‘Laurent Perrier’ is a name familiar to Lussorian readers as the legendary French champagne house, at once steeped in tradition and yet up to speed with contemporary culture. Every year the company colludes and collaborates with artists, chefs, designers and architects on exciting projects and 2011 is no exception. They’ve appointed award winning designer Luciano Giubbilei to create their garden at the Chelsea Flower show under the theme of ‘nature and human intervention’. To find out more about this commission and the final garden design I was invited to meet the team at another Perrier/ Flower show partnership : The Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Floral Afternoon Tea at The Connaught.
This Mayfair hotel is widely known for it’s stylish dining and five star service, it made the perfect destination for a late lunch topped with champagne. Giubbilei arrived at the beautifully dressed table bursting with enthusiasm about his work down at SW1’s Hospital Road. He described how the garden has been divided into two distinct areas, a structured space that evokes calm, resting and meditative moods and a separate area that is densely planted with elegant lines. The concept is romantically themed , with maroon, bronze and soft pink tones, evocative of the Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé champagne.
The flow of conversation was interrupted only by the arrival of silver platters laden with the most exquisite sandwiches imaginable and no wonder, they’d been crafted by the two Michelin-starred chef, Hélène Darroze. Her petit squares of smoked Scottish salmon sat dressed in lemon cream laced with wild fennel, we dined on chunks of robust brioche that sandwiched duck foie gras mousse in with rhubarb chutney and real elder flowers. Ribbons of jasmine and sprigs of fragrant violets wove their way in amongst the savoury treasures and for a moment there was silence…
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London’s finest book club, Literati at Grosvenor House, is hosting the launch of Natasha Solomon’s second novel on Thursday 2nd June 2011.
The charming The Novel in the Viola has the same winning formula of warmth and humour as that of critically acclaimed first novel, Mr Rosenblum’s List.
Set on the Dorset coast, The Novel in the Viola explores themes of love, self discovery and reinvention. With as much warmth, charm and humour as Mr Rosemblum’s List, Natasha presents a delightful second novel sure to garner the same level of praise.
Natasha Solomon’s great aunt Gabi Landau inspired the events of The Novel in the Viola, in which a young girl escapes Europe in the lead up to the Second World War, trading her cosseted existence to one of an English parlour-maid, much like Gabi herself.
Richard & Judy has just announced The Novel in the Viola as one of their picks for their Summer Book Club, Literati got there first and the Grosvenor House book club looks to be one of the best yet.
Champagne and canapés will be on hand as Literati guests celebrate The Novel in Viola and toast Natasha, whose debut novel Mr Rosemblum’s List became an international bestseller with The Times.
Literati is open to hotel guests and non-residents, encouraging dialogue and informal networking within an unpressurised environment.
For a minimal cost, which will include drinks, canapés and a copy of the author’s latest book, guests will have a chance to interact directly with some of the UK’s most prolific literary icons from crime writers to chick lit, biographies to comedy.
Posted by Peter Brady on Tue 17th May 2011 at 03:41 PM, Filed in Luxury Events
The 64th Cannes Film Festival kicked off on the 11th May 2011, maintaining a breathtaking schedule of film premieres, VIP parties and press briefings over the last few days.
Representing Lussorian, I was lucky enough to participate in this year’s activities courtesy of Chivas Regal (official partner of the festival) who conveyed us on a 24 hour whirlwind tour of pleasures on the Côte d’Azur.
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A new and exciting floral event, the first of its kind in the UK, will take place this summer at Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire.
During three fun-packed and inspiring days, stars of the floristry and flower arranging worlds will converge on this stunning Grade I-listed house for a celebration of all things floral.
Chicheley, the countryside site of the Royal Society, will be decorated with blooms throughout to enchant and impress, showcasing the very best of floral design.
Top international designers - Gregor Lersch from Germany, Mark Pampling from Australia, Damien Koh from Singapore, Moniek Vanden Berghe from Belgium, Sergey Malyuchenko from Russia, and Robert Koene from Greece - will give free demonstrations throughout the three days.
British designers will take part in Best of British showing to advantage the vast range of beautiful fragrant flowers grown in the UK.
And for those who want to have a go themselves, there will be lots of fantastic workshops, including Getting Going, led by Judith Blacklock.
The event will stage several inventive competitions. Ready Steady Arrange sets the men against the ladies in a challenge to create fabulous work using the best of British-grown flowers.
In Dressing the Tree, designers are invited to decorate 13 of Chicheley’s majestic trees in original and innovative ways.
Food and drink will be available, including picnic hampers that can be pre-ordered. Running from the 5th to 7th August, this looks set to be the first of many Floral events at Chicheley Hall.
For information and tickets click here.
The Opera Gallery London is hosting a very unique exhibition: artist Lita Cabellut’s personal tribute to the great Frida Kahlo.
You can catch this homage to the great Mexican painter right now, through to 21st april. Lita Cabellut pays her tribute to the Mexican lady on monumental canvases and a powerful and striking colour-palette.
Frida Kahlo’s long admired work has been described as “surrealist”, and during 1938, one surrealist described Kahlo as a “ribbon around a bomb”. An examination of Kahlo’s life makes this description quite apt.
La Perla Negra is Cabellut’s tribute to Kahlo and it is quite something. The paintings are huge, both in size and colour. Bold would be an understatement.
Lita Cabellut was born in 1961 in Barcelona, where she grew up in a poor Gypsy-environment. Her work is closely intertwined with the memories of the old area of Barcelona, El Raval, with closeness to the docks, La Bocquerai market, Las Ramblas and Sant Antonie market, replete with pickpockets, street performers and of course, prostitutes.
She studied at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam between 1982 and 1984.
Nowadays, Lita Cabellut is regarded as a painter with a unique pictorial language. Her ‘humanfaced’ paintings are exposed all around the globe, in New York, Dubai, Miami, Singapore, Hong Kong, Barcelona, London, Paris, Venice, Monaco, Seoul and many more cities.
The Opera Gallery are getting good at this, another important and exciting exhibition.
Not to be missed.
