Friday February 19th, 2010
Antonio Carluccio may have lived in London for over three decades and have made Covent Garden his professional base for 26 years, but England’s very own godfather of Italian cooking has no intention of settling down. “I like the wide world,” the white-haired 72-year-old says, in his a rich, flavourful accent. “You see, London is for me a fantastic base. So I feel in the centre of the world actually; from here I move a little bit in every direction.”
He’s been moving around in various directions almost since the start of his life. Born in a village on the Amalfi Coast, he relocated as an infant with his family to the north of Italy. As a young man he studied in Vienna before moving to Berlin and then to Hamburg. When he came to live in London, it was to study English and work as a wine merchant.
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Taste
Tags: Carluccio, restaurant
Friday February 19th, 2010
In issue 6 of the CGJ, top hair stylist Adee Phelan tells JP Aubin-Parvu why he loves Liza Minelli, hates D-list “celebs” and no longer sleeps with his clients.
Adee on fashions: “Just because something is in fashion doesn’t mean it will suit you. I went through a period of doing David Beckham’s hair, and everyone was coming to me for mohicans. I’m like: ‘Are you crazy? You look like Peter Sutcliffe and you want to look like David Beckham. It’s not going to work. It’s not going to happen.’”
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Place
Tuesday October 6th, 2009
Laura Lee on inspiration:
“My mum had this fantastic bracelet and she used to put it on for special occasions. She travelled quite a lot when she was young - she met my dad in Australia and she’d been to America. She had fantastic things on this charm bracelet, like an orange from Florida, and Eiffel Tower from Paris and a koala from Australia. All these things to me, born in north London, were really exotic and exciting. I think it was bracelet that planted the whole jewellery thing in my head.”
Laura Lee on having her studio under the shop:
“It’s an old fashioned concept, but it’s all tied in with my whole approach. It’s just nice to say that we make the jewellery downstairs. If I was shopping, that’s exactly what I would want to hear.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Place
Tuesday October 6th, 2009
Legendary restaurant critic Fay Maschler has put her considerable clout behind a new event designed to celebrate London’s thriving food scene. The London Restaurant Festival runs from 8-13 October and involves hundreds of the capital’s restaurants offering special menus at affordable prices, designed to showcase the variety and depth of their offerings. For an exclusive interview with Fay and her business partner, the broadcaster and critic Simon Davis, see the Autumn issue of the Covent Garden Journal. See londonrestaurantfestival.com for more details.
Category: Taste
Tags: festival, restaurant
Monday June 1st, 2009
Fine Rees, the woman behind Miss Lala’s Boudoir, on Marie Antoinette, Hollywood and big, glamorous knickers
“When I came up with the boudoir idea, it was all about chandeliers and silk sheets, it was a lady’s private rooms, it was old Hollywood, it was Marie Antoinette trying on clothes and eating cake. My mum brought me up on black and white movies, and my love of lingerie harks back to that Hollywood glamour. I could be wearing something as dull as jeans, but underneath I could be Jean Harlow.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Life
Tags: Fine Rees, Lingerie, Miss Lala's Boudoir
