THE REVIEW

THE CILLIAN MURPHY EDITION

LATEST FEATURES

Travel

New York

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New York was imprinted on my heart back in the day of my early mad ad career working on a transatlantic airline account. The regular pit-stops gave me unbelievable bragging rights, but as a quick time check, on my last visit I was privileged enough to sit above the clouds drinking cocktails at Windows on The World on top of the North Tower in Downtown Manhattan. Sadly not a vista I can ever re-visit. But as many moons have passed since that view was obliterated and New York’s landscape changed forever, I was super hyped to share this mesmerizing city with my family now in tow and hopeful that NYC…

Travel

Kasbah Tamadot

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Located at the foothills of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, Kasbah Tamadot, Sir Richard Branson’s luxury retreat and part of the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio, is offering guests the opportunity to immerse themselves in true Berber culture with a newly launched ‘Authentically Berber Experience’. Morocco’s Berber communities are renowned for their kind and noble nature and their culture forms an incredibly important part of Morocco’s rich history. At Kasbah Tamadot, guests are already welcomed with true Berber hospitality as 98% of its staff are from the local Berber communities. Guests now staying at Kasbah Tamadot will have the opportunity to learn about the traditions and culture by immersing themselves in a…

Uncategorized

Chef Profile: the Roca brothers

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Cellar de Can Roca sits at number two on the ‘World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list. Based in the Catalan city of Girona, the eponymous restaurant is run by three brothers: head chef Joan, dessert chef Jordi, and sommelier Josep. Together, they have taken their philosophy, which plays on memory and perception, to a three-Michelin star level. We met with Joan to discuss the Roca brothers culinary ideology, including what it takes to serve the best food in the world. How did you, three brothers, all develop a passion for food and wine? We are the third generation of a family dedicated to restaurants. We were born and grew up in…

Marine

Round the Island Race

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Local boat Eeyore, an Alacrity 18 Bilge Keel from Cowes, has laid claim to the prestigious Gold Roman Bowl, winning this year’s Round the Island Race after a long tactical day on the water. With a crew of just three: skipper Jo Richards and his friends David Rickard and Duncan De Boltz, the 18 foot bilge keel was the smallest boat in the race. A member of Gurnard Sailing Club and Cowes Corinthian, Richards talks through his winning race: “It was an interesting but long race, we actually started at the opposite end of the line from the rest of the fleet which paid us reasonably well in the end….

Food & Drink, Travel

Ten Trinity

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When I dwelled in the soot-covered streets of central London, I didn’t really have much need to pay dues to a members’ club. London is hectic, in a way that makes even the most confident and athletic appear grey and lifeless over time. But that wasn’t me, babe. I was living out of a certain hotel on Brook Street circa 2007 and all was gin-soaked and well with the world. Except, quietly, it wasn’t, was it. BNP Paribas was quietly blocking withdrawals from two of its hedge funds. The Dow Jones peaked at 14,164.53 and then started to decline faster than Gordon Gekko’s prison sentence. Shortly after the US bailed its players out to the tune of $800 billion (that we know of), the European ripple was in…

Automotive, FILM

Rolls Royce Phantom One of One

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As part of our series of films with Cooke lenses, we asked the ladies and gents in white coats at Rolls-Royce if they could make available a marque that would befit our interest in helping them get ‘The Cooke Look’. What the team suggested wildly exceeded our expectations.

Food & Drink, Travel

Bowcliffe Hall & The Yorke Arms

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As I continue to rack up the years like tree rings laced with gin and bittersweet symphonies, I am constantly reminded of the ever-increasing gap between the young and the no-so-young. This widening fissure between generations presents itself more often in the usage of phrases that my grandparents taught me when I was growing up. After all, the language we use in our formative years becomes our cultural lexicon. So, when I say to you that Jonathan Turner is ‘salt of the earth’, I expect those of you without the knowledge of the term to research it, whether you are scholarly or not. Established in 1919, in Leeds, by a…

Automotive, Events

CONCOURS OF ELEGANCE

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The Concours of Elegance has announced the first of its features for 2019: a world-first display of one of every Aston Martin Zagato variant ever manufactured. From the 1960 DB4 GT Zagato, right through to the Vanquish Zagato Coupé, Volante, Speedster and Shooting Brake, guests will be able to browse 16 examples from one of the most famous creative partnerships in automotive history. The Aston Martin Zagato Celebratory Display is being curated by the Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC), supported by Aston Martin Lagonda and Zagato. The display will include a number of extremely rare, as well as several unique, models, including one of the most famous racing Aston Martins…

Travel

Stratton Vermont

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will be the first to admit that we are spoilt for choice in Europe when it comes to finding tall mountains to assert dominance from. The Matterhorn, Eiger, Montblanc and Dolomites are all majestic mountain ranges conjuring up images of bearded climbers ascending to untouched peaks with leather bound crampons and supplies of Kendal mint cake.

Travel

Hotel Nikko

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We arrived in San Francisco a little after 9 pm on a Tuesday. Fuelled by the debauchery of the Grammy Awards the night before, then sundowners on Venice Beach, we were ready for cocktails in the 415. As a former tech marketer during the ‘00s and growing up with the likes of ‘A View to a Kill’, I was intrigued to see what the face of tech-boom San Francisco looked like from the windows of the Nikko Hotel. We rode the monorail or AirTrain for what seemed like days, eventually finding our way to the Fox Rent a Car facility. Note: use a hire car company that drops your vehicle…

Style

The Graff Lesedi La Rona

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Graff, which has cut and polished the majority of the 20 largest diamonds discovered this century, reveals the principal diamond cut and polished from the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona rough diamond. Weighing 302.37 carats, the Graff Lesedi La Rona, is the largest square emerald cut diamond in the world, and the largest highest colour, highest clarity diamond ever graded by the GIA. Found at the Lucara Karowe mine, Botswana, the rough diamond was the largest gem quality rough diamond discovered in over 100 years and the second largest ever found. Graff was confident that buying the rough stone would result in sensational gems, following the acquisition of 373 carat…

Travel

Eagle Brae

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Teetering along the aptly named River Glass, the glen before us exhibits a complex palette of auburn hues; reflections of the highlands shimmer in the coal-coloured waters. Pulling into the scenic grounds of our stay, my partner – who, by the way, is ever so proudly Scottish (have you ever met a Scot who’s not?) – spots a magnificent red stag standing before us. In a fleeting moment, lengthened by the excitement of witnessing one of Scotland’s most iconic mammals, it pauses and turns, fixing its beady black eyes upon us. I can’t help but deliberate if it somehow knew what we had planned for dinner. I, of course, know…

Style

Sun or Sleet

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Britain Britain Britain, with our inconsistent weather, flash showers and snow drifts, is it any wonder some of us play it safe during Apirl. Fear not, Holland Cooper have some wax saviours for all. The Classic Cape and Wax and Leather Wrap The Windsor Jacket A style that exhudes Britishness, our military inspired jacket is bold and sleek.  Its lightweight and will make any outfit look polished – whether you have it fastened or have it thrown over your shoulders. Tweed and Fur Wrap A silhouette that suits everyone, and a perfect fit every time – the tweed and fur wrap makes any outfit instantly glamorous, but can also be dressed…

Style

Hawes & Curtis

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Founded in 1913 by Ralph Hawes and George Frederick Curtis, the brand opened its first store in the Piccadilly Arcade and has had many distinguished clients through its doors, including the Duke of Windsor, Lord Mountbatten and Fred Astaire. As a result of Hawes & Curtis’ commitment to impeccable service, the brand has been awarded four Royal Warrants, operates more than 20 stores in the UK with it’s flasghip on Jermyn Street. The Spring/Summer campaign embodies both the journey of the brand and the individual journeys of the customers. From a single Jermyn Street shirtmaker in 1913 to an internationally recognised lifestyle brand. Delicately combining luxury with essentials, the collection…

THE REVIEW

THE ALICIA AGNESON EDITION

TRAVEL

The Penthouse by 3SA Estate. Limitless Luxury in Super Chic Marbella

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I am revisiting Marbella after decades to take a fresh look, as I’ve heard more than a few murmurings that this locale is experiencing a new era of redefined luxury. Indeed, Marbella is said to be undergoing a renaissance created by attracting an entirely new highly sophisticated and professional global jet-set, one that is thriving on a new limitless lifestyle whilst honouring its pedigree and provenance.

Sensational Saint Lucia

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The mango-shaped island, only 27 miles long and 14 miles wide, was born from volcanic origin and is fringed with soft sandy beaches, golden in the north and dark silver in the southwest.

Where the Hot Springs Flow: Diving into The Well, Oslo

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It is perhaps one of the great tragedies of my life that I don’t spend every weekend in a beautifully crafted replica of a Kyoto bathhouse, surrounded on all sides by thirty or more totally naked Norwegians, each glistening with perspiration and a curated array of essential oils. However, my trip to the spectacular Oslo wellness resort The Well ensured – within an hour of arrival, in fact – that my existence would no longer be completely lacking this experience.  If the beginning of this wellness resort review sounds like the stuff of teenage fantasy crossed with a Nordic fever dream, I could only apologise. Except, as you probably expect,…

Hit reset on your sleep with The Good Sleep Retreat

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Recently, I was bestowed a great gift, and each evening my partner grows more covetous as its use becomes routine. I speak with friends, and they too desire to know how they might enhance their morning with such an advantage. What is this gift, you ask? Something that should be so simple, yet for many remains just out of reach.  A good night’s sleep. It hasn’t always been this way. The only routine aspect of my day-to-day across my many years as a makeup artist has been the lack of it, with early starts after late evenings, regularly waking before dawn and spending my days in controlled artificially-lit environments. And…

Cervinia, The Cheat Sheet

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I won’t lie, I can’t. That part of any trip where I sit at my desk and relive each moment to digitally pen the experience, that really is not the best bit. Where is the snow? Where are the divine panoramas of iced mountains and frosted pines?  The morning light hits a little differently in the cityscape I see from my window at home as I embark upon my day. Alas, from my screen to yours, I imbue your daydreams with all the details you need to plan your next sojourn in the Italian Alps.   Where to stay Just a short 90 minutes through the rolling countryside outside of…

Puerto rico

Puerto Rico

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Puerto Rio is borne out of an immensely long and diverse history. Its current social make-up and the basis for much of the social aspects of life, food, dance and art are influenced by the triumvirate of backgrounds that the population is largely made up of, those being the indigenous population.

THE ALPINE EDITION

22-23 Season

BEAUTY

Bentley Beyond, The Collection. For the journey.

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An invitation to Bentley’s newest fragrance launch was a joy that ran deeper than expected. Driving a car you love is so much more than the ‘a’ to ‘b’. It’s the feel of the steering wheel moving from under your palm, the resistance of the accelerator beneath your sole or the slick movement of the gearbox. Sometimes it’s the thrill you get when the mechanic tells you that against all odds, your pernickety classic car flew through its MOT. It’s the bond you feel and the memories you create together over the miles. It’s the smell of crisp winter air streaming through the window as you drive through the open…

Where the Hot Springs Flow: Diving into The Well, Oslo

By

It is perhaps one of the great tragedies of my life that I don’t spend every weekend in a beautifully crafted replica of a Kyoto bathhouse, surrounded on all sides by thirty or more totally naked Norwegians, each glistening with perspiration and a curated array of essential oils. However, my trip to the spectacular Oslo wellness resort The Well ensured – within an hour of arrival, in fact – that my existence would no longer be completely lacking this experience.  If the beginning of this wellness resort review sounds like the stuff of teenage fantasy crossed with a Nordic fever dream, I could only apologise. Except, as you probably expect,…

A note to my Valentine

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My love language is quality time. The moments shared whilst getting ready for a leisurely meal, enjoyed by candlelight and accompanied by a bottle of something very special to share across the evening… Yet, of course, something that comes gift-wrapped is never unwelcome.  For Her Lalique, Soleil Vibrant Conjuring memories of a summer’s afternoon, the heady breeze of Indian jasmine sambac absolute and juicy pear fruit are reminiscent of lazing in the shade of a faraway place, whilst vanilla bourbon and cedarwood give post-beach salinity with a sublime warming heart of saffron. It embodies the lustre of the most enveloping sunshine in even the coldest season. This Is Silk, Headband…

THE REVIEW

THE BEN WILLIAMS EDITION

FILM

Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae - Roger Chan - The Review Magazine

Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae LP780-4

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I slip my slightly clammy hand gingerly into the slot, ease some pressure and pull gently skyward. That scissor-door entry is nothing less than muted pornography. So effortless in its execution, it’s part of the recipe that makes the Aventador just that little bit more special.

Casio PX-S7000 Stephen Sims

Aesthetic Harmonics – The Casio PX-S7000

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Quality, innovation and – by god, in this case – style. Casio’s reputation precedes it when it comes to its product development and, crucially, its product refinement. Their first electronic keyboard, The Casiotone CT-201, was birthed by Toshio Kashio and his team in January 1980.

Ferrari F8 Spider

Ferrari F8 Spider

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Fresh from four days in Scotland driving the simply astonishing Ferrari F8 Spider, there are times in one’s life where you have to sit back, take some time, and genuinely let an experience wash over you. You need to take it in. Revel in it. The smells, the sights, the sheer visceral nature of it.

Alpina - Startimer Pilot Chronograph

Alpina – Startimer Pilot Chronograph

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Like many Swiss watchmaking dynasties, Alpina can trace its founding back to the turn of the nineteenth century – 1883 to be precise – by Gottlieb Hauser, a watchmaker in Winterthur, who also established the Swiss Watchmakers Corporation (Union Horlogère Suisse).

Stacia Suttles

Stacia Suttles

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It wasn’t until Stacia Suttles turned 19 and stepped into a boxing ring for the first time, that the amateur fighter realised she was exceptionally gifted in the combat sport.

Twisted 21

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I scanned the horizon of the Finnish race circuit but Charlie was possibly doing a few laps in the 500hp V8 110. “Let me see if I can find him Tony”. “Cool man”. This was the first of a handful of semi awkward exchanges I would have with Tony Hawk that week as we crossed from Finland into Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Austria and Monaco.