A self-made mogul and former champion boxer who cannot read or write fluently. He thinks “differently” and built a £400 million fortune by creating and then selling a buy-to-let empire of almost 6,000 rental properties. Panayiotou takes the view that it is “moral[ly]” right to pay taxes in Britain and of those who call Heath Hall, a £65 million property he developed in North London, as “impersonally hideous as a brothel”, he rightly responds: “These guys are just jealous”. This maverick is indeed a businessman worthy of admiration rather than envy.
Tag: 2000s
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Andreas Panayiotou
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Peter Scott (born Peter Craig Gulston, 1931 – 2013)
A modern day Robin Hood who claimed to have been “sent by God to take back some of the wealth that the outrageously rich had taken from the rest of us”. This Belfast born cat burglar was a meticulous planner whose roll call of marks numbered Sophia Loren, Zsa Zsa Gabor, John Aspinall and Maria Callas. He quoted Confucius, Oscar Wilde and Proust and targeted “rich prats” as it gave him a “sexual thrill”. The 1965 film He Who Rides a Tiger starring Tom Bell and Judi Dench was based on Scott and concluded that: “If I rob Ivana Trump, it is just a meeting of two different kinds of degeneracy on a dark rooftop”. Raffles would have been proud. -
Jim Bowen (born Peter Williams)
This witty Northern comedian began his career as deputy headmaster at Caton Primary School in Lancashire. Best known as the host of Bullseye between 1981 and 1985, Bowen’s back in the limelight as many suggest he’s a lookalike of the new Pope. His BBC Radio Lancashire show was axed in 1999 after he referred to a guest as a “nig-nog” and in 2003 he launched a stand-up comedy DVD named You Can’t Tell These Anymore. Nothing, however, will ever “Beat a Bit of Bully!” -
Magnificently CUT
A review of Wolfgang Puck’s CUT at 45 Park Lane
Continuing our series of revisiting articles from the blog that preceded The Steeple Times, today we re-publish our review of CUT at 45 Park Lane. We’re delighted to report that it’s just as good today.
Wolfgang Puck once commented that he “learned more from the one restaurant that didn’t work than from all the ones that were successes.” With the opening of his new restaurant, CUT, at The Dorchester Collection’s newest hotel, 45 Park Lane, he certainly proves that he learnt well.
Wolfgang Puck Now magnificently illuminated at night and featuring 24 metal panels by Thierry Despont, this narrow Park Lane building was unoccupied for 13 years until The Dorchester Collection creatively brought it back to life. The building has a fascinating history having been owned in the 1950s by one George Parkin Catchpole, a liquidator, who rented it out “for anything legal.” He is said to have told a group of artists named the Park Lane Group: “When I’m not using it, you can – and I won’t charge you” and they did. They set up a 150-seat theatre and the pianist John Ogdon and the Welsh soprano Dame Gwyneth Jones DBE performed there.
The magnificently lit exterior of 45 Park Lane at night In the 1960s Catchpole sold the building and 45 Park Lane took on a new life as the Playboy Club. Run by Victor Lownes, the casino at the club became the most profitable in the world by 1981 but following a decision to revoke the club’s gambling licence and a row between Lownes and Hugh Hefner, the venue closed.
45 Park Lane is now well and truly back on the map of the international jet-set following this latest refurbishment. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stayed in September and the opening party was itself attended by Philip Green and his daughter, Chloe, as well as Kate Moss, Jamie Hince, Matt Bellamy and Kate Hudson.
CUT itself is a stylish space that seats 70 guests that is managed by the most personable Loyd Loudy, formerly of the OXO Tower, Hakkasan, China Tang, Shoreditch House and Sartoria. This is a slickly run dining room that has art deco hints and is dominated by Damien Hirst artwork.
CUT’s narrow but stylish dining space When I told a friend that I was going to CUT, he complained that the music there was a “horrible mixture” of 1970s and 1980s rock music chosen by Puck himself. My dining companion, a fan of such tunes as KC and The Sunshine Band’s Come To My Island, was delighted, however, by this prospect and only disappointed that his favourite tune didn’t get an outing. I was hoping for a rendition of the Strawbs’ Part of the Union in honour of, excuse the pun, those protesting about the government’s ongoing economic cuts, but I guess that would hardly have gone down well with the Mayfair hedgies and well heeled hotel guests who flock to this glamorous dining destination.
John Walsh, in his review of CUT for the Independent, describes Wolfgang Puck’s name as being “Mozart-meets-Shakespeare” and this culinary maestro is himself worthy of note. Austrian by birth, Puck began his career at Maxim’s in Paris, the Hotel de Paris in Monaco and the Michelin 3-starred L’Oustau de Baumanière in Provence. In the 1970s he moved to the United States and set up his first flagship restaurant, Spago, in 1982 on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. Spago became known for its signature dishes of haute cuisine pizzas topped with smoked salmon and caviar and awards galore and a burgeoning restaurant empire followed in the 1990s and 2000s with further openings in LA, Las Vegas and Singapore.
Puck has brought in David McIntyre as executive chef at CUT at 45 Park Lane. Part of his team in Los Angeles for the last 13 years, McIntyre’s career began at the Culinary Institute of America and progressed eventually to a “strong culinary partnership” with Puck first at Spago and then at CUT, Beverly Hills and WP24.
Puck and McIntyre offer a menu that most certainly couldn’t fail to please any meat lover. Though not designed for those on a budget, the focus here is on cuts of beef, be they from Casterbridge in Devon or Creekstone Farms in Arkansas City, Kansas, that are grilled over hard wood and charcoal then finished under a 650 degree broiler.
To start, I began with an Australian wagyū steak sashimi with spicy radishes and a Greek cress (£22). It was truly delicious and the envy of my companion who found his bigeye tuna tartar with wasabi ailoli, ginger, tōgarashi crisps and tosa sauce (£21) just as enjoyable. For those looking for a meatier option the Austrian oxtail bouillon (£9) certainly should appeal and vegetarians could definitely enjoy the roasted baby beetroot salad with goat cheese (£12).
For our main courses we naturally both chose to try out the cuts but those looking for something different could opt for a sautéed dover sole (£45) or a warm lobster club sandwich (£24). Both my 6oz filet mignon (£30) and my companion’s 35 day aged 10oz New York sirloin (£34) melted in the mouth and truly top my list for the best steak of the year. The accompanying Armagnac and green peppercorn sauce was a phenomenal choice and utterly perfect. Though slightly over salted, the French fries with herbs (£5.50) were pleasant and the tempura onion rings (also £5.50) could not be faulted.
To conclude, though somewhat conquered by the feast we’d just enjoyed, we moved on to a light banoffee pie and a delicious chocolate dish that tasted akin to a Kit-Kat with blackberries. Here ended a meal that was most certainly one of the best I’ve enjoyed in 2011.
The wine list is exactly what you’d expect to find in an establishment of this stature. Staring at £7 a glass for whites by the glass and £16 for Laurent Perrier 2002 champagne, key highlights include a Château Petrus 1988 for £4,900 a bottle and a 2009 offering from the estate of Sir Peter Michael at £270 a bottle.
One of 45 Park Lane’s 45 rooms and suites 
Suites with terraces boast views over Hyde Park and the rooftops of Mayfair Above the restaurant a striking staircase leads to Bar 45, a chic space serving cocktails and offering bar-dining for 30. Adjoining this is media room with 10 comfortable armchairs and a library. The remainder of the building appropriately consists of 45 stylish rooms and suites that include a most impressive penthouse suite with a wrap-around balcony that offers expansive views across Hyde Park.
Fay Maschler concluded her review of CUT with the words: “Cut and come again.” I’d only add that this is a restaurant that is cuttingly magnificent.
CUT, 45 Park Lane, London, W1K 1PN. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7493 4554. Website: http://www.45parklane.com
Follow CUT on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/WolfgangBuzz
Follow 45 Park Lane at: http://www.twiter.com/45ParkLane
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Petula Clark CBE
A singer, actress and composer who has been a star all her life. Brought up in Epsom, Surrey and best known for Downtown, Petula Clark surprisingly made her radio debut aged just 9 and appeared at the Royal Albert Hall when she was only 11. She now lives between Switzerland and Chelsea and can occasionally be spotted at La Brasserie in Brompton Cross. A lady of simple tastes, Clark modestly states: “The stretch limo with the blackout windows and the bodyguards are fun, but I prefer going out alone with just my bus fare in my pocket and catching a number 19 bus. The scenery’s the same whatever form of transport you’re using”. A Facebook page was created in 2012 as part of a campaign to make this legend a Dame. We back it with enthusiasm. -
Legged off
Fashion writer Jacinta de Vere looks into the perils of wearing leggings, jeggings and meggings
What is up with women who assume leggings paired with a short top or crop jacket is a good idea for a night out or a trip to the supermarket? Leggings are not trousers, ladies. Leggings are actually the least flattering item in anyone’s wardrobe.
Unfortunately, most women do not realise that most leggings are made with very thin fabric. I was in the middle of Marks & Spencer buying my grapefruit when one woman dropped her apple. She bent over in front of me and I almost puked. I saw the personal bits that her gynaecologist and waxer normally see. It was not a pretty sight.
Similarly, I was at my local watering hole and had a table next to the dance floor. Some chick in her heels bent over to do some asinine dance move and of course, thanks to the flashing lights and disco ball I was also privy to her modesty while her bum was in my face. Seriously, if you are going to wear leggings, wear a thong. Even better yet, do not wear leggings at all.
Maybe the only people who can get away with wearing leggings with a short top are women who have long thin legs and a great bum, which are generally accompanied by a kick-ass body. These women go to the gym almost every day and rarely eat or have amazing genetics. These items are meant for the gym or to lounge around at home. However, if you are planning your wardrobe around finding a comfortable waistband, then that is your sign to wear a longer length sweater, boyfriend blazer or tunic top that covers your bum.
To make matters worse, some moron invented jeggings. It is a fashion mutation between jeans and leggings. If you think buying these is a good idea, then run and get your head checked. With all of the options available in the trouser section of most stores, I would question anyone who seeks out a jegging. Jeans are great; they are comfortable and look good when paired with a nice top and jacket. However, I struggle to find any combination where jeggings are a hot look. Instead, what comes to mind are muffin-tops and drumsticks. Jeggings are not forgiving to anyone’s imperfections. If you put them on, be prepared to be ridiculed and have young children run away in fear.
Even Kim Kardashian, who has a rather large bum, chooses to cover it with a sweater or a jacket. She knows her body and how to accentuate her best assets. A large number of women have no idea what looks good on their body shape, have a herd mentality and just follow trends. Ladies, this old trend, if followed, must be done with caution.
Another fashion travesty that occurs with leggings is wearing them with Ugg® boots. Uggs are Uggly. I have seen women walk around town with their children in matching Uggs and leggings. It makes me want to cry as I witness society deteriorate to a leggings and Ugg wearing generation. Where has the elegance and style gone? I have strong feelings about these unattractive boots and will spend more time on them in another piece at a later date. If you are not convinced, let me throw an image at you.
I did not want to make the male readers feel left out. This article would not be complete without a proper discussion on meggings: leggings for men. Apparently, this “hot, new trend” is crossing the Atlantic thanks to Uniqlo. I seem to recall this trend originating in the UK in the 80s and then going to America. I guess payback is a bitch.
When I see pictures of men who chose to don these appalling tights, I feel like I am looking at soft porn. As mentioned above, it is not cool to see your kibbles and bits whilst you are allegedly wearing clothing.
Whether comprised of sequin, crochet or flannel, they do not belong on anyone’s body except your favourite Raggedy Ann doll. Even then, I would question your taste. Let us examine this fine specimen in the following photograph. It does not matter how “hot” he is, I would rather chew off my right arm than be seen in public with a man wearing meggings. Gents, please ask yourselves: “What would Frank Sinatra or Humphrey Bogart do?” Whatever they would do or whomever they do, I doubt they would do it in meggings.
So, if you find yourself in a boutique thinking about purchasing leggings, jeggings or meggings, please think twice before you buy. Ladies, please channel you inner Audrey Hepburn or ask yourself: “What would Grace Kelly do?” If either of them were alive, they would buy a pair of skinny jeans or cigarette pants, a crisp white shirt, a boyfriend blazer and Chanel flats. You would not see them in leggings and Uggs.
Jacinta de Vere is a lover of haute couture and all things fashionable and decadent. She is based in London.
Follow her on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/jacintadevere
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The Woman Who’ll Make Politicians Jealous
Jilly Cooper’s state of the nation style summary strikes chords with Matthew Steeples
Best-selling bonkbuster author Jilly Cooper might be best known for novels such as Riders and Jump! but in the 1980s and 90s she was equally lauded as “one of the Conservative Party’s most ardent supporters.”
Jilly Cooper Cooper, born in 1937, showed she still has a grip on the nation’s pulse yesterday when she declared that the Conservative Party is “full of terrible people now” to The Spectator’s “Steerpike.”
Separately, in a comment to The Telegraph’s “Mandrake,” Mrs Cooper shared her thoughts on Pippa Middleton’s first book, Celebrate:
“[It] wasn’t a good idea. I don’t blame her – I think that she was ill-advised… All I can say is that I hope the British don’t demonise her because of it. She seems a lovely girl and her sister is wonderful.”
Ever the diplomat, Jilly Cooper, in these comments, shows herself as a truly brilliant wordsmith. She has tact and decency but at the same time doesn’t hold back when it comes to honesty.
Nigel Farage should put in a call. Mrs Cooper could be just the asset UKIP needs to transform them from a “bunch of loons” to electability.
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Dame Judi Dench CH, DBE, FRSA
Undoubtedly best known as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, Yorkshire born Dench briefly played Pru Forrest in the BBC’s The Archers. She’s an advocate for “more progressive drug policies” and only took the role of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride & Prejudice after director Joe Wright wrote to her and said: “I love it when you play a bitch. Please come and be a bitch for me.” There’s barely a role she hasn’t conquered. -
Gaspard Ulliel
Best known for a brilliant performance in the 2007 prequel Hannibal Rising, this talented Frenchman is to play a young Yves Saint Laurent in an unauthorised forthcoming biopic of the designer’s early career. Having attempted to ride a doberman like at horse at the age of six, he was attacked and claims the resulting scar improves his emotional acting abilities. It hasn’t harmed his modeling career either as he has contracts with both Chanel and Longchamp. -
A Gipsy flies
The story of a 1929 bi-plane with a truly fascinating pedigree
Britain’s best-known wartime Prime Minister piloted a Gipsy Moth aeroplane that will be sold by auctioneers Bonhams in February 2013 at a guide of £120,000. The same craft was also featured in an iconic 1980s film and was also supposedly flown by a member of the Fiennes family who mysteriously disappeared in 1998.
The 1929 De Havilland DH 60 GMW Gipsy Moth bi-plane G-AAMY that will be sold by Bonhams at the Grand Palais in Paris in February 2013 
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) Piloted several times by Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) and used in the Oscar award winning Out of Africa, this 1929 De Havilland Gipsy Moth bi-plane is 24-foot long and has a 30-foot wingspan. It is capable of a maximum speed of 105mph and “wears” a yellow and black livery. It’s registration is G-AAMY in homage to the pioneering English aviatrix Amy Johnson (1903 – 1941).
In the film, the plane was flown by Robert Redford but though the life of the big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton he played is intriguing; the exploits of Redford’s aviator double are just as fascinating a story.
Sydney Pollack’s “Out of Africa” (1985) starred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep 
Tom Danaher pictured whilst filming with Mel Gibson Few outside of the aviation world will have heard of Tom Danaher (1929 – ) but aside from Out of Africa, he’s pretty much done it all. After graduating from a high school in Dallas in 1941, he became a Marine Corps fighter pilot. Stationed on Okiwana in August 1945, he shot down the last Japanese bomber on the final night of the Second World War and also made history, aged 21, for downing three other Japanese “Betty” bombers in the eight nights before the ceasefire.
Recalled to active service in 1951, Danaher flew one of the earliest jets, the F3D Skynight, with the Marines in Korea on night combat patrols and then was part of the last combat mission on a high altitude bombing strike over Pyongyang, North Korea in July 1953.
Danaher’s passion for flying continued after the war and in 1954 he flew his own plane, a 1948 Bonanza, to England to visit friends he’d made from the RAF whilst in Korea. To make the journey, he built a 109-gallon auxiliary fuel tank so that he could fly straight across the Atlantic. On the way home he called in for an audience with Pope Pius XII in Rome.
The surplus Second World War minesweeper from which Wonderful Radio London operated in the 1960s Danaher’s visits to England led to him becoming involved in a pirate radio station in from 1944 to 1967 named Wonderful Radio London. Like many others, Danaher was not impressed by the BBC’s monopolistic attitude to radio programming and so helped build a 17,000-watt station on a surplus Second World War minesweeper. It was anchored three and a half miles off the English coast and outside of Britain’s territorial limit. Of the experience, Danaher told Airport Journals:
“We had someone in Dallas who would record KLIF, a top 40 station, and we put it right on the air… The Englishmen over there just ate it up… The station programmed news and top 40 music and was very successful. It had the largest listening audience of any of any commercial broadcast station at the time.”
Back in America, Danaher owned three car dealerships in Wichita Falls, Texas but sold them in 1972 to open his own airport, the Tom Danaher Airport. Lake Wichita Airport (7TXO), as it was also known, kept the aviator busy but he has also piloted in films numbering Empire of the Sun, Sky Bandits, Air America, Bad Medicine, The Pleasure of Love, White Hunter Black Heart, Cliffhanger and Goldeneye.
In 1985, Danaher was recruited to fly Gipsy Moth G-AAMY by Sydney Pollack (1934 – 2008), the American director of Out of Africa. He recounted his six week experience on set in Masai Mara, Kenya in an interview for his local Texan newspaper, the TimesRecordNews, in 2008. Here, he highlighted the problems of trying to film with a vintage plane that “has no brakes and is difficult to steer”:
“Robert Redford couldn’t make the thing turn. It took considerable finesse to turn it on the ground… The third time, he gave it full throttle… The left wing contacted a thick thorn bush and it tore some of the fabric off the lower left wing of the plane. We couldn’t fly it the rest of the day.”
Other dramas arose with G-AAMY in terms of Meryl Streep’s body double refusing to fly in it and the craft struggling to reach the high altitudes necessary to film a sweeping shot of the plane flying past a waterfall. Danaher took charge stating: “If I can get a piece of string and a ruler, I can fix this.” He found just such, cleverly installed them and Pollack: “got every single shot he wanted.”
Pilot Roger Fiennes (1944 – 1998) pictured with Alexy Zaitov during the 1989 Glasmoth project expedition to Moscow and back Another person to have piloted the Gipsy Moth G-AAMY, according to a comment left in the PPRuNe Professional Pilots Rumour Network forum, was a man named Roger Fiennes. Whether this “rumour” is true or not, the cousin of the actor Ralph Fiennes and the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, is another character with a flying history as fascinating as his true family name – which turns out to be “Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes” when presented in full. Of why he did not use this lengthy and historic surname, Fiennes is said to have once commented:
“You try writing that signature on a 6 foot long cheque book.”
Fiennes flew many hours in a variety of planes and one of the best documented was an expedition supported by the Daily Mail from White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire to Sheremetyevo Airport in the Soviet Union in April 1989 and back. He flew one of three Tiger Moth bi-planes with a Russian navigator named Alexy Zaitov. The journey took three weeks to complete, involved 33 perilous stops and covered 5,000 miles.
On 19th April 1998, Fiennes was piloting a 1941 DH82A Tiger Moth, G-BALX, from Dieppe to Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent but he failed to reach his destination. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into the disappearance concluded:
“Although the pilot contacted Paris Information by radio, in the absence of a specific request, the flight plan was not activated. Lashenden was therefore unaware of the flight’s departure and ETA. When the aircraft was reported missing overdue action, and the subsequent Search and Rescue operation, which was activated on the morning of 21 April 1998. Since then there has been no sign of the aircraft or pilot.”
Articles at the time and forums since are sparse in detail but several forum posters and articles suggest that Mr Fiennes had “mounting debts and a string of business collapses.” Whilst some go as far as to suggest a “Lord Lucan” style disappearance and make references to “paddling canoes” and “check[ing] the Panamanian register,” others remember a “nice guy, sadly missed.” Whatever really happened that fateful day, though, will probably never be solved.
Another image of Gipsy Moth G-AAMY G-AAMY, which was marked G-AAMT for the filming of Out of Africa, is a plane with a remarkable past. We suspect there’ll be a few more dramas for this craft yet.
The 1929 De Havilland DH 60 GMW Gipsy Moth bi-plane G-AAMY will be sold by Bonhams at the Grand Palais in Paris, France sale during Rétromobile week (6th to 7th February 2013). For more information telephone +33 1 42 61 10 11 or go to: http://www.bonhams.com
To learn more about Tom Danaher’s experience flying G-AAMY in Out of Africa, read the full TimesRecordNews report by Lara K. Richards at: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/jun/08/fly/?print=1
To read the AAIB account of the disappearance of Roger Fiennes and DH82A Tiger Moth, G-BALX, go to: http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/dft_avsafety_pdf_502449.pdf