Hakkasan Golden Week Restaurant Review

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Hakkasan is one of the most happening places in London. This was abundantly obvious when we went to review it. It was packed out on a Tuesday night, filled with the great and good of London. When I went to the bathroom, I washed my hands next to three supermodels. The decor is stunning and everything about Hakkasan is glamourous and exciting.

We went to review the Golden Week, which celebrates the annual Chinese holiday Golden Week which is between the 29th September and 12th October. To mark Golden Week, the Michelin-starred restaurants feature limited edition authentic à la carte and set menus. In addition, guests who dine on the specialty menu will receive an exclusive gift in celebration of the holiday.

Golden Week is considered to be China’s biggest annual national holiday, spanning seven days in October where all workers are given three days of paid time off. Consequently it is a popular period of time when the Chinese travel significantly around the world to experience luxury offerings. Traditionally Golden Week takes place between 1st and 7th October, however Hakkasan will be offering the dedicated menus for a longer period of time to accommodate all travellers.

Executive Chef Tong of Hakkasan has created menus to cater specifically to traditional Chinese tastes. The set menu is £88.88 per person – celebrating the traditionally auspicious number 8 – and includes Peking duck with caviar; Dim sum platter; Spicy Szechuan rib-eye beef with enoki mushroom; Hakka stew pork belly; fried rice with diced abalone, and to finish, deep-fried sesame balls with green tea and peach. Golden Week à la carte menu includes equally authentic Chinese fare, such as Double boiled ginseng and Chinese herb soup with sea whelk; Braised claypot-cooked seabass and Fried tofu with spinach and seafood. A box containing hand-made golden Champagne and popping candy macarons are given at the end of the meal for each guest to take home as a gift.

To ensure the experience in the restaurants is enjoyable and efficient, Hakkasan has Mandarin-speaking staff on-site and in reservations, and accepts China Union Pay, the Chinese credit card of choice. Menus and websites will be Mandarin translated and staff will be fully trained in Chinese etiquette.

In addition to London, several Hakkasan restaurants around the world including Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and Shanghai will also be celebrating Golden Week with exclusive menus in order to provide the experience to Chinese nationals who are travelling elsewhere. Each location’s menu will vary and offer a slightly different twist tailored to each location.

We started off by ordering mocktails. I have a Coco Passion and my colleague has a Kowloon Cooler. Both are delicious. Our starters come and we are very impressed. Presentation is amazing, service is excellent and we are already impressed before even trying anything.

The food is amazing, as you would expect. Peking duck with caviar and a Dim sum platter. It is also unique. The duck is very special, not served like your usual duck, it is very neat and the pancake and duck is all together, sauce on the side with caviar on top. It is amazing. The dum sum platter is truly wonderful. These are the best dim sum we have ever had. Just exceptional.

When our mains arrive it really is something. The table really is not big enough: Huge Shrimp which is perfectly cooked, delicious Pak Choi, perfect Spicy Szechuan rib-eye beef with enoki mushroom; an amazing Roasted crispy chicken with wild mushroom in oyster sauce: Braised whole sea bass in clay pot which is perfectly cooked, the sauce is amazing and the fish is tender; Hakka stew pork belly which is just right; fried rice with diced abalone which is a particular favourite: creamy and in a delicious sauce. It is a feast and a rather superb one. The food is outstanding.

To finish we have deep-fried sesame balls with green tea and peach. These are small and delicious. Perfect to end the meal. The waitress tells me Hakkasan has a lot of regular customers and they really love it when something like Golden Week happens as they get to try something different.

As we are leaving we are handed a beautiful gift bag which has some delicious macaroons inside. We have them the next day as we are so full. Hakkasan is an amazing restaurant, one of the best in London. We will definitely be back.

Hakkasan Mayfair
Address: 17 Bruton St, London W1J 6QB
Phone:020 7907 1888
Hours: Open today · 12:00 pm – 12:30 am

http://hakkasan.com

Fashions Finest SS/15 LFW Show – No Fixed Abode – Anarchic denims…

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Corinne Tuddenham-Finn

Emma Mann has created a collection designed to test your cool genes. Extremely talented with a great business mind, she knows exactly what she wants to bring to the brand, luxury streetwear fashion direct from London, ‘in your face’ co-ordinates that shout anarchy. Part of the addiction of this collection must be the attention, not just to detail, but also the presence it exudes from the catwalk. Camouflage denim prints accentuated by crisp yellow edgings and padded linings, bright and muted colours fused together to create an intense collection. Edgy and controversial but doesn’t exclude the mainstream, a range of clothing which tells the story of a fashion moment, but will stand the test of time.

The No Fixed Abode SS/15 collection satisfies fashion’s current taste for androgynous aesthetics but also scores high marks for comfort and practicality, battle dress with a girlie twist. A celebration of what you are and who you are…

NO FIXED ABODE is a luxury streetwear fashion brand, designed and made in London. Unique, individual Fashion garments of premium quality for people that like to be different and get noticed, the rebels, the individuals. Founded and designed in the UK 2013, the ethos of the brand is ‘we live by individual anarchism, we are individual – we like to stand out from the crowd, do things differently. To be ourselves, to do things we like to do, freedom of expression to really be yourself. We are unique, exclusive and creative London based designer fashion brand. We do not mass produce and definitely there are no sweatshops in any of the making of our garments or collections! Our new SS14 Women’s Collection is completely Made in London. The T-shirts are made in LA by people that are paid decent wages and that have good working conditions’.

www.nofixedabodelondon.co.uk www.fashionsfinest.com www.corinne-modelling.co.uk Images © Shane Finn – www.visual-devotion.co.uk

Peter Pilotto Spring-Summer 2015

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

A firm Frost favourite, we fell head over hells in love with Peter Pilotto’s SS15 collection. We want EVERYTHING.

Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos explore a transcendent wash of light and colour in their SS15 collection as craft is elevated beyond print, through a myriad of treatments. Cyber florals join a constellation of swirling geometry as coils and fans of guipure lace meet technical macrame and custom dandelion jacquards with sparkling tinsel.

Peter Pilotto Spring-Summer 2015 peter and christopher

Peter Pilotto Spring-Summer 2015 catwalk

Peter Pilotto Spring-Summer 2015 catwalkpictures

Applied to iridescent organza, silk leaves and windowpane checks float over the skin, whilst grids of naive florals blossom on black denim. The collection’s spectral palette pulses energetically throughout.

The silhouette moves between a trim bodice, to ultra slim trousers to planed shifts, some with airy volumes explored as a handkerchief hem and the neat folds of an A-line skirt.

Giant paisley and abstract rosettes in Perspex are hinged and fractured amongst a scatter of Swarovski crystal. Studies of classical draping, paired with featherweight knits, melt into asymmetry, finished with a cascade of sequins. Interlocking chain motifs, realised in bright embroideries, vibrate throughout the collection.

Ong-Oaj Pairam SS15 Collection | London Fashion Week

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Frostie

We have been having a ball at London Fashion Week. A highlight was Ong-Oaj Pairam’s show. Ong-Oaj Pairam’s third season showcasing during Fashion Week was another triumph. After being named as ‘one to watch’ by the Times last week, the SS15 collection did not disappoint. By combining pastels, prints and metallics, Ong-Oaj Pairam’s latest collection is inspired by the designers fragmented memories of growing up alongside his families noodle factory in Nakhon Ratichasima, Thailand. We loved it.

What do you think?

Postman’s Park by Margaret Graham

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Margaret Graham

There I was, slouching about in London with ‘he who must be disobeyed’ in search of the Postman’s Park. Have you been? If not, nip along. It’s almost next door to the Museum of London. It’ll pull at your heartstrings.

Postman’s Park is on the site of the former HQ of the General Post Office, and is one of the largest parks in the City of London. It is tucked away almost next to the Museum of London, at St Martin’s le Grand, EC1A.Tube: St Paul’s.
Buses: 4, 8, 25, 56, 100, 172, 242

When you see the blue old police box, just turn into the gates. The Postman’s Park opened in 1880 on the site of the former churchyard and burial ground of St. Botolph’s Aldersgate.

As you enter you will see ahead of you, and beyond the circular flowerbed, a loggia and long wall. It is this you must head for, past the headstones, past office workers eating their lunch, past the circular bed, lovely though it is.

Your goal is Victorian painter and sculptor George Frederick Watt’s wall of ceramic memorial tables honouring the self sacrifice of ordinary people.

In 1900 Watt’s felt driven to create this memorial, determined that acts of bravery performed by ordinary people should be commemorated.

Only four of the memorial tablets were in place at the time of its opening, with a further nine tablets added during Watts’s lifetime.

Watts’s wife, Mary, took over the project after Watts’s death in 1904, and oversaw the installation of a further 35 memorial tablets as well as a sculpture of her husband.

Later, increasingly pre-occupied with the Watts Gallery, which still features her husband’s work at Compton, near Guildford, she ceased involvement, and only five further tablets were added during her lifetime.

In 1972, key elements of the park were designated Grade 11 listed. Following the 2004 film Closer, which set some key scenes within Postman’s Park, interest was stirred again. Recently, a free mobile app, The Everyday Heroes of Postman’s Park was launched which documents those commemorated on the memorial. New tablets are still being added. Mary and George would have been delighted.

I remember the plaque I came across in the West Australian bush, when researching a novel for Heinemann. The plaque commemorated a young girl who lay across her siblings when a bush fire raged over them on their way home from school. She died, they survived.

Ordinary people do extraordinary things, not the least being our young troops out on patrol day after day in war zones. It is right and good that we remember every one of these ordinary people. Are you supporting the Invectus Games? I do hope so.

Veteran Actresses From Hollywood & London Appear In Web Series Based on “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Frostie

Veteran Actresses from Hollywood and London Appear in Web Series Based on HBO Series “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

The internet web series, “The Black Larry David,” launched its third episode with two talented guest stars performing voice-over roles.

Hollywood veteran Elaine Ballace, known for her work in “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” and “The To Do List,” voices the sassy Security Guard who torments the lead character.

Scotland born, London based Catherine Balavage, known for her work in “Downton Abbey” and the Emmy® Nominated Idris Elba series “Luther,” portrays Susan Grier. In addition to her acting, Catherine is a published author and Huffington Post UK blogger. [And editor of this magazine.]

The Black Larry David is a computer generated animation series produced by Dwacon Entertainment. This and other properties are located at http://dwacon.com and via the Dwacon YouTube Channel.

Yauatcha Restaurant Review | Celebrating 10 Years

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Paloma Kubiak

With a rainbow of macaron’s elegantly displayed in the restaurant window, Yauatcha immediately catches your eye and invites you in to sample the patisserie-come- Chinese dishes.

We were led downstairs to the basement by a lady in red, where we were pleasantly surprised by the buzz of diners, faces lit by the centre-piece of the room – the horizontal fish tank running the length of the bar.

We were greeted by numerous servers and told that as part of Yauatcha’s 10^th anniversary in Soho, we would be served secret off-menu items which would only be disclosed once the dishes came to our table.

The first dishes arrived in steaming bamboo baskets; a trilogy of dumplings and a prawn and bean curd cheung fun saddled our table too.

The wild fungus and pomegranate dumpling was squidgy and earthy and the fruit seed added a pleasant drop of sweetness to the palette.

Not being a huge fan of lychee, nonetheless, the flakes of the scallop puff oozed with freshness as the dry texture of pastry was drenched with the juices of the tropical grape-like fruit.

Unusually green, the seared spicy lamb and fig was the last dumpling to pass my lips. The meaty flavour of lamb was subtly mixed with the sweeter fig flavour, creating a unique explosion of flavours.

But the real moment of heaven was with the prawn and bean curd cheung fun drizzled in soy sauce.

A firm favourite with Yauatcha diners, it’s easy to see why. Encased in a soft pasta-like shell (the bean curd), it protectively lined the plump, slightly salty prawns and contrasted with the crispy fragments separating the different textures.

For mains, we shared the Kung pao chicken with cashew nut and stir fry rib eye beef in black bean sauce.

The beef sauce gently pricked our throats with spice as we edged closer to the bottom of the plate. The peppers were crispy and charred with a smoky flavour and the chicken was tender with hints of garlic and onion.

For dessert, my partner opted for the cheesecake with lemon, blueberry and graham cracker which was impressively stacked and burst with zesty tangs of citrus.

I plumped for the apricot chocolate, jaconde sponge, curd, chocolate cremaux and chiboust. Again it was impeccably presented and the sweet chocolate and apricot was interspersed with spoonfuls of refreshing sour sorbet.

We spent a pleasant evening at Yauatcha, part of the Hakkasan group which includes HKK in Shoreditch, and I loved the unique way dishes were served. The waiting staff are composed of commis in black uniform and serving staff in white.

The commis carry the dishes to the table and the serving staff quickly appear by their side ready to present each plate with a complete description to the diner. To me, this seemed like an eloquent game of chess; each time black edged towards the target, the white pawn would quickly follow suit.

My only niggle is the seating; after a few hours sitting on the uber-funky but backless sofa, I did feel like I needed a bit more support, but overall, a fantastic experience.

Next time we’ll be nipping in for macarons and a cocktail, turning the Chinese dining experience into a modern European affair in Soho.

15-17 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 0DL. Email reservations@yauatcha.com

Perfecting your at-home pizzeria experience with Dr Oetker

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Kesh

Polla Arrabiata

This month the nations favourite pizza, Dr Oetker, have not only added to the limited edition Pollo Arrabiata pizza to their line but is also launching its first ever wine & pizza guide. The guides have been brought out to make your dining experience even more exciting by offering up a selection of recipes to create a side dish and offering up suggestions for wines to drink alongside your favourite Ristorante pizza. All the recipes in the guide are tasty, healthy and easy to make and also offer suggestions for special toppings which you can add to your favourite Dr Oetker pizza. All of the wines have been picked by wine expert, Ian Dogherty with a fantastic selection you can find on your supermarket shelf

Feta and Sweet Potato Salad

Rosemary and Pecorino flatbread

If all of that wasn’t exciting enough, Dr Oetker are also running an on pack promotion running for eight weeks only. Each pizza pack will contain a code to receive £1 or £1.50 off the next Ristorante purchase, with each code entered you also get a chance to win a supermarket gift card worth either £5 or £10!

Fig and Goats Cheese salad

Dr Oetker ristorante range is available to buy in all major retailers £2.99

visit www.oetker.co.uk for more information.

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