THE REVIEW

THE CILLIAN MURPHY EDITION

LATEST FEATURES

Interviews

Idris Elba

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For a thespian known for his fierce roles, namely as street-wise drug-ring leader Stringer Bell on The Wire, Idris Elba is wacky and self-deprecating in person. Whilst knocking back a peppermint tea, he explains that he’s a skilled tap dancer, although has no plans to ever appear on Strictly Come Dancing. “No. There it is,” he says. “It’s a guilty pleasure to watch it”. It’s the first in a line of anomalies about the man, who was born in Hackney, London, in 1972. For instance, despite his acting pedigree, Elba is quite indiscriminate in his viewing habits. He may have won a Golden Globe for his role of the fanatical…

Travel

Summer Lodge

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I am continually dumfounded by people’s lack of appreciation for history. It can be forgiven of the ill-educated, but surely not anyone with a basic appreciation for England and her peerage system. Irrespective of your political alignment, we would not be the nation we are today without a fair dose of dukes, earls and barons. Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways was the 2nd Earl of Ilchester, a British peer and Member of Parliament in the 18th century. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he held office for six years, gained the rank of Captain before his passing in 1802, and was succeeded by no less than nine children. I think we…

Food & Drink

The Back bar

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The history of whisky production in Japan is pretty short, and can be attributed to two men: Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru. Torii was a pharmaceutical merchant who embarked on a mission to create Japan’s first whisky distillery, which was to become his life’s work. He hired Taketsuru in the 1920s. Taketsuru had studied organic chemistry in Glasgow, and learned the secrets of scotch production whilst working in a number of distilleries. He was instrumental in helping Torii set up the Yamazaki distillery for his company, which would later become Nikka, establishing the Yoichi distillery. As you’d expect, the style of Japanese whisky follows that of the Scottish, as does…

Tech RoundUp

Tech Roundup – Q3

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Motorola TLKR T80 Quad Pack The Motorola TLKR T80 Extreme lets you have free conversations using an original and stylish modern radios with a wide range of features. This extremely robust license free 2-way radio has been given an IPX4 rating for its reinforced water resistant exterior. To find out more about IP ratings click here. With easy to use controls, a range of up to 10km*, a handy built-in torch and 8 channels, this is an ideal tool for communicating in any environment. The T80 Extreme model allows you to create groups, so you can make calls to your whole team or a group of people.  Every member of…

Food & Drink

Weinsinn Restaurant

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Weinsinn, with its Michelin star and quaint, impossibly French setting amongst the concrete and cash of Frankfurt is a restaurant doing dining so perfectly well, this might make for quite a boring piece…. if Paul was writing it, but it won’t be, as lucky for you, I drew the long straw. And fortunately so, as that very evening we were meant to be flying to the Dolomites for a weekends skiing, but as Paul’s recompense I was instead ushered into Weinsinn, one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in Frankfurt. Perhaps explaining its wine list 4 times the thickness of the food menu, Weinsinn initially opened as a wine bar…

Style

WeSC

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We are fast approaching that time of year: everything you invested in for last season’s ‘sliding about’ is in perfect working order, but there’s just something missing. Perhaps it’s that sense of capitalist validity, when you order a fresh new jacket or sneakers for the après snow season ahead. WeSC are a Swedish clothing brand founded in 1999 by a collective of skaters, boarders and clothing addicts, all working towards the same ideal. WeSC has an enviable list of what it calls ‘WeActivists’: musicians, skateboarders, snowboarders, and anyone leading their subculture really. We are huge fans of the letterman style, not to mention the tidy tortoise shades.  

Design

Leather Bound

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There are constants in life. Some of which are present to such an extent that they become overlooked – taken for granted if you like – and therefore, their importance dismissed. The presence of leather in luxury goods is an example of this. Leather is deeply rooted in the luxury market, and rightly so. Although, historically, leather production has become industrialised and readily available to the working man, there’s a world of difference between a finely-tanned hide crafted from Hereford beef stock and those being mass-produced for the commercial market coming out of the Far East and India. Chalk and cheese. I spent a couple of days in September wandering…

Food & Drink

Gillrays Steakhouse, London, SE1

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It’s a paradox that, during a recession, high-end restaurants thrive and less expensive restaurants fail. And, in moments of hardship, there’s one plate of food that out-eats any other. Steak is a sign of the times – very us, very double-dip. It’s the most a man can get for his money without feeling shafted by the system. Hard times should theoretically be punctuated by frugality and abstinence – soup, vegetables, grain and off-cuts. Yet, in practice, there’s nothing better than chowing down on the perfectly-pink pomposity of a steak. It’s adversity with bone marrow and mustard. Gillray’s, the new offering at London’s Marriot County Hall, epitomises everything about recessional appetite…

Travel

Queen of the Cotswolds

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As I hopped into the Austin Healy 3000, to drive to the Cotswolds on a sunny Friday afternoon, I didn’t really know what to expect – except for the faint waft of Farrow & Ball paint and more limestone than you can shake a stick at. I followed Smith, our motoring editor, up in his XK140, weaving our way through the rush hour traffic, as if we were holding a special classic car pass. Either that or the five o’clock commuters were too fearful of the insurance bill to fix the classics we were driving that day. As we headed up the M5, on our way to Painswick Court (known…

Travel

Chateau de Bagnols

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Is there anything more splendid than spending a night in a chateau? Of course, I am accustomed to penthouses, apartments, villas and the like, but nothing has the quite the same feel as a chateau. I first encountered this mainstay of the French countryside whilst visiting the Comte and Comtesse de Vanssay in the Loire valley. How wonderful it was to wake up in such a grand building every day, and to become part of that building’s history. The Chateau de Bagnols was built, or at least started, between 1217 and 1222 by Guichard d’Oingt. He built the main defensive fortress with three round towers linked by curtain walls with…

Time

BRM

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I remember a rather odd meeting a long time ago at the Saint James in Paris. I was driving across France with an old friend to review the then-new Ferrari California. We had taken a pit-stop at the St James and my colleague had arranged a meeting with a gentleman representing BRM watches. He said, “As a Frenchman, I am proud of my country. We have beautiful countryside, great wine, magnificent food. If it wasn’t for the French, it would be a beautiful place”. I tell you that story for no other reason than to point out that the engineers at BRM are a little eclectic. I am not a…

Food & Drink

Le Jardin

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There are few settings more beautiful than the banks of Lake Geneva, a place where time stands still. So, there could be no better view to gaze over from than the terrace at Le Jardin. Dining out at the Dorchester Collection’s, Le Richemond is, of course, an experience. Head Chef Sylvain Bailly has a certain culinary finesse. He trained for six years with Alain Ducasse and his collaborators. Le Jardin is a Gault et Milau winning restaurant and is listed in the Swiss guide. The menu is local and uses seasonal produce with a focus on fine Italian fare. The dining room was beautiful: crimson and crystal detailed. But with…

Interviews

Monica Bellucci

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Few women have the title of ‘Siren’, in my opinion. Only a handful make the cut these days. It not only requires an artistic flair that makes them seem both crazy and magnificent in equal parts, but also an otherworldly, almost Elysian quality. If there ever were more than three or four of these empyrean femme fatales, Monica Bellucci would be chairwoman of the board. As writers, we spend months chasing up interview requests and ultimately pursuing the proverbial white whales. Monica Bellucci is The Review’s first female front cover. And what a cover. Spanning a career that arguably began in the late-80s, when she signed with Elite Model Management,…

Cars

Porsche Boxster

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Never has a car been plagued so badly by cheap clichéd jokes as the Porsche Boxster. ‘Girl’s car’, ‘hairdresser mobile’, and even the intellectual leviathan that is Jeremey Clarkson waded in and gave the world ‘cockster’. But what caused this? Why the hate? Back in the halcyon days of the Porsche 930 Turbo being bought by the city’s emerging middleclass or yuppies in the mid-1980s, Porsche was a badge that the lower end of the gene pool saw as an easy target, and one that the less fortunate loved to hate. Less than a decade later and combine this badge with a car that, upon launch, had cheeky looks along…

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.