20 questions with Marcus Schelbert, food and beverage duty manager of Belgraves – A Thompson Hotel
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
My friends, my family and my passion for my work, drinks and food.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Don’t talk, just do it as it could be the last day of your life”.
20 questions with Peter Wetherell, Mayfair’s leading estate agent
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
The revival of Mayfair as the best residential village of what is now called “Prime Central London” (PCL).
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Better as a friend than an enemy”.
The Steeple Times suggests five of the best deals to accompany the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
‘The Season’ is nearly upon us and we at The Steeple Times especially look forward to a number of events. Our favourite has to be Masterpiece (26th June to 3rd July) but we also love the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (21st to 25th May). Below, we suggest a few other ideas for readers visiting the show (more…)
The Steeple Times asks drinks industry guru and blogger Gary Hazell: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
“Go with your inner instinct”. I always think that most of us know instinctively what is right or wrong.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
I’d agree with that. I have a salmon priest in my backpack right now to prove that.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?
She still is.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
I miss Tony Blair.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
I don’t have any.
Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?
The more you owe, the more likely you are to get away with it. If you go to the bank with a good idea, they’ll turn you down. Bankers only care about what they can make rather than how profitable a business may be.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“Like”.
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
Charity should begin at home and if you look at our country we give away so much abroad but don’t do enough for our own infrastructure and the elderly.
The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
There are occasions when I hope that certain individuals on phones should be blown up. Not everyone wants to listen to your conversation. There is an appropriate time to use them.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Molly Parkin, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Jeremy Paxman, Jeremy Clarkson, Sir Derek Bell, Clive Anderson and Howard Marks.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
My own liver sautéed and a fine glass of Bordeaux. I assume I’d be in my cell but if not I’d be by a stream. I love fishing and have my own blog writing about my adventures on the water.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
Anytime.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
An aged Martinez cocktail made with the gin I promote, Sloane’s.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
Those given by Matthew Steeples.
Who is the most positive person you know?
Definitely not my stepfather. My wife is an eternal optimist so she’s most definitely the most positive.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Scrumping.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
I admire tattoos but probably wouldn’t want to endure the pain of having one done. If I had to, it’d be of my birth sign, scorpio. I suppose that means I have a sting in my tail.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
A Jaguar D-Type.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I’ve been put in Bow Street Police Station’s jail for a night.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
Photographs of my sons and my wife, an old French Art Deco calendar and a fishing reel.
Gary Hazell is a drinks industry expert. He currently represents a range of spirits brands that include Sloane’s Gin, Purity Vodka and Rebellion Rum. In addition, he shares his passion for fishing with the world via his blog, Tales by the Riverbank.
Read Tales by the Riverbank at: http://talesbytheriverbank.wordpress.com
Follow Gary Hazell on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/talesbytheriver
A happy hour with a difference launches at The Palm in London’s Belgravia
Opened in May 2009, The Palm replaced the legendary restaurant Drones of Pont Street. Amongst the original backers of Drones were David Niven Jr. and Sir Roger Moore. Nicky Kerman, a titan of the restaurant world, was another part owner. A later reincarnation was the brainchild of television chef Antony Worrall Thompson. Of the décor of this era, critic Nick Foulkes described it as: “Daphne’s meets The Magic Roundabout with a touch of Swedish sauna”. Next came a lady named Annie Foster Firth and most recently it opened as Marco Pierre White’s Drones in 2001.
The Steeple Times asks realtor and television personality Christophe Choo: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
That’s a great question. The first thing that comes to mind are the joys and wonderful things in my life: my family & friends and those who guide me in do what I do.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“Proper everything and everyone now” and “do the right thing”.
A review of the St. Ermin’s Hotel
I first visited the St. Ermin’s Hotel close to Scotland Yard in St James’s in June 2012 for the first Intelligence Book of the Year Awards. Today, I will return there to attend a reception to announce the second winner of this annual prize by judges Andrew Lownie, Dan Mulvenna, Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, Michael Smith and Nigel West.
As I reported in my last article on this Victorian property, the St. Ermin’s Hotel’s links with the worlds of politics and espionage are indeed strong. Built in the Queen Anne revival style to the designs of Edwin T. Hall (1851 – 1923) in 1887 and completed in 1889, the horse-shoe shaped building was originally a mansion block prior to being converted to a hotel that opened in 1899 after a major refurbishment by the theatre architect J. P. Briggs (1869 – 1944). Briggs remodeled the public areas and created a spectacular neo-Baroque entrance with balconies, ornate plasterwork and a double staircase.
Due to the building’s proximity to the powerhouses of government, the St. Ermin’s Hotel became a meeting point for officers of the Secret Intelligence Service and, as a result, various traitors and spies. Some worked from offices in the building and amongst them were Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Laurence Grand and Eric Maschwitz. Others came there to be interviewed and the hotel’s bar, The Caxton Bar, is renowned as having been a noted meeting place for secret intelligence officers.
One of the most notable meetings at the St. Ermin’s Hotel was held in 1940 when Winston Churchill brought together a group to join him in “Setting Europe Ablaze”. These founding members of what was to become the Special Operations Executive (SOE) took over an entire floor of the hotel and carried out covert operations from there throughout the Second World War. MI6 were stationed two floors above and then in the 1950s, the hotel’s bar was the meeting point of Guy Burgess and his Soviet counterpoint when he passed intelligence to the USSR.
Following on from a £30 million refurbishment to designs by Dayna Lee of Los Angeles-based Powerstrip Studio, the 331 rooms and suites at the St. Ermin’s Hotel are now comfortable, well appointed and decorated in a contemporary style. The two that I inspected, whilst perhaps lacking the charm of a boutique hotel such as Blakes, are absolutely ideal for a business traveller or tourist given the location close to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. They are well worthy of their four star rating and I slept well given how centrally located the hotel is.
The Caxton Grill, the hotel’s restaurant, continues the traditions of the St. Ermin’s in that it plainly is the haunt of politicians and policeman. Whilst dining there, I met an officer from Scotland Yard who was involved with Operation Yewtree. I can report that, though I had a most fascinating conversation with him about Savile, Davidson and Clifford, I did not leave with any state secrets that I could share here. The restaurant also featured on a recent episode of the BBC One’s MasterChef with Gregg Wallace and John Torode and frankly one could also imagine Hercule Poirot having taken rather a liking to it also. It is modern in style and features wooden flooring, bright décor and snazzy seating.
The restaurant features a menu that focuses on a Josper grill. This £17,000 hybrid barbeque–oven, which I saw so cleverly used by Chris Golding at Beauchamp Place’s Galoupet, allows a chef to cook, barbeque and roast at the same time over charcoal embers at temperatures of upto 600 degrees. Filled with Kentish hardwood every morning, the Josper recirculates smoke via adjustable draughts and, for example, as a result, it takes only about a minute to char infuse lamb and thick-cut beef sirloins. The real thrill of it, though, is that the Josper process ensures that none of the flavor or natural moistness of whatever is cooked in it is lost.
I began with a salad of soured plums, gorgonzola and blackberries (£8) that was colourful and most welcome on a grim winter’s day. My companion tried a roast celeriac and truffle veloute (£7) that though perfectly adequate, did not truly excite.
I continued with a half Temple Farm chicken (£20) that was cooked on the Josper Grill. Well presented and served with a green peppercorn sauce and some garlic and parsley French fries (£4), the cooking process was clearly illustrated. The meat was tender and I must say it was one of the best pieces of chicken I have eaten in years. My companion, an Icelandic financial titan, maxed out on a 300g vintage dry aged sirloin steak (£30) served with béarnaise sauce. Again, cooked to perfection, he was impressed.
Though more than amply fed, we finished by sharing a chocolate fondant (£7). This simple dish melted in the mouth and the accompanying ice cream was just superb.
Wines in the restaurant start at a very reasonable £19.95 for the house white and rise upwards to the £300 a bottle range. A Chablis is priced at £41 and a Gavi di Gavi at £33. The restaurant’s bar, the Caxton Bar, offers a huge array of cocktails but I must say I was rather sad that none of them were spy themed.
The most quirky thing about the St. Ermin’s Hotel is that it has its own colony of bees. “Bees… In Wesminster?”, I hear you cry. Yes, indeed, 200,000 of them prosper on the roof of the hotel and produce the most delicious honey that is available to guests. From three hives, the Buckfast bees, described as being “good tempered”, have fantastic access to London’s parks and travel within a three mile radius collecting pollen and nectar. “London”, states the hotel’s website, is “a perfect environment for bees as… cities actually trap heat, which means they can start foraging earlier in the year than rural bees and continue later into the autumn”. Who’d have thought it? Where once lived spies, now prospers a colony of bees.
St. Ermin’s Hotel, 2 Caxton Street, London, SW1H 0QW. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7222 7888. Website: http://www.sterminshotel.co.uk
Follow the St. Ermin’s Hotel on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/sterminshotel
Read our report on the first Intelligence Book of the Year Awards at: http://thesteepletimes.com/da-steeps-speaks/long-live-the-spies
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
A review of Fitzrovia speakeasy The Lucky Pig
The Lucky Pig in Fitzrovia rather reminded me of a bar I once went to in North Beach, San Francisco. Dark and hidden in a basement, this speakeasy styled venue mixes a distressed interior with a clientele who look as if they’ve come straight from their desks at Saatchi & Saatchi.
Victoria Aitken launches a single for Valentine’s Day
This Valentine’s Day, the electro-house chart topping singer-songwriter Victoria Aitken, daughter of the former Conservative minister Jonathan Aitken, has released her latest single, Kiss Me.
Of what inspired her to write it, Aitken comments:
“Sometimes we are left ‘un-kissed’ and it can just be so depressing! I was inspired by my time with an Italian man, chatting and flirting over cocktails night after night. I then became annoyed, wondering when he was going to make his move. I believe many women and men feel like this: there is a certain vibe and then nothing”.
Produced by Marc JB, who has remixed seventy #1 UK dance chart hits for artists such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna, the single features a cover by the up-and-coming British visual artist Zoobs. In it, Aitken wears a headpiece and eye veil by Jane Taylor, a milliner who has created headwear for amongst others Paloma Faith and The Duchess of Cornwall.
The French romantic writer Victor Hugo once stated: “A compliment is like a kiss through a veil” and Victoria Aitken in Kiss Me certainly explores this further.
To listen to Kiss Me, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3P2AW6S5UI