At Large

Pop’s poutalicious Lana Del Rey has taken a battering online, with critics accusing the singer (previously known as Lizzy Grant) as a re-launched-phoney-indie-hipster-songstress tugged mercilessly by her record executive puppeteers.

The heated debate seems largely to have missed the point — that pop by its very nature is manufactured and the genre’s “artists”, despite their occasional stabs at profundity, are commercial constructs, there for our listening, dancing and occasionally viewing pleasure.

If Ms Elizabeth Grant finds greater success with (allegedly) plumper limps and a Spanishy name (decidedly more exotic than “Lizzy Grant” which sounds like an American diner franchise), then so be it.

For more thoughts on Born To Die and the pop princess that spawned it, read The New Yorker’s canny take, as well as The Telegraph’s view. And for sheer blog bile, there’s always the The Hispter Runoff, which is so incensed by the Del Rey phenomenon that it appears to have re-branded as The Lana Del Rey Report. 

BY ALEXANDER MATTHEWS

Too cool for craft beer? Well, now you can make your own with one of the Brooklyn Brew Shop beer-making kits that &Union have got their hands on from New York. Ping them a line for more if you’re keen to get your hands on one.

Find out more about making beer at home below:

How to Brew Beer from Brooklyn Brew Shop on Vimeo.

At WANTED we love it when people are proactive and the good folks at Dear Me and its bar Tjing Tjing — one of WANTED’s favourite spots in Cape Town’s city centre — are just that. They’re not merely content with producing gorgeous lunches and weekly dinners — or providing a cosy spot for evening drinks: they’re also doing their best to promote great local food and design.

Last year Together at Tjing Tjing, a design market was introduced, and the 21st February will see the first market for 2012. 

The bar will also be hosting a booze and meat fest on the 26th in conjunction with the newly opened Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants, purveyors of fine ethically-sourced meat.

See below for all the details.

Check out the menu for the Frankie Fenner and Dear Me event here. We’re drooling already.

Tjing Tjing, 165 Longmarket Street, 021 422 4920.

Blank Projeccts launches Unacceptable, a new show by Jo’burg-based multimedia artist Donna Kukama. The show opens on Thursday 2 February at 6pm, running until the 25th. 

The website has more:

The exhibition UNACCEPTABLE combines various elements drawn from researched material and memory. The term is a label for that which is outside of the norms in society.

Drawing from a collection of various ‘love’ territories previously inhabited by the artist, a fragile and personal point of view emerges from a space that has previously been framed as ‘political’. 

Because Love is Not Enough [Sound Installation, 2012] is a fictional piece set in Kenya in 1950, during the Mau-Mau war. It is a follow-up of  Not Yet, and Nobody Knows Why Not [2008],  a performance piece that took place during a protest gathering of Mau-Mau war veterans against the current Kenyan leadership, where Kukama stood at the entrance of the venue where people gathered and, seductively as well as violently, applied red lipstick to her entire face.

Click here for more details.

Blank Projects, 113-115 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, Cape Town, 0721989221.

More and more men are sick of the pumping music, blazing lights and crowded aisles that characterise a shopping trip to Oxford Street. They’re also growing tired of the seemingly identical stock that’s become the mainstay of most high street brands. Jeremy Baron and Simon Spiteri (the former menswear buyer for London department store Liberty’s) recognised that, setting up Anthem, the menswear store in east London’s Shoreditch, last year.

The next time you’re in the British capital and want to freshen up your wardrobe, be sure pay a visit. This is a shopping experience as it should be – relaxed, dignified, considered. With its exposed brick, antiques and yurt rugs from Turkmenistan, Anthem is a treasure trove meets bachelor’s den. Its interior has been kitted out with customised furniture made by local craftsmen using Welsh birch and oak, and the space is lit by the subtle glow of two old Liverpool department store lights, discovered in a north London reclamation yard.

Baron and Spiteri have incorporated an ever-expanding mix of internationally renowned brands (Commes des Garcons, Marni) and a few global brands that make their exclusive UK debut at the store – including awesome socks and denim from Japan’s Kapital, New York’s Save Khaki and Nanok from Norway. And then there’s some more familiar labels – casual-ware-with-a-twist from Folk and the English elegance of Oliver Spencer. We love the handmade waxed canvas messenger bags from Brooklyn’s Stanley & Sons. 

Anthem, 10-12 Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch, London, UK, +44 207 033 0054

WHEN IN SHOREDITCH…

Stock up on some great art and design books and independent magazines at Artwords (69 Rivington Street). The best flat white is at Allpress Espresso (58 Redchurch Street). Make do and mend with Labour and Wait’s range of domestic do-goodery from brushes to teapots (85 Redchurch Street). Our two other favourite menswear stores are a short walk away: Hostem (41 Redchurch Street) and Present (140 Shoreditch High Street). Both guys and girls can snap up great undies and swimwear at Sunspel (7 Redchurch Street) and grab some great leather bags and iPad cases at Ally Capellino (9 Calvert Avenue). Close by, Leila’s Shop (17 Calvert Avenue) has scrumptious lunches made with the freshest produce; the salmon and cream cheese bagels from the 24-hour Beigel Bakery at 159 Brick Lane are always hard to beat.

Labour & Wait

Ally Capellino

Leila’s

An Allpress flat white.

Sunspel

Alfredo Jaar, From Time to Time, 2002. C-Print Mounted to Plexi

A new group show, entitled Advance/…Notice, opens at the Goodman Gallery Johannesburg on Thursday 2nd February. 

According to the gallery:

Advance/…Notice introduces newly perfected techniques or processes for some of our well-known artists, such as platinum photographic prints by David Goldblatt, and a completely new turn of direction and field of interest for African American artist Hank Willis Thomas, who first exhibited with us on In Context in 2010, as well as for Sigalit Landau, the acclaimed Israeli artist we co-hosted at last year’s Venice Biennale. These international savants are joined by South African artists such as Hasan and Husain Essop, Moshekwa Langa, Mikhael Subotzky, Sue Williamson, William Kentridge, Rosenclaire, and Frances Goodman revealing either brand new works, or works not yet seen in Johannesburg. Also featured are works by Kendell Geers, whose retrospective exhibition will open at IZIKO South African National Gallery in late March 2012.

Goodman Gallery Johannesburg, 163 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood, 011 788 1113

In partnership with the Wade Bales Wine Society, WANTED is offering readers the opportunity to purchase a six-bottle selection of Saxenburg Private Collection wines, which will consist of four limited release reds and two limited release white wines priced at R698. This will include a complimentary bottle of Le Phantom Cap Classique valued at R100.

Saxenburg wines are based on a simple philosophy: “A wine signifies a place, what the French call terroir. The better the place is known and understood, the better the wine.”

Offered in this six-bottle pack, you receive one bottle each of the following Private Collection wines:

• Shiraz 2006 (4 stars Platter’s) — warm spicy flavours and hints of coffee

• Cabernet Sauvignon (4½ stars Platter’s) — layers of ripe black currant and cassis fruit• Merlot 2008 (4 stars Platter’s) — subtle berry fruit flavours and hints of mocha chocolate

• Pinotage 2008 (3½ stars Platter’s) — mouth filling concentration of savoury smoked meat and ripe plum fruit

• Chardonnay 2010 (4½ stars Platter’s) — lovely tropical fruit and hazelnut flavours• Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (4 stars Platter’s) — fruity, figgy, grassy tropical and fine flowery flavours

• Complimentary: Le PhantomCap Classique — crispy fruit, fine mousse and prominent yeasty dry finish.

Call Patricia Uribe-Daras on 0217942151 or send an email for more information or to order. 

In 1989, Adrian Bührer of Switzerland bought the farm Saxenburg on the outskirts of Kuils River between Stellenbosch and Cape Town. Nico can der Merwe was appointed winemaker in November 1990. Accepting the position at Saxenburg was something of a leap of faith, admits Van der Merwe. “It was an unsure start. We had no image, no established direction, but we had nothing to lose, and I was prepared to build up our reputation gradually.”

Patience proved unnecessary: he achieved success early on with five double gold medals at the 1993 Veritas Awards, all for wines from 1991, his first vintage at Saxenburg, and he’s been winning awards ever since. Utterly disparaging of the Establishment, he is, however, entirely good-natured and delivers all criticisms with a twinkle in his eye.

You started at Saxenburg 21 years ago, which is an unusually long time for a winemaker to spend at one property. What makes the property so special to you

To stay that long, you have to be happy and fulfilled and I am. Saxenburg was very neglected when we took it over and it wasn’t clear what was going to work and what wasn’t. The property and I have evolved together.

What have been the fundamental changes you’ve noted in the industry during your time at Saxenburg?

The industry used to be very regulated, rule-bound and conservative. Political transformation in the 1990s thankfully changed all that. No minimum price, no quota system, new varieties, the opening up of markets. Unfortunately, the manipulation of restaurant wine lists still occurs and should be investigated.

The 2007 vintage Saxenburg Shiraz Select (SSS) has just been rated five stars in Platter’s as were the 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Tell us what sets this wine apart.

Cab is arguably our strongest variety but Shiraz is the darling. SSS is not a manufactured wine but is true to the vineyards. We have 33 hectares of Shiraz and the SSS is a selection of the best from the vintage. If quality is not up to scratch in any particular year, then no SSS.

The 2005 vintage of SSS is still available from the Saxenburg tasting room at R700 a bottle. No matter how good the quality, is the market ready for local wine at such a high price?

Part of the original discussion with Bührer was that if we cannot sell this wine at a premium price, we’d drink it ourselves. The volume we make is small — 250-300 cases — and our customers have absolute faith in the quality. Luckily, there are some people for whom money is no object, whether they’re buying luxury cars or wine. For the rest of us, there’s the very nice Saxenburg Private Collection Shiraz [the 2006 is available from the farm at R145 a bottle].

You’re busy establishing Wilhelmshof in the Polkadraai Hills as home for your own-label wines. What are the challenges?

The biggest challenge is handling both positions without compromising the quality of either Saxenburg or my own label.

What has been your most memorable wine experience?

In 1979, while still a student, I travelled to Sauternes in Bordeaux and tasted with many of the producers and then in 1995 a visit to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Stokstyf as we say in Afrikaans. 

BY CHRISTIAN EEDES

Audemars Piguet ranks high on the list of all-time great watch brands. Packing in over 130 years of history, it is one of the true manufactures capable of producing everything from minute-repeaters to astronomical indications and perpetual calendars in-house; a rare claim to fame that means an AP is a connoisseur’s status symbol.

Most watch lovers will recognise the aesthetics of the brand’s Classic Collection and the Prestige Sports Collection but you would have to really know your watches to seek out the Contemporary Collection’s Millenary watch. And therein lies its appeal of course.

The design DNA of the Milllenary revolves around a distinctive oval-shaped case combined with a circular, offset inner dial that serves to unbalance the dimensions of the numerals and markers around it. It’s an irreverent, idiosyncratic twist that may well have inspired some of watchmaker Frank Muller’s recent designs.

This particular model doesn’t stop there in its quest for your attention either, for the front and back of the dial and movement are, for all intents and purposes, morph into one. The AP-produced Calibre 4101 is not a skeleton watch per se but it does gleefully expose its internal organs.

Notice the decorative horizontal Geneva stripes (known as Côtes de Genève) on the stainless steel bridges and the compact spirals (known as snailing) on the anthracite grey sub-dial. These tiny, time-consuming details help to highlight the levels of the internal mechanics contained within the case, thereby ensuring the Millenary 4101’s uniquely three dimensional character is not lost on the wearer.

In the version shown here, rose gold Roman numerals elongate between 2 and 4 o’clock and compress between 9 and 10 o’clock. At 7 o’clock a small black seconds dial features a single rose gold hand rotating through a more conventional series of markers from 15 to 60. The result of all this is a series of intertwining spherical forms seemingly suspended within the oval case.

Case: 18ct gold or stainless steel, 47mm

Features: 60-hour power reserve, 22ct oscillating weight

Strap: handsewn black or brown crocodile leather

Price: R205000 in stainless steel and R337900 in rose gold

Distributor: Boutique Haute Horlogerie, Hyde Park, 0113254119 

BY MATT MORLEY

Champagne is a labour of love for Daniel Lorson. The former head of communications for the Champagne governing body, the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne), retired last year but you wouldn’t know it by his schedule. When we meet (over a glass of Pol Roger) he has just flown into SA from Sweden and the very same day he returns to France.

As a Champagne ambassador and member of the prestigious l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, Lorson travels all over the world spreading the bubbly message. The Absa Capital Champagne Festival in Joburg on September 11 was a priority as SA is a growing market. “SA is a great country of wine and there is already a wine culture here. It’s becoming an important market although there is a great deal of education to be done about Champagne,” says Lorson.

Part of his aim is to help people understand what makes Champagne unique compared to other sparkling wines. The region is fiercely protective of its trademark and Lorson says that although he has tasted some “very nice” Cap Classique, he doesn’t believe it is in the same league as Champagne. “The soils, which are chalk and limestone, are very specific to Champagne and we have a very special climate with cold winters and hot summers. All this we call terroir; it is the unique combination of all the factors that makes an agricultural product unique. We also have three centuries of experience.”

Champagne is very much a fashion and lifestyle statement, with the brands pitching themselves against one another in the same way other luxury goods do. So it is forgivable for Lorson to be somewhat offhand about SA’s sparkling wine. But he is enthusiastic about the local cuisine. He tried springbok, which he recommends with an older vintage of a Blanc de Noirs, and ostrich which he felt would go well with just about any Champagne.

“Champagne is the ideal drink to accompany Christmas Eve dinner, as you are usually at the table for a long time and eating lots of rich food. It helps digestion and it always enhances dishes,” says Lorson.

He has witnessed how the trends in Champagne have changed over the years, from it being a sweet drink at the end of the meal 100 years ago to the current trend for dry styles including zero dosage. Another hot trend is rosé Champagne, which he recommends with Asian dishes and fish such as salmon. His favourites? “Personally, I like blended Champagne more than single variety. It gives a richness, a complexity and depth you don’t have in say a Blanc de Blancs or Blanc de Noirs. But I am open-minded to all.”

BY CLAIRE HU 

The opening of the Gautrain means more people will travel to SA’s other capital for dinner. And while our northern capital doesn’t have the Winelands or Luke Dale-Roberts it does have new restaurants to explore.

We set off excited, but arrived at Fumo Mastrantonio in Pretoria feeling a little nauseous. The train had been full of glum commuters who, having quickly worked out the system, knew that you should sit facing in the direction of the moving train.

Luckily, four glasses of Glen Carlou Chardonnay and a superbly underdressed caprese salad had us back on track. The light dressing and excellent buffalo mozzarella gave us the sense that Fumo was about authentic, pizza-free Northern Italian cooking. The restrained menu showed a keen sense of focus and tradition, but possibly a lack of imagination.

However, options such as Cotechino salami, calf liver or even zucchini fritters are always a treat. For mains, we ordered the fillet parmesan and rocket. The meal was uncomplicated, the meat done to perfection and the polenta of magical texture.

BY JONATHAN CANE | PHOTOGRAPHY GARETH JACOBS

Fumo Mastrantonio, Shop 21, Groenkloof Plaza, Corner Baines Str and George Storrar Drive, Pretoria 012 346 0916.

It’s one of the great tragedies of the cutthroat ballet world that not everyone has what it takes to become a principal dancer — the highest rank in a professional dance company. No matter how hard a dancer may practise, no matter how much a dancer may covet the lead roles, the title of principal is reserved for the very best; the truly exceptional. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. Which is why, in the 10-year lifespan of the South African Ballet Theatre (SABT), a dancer has been promoted to principal only once.

On September 30, 26-year-old Shannon Glover became the SABT’s first homegrown principal dancer, having joined the company as a graduate in 2004 and slowly worked her way up the ranks (the SABT inherited its two other principals, Anya Carstens and Burnise Silvius, from the former Performing Arts Council Transvaal dance company). And it happened under such dramatic circumstances that it could be a scene from Black Swan.

Ten minutes before the curtain came up on the opening night of Sleeping Beauty, Glover was asked to step into the principal role, without her specially hardened point shoes. “I was about to go on as a fairy in the enchanted garden when Iain [MacDonald, artistic director] pulled me aside and told me I was dancing the principal role. We had a full house that night, a thousand people. My heart just dropped. I went pale. I was hyperventilating,” she says, laughing now. But she needn’t have worried. After a superb performance, MacDonald took the unprecedented decision to promote the pretty, petite Glover to principal right there and then in front of the audience.

For Glover, who started dancing at age four, it was the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and daydreaming.

Now Glover will play the lead in the upcoming Sleeping Beauty, and enjoys unofficial status as the new face of the SABT, gracing much of its promotional material. But there’ll be no resting on her laurels. During our conversation Glover sometimes betrays the steely determination that no doubt sets all principals apart from other dancers. “It’s not in my personality to [give up].”

It’s a strange job she’s got; the almost monkish devotion it requires. “People do find it strange that we are so disciplined in what we do but I think it’s so amazing to get up every morning and do what I love.”

BY ROBERT MCKAY | PHOTOGRAPHY MARTIN RHODES

Stuart Bird, Calling, 2011, video still

An exciting debut solo show by Stuart Bird launches at Goodman in Cape Town. The gallery’s website had this to say: 

This January, Goodman Gallery presents Promise Land, the first solo show by acclaimed artist/sculptor Stuart Bird. In a series of meticulously and often obsessively hand-crafted sculptures and installations, Bird explores the position of the artist and the individual in contemporary South Africa.

South Africa is the land of promise of the title – a country full of exciting dynamism, but, conversely a potentially dangerous and fraught land. The title also alludes to the promised land of Canaan in the Hebrew bible – a mythical place of abundance that was never quite realized. Over the Rainbow, a glittering arch constructed out of broken shards of mirror, is both a welcome and a warning – a reminder that the place to which it grants access remains a fantasy that can be visited but never inhabited. And in Change, a floor sculpture spelling out the word ‘struggle’ in hand-carved African mahogany, coins are imbedded in the wood like bullet-holes; a violent symbol of an economic struggle barely begun.

Join the opening at 6pm on Thursday 19th January. The show runs until 25 February.

Goodman Gallery, 3rd Floor, Fairweather House 176 Sir Lowry Road Woodstock, 7915, 021 462 7573

“My whole thing is Woodstock,” says Caleb Pedersen, the founder of Chapel, a luggage brand that is winning hearts in Cape Town and beyond with its range of locally-made luggage. Pedersen, who has been living there for over seven years, is determined to put “Made in Woodstock” back on the map. He loves the area’s buzzy meshing of different cultures, and a community spirit that has become harder to find elsewhere in SA.  “I grew up in the suburbs: walls and dogs and things,” he says. “Here, you have to know your neighbour, and your neighbour is definitely not from where you’re from; it’s just so cool – the vibrance and the smells and the jokes; there’s so much life going on – there’s never ever quiet. Because I like cycling, I’m in and out of Woodstock so I know everyone. When you’re on your bike you’re interacting so much more than in the car.”

After studying clothing management at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Pedersen worked as a stylist on commercials being shot in the city. He dabbled a bit in menswear, before making his first foray into luxury goods – making sandals in India in 2009 with a friend. Inspired the hindi word for “sandal”, chappal, the label Chapel was born. Back in SA, with the sandals sold, luggage seemed an almost logical progression. “I realised there was a niche for bags,” he says. “It pretty much came out of need – I wanted luggage that I thought looked nice and was practical: carrying your computer and things to the café, cycling.” Today’s range includes an iPad case, bags for your bike and satchels that fit 15-inch laptops.

Pedersen is determined to make bags that are as functional and considered as possible – his weekender bag has a spot to put shoes or a swimming costume. And, chances are, you’re unlikely to encounter one quite like yours: Pedersen, who sources Chapel’s strap leather from a nearby saddle-maker, says “I cycle around Woodstock most days if it’s not raining and I find fabric.” The area, once renowned for its textile industries, is home to several stores selling off the old stock produced by factories wiped out by the flood of cheap imports from China. This means that the colours and patterns Pedersen uses are only for a few bags, depending on how much material was available to buy. “It’s all South African and I try my hardest – on my wash care [label] I say “made from as many local materials as possible,” he says. The brand’s local emphasis makes it “way more sustainable”, he adds.

 With all-leather laptop cases now available, and men’s shorts being produced for the summer, Chapel – and its entrepreneurial owner – is one to watch.

BY ALEXANDER MATTHEWS

Chapel, 083 2898 326, Available online from store.chapelgoods.co.za. Click here for more stockists.

As beverage manager at Taj Hotel Cape Town, home to the Twankey Bar, James Boreland has to ensure it can provide whatever drink a guest desires and that every drink served is done so perfectly.

The rather stern-looking British expat with a hearty laugh took an extended holiday in Mozambique where, he said: “I thought either the malaria or the gin would kill me. In the end, I came out healthy but broke.” He came to Cape Town for a two-week break and four years later is still here.

Known mostly for successfully helping establishments open, notably the Planet Bar at The Mount Nelson and HQ Restaurant & Bar, Boreland has created an inner city gem at The Twankey Bar.

With soft lighting, dark wood and plenty of marble, it’s the kind of bar you can quietly sip on a glass of wine, come with friends for beers and sport or join the lady for bubbles and oysters. “Our oysters are definitely a specialty,” he says, but emphasises their cocktails skills. “People can be very pedantic about cocktails, so we do them right here.”

Boreland suggests their signature cocktail is probably the One-Legged Duck, a heady mix of rum, chocolate liqueur, apricot, chilli and cardamom. But for those after the more restrained and simple classics, fear not, they’ve perfected these too. 

THE PERFECT MARTINI (as served at The Twankey Bar) 

“Get out of those wet clothes and into a dry martini.” So goes the line  from the 1937 film Every Day’s a Holiday. Whether you’re in wet clothes or not, a dry martini is as classic as cocktails come. The dry indicates how much vermouth to be included; bone dry meaning barely, if any at all. Gin martinis are the original, but vodka has become a popular option, and despite James Bond’s preference, stirring is still the best technique.

1.5 ml Belvedere vodka / Tanqueray No. Ten gin

1 drop Dry Martini (or as requested by customer)

(add 1 teaspoon of olive brine for a dirty martini)

Add ingredients to mixing glass filled with ice.

Stir gently, so as to chill without watering down.

Strain through a tea strainer into a chilled martini glass.

Run a twist of lemon over the rim to release essence.

Add an olive on a toothpick and serve.

JAMES’ TOP 3 CAPE TOWN HANGOUTS

The Power & The Glory / Black Ram, Kloof Nek Road, 021 422 2108

Tjing Tjing, 165 Longmarket Street, 021 422 4920

Fork Restaurant, 84 Long Street, 021 424 6334

BY DAVID COPE | PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREW BRAUTESETH

Twankey Bar, Taj Hotel Cape Town, corner Wale Street and Adderley Street, 021 819 2000. 

Pippa de Bruyn is a reluctant traveller — ironic given that she co-authors guide books on Southern and East Africa, India, Eastern Europe and Italy, and now creates bespoke trips for independent travellers. “The older I get the more panicky I get the night before departure, but once the hell of travelling economy class is over I recover pretty quickly,” she says. She loves travelling with her family, but says there’s nothing quite like being alone in a new destination. “I’m not entirely sure how to go on a traditional holiday anymore; one that doesn’t involve constantly moving, investigating, making notes, comparing. A writing colleague likes to quote Anaïs Nin: ’We write to taste life twice.’ I guess that’s true.”

Most inspiring destination? A toss up between the Namib Naukluft or Damaraland in Namibia and Varanasi, India.

Most inspiring person you’ve met on your travels? The first time I went to Varanasi a young boy I met on the Ganges Ghats offered to help me find the lodgings I needed to inspect. Everyone in India is always hustling and hassling you for money but I really needed some help. At the end of the day I offered him money. He refused, looking slightly affronted, which blew all my half-formed conceptions away.

Favourite restaurant? I think the restaurants in Cape Town are out of this world (certainly every gourmand must eat at least one meal prepared by Harald Bresselschmidt, chef-owner extraordinaire of Aubergine, but Planet, Terroir, Jordan and Overture are all brilliant). Then again India offers exceptional food on every street corner.

Insider’s tips for coping with a long-haul flight? Aisle seat, preferably one where only the window is taken (so there’s less chance of someone booking the middle seat). Bloody Mary. Flying with an airline that has great, reliable in-flight entertainment.

Your next destination? Somewhere where the sea is warm. Mozambique or Greece.

Worst travel experience? Delhi belly on a train with unusable toilets.

What is the first thing you do when you check into a hotel room? Check the thread count, then the bathroom, then the minibar.

Which three items will you always find in your suitcase? Books. A half-jack of gin. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir.

Your definition of luxurious travel? Privacy. Intelligent staff. Space. A view.

Favourite Champagne? As long as it’s MCC, dry and opened recently, I’m not fussy.

Best Kept