I need to make you aware of the launch of Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar which is due to open in March at the 5 star London Marriott County Hall Hotel.
The new restaurant aims to be “the most English of English dining destinations” and will feature the best of English beef and seasonal produce as well as over thirty gins and new cocktails created taking an influence from the satirical works of famed caricaturist of the late eighteenth century James Gillray.
Set in the County Hall, built 100 years ago to house London’s government, with views of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, few can claim a more inherently English location or vista.
The choice of namesake, James Gillray, reflects the political history of the County Hall’s past, and the intelligence, style and humour of the English personality. James Gillray’s work punctuates the menu and will be exhibited on the walls of the steakhouse restaurant and bar.
Location – check, History – check, Interior design – check. What about the menu? Well, for me this is where it gets really good.
The 1000g ‘Bulls Head’ steak sounds divine and when you throw in bar snacks like English Crumpet & Soft Boiled Egg washed down with 10 English beers, this high end London steakhouse looks to be debuting with gloves off. I am a fan already and I haven’t tasted a morsel.
(I am not suggesting all 10 beers need to be drunk, but merely pointing out the choice is rather good)
The menu features nine cuts of steak – bone-out and bone-in – 300g Fillet on the bone, 450g Porterhouse and 600g T-Bone steaks. Gillray’s Steakhouse signature dish, the 1000g ‘Bulls Head’ steak, will steal the show - a 1000g-butterfly cut, double rib steak served with the bone in.
The Englishness of Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar is evident throughout the bar menu, populated by 10 English beers (and two Scottish beers from Innis & Gunn), 29 English gins (including a few British favourites such as Hendrick’s) and five English vodkas.
The bar snacks menu brings Englishness to life in bite-sized morsels –Pigs in Blankets, English Crumpet & Soft Boiled Egg and Venison Sausage Rolls with HP Sauce – England on a plate.
Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar opens at London’s County Hall at the end of March 2012.
Join the queue….
Quantas have revealed their new first class deck in their A380’s. This has to be the definition of luxury aeroplane.
The double-deck A380 is the world’s largest commercial aircraft flying today and Quantas have now made this the luxury aeroplane of choice.
The first class cabin oozes extravagance and high end design, with a futuristic slant. Some commentators have already labelled it the ‘Star Trek Enterprise cabin’.
I haven’t got a problem with that, in fact I’m tempted to get my Trekkie uniform out and live the dream.
The Quantas first class cabin was designed by Australian Marc Newson. The cabin houses 14 individual portioned mini suites, with customers comfort being the highest priority.
Lounge chairs that transform into sheepskin upholstered beds, personal entertainment systems and private desks make these suites rather special.
The entertainment system comes in the form of a touch screen LCD monitor with 1000 on demand films and TV shows.
With the communal areas, the theme of luxury aeroplane is continued; Leather couches, plants (in a plane?!!) and overhead lighting that is designed to mimic the stars in a night sky.
With Quantas’s help the A380, Airbus’ 21st century flagship, has been transformed into THE luxury aeroplane.
And I do not own a Trekkie uniform.
A candle may not be perceived as a luxury item and is poles apart from the £6,000,000 iPhone we mentioned last week.
But forget price being the definition of luxury – it’s all about having the best of something – and in this case, I’m looking at candles.
Bake Boutique are a new concept in British-made luxury scented candles, which has just launched.
Its first collection is inspired by the scents of the kitchen - the heart and soul of every home. Bake Boutique has taken this concept and given it a quirky, modern twist by creating chic, yet fun, candles to bring the most scrumptious and enticing smells of the bakery into the home.
All Bake Boutique products are 100% made in England, including the packaging. Each luxury scented candles is hand-poured, with and only uses the purest soy wax, blending in the finest fragrance oils from around the world, with a lead-free cotton wick.
This ensures a long, clean, non-toxic burn. 45 hours to be precise.
The first edition comprises 5 different aromas, based on much loved baking classics, which really will scent the home. Scents include Almond coffee cake, Honeycomb Chocolate brownie, Cinnamon Gingerbread Man, Red Velvet Slice and Vanilla cupcake.
Bake Boutique’s luxury scented candles are available now and cost £32 each.
On Friday, we reported on two of the most expensive phones. One of them contained shavings of dinosaur bone and I wanted to explore this area further.
There is a showroom in Pimlico, London, that offers the most amazing bounty of luxury crystals, fossils and minerals.
Fossil hunter and adventurer Dale Rogers has taken years to scour the globe, seeking out the finest historical artefacts…aka an interior designers dream.
Dale Rogers Ammonite houses a collection that includes pieces dating back over 450 million years.
His collection of geological wonders have taken years to accumulate, and have taken him to The Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the USA, Japan, Dubai, as well as including some perilous moments in Afghanistan.
Starting with a modest stall in London’s famous Portobello Road, Dale Rogers Ammonite has exhibited across the globe from the UK and USA (Arizona) to Japan and Dubai.
With pieces ranging from a few centimetres to over 2 metres, there are treasures to suit every price point, ranging from a modest £50 to over £20K. Still a little better on the pocket than that £6,000,000 phone!
These incredibly rare fossils, minerals and crystals can be bought from the gallery on 77 Pimlico Road, London, SW1W 8PH, and viewed on the website.
A new trend in luxury is the humble bathtub. Tamara Ecclestone recently splashed out (sorry!) on a £1 million crystal bath.
Now, I present to you the World’s most bling bathtub, the limited edition Catchpole & Rye Swarovski Elements Crystal bath.
This bath took over 200 hours to apply the crystals by hand and is now in Harrods as part of the Swarovski xmas celebration. Compared to Tamara’s, this one’s a steal at £150,000.
There is also a baby bath version priced at 120K – Harper…tell your mummy!
The ‘Saracen’ is a classic Catchpole and Rye bath made in their Kent foundry in traditional methods and employing their experienced craftspeople at every part of the process.
The crystals are all white, of four different sizes and applied in random fashion which serves to emphasise the light refracting properties of the crystals and creates a truly spectacular sparkling effect.
This is the first time that Harrods and Swarovski have joined forces at Christmas and also the first collaboration between Catchpole & Rye and Swarovski.
You can find the World’s most bling bathtub on the second floor of Harrods in the bathroom department – take your shades!
