Lifestyle hotel Andaz Liverpool Street has come up with an original take on the advent calendar, in what could be London’s most exclusive advent calendar.
The hotel’s five different bars and restaurants, private dining areas and gallery spaces add to the unique and personal approach to hospitality as well as its support of the local and international art and design scene.
This is executed superbly with a festive collaboration at Andaz Liverpool Street with designer Eyal Burstein of Beta Tank. In 2010 Beta Tank was awarded Designer of The Future award by Design Miami during the Art Base.
Burstein has created a table inspired by the idea of an advent calendar and for each day of December, a new treat made by the Andaz pastry chef will be revealed from a tea cup or trinket on the table and served to guests with warming drinks.
Burstein scoured flea markets in Brick Lane, Petticoat Lane and Spitalfields as well as local vintage and charity stores to find tea cups, bowls and other trinkets which he has moulded in a large octagonal hand-made resin table, creating one design object that captures the essence of community and sharing.
‘‘Christmas is a special time of year at the Hotel and the advent table captures the essence of the season – generosity, warmth and unity. We wanted to create a welcoming area in our Andaz Lounge (lobby) for guests as well as the local community to gather and share the festive spirit.’’ - Arnaud de Saint Exupéry, Andaz Liverpool Street General Manager.
Throughout December, Andaz will offer the ‘Andaz Advent Afternoon Tea’ including mulled wine and a selection of pastries which will be featured as daily treats on the advent sharing table. Served in the stunning setting of 1901, the afternoon tea is £28 per person and can be booked by contacting .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or +44 (0) 207 618 7000.
The first UK gold Kilo coin was unveiled today by the Royal Mint. This is one kilo of fine gold and only 60 will ever be produced. With a price tag of £100,000, this is one of the most exclusive (and expensive!) pieces of London Olympics 2012 memorabilia.
It will also be one of the most valuable and sought after. The gold kilo coin was designed by influential sculptor, Sir Anthony Caro RA.
In addition to the first UK gold Kilo, a silver Kilo has also been designed by fellow Royal Academician and internationally renowned artist, composer and writer Tom Phillips RA. Priced at £3,000, 2012 silver Kilos will be minted.
Both Kilo coins are presented in beautifully crafted, specially designed presentation boxes accompanied by individually numbered Certificates of Authenticity. Sir Anthony Caro has personally signed and numbered the certificates for each gold Kilo coin.
During the manufacturing process, a special press and production technique were used to achieve the highest ever relief on a coin struck by the Royal Mint.
Sir Anthony Caro’s first UK gold kilo coin design incorporates the theme of the 2012 London Olympics, and depicts the sports equipment used for Weightlifting, Boxing, Football and Athletics framed by a laurel wreath and the official London 2012 logo.
It is unlikely that these coins will ever be circulated due to their size and weight, not to mention value, so Sir Anthony created more of a sculptural medal than a coin.
For further information on the Royal Mint’s full London 2012 collection, please visit royalmint.com.
What do you buy the wealthy adventurer this Christmas? Well here’s a fantastic suggestion… the Bompas & Parr’s Adventure Hamper from Selfridges that contains a rare magnum of Piper-Heidsieck Vintage 1998 Champagne.
Not only does it contain the Piper-Heidsieck, but it also contains all the items that Hampers of old days used to contain including provisions and equipment to inspire adventure, specifically; an adventure manual with food recipes and wilderness advice, along with a Rescue Flare for emergencies or starting parties, an Ice axe to climb a glacier or carve ice for cocktails, and a flag of Conquest.
This exceptionally cool Bompas & Parr Adventure Hamper will be available at Selfridges from 15 December for £699.99 each in a limited edition of five. What’s more, one lucky hamper owner will be invited to join the Bompas & Parr crew on their Arctic adventure.
At Lussorian, you might be more used to reading about fine dining at the latest swanky establishment. Do not worry, we will continue with our reviews of the top restaurants, but I wanted to let you know of another kind of ‘fine dining’.
How about a healthy eating diet delivered to your door? Nutrichef is an award winning healthy meal delivery service that brings great tasting and more importantly, super healthy meals straight to your door.
In our busy schedules, it is sometimes hard to eat right, to eat foods high in nutrition and goodness. With Nutrichef, you now have no excuses!
There are three different great tasting meal plans that are packed full of all that good stuff you know you should be eating.
Nutrichef’s calorie controlled meal plans are great for healthy weight-loss, lifestyle or sports training, as they can be tailored to suit every individual.
Nutrichef was founded seven years ago by Barbara Cox and her husband after a nine-year stay in Japan where they learnt about the importance of healthy eating. When Barbara returned to the UK, she wanted to devise a healthy meal service that would help the UK population become more aware of balanced nutrition.
Using Nutrichef’s fantastic new website you can now select and tailor your own plan to suit you and your needs.
Over the course of just one month, Nutrichef serves up over fifty different fruits and vegetables and 180 different types of food! The range includes meals such as Thai Red Chicken Curry, Red Pepper Pizza and Mediterranean Spiced Sea Bass.
The meals are effortless, with clearly labelled packaging telling you where to store, how to re-heat and when it’s best to eat!
This healthy diet plan is reasonably priced and even offers discounts for children and additional adults in the same house, so you can get the whole family involved!
For further details see nutrichef.co.uk or call 0845 366 9900.
Slightly unusual we know, but Sudocrem, the Nations favourite nappy rash cream, sure know how to celebrate their 80th birthday. The brand recently commissioned jewellery designer to the stars, Theo Fennell, to make them a unique one off piece of jewellery that they could auction off to raise funds for the NSPCC.
The exquisitely crafted £10,000 charm bracelet has been created from white gold and is encrusted with 24 rubies. The one of a kind piece, which looks like a mini Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream tub, took craftsmen in Theo’s South Kensington workshop three months to create.
Theo said: “I loved the idea of designing something for Sudocrem which appealed to the big baby in me. I hope it raises a huge amount for the NSPCC.”
Glam mums can bid for the item by visiting Ebay for Charity in the first week of December!
Theo with baby Suuki.
