Tag: PR

The perils of fusion

Christian Huhnt reports on recent changes at Cassis restaurant

As I work in the arts and also collect wines, I find Cassis Bistro in South Kensington most comfortable as here I find myself surrounded by great works by Julian Opie, Gary Hume and Henri Matisse alongside as a humongous and well-stocked wine rack at the back of the restaurant. Cassis is part of Marlon Abela’s restaurant group, Marc, which also includes The Greenhouse, Umu, Morello Bistro and Morton’s.

Cassis Bistro’s decor cleverly combines wine and art

Party guests at Cassis Bistro, 232 – 236 Brompton Road, London, SW3 2BB

It was with anticipation, therefore, that I accepted an invitation to celebrate the arrival of Cassis’s new head chef, “le nouveau moteur de cuisine,” Massimiliano Blasone. Wait a minute: “Blasone”? That doesn’t sound to French to me. And indeed, he isn’t. This Italian chef made his name at Heinz Beck’s Michelin-starred Apsleys at The Lanesborough Hotel on Hyde Park Corner.

The first thing that I asked myself was: “What is an Italian chef doing in a French kitchen?” More importantly: “What is an Italian chef doing in a restaurant that has made its goal,” according to their own marketing material, “to deliver: The finest Provençal cuisine in London?”

A leaflet promoting the “Provençal” cuisine on offer at Cassis

After consulting the restaurant’s PR she told me the new idea is to “cook Provençal cuisine with an Italian influence.” What the heck? Why not add a Nigerian limbo dancer making sushi or a Muslim serving pork pies?

Continuing, she told me that the former chef had left as he’d decided to open his own restaurant. I recall once having a delightful lunch when that particular chef was still at Cassis, roughly one year ago, and remember how tasteful and typically Provençal it actually was.

Starting, as ever, with the drinks, I let the waiter choose my first one. He gave me a “Cassis Collins” which is supposedly the house cocktail. A mix of gin, crème de cassis soda, blackcurrant purée and lemon juice. Sadly, I could only really taste the lemon and overall it was too watery. It tasted as if it had been mixed 30-minutes prior to my arrival.

Jessica Patterson and Steffen Timm at Cassis

I quickly changed to an Italian classic, a Negroni, which was strong but cool. This was far more impressive. Steffen Timm, my companion and food connoisseur, went for a non-alcoholic cocktail with the notion to spare his palate for tasting the food later on, but while sipping at it he almost got a sugar shock and therefore turned to the booze too.

While sat at the bar, I found myself surrounded by some delightful locals and regulars. Things were most definitely on the up. After nibbling one grissini after another, finally the food arrived, but it came at such a speed that I struggled to keep up. Not even finished with a typically Italian dish of tagliatelle con tartufo bianco, the kind waiter offered me some superb raw tuna served in a Middle East Asian style with bulgur. Having barely swallowed this, the next dishes presented to me were a pumpkin tortellini with truffles, followed by oysters with sour cream and cucumber. Quail’s eggs with truffles, a lamb saddle with ratatouille (which was probably the only ‘kind-of-Provençal’ canapé) and finally some perfectly made risotto with yet more truffles brought things to a crescendo. My love affair with truffles is well known and some readers may recall my sharing that with you in my review of Honky Tonk. I must say, however, that this particular dish was more reminiscent of something that one might find in a chic restaurant in St Tropez than in the Provençal settings I am used to.

Provençal-style lamb saddle with ratatouille

Although Cassis is delightful and I enjoyed an evening of conversation and company, sadly, this new kitchen seems to have lost its ethos and now lacks the authentic Provençal character that made it so good. I urge the management to return to the quintessentially rustic and traditional roots that first made the place so appealing.

Cassis Bistro, 232 – 236 Brompton Road, London, SW3 2BB. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7581 1101. Website: http://www.cassisbistro.co.uk

October 8, 2012
Why pay less?

Living life to the full Donald G. Abbey style

“Why pay less when you can pay more?” is a mantra that some strangely choose to live by. In my time, I have encountered a couple with a different Ferrari for each day of the week, someone who proudly declared their home had a window for each day of the year and an heiress who insists upon the local baker feeding her dog daily with a freshly baked caviar pie.

When I discovered a house in California priced at $78,000,000, I didn’t expect to subsequently find out that the same vendor is also selling another of his homes in Montana at the very same price. Having done a little research into Donald G. Abbey, the commercial real estate tycoon who owns both The Bradbury Estate and Shelter Island, I discovered that here indeed is another personality whose excess knows no bounds.

I suppose when people sell homes of this worth, the asking price they set is quite irrelevant. “What,” I’m sure they ask, “is $5 million between friends?” Equally, when it comes to developing such properties, characters of this nature do not show any reserve. Bling is most definitely the order of the day and the larger and flashier one can build, I guess, the better.

An aerial shot of The Bradbury Estate, 172 Bliss Canyon Road, Bradbury, California, CA 91008, USA

The front elevation of the main house

The owner and his guests need not get wet on arrival in their limousines

Abbey’s Bradbury Estate is a case in point. This vast property consists of a 33,000 square foot main house with 7 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. It is almost entirely made of French limestone and includes a chef’s kitchen with a pizza oven, a 2,000 bottle wine cellar, an oak paneled elevator and a leather paneled poker room. Bedrooms include domes with hand painted frescos and in addition there is a detached 6,700 square foot guest house above a 10 car garage and a 5,700 square foot pool house with a catering kitchen, gym, massage room and a subterranean EPA certified 25 yard rifle shooting range complete with a gun storage room and 2 large safes.

The hall of the main residence comes complete with a gallery and bar

A vast library provides the perfect space to enjoy a good book

The library’s glazed ceiling

Another palatial reception room

The house features a rather impressive kitchen

Mr Abbey’s copper bath tub comes complete with a mat displaying his initials in front of it

Within the 8 acre grounds there is a cross shaped infinity-edged pool – perhaps Mr Abbey is religious – that is “just a few feet short of Olympic length.” It requires 350,000 gallons of water if it is to be filled to capacity. Adjoining this is something even more ludicrous: a 1,000,000 gallon, temperature-controlled rainbow trout pond that cost some $8,000,000 to construct. The pond is said to be “adorned with perennials,” is heated by a custom gravity separator with UV filters and is “chilled for the trout by a 300-tonne central cooling plant.” At Bradbury, thoughts of water crisis in Sudan and Ethiopia come way behind the needs of Abbey’s rainbows.

The rear of the house viewed from above The Bradbury Estate’s $8,000,000 trout pond

The estate’s 350,000 gallon near Olympic length cross shaped infinity edged swimming pool

The property’s EPA certified 25 yard rifle range

For those wanting to avoid California’s UV rays, Bradbury also boasts an acre of porches, decks, loggia and walkways. A 600ft blue stone driveway completes this “once in a lifetime trophy property” that “belongs in the portfolio of the most astute collector” and it has space for “60 foot truck access or multiple limousines.”

When Mr Abbey has tired of California, he is able to retreat to his own island in Montana. The 24 acre Shelter Island on Flathead Lake includes 7,000 feet of frontage to the water, a world class sporting clay course and 3 computer controlled tracks and docking systems that allow boats to be landed in the dry dock without riders ever leaving the craft or handling a line. The island is powered via an underground armoured utility cable that carry 12,000 amps to it along with CAT-5 computer cable and phonelines and the main entertaining space features a mammoth television of some 120-inches in size.

An aerial view of Donald G. Abbey’s Shelter Island

Mr Abbey’s passion for copper continues with a conservatory made out of the metal on the lakeside elevation of the main residence on Shelter Island

The Great Room of the main residence on Shelter Island

Mr Abbey’s passion for fine wines is displayed in a bar and tasting room in the property

The owner and his guests can access their boats without having to go anywhere near the water

Abbey has built over 44,000 square foot of accommodation on his island. The main house has 5 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. His “Great Room” features ceilings of some 45 foot in height and in addition to yet another indoor shooting range, there is a kitchen that woudn’t look out of place in The Savoy hotel.

In the UK, the property most similar to anything Abbey has built has to be Updown Court at Windlesham in Surrey. Developed by a former bricklayer named Leslie Allen-Vercoe, the house was described by him as being: “The most important residence to be built in England since the 19^th century.” Architectural critics did not agree and some went as far as to say that it looked like: “A cross between a Tesco superstore and Center Parcs.”

Allen-Vercoe’s behemoth of a house is gargantuan in size. With 103 rooms it includes 24 bedrooms, 5 swimming pools, a 2-lane bowling alley, a squash court, a floodlit tennis court, a 50-seat cinema and a panic room. The heated driveway that led to the house is entirely made of marble and cost some £2.5 million to construct but plainly none of this appealed to the market as it languished for sale at a price of £70,000,000 from 2006 to 2011 before being repossessed by the Irish National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). Updown Court was sold for half the original asking price to a foreign buyer in October 2011 and is, I believe, due to undergo extensive remodeling.

Updown Court, Chertsey Road, Windlesham, Surrey, GU20 6HY, UK

Allen Vercoe once stated: “If Elton John were a house, he’d be Updown Court.” Equally, I imagine if Mr Abbey’s residences were to be compared to any celebrities they’d be the vulgar car crash that is Donatella Versace and the ludicrous money obsessed singer with a dollar sign in her name, Ke$ha.

Updown Court, Shelter Island and The Bradbury Estate all illustrate that money cannot buy you good taste. I suppose, though, that those who ultimately come to live in them will have plenty of space to choose how and where to enjoy their own form of misery.

For more information about Donald G. Abbey, go to: http://www.theabbeyco.com

For information on both The Bradbury Estate and Shelter Island, contact Bob Hurwitz of the Hurwitz James Company on +1 310-477-8865. Website: http://www.hurwitzjamesco.com

A website devoted to The Bradbury Estate can be viewed at: http://www.bradburyestate.com

A video of Shelter Island can be watched at: http://vimeo.com/11404637

For more details on Updown Court, go to: http://www.updowncourt.com/

October 4, 2012
How the mac ’n’ cheese met the truffle oil

Christian Huhnt recounts an evening of rock ‘n’ roll at the opening party for Hollywood Road’s latest venue, Honky Tonk

When you hear about the opening of a London-based “underground NYC inspired rock ‘n’ roll restaurant,” the last thing you expect is to find it in the very heart of an area that estate agents now call “Little Chelsea.”

Honky Tonk, 6 Hollywood Road, London, SW10 9HY

So, my companion Steffen and I headed off to determine what this mystery may be, and to learn what the owner, who is supposedly involved in The Supper Club, was willing to reveal that night. As soon as I arrived, I found myself sipping a chilled drink, while listening to some Screamin’ Jay Hawkins vibes. “The Gringo,” a mix of tequila, juice and wheat beer is described as “a delectable intertwining of Mexican and British” on Honky Tonk’s drinks menu and it is just such.

As I was pushed deeper into the venue, away from the bar at the entrance, I felt I had been left alone in the middle of Shoreditch, with a 60s-inspired retro-American “highway diner” flair interior of unrendered walls, raw lightbulbs, Formica tables, and pierced and tattooed modern-hippy looking 20-somethings; only the pretty waitresses reminded me, that I was in fact not in a greasy US-diner, but at an opening in Chelsea, West London.

Guests enjoying Honky Tonk’s opening bash

Honky Tonk’s bar staff creating cocktails

One of Honky Tonk’s waitresses serving cocktails

When it came to the food, served as canapés, it again became clear, that I was in SW10. The “not” fried chicken, as the waitress educated me, is only coated with a “special recipe” and then oven-baked. It has as much crispy pleasure as it would have had fried, but it is far healthier and plainly designed so as not to dispossess the figure conscious guests of this elite neighborhood.

Almost finished with this delight, I tasted the next dish on the menu: New England crab cakes in a chili-mayo sauce, followed by little potato skins loaded with chilli con carne and sour cream. As I wasn’t sure anymore if this food could be solely called “good old-fashioned American bites,” the next dish was most definitely the tip of the iceberg: the macaroni cheese, apparently the “Baked Beans of America,” the synonym of cheap grub, the epitome of total culinary absence. Here at Honky Tonk, though, they controversially served this with a porcini béchamel and truffle oil sauce, along with roasted wild mushrooms. Believe it or not, it worked and it was bloody good.

While getting in the mood with another fancy drink, one of my favorites by the way, I tried a rum and ginger beer concoction topped with a slice of lime and listened to Elvis Presley’s Mystery Train playing in the background. Whilst enjoying this, I realise that the Chelsea boys and girls have arrived and are mingling with the hip East London crowd. I have seen this lot at many other openings and can’t assume they were shipped in, but nonetheless the spot is suddenly buzzing and a great evening follows.

Examples of the humour of Honky Tonk’s management adorn the venue’s walls

Honky Tonk promises to deliver the New York vibe, bringing cool Blues, Jazz and Rockabilly tones with regular live music to the heart of posh Chelsea. Well done so far.

Rock on!

Honky Tonk, 6 Hollywood Road, London, SW10 9HY. Telephone: +44 (0) 207 351 1588. Website: http://www.honkytonkchelsea.com.

September 29, 2012
Elliott waves

A review of Blummyz, Hollywood Road, SW10

Blummyz is certainly a restaurant that has nothing in common with Brinkley’s, its better-known neighbour and home to ageing lotharios and single women of a certain age. The only similarity, apart from their being on the same street, is that neither fall into the grey area when it comes to the opinions people have about them.

The Hollywood Road frontage of Blummyz, 6 Hollywood Road, London, SW10 9HY

For me, the Hollywood Road is best remembered for my encounters with a gentleman named Richard Bond. Always seen in the same blazer and supposedly resident in a green Jeep Cherokee stuffed to the rafters with old newspapers, here was a character who, like the restaurants I describe, was polarising in the minds of those he introduced himself to.

On our first meeting Mr Bond, who was a successful racing driver in the 1960s and 70s, simply asked: “Eton or Harrow?” When I replied: “Neither,” he launched into a diatribe about the relative merits of half of the public schools of England. In these comments he came across as an utter bore but on the occasions he regaled all concerned with such stories as how he drove a Ford GT40 in the World Sportscar Championship Series, he came across as a far more interesting man. Better known as “Bondino” or “Bondini,” Bond passed away in July 2011 but I am sure that he would have approved of the Bugatti inspired logo that graces 6 Hollywood Road, now known as Blummyz.

Richard Bond driving a Ford GT40 in 1980

Blummyz is the brainchild of Elliott “Blummy” Blum, a young Swiss born entrepreneur, and his friend Richard Renaud, who comes to the restaurant as general manager after having worked at La Place in Toulon and Las Bastide du Cours in Aix en Provence. The duo met in their youth and in teaming up have created a restaurant that is far more elegant than most of its somewhat clapped out neighbours.

Blummyz owner Elliott Blum pictured with Yasemin Yelkenci at the launch party for Blummyz

Blum has invested heavily in creating a stylish high-end European feel in his restaurant. The focus is an open kitchen with a wood fired oven and the décor features velvets and starched linens. It quite a world apart from the artisan look of Friends, owned by Chelsea footballer Roberto Di Matteo, which formerly occupied the site. A bar area, complete with a black granite bar, seats 20 whilst the restaurant itself has space for a further 40 diners.

Blummyz originally launched in February 2012 with Stefano Stecca, who advised Arkady Novikov prior to the opening of the £8 million Novikov in Mayfair, as chef. Mr Stecca departed to work for Frankie Dettori and Pete Burrell’s at their Sydney Street restaurant, Sette, after having described Blummyz’s menu as “too expensive” in an interview for BigHospitality magazine.

Now, with a new chef named Dionisio Randazzo, Blummyz has had a slight change in direction and officially launched on the 12^th April 2012 with an event organised by the ever popular PRs Meritaten Mance and Brave Benson. Such characters as E4’s Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing and Oliver Proudlock, son of Foxtrot Oscar co-founder Michael Proudlock, were in attendance.

The majority of the other guests at the party were youngsters in tight fitting Dolce & Gabanna jeans and ladies replete with Hermès Birkin bags that wouldn’t have looked out of place at the restaurant formerly known as Cipriani. If the gathering were reflective of the restaurant’s typical clientele, this is a place that will appeal primarily to the likes of Tamara Ecclestone and Holly Valance rather than to Chelsea’s old-school aristocratic set.

On my first visit in March, I was joined by a trader best known to my friends as “The Spy.” My companion, most suitably given the name of the restaurant’s owner, is a specialist in a phenomenon known as the Elliott Wave Principle and was pleased to be able to continue monitor the markets from his smartphone throughout our lunch thanks to Blummyz having Wi-Fi. We opted to allow the charming and personable staff to bring us a selection of signature dishes from a menu where starters were priced between £10 and £19 and mains were mainly between £21 and £28.

The bar area at Blummyz

The bread was freshly baked and the flat bread was especially good. A tapas style dish of baby meatballs (£5) featured a delicious tomato sauce but the meat was perhaps a little tough. Mussels and clams served with the same sauce and broccoli, however, were truly excellent.

For mains, the traditionally served sea bass (£22) was of the finest of quality whilst a beef fillet with a green peppercorn sauce (£26) was tender and perfectly cooked. The Spy and I were truly impressed with both dishes but somehow managed to leave space to share a final course in the form of a well executed chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream (£8). All of this was washed down with first a well chilled Chablis (£9.50 a glass) and then a Chianti Classico (£10 a glass). We left feeling heartily satisfied.

On my return for the launch event, I was introduced to a new menu that takes onboard much of what Blum, Randazzo and Renaud had learnt during their “soft launch.” It includes a “small eats” section (all at £5) featuring such dishes as deep-fried prawns, a raw artichoke salad with Pecorino cheese and pear and zucchini fritti. Other new additions include superb pizzas priced very reasonably between £9 and £15 and burgers at £9 to £10 each.

Blummyz is a restaurant that has great potential and one that most definitely deserves to make waves. For perfectly executed French-Italian and Mediterranean inspired cuisine in a sophisticated setting, be sure to make a beeline for Blummyz. Ladies: Be sure, though, not to forget to arrive without your Birkin.

Blummyz, 6 Hollywood Road, London, SW10 9HY. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7351 1588. Website: http://www.blummyz.com

Follow Blummyz on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/BlummyzLondon

May 30, 2012
Leslie "Les" Allen-Vercoe (also known as Les Vercoe)

This property developer tried to sell Britain’s ugliest crib, Updown Court at Windlesham in Surrey, for £70 million in 2008. It languished on the market for years and looked like a cross between a Tesco store and Center Parcs. The mansion included five swimming pools, a heated marble driveway and 103 rooms. Nobody loved it but after it was repossessed in 2011, it was finally sold on for £35 million. Meanwhile, Allen-Vercoe appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court in 2012 in relation to a case involving the £10 million mortgage fraudster Joanne Sarah Pier (also known as Zoe May Fletcher and Maria Micheala). He was cleared.

May 23, 2012
The Rt. Hon. Gregory Barker (AKA “Greg Barker”)

Gregory Barker worked for Roman Abramovich at the Sibneft Oil Group and as Energy Minister, took his daschund, Otto, to work at the Houses of Parliament. A Conservative Member of Parliament between 2001 and 2015, Barker lives between Notting Hill and Sussex and is widely cited as the architect of David Cameron’s “green conservatism”.

May 20, 2012
Su-Lin Ong

A food and drinks marketing guru who: “Travels to all ends of the earth for the sake of more than just nourishment.” An award winning connector and PR pro, here is a lady with an encyclopedic knowledge of bars and restaurant second to none. Parties at her home are renowned for the fine food that she creates as well as the wonderful cocktails that she mixes.

May 16, 2012
Christian Huhnt

Co-founder of Artition, a social network and marketplace for artists, dealers, collectors and institutions. This Chelsea resident is often to be found in the V&A library by day but at night he’s most likely to be rocking the club circuit at The Cuckoo Club.

May 9, 2012