeaux’s best ‘generic’ clarets – muscular, virile and beautifully balanced. thedrinkscabinet.co.uk

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C H ÂT E A U R A H O U L 2 0 1 6 , £ 1 7. 5 0 White bordeaux deserves its moment in the spotlight. Owned by Vignobles Dourthe, Château Rahoul is a heady blend of semillon and sauvignon blanc – a subtler alternative to the pungent aromas of New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Classy and refined, everything about this wine is more than you’d expect – except the price. thewinesociety.com

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12

Days of

Christmas This year’s ultimate festive wish list – (and not a sock or slipper in sight) Photographer: Colin Ross Stylist: Elena Horn

1 Sneaker Peek

Two principals of German design collide this Christmas: BOSS and porcelain manufacturer Meissen have partnered on a capsule collection of monochrome fashion pieces inspired by the craftsman’s Big Five figurines. Each ceramic beast features a pattern inspired by the animal’s characteristics – and it’s this that provided the starting point for the BOSS collection. The result is crisp, leather sneakers with an Aztec-print tongue, zip pouches with zany monochrome motifs and a crossbody bag decorated with a lightning white leopard.

Leather pouch, £269, Leather sneakers, £269, Leather cross-body bag, £269, Hugo Boss, 178-180 Regent Street, W1B, hugoboss.com

2

Going for

Gold

Pushing technical and design boundaries, Stephen Webster’s Vertigo collection is inspired by modern architectural feats, most notably the New Horizons building in Melbourne. A play on perspective, the strong angular lines of each piece create illusions of depth and dimension. Team a swinging pair of 18ct yellow gold and white diamond Vertigo Infinity Hoops with the complementing ring for extra festive sparkle.

Vertigo Infinity ring, £6,500, Vertigo Infinity Hoops, £8,800, Stephen Webster, 2nd floor, 130 Mount Street, W1K, stephenwebster.com

Bag of Tricks

3

Size matters – and the hottest handbags of 2019 have been scaled down and streamlined. Bulgari’s Serpenti Forever has been reimagined in miniature. It comes with a crossbody snake-like chain, so your hands are free for Champagne flutes and Christmas canapés; its compact size also makes it the perfect surprise to slip under the tree or hide in a stocking.

Serpenti Forever Handbag, £1,480, Bulgari, 168 New Bond Street, W1S, bulgari.com

4There’s no

Time

like the present Not only will Patek Philippe’s Perpetual Calendar wristwatch display the time, but also the day, date, and month of the year. It is also equipped with a 24-hour hand and leap year indicator.

The self-winding timepiece features a yellow gold case with beautifully scalloped lugs and an ivory lacquered dial with applied Breguet numerals.

Choose between an interchangeable solid-gold case back or sapphire-crystal case back.

Perpetual Calendar wristwatch, £67,710, Patek Philippe, Wempe Jewellers London, 43-44 New Bond Street, W1S, wempe.com

5 Scents &

Sensibility

“With Aventus Cologne, I was inspired to create a new legend,” says Master Perfumer Olivier Creed. “A fresher, modern complement that would provide an olfactive experience entirely of its own.”

Elsewhere, the feminine counterpart to the Aventus men’s fragrance, Aventus for Her, is inspired by history’s most powerful women. The fresh and fruity Eau de Parfum opens with accords of crisp green apple, fragrant pink pepper, Calabrian bergamot and Indonesian patchouli.

Aventus Cologne, 100ml, £215 (left) Aventus For Her, 75ml, £245, Creed Fragrances, 99 Mount Street, W1K, creedfragrances.co.uk

HHoliday is for

6

Gift a quality wallet and you can guarantee it will be used every day. This slim design from gentlemen’s outfitter Hackett is pocket-friendly and elegant, crafted in soft, long-lasting 100 per cent cow leather, with seven sleek compartments to keep cash, cards and tickets organised and easily accessible. It’s also the perfect size to fit inside the breast pocket of the brand’s double-breasted velvet jacket.

Leather card holder in black, £60, Horse and hound check cashmere scarf, £140, Double-breasted velvet jacket, £625, Hackett, 193-197 Regent Street, W1B, hackett.com

7 Knit

Wits

Working in partnership with artisans in inner Mongolia, Italy, Peru and Spain, Cashmirino sources the finest cashmere for its traditional childrenswear collections. Classic zip-up cardigans and charming teddy bear rompers make for the ultimate winter warmers.

If cared for correctly, they will last long enough to pass onto the next generation – a gift that literally keeps on giving.

Cardigan, £199, Romper, £261, Cashmirino, 31 Burlington Arcade, W1J, cashmirino.com

8Wax

Lyrical

Cire Trudon’s Nazareth candle is Christmas in wax form. Infused with a pinch of olibanum, this fiery and fruity blend has notes of clove, cinnamon and orange.

Packaged in a suitably-festive ruby glass vessel and decorated with miniature silver leaves, the candle casts an enchanting glow as soon as the wick is lit.

Nazareth scented candle, £85, Cire Trudon, seen on an Etra cashmere throw, £1,249, Oyuna, Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, SW1, harrods.com

9

Deck the Halls

Approximately 180 round, pear and marquise‐shaped diamonds make up Harry Winston’s seminal Winston Cluster collection, which was inspired by the natural shapes and traditionalism of a holly wreath – just in time for December 25th.

POA, Harry Winston, 171 New Bond Street, W1S, harrywinston.com

10 All that

Glitters Baubles needn’t be confined to the tree.

FOPE’s gleaming Solo collection of gold and diamond jewels is a dazzling tribute to the brand’s heritage Unica range, and proffers the ultimate party pieces. These shimmering hoop earrings and bracelet are the perfect finishing touches to a festive outfit.

Solo MiaLuce gold, diamond and sapphire bracelet, £9,990, Solo gold and diamond earrings, £3,675, FOPE, 1A Old Bond Street, W1S, fope.com

Leather Report For the man who has everything, buy something he can keep it all in.

Storage solutions don’t come more sophisticated than Purdey’s tanned leather washbag and Alcantaralined watch roll, each of which is beautifully crafted and useful to boot.

Leather wash bag, £449, Travel watch roll, £699, Purdey, 57-58 South Audley Street, W1K, purdey.com

11

12

Christmas

Countdown

Cartier’s Panthère collection emulates the elegance of the big cat it was named after.

Part statement cuff, part timepiece, the Panthère Manchette makes for a graceful party piece, demonstrating both power and prowess. Modelled on an original Cartier design from the 1980s, the 18-karat gold bracelet is partly open-worked, with an off-centre dial and blued steel sword hands. £35,500, Cartier, 40-41 Old Bond Street, W1S, cartier.co.uk

COUTURE CUT FROM A DIFFERENT CLOTH

P.84 BUTTON UP Why 2020 is the year of the female tuxedo

P.102 STREET SMART Eveningwear for the festive season

P.110 SPENCER MATTHEWS On timeless timepieces & engagement rings

P.112 STEFANO RICCI Making clothes for the 0.1 per cent

DOBRi: Velvet jacket, £1,000, scabal.com; Shirt, £145, gievesandhawkes.com; Bow tie, £75, paulsmith.com; Alpine Eagle timepiece, £11,200, chopard.com BEATRIZ: Dress, £4,200, Azzi & Osta, harveynichols.com; Cascade Earrings, £19,400, Shark Jaw Bracelet, £11,100, stephenwebster.com; Heart Diamond Ring,£33,500, jessicamccormack.com (p.88)

2020 : YEAR OF THE TUX F I N A L LY, W O M E N A R E S M O U L D E R I N G I N S M O K I N G J A C K E T S A N D T U R N I N G U P I N T U R N - U P S W I T H G E N D E R - F LU I D, L I F E - P R O O F PA R T YW E A R

Words: Anna Prendergast

JANELLE MONÁE PERFORMING AT RALPH’S CLUB, THE LOCATION FOR RALPH LAUREN’S AW19 SHOW IN NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 2019.

W

omen wearing suits is not a new phenomenon. But in the past few years, women have trodden new inroads into the tailoring landscape, a space once designed for – and by – men alone. It’s not just any tailoring, though – the focus has shifted from workwear to formal dress codes such as black tie and morning dress. The demand has always been there, but supply has been slow to catch up. That’s now changing. Early pioneers include Phoebe Gormley, who founded Savile Row’s first female-only shop, Gormley & Gamble; Daisy Knatchbull, the first woman ever to wear a morning suit at Ascot in 2016 and the founder of women’s tailoring house The Deck; and Cara Delevingne, who turned up to Princess Eugenie’s wedding last year in a top hat and tails

by Emporio Armani. The rules of black tie are bending under the pressure of social change, from identity politics to environmental awareness. Gender is progressively understood to be fluid, no longer conforming solely to the male/female binary; the climate crisis has underlined the need for investing in quality over quantity when it comes to fashion; and women are increasingly demanding access to the simplicity and comfort of clothes that men have enjoyed for generations.

This year, red carpet events have provided a platform for designers to give black tie a much-needed update.

Performer and LGBTQ+ icon Billy Porter wore a custommade tuxedo-gown-hybrid designed by Christian Siriano for the Academy Awards in February, following the gathering of momentum behind conversations around inclusivity and representation during New York Fashion Week earlier that month. During the September shows, singer Janelle Monáe’s show-stopping performance at Ralph Lauren’s black tie event was elevated by her winged collar halterneck, starched shirt cuffs and cummerbund-style skirt waist.

Hollywood arguably presents a bubble in which this attitude is celebrated – men wearing womenswear is still shamefully taboo even in Western cultures considered ‘modern’ – but women have been commandeering menswear in the mainstream since the Second World War. While formal women’s tailoring has long been designed with ‘feminine’ details such as tapered legs, nipped-in waists and plunging necklines, actress Judy Greer pre-empted the new silhouette in an Alberta Ferretti suit at the 2019 Golden Globes. Her dinner jacket featured traditionally masculine details – a high-buttoning, double-breasted design, gently

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT GABRIELA HEARST AW19; BILLY PORTER IN CHRISTIAN SIRIANO; JUDY GREER IN ALBERTA FERRETTI; TOM FORD AW19; RALPH LAUREN AW19

roped shoulders, wide peaked lapels and double welt pockets (yes, pockets! At last!) – and the trousers were wide-legged and floor-skimming. Greer also pulled off an oversized bow tie, an accessory whose status as a classic has been threatened by Matt Smith’s Dr Who and Hackney’s hipsters over the past decade.

Speaking of London, the capital’s designers, collectors and craftspeople are turning the tuxedo into a 2020 staple. In the nineties, Paul Smith was one of the first high-end designers to notice that women were buying his menswear, creating a tailoring line for women in response. He’s continued the line ever since – this year’s partywear includes a crisp white bib-front shirt with a starched mandarin collar and stud-like buttons to be worn under velvet smoking-style jackets. Emma Willis, Jermyn Street’s first female bespoke shirtmaker, has also launched a women’s collection with two hand-crafted designs specifically constructed to sit beneath a tuxedo. Around the corner, Connolly’s unisex collection features a beautiful double-breasted dinner jacket with rolling silk lapels and trousers with unusual front-facing pleats.

“I think that a shared wardrobe is a modern view of tailoring,” says owner Isabel Ettedgui. “Done properly it’s elegant and sexy. It feels like the future and in no way diminishes but enhances the sense of self in the wearer.”

Marylebone’s William Vintage sources exquisite designs such as an eighties YSL Le Smoking tuxedo, the house’s iconic two-piece, and in Chelsea, The Deck has been fielding unexpected requests. “So many men get in touch to have suits made. Sometimes I’m like, no! This isn’t the space for you!” laughs Knatchbull, “But only because there are already so many places in London for men to go. At the end of the day, we want to make the tailoring experience as inclusive as possible. River Gallo [intersex rights activist and filmmaker] is a client, and the rules are changing – it’s up to us to keep up.” New York-based designer Gabriela Hearst, who recently opened her first London store in Mayfair, had a similar experience with her menswear debut this year. Her first customer?

A woman. Menswear designer Charlie Casely-Hayford also launched a women’s collection after he realised that more women were buying his label than men; his suits are cut in premium fabrics and have wide, drapey legs. It’s menswear built for women, and it’s brilliant.

There’s an assumption that clothing undefined by traditional tropes of femininity – through silhouette, colour and ratio of flesh to fabric – fall into the trap of becoming shapeless or unexciting. But conversely, the word I kept coming across when discussing and researching this article is sexy. Nowadays, sexy is defined more by the wearer than the onlooker; it’s more about attitude than approval ratings. It just so happens that a sharp tux on a woman guarantees both.

“Done properly,

FROM TOP CONNOLLY’S SHARED WARDROBE TUXEDO; ACTRESS JODIE COMER IN CASELYHAYFORD; THE DECK’S THREE PIECE SUIT

it’s ELEGANT and SEXY. It feels like the

FUTURE”

LUXURY LONDON

COUTURE

SMOKE AND MIRRORS C R A C K T H E D R E S S C O D E W I T H T H E S M A R T E S T WAY S T O S T Y L E B L A C K T I E

Words: Anna Prendergast

T H E FA B R I C The tactile fluidity of velvet lends innate sex appeal to a traditional dinner jacket: jewel tones are a failsafe paired with contrasting silk-satin lapels and palazzo-style pants FROM LEFT NAVY JACKET, £750, PAULSMITH.COM; GREEN JACKET, £535, ACHEVAL PAMPA, MATCHESFASHION.COM; MERLOT JACKET, £495, ALICE + OLIVIA, NET-A-PORTER.COM

THE FUSION Channel Michael Urie’s half-and-half look at the Met Gala earlier this year with Redemption’s cutaway tail coat and sequin minidress

Mules, £308, loefflerrandall.com

Tuxedo shirt, £415, Emma Willis, matchesfashion.com

Metallic slip, £196, Mes Demoiselles, net-a-porter.com

THE FIT Connolly’s doublebreasted dinner suit is a louche, androgynous option for night-time networking Smoking jacket (above), £1,500, and trousers (right), £590, connollyengland.com Dress, £4,790, net-a-porter.com

Bib-front shirt, £360, paulsmith.com

THE FINERY Instead of a bow tie, layer up this winter’s most versatile accessory: a chunky gold necklace (or three) FROM LEFT ENGULF NECKLACE, £1,200, EMMAAITCHISON.COM; GRECAMANIA NECKLACE, £390, VERSACE.COM; KENNETH JAY LANE NECKLACE, £295, NET-A-PORTER.COM; VINTAGE YSL TUEDO, £2,875, WILLIAM VINTAGE, MATCHESFASHION.COM

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Black Tie by Celine, £175, celine.com

THE F R AG R A N C E Black Tie, from Celine’s first scent collection in 50 years

PHOTOGRAPHER: ARVED COLVIN-SMITH STYLIST: GRAHAM CRUZ @ A&R CREATIVE

FROM LEFT Betsy: dress in flocked tulle, £1,565, lurlineofficial.com; Rose gold, mother of pearl and diamond necklace, POA, Rose Gold and diamond ring, £11,200, Rose gold and diamond earrings, £13,000, all from the Happy Hearts collection, Chopard, chopard.com Jevan: Black tuxedo, £359, White dress shirt, £79, Bow tie £35, jaeger.co.uk Beatriz: Emerald green dress, £1,620, Dundas, farfetch.com; 18kt yellow gold and diamond earring, £21,935, 18kt yellow gold and diamond bracelet, £32,665, Ortaea Fine Jewellery, harveynichols.com; Gold crystal embellished shoes, £850, Gina, gina.com Dayane: Jacquard slash neck dress, £2,595, amandawakeley.com; 18k White gold and diamond ring, £30,100, 18k pink gold and diamond ring, £30,100, 18k White gold and diamond ring, £33,400, all from the Plume De Paon collection, Boucheron, boucheron.com Dobri: Made to Measure white wool double breasted evening suit, from £1,300, gievesandhawkes.com; Navy Merino wool turtleneck sweater, £140, brooksbrothers.com; Polaris Memovox 42 mm automatic timepiecel, £11,500, jaeger-lecoultre.com; Grosgrain tassel loafers, £695, christianlouboutin.com

FROM LEFT Beatriz: Black and silver sequin dress, POA, viviennewestwood.com; 18kt yellow gold, smokey quartz and black diamond earrings, £4,800, 18kt rose gold and diamond octopus ring, £POR, Ara Vartanian, aravartanian.com Betsy: Black velvet dress, £1,160, black and gold belt, £620, etro.com; Crystal embellished clutch bag, £1,050, Gina, gina.com; 18kt Rose gold and diamond earrings, £12,200, 18kt Yellow gold and diamond cuff, both from the Glam’Azone collection, £11,300, Messika, messika.com

FROM LEFT Dayane: Off the shoulder dress, £1,595, Temperley London, temperleylondon.com; Earrings, £32,500, Amrapali, amrapalijewels.com Dobri: Double breasted fawn velvet jacket, £439, oliverspencer.co.uk; Navy cashmere roll neck, £325, hackett.com; ‘The Birdie’ glasses in brown mottled acetate, £595, ebmeyrowitz.co.uk; ‘Losing Perspective’ ring in 18k yellow gold, from the vertigo collection, £2,200, stephenwebster.com Beatriz: Corseted black silk tulle dress, £3,700, sylwiaromaniuk.com; Emerald and white diamond earrings set in 18kt white gold, POA, Ara Vartanian, aravartanian.com Betsy: Black crepe gown, £2,240, jennypackham.com; Limited edition white gold and white diamond earrings, £33,150, White gold and white diamond cuff, Ortaea Fine Jewellery, harveynichols.com Jevan: Silk and wool Los Angeles tuxedo, satin peaked lapel jacket and flared trousers, all POA, Dsquared2, dsquared2.com; Blue silk Shirt, £395, turnbullandasser.co.uk; 18k yellow gold cross pendant on a 24” 2mm belcher chain, £1,550, stephenwebster.com

FROM LEFT Betsy: Long sleeve dress, £2,220, lurlineofficial.com; Wing of Desire white gold and diamond earrings, £8,900, Jessica McCormack, jessicamccormack.com Dobri: Gold and black damask tuxedo blazer, £390, mochee.co.uk; Navy cashmere roll neck, £325, hackett.com Beatriz: Floral lace fringed dress, £1,692, Dundas, net-a-porter.com; 18kt White gold and black diamond Sabre earrings, POA, shaunleane.com; 18k White gold and white diamond two finger ring, £7,990, Ortaea Fine Jewellery, harveynichols.com

FROM LEFT Dobri: Eveningwear jacket in tan velvet, £575, hackett.com; Bespoke cream silk ruffle front shirt, from £595, turnbullandasser.co.uk; Black dinner trousers, POA, Cummerbund and bow tie set, £125, richardandersonltd.com; 41mm Alpine Eagle timepiece in 18-carat ethical rose gold and lucent steel A223, Chopard, chopard.com Jevan: Wool shawl collar dinner jacket, £1,395, evening trousers in blackwatch tartan £395, thomsweeney.co.uk; White pleated cotton evening shirt, £230, paulsmith.com; Bow tie, £35, jaeger.co.uk; ‘England Made Me’ cuban leaf enamel cufflinks in sterling silver 925, £825, stephenwebster.com; Black leather evening shoe, £245, grenson.co.uk Dayane: White silk embellished gown, POA, dundasworld.com; Earrings, £3,472, Cuff, £7,971, Amrapali, amrapalijewels.com

FROM LEFT Dayane: Jacquard mini dress, £1,670, etro.com; 18kt Rose gold and diamond ‘Glam’Azone’ ring, £3,260, 18kt Yellow gold and diamond ‘Glam’Azone’ cuff, £16,100, Messika, selfridges.com; 14k Rose gold Eros arrow earring with diamonds, £2,810, beegoddess.com; Jevan: Rococo lined silk dressing gown, £2,500, newandlingwood.com; White cotton evening shirt, £145, gievesandhawkes.com; Bow Tie, £35, jaeger.co.uk; Limited edition Brummell glasses in black acetate, £850, ebmeyrowitz.co.uk COVER IMAGE , FROM LEFT Betsy: Bronze blazer, £740, Bronze trousers, £375, Cream satin shirt, £305, paulsmith.co.uk; Bow tie, £35, jaeger.co.uk; Dobri: Red damask blazer, £390, mochee.co.uk; White dress shirt, £79, jaeger.co.uk; Black dinner trousers, POA, richardandersonltd.com; Black silk bow tie, £75, paulsmith.co.uk; Beatriz: Stretch crepe jumpsuit, POA, dsquared2.com; Emerald and diamond necklace and earrings, POA, from the Kensington Collection, jamesganh.com; Dayane: Worsted-wool lady Oscar suit, POA, dsquared2.com; Platinum and diamond earrings, £7,000, Platinum and diamond bracelet, £11,500, from the Woodland collection, boodles.com; Jevan: Emerald green wool evening suit, £1,100, paulsmith.co.uk; Extra fine Merino wool roll neck, £195, richard-james.com; Big Crown Pointer Date 80th Anniversary Edition watch, £1,500, oris.ch

HAIR: BRADY LEA @ THE ONLY AGENCY USING SHIRO MAKE UP: TERRY BARBER @ DAVID ARTISTS, USING MAC COSMETICS MODELS: JEVAN WILLIAMS AND DOBRI DOBREV @ SELECT MODEL MANAGEMENT; BETSY VOLK AND BEATRIZ SANTANA @ NEXT MODELS; DAYANE @ PRM AGENCY DIGITAL ARTWORK: SUZANNE TAK PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT: SACHA PHILIPS FASHION ASSISTANT: ANDREW BURLING MAKE UP ASSISTANT: JAN CHAN

We provide many treatments including: - Hydrafacial - Intraceuticals - Retouch Facial - PRP - Skin Boosters Deep Cleansing and more

Why Epilium & Skin?

Tucked away in London’s French Quarter, Epilium & Skin promises to enhance your true beauty in the most natural way possible, using their famous ‘French Touch’ and help patients look rejuvenated and fresh rather than cosmetically enhanced.

The clinic focuses on offering completely natural ‘tweakments’ and surgical procedures to help restore the natural beauty of their clientele, with all that is synonymous of French beautysubtly, refinement and timelessness. Educating clientele on

how to best restore volume lost through age, UV damage and pollution - without being obvious - is the ethos of Epilium & Skin. We also do cosmetic surgery with the best French plastic surgeons for eyelid, facelift and breast surgery. A home away from Harley Street, the modern and cutting-edge haven located on George Street also includes a tranquil surgical theatre for procedures and day care patients alongside stunning wall art and super slick interior design, making clients feel welcome, safe and comfortable at all times.

CONTACT US 25-27 George Street, W1U 3QA Tel: +44 20 7486 5134 Web: www.epilium.co.uk

LUXURY LONDON

PROMOTION

THE CITY EDIT

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, EC3V THEROYALEXCHANGE.CO.UK

F R O M TA S T Y T R E AT S TO S H I M M E R I N G S TO C K I N G F I L L E R S , T H E R O YA L E X C H A N G E H A S P L E N T Y T O K E E P Y O U I N T H E F E S T I V E S P I R I T

OMEGA Omega’s new Seamaster Diver 300M boasts all the mechanical quirks of the original but with a swanky ink-blue ceramic bezel and complementing rubber strap. The 42 mm case has also been revamped in 18K ‘Sedna’ gold. £16,960, 1 Central Courtyard

MONTBLANC Engraved with a tribute to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this limited-edition Montblanc pen is a musthave for Disney fans.

Great Character’s Edition Walt Disney Limited Edition 1901, £2,750, 10-11 Royal Exchange

CUTTER & SQUIDGE REBRANDS THE TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CAKE ‘Tis the season for eating, and Christmas treats are some of the best. From mince pies to yule log, there’s

plenty to satisfy your sugar craving. At Cutter & Squidge, London’s only 100 per cent natural bakery, the sweettoothed chefs have created a mouthwatering alternative to the traditional Christmas cake. Soft vanilla sponge is layered with smooth pistachio

buttercream, cream cheese custard and salty digestive crumbs. A pistachio, cherry and white chocolate shard topping completes the showstopper. It looks (almost) too good to eat... £53, 23 The Royal Exchange

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SEARLE & CO For an extra dose of sparkle this Christmas, look to Searle & Co. The antique jeweller’s beautiful rings will please even the most picky of magpies.

18ct white gold, purple star sapphire and diamond ring, £5,500, 1 Royal Exchange

SUIT YOURSELF Words: Dom Jeffares

THOM SWEENEY

PAT E K P H I L I P P E NAUTILUS Introduced by Patek Philippe in 1976 and designed by the late Gerald Genta, the Nautilus is one of the world’s most iconic watches. This 1997 example has a case size of 33m, so will slip subtly and elegantly under your shirt sleeve.

Ref. 3800, £34,999, xupes.com

P E R E N N I A L LY T R I C K Y T O M A S T E R , E V E N I N G W E A R T R A D I T I O N A L LY C O M E S I N T W O C A M P S : U N D E R S TAT E D O R PEACOCK-PROUD. TIP THE SARTORIAL S C A L E S A N D PA I R C L AS S I C S W I T H QUIRKY ACCESSORIES FOR A LOOK T H AT T I C K S A L L T H E B OX E S

V E LV E T B O W T I E What takes a man from heroto-zero with one glance? A pretied bow tie – there’s simply no excuse in this day and age of YouTube tutorials. Turnbull and Asser makes a fine bow tie, and this one is hand-sewn in Kent with cotton and velvet weave. £90, Turnbull & Asser, therake.com

RHINO CUFFLINKS Twenty per cent of the sale of Grant MacDonald’s solid silver, wildlife-inspired cufflinks goes towards Tusk, a charity that supports conservation initiatives throughout Africa, such as the anti-poaching Mali Elephant Project. Kunene Rhino cufflinks, £220, grantmacdonald.com

TA R TA N TROUSERS While we are partial to a classic dinner suit ensemble, there are occasions when you can deviate from tradition. Tartan trousers, or trews, are a good bet – just keep the colours muted in order not to look like a court jester.

Hockliff Tartan Suit Trousers, £350, newandlingwood.com D I N N E R JAC K E T Build an elegant eveningwear outfit around Thom Sweeney’s black cotton-velvet tuxedo jacket – not only will it look smart with a crisp white shirt, the subtle sheen of the fabric is practically made for photocalls. It has a full smooth satin lining and functioning buttoned cuffs.

Black Cotton-Velvet Tuxedo Jacket, £1,500, Thom Sweeney, mrporter.com

LA REINA CIGARS Hand rolled in the legendary El Laguito cigar factory, the home of Cohiba, these Laguito No.1 vitola cigars come in a limitededition box of 24. These rare and sought-after smokes were the personal favourite of Fidel Castro.

El Rey del Mundo La Reina, £888 for a box of 24, davidofflondon.com

PAT E N T L O A F E R S When occasion calls for a dinner jacket, these Sagans in patent leather are the perfect companion.

The elegant gloss adds instant formality to your look. Handcrafted, these loafers are hand-stretched to eschew the usual wear-in period.

Sagan Classic Plain, £430, baudoinandlange.com

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T H O M A S P I N K W A S T H E G O - T O S H I R T B R A N D F O R H I G H - F LY I N G C I T Y B O Y S – T H AT L I T T L E P I N K G U S S E T T H E S A R T O R I A L E Q U I VA L E N T O F A C A R T I E R S A N T O S O R G U C C I H O R S E B I T L O A F E R S . N O W, F O L L O W I N G A F U L L - S C A L E R E B O O T, T H E J E R M Y N S T R E E T S T A LW A R T I S B A C K – R E B R A N D E D S I M P LY A S PINK SHIRTMAKER LONDON – AND AIMING TO REASSERT ENGLISH SHIRTMAKING FROM A NEW WORKSHOP IN SOUTH-WEST LONDON

Words: Richard Brown

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efore I fell into writing, I fell into insurance. Not fell, exactly, so much as followed a path, well-trodden in my parts, from sixth form to Square Mile. To Lloyd’s of London, specifically, thanks to some lithe-fingered string pulling by a well-placed godfather in risk assessment. It’s never what you know, especially in the City. One Lime Street – now there’s a place to put the whatsits up a wannabe underwriter.

If the outside of Richard Rogers’ lugubrious masterpiece is all menacing steel stairwells and kraken-like air conditioning ducts, inside is a barrel-vaulted concreteand-glass cathedral to pomp and circumstance.

Floors and floors of formality. Of old boys and young bucks and inner circles and insider slang and square jaws and slick side-partings and polished shoes and pinstripe suits and braces and Blakey’s and blazers that had to be worn at all times even in the scorching heat of high summer. That part was enshrined in law.

Woe betide the broker who broke the rules. For not dressing up, he’d receive a dressing down from one of the ruddy-faced porters paid to patrol the perimeter of the underwriting room. When one acquaintance reported for duty with a case of five o’clock shadow, he had a razor thrown at his head and was told by his boss to go and shave.

It’s no longer lunchtime sharpeners and blazers at all times at Lloyd’s, so I’m told. But back then going tie-less would have been akin to marching between boxes in a mankini. What I’m trying to say is that this was a serious place for serious people – people who took the way they dressed as seriously as the slips they signed. And back then serious people all bought their shirts from Thomas Pink.

It’s easy to forget, especially if you made your living outside of the Square Mile, just how big Thomas Pink was in the Thatcher-Major-Blair years. Big enough to pique the interest of LVMH, which, in 1999, purchased 70 per cent of the company for around £30miilion. At that point, Thomas Pink – founded by Irish brothers James, John and Peter Mullen in London in 1984 – had 20 stores, including a flagship on New York’s Madison Avenue that was thought to be the largest shirt shop on the planet. The LVMH deal placed Thomas Pink in a stable of brands alongside Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Bulgari and DKNY. The luxury conglomerate bought the shirtmaker outright in 2003.

Empires rise and empires fall. Thatcher’s Big Bang was succeeded by the dot-com bubble. Power dressing was out, dress-down Fridays were in. By the age of tech stocks and electronic trading, wearing a suit and tie to work was to identify as a digital dinosaur. The de facto look in the Square Mile today – as has become the subject of a zillion finance-themed Instagram memes – is a button-down shirt, navy chinos and a gilet; urban orienteering City Boys having taken style pointers from their Wall Street brethren (who, in turn, got their sleeveless cues from that most unlikely crucible of style, Silicon Valley). Savile Row has taken a pummelling. Jermyn Street, too. By 2017 it was time for a Thomas Pink rethink.

Cue the arrival of Christopher Zanardi-Landi. The former Louis Vuitton executive vice president was drafted in as president and CEO. He, in turn, persuaded John Ray, previously of Dunhill and Gucci, to join as creative director.

The duo were joined by a raft of names from the worlds of fine fabric and highend tailoring. In November 2018, the button was pressed on a complete relaunch.

Social media channels were wiped clean; stores reimagined; logos, packaging and labelling redesigned. ‘Thomas Pink’ became ‘Pink Shirtmaker London’.

One of Zanardi-Landi’s first moves was to open a workshop in London. “It was

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DREAM TEAM: PINK PRESIDENT AND CEO CHRISTOPHER ZANARDI-LANDI (LEFT) WITH HEAD CUTTER LIZANDRA CARDONI AND PRODUCTION DIRECTOR RICHARD GIBSON

Tailor-made

Central to Pink’s overhaul is the launch of its new Bespoke service. Clients are given the choice between seven collar options, three cuff designs, three pocket finishes (that’s if you want a pocket) and 400 types of cloth (Pink has three books of white fabric alone).

Whereas other shirtmakers might create bespoke shirts from tweaked block patterns, Pink takes 24 measurements and then makes its patterns from scratch, meaing that each one is unique.

The true benefit of something bespoke, of course, is the ability to tailor that thing to your peculiar tastes. In the case of a shirt, that means choosing how slim you want the fabric to run through the body; how much sleeve you want to pop beneath a blazer; how tight you want your cuffs – wider on your watch-wearing wrist, perhaps; and the exact location of button holes, so, come summer, you can flash some of those gym-honed, sun-kissed pecks without channelling Tom Selleck as Magnum P.I. Prices start at a punchy £330, but that does include £100 for your first pattern, a fee you’ll only pay once. Bespoke doesn’t come cheap, but then again, how much money have you already wasted in search of the perfect shirt?

important to me to establish a ‘maison’,” he explains. “I wanted to return English shirtmaking traditions to the capital – to celebrate both the design of our shirts and also the way they are made.”

You’ll find Pink’s new shirtmaking premises in Vauxhall. Expect you won’t. Unless you know where to look. Nestled between Victorian terrace houses on a nondescript residential street near Oval, the timber-and-concrete workshop is hidden behind a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wooden gate. It used to be part of a vinegar factory, then a dairy, before it was converted into a sleek and sprawling mid-century-modern workspace by MoreySmith, the design studio behind both the recently reimagined LVMH House and Dunhill HQ in Mayfair. There’s a swimming pool on the roof (though, unfortunately for employees of Pink, that belongs to a neighbour).

The south London space is dedicated to Pink’s new Bespoke service (see left).

“We wanted to create an experience that is on the one hand very old-school, back to the real details of English shirtmaking,” says Zanardi-Landi, “but which brought a modern twist to it. We wanted to make bespoke an engaging experience that celebrates every step of the shirtmaking process.”

The workshop opened in April. Since then it has served more than 200 clients, one of whom placed the presumably rather welcome order of 50 shirts.

Pink predicts that bespoke will make up an increasing proportion of its business.

Yet for all of the clients willing to splurge £330 on a custom shirt, it will be the brand’s revamped stores, with their bread-and-butter, block-colour, white and blue collections, that hold the key to success. In the age of the cut-price multi-pack, can Pink, which says it won’t do discounts, ever, persuade high-flying office workers to part with £115 for an entry-level off-the-peg business shirt?

Judging by the brand’s latest marketing campaign, which stars Emmy-nominated Downton Abbey actor Matthew Goode – good choice – Pink is banking on a return of the stripy statement shirt. I’m not sure how much time Zanardi-Landi and Ray spend in the world’s financial districts, but the last time I looked – and this magazine is based in Canary Wharf, where Pink has a newly titivated store, providing a pretty reliable viewpoint – masters of the fiscal universe don’t wear stripes. (Cartier’s relaunched Santos. on the other hand, does appear to be back in fashion.)

The bolder shirts in the new collection, says the company’s website (still thomaspink.com, confusingly), is the brand reverting to type. The shirtmaker has even used patterns from its original 1980s archives. It’s not all nostalgic references to the era of the boxy blazer and brick mobile phone, however.

The recently launched Smart Shirts collection is the brand modernising with contemporary tastes. Shirts have a shorter silhouette, smaller cuffs and a narrower collar. The effect is a more casual look; a shirt that can be tucked in or worn loose, in the boardroom or at the bar (of The Ned, most likely). Interior plackets – the strip of fabric on which you’ll find button holes – have been widened, so that the shirt doesn’t gape when you sit down. Seats – the widest part of a shirt, a few inches below the waist – are positioned further down, so that the fabric doesn’t ride up when tucked in.

There are other design details particular to Pink: offset side seams, which create more volume in the front of the shirt than in the back; a P-shaped front hem, curving the fabric to ensure that it covers the stomach when sitting; and the Pink collar, which, with its gentle roll at the top, forms a distinctly elegant line and allows more room for a tie (which some people do still wear, apparently).

Aside from the shirts, there are chalk-stripe suits, waterproof rain macs, herringbone pea coats, cashmere crew necks, printed silk ties, contrast wool braces, Bengal-striped boxer shorts and – move over gilets – merino zip-neck jumpers.

Don’t, however, mistake what Pink 2.0 is all about, which is a return to serious shirtmaking. Serious people take note. thomaspink.com

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ABOVE BEHIND THE SCENES WITH MATTHEW GOODE AT PINK’S LATEST CAMPAIGN SHOOT BELOW INSIDE PINK’S MEADOW ROAD WORKSHOP IN VAUXHALL

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SPENCER M AT T H E W S A S W E L L A S B E C O M I N G A FAT H E R , R E A L I T Y T V S TA R T U R N E D B U S I N E S S M A N S P E N C E R M AT T H E W S L A U N C H E D E D E N R O C K S A N D CLEAN LIQUOR THIS YEAR. LUXURY LONDON GETS THE LOWDOWN

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est known for his self-fulfilled role as the loveable rogue on Made in Chelsea, Spencer Matthews has gone from TV personality to entrepreneur with the launch of custom jewellery business Eden Rocks. Co-founded with ‘the rock doctor’ Neil Duttson, the project officially launched in November at the reopening of Matthews’ family hotel in St Barths. We caught up between screen takes to talk diamonds, first-date disasters and martial arts.

the Gaucho group, ROKA and Zuma.

How did your new venture, Eden Rocks, come about?

When I was looking for an engagement ring for my now-wife, Vogue [Williams], my best friend Hugo [Taylor] introduced me to Neil Duttson. He took me to a pub in Hatton Garden, Ye Olde Mitre where Snatch (2000) was filmed – it wasn’t the red carpet, glass-of-Champagne treatment you might get in a big Bond Street store, but it was so personal that I realised I wanted to work with him on something.

Only if we can come to the recently-reopened Eden Rock St Barths… Oh yes! The reopening has been so exciting, because I spent a lot of time there as a kid, watching clients with these amazing watches and now we can offer them a completely unique jewellery experience, too.

Where’s your go-to for Christmas gifts in London?

I always go into Patrick Mavros on the Fulham Road – I’m not big on shopping, but it’s just a great store. I’m wearing one of his belts and have one of the elephant bracelets.

Me too, the silver one. Shall we start a club? Does this mean I can be on the cover now?

Tell us about your watch collection. I find watches and timekeeping fascinating. No one else in my family gets it, but the Swiss craftsmanship is just something else – the automatic movements, the detail. I tend to wear a Rolex or an Audemars Piguet, and I’d rather have a collection of watches in my safe than money in the bank.

Why did you think the diamond market needed something different? There’s nothing worse than being made to feel like any other client. With us, we take you in as a friend; you’re getting a one-off experience and a one-off product, and we can be your go-to diamond guys. Everyone likes feeling like they’re getting a steal.

How do you keep fit in London, especially during party season? I don’t drink, I really like running, and I used to box – but realised quite quickly I wasn’t much good at it.

Turning up to meetings with a split lip isn’t ideal, and I’m competitive, so I wanted to be able to progress. I’m doing a lot of Jiu Jitsu at the moment with the Roger Gracie Academy, and I like the idea that if I get better, there’s an end result – I can move towards gaining a black belt.

What have you learned about diamonds in the process that surprised you? Oh, so much. For example, did you know that diamonds are always cold to the touch?

And that the most effective way to weigh a diamond is in water?

Savile Row or Spitalfields?

Savile Row – I always go to Tony Lutwyche for tailoring.

What advice would you give people getting an engagement ring made?

Start with the centre stone and work around it – it’s like a portrait, you’d always start with the face so that everything fits around it.

City or countryside?

A bit of both – probably more of the country when I’m older.

So, speaking of engagements, where did you go for your first date with Vogue? We met at ROKA in Mayfair and, I’ll be honest, I was still a little drunk from the night before – I’d been out celebrating winning The Jump [a reality TV show in which celebrities master winter sports] the night before.

In my usual manner, and probably trying to show off, I ordered loads off the menu – and then realised I didn’t have my card. Vogue had to pay for everything.

Cars, classic or new?

I’m not that into my cars. I’d rather ride around on my Triumph Thruxton R. Hotel or home?

I’m a sucker for great service, but home, always.

Where else do you like to let your friends pick up the bill? If I could eat at Le Petit Maison every day, I would. They do incredible flavours. I also love

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STEFANO RICCI (CENTRE) WITH SONS FILIPPO RICCI (SECOND LEFT), NICCOLO RICCI (SECOND RIGHT) AND MODELS AT THE STEFANO RICCI AW19 SHOWCASE

RICCI RICH WORDS: JOSH SIMS

H E M AY N O T C A R R Y T H E C A C H E T O F C O M P A T R I O T S A R M A N I , V E R S A C E O R D O L C E & G A B B A N A ,

B U T S T E F A N O R I C C I I S T H E I T A L I A N S U P E R -TA I L O R W H O ’ S D R E S S E D P R E S I D E N T S M A C R O N A N D P U T I N , A S W E L L A S T H E C E O O F TATA . F O L L O W I N G T H E O P E N I N G O F A £ 5 M I L L I O N F L A G S H I P I N M AY F A I R I N 2 0 1 7, A N D R E C O R D R E V E N U E S I N 2 0 1 8 , R I C C I M AY H AV E E N T R U S T E D H I S E M P I R E T O H I S S O N S , B U T, S AY S T H E O N E -T I M E T I E M A N U F A C T U R E R , H E ’ S N O T R E A D Y T O H A N G U P H I S H AT J U S T Y E T

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tefano Ricci has just returned, rather abruptly, from South Africa, where he failed to shoot anything. “I was invited to attend a summit of African leaders in Cape Town,” he says, having just got off the plane back in Italy. “But there was some protest going on, and we were advised to get out of the city. It was the first time I’d been to South Africa without my rifle. For once it seemed I was the only one without a weapon.”

Ricci is game hunter. He’s also a collector of classic cars. He’s mad about rare cigars. And, naturally, he has a private estate in the Italian countryside something akin to the Garden of Eden. Indeed, superficially at least, he is his own customer: a super well-heeled jetsetter who favours an exacting cut of jacket, all Italian hand-crafting, luxurious fabrics and, occasionally, some exotic trim. The fashion designer’s recent collection includes suits with gold thread linings and ruthenium buttons, and napa leather jackets with silk linings, but also tracksuits in cashmere and crocodile blousons with a superfine mink lining. Ricci doesn’t do things by halves: the company celebrated its 40th birthday in 2012 with a party in the Uffizi Gallery, the first time the esteemed Florentine art institution had allowed such an event.

“What we do isn’t about fashion,” says Ricci, a man who, with his portly figure, wild hair and sizeable beard, can look something akin to Karl Marx. “We’ve never been part of that world of ‘shocking’ dressing. Rather we make clothes for powerful men who want to communicate that power.

‘Luxury’ is a word that’s been terribly over-used. It’s almost impossible to use it now – it’s lost its value. But what we make is real luxury of the old kind, for which there’s still demand, albeit a small one. It’s not a rich lifestyle but an elegant one.

I won’t say ‘rich’ because you can be rich and have no taste.

Good taste doesn’t need a lot of money. It’s not what you wear, but how you wear it.”

Ricci, less known than compatriots Armani or Versace, runs a business with a £140m turnover and a palatial flagship store in Mayfair, and is unexpectedly blunt about some of his customers. Yes, there are those who will opt for, say, the diamond-encrusted platinum belt buckles. New money, he notes, always feels the need to express the fact of having it. But then among his customers are royalty, captains of industry and world leaders. That invitation to South Africa?

Because Ricci previously dressed Nelson Mandela.

Ricci’s is the kind of extremely loyal customer with very deep pockets, including a businessman who last year was

“We make clothes for powerful men who want to communicate that power”

followed around the world by a Stefano Ricci tailor for six months, being shown fine fabrics and giving measurements without actually providing any commitment to buy anything.

Then who, one day, announced that he was satisfied with the product and service and placed an order for 50 suits. At over US$10,000 a pop.

As such – and this is why his brand is somewhat under the radar – Ricci doesn’t need to advertise. He doesn’t use celebrity endorsements (“besides,” he laughs, “celebrities tend to want the clothes for free”). You won’t find his products in Duty Free. He has a homewares line and Junior – his collection for mini oligarchs – but, despite opportunities, has decided against extending his name into the likes of, say, womenswear or hotels. He does have a restaurant, but it’s a private one above a boutique for hosting those customers who spend more than $100,000 a year downstairs. His shops, of which he now has more than 60, don’t do sales – “because

it’s disrespectful to a gentleman to buy one of our suits for, say, €8,000, and then to see it the next day priced at half that amount.”

Given the workmanship that goes into them, Ricci’s collections are, unsurprisingly, made in super small quantities. Attention to detail, explains Ricci, underpins everything he does. “I can only really achieve the level of detail I want if I use specialists in Italy, by the kind of people who want to make the inside of a jacket more beautiful than the outside.

That means I can sell 50 pieces [of a garment] or choose to manufacture outside of Italy and sell 5,000 at a quality that’s 10 times lower. I’d be a much wealthier man if I could bring myself to sell at volume – but we’ve never been about that.” In 2010, Ricci acquired specialist fabric-maker Antico Setificio Fiorentino purely for its silk production.

“I’m deeply convinced that in my niche business – and it is really a niche, because the kind of customers who don’t have to think about price are few – it’s all about quality. My customers don’t need any more of anything. They don’t need another suit. And, thanks to the internet, they’re getting more and more knowledgeable about clothes.

There was a time, for example, when some men of money only wanted super fine shirting fabrics because, well, they’re super fine. But now they understand that such fabric won’t wear as well as other, less fine fabrics, that they don’t look so good after a couple of washes. They understand what goes into a garment.”

Ricci still heads up design at this company, but, almost 50 years after establishing his business – as a tie maker with his wife and the “real boss” Claudia – he’s passed the positions of CEO and creative director to his two sons Niccolò and Filippo, respectively – fulfilling the Italian Dream in the process.

Back when he started, Ricci points out, he was far from alone at the highest end of hand-crafted menswear. But, one by one, each of his competitors “stopped believing in the power of this niche”. They either

THIS PAGE, FROM TOP STEFANO RICCI’S SOUTH AUDLEY STREET BOUTIQUE; DEERSKIN BLOUSON, £5,600; JACKET WITH MINK FUR, £28,600; ZIP POLO, £1,000; HANDMADE CALFSKIN BUSINESS BAG, £2,900

moved into more accessible fashion, licensed out their name, or both. “These other companies had their hands on the prize. But they lost the quality and service that people got from them in the past.

And when it’s gone, it’s gone.”

A well-connected menswear designer, yes, but Ricci is clearly also a shrewd businessman. He was one of the first luxury brands to launch in China, while Russia and the United States are currently his company’s strongest-performing markets. More recently, he’s opened stores in Istanbul and Manila. Expect Turkey and the Philippines to follow suit.

“In this business you have to travel the world, all the time,” says Ricci. “And when you travel you have to look at the people on the street, and not just the ones hanging around the five-star hotels. That’s where you see how the world of style is developing, how it might transition into something we can work with. Broadly, men are dressing more casually of course. But it is possible to be both casual and elegant – it’s all in the cut and the cloth.”

Ricci may be spending more time on safari than in the cutting room, but he isn’t planning on retiring any time soon. Even when he is in the African bush, Niccolò and Filippo joke, Ricci may as well be at home, so much time does he spend sitting outside his tent sketching. Ricci knows, however, that the future of his business lays in the hands of his sons.

“I feel very lucky to be able to transfer the leadership of the business onto my kids.

They’re certainly aware of the responsibility, especially to the people who work for us.

Naturally they will change the style of the brand over time, but I’m sure they’ll retain that absolute quality focus – because that’s the religion of Stefano Ricci.”

56 South Audley Street, W1K, stefanoricci.com

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WANT TO BE LED ASTRAY?

Find and book your next escape at mrandmrssmith.com

ESCAPE TO STRIVE, TO SEEK, TO FIND...

P.118 ISLE BE THERE The best escapes in the British Isles

P.124 HOLIDAY INN Christmas at Coworth Park

P.126 THE BIG THYME A bucolic bolthole in the Cotsworlds

Zürich’s The Dolder Grand hotel could be the backdrop of a Wes Anderson film, with its majestic spires and ornate architecture.

Dusted in snow, it is all the more fanciful and festive. thedoldergrand.com

Channel Islands English Channel

ALDERNEY ALEX ZOUAGHI @A_ONTHEROAD

ISLAND TIME

Safety is a point of pride for Lapins, the name by which Alderney locals go, after the island’s abundance of rabbits. There are only three police officers, making it the perfect place for travellers seeking carefree quiet. It’s so safe, in fact, that author Anthony Horowitz is setting his next novel on the island, to up the murder rate from zero (fictionally, anyway).

The only crime so far has been how few decent places there are to stay, but a new hotel opening marked a new chapter for the island in November. The Blonde Hedgehog has nine boutique bedrooms – our favourite is The Den, with its view of St Anne’s pretty cobbled streets – and a sustainable slant. Kitchen gardener Sam Pycroft turns foraged seaweed and veg grown in his polytunnel (chantenay carrots, kohlrabi, salsify) into a locavore menu that nods to the farm-to-fork movement set in motion by places like Coombeshead Farm and Daylesford; you’ll vow not to eat here every night, but you will. The hotel will also hook you up with local wildlife experts, who can lock down a sighting of the rare eponymous hogs. With a new one-hour ferry running from Guernsey between May and September, aerophobics can now avoid the journey by seaplane and get a glimpse of the island as it should be seen, from the ocean. Look out for gannets, puffins and seals on the voyage. visitalderney.com

O N E O F N E X T Y E A R ’ S T O P T R E N D S P U T S T R AV E L L E R S T O TA L LY I N C H A R G E , A N D T H E B E S T P L A C E T O R O A M

THE BLONDE HEDGEHOG

FREE IS CLOSER TO HOME THAN YOU MIGHT THINK

Words: Anna Prendergast

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f 2019 was the year solo travel went mainstream, 2020 will be the year of solitary travel – for those who want to explore the borders of new places alongside the boundaries of their own solitude. It’s the year for soul-searching, star-gazing and forest-bathing without the stress of strangers or the shackles

of shared itineraries. And where better to begin than the handful of islands scattered off our very own coast, with their rugged landscapes and lilting languages, where the journeys to reach them constitute half the fun? Here, we shine a light on four corners of the country calling voyagers to the fringes and beyond.

ALDERNEY,

CHANNEL

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TRESCO

There are no hotels on Tresco, but plenty of serviced homes to rent such as Seabreeze, which looks out over Old Grimsby harbour

RICHARD PEARCE'S STUDIO, BRYHER

TRESCOTINIS AT THE RUIN BEACH CAFÉ

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A new helicopter route between Penzance and Tresco will launch in March 2020, making the privately-owned island easily accessible for the first time since the last helipad closed in February 2019. The archipelago’s subtropical microclimate draws British beachcombers to the warm waters of Pentle Bay, where hemmed-in city-escapees seek out ocean views and salty air.

Newly-completed property Seabreeze is a five-bedroom crashpad looking out over Ravens Porth beach filled with Hugo Dalton wallpaper, brushed brass and blonde wood, but if you’re leaving the family behind, book a private apartment at Sea Garden around the corner. This December, head to Abbey Garden to spot golden pheasants who wear technicolour coats of feathers all year round, and New Zealand Pohutukawa ‘Christmas’ trees. With time dictated by the tide, make sure to set aside a day to snorkel with seals off St Martin’s. The playful underwater pups are as curious as they are cute – don’t be alarmed if they chew gently on your flippers or roll over for a belly rub. Eat

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the catch of the day at the Flying Boat (or Hell Bay’s Crab Shack on Bryher), and head to The Ruin Beach Café to make the most of the car-free roads by ordering as many Trescotinis as you like. Made with Tresco gin and Scillian samphire, they’re one of the many ways locals have got creative with home-grown ingredients. Island-hop to St Mary’s for another, at Tanglewood Table’s secret supper club. It’s hidden at the back of the Post Office – call ahead as there are only eight spots – and pick up a seascape on Bryher from Richard Pearce’s studio, where you can peep his Atlantic muse through jars of paintbrushes propped against the hut’s blue window frames. visitislesofscilly.com

THE MACHRIE, ISLAY

GOLF AT TH

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Hebrides Scotland

The peaty Hebrides are wildly romantic, with fog thicker than smoke and names you want to give your daughters – Islay, Skye, Iona. Whisky flows through the island’s veins with the force of the Atlantic gales that whip up the lochs and the shorelines, but still, it’s a peaceful place studded with cosy refuges and a serious foodie scene. Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebrides, and boasts a roster of big-name chefs such as Michelin-starred Michael Smith at Loch Bay and Paul Rankin, who took over Stein Inn in August 2019.

Hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray recently acquired award-winning restaurant-with-rooms The Three Chimneys in remote Colbost – dine and drop at House Over-By across the courtyard. Or check in to the utterly secluded Kinloch Lodge, a family-run former hunting lodge delicately updated with unstuffy antiques and breezy textiles. There’s no better view to wake up to than that of the water stretching back to Ornsay at The Cabin, a green-roofed space designed to have a low impact on its extraordinary environment, but if your idea of enjoying green spaces includes teeing off on them, Campbell Gray has also given The Machrie a much-needed revamp over on Islay. Return with a gaggle of friends to take over Glenegedale House next summer, when its own makeover (and expansion) is due to finish. visitscotland.com Try foraging, fly fishing and deer stalking with the resident ghillie at 17th-century lochside hideaway Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye

THE THREE CHIMNEYS, SKYE

ISLE OF ERISKA

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ESCAPE

Orkney Islands Scotland

Following the trend for off-grid tiny living – think A-frame cabins and geodesic domes – Scotland’s bothies have been reimagined at Wheems Organic Farm on South Ronaldsay. Eco architect Michael Roberts designed his handful of ‘pods’ with rooftops like upturned boats that fit up to four people – but check in solo and befriend the Simmental cows that roam the surrounding fields. Locals will do away with any risk of loneliness – storytelling is a pastime here, and everyone has a tale to tell of sorcerous Finfolk and shape-shifting Selkies. The new ferry from Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope is hailed as Scotland’s most environmentally-friendly, and drops visitors off at a port just six minutes away from the farm. Orkney scallops are so revered in the restaurant world that chefs around the UK such as Jason Atherton and Timothy Kensett design dishes around them – find the best seafood (and exceptional views) at Skerries Bistro and family-run The Foveran. On the Mainland, try windsurfing in Bay of Skaill and drop in on Kevin Gauld’s furniture workshop, where he hand-crafts unique Orkney chairs with tall, scooped straw backs that you’ll want to take home. Meanwhile, the Pier Arts Centre celebrates its 40th birthday this year in Stromness; find works by Barbara Hepworth and Olafur Eliasson. In winter, you can catch the Northern Lights (known among

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Orcadians as the ‘Merry Dancers’) and between April and May, puffins cling to the vertical clifftops to nest – with so much nature to delight in, it’s no wonder the Orkney Islands ranked as the happiest place to live in Scotland in a recent report from the Office for National Statistics. orkney.com

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Let the Orkney's whistling winds sing you to sleep at Wheems Organic Farm on South Ronaldsay

the

RICH LIST 50 luxury holidays that will enrich your life Arriving January 2020 Order your free book now carrier.co.uk/richlist

LUXURY LONDON

ESCAPE

A W E E K E N D AWAY

COWO R T H PA R K ASCOT CHRISTMAS IN A COUNTRY HOTEL SOUNDS LIKE THE PREMISE OF A PA U L F E I G F I L M WA I T I N G TO H A P P E N – B U T AT C O W O R T H PA R K , THE MAGIC DOESN’T DISAPPEAR EVEN WHEN DECEMBER IS OVER

Words: Jessie Windsor

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very Christmas Eve, Santa visits Coworth Park. If you listen hard enough, you might even hear the hooves of his reindeer on the mansion’s rooftop.

Or perhaps it’s the horses in the stables – after all, this is the only hotel in the UK with its own polo fields and an equestrian centre used by Guards Polo Club (it’s also one of regular player Prince Harry’s favourite hangouts – he spent the night before his wedding here). If you’re more excited about the prospect of taking the reins than listening for reindeer, add one of Coworth Park’s exclusive polo packages to your Christmas list this year. They’re run by professionals who have played for teams such as Argentina and the UK, and fully immerse guests in the sport with practical lessons and insider tricks.

While there’s more to Coworth than country pursuits, interior designer Martin Hulbert honoured the hotel’s heritage with whimsical details. The main house has 30 grand bedrooms (with a further 40 in the converted stables), designed to make the most of the Georgian proportions with bespoke furniture, floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains and equine motifs – bed sheets embroidered with stirrups and wildflowers from the meadow stitched into the linen. Downstairs in The Bar, visual artist Julian Wolkenstein’s artwork playfully depicts horses with their manes styled like human hair on one wall; another displays antique riding tack.

As well as The Bar, there are three restaurants to choose from. Look out for the ornate gold oakleaf fixture overhead at Restaurant Coworth Park, where chef Adam Smith heads up an award-winning kitchen (Michel Roux Snr once called Smith ‘one to watch’); head to The Barn, a locavore rustic brasserie; and relax at The Spatisserie, a low-key, light-filled space. The hotel also offers afternoon tea in the Drawing Room (where a musician in eveningwear plucks the strings of a harp as you nibble), 24-hour room service, and nannies on hand that can be booked up to three days in advance – so you can take your Michelin-starred meals at your convenience. Extras like this

make Coworth Park a favourite among families, but children are only allowed in the restaurant and swimming pool during certain times, so other guests aren’t disturbed – a gamechanger for couples and those hoping to escape the noise and pressure of life outside the 240-acre grounds.

The swimming pool is something special, too. Set into the spa, an architectural feat with a fragrant herb garden rooftop, the 18m pool plays music underwater and is lined with amethyst geodes, semi-precious stones often used for their stress-relieving properties. It is said that the water absorbs positive energy from the crystals. And speaking of energy, Coworth Park has a carbon neutral fuel supply: the hotel was one of the first in the UK to harness solar glazing and a willowburning biomass boiler using trees grown on the estate.

As for respite, book in for a soothing aromatherapy treatment in the spa, pop a ‘Counting Sheep: Please Do Not Disturb’ sign on your door and you’ll sleep straight through a visit from Santa’s sleigh.

From £455 for a room based on two people sharing in December, including breakfast, dorchestercollection.com

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FIELD TO FORK IN A CORNER OF THE COTSWOLDS IS A VILLAGE WITHIN A VILLAGE W I T H A N A P T LY E V E R G R E E N NAME: THYME. SHOWCASING THE BOUNTY OF THE LOCAL L A N D I S AT T H E H E A R T O F THIS HOTEL’S EXISTENCE

Words: Annabel Harrison

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here are a few things in life that are always guaranteed to get my attention.

Sprightly dogs with a jaunty gait; the smell of freshly-baked bread on a Sunday morning; the opening chords of a somehow-forgotten favourite song; sunsets that smear fiery colours across the sky like a canvas – and enormous trees.

I’m astounded by their majesty, their might and, most of all, their age. They’ve escaped a fate as furniture or firewood, playing witness instead to centuries of history unfolding around them. The tree being admired today is colossal – too big to take in its scope without tipping my head back, and too tall to fit in one shot, unless I trot a hundred paces back into a field. I stand in its shadow with my oldest friend Philli, a fellow fan of nature’s marvels, until the lure of our next meal kicks in. We later discover this giant is more than 500 years old – a Cedar of Lebanon, after which one of the rooms in Thyme’s Lodge is named.

We arrived earlier that afternoon, after an easy drive from London, and have wasted no time exploring, err, Thyme.

The estate in Southrop – an enclosed assortment of restored historic buildings, has expanded over the years to encompass hotel rooms and cottages, a spa, a cookery school, its own farm and kitchen garden, pub and restaurant, the Ox Barn – opened in December last year. We’re pretty sure, ten minutes into our stay, that we won’t need, or want, to venture further than Thyme’s boundaries to have a restoratively relaxing weekend, and we don’t.

Charming hand-drawn maps encourage us to visit the kitchen gardens (between 9am and 4pm – wellies provided) where a huge variety of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers are grown. “Our cooks, gardeners and florists gather fresh ingredients which inspire everything we do. Please do ask questions!” We head to the Baa first (see what they did there?) for fortifying, refreshing Flocktails; the bar team uses ingredients from Thyme’s gardens wherever possible. The mocktails we try are delicious; picked camomile, fermented ginger and candied orange all make an appearance in the snappily-named Macaroni Dandy.

On our way to the gardens we’re brought to a standstill by not one but an entire herd of black ruminants. Thyme has two flocks and these are the Welsh Black Mountain sheep. It’s an arresting sight to see a whole field of these shaggy, scruffy grazers – and odder, perhaps, that I later choose lamb for my supper. But then, society’s at a funny place when it comes to our food. We’re starting to understand that we need to eat more local, seasonal produce; we’re far too used to eating whatever we want, whenever we want it – raspberries from Portugal, bananas from Peru, avocados from Mexico. But are we prepared to ditch a favourite recipe because most of the ingredients have been flown half way around the world?

Thyme makes dining decisions easy – head chef Charlie

Hibbert has concocted clever menus that feature what’s in season, and available close by. That’s it. And the meals I eat inspire me to make a lot more out of what’s produced in the UK. Rhubarb, for example. It takes centre stage on the cover of the monthly bar menu. The first crop of the year can be harvested in early February, hence its appearance in breakfast jam, the Rude Bob cocktail and a dessert with meringue and cream.

Hence, also, my choice of lamb at supper – I’ve seen for myself that Thyme’s animals are exceptionally well cared for, and that my meal has been created within a mile or two of my plate. Philli is delighted by her generous starter of roast beetroot, onion and goat’s curd, while my choice – poached chicken, tarragon and mayo, served cold in a clear jelly – is quite unusual, but creative. The aforementioned lamb is butter-soft and comes with creamy celeriac and potato gratin.

Celeriac doesn’t get enough airtime; it should. Portions are big enough that we should probably share a dessert, but how can we choose between hazelnut and lemon polenta cake, and quince and almond tart? Both old-fashioned British puddings that will undoubtedly send us into a deep sleep.

First, though, to navigate back to our cottage – Hollyhock. It’s silent and bible-black dark at night-thyme (sorry, couldn’t resist) so lanterns are provided. Ours is a bit lacklustre so I use my phone and we feel like kids sneaking around on a school trip, muffling laughter as we go. My request for firmer pillows has been attended to; I don’t know why, but the luxury hotel industry has decided the fluffier and more cloud-like the pillow, the better – not for this writer. And so to bed.

In the morning: silence, and a slow, lazy awakening from slumber. Of course our quaint English cottage has a kettle, so tea and the papers in bed for me, and a solo session in the new yoga studio for Philli – is there anything better? Actually yes, and it requires going back to the Ox Barn (after a heavenly shower; all but three rooms at Thyme have baths so ask for one when you book if it’s an essential). There’s a spread of breads, preserves, yogurts, juices, poached orchard fruits, granola and muesli on offer, and four hot options too: Philli is very satisfied with buck rarebit (cheese and egg on toast, basically) and I devour airy buttermilk pancakes with yogurt, hazelnut and – its tartness welcome – rhubarb. Pleasingly, the breakfast table is almost decimated by the time service is over – a nice change from wondering what will happen to the mounds of leftovers.

Well, as there’s a Cookery School here too, I doubt anything goes to waste. It offers half a dozen or so classes a month, in areas as diverse as Seasonal Dinner Parties, Bread Making and Flavours of the World: Middle East.

Philli and I finish every last morsel of our breakfast and agree that maybe we need to come back to learn to cook, and eat, the Thyme way.

From £325 per night, including breakfast, thyme.co.uk

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P R O P E R T Y T H E F I N E S T H O M E S I N T H E C A P I TA L

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE The latest property news from prime central London

P.139 HOUSE STYLE Introducing onefinestay, the highend rental service

P.140 STREETS AHEAD The top properties hitting the market this month

A rare opportunity to own an exquisite Georgian townhouse on Harley Street (p.140)

LUXURY LONDON

PROPERTY

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE FROM THE UK’S PRIME RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET

HIGH LIFE THE FIRST BUILD-TORENT DEVELOPMENT IN CANARY WHARF

Operated by Vertus, the new build-torent company from Canary Wharf Group, 10 George Street is the first of three developments to rent on the Estate and will be located at Canary Wharf’s new district Wood Wharf.

Designed by GRID Architects, the open-plan apartments are furnished by Camerich and integrated with Siemens appliances and Samsung flatscreens.

Available to rent from 2020, from £1,950 per month for a studio apartment, thisisvertus.com

PHOTOGRAPHY ©TIM CROCKER

A SUITE DEAL A PENTHOUSE APARTMENT AT CORINTHIA HOTEL IS SNAPPED UP FOR £10.75M

The best suite in the house at Corinthia Hotel has been snapped up by a Hong Kong billionaire.

Part of Corinthia Hotel London: Private Residences, the fourbedroom penthouse sold for £10.75m in a deal that took less than 72 hours.

The new owners are such big fans of the hotel they reportedly requested the apartment be fitted with its signature mattresses, bed linen and throws.

The trophy home comes complete with 24/7 room service and access to the hotel’s spa, restaurants, cocktail bars and lounges.

The buyer was introduced

by Aston Chase, and the vendor represented by Knight Frank.

AWA R D W I N N E R NORWICH CITY COUNCIL’S GOLDSMITH STREET SCOOPS THE RIBA STIRLING PRIZE 2019

Comprising 100 low-energy homes, Goldsmith Street by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley has set new standards for social housing – so much so that it has been awarded the RIBA Stirling Price 2019. The development is the largest scheme of its kind in the UK to achieve Passivhaus certification – a voluntary standard of energy efficiency – and the first to win the presitigous architecture award.

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Immaculately presented maisonette in Notting Hill.

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Alexander Street, Notting Hill W2 A rare opportunity to acquire an interior designed apartment within this charming period building. Benefiting from an abundance of natural light, private balcony and large windows throughout the property.

• • • •

Chelsea Whelan looks forward to helping you. chelsea.whelan@knightfrank.com +44 20 3910 9736

Arranged over 3 floors Well-proportioned rooms throughout Offered in excellent condition Approximately 1,553 sq ft

Guide price

£2,850,000

Share of Freehold knightfrank.co.uk Connecting people & property, perfectly.

Exquisite townhouse Brunswick Gardens, W8

Notting Hill Gate Underground Station: 0.4 miles

A beautifully presented period family house, quietly located in one of the 'cherry blossom' roads near Kensington Palace, benefitting from a garden and an excellent basement. 3 receptions rooms, 5 bedrooms (3 en suite), further bathroom, dressing room, utility room, cloakroom. EPC = F

Freehold | 4,454 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ9.95 million

Kit Allen Savills Kensington Residential Sales 020 7535 3300 kallen@savills.com

An architectural masterpiece Pembridge Villas, W11 Notting Hill Gate Underground Station: 0.4 miles Indulgence perfected, open-plan kitchen/dining/living room, 2 bedrooms, 3 bath/shower rooms, home cinema, swimming pool, gym, private landscaped garden, EPC = B

Freehold | 2,770 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ5.95 million

Oliver Lurot Savills Notting Hill Residential Sales 020 7727 5750 olurot@savills.com

L I V E P O S I T I V E AT B AT T E R S E A P O W E R S TAT I O N

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Discover a place like no other, now open, with exclusive spots to dine al fresco and endless views of the River Thames.

Unique and luxurious homes designed by world renowned architects with a selection of apartments from studios to penthouses.

• Studios 1, 2, 3 & 4 bedroom apartments and penthouses available • Zone 1 tube station opening in 2021 • Direct River access to the City and West End

by MBNA Thames Clippers River Bus • Residents’ club including bar, business centre and lounge • Gym, pool and spa • Investment guarantee available • Leasehold 999 years • Prices start from £510,000

Limited availability Call +44 (0) 20 3797 1883 or email sales@batterseapowerstation.co.uk to make an appointment.

Search Battersea Power Station

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Vision. Passion. Perfection. The fires of the imagination, fuelled by desire, creating the exceptional. The mind of the architect and the skilled hand of the craftsman, it is the pure elegance of simplicity, and nothing less than perfection is acceptable.

Renowned for its stunning cliffs and golden sands – unspoilt and rich in culture and history – Vale do Lobo is one of the finest resorts in the Algarve, and the perfect setting for a home like Casa da Quinta.

Priced EUR 13.75m +44 (0)20 3146 6247 www.roqueproperties.com info@roqueproperties.com

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10 first class bedroom suites and dramatic open plan living and entertaining spaces are adorned with beautiful materials and exceptional design and craftsmanship. With state-of-the-art technology, stunning landscaped gardens, private terraces, and an infinity pool with breathtaking Atlantic views, only those lucky enough to experience it first hand will ever truly understand.

Because although the fires of imagination that created it have died down, its heat will be felt forever.

02/10/2019 10:08

LUXURY LONDON

PROMOTION

HOUSE STYLE C O N N E C T I N G D I S C E R N I N G T R AV E L L E R S W I T H B E A U T I F U L H O M E S , H I G H - E N D R E N TA L S E R V I C E O N E F I N E S TAY B O A S T S A N E X P E R T LY C U R AT E D P R O P E R T Y P O R T F O L I O

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quick scroll through onefinestay’s portfolio of homes will present you with some exceptional gems: a grand apartment located next door to The British Museum; a former carriage house-turnedspacious abode once owned by Madonna; and a converted cooperage

in Clerkenwell. Each has its own unique style, designed by a discerning owner and ready to be visited by equally discerning guests.

Founded in 2010, onefinestay offers made-to-measure hospitality, opening doors to some of the finest homes in the most desirable destinations across the globe. Its expert team offers unmatched service – and for the homeowner, the experience is effortless. Dedicated account managers take care of everything, from learning a home’s unique quirks, to managing guests during their stay. A number of security checks are also underaken with each booking. In addition to arranging housekeeping before and after each stay, onefinestay also prepares the home with its own white linens and toiletries.

Looking for space, character and comfort, onefinestay handpicks each home to ensure it befits their guests’

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refined tastes. As such, just one in 10 homes that apply make the cut. The result is a carefully curated collection that spans Los Angeles to London.

Always on the hunt for new homes, the team has a number of key pointers they – and their guests – look out for, and location is top of the list. In the capital, the company’s most popular homes are unsurprisingly in prime central spots, such as South Kensington and Chelsea.

From minimalist houseboats to pastel pink townhouses, each home in the onefinestay portfolio is wonderfully unique. Personal touches make all the difference; a beautiful art collection, a bookshelf packed with great reads, or a coffee table teaming with inspiring tomes are all small but appreciated details.

Practicality, too, is key. Good water pressure, comfortable beds and a good bathroom-to-bedroom ratio are vital, as are TV sets and coffee machines.

Beyond four walls, a onefinestay home comes down to experience. Guests looking to explore a city can do so from the comfort of a beautiful home. Every stay includes a personal welcome and tour of the property, 24/7 guest support and the option to add tailored amenities and experiences.

Homeowners, meanwhile, can enjoy renting out their home while they’re away, safe in the knowledge that their home, and their guests, are being looked after by onefinestay.

For more information on becoming a onefinestay homeowner, call +44 20 3871 8650 or visit onefinestay.com/join/luxury

STREETS AHEAD DISTINCTIVE HOMES ON THE PROPERTY MARKET THIS MONTH

H A R L E Y S T R E E T, W1G

This Grade II-listed townhouse on Harley Street has been beautifully renovated by architecture firm SHH. Spread across six floors, the property boasts five bedrooms and six bathrooms, as well as a state-of-the-art spa area with a pool, steam room,

sauna and gym. “This is arguably one of the finest Georgian townhouses in Marylebone,” says Claire Reynolds, head of Savills Marylebone. “Houses like this are in rare existence in Marylebone and this coming to the market offers a very exciting opportunity.” £18.5m, 020 3527 0400, savills.com

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PROPERTY

A B I N G D O N R OA D, W8

This contemporary townhouse comprises five bedrooms spread across seven storeys. Developer Onyx is behind the distinctive design, which merges modern aesthetics with the building’s traditional Georgian architecture. It has been shortlisted for the 2019 International Design & Architecture Awards. £9.95m, 020 3761 9691, russellsimpson.co.uk

H A M I LT O N T E R R AC E , SW 1 0

The former home of Lloyds Bank founder Henry Barnett has hit the market. Originally built in 1890, the period property has been given a refreshing makeover

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by designer Bill Bennette, who looked to Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard for inspiration. A cinema, swimming pool and a cocktail bar are among the highlights. £22.5m, 020 3883 6488, astonchase.com

Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea SW3 £7,500 per week

Furnished

Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill W11 £2,750 per week Flexible Furnishing

A stunning newly built nine-bedroom, four-reception room house, offering large open-plan entertaining areas and spacious bedrooms.

A modern and bright four-bedroom house with a large garden situated in the very heart of Notting Hill.

4,562 sq ft (423.8 sq m) Reception/dining room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Two sitting rooms | Two bedroom suites | Six further bedrooms | Three further shower rooms | Study/TV room | Further bedroom/study | Cloakroom | Utility room | Garden | Lift | EPC rating C

2,304 sq ft (214 sq m) Three reception rooms | Kitchen | Two bedroom suites | Two additional bedrooms | Further bathroom | Cloakroom | Wine cellar | Conservatory | Garden | Off-street parking | EPC rating D

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea.lettings@struttandparker.com

Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghilllettings@struttandparker.com

Campden Hill Gardens, Kensington W8 £8,000 per week Flexible Furnishing

Brompton Square, Knightsbridge SW3 £2,300 per week Unfurnished

A beautifully presented double fronted Victorian house that has recently undergone a major refurbishment programme.

A well-presented townhouse situated on this prime Knightsbridge garden square.

4,309 sq ft (400 sq m) Double drawing room | Dining room | Family room | Kitchen | Gym | Study | Six bedrooms | Dressing room | Five bathrooms | Three cloakrooms | Food lift | Roof terrace | Patio | EPC rating D

2,372 sq ft (220.36 sq m) Drawing room | Reception room | Dining room | Kitchen | Three double bedrooms | Three bathrooms | Cloakroom | Garden | EPC rating E

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington.lettings@struttandparker.com

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridgelettings@struttandparker.com

*After an offer is accepted by the Landlord, which is subject to contract and acceptable references, the following charges and fees will be payable before the commencement of the tenancy: Preparation of Tenancy Agreement £222 (Inc VAT),

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

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Manresa Road, Chelsea SW3 £3,000 per week

Unfurnished

A spectacular family house boasting a fabulous modern interior, sauna and a secure private garage.

2,624 sq ft (234.8 sq m) Reception/dining room | Kitchen | Cinema room | Two bedroom suites | Two further bedrooms | Two further bathrooms | Cloakroom | Garage | Garden | Patio | Sauna | EPC rating D

Queen’s Elm Square, Chelsea SW3 £5,950 per week

Unfurnished

An incredibly spacious family home with seven bedrooms, which has been created by conjoining two neighbouring houses in a manner which reflects the architectural design of the private gated square.

5,094 sq ft (473.23 sq m) Two reception rooms | Seven bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Patio | Communal gardens | Off-street parking | EPC rating D

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | Chelsea.lettings@struttandparker.com

Chelsea SW10 020 3813 9185 | chelseaSW10lettings@struttandparker.com

Cranley Mansions, South Kensington SW7 £4,250 per week Furnished

Holmead Road, Fulham SW6 £2,250 per week

A newly refurbished triple aspect lateral apartment with wooden floors throughout with lift access.

A fabulous Victorian terraced house, situated in this sought after location and immaculately refurbished to an exacting standard.

2,538 sq ft (235.8 sq m) Two reception rooms | Four bedrooms | Three bathrooms | Balcony | Concierge/porter | Lift | EPC rating D

2,313 sq ft (214.88 sq m) Reception/dining room | Kitchen | Drawing room | Master bedroom with bathroom suite | Three further bedrooms (one en suite) | Family bathroom | Gym | Utility room | Garden | EPC rating E

South Ken 020 3504 5588 | southkensingtonlettings@struttandparker.com

Fulham 020 8023 6671 | fulham.lettings@struttandparker.com

Flexible Furnishing

References per Tenant £54 (Inc VAT), a deposit – usually between 6-10 weeks of the agreed rent. Any rent advertised is pure rent and does not include any additional services such as council tax, water or utility charges.

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

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Smith Street, Chelsea SW3 £4,650,000

Freehold

Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill W11 £5,500,000 Freehold

A super four/five-bedroom house with a terrace and south westfacing garden.

A beautifully presented six-bedroom family house with views over and access to the fabulous private communal gardens of Ladbroke Square.

2,460 sq ft (229 sq m) Two reception rooms | Kitchen | Dining room | Master bedroom suite | Three further bedrooms | Bedroom five/playroom | Three further shower rooms | Two cloakrooms | Study | Terrace | Garden | EPC rating D

3,546 sq ft (329 sq m) Entrance hall | Drawing room | Dining room | Kitchen | Breakfast room | Playroom | Study | Six bedrooms | Four bath/shower rooms | Dressing room | Utility room | Storage vaults | Garden | Access to Ladbroke Square | EPC rating E

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea@struttandparker.com

Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghill@struttandparker.com

Abingdon Road, Kensington W8 £2,175,000 Share of Freehold

Pont Street Mews, Knightsbridge SW1X £5,200,000 Freehold

A well-presented three-bedroom upper maisonette, occupying approximately 1,128 sq ft on the first and second floors of an attractive period house. The property has excellent entertaining space, including an impressive west-facing reception room.

A superb mews house with private parking across the 22ft frontage in one of London’s finest addresses.

1,128 sq ft (104.8 sq m) Entrance hall | Reception room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Three bedrooms | Two bathrooms | EPC rating D Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

2,438 sq ft (226.5 sq m) Drawing room | Open plan kitchen and dining room | Master bedroom suite | Two further en suite bedrooms | Media room | Gym | Shower room | Utility room | Private off-street parking | EPC rating E Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | Knightsbridge@struttandparker.com

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

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Bishops Row, Fulham SW6 Prices from £3,300,000

Freehold

Halsey Street, Chelsea SW3 £4,450,000

Freehold

Eight spectacular townhouses, a stone’s throw from the River Thames, by renowned developers Octagon.

A superb five-bedroom family house offering bright well-planned living accommodation.

3,763 – 4,395 sq ft (349.59 – 408.31 sq m) Kitchen/breakfast/family room | Drawing room | Dining room | Four/five bedrooms | Gym | Cinema room | Pantry | Study | Two cloakrooms | Laundry room | Lower courtyard garden | Rear garden | EPC ratings B - C

2,314 sq ft (215 sq m) Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Four further bedrooms | Three reception rooms | Two further bathrooms | Guest Cloakroom | Study | Garden | Balcony | Terrace | Residents parking | EPC rating exempt

Fulham 020 8023 6671 | fulham@struttandparker.com

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea@struttandparker.com

Gloucester Road, South Kensington SW7 £995,000 Leasehold

Cresswell Place, Chelsea SW10 £6,950,000

An exceptional second floor two-bedroom flat in the heart of South Kensington, benefiting from being completely refurbished.

A stunning house that has been beautifully refurbished by the current owners to an exacting standard.

634 sq ft (58 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen/dining area | Two bedrooms with en suite shower rooms | Ample storage | Utility room | Second floor - Leasehold 134 years 10 months | EPC rating D

3,141 sq ft (291.82 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Master bedroom suite with dressing room | Three further en suite bedrooms | Study | Large private roof terrace with hot tub | Wet bar area with day room and sauna | Gym | Access to communal gardens | EPC rating C

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southken@struttandparker.com

Chelsea SW10 020 3813 9185 | chelseaSW10@struttandparker.com

Freehold

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

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Queen’s Gate, South Kensington SW7

£2,500 per week Furnished

A stunning four-bedroom lateral apartment with lift, in a highly desired location.

2,022 sq ft (187.89 sq m) Two reception rooms | Four bedrooms | Three bathrooms | Terrace | Lift | EPC rating D

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southkenlettings@struttandparker.com *After an offer is accepted by the Landlord, which is subject to contract and acceptable references, the following charges and fees will be payable before the commencement of the tenancy: Preparation of Tenancy Agreement £222 (Inc VAT),

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

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Queen’s Gate Place Mews, South Kensington SW7

£6,450,000 Freehold

A four-bedroom mews house in immaculate order with a beautiful terrace, and a large garage for off-street parking.

3,718 sq ft (345 sq m) Two reception rooms | Four bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Steam room | Cinema room | Gym | Utility room | Mews house | Roof terrace | Patio | Garage | EPC rating B

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southken@struttandparker.com References per Tenant £54 (Inc VAT), a deposit – usually between 6-10 weeks of the agreed rent. Any rent advertised is pure rent and does not include any additional services such as council tax, water or utility charges.

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

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