The Lucky Duck Does Burgundy (Great British Chefs)

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Writing about the yummy things in life, I get a lot of ‘lucky Chris’ this and ‘lucky Chris that’. Maybe. But to quote Ernest Hemingway (somebody who lived a much more interesting life than I probably ever will), ‘You make your own luck’. Whatever the case, I was feeling like an especially lucky duck and like I had apparently been doing something right when I recently got the go ahead to spend a week visiting vineyards and wine makers big and small around Burgundy.

The Lucky Duck Does Burgundy
Great British Chefs, 27 May 2012

Titanic Belfast (CheapOair)

Titanic 008

100 years after Titanic left Belfast, Northern Ireland on its fateful first and final voyage, a new Titanic Belfast – the world’s largest Titanic visitor attraction – has opened to the public.

Titanic Belfast
CheapOair, 26 May 2012

Photo/Leslie Shaw

London Daily Photo: Live by the River

LDP 2012.05.27 - Live by the River

London Daily Photo: Yarp

LDP 2012.05.26 - Yarp

London in Bloom for the 2012 Chelsea Flower Show (OneTravel)

Renowned as the “catwalk of the gardening world”, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the first (and for many the most anticipated) event of the summer social season.

London in Bloom for the 2012 Chelsea Flower Show
OneTravel, 25 May 2012 

London Hotel Launches First Synchronized Swimming Master Class (CheapOair)

Aquabatix 3

London five star luxury hotel, The Berkeley, has teamed up with award-winning synchronized swimming team, Aquabatix, to host weekly 90-minute master classes all through the month of July in the hotel’s open-air pool featuring panoramic views over Hyde Park.

London Hotel Launches First Synchronized Swimming Master Class
CheapOair, 25 May 2012

The Things You See When You’re Standing at the Loo

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Summer’s here. For now anyway.

Every window in my flat is open. A cool breeze mixed with warm weather sounds wafts its sunny way to my glad ears: chirping birds, ice cream vans, kids running around trying to release all that energy pent up during the past few soggy weeks. It’s a very Friday afternoon tune to be sure, and I start calculating when I can officially call it a day and get out there and add my own music to this sweet weekend cacaphony.

I also realise I need to take a leak.

So I go to the toilet to take a comfort break, and while I’m standing there doing my business gazing off into space I realise I’m inadvertently staring right into the window of a neighbouring flat … and that there’s a skeleton in the window.

Obviously, I go to the bathroom all time time. But usually, the frosted window’s closed or only open enough to let a little air in.

I’m fascinated. Why is there a skeleton next to the window in the corner of this flat? Is it real? Is there a medical student living there? An artist? A goth?

What’s the furniture like in that place? Modern? Antique? Any oak pieces here or junk from the street? What else is nearby but just beyond the walls of my home?

Whatever the case I’m grateful. For this glorious May weather of course … and for the accidental peek into another’s home. Am I to be thrust into some weird Lovecraftian horror story? Are my neighbours super scientists or super creeps … or both? Am I going crazy from the heat? Maybe I should go back to see if it’s still there.

Zagat London’s 30 Under 30

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Honouring some of London’s “best young foodies, restauranteurs and mixologists” and raising the spirits of a an already pretty cheery bunch of London foodie folk, Zagat London‘s 30 Under 30 awards bash at The Gilbert Scott’s bar in the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel offered a great night out for me: catching with friends with a gorgeous setting, nibbling on fantastic canapes (snails!), sipping bubbly, hobnobbing.

Zagat’s list of young ones to watch is an impressive one too and featured a few people who’ve grabbed my attention one way or another, including Tom Adams, head chef and owner, Pitt Cue Co; Tim Anderson, freelance chef/Masterchef winner; food artists Bompas & Parr; Sunaina Sethi, Sommelier, Trishna; Ben Spalding, former head chef, Roganic; and lots more. Full list here:

http://blog.zagat.com/2012/05/30-under-30-londons-hottest-up-and.html 

London Daily Photo: Power

LDP 2012.05.25 - Power

London Daily Photo: On the March

LDP 2012.05.24 - On the March

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