Tag Archives: parisian

L’Orchidee Westfield London | Restaurant Review

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L’Orchidee is situated in The Village, the luxury arm of Westfield. It is in an island, giving you a great view of the hustle and bustle of Westfields, whilst also being a place of calm and serenity. It is incredibly glamarous and I feel like I am in an episode of Gossip Girl while I sit in the luxurious, beautiful surroundings, cocktail in hand.

A band is playing, usually it is just a piano, the lovely manager tells me, this time it is much noisier and a trumpet player had joined in the fun. The entire experience is wonderful and we haven’t even ordered any food yet.

I have the Lobster Brioche. Which is brioche with lobster, salmon roe and curried mussels. It is amazing and comes with a salad on the side with a great dressing. My colleague has Confit of Duck with Caramelized Onion. I am obsessed with anything curried favourite and I love lobster so the lobster brioche was perfect for me. It really was superb and unique. It was a good portion too, the lobster was great, as was the salmon roe and the curried mussels were perfectly judged: not too overpowering. The duck confit sandwich was also superb, it came with a good salad and dressing and some amazing terra chips. It is full of flavour and the duck is delicious and goes fantastically with the onion.

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We also tasted some of L’Orchidee’s amazing cocktails. Two of our favourites were the English Rose cocktail – Syrup de Rose, Creme de Cassis, Prosecco and gin, finished with rose petals and the Hazelnut Alexander – Frangelico, dark cocoa liquor brandy, hazelnut puree, and double cream. There cocktails are brilliant. I am going to work my way through their entire cocktail menu.

For dessert I have the amazing Black Magic which is Dark chocolate and passion fruit, coconut scented base, topped with dark chocolate glaze and finished with passion fruit macarons. It was all kinds of wonderful and is one of the best desserts I have ever had in my life. I still have dreams about it. The passion fruit works very well and all of the ingredients work well together. My colleague had the Zoe: Tender chocolate and almond dacquoise biscuit finished by our apricot preserved chocolate ganache and raspberries. It was also very good.

We finished off with some macaroons. A passion fruit one and a ferrero rocher one. We will definitely be going back to L’Orchidee. We loved everything about it and definitely want to sample their Champagne afternoon tea – specialty mini pastries and macaroons from their chef’s selection, with the hand-picked distinctive Mecier Brut champagne. This is a wonderful Parisian patisserie in the heart of bustling Westfield. The one in Westfield London has just opened but there is also one in Westfield Stratford.

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L’Orchidee is a must go: stunning food and cocktails, wonderful, relaxing surroundings and great service. We will be regulars now.

French modernist residence, Villa Savoy, joins LEGO® Architecture series

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Famous Parisian modernist-style country house, Villa Savoye, is the newest landmark to join the impressive LEGO® Architecture series.

Designed by Le Corbusier in the 1920s, and situated on the outskirts of Paris, Villa Savoye is the first French landmark to be added to the inspirational range. The villa itself is the perfect embodiment of Le Corbusier’s ‘Five Points’ construction principles, featuring a fusion of modern architecture and nature intended to create harmony with the woodland surroundings.

The fifteenth model to join the LEGO Architecture series, this interpretation of Villa Savoye was designed by German architect Michael Hepp in collaboration with the LEGO design team. Just like the real thing, the set features columns, functional roof space, open floor planning, long horizontal windows, and a free façade.

The LEGO Architecture range features ingenious recreations of well-known landmarks and works of important architects from around the world. Full of inspiration for future architects, engineers and designers as well as fans of architecture, the series is stunningly presented. Each set contains a booklet which brings the story behind the building to life, featuring exclusive, archival history, information and photographs about each iconic building, its design origin, its architect and its architectural features, as well as step-by-step instructions on construction. Travel the world of architecture by collecting all the sets in the range.

Become an expert with these Villa Savoye facts:

* Villa Savoye was originally built as a country retreat on behest of the Savoye family (at a cost of 900,000 Francs), but fell into disuse after 1940, entering a state of disrepair during World War II. After being passed on to be property of the French state in 1958, and surviving several plans of demolition, it was added to the French register of historical monuments becoming the first modernist building designated as a historical monument in France, and also the first to be the object of renovation (from 1985 to 1997) while its architect was still living.
* At the time the project started on site no design work had been done on the lodge and the final design was only presented to the client in June 1929. Although construction of the whole house was complete within a year it was not habitable until 1931.
* The house, designed as a second residence and sited as it was outside Paris was designed with the car in mind. The sense of mobility that the car gave translated into a feeling of movement that is integral to the understanding of the building.
* The four columns in the entrance hall seemingly direct the visitor up a ramp. This ramp, that can be seen from almost everywhere in the house continues up to the first floor living area and salon before continuing externally from the first floor roof terrace up to the second floor solarium.
* Throughout his career Corbusier was interested in bringing a feeling of sacredness into the acts of dwelling such as washing and eating. At the Villa Savoye the act of cleansing is represented both by the sink in the entrance hall and the celebration of the health-giving properties of the sun in the solarium on the roof which is given significance by being the culmination of ascending the ramp.

The LEGO 21014 Villa Savoye is available for purchase from 1st August in LEGO brand retail stores, LEGOLAND Stores and online at http://shop.lego.com/. Aimed at ages 12+, the product measures Measures 3.6” (9.2cm) tall, 7.5” (19.2cm) wide and 6.9” (17.5cm) deep, and has a RRP of £59.99.

For more information about LEGO Architecture visit http://architecture.lego.com/