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Design Luxury People Restaurants

Quique Dacosta + Quique Dacosta

Arts and Roses

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Evelyn Waugh called life a “hamper of perishable goods”. Suppers literally are but this one’s for the memory bank. A triple starred Michelin chef cooking specially for Lavender’s Blue. It may be a long way from his eponymous restaurant near Valencia but, spoiler alert, Quique Dacosta is looking to open in London before too long. “The first thing is I love London.” Recognised as Spain’s leading chef heading up one of the world’s best restaurants, Quique digresses, “I wanted to be a DJ when I was young, not a cook. I’m too old for that now!” Music’s loss; cuisine’s gain.

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“Don’t try this at home unless you have a Porcelanosa kitchen!” quips Quique. He has partnered with the luxury Spanish owned company to create a new kitchen design called Emotions. “My restaurant and Porcelanosa are neighbours. We share the same good quality and innovation so it was a natural experience.” Oak panels slide back to reveal everything and the kitchen sink: an element of surprise that is also a trademark of his cooking.

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Please don’t eat the daisies,” sang Doris Day but she didn’t say anything about roses. Yup, the crimson petals are for eating. Surely the pebbles in the ceramic bowl aren’t? “Some are stuffed with Manchego and truffle,” Quique explains. “Others are actual pebbles. Choose carefully – we guarantee we don’t have dental security!” A wooden plate holds equally enigmatic objects, this time a cluster of brown, orange and green crispy leaves. They turn out to be made of root mushroom, orange peel and green pickled pepper. Easy. An apple and gold powder cocktail completes this introductory culinary voyage of discovery.

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He points to the yellowish fish containers for the ceviche course. “We throw a lemon in the sea and two days later it comes back as a lemon fish! Valencia has a tradition of cured rare fish. This is fillet of sole in salt and sugar. The sauce is made out of the roasted bones of the fish. The kumquats are from the terrace of my restaurant. So are the lemons – we have 330 small citrus trees along our terrace. This soup has a chili and citrus aroma. The pineapple juice foam on top is for decoration.”

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A frying pan of eggs appears. We’re warned things are about to become a little more complicated. More so? Shirley Conran famously remarked “life is too short to stuff a mushroom” but we discover not an egg. Quique stuffs the egg whites full of truffle under a jelly skin and covers them with a white asparagus shell and gold leaf. “The good thing is my food is always good!” Albarino Martín Códax and Rioja Crianza are served.

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“In Valencia the most emblematic dish is paella,” confirms Quique. “When you Google Spanish food tapas comes up but tapas are from northern Spain, the Basque Country. Rice is the principal ingredient of paella and it is always served as a main course in Spanish tradition. There’s no cheese in this dish. I’ve used cream which is lighter than the parmesan texture of risotto. Black grated truffle and trumpet of chestnut mushroom make it dark with a lot of different textures. The rice is from the landscape in Valencia.”

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“You fancy a little sweet? Why not?” Nothing is Ronseal (”does exactly what it says on the tin”) with Quique Dacosta but the name of his pudding is a clue. Strange Flowers. “You won’t know any of these flowers though! They have lots of aromatic flavours but aren’t as heavy as the mains which were very rich. Their very light vibrancy contrasts with the fishy and acidic flavours earlier.” Mango and lychee are two of the more recognisable ingredients. If anyone needs to sample a hamper for Quique Dacosta London, we’re on standby.

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Architects Architecture Country Houses Hotels Restaurants

Abbeydene House Whiteabbey Antrim + President Trump

Angels Unawares

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A phalanx of genteel residences, sphinx-like architectural sentinels, guards the east coast of Belfast Lough. Monuments to elaborately espaliered family trees, long forgotten aristocrats and plutocrats, sepia tinted sequins and foxtrots, Elysia lost to rampant suburbia. Sequestered by sequoias is Abbeydene House. The building was shorn of accretions when it was restored as part of a late 20th century redevelopment of the estate. Thus Abbeydene stands in mid Victorian sandstone glory amidst mildly colonial neighbours. The American style has some historic bearing: General Eisenhower lunched at the house in 1945 when it was owned by Mayor McCullough. Sir Crawford McCullough was the instigator of the five minute (since shortened to two minute) silence for fallen soldiers.

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The current owners accept paying guests. The original nine principal bedrooms have been reduced to eight all with en suite bathrooms. Rooms are named after American Presidents so naturally there’s the Eisenhower and also the Lincoln and Roosevelt. Only one Clinton. What about a Trump Suite? “No chance,” says host Tim Clifford. Abbeydene, or Lismara as it was originally called, was designed by architect-engineer engineer-architect Sir Charles Lanyon. “His son lived here,” notes Tim. “Sir Charles Lanyon didn’t build many private homes. He was better known for his public commissions such as Queen’s University and Ormeau Bridge.”

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In 1890 Sir Herbert Lanyon died and the house was sold to Edward Robinson, one half of Robinson + Cleaver, a once celebrated Belfast department store. Up until the late 20th century, the city had several iconic Edwardian department stores, now all sadly gone. A competitor was Brand’s + Norman’s with its famous tearoom, The Tuesday Room. Black and white clad uniformed maids would serve coffee in individual filters along with bowls of sugared crystals, while middle aged models would sashay between the tables, parading the latest Louis Féraud rigouts from the ladies’ section. Lavender’s Blue insider Anne Davey Orr recalls Peter Brand telling her he got his ideas from visiting stores in London. Robinson + Cleaver’s famous marble staircase ended up in Ballyedmond Castle in County Down, which was rebuilt by Eddie Haughey later Baron Ballyedmond.

Lots of original features are retained at Abbeydene, restored and reinstated following its stint as a nursing home. The pair of enormous bow windows to the rear, perfect for watching ships cruise along Belfast Lough while breakfasting, have curved glass and elaborate pelmets. Egg and dart architraves, niches, arches, fireplaces and a carved staircase all add character. Five of the bedrooms are accessed off a spacious first floor sitting room lit by a tripartite window over the entrance portico. A further three are hidden under the eaves. Abbeydene is Merrythought Café meets country house.

Time for some channel hopping (sea not TV). The Westminster Property Association Annual Lunch took place, as usual, in The Great Room of Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair. Under the bulbous onion shaped chandeliers and billowing waves of acanthus leafed cornices, the hum of 1,500 people chatting rose to a roar by mid afternoon. This crescendo slid to diminuendo as the guest speaker got to her feet. The BBC’s Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg led the audience on an odyssey from Cameron to May. “’The grownups are back in the Cabinet,’ one senior diplomat told me.” Inevitably Trump came up but was trumped (sorry) by the arrival of the food:

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Categories
Design

Adventures in The Urban Jungle + C P Hart Bathrooms Lambeth London

Underneath the Arches

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Lights! Models! Guest list! There’s a clash of fabulous invites but we’ll always have Home House. Bathroom showrooms are the new members’ clubs when it comes to fun times. We’re off to the opening of a door. Albeit a rather fine bathroom cabinet door. This is, after all, C P Hart. And we’re all for doing our bit for the environment. The party is Adventures in the Urban Jungle: The Bathroom Transformed. Very green. Disruptor alert.

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The C P Hart showroom is enough to make Flanagan and Allen burst into song: “Underneath the arches | We dream our dreams away | Underneath the arches | On cobblestones we lay.” This cavernous store fills a run rabbit run warren of railway arches south of Waterloo. Oh no, time for another Flanagan and Allen rendition: “Anytime you’re Lambeth way | Any evening, any day | You’ll find us all doin’ the Lambeth walk.”

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The brick vaults and hanging lightbulbs are as deconstructed as Kuskus Foods’ root vegetables served in Thurlby Baston baskets. Who needs to dine at The Ritz or The Carlton when you can balance on a bath or sit on a cistern eating Joy of Taste’s crabsticks and caviar? New room set: House of Hackney’s leafy Palmeral wallpaper is the perfect backdrop to designer Christian Sieger’s characterful Dornbracht brassware. The Urban Jungle is all about celebrating light, air and greenery in urban living. Colourful tribalism in; white minimalism out. “Maybe it’s because we’re Londoners…”

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Categories
People

Gerard Brooks + Christ Church Spitalfields Organ London

Building Bridge’s

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There must be weirder ways to spend a Sunday afternoon than stuck inside a church organ, but there can’t be many. Balancing on planks between 2,000 precious pipes was a catwalk cakewalk compared to hanging off nave-top ladders to get a decent shot of the crown and mitres. This organ’s a massive two storey structure. Lavender’s Blue commissions have ranged from supermodels to super models, redaction to red action, beds to dog beds, but never capturing images of the innards and outtards of one of the finest Baroque church organs in England. All at the behest of one of the most distinguished organists in England. It was a first.

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After a half century silence and a £1 million restoration, the organ is back in tune. International concert organist Gerard Brooks, Organ Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, Director of Music at Methodist Central Hall Westminster and Curator Organist at Christ Church Spitalfields, related, “Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Christ Church Spitalfields, the 18th century organ originally built by Richard Bridge was magnificently restored by William Drake.” Richard Bridge was the greatest organ builder of Georgian England. Handel played the instrument when visiting friends in the neighbourhood.

An inaugural performance was held to mark the launch of a double CD with a wonderfully illustrated sleeve. Yes, that photography session. A Giant Reborn features Gerard Brooks playing Baroque music by the likes of Purcell, Prelleur, Stanley and of course Handel. Introducing the evening, Reverend Andy Rider declared, “Christ Church is the best place to be in London before Christmas! This is a very special night in lots and lots of ways. It is the first recording of the Richard Bridge Organ in 300 years.”

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“When it was completed in 1735 it was the largest organ in the country. It is now the largest surviving Georgian organ in existence,” explained Gerard. “This organ is made for music as envisaged by composers of that period – there are relatively few like it. You are hearing what 18th century ears would have heard. The keyboard goes down to Bottom G so music written in the lower register can be played. Prelleur was the first organist of this church. Handel knew Richard Bridge and spoke very highly of him.”

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