While the islands of Greece are more orientated towards sun, sea and sand type holidays, the city of Athens is a treasure trove of archaeological riches that will satisfy both those with a serious fascination and those with a more casual interest. The Acropolis Any archaeological tour of Athens must start with the Acropolis . As if its status was not exalted enough already, in 2007 the Acropolis was declared to be the ‘ preeminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list ’
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An Archaeological Tour of Athens
Well, we are honoured. This is the second time we’ve been able to claim the ‘by royal appointment’ badge (although, admittedly, the first time may have been stretching the truth somewhat). It emerged in the Telegraph yesterday that even the uppermost echelons of society are partial to a romantic saucy weekend away when none other than the future king squired his consort Kate Middleton into a stylish holiday home under the assumed names of ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ to celebrate Wills’ 27th
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William and Kate check in as Mr & Mrs Smith
The summer’s most glamorous festival is almost here. That might sound like an oxymoron, but this weekend at Glastonbury will see more sequins than the Strictly reunion tour. And, if you haven’t been able to secure suitably stylish accommodation at Charlton House down the road (or Babington House half an hour away), you may find yourself facing the fields with some trepidation
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Stylish mud-proofing at Glastonbury 2009
The way people would grab a takeaway in Victorian London was to purchase a pie from one of the 600 piemen that walked up and down the streets. You could choose between a meat pie, a fruit, fish or an eel one, these would be sold straight off their trays, the transaction was done from the pavement as most couldn’t afford the outlay for a shop to sell their goods from. The piemen would have to wake early and row their boats over to the British and foreign vessels that moored up on the river Thames, from here their stock of fish would be transported over to the legendry Billingsgate Market, established in 1600s.
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A Brief History of Pie and Mash
Mistress of make-up Bobbi Brown has worked her magic on the fairest faces all over the world in the name of beauty, staying at some pretty praiseworthy places on her travels, too. We cast our eyes Stateside to New York (we’ll be adding more hot New York hotels to our online collection soon) and get some sneaky insider tips from the lady herself on the prime places to go and the all-important packing essentials to get there in style… ········································································· As much as we delight at the thought of sneaking away to a gorgeous boutique hotel, there’s one thing here at Smith HQ that really gets our goat: airport regulations . Don’t get us wrong, we’re all for safety and security , but stuffing our specially selected stock into pokey plastic bags makes us want to weep a wee bit. Well, let us invite you in on a luxury travel-set secret – Bobbi’s got a nifty new range of Travel Empties to solve the problem.
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Beauty buff Bobbi Brown’s New York tips
This hotel is literally IN the terminal of Miami International Airport ! I didn't intend to spend a night in the airport – it's not like I love airports that much – but there had been a debacle (to put it mildly) between Cayman Airways and our supposed booking on American Airlines and consequently our tickets weren't valid so by the time we sorted it out we had missed our connections to San Francisco. Hence an overnight at Miami Airport. (Keep this in mind when stranded by hurricanes too…) The hotel is literally beside the check-in desks on concourse E and great for those on a layover for a few hours or strandees like me.
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Miami Airport Hotel
A brave experiment here on Cheese and Biscuits today, as I attempt to write a post mainly about wine. Green and Blue is a wine shop and deli in East Dulwich, much loved in the local area (so I gather), who kindly invited a small group of bloggers and other interested parties in for a wine tasting to publicise the launch of their new Alsace range. With the wines came a selection of treats from the deli, forming a kind of mini tasting menu of four dishes and four different 100ml glasses of wine
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Green and Blue, East Dulwich
http://www.nottinghillbrasserie.com/ In 1923, Coco Chanel said in an interview with Harpers Bazaar ”Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance”….she also described how everyone must look in the mirror prior to leaving the house and remove a single item, accessory or piece of jewellery so as to uncomplicate one’s outfit………the woman was wise…………perhaps she could have taught a thing or two to the person responsible for writing the menu at the Notting Hill Brasserie (NHB). A group of 6 of us went to the NHB for dinner last night, and we had a lovely evening. But as everyone knows, a lovely evening doesn’t always mean the FOOD was perfect…..
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NOTTING HILL BRASSERIE: Notting Hill, London
I’m not a fan of many of the food shows on TV. This is largely because not many of them are really about food – Come Dine With Me, although wildly popular, is really just a reality TV concept where the eating is secondary to gimmicks, The Hairy Bakers is a show made purely because someone at the BBC likes the title, and Ready Steady Cook has Antony Worrall Thompson in it
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Launceston Place, Kensington
It began, as these things often do, with a challenge. I had never had a sushi meal in London to match the places I’d visited in Boston or New York, and was doubtful there was anywhere that could impress for a reasonable amount of money (so that’s Sake No Hana and Umu out, then). Suggestions came in, amongst them Sushi Say in Willesden Green, a long-time local favourite with some rave reviews, and I was optimistic.
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Sushi Say, Willesden Green
There has been much discussion and interest recently, on the internet and elsewhere, about whether or not food bloggers should subscribe to a Code of Ethics or suchlike when reviewing restaurants. The discussion was brought to my attention first by this site from the US, which has drawn up an incredibly pompous list of bullet points including such gems as “We will visit a restaurant more than once (more than twice, if possible) before passing a final judgment” (Oh really? Who’s paying?) and “We will sample the full range of items on menu.” (Remember to bring Mr.
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Byron Hamburgers, Chelsea
Only a Few Days Left for Harden’s 2010 Restaurant Survey – Get a Free Book! Londonist, May 18, 2009 1:22 PM … as we mentioned last month , we’ve teaming up with the Hardens to help spread the word about their 19th annual restaurant survey … all of the survey participants will receive a complimentary copy of the Harden’s 2010 Restaurant Guide, containing the results from the survey. In addition to a free copy of the guide, survey filler-outers also get a chance at winning one of six free bottles of Cognac (just make sure to contribute five or more reviews and to complete the simple survey in its entirety!). Free booze – woo-hoo
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Only a Few Days Left for Harden’s 2010 Restaurant Survey – Get a Free Book! (Londonist)
I have been a fan of Szechuan cuisine since my visit to Bar Shu all the way back in March 2007, and yet for some reason hadn’t had the opportunity to follow up the experience until a couple of weeks ago. The novelty of the new was enough to make me overlook some of the more lackluster parts of the meal in Soho, but what was good was very good indeed, and the memory of the first hit of those Szechuan peppers will stay with me forever. Chilli Cool (stupid name I know – apparently it sounds a lot nicer in Mandarin) sits just a few doors down from the Black Books bookshop in Bloomsbury, and by all accounts is cheaper, better and more authentic – largely, I’m guessing, because it’s not in Soho.
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Chilli Cool, Bloomsbury
http://www.lpmlondon.co.uk/ GO HERE FOR DINNER. That’s my recommendation! Seriously….bloody awesome! I don’t even know where to start….service = haym (haymazing, amazing), atmosphere = classy, French, sophisticated but chilled and totally not snobby or OTT – even though it is the kinda place that wealthy people go for a Tuesday night meal alone, it just has a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere that has drawn us back time after time after time…..
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LA PETITE MAISON – Brook’s Mews, London
I was deliriously excited when I saw The Establishment, the gastropub in Parson’s Green, had opened a branch on Battersea Rise, not five minute’s walk from my house. Deliriously excited because if there’s one thing this area needs it’s somewhere decent to eat – if your best local restaurant (notwithstanding the excellent Donna Margherita of course) is a Strada then something needs to change.
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The Establishment, Battersea
There was a time, going on 25 years ago now, when El Bulli was just a simple seafood restaurant attached to a grotty camping site near Rosas, and when going to Spain for your holiday was considered a budget option. Prosperity came late to Spain in comparison to other European countries, and while France could boast a mature and exclusive fine dining culture and West Germany was a glittering consumerist paradise, my memories of the Costa Brava from the late 80s involved untarmacced dusty roads in the centre of reasonably large towns, electricity supplies that could best be described as “reluctant”, and an attitude to service from anything from banks to corner shops that could ruin your day. Of course it’s all changed now – Spain has more restaurants in the San Pellegrino top 50 than any other country in the world apart from France, the towns are spruced up and clean and efficient, and it has turned into a wealthy, modern European country
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Cheese and Biscuits on tour – Cal Galan, L’Escala, Spain
The Soho-area eatery opened a couple of years ago under the name Zvika, but the owners quickly realized no one had any idea what kind of restaurant “Zvika” would be, so they just changed the name to “New York Deli.” …
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Best Jewish Delis in the World:: London's New York Deli || Jaunted
Congratulations to “samhill”, who with his succinct entry “testes, testes, one, two …….three?” made me chuckle the most of all the comments on the Testi review. Please get in touch at the email address in the right hand column and I’ll make sure your tickets are on their way soon. Many thanks to everyone else who took part, and if you want to go to the Bordeaux tasting under your own steam, email sales@bibendum-wine.co.uk, call 020 7449 4120, or visit the Bibendum website at www.bibendum-wine.co.uk/retail/events/BordeauxTasting
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Bibendum wine competition – we have a winner!
Although it had been an open secret for a number of years, 2008 marked the point where all pretence of the Eurovision finals actually being a competition about pop songs finally came to end. We’ve always had Greece and Cyprus voting for each other, but now it seems the whole of the ex-USSR are voting for their Russian ex-masters en masse, while the Baltic and Balkan countries participate in a similarly synchronized love-in
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Eating Eurovision!
The contrast couldn’t have been greater. From a culture where there are strict rules about which parts of which animal can be eaten and when, to a part of the world where it’s probably easier to list the animals, minerals and vegetables that aren’t consumed in some fashion than those that are. The Chinese have an admirable, if frequently terrifyingly liberal, attitude to foodstuffs, which has been well-documented on many a “Top 10 most shocking dishes in the world” list or hysterical travelogue.
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The Peninsula, Greenwich