The Steeple Times

Tag: India

  • Just the tonic

    Just the tonic

    Fever-Tree sells a 25% stake for £12 million

     

    In recent years, the premium spirits market has boomed in both Britain and America. Drinkers have traded up and become more and more demanding in their choices. Spirits brands have seized on this trend and created what they claim to be better products and enclosed them in fancier packaging. Many, such as No. 3 gin, Sipsmith and Purity Vodka, are truly excellent but frankly a lot of it is marketing hype.

     

    Accompanying the change has been a desire for a better mixer. The premise that it was illogical that a consumer buying a bottle of vodka for £50 would then mix it with cheap tonic water was the starting point that set Charles Rolls and Tim Warrilow on the road to create Fever-Tree.

      (more…)

  • Dame Judi Dench CH, DBE, FRSA

    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.

  • Ecstasy and Babycham

    Ecstasy and Babycham

    A marine residence with a history tied to the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, the Special Operations Executive and Babycham

     

    The House on the Shore on Thorns Beach at Beaulieu in Hampshire is a home that wouldn’t look out of place in the Hamptons or Rhode Island. Dramatically situated next to the Solent waters to the north of the Isle of Wight, this suitably named building wouldn’t have been out of place in the 1980s BBC series Howards’ Way. It could. Indeed, have been an ideal home for Gerald and Polly Urquhart. (more…)

  • Liz Jones

    Liz Jones

    This mouthpiece was born in Rettendon, Essex in 1958 and vents bile on all manner of subjects. Articles such as: “Why don’t more women moan like me?” and “Liz Jones’ baby craving drove her to steal husband’s sperm in ultimate deception” are frankly illustrative of why she’s so unpopular. After she got banned from the majority of fashion shows and her husband left her, she quit London for Somerset in 2007 to feed organic muesli to the rats in the barns of a 47-acre farm she purchased as her “rural idyll.” That misadventure came to a sticky end in November 2012 after she’d alienated the whole county by calling them, amongst other things, “smelly” and “faintly Amish.” Goodness knows whom she’ll choose to offend next. Phillip Schofield sums her up best: “She is inconsistent, bitter, nasty and unhinged.” Our advice: Just steer well clear of this acid tongued poison pen.

  • The battleaxe in the Beemer

    The battleaxe in the Beemer

    Matthew Steeples examines the truth behind Liz Jones giving up on her “rural idyll”

     

    The Mail’s Liz Jones is a waspish woman who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Those who’ve paid even a moment’s attention to her bleating, will be familiar with lines such as: “Last week, my brand new £1,300 MacBook Pro broke” and “Phil Spencer wanted his £46,000 and he wanted it now!” She never stops talking about money and the size of what she both owns and owes.

     

    Liz Jones

    In today’s Femail, Jones bores on about about how she feels “like a cross-dresser” trying out the Kardashian Kollection of clothing in a pointed attack on Kim Kardashian, but it was for her diatribe yesterday that she truly got the goat of the nation in “[bidding] a ferocious farewell” to life in the country in an article entitled “Goodbye… and good riddance!” 2,151 people have commented so far and most of them have been far from sympathetic.

     

    When Upcott Farm at Brushford, near Dulverton in Somerset came up for sale in 2007 at a price of £1.6 million, it featured in an article by The Telegraph’s Caroline McGhie. The 5-bedroomed farmhouse came with a 2-bedroom annexe, a courtyard of barns and stables and 47 acres of land. McGhie waxed lyrical about the merits of moving to this location: “People come here for the peace and quiet, the night skies, the dramatic coastline, and they work from home,” she stated before adding: “You can find everything here, including butchers, bakers, afternoon tea and cake, fish and chips, an art gallery and a shop selling fishing tackle.” Of Upcott Farm itself, she concluded:

     

    “This would suit a member of the new wave of buyers dubbed Droppies (Disillusioned Relatively Ordinary Professionals Preferring Independent Employment Situations).”

     

    McGhie got it half right: Upcott Farm sold to someone who considers herself far from “relatively ordinary” and someone who is far from “professional.” The purchaser, however, was certainly someone who’d become “disillusioned” with what she’d bought and someone whose desire to be “independent” and create a “situation” just alienated all she encountered. The buyer, you’ve guessed it, was none other than Elizabeth Ann Jones.

     

    Jones was born in Brentwood, Essex in 1958 and studied journalism at the London College of Printing. She became editor of Marie Claire in 1999 but was sacked, she herself suggests, for “listing in the magazine the freebies she had been offered in the previous month.” Here, it seems, began Jones’s obsession with all things material and here she also met an Indian BBC radio journalist named Nirpal Dhaliwal in 2000.

     

    Jones married Dhaliwal but the union was to prove an “utter disaster” as he had affairs with women she terms “younger, dimmer [and] slimmer.” “I’m no racist” Jones was divorced in 2007 and said goodbye to her “3,000 square foot of Islington real estate” and “easy, if super-busy, London life” in favour of the green, green grass of Somerset.

     

    Upcott Farm, Brushford, Dulverton, Somerset, TA22 9RS

    Whoever’s side you see it from, five years of hell followed. Jones baited the locals and they grew to loathe her. She wrote columns and a book, The Exmoor Files, where she attacked them as “faintly Amish… feral, old and smelly” and another hack and neighbour, Jane Alexander of The Telegraph, responded: “Dulverton [was] positively fizzing with fury” after each and every publication.

     

    Of the local restaurants, Jones stated:

     

    “I have given up trying to eat out in restaurants here on Exmoor… It is still stuck in the Seventies, with only things in baskets and rum babas on the menu… If you tell the waiter you are vegetarian, you are stared at, incredulously, as if you are black.”

     

    She whinged about her inability to find love:

     

    ”I will never, ever meet a man here in the middle of a moor, where even to be in possession of your own teeth is a bonus.”

     

    And whined about fieldsports:

     

    “I didn’t increase my popularity by being unable to pass a party of men and often children with guns, shooting rabbits and deer, without getting out of my BMW and saying: ‘Do you really have nothing better to do with your Saturday morning?’ The look of shock on their faces that I had the cheek to challenge them was priceless. I would stop, too, and shout at huntsmen on horses, galloping on tarmaced roads, one hand on the reins, the other clamping a mobile phone to their heads. ‘You will ruin your horses’ tendons!’ I would wail.”

     

    Whilst Jones found little to like in her new community, they found nothing positive in her arrival either. Her dog was blamed for worrying lambs, and Jones’s inability to control it, locals say, was an indicator of the chasm between her life and theirs. In 2009, one neighbour went as far as to tell Danny Brierley of The Independent:

     

    “We have got nothing in common with her, really. I think she may find it difficult to make any kind of life here now. She is not a very friendly person and we are all sick to death of talking about Liz Jones. A hatred has been building up for months. She is actually having a go at people and they are not going to tolerate that. She has feelings like all people, of course she has. But everyone wants her to leave and leave now. No one can make her, but we think she will go. I don’t see how you can live in such a small community with people who think that way about you.”

     

    Matters came to a head when Jones’s precious black BMW convertible, “bought in 2005 for £26,000,” was pelted with eggs and teenagers fired shots at her letterbox with an air rifle. A local councilor even dressed up as her in the local carnival and yesterday Jones took revenge on those she blames for her “five-year prison sentence” and deprivation from Space NK, Cath Kidston and Illy coffee.

     

    Instead, the article just shows the true reality of this bombastic harpy. The lines Jones penned speak for themselves. Country people don’t welcome someone who planned to “hack for miles across the open moorland in my Prada jodhpurs” anymore than the folk of Knightsbridge welcome Arabs treating their roads like racetracks. The gardener who had to endure Jones yelling “walk faster!” at him didn’t deserve such anymore than a bus driver in SW11 deserves abuse from his passengers. Jones concludes:

     

    “I’m now a different person. I became so lonely. I would often get in my car, not just for the warmth, but for the kind voice of the satnav lady. I’ve learned that an amazing view and a pair of nesting grey herons are not enough to make me happy.”

     

    27 acres of land including paddocks and a fishing lake remain on the market through Savills and Strutt & Parker at a price of £200,000 at Upcott Farm

    Miss Jones bleats that she’s taken a £500,000 loss on Upcott Farm, which languished on the market at first at £1,900,000 and then £1,750,000 for three years. The “unexpected” sale of the property has given her the ability to “flee back to the city” but the locals and even the “Droopies” should be warned: there’s still 27 acres of the farm unsold and on the market at a price of £200,000. Halloween may have passed but the battleaxe in the Beemer could still call again.

     

    Read yesterday’s “Goodbye… and good riddance!” article by Liz Jones for the Mail on Sunday at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2231033/Goodbye–good-riddance-During-catastrophic-years-country-Liz-Jones-greeted-gun-attack-relentless-abuse-Now-flees-city-bids-ferocious-farewell.html

     

    To purchase Liz Jones’s book, The Exmoor Diaries, go to: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exmoor-Files-Husband-Found-Rural/dp/0297854437

     

    For more information about the remaining 27 acres at Upcott Farm, contact Strutt & Parker on +44 (0) 1392 976005 or go to: http://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/18314693?search_identifier=71cbb8a2fb43a12182bfa7b79b5de0a3

  • Boujis in the basement?

    Boujis in the basement?

    Matthew Steeples explores the story of an empty Kensington mansion

     

    A multi-million pound 8-bedroomed house in Kensington isn’t anything unusual. In fact, rather, they’re ten a penny. In this, one of the wealthiest boroughs in the land, large, expensive homes are just the norm.

     

    An image of the existing exterior of No. 1 Campden Hill, London, W8 7AD
    A rendered image of how the exterior of the renovated property might look
    The plans show a vast subterranean development that will vastly increase the size of No. 1 Campden Hill

    No. 1 Campden Hill, which is being marketed for an undisclosed eight-figure sum, is in a quite different league. Here is a detached Edwardian house in an acre of grounds just to the north of Kensington High Street. It’s an unrenovated property but it attracted much press attention in October 2011 because it was place on the market in October 2011 at a price of £75,000,000. Yes, you heard it right: £75 million for a fixer-upper. Last week, Radio 4 made a hell of a fuss about a derelict semi-detached house in Newcastle selling for just £14,000 so this truly must be something special.

     

    Architect Edward P. Warren (1856 – 1937), far right, in the offices of Bodley & Garner, 14 South Square, Gray’s Inn, London

    The architect of the house Edward Prioleau Warren (1856 – 1937), a Bristol born architect and archaeologist, was best known for “Oxford colleges and minor country houses” but also designed the War Cemetery at Basra. He was a friend and adviser to the American novelist Henry James and in addition to building No. 1 Campden Hill in 1915, he also designed a house at 5 Palace Green in 1906 and another, Estcort House in Kensington Palace Gardens, in 1904. Warren’s guiding style is described as having been to recreate an “understated revival of English late 17th century” architecture and at No. 1 Campden Hill he created just that.

     

    Colonel Edmond Grove-Hills (1864 – 1922), born Edmond Hills, and his wife, Juliet Spencer-Bell, were the architect’s clients. A plaque on the building bares their names and the following dedication:

     

    This House I built for Me & Mine

    May it be of Peace A Shrine

    And no Enmity or Sin

    Ever find its way therein

    AD 1915

     

    Sadly for the Grove-Hills, the following year, their son, Second Lieutenant Charles Herbert-Hills (1895 – 1916) was killed on the Somme aged just 21. His father, meanwhile, was awarded a CBE in 1918 after having served as the Assistant Chief Engineer of Eastern Command during the war.

     

    Aside from his military exploits, Edmond Grove-Hills is best known for his role as president of the Royal Astronomical Society. He took part in observations of eclipse of the sun in Japan in 1896, India in 1898 and Russia in 1914 and contributed papers analysing both this and the causes of the irregular movements of the earth’s axis of rotation.

     

    In 1951, No. 1 Campden Hill was purchased by the government of Uruguay and it became the residence of their ambassador to the United Kingdom. For the next fifty years the building was barely altered but when the lease from the Phillimore Kensington Estate came to an end, there were legal problems as the 1951 transfer had never been stamped. Of this, Sharon Mulroney of Forsters, the legal representatives of Phillimore, commented:

     

    “It is highly unusual to be faced with complications of this kind when dealing with a registered London title, but this made the transaction all the more fascinating. Even the decision to allow ambassadorial staff to return to the property for security purposes after completion was fraught with potential problems about security of tenure, employment and tax.”

     

    The proposed site plan shows the addition of a garden pavilion, staff/security cottage and a tennis court

    Eventually, without issue, the Phillimore Estate sold on the house in 2001 for a price of approximately £17,000,000. In the years since, the property was effectively mothballed as all the purchasers have done is to have obtained planning permission to redevelop the building into a mammoth mansion of epic proportions.

     

    A computer rendered image of how the drawing room might look
    The “leisure area” is reminiscent of the entrance to The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel
    The private home cinema would be the envy of any movie buff
    The swimming pool
    The wine cellar is rather like a contemporary take on Berry Bros. & Rudd’s flagship store in St. James’s Street
    And to complete it all… The plans include your own version of Boujis in the basement

    The approved plans show designs for something quite remarkable. Warren’s “understated” residence will be replaced with 8 vast bedroom suites, grand entertaining spaces, a lift and even bedrooms for 5 staff. In addition to a full-scale renovation of the original freehold house, there is scope to provide a total of 30,000 square feet of accommodation by adding a huge subterranean complex that will include a 25-metre swimming pool, court, squash court, gym, sauna, steam room, function room, entertainment room, home cinema, wine tasting room and even a nightclub to rival any of Kensington’s trendiest haunts.

     

    On that basis alone, No. 1 Campden Hill is surely the ideal residence for Prince Harry: “Who needs Boujis?” we hear him cry.

     

    No. 1 Campden Hill, London, W8 7AD is for sale through Knight Frank. For more details contact Roddy Craggs on +44 (0) 20 7938 4311 or go to: http://search.knightfrank.com/ken100161 to download a brochure.

     

    For more information about The Phillimore Estate, go to: http://www.phillimore-kensington-estate.co.uk

  • Tom Ford

    Tom Ford

    This Texan born designer and film director turned around the fortunes of Gucci and YSL and had a huge success with A Single Man. A fixture at New York’s Studio 54, his designs are hugely influenced by the club’s disco-era glamour and his love of all things black and square. Ford met his journalist partner, Richard Buckley, at a fashion show in 1986. They share a love for smooth fox terriers and announced the birth of their son, Alexander Buckley Ford, in September 2012. Of being “gay,” he comments: “I hate that word” but declares that he’ll marry when same-sex marriage is legalised in California. Of Ford, his partner, Buckley, adds: “There’s only one Tom for me.”

  • Post-Fordism

    Post-Fordism

    The flexible £12.75 million former home of Tom Ford

     

    Number 26 Gilston Road in London’s SW10 is a property that has been on and off the market repeatedly in recent years. On each and every occasion it has been promoted as the “former home of the fashion icon Tom Ford” and though he hasn’t lived there in years, it is still just as he left it.

     

    Designer and film producer Tom Ford
    “The former home of design icon Tom Ford”: 26 Gilston Road, London, SW10 9SS

    Situated at the end of a terrace on the corner of Priory Walk, one can see why the house appealed to the Texan born designer credited with turning around the fortunes of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Hidden behind a high wall and hedging, 26 Gilston Road is private yet minutes from the restaurants of Old Brompton and Fulham Roads.

     

    This 4-storey townhouse was sold in June 1997 for £2,250,000 and again marketed in 2009 for £8,500,000 through Aylesford. In the time since, it has been available to let at prices ranging from £5,500 to £7,500 per week, but is now back for sale at the extraordinary figure of £12,750,00 through Russell Simpson.

     

    One of the reception rooms, just as Tom Ford left it
    Another of the Tom Ford styled rooms
    A Tom Ford designed bedroom
    The garden of the property is extremely private

    What explains such a rise during a period of economic downturn? Well, it’s because developers Equilibrium have gained permission to “de-Ford” the house. As is now the trend in London, they have planned a total redesign. Their illustrations incorporate a new sub-basement and as a result the gross internal area will increase from just over 3,700 square feet to just under 5,300 square feet.

     

    Equilibrium’s plans include a vast living-dining-kitchen with a study in the void over. The space is lit by a skylight.
    A cutaway shows the extent of the redevelopment planned
    A view of 26 Gilston Road from the corner of Priory Walk

    Whilst the layout Tom Ford, himself a graduate in architecture from Parsons The New School of Design, created at 26 Gilston Road was ideal for A Single Man; the new floor plan with 4 bedrooms is much better suited to a family. Ford and his partner, Richard Buckley, announced the birth of their son, Alexander, in September. Perhaps they should put in a bid.

     

    For more information about 26 Gilston Road, London, SW10 9SS, contact Russell Simpson, 5 Anderson Street, London, SW3 3LU. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7225 0277. View a brochure for the property at: http://www.russellsimpson.co.uk/assets/12/06/15/5081/pdf_archive-1.pdf

     

    View Equilibrium’s website at: http://www.equilibriumlondon.com

     

    View Tom Ford’s website at: http://www.tomford.com

  • Video of the Week: The Queen morphs

    Video of the Week: The Queen morphs

    The Queen’s life in 3 minutes and 24 seconds

     

    This week we must thank Dan Large for having alerted us to an amazing YouTube video showing Her Majesty The Queen’s life in 3 minutes and 24 seconds.

     

    Elizabeth II

    Created by “an old retired guy who likes to play with computers” named “HerBunk” and using the technological wizardy of FantaMorph, the video has attracted nearly 6,000 likes and 300 dislikes. We look forward to hearing what readers of The Steeple Times make of it.

     

    Watch the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8nJhG1xE5o&feature=share

  • Hospitality’s game changers

    Hospitality’s game changers

    Sixteen rising stars in hospitality in New York by Oliver Estreich

     

    In the first of a series, we profile the up and coming achievers working in hospitality in New York:

     

    Miranda Mancuso:

    A lifelong New Yorker and graduate of the Brearley School, Miranda Mancuso’s interest in the hotel industry led her to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. After graduation, she began her career with André Balazs Properties and is currently director of acquisitions and development. In that role, she focuses on finding and underwriting potential properties, helping to grow the company’s portfolio of boutique hotels. One recent project Mancuso was involved in was the acquisition of the Cooper Square Hotel, which is currently being transformed into the Standard East Village.

     

    Bobby Rossi:

    A New York native and Penn State graduate, Rossi has had a long history of brand building and hospitality development under his belt. Currently, Rossi owns and operates No.8 in which has quickly been recognised as an elite venue in New York City. Due to it’s rapid success, further outposts of the brand are being developed in Miami and Las Vegas with his partners, LDV Hospitality. In addition to his venues, Rossi is the principle of two other companies. One is Rossi Marketing Group, a leader in the strategic marketing field, and the other, Headlines & Heroes, an online men’s lifestyle guide that features products and services from an array of categories.

     

    Brian Mazza:

    Windsor Custom co-founder Brian Mazza developed an appreciation for the finest in menswear at an early age through his father, who instilled a love of fashion and understanding of quality, cut and design. A native New Yorker, he attended the University of Rhode Island where he majored in communications and dedicated a year to pursue his true passion and studied fashion and art in Florence, Italy at Lorenzo de Medici. When he returned to the States, Mazza accepted a position working in sales at Generra and also merchandised the collection for their top retailers. He subsequently began exploring the hospitality industry at The Paige Management Group where he quickly rose to director of hospitality and soon after became a partner at The Ainsworth and The Fulton, the group’s top-ranked venues. Windsor Custom combines Mazza’s expertise and love of the best in entertainment and dressing.

     

    Christina Civetta:

    Civetta started interning at PR Consulting where she had her first real opportunity to see some of the biggest NYFW shows and after-parties come together. It was this behind the scenes rush that sparked her interest. She states she has always have had a passionate love for fashion, art and music and that she loves that to to combine them organising events. Her favourite project was working on Mick Rock’s Exposed book tour, which she did with his manager and one of her close friends, Liz Vap of FeralCat Productions. She launched C2 Worldwide in 2010 with Cole Miller and feels she: “Hasn’t really looked back (or had time to!)” Her company works on partnerships for some of the most exclusive venues in Manhattan. She’s now expanding through the US and globally with brands and venue projects.

     

    David Hart:

    A chef who trained in London, David Hart has developed a wealth of diverse experience over the course of 18 years at the highest levels of the restaurant business. Having worked his way to the top in renowned companies, such as Soho House, Claridges Hotel and other well-known London restaurants, he adapted his talents and knowledge of the business to help launch various restaurants and bars in the UK.

     

    In 2004, Hart started his own events company and quickly secured prestigious accounts for the BBC and MTV at both the Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival. It was while managing events logistics on board the yacht Annaliesse at Cannes in 2005 that he worked with Richard O’Hagan and the two became firm friends. Hart moved to the US in 2006 to run his own chef training and restaurant consultancy service. As Desmond’s executive chef and operations director, his culinary creativity is matched with significant operational knowledge.

     

    Michael Blum:

    Michael Blum has been working in real estate for the better part of ten years. He began on the construction site of a private residence and then worked for several developers and investors including a DC-based company focusing on commercial real estate. After graduating college, he moved to Bombay to co-manage the acquisitions for Crescent Heights, a US-based condo developer/converter. He also spent almost a year between India and Vietnam on residential, commercial and hospitality deals.

     

    In 2009, during his studies for his master’s in real estate development, he found a hotel in the Hamptons to use as his Capstone project for an artsy, boutique hotel. Simultaneously, he tried to acquire the hotel, only to lose out to a far more experienced Sean MacPherson.

     

    After completing his master’s, Blum was hired by a Mexican investor and hotel company, Grupo Habita, to oversee the construction and opening of a boutique hotel in Chelsea, called Hotel Americano. The hotel is on West 27th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. It has 56 rooms, 2 restaurants, and four bars. In addition to acting as a developer, Blum was also in charge of the pre-opening and became general manager, overseeing a team of over 100 employees. Hotel Americano was on Condé Nast’s 2012 Hot List, and won a James Beard Award for Best Restaurant Graphics.

     

    Blum has recently left Hotel Americano to redevelop a hotel and retail project of his own at Texas A&M University.

     

    Michael Stillman:

    As the son of one of the country’s leading restaurateurs, Michael Stillman grew up with a unique vantage point on the inner workings of the industry. Michael learned from a young age how artful design, quality ingredients, and creative marketing all play a critical role in attracting and retaining a loyal clientele.

     

    After graduating from Brown University with a double degree in modern and contemporary painting and African-American political theory, Stillman worked for the acclaimed Union Square Hospitality Group before learning the business of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group from the ground up. After stints in the restaurants’ kitchens and purchasing departments, Stillman played a critical role in the opening of the Smith & Wollensky restaurants in Houston, Dallas, and Boston. During openings, Stillman participated in staff recruitment and training, menu development, and operations. He then led the creation and execution of every aspect of Quality Meats, Park Avenue, and the group’s newest project, The Hurricane Club.

     

    When the proposed merger of The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group closed, Stillman became president of Fourth Wall Restaurants, a New York-based restaurant group that owns, manages, and develops unique restaurant concepts, including Park Avenue, Quality Meats, Maloney & Porcelli, The Post House, The Hurricane Club and Smith & Wollensky New York.

     

    Dana Loia: 

    A native New Yorker and the creative force behind Dana’s Bakery. During her career as a photo editor, Loia achieved great success but felt something was missing. Pursuing her passion for baking, she enrolled in the pastry and baking program at New York’s Institute of Culinary Education, and graduated with honors.

     

    A pastry advocate and longtime lover of macarons, Loia was surprised by the lack of variety in flavors available. She saw an opportunity to do something no one else was doing and created a line of French macarons that have an American twist.

     

    With flavors like caramel popcorn, thin mint and S’mores to name a few, Dana’s Bakery has received an overwhelming response and is an instant hit among New Yorkers.

     

    Dana’s Bakery is currently sold exclusively in New York City and will launch nationwide in August.

     

    Brandon Freid:

    A native New Yorker and graduate of the University of Miami, Brandon Freid joined the Impulsive Group in 2003 where he began his business career managing operations and assets for the Ameritania Hotel in New York City. Freid now oversees the operations and management of the complete Impulsive Group portfolio, which includes Impulsive Charters, which charters yachts around the world, the sophisticated four-star Ameritania Hotel located in Midtown’s Theater District; the Moroccan-themed Marrakech Hotel nestled in the Upper West Side and the award-winning Sanctuary Hotel, also located in the Theater District.

     

    Freid’s mastery of business and finance is coupled with a solid grasp of architecture and design. He plays an instrumental role in the interior design and renovation work of all Impulsive Group properties.  His most recent project was designing The Sanctuary Hotel’s new rooftop lounge and restaurant, Haven, which just opened this month.

     

    Zachary Goldberg:  

    Zachary Goldberg was born and raised in Manhattan and entered the world of nightlife at a young age. He attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School for high school and continued his college education at Baruch where he graduated with a degree in corporate communications. Goldberg has worked in restaurants ever since he was 16 years old beginning as an assistant maitre’d at Town Restaurant and Blue Water Grill. His first nightlife gig was creating electronic dance music parties, before EDM was cool, at Marquee. When Lavo Nightclub premiered, Goldberg obtained then glamorous position of VIP host.

    Vip Manchanda:

    One successful restaurant will just be the start of it for Vip Manchanda, who is just getting his feet wet in New York City.

     

    Manchanda worked in nightclubs, bars, and restaurants as a student at the George Washington University and after graduating in 2008 came to New York to pursue his career in finance. That year, he opened Brick NYC. After realising his true passion was in hospitality, he left his finance career in 2009 and has never looked back.

     

    Apparently there are many more projects in the works, and Brick NYC just seems to be the launching pad for this successful restaurateur.

     

    Brick NYC is a two-floor space located in Tribeca and serves modern Italian fare.

     

    Nick Kenner:

    Nick Kenner left his job in finance to go into the risky restaurant business with his pal Rob Crespi. Their idea for Just Salad came when they realized there weren’t enough quick, healthy lunch options near their offices in Midtown.

     

    With the help and knowledge of a family friend, chef Laura Pensiero, who developed the menu and created 27 unique dressings, Just Salad opened its doors in 2006. A line of hungry young professionals gathered and Just Salad became a de facto singles scene. The lunch spot was such a hit that Kenner and Crespi were able to open another location only eight months later. Revenue is expected to top $3 million this year.

     

    Nick Cohen:

    It’s been said of DJ Nick Cohen: “I don’t know if he’s better known for his skills, the women he’s been with or the sneakers he’s created, but either way if DJing were movies, this kid would be the Australian version of a young Johnny Depp.”

     

    Cohen’s skills are great, but his music selection is better. He is not afraid to play any song and has a knack for understanding what makes women dance. Recent coverage in W Magazine and the following of a really interesting crowd makes Cohen my choice for the next New York DJ to take the crown: “More importantly, whenever he is spinning, the party is very high end. Good energy is hard to bottle and Cohen has a supply for several lifetimes.”

     

    Cohen lost his DJ virginity at Bungalow 8, New York City’s legendary playground for the international jet set. By the time he was old enough to drink legally, he was regularly featured in the many publications which chronicle the movements of the young and influential tastemakers who compose his loyal fan base, such as New York Magazine, Page Six, The Wall Street Journal, the Daily News, Gotham and Hamptons Magazine, to name a few.

     

    Having sharpened his teeth at elite nightclubs and private parties in his native Manhattan and Southampton summer playground, Cohen has in recent years transcended his birthplace and taken the game on the road, headlining marquee gigs coast to coast and across the globe.

     

    In fashion circles they say that you’ve got to know the rules before you can break them. This concept succinctly sums up Cohen’s iconoclastic boundary-breaking and genre-defying style. The hallmark of DJ genius is dropping the track nobody expected to hear and hearing a dull roar of enthusiasm bubble up from the crowd as the dance floor fills to capacity. Whether he’s bumping Nas at a white-tie wedding or throwing on Fleetwood Mac at a hip-hop industry gathering, DJ Nick Cohen keeps their heads ringing and their bodies moving.

     

    His singular sonic signature has everyone from Paris Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld to real estate kingpin Aby Rosen, Stavros Niarchos, Vito Schnabel, Gwen Stefani, Larry Gagosian, Dasha Zhukova, Maria Sharapova and Shady Aftermath Records chief Stuart Parr asking for: “The Nick Cohen sound.”

     

    Having fully earned his stripes through years of residencies at storied venues like Bungalow 8, Marquee, Avenue, 1Oak, Le Bain, Jet East, Pink Elephant, Cain and countless more, Cohen is now available strictly for private functions. In his spare time, he has recently developed, launched, and successfully sold high-end sneaker company Upper Echelon Shoes and is currently working on what promises to be New York’s most exciting new restaurant venture. Stay tuned.

     

    Alexander Ott:  

    World-renowned master alchemist, published author, and explorer Alex Ott learned the life of a nomad from his globe-trotting mother and father, a nutritionist, architect and musician, respectively, who exposed young Ott to a vast array of adventures.

     

    From playing with lions in Africa to exploring the Atlas Mountains, surfing with dolphins, and fighting off nature’s elements in the rainforest, Ott learned how to get the most out of life. His journeys provided him with the unique ability to experience the flavors of foreign lands and taste all the fruits of the earth.

     

    Ott began his career in mixology at age fourteen and learned the tricks of the trade under the tutelage of Heiko Beck and Thomas Kothe, owners of one of Europe’s most creative cocktail bars. After getting his bachelor of science in organic chemistry and further cultivating his craft, Alex launched the exotic cocktail menu for the famed Buddha Bar in Paris. The process inspired Alex to delve deeper into the art and science of drink alchemy and to develop his unique approach to infusing fresh fruits, spices, and herbs into elixirs used to stimulate the mind and body.

     

    For the next few years, Ott continued traveling and experiencing foreign cultures, tastes, and scents. After surviving a harrowing plane crash in Thailand in 1998 that killed 101 passengers, Ott had a renewed sense of dedication to all of the passions in his life, including art, surfing, film production, nature preservation, and flavor alchemy. Alexander Ott’s path led him to New York City, where he made a name for himself at the fusion eatery Sushi Samba where he was the first in Manhattan to use the famous muddle stick.

     

    Acclaimed for his unconventional drink mixes, Ott landed roles as himself in the HBO series Sex and the City and earned titles such as “Mixologist of the Year” and “Best Mixologist in America” from national publications for many consecutive years. Since then, Ott has worked and consulted with scientists, flavor houses such as Givaudan, more than fifty major spirits brands, including Svedka Vodka, Gallo Wines and Möet Hennessy. He has created over 290 cocktail menus worldwide, and endless cocktails for high-end establishments and events such as the Oscars, produced Tom Ford fragrances, invented space travel beverages for NASA, and helped conjure the hangover prevention drink MERCY.

     

    From over twenty years of experience in food and drink science, Alex has developed a one-of-a-kind approach to cocktails, now called elixirs and potions. In his upcoming book DR COCKTAIL 50 Spirited infusions for the Body and Mind he shares his knowledge of food science of botanicals, juices, herbs, and spices to awaken and stimulate the world to the effects and benefits of earth’s finest offerings.

    Daniel Holzman:

    Co-owner and executive chef of The Meatball Shop, Daniel Holzman started his cooking career at age 15 at Le Bernardin in New York City. Working after school and on weekends and holidays, Holzman remained there for 4 years until, at the suggestion of chef Eric Ripert, he attended the Culinary Institute of America with a full scholarship from the James Beard Foundation. Prior to graduation, Holzman accepted a position at the soon-to-open Paladin in New York City for chef Jean Louis Paladin, working alongside such culinary notables as Wylie Dufresne and Sam Mason.

     

    Six months later Jean Louis Paladin asked Holzman if he would be willing to move to Las Vegas, NV, to fill a vacancy at his flagship restaurant Napa in the Rio Hotel. Accepting the offer, Holzman began what would ultimately become a 10-year culinary journey through some of Los Angeles, and San Francisco’s finest restaurants including The Campton Place, The Fifth Floor, Aqua and Jardinière.

     

    In 2004, Holzman began his first management job as chef of the California organic bistro, Axe, in Venice, Los Angeles. After 1 year at Axe, Holzman was offered and accepted the position of executive chef at the Inn of the Seventh Ray, a 250-seat restaurant in the Topanga hills known for its romantic outdoor setting and lavish weddings. Holzman remained at the Inn until 2007 when he moved to San Francisco to open SPQR, a rustic Roman osteria, as co-owner and executive chef.  Within 3 months of opening SPQR received 3½ out of 4 stars from Michael Bauer in The San Francisco Chronicle, a rating usually reserved for far fancier restaurants.

     

    In 2008, Holzman and three partners founded KB Treats LLC, an ice cream novelty company. KB’s first product, QB’s (crispy rice and marshmallow treats filled with ice cream), were an immediate success and can be found in markets nationwide, including Whole Foods, Giant and Stop and Shop.

     

    Michael Chernow:

    Co-owner and general manager of The Meatball Shop, Michael Chernow began his professional restaurant career in 1996 behind the bar of the popular nightclub, Life, on Bleecker Street in New York City.

     

    Learning from the ground up, Chernow quickly worked his way through the ranks becoming the youngest bartender on staff. After 2 years working at both Life in New York and its East Hampton sister club, The Tavern, Chernow signed on to open Woo Lae Oak on Mercer St. in New York City. In 2001, Chernow made the move to Los Angeles where he worked at Woo Lae Oak’s original location on La Cienega Blvd. Returning to New York, he opened Punch and Judy, a wine bar on Clinton Street. In 2002, Frank Prizanzano offered Chernow a position behind the bar of his eponymous flagship restaurant Frank on Second Avenue.

     

    For 7 years, Chernow managed the bar at Frank where he had a large, loyal following. In 2007, Chernow enrolled in the French Culinary Institute (FCI), graduated with honors, and was awarded an associate’s degree in both culinary arts and restaurant management in 2008.