10 Greek St

One of the latest trends in restuarants is to name a place after the street, the area and heritage of where it is located. 10 Greek St is one of the followers of this fad. But at least with a name like that it makes it easy to find as you don't have a chance of forgetting the address. In my case though, you also have to remember the name too!


From the Wapping Project ex head chef, and Luke White, restuarant manager fresh from Exmouth Market come this wonderfully relaxed, easy going, good value restaurant - a dream of theirs. You choose from small plates and bar snacks or larger mains from a menu that apparently changes daily.


For me it's generally always going to be the smaller dishes that win, espcially at lunchtime. And there were some real delights - smoked eel, mushroom risotto, butternut rotolo and new delicacies that I felt I should try such as crumbed rabbit. And was I impressed! It was all delicious, full of flavour, using only local and seasonal ingredients. I've never had such thick pieces of eel which were freshly smoked but it still worked well as did the rabbit,which was very tasty. My favourite thing though was actually the fresh onion focaccia which you could dip in oil - i'm there was balsmaic around too as they normally come in pairs. So fresh. So flavousome.


Being lunchtime on a busy workday, we didn't try any of the wine from the list which also serves many by the carafe. Although we did indulge in a little pudding - apple pie - which was very wholesome and warming, just the ticket for a day so cold it snowed. There is always another day or evening.

Spotted the Guardian restaurant reviewer, Jay Rayner again, so keep eyes peeled for he says about the place.
http://www.10greekstreet.com/#
020 7734 4677

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Veuve Cliquot and Romance

Valentine's day is a day full of expectations.


Roses - check (or at least I hope so!)
Present - check
Champagne - check ( Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rose` please)
and what happens if your man decides to have a chef cooking for you that night?

The idea is divine: no cheesy restaurants, no other loved up couples so close to your table that you can hear all the conversations, no love-on-demand music.
Just the two of you.
I got a little bit panicky when I got the news. I want to do my share for the evening so today I went on a shopping spree and bought some candles.

Here is my selection of favourite candles to set the mood for romance:

Passion8 Candle by Eight

Passion8 is a sensual indulgent fragrance with night flowering tuberose and soft rose. I think the name says it all. 

Flirt8ious Candle by Eight 

It comes in a lovely handmade Moroccan ceramic bow and the smell of stargazer lily and ylang ylang makes this oriental scented candle perfect for Valentine's date (or night).
(both from http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/) 

Persia Ancienne Ambiance Candle

Red roses and Jasmin are two of my favourite smells. Persia Candle is sexy and subtle. If these 2 scents were good enough for Darius III King of Persia, I am sure you will like this candle as much as I do!
(available at http://www.ancienneambiance.com/collection.Persia_Candles)

Geodesis Jasmine Room Diffuser

If you are not a big fun of candles but you still want to gently scent your room, then choose a room diffuser. Due to my obsession with anything jasmine related, I picked Geodesis Jasmin Room Diffuser. (available at: http://www.geodesis.fr/home.php) 

It smell like a Sicilian Garden and I love it as it reminds me of summer nights spent with my family in our garden in the South of Italy.

You should really try it and when you do, close your eyes and the room will be filled by this magic smell. Let love do the rest.

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Evening Standard Menu at The Orrery

I love the new Evening Standard. Better features, fantastic campaigns, a newer funkier ES Magazine - especially under Andy Barker. And most of all I love the special deals that they offer at certain restaurants. The current offering is in association with D&D restaurant group as well as Piper Heidsieck Champagne. So we went en famille avec boyfriend to The Orrery, which was at the higher end of the scale - £30 for three courses and Champagne. I've been once before for my father's 60th and brother's 30th so knew that it would be a good bet, although probably not as good as the tasting menu with wine I had last time!


In reality if you drink (alcohol) then you'll probably end up spending double that price - especially when you factor in the 12.5% service charge, which is well worth it here. Even with the Evening Standard menu, you are showered with amuse bouche and pre courses - cheese gougere balls - think cheesy mini profiteroles, the sweetest french onion soup, apple jelly crumble and fresh assorted chocolate truffles. All divine although I wasn't keen on those particular truffle flavours.


It was a decent paired down menu with about five options for each course. This included amongst the starters a type of venison terrine with betreet chuntey consisting of betroot and jelly chunks, seafood raviolo in a bisque broth with a rich but not overpowering flavour as some bisques can be and a caramelised onion and goats cheese tart with perfectly ripe goats cheese. And the breads that accompanied these were to die for. I'm not normally a bread girl unless they are beautifully fresh like these and made without preservatives, so you can really taste the ingredients.


The main courses were not quite as enticing once they arrived as they were on the menu. As the crown of partridge was sat atop puff pastry whilst the mushroom feuillete with poached egg with hollandaise appeared on the same base - bit too much pastry for me - perhaps I should have ordered the sea bass with citrus fruits which looked amazing that a couple of the others enjoyed.


The service is incredible - they didn't seem to bat an eyelid when I asked to check my snow boots into the cloakroom. And you're defintely not left wanting for anything. They kindly let us order a cheese and the sorbet & ice cream selection and waved the supplement for these cheese as we only wantd those two puddings out of our allocated four. The cheese cart is a must for fanatics - you can see why it s worthy of a supplement - with pretty much something for all. Mild goats cheese, mature manchego and stinky gooey cheese the could run off your plate. As offers go - this far outsrips any of the others on the discount sites where you end up paying the normal price for a rather rushed and often not enjoyable meal (Marco Pierre White's Kings Rd Steakhouse springs to mind)


You have until 19th February to check out the resaurant at these special prices.
http://www.orrery-restaurant.co.uk/offer/evening-standard-at-orrery/350
020 7616 8000

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Cold hands warm heart

Driving the scooter in London during this cold winter can be daunting. Nevertheless, Italians do not get defeated by the rigid temperatures.
Unfortunately, our hands are less resilient than our bodies so the usual side effects of a cold winter start to appear.

Thankfully, Elemis spa@home range came to my salvation. They have this exceptionally good pro-radiance hand and nail cream which helps your hands to fight the aging process.
The cream get absorbed in about 30 seconds leaving your hands smooth and deliciously smelling.
Of course, I still had cold hands for at least 40 minutes after I parked my scooter. Although, they smelled divine and they were so irresistibly smooth.

My only hope is that the anti-aging enzymes keep my hands young and beautiful and I will not be forced to wear gloves like Madonna.

The Rookery

It's always nice when new places pop up on your doorstep - you have no excuse not to check them out. So when I caught up with a friend this week, we decided it would be good to reckie The Rookery. It started badly when I had tube problems as being January and depressing, someone had decided to throw themselves under a train. Then we realised we were each waiting at different tubes. For the record, Clapham South is definitely nearer than Clapham Common.

I arrived needing a drink desperately, it was a shame to discover that for January and a Tuesday night, it was actually quite busy with few staff, so it took a little longer than planned to get that much needed alcohol. That said, there was the perfect rich chardonnay for a chilly evening - and points, it was served by the carafe (a couple of glasses each) AND they lovely waiter let me taste it first to check it was what we were looking for - extra points!

The food is reputed to be seasonal and simple - which is rather accurate. I tried the lentil, butternut squash and feta dish drizzled in harissa whilst my friend tried the fish and chips. Mine was packed full of flavour annd just what I felt like when i was exhausted and cold (I sat all evening wearing my friend's cashmere cardy around my shouldrers - a result of the tiredness) but said friend felt that her portion was a little on the stingy side. I was inclined to agree. I don't think fish and chips is meant to be that dainty.

The downside was that we waited for a while for our food given that they were understaffed for the volume of customers and diners. At least we then had a chance for a catch up. The kitchen also reported at first that they had run out of apples to make an apple crumble for pudding. Good to know that they prepare it all freshly from scratch (hence the delay in dishes arriving). The waiter despite this looked after us well offering complimentary alternatives but all turned out well in the end when he produced a crumble free of charge (and the original apple requested).

So I will go back. It's a good in-between location for Clapham South and Clapham Common - perfect for drinks and dinner, nicer than the existing places. The bar snacks also sound divine so I must try them!

69, Clapham Common South Side, London, SW4 9DA
www.therookeryclapham.co.uk
020 8673 9162

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Hermès Samples Sale and much more!

It's that time of the year again: sample sale here we come! Although this month is more focused on bridal sample sales, Hermes keep high the flag of luxury fashion sales.

Phillipa Lepley

Sat.-20 Jan. Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Bridal gowns & accessories - 48 Fulham Rd., SW3 6HH (020 7590 9771).

Sassi Holford

Sat.-21 Jan. Mon. & Thurs.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tues. & Wed., noon-8 p.m.


Bridal gowns - 74 Fulham Rd., SW3 6HH (020 7584 1532).

Hermès

13 & 14 Jan. Fri., 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
- The Music Room, 26 S. Molton Ln., W1K 5AB (020 7629 8199).

Need to say more?

Claret Showroom

Clothing and accessories by designers Winter Kate, Madeleine Thompson, Alice McCall and

16-19 Jan. Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 
Where: 73 Uverdale Rd., SW10 0SW.

Brown Bride

22 Jan. Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.


12 Hinde St., W1U 3BE (020 7514 0056).

Gina Foster


26-28 Jan. Thurs. & Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 


 5 Kensington Church Walk, W8 4NB (020 7937 7611).

Hats and fascinators galore

 Enjoy!

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Trainers, oui!

HNY ladies & gents!


TE greets you to a new exciting year of shopping frenzy, fashion trends and oh so much more.


My new year entry must be dedicated to my most recent treasure, the ultimate find in the kingdom of shoes. They are comfy, they have a heel and they abso-f-ing-lutely ROCK.


So, let's begin from the start.


In the last few years we have seen various fashion designers team up with sports brand: the Stella collection for Adidas, Yohji Yamamoto again for Adidas etc. Basically Adidas went all out and did some hard-core fashioning-up.
So no surprise when for SS11 shows the fashion designers took over some of that juicy slice of market, made up of those crazy people wanting to look fashionable EVEN in the gym. TE does not frequent gyms but the idea of looking fashionable there is very appealing, it might actually motivate TE to go to said gym (...ahem...). Reversing the flow from sport to fashion and delivering us with a new trend: the sport luxe. 


Of all said sport luxe items, one really stands out for TE, the Isabel Marant Bekket trainer - stunning in the blue/ red combination:

These beauties have an internal (hidden!!) sole of 5cm and they are the coolest thing to wear with skinny jeans, since the invention of biker boots that is. Of course.


TE however had to scratch that itch and just didn't have 435£ lying around so, whilst walking the streets of Paris hand-in-hand with wonderful hubby, how could TE resist the temptation walking past these:

Sold by one of TE's favourite shoe shops in Europe (yes, it's *that* good), Ann Tuil kindly relieved TE of a mere 180eur for these gorgeous trainers. Oh TE has not parted with 180eur more joyfully.
They are sooo comfortable you can walk all day, very warm and with the 5cm bumper they give you just that bit of extra bounce. Weird when first tried on, TE was re-assured by several sales assistants and the husband that no, they don't look weird on and they are totally cool.
In Paris all those effortlessly chic french girls are wearing them, TE is completely smitten.
The shop sells online, although apparently only to addresses in Paris - get yourself a frenchie friend soon gals :)
http://www.anntuilshopping.com/


Happy start to the year and whatever you wear be fearless!


Yours faithfully,
TE




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