QUINTESSENTIALLY | Insider | experiences

CONCIERGE
  • HOME
  • WRITERS
  • TRAVEL
  • FOOD&DRINK
  • CULTURE
  • STYLE
  • CITY GUIDES
  • NEWSLETTERS

Posts Tagged ‘experiences’

The Legend of Nobu

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

This February, for three consecutive evenings only, Japanese food legend, Nobu Matsuhisa will be flying into Europe to host a unique, intimate dining experience for the countries most intrepid gourmands, in the private dining room of the stunning Nobu Restaurant on Old Park Lane. Those who are unfamiliar with Matsuhisa will almost certainly be aware of his restaurant, Nobu, a celebrity favourite which is considered to be one of the best restaurants in the capital.

Sushi lovers are invited to be audience to Nobu San as he speaks in person about the tradition, design and creation of his world class cuisine, before being invited to sample delights, created by the expert hands of a world class sushi master. The lucky diners will be educated and inspired, as each carefully curated dish leads in the search of umami – the fifth taste. Each course will be expertly paired with carefully chosen Sake to subtly and authentically counterpoint the dish’s flavour.

Umami is said to be a round, savoury taste, which causes the mouth to water with satisfaction. With a menu that includes King Crab Tempura with Amazu Ponzu and Grilled Wagyu Steak with Jerusalem artichokes and a Nameko mushroom and Sansho pepper sauce, you will not be disappointed

For those who want to come away with a taste of Japan, this will be the perfect alternative to traversing the globe as you are personally entertained by the world’s most celebrated Japanese cuisineur.

Spaces are limited to just 60 seats for each evening, and reservations can be made in advance. Tickets for this unique event are priced at £260 per person.

To reserve, please contact Amir Jati, Events and Private Dining Manager at Nobu London on amirj@noburestaurants.com

The Darker Side Of Chocolate

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

william_main

If ever there was anyone deserving of the title ‘diamond in the rough’, it is surely William Curley. The Chocolatier’s Chelsea store has all the touches of a long-established heritage business so it is with great surprise that I am met by a young Scot, raised near Fife, whose path into the industry was formed by his reluctance to take up woodwork at his technical college, instead choosing to study cookery.

As I arrive to meet Curley, I notice I’m not the only one seeking to steal a few minutes of his time. Two photographers linger around the shop waiting to start a shoot, and I have the time to take in the vast selection of chocolates available. Whilst the store also serves as a patisserie and ice-cream parlour, the chocolates steal the show. But forget sugar and spice and all things nice; these are unmistakeably grown-up treats for true connoisseurs.

The majority are dark with flavours even I haven’t heard of before, and I’ve had my fair share of chocolate over the years. There’s a tremendous Japanese influence, with flavours including saki and apricot and wasabi, and Curley confesses that in the rare occasions that he can be dragged away from the store, he travels to Japan, the home of his wife, Suzue, and a land of culinary concoctions to inspire his palatte. When I ask him about his choice of rare flavours, he says that “if you want to be at the top, you need consistency but you must also keep evolving.”

Curley uses predominantly dark chocolates to ensure that the complex flavours are not overpowered by a sugary aftertaste. He tells me that he doesn’t add sweeteners of any kind to the chocolate, and prefers to let the flavours speak for themselves. This they certainly do, and performing the statutory tasting on the box he offers me at the end of our interview has all the excitement and complexity of a wine-tasting session.

For more information, please visit www.williamcurley.co.uk.

Buddha’s Halo

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

KnaiBangChat_main

Knai Bang Chat’ is Cambodian for ‘rainbow encircling the sun’ and a Buddhist metaphor that denotes the halo around Buddha’s head. Such a moniker befits this modernist paradise, as much for its optical imagery as the artistic ‘enlightenment’ on display. Just to look at it you understand why so many other private residences have appeared close by. Kep – beach town and once summer playground of the French elite – is back in business.

On looking at it, you wonder who was responsible for such profound yet studied strangeness. The protégé, business partner and son of legendary antiques dealer Alex Vervoordt is partly to blame, along with the ingenuity of architect Francoise Lavielle. Boris Vervoordt grew up in his father’s antique-strewn castle, developing a ‘third eye’ for objects of value and a talent for synthesising old and new artistic forms with strident architectural set-pieces – a unique ‘something’ that the travel press are quick to cite as this lifestyle resort’s greatest asset.

The three houses that make up the Vervoordt compound is an amalgamation of everything Vervoordt loves most – his own definition of luxury if you like – with influences from Andrea Palladio and Luis Barragan among others. Inside you will find a playful orchestra of 12th-century artefacts and contemporary architecture, as beautiful a juxtaposition of classical mood and new-age panache as I have come across. Large villa terraces opening onto vanilla sunsets, fresh fish dining on an azure-swept private jetty and the most charming khmer service makes this the quintessential Bond hide-out. If luxury were a mixture, Vervoordt would call it the ‘perfect combination of happiness and freedom’. Knai Bang Chatt, similarly illustrated, mingles Vervoordt’s modernist conceptions of luxury with a good bit of sun and sea.

For more information, go to www.knaibangchatt.com

Going Commando

Monday, January 18th, 2010

N_commando_main

What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to the British-built Norton motorcycle brand, quite a lot. It holds an incredible history in its chassis, and with the rebirth of the beefy Norton Commando, a Phoenix-like rise from the ashes of mediocrity.

There was a time when Norton reigned supreme, when it won the Isle of Man TT races eighteen times, and when the cool chrome and the powerful twin engines made its presence on the roads a welcome thing. That was over twenty years ago, and since then the most evocative marque in British motorcycling has declined from the headstrong warrior it once was. Poor management, diving sales and an unsympathetic manufacturer made sure that the 1977 Commando was the last truly bona fide Norton off the construction racks. This was the case until a Midlands-born pyrotechnics manufacturer, Stuart Garner, pledged that such a great British name would never be used to sell flannel suits, an idea its American owners were toying with. He bought it for ‘many millions’, and the rest is history.

Fans of the old Commando include Keanu Reeves and Orlando Bloom. With such insight and Garner’s resources and assistance, the new retro-styled Commando SE 961 revs up for its inaugural cruise on Sunset Strip. Triumph Bonneville beware; the speed and machismo of the original is all there, as is the unmistakable Norton chatter. Modern engineering brings with it an all-new, air-cooled, fuel-injected 961cc parallel twin engine, good for an estimated 90bhp, a chrome-moly steel tube chassis and carbon-fibre wheels. And with a multicylinder sports model and new take on the legendary Norton Manx in Garner’s field of vision, expect to see the Norton bad-boy club out in force.

New Norton collection includes: Commando 961SE, Commando 961 Café Racer, Commando 961 Sport. For more information, see www.nortonmotorcycles.com.

Is West Stoke House England’s best-kept secret?

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

weststoke_main

One laudatory review of Rowland and Mary Leach’s West Stoke House commented ‘to describe this as a bed and breakfast would be like calling Harvey Nichols a clothes shop’. This is an entirely accurate statement, but doesn’t really begin to come close as to why West Stoke House is such a splendid place to visit.

Located a couple of miles away from Chichester, the house itself is a beautiful Georgian mansion that the Leaches have decorated in exquisitely tasteful style throughout, with the eight comfortable and well-appointed rooms all boasting nice touches such as antique writing desks and superbly relaxing leather armchairs, as well as large and luxurious beds. If you never ventured out of your room during your stay, it would still be easy to recommend the hotel, but you’d be missing out if you didn’t take advantage of the superb Michelin-starred restaurant, which boasts superlative cooking from Darren Brown, a former chef at the Lanesborough.

Some of the highlights on the short, well-constructed a la carte include crab and lobster lasagne, remarkably gamey, rich venison and some exemplary foie gras. The wine list offers a number of well-chosen bottles at sensible prices, including a stunning 2007 Marcel Langoux Pouilly Fume and an equally good 2007 Blind River Pinot Noir from Marlborough. The staff are charming and ever-willing to please – none of the usual stuffy formality here – and you are all but guaranteed a wonderful time here.

West Stoke, Chichester PO18 9BN. www.weststokehouse.co.uk

Travelling up to Glenmorangie – Whisky Galore!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

glenmorangie_main

I was fortunate enough recently to head up to the Highlands of Scotland for a kind of whisky safari, concentrating on those two peaks of ‘the wee dram’, Glenmorangie and Ardbeg. Glenmorangie comes in an almost bewildering variety of forms, ranging from the famous original single malt whisky through a number of others, including a magnificent 18-year old variety and the Nectar D’Or, which has been specifically designed to have a citrus finish, almost like a lemon tart. The highly able staff at the Glenmorangie Distillery, who offer fascinating tours showing the whisky’s production from inception to eventual production, are keen to empathise that whisky is a hugely underrated accompaniment to food, although perhaps only the bravest would have a three-course meal with matching whiskies.

Ardbeg, which I tasted the next day (a man has, after all, got to have some time off for good behaviour), is an altogether different beast. More complex and peaty, and less accessible, the Supernova variety is the legendary whisky writer Jim Murray’s favourite Scotch whisky and single malt whisky of the year in 2009, as it has been for the past two years. It’s definitely an uncompromising drink – 58.9% alcohol, with a peat concentration in excess of 100 parts per million – but, as befits the name, it goes off like an exploding star in your mouth, thanks to its uniquely rich and flavoursome taste.

GlenmorangieHouse2_main

I stayed at a fabulous place called Glenmorangie House, which offers old-school hospitality, including fantastic dinners where all the guests sit down over several belt-loosening courses and engage in chat, wonderfully comfy rooms (with four poster beds in a couple) and, perhaps most dangerously of all, a well-stocked honesty bar with a selection of just about every Ardbeg and Glenmorangie that could be thought of; it’s suggested that a few glasses are taken before dinner to take the edge off conversation later. A variety of activities can be arranged for guests including clay pigeon shooting, falconry (best not to get those two confused) and trips to nearby golf courses. Whatever you do, it’s sure to be a memorable occasion, whisky blurring notwithstanding.

Find out more about the whisky at www.glenmorangie.com and www.ardbeg.com,  and see more about Glenmorangie House at www.theglenmorangiehouse.com.

« Back