THE REVIEW

THE CILLIAN MURPHY EDITION

LATEST FEATURES

Food & Drink, Interviews

Interview: Pierre Koffmann

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Pierre Koffmann was born in Tarbes, France, in 1948. After working the kitchens in Strasbourg and Toulon, he relocated to London in 1970, working with Michel Roux and Albert Roux at Le Gavroche. He soon took the role of head chef at the Roux’s Waterside Inn in Bray, in 1972, before finally opening his own restaurant, La Tante Claire, in 1977. Koffmann won much acclaim and many accolades during this time, not least three Michelin stars. After a brief hiatus, Koffmann returned to cooking in 2010, opening the eponymous Koffmann’s at The Berkeley – a far more informal affair, focusing less on Michelin stars and more on the chef’s culinary…

Travel

St. Regis Resort, Mauritius

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Mauritius was motherland to the dodo, the dumpy and cumbersome flightless bird endemic to this tropical island lying eastwards of Africa on the tropic of Capricorn. The Theory of Island Biogeography describes the phenomenon of endemic these island species – like the giant Galapagos turtles and the extinct moa of New Zealand – the premise being that sea-locked islands are devoid of higher mammalian predators, thus removing the selection pressure for agility and speed, which rendered organisms oversized and birds flightless. Like the Mauritian dodo, who lives on in its thousands in wooden ornamental form. I have my own Theory of Island Biogeography concerning humans. It strikes me that every…

Travel

Walking in my fathers footsteps

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My love affair with Machu Picchu started when I was in my mid twenties whilst working with an American airline to promote the richness, diversity and beauty that Central and South America has to offer. Hours of putting brochures and ads together to promote this part of the world meant that the iconic image of Machu Picchu was imprinted on my soul early in my adult life. Even before “bucket lists” were de-rigueur I knew Machu Picchu was on my list. My desire grew in my 40’s when, having just had my son, my amazing 74 year-old Dad announced that he was going to walk The Inca Trail. Something he…

Travel

The Arch

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Some years ago, when I was seeking my fortune as a publisher, I stumbled across a property in a leafy part of Paddington. Yes, they exist. It was an altogether minimal affair: the entire ground floor of the interconnected, listed townhouses had been flattened to create a Zen-like reception area, complete with people raking sand. When I returned on business, not too long ago, it appeared the owners had decided the property was worth more residentially than commercially, and turned the whole place on its head. Luckily this isn’t the sort of thing that happens at The Arch London, one of the few bastions of what I would call a…

Food & Drink, Travel

Up amongst the stars at Kozue, Park Hyatt

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Amy McNichol My knowledge of Japanese cuisine was only a smidgen above zero when I touched down in Tokyo in October. Despite the popularity of machine-rolled sushi flogged in supermarkets and the flurry of ramen houses that have popped up in recent years, the mass market (me included) is only familiar with a narrow cross section of Japanese cuisine in the UK. With this in mind, I tried to widen my horizons and see what the heck else I could trough during my time there. On my first night in the capital I washed barbecued beef, onions and bean sprouts down with Asahi. That was at a street stall with…

Culture, Interviews

Interview: Dolf de Borst, The Datsuns

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“All hail The Datsuns, heroes of the New Rock Revolution,” read the front cover of NME in October, 2002. “The Datsuns are what the world needs,” proclaimed Dave Grohl. And so they descended, an antidote to a stagnating UK music scene, introducing a new generation of kids to no-nonsense rock and roll, alongside bands like The Strokes, The White Stripes, and The Libertines. After a ferocious battle between record labels, The Datsuns finally signed an exclusive licensing deal with Richard Branson’s V2 for an unprecedented six-figure sum, going on to collect numerous best-thing-since-sliced-bread awards, and promoted heavily by such deejays as John Peel and Zane Lowe. But it wasn’t the…

Style

The Man Who Would be Stylish

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Gentleman readers of The Review, a discerning and stylish audience I’ll wager, will encounter few of the sartorial uncertainties of this midlife clothes horse. Not for you the awkwardness of those ‘how do I stand so the tailor can measure me’ moments; none of that ‘what do I say to the barber after the “I’ll have a short back and sides and leave a bit at the front to gel” intro’; and I do not have to check back with you to deduce that you are unlikely to have blushed and hurried through Duty Free when the staff ask you if you would like any help as you finger a…

Interviews

Zubin Mowlavi

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You have to get up pretty early in the morning to go toe to toe with me in terms of confidence. People believe that confidence is arrogance or cockiness (if your from my side of the pond). The reality is that my confidence always came from a sense of self-believe because to be brutally honest, having others believe in you is great but they wont be there when the deal needs to be signed or the invoice needs to chased. Zubin has the sort of self believe and awareness that we admire in a character here at The Review. Entrepreneur, musician and innovator. He is the founder of Lucid Fusion, a…

Food & Drink

Hawksmoor – SW3

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As someone that spent almost a year living in central London, I don’t consider myself an insider or an outsider. I sort of declare guerrilla warfare on London once a month, opting for a skirmish campaign of fast cars, drinking and debauchery all crammed into one night. Then, having enacted my raucous campaign of lavish and salacious behaviour, I retreat with the spoils of war, back to sleepy and secluded Somerset. Usually with a weighty hangover in tow and a dent in the Dunhill wallet. London, for me, is a good time girl, a fille de joie, enjoyed that much more due to my fleeting relationship in her gin-soaked bosom….

Food & Drink

Top Dishes of the Year

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I’ve never given anything ten out of ten. Not food, not sex, not a book, not a film, not an album, and certainly not a restaurant. Imagine the existential impasse, the cultural cul-de-sac of grading things immaculately.  What would be left, except to die the perfect death? To me, nine out of ten is the highest possible accolade. If you get a nine, that’s an idiot’s ten. But don’t be fooled – it’s still not perfect. Perfection can only be judged once you’ve tried everything else. When I’m on my deathbed, only then will I go back and revise all the eights and nines, because only then will I have…

Travel

Casa Ceasarea

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Israel’s Boutique Bed & Breakfast The storm raged across the golf course, battering hail against the big French windows, but with the A/C humming away, we didn’t care. Casa Caesarea in the thunder and the rain is very cosy. With plenty of books to read, tea to make, films to watch on the huge flat-screen TV, or a bath to take, wrapped up after in the sumptuous towels, we were home from home in this luxury homestay. Ex-New Yorker Anne will welcome you into this unique property, about half-an-hour north of Tel Aviv on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. “I want my guests to feel more than welcome,” she said. “I want…

Travel

Collineige

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Having just flown back from France two days prior to my first proper ski trip of the season to attend the wedding of fellow correspondents, Drs. Paul and Lucy Farrow, I was all too aware of just how soul destroying budget air travel is. If you have ever flown in Asia or the US you will have noticed that some of the planes operating are far from in their heyday. Flight used to be about prestige, people dressed for the occasion, cigarettes came with mandatory jade holders, champagne flutes would clink and the captain might even come and join you for a toast. Now the ashtrays on planes are welded…

Finance, Property

Pondering property on the French Riviera? This is the year to make it happen

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A timely convergence of economic and political factors could make overseas property the prime investment choice for 2015, explains Daniel Webber, co-founder and MD at FXcompared, the international money transfer business that specialises in overseas property. Bricks and mortar has long been an attractive purchase – whether it’s a personal home or a long-term investment. Now is an opportune time to think beyond the UK and snap up real estate further afield, according to findings from our recent survey. We asked UK-based property investors what’s driving their decisions to buy abroad – and top of the list was a strong British Pound. It was the biggest factor in overseas purchases…

Automotive

Aston Martin – Rapide S

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A decade ago, if you wanted the sporty number that would turn heads and a model that could run the brood back and forth, you needed a garage that was big enough for two cars. We are, however, looking at a brand new world. A world of genuine four-seater sports cars with posing power to rival the best, and still enough room for the usual suspects. Introducing the Aston Martin Rapide S. Cue the genuflecting. I tend to affirm my own handle on new models by asking as many people as humanly possible what they think of a car. That is twice as hard when the model in question is…

Automotive

INSIDE ROLLS-ROYCE

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Following the hugely positive reaction to this year’s Channel 4 television documentary about the brand, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has decided to engage directly with fans new and old in a series of free live exhibitions called ‘Inside Rolls-Royce’ presented by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.Appropriately for this most popular of great British brands, the first of these exhibitions will open in London on Thursday 13 November at Saatchi Gallery on London’s King’s Road and will remain open for just four days. It will then go on tour visiting major cities around the world throughout 2015.‘Inside Rolls-Royce’ will treat guests to an unexpected multi-sensory journey through the marque’s world-renowned engineering, design and craftsmanship, providing new…

THE REVIEW

THE ALICIA AGNESON EDITION

TRAVEL

The Ghan Train

The Ghan

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I’m certainly no Francis Bourgeois, but there’s something so romantic and intriguing about crossing lands unknown in the comfort of a sleeper train. Being given the opportunity to see vast landscapes that many won’t ever get to witness, solely due to its sheer remoteness, is a rare delight.

Monterey Car Week: What to expect in 2024

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A few key events are akin to film festivals and fashion weeks in the automotive world. The British have the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival. The French have Retromobile and the Chantilly Concours of Elegance. The Swedes have the newly launched Auroura Concours, Italy brings us the legendary Concorso D’Eleganza Villa D’Este and Fuori Concorso, and then there’s North America… 

Boutique Retreats, Sojourn

Wilderness perfected, by Boutique Retreats

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Travel is a fine and freeing thing. The unshackling of the metaphorical chains, the daily grind of work, and life’s endless expectations. Oh, and the choice! Sunshine, or snow? Lakes, forests, dunes or mountains? Total relaxation, escapism, exhilaration or luxuriation?

ViseVersa, The Hyatt Regency Lisbon

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It would be easy to say that the past decade or so has been kind to Lisbon – it’s subtly undergone the kind of glow-up certain other smaller European capitals keep putting on the backburner… and it’s been driven organically by tourism raised high on the shoulders of social media’s more gastronomy-oriented corners. 

Langdale Chase Hotel

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Steeped in amazing untold stories, the house was designed by J.L Ball, JT Lee and Pattinson of Manchester and built as a private house in the late 19th century for Edna Howarth

THE ALPINE EDITION

BEAUTY

Saint-Martin-de-Belleville

The Greatest Outdoors

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Set between Les Menuires and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, my recent foray to the mountains offered plentiful serene moments of reflection and emotional expansion, with ample time to enjoy the last of the white stuff as the ‘23-’24 ski season came to a close.

Bentley Beyond, The Collection. For the journey.

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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.

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. 

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.