16:16
AROUND 200 guests attended the opening of Ferrari and Maserati dealer C de Salamanca’s new dealership in Marbella. Guests included Marbella Mayor Angeles Muñoz, C. De Salamanca president Cristina Toda and Formula one Ferrari test driver Marc Gene.
Tuesday 19 July 2011
Sunday 17 July 2011
", according to a new study.
Taxation, perceived better living standards abroad and the weather mean that only 44% are certain of remaining here.
But the survey of more than 500 UK-based millionaires, carried out for investment firm Skandia, found that only 2% were thinking of moving to a tax haven such as Switzerland or the Cayman Islands.
Preferred destinations were France, the USA, Spain and Australia.
Jo Rimmer of Skandia said: "Our survey seems to indicate that the UK's wealthiest really are saving for a rainy day and will seriously consider moving to sunnier climes if storm clouds gather in either economic or meteorological terms."
The research also found working hard and investing wisely is a surer way to become a millionaire than being born into money.
More than two thirds of the high-net-worth individuals surveyed made their fortunes from employment income, investments or as the result of selling their business venture.
Thursday 14 July 2011
THE businessman Dr Michael Smurfit is still looking for a buyer for his 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) villa in Marbella in Spain about seven years after it was first offered for sale.
UK estate agents Fine Country are quoting “well in excess of €30 million” for Casa de Loriana which was built in 2002 along The Golden Mile, where it has its own elevated beachfront. It is within easy walking distance of Marbella town centre.
The villa, originally priced at up to €50 million, is one of the largest and most exclusive private residences in the popular resort with facilities to entertain up to 300 guests.
It is accessed by a private road and a large security gate. The stylish grounds have a large fountain, terraced gardens and lawns along with a lagoon and a heated swimming-pool with a Jacuzzi and waterfall. Facilities at Casa de Loriana include a private cinema, medical room and formal and informal diningrooms and sittingrooms.
The main house has five double suites and is served by a lift. The main suite on the ground floor includes a sauna for two and a library. All residents have the use of their own bathrooms and dressingrooms. The villa has sleeping accommodation for 20 people in all.
A tax resident in Monaco, Dr Smurfit has a substantial home at the K Club in Co Kildare, which he jointly owns with the property developer Gerry Gannon. Mr Gannon is currently looking for a buyer for his 49 per cent stake in the club.
Seven months after sporting dangerously thin limbs, Nicola McLean has been showing off a healthier figure in Marbella after having put on around a stone in recent months.
A friend tells Now: ‘Nic's had a tough time but she's back in amazing shape and we're all very proud of her.'
Nicola, 27, admitted starving herself after giving birth to son Striker in March 2010.
She lost 6st in eight months to get down to just 7st 9lb and a tiny size 6.
‘I don't eat normally,' she said at the time. ‘I won't eat every day.
'I know it's wrong but I don't want the numbers on the scales to go up.
'I've lost too much weight. My boobs look horrendous and you can see my ribs - I look like a little girl.'
Nic made a change when loved ones begged her to regain her curves.
Footballer hubby Tom Williams even promised her the Marbella break if she gained 5lb.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Welsh singing legend and 60s sex symbol Tom Jones, 71, will be heating up the summer with an exclusive show on August 18 at Hotel Puente Romano, Marbella.
Jones will perform classics such as ‘It’s Not Unusual’, ‘Kiss’, ‘Delilah’ and ‘Sex Bomb’ as well as tracks from his critically acclaimed album ‘Praise & Blame’.
Spain’s most expensive residence, and one of the most exclusive in the world has just changed hands, but remains British owned.
Sa Fortalessa de Pollença consists of an 87,000 square metre estate with a castle, seven residencies, private beaches and a forest. It’s found in the Pollença bay on Mallorca, and is protected by Cape Formentor and a military base, offering complete security which has been enjoyed over the years by many heads of state and top dignitaries. It was a Mecca for artists and intellectuals from across Europe in the 20’s.
British owner John Ogden has sold the estate to a Spanish company whose main shareholder is another Briton who remains nameless, as does the quantity of money involved, but the deal has been confirmed by lawyers in Palma.
One report says the sale went for 125 million €, a far cry from the 45,000 pesetas paid in 1919 by the Argentinean painter, Roberto Ramaugé.
Sunday 10 July 2011
Eva Longoria and her boyfriend, Eduardo Cruz, have arrived in London with the heat of their romance.
The lovebirds, Eva Longoria and Eduardo Cruz, appeared warmer and closer than ever, while they spent the night out in London. The 36-year-old beauty was spotted clutching onto her handsome beau's hand as they left The Cuckoo Club in Mayfair on Thursday night.
Throughout the evening, the couple looked at each other romantically, laughing and smiling at one another. Eva Longoria was looking stunning as always, flaunting her super-toned physique in a multicolored strapless Herve Leger dress.
Longoria complemented her looks with purple heels and nude embellished clutch. While going out for spending the romantic evening with her beau, Eva Longoria opted to go natural with her flawless complexion with minimal make-up.
The sexy brunette tied up her locks in a casual ponytail. The love duo showed up at the club after 10:00 pm and enjoyed a quixotic dinner together for two hours.
Later, Eva Longoria and Eduardo made their way towards dance floors and rocked the night together until around 3:00 am. The couple left the club in high spirits with Eva giggling at some joke Eduardo was sharing.
After thoroughly enjoying their night-out, the couple hopped into a chauffeured car and was driven back to their hotel.
The holiday trip to London was not the first romantic ride for the couple together; the couple spent last few weeks in Spain. "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria was spotted there with her boyfriend enjoying steamy holiday days.
The romantic couple enjoyed sightseeing, dined with Eduardo's sister, Penelope Cruz, and her husband, Javier Bardem, in Madrid and enjoyed the exotic beach in Marbella. The hot and sexy Eva Longoria truly took advantage of her beach holidays and gave onlookers a treat this week as she stepped out onto a very crowded public beach in a super-sexy white bikini and a see-through vest.
The actress showcased her perfectly toned curves in extremely skimpy bikini bottoms and looked comfortable as she made her way through the sand and waves.
Initially, Eva Longoria and the Spanish singer dated for several months quietly. However, their latest trip to two holiday destinations clearly shows that their romance is entering the next level.
The new relationship of Eva Longoria started in December after she had been betrayed by her NBA star husband, Tony Parker, several months ago. In late January, their divorce got finalized.
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Although he insists on a smart dress code for customers at his own restaurant in Marbella, former Life Guards officer James Hewitt has let his own sartorial standards slip.
‘He looked like he had just come straight off the beach,’ says one paying guest, who was celebrating her 18th birthday at the swanky hotel’s bar.
‘He came in at about 8.30 pm on Monday with a young woman,’ she says.
‘He was wearing shorts, a very creased shirt and a hat. He looked hot and dishevelled. The woman was in a beach dress.
‘As soon as they went up to the bar, the maitre d’ came over and said something first in Spanish and then in English.
'I overheard him saying: “You can’t come in here like that.'' '
According to the guest, Hewitt, whose Polo House restaurant does not allow diners in shorts, asked if he and his companion could sit by the pool, but was refused.
On a happier note, I hear James and his business partner Ram Nandkishore, are planning to open ventures in Rome, Geneva and London.
Monday 4 July 2011
Bankrupt reality TV star Morgan, 47, is currently battling in court over a $3m settlement with millionaire 80-year-old John Adams Morgan, the New York Post reports.
'I'm sure the world thinks, "Sonja doesn't have to worry, she's got that husband there for her." But I'm on my own,' Morgan, 47, told the Post.
In court papers Morgan claims that while her ex-husband lives on a $19m private island off Connecticut, she is banned from visiting homes they co-own.
And Morgan, a mother of one, says she now may be forced to sell off her own New York home.
Layers for Adams Morgan say his client is appealing previous court rulings because he believes the divorce judge forced him to pay more than was agreed in pre and postnuptial agreements.
Morgan's financial woes have been documented in recent episodes of her hit reality TV show.
Last month, footage aired showing her co-stars learning she had filed for bankruptcy for $19 million in the papers.
She said she was 'heart broken' despite putting on a brave face.
After the episode, she took to her blog on Bravotv.com.
'It has been a steep learning curve in a business I knew nothing about,' she wrote, referring to an movie investment that sparked her finance trouble.
'I am back to doing what I know and will recover some of my loss with continued hard work. Facing this reality is not pretty for me.'
Wednesday 29 June 2011
After emerging as the most eligible member of the Royal Family following Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton, Prince Harry appears no longer to be a bachelor.
The Prince is believed to have spent time in private with Florence, 25, a lingerie and swimwear model.
She is a descendant of the seventh Earl of Cardigan, Lieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell, who famously led the Charge of the Light Brigade against Russian forces during the Crimean War.
Florence and Prince Harry have reportedly known each other for years.
Friends told The Sun that Prince Harry, 26, had visited Florence at her £2.5 million home in Notting Hill, West London after admitting his long-running on-off affair with Chelsy Davy was over.
A Royal source told the newspaper: "It’s very early days but Harry and Florence are an item. Harry really likes her."
Florence, the daughter of Old Etonian wine merchant Andrew and his wife Sophie, went to Stowe School in Buckinghamshire before reading history of art at Bristol University.
She has previously talked of her love of art, having studied the subject also taken by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Her father was a collector, Florence said, and she had become "obsessed" with art.
"I get more pleasure out of collecting art than buying clothes - that’s how I justify it," she once said.
The model was already beginning to make her name by fronting campaigns for John Lewis when she met racing driver Button in 2006. They separated in 2008.
When asked about her relationship with the Prince yesterday, Florence said: "There's not much to say."
Prince Harry had been linked to Pippa Middleton after displaying a close rapport during their siblings' wedding.
Friday 24 June 2011
It comes after the criticisms following the first date of her European tour in Belgrade last weekend, when fans effectively booed her off stage, and after first cancelling only a week of future concerts her manager has now cancelled the entire tour ‘until she recovers from her health problems’.
The 27 year old singer’s press representative has said ‘Everyone close to her is trying to do everything possible to help her recover and she will take the time necessary for this to happen’.
Last Tour International, the organiser of the Basque festival, says they are already looking for a substitute act for July 8, but have warned that there is not much time to do so.
Already a favourite for local dignatories and visiting celebrities - including flamenco star Joaquin Cortes – it has managed to capture the imagination of the Marbella dining scene.
This is perhaps no surprise, its owner being the very capable Guy Sirre, who came to Marbella, via a career straddling Michelin-starred restaurants in France, London and San Francisco, not to mention a decade working as the Sultan of Brunei’s interior designer.
A fascinating career, the Belgian chef has turned this brilliant corner spot into one of the hippest new restaurants on the coast.
“The truth is I wasn’t looking to open a new restaurant in Marbella, but when I saw this location become available I jumped at the chance,” explains Sirre, 45.
On a south-facing corner just yards from the town’s famous Piruli roundabout, it turns out to be a rather infamous address, a previous chef being killed here, before the place burnt down.
“But I am not worried about that,” insists Guy. “It has just the right dimensions and outdoor space. I knew it would work perfectly for us,” he says.
There is no doubt, that the Brussels-born businessman has a classic eye for business, not to mention detail: Casamono – meaning ‘monkey house’ is an intriguing mix of colonial and tropical style.
Full of wooden furniture and lush ferns (described as a ‘jungle garden’), its decor is light and airy and it has a warm and welcoming feel.
“Everything has to be right,” says Sirre. “We don’t first think about money. You first have to think about how it can work and look.
There is the style, music, service, food, lighting and more. Everything is important.”
Bathed in sunlight by day, at night the place comes alive with the arrival of squadrons of candles, and the roof carefully sliding across to shut out the elements.
Romantic for some, the place also becomes a hangout for the area’s fashionistas and party-goers later in the evening, particularly on Saturday nights.
But most of you will be here for the food, which is easily as good as its sister restaurant Casanis, over in the heart of the old town.
Head chef Alex changes the menu by the week and spends hours every morning scouting around the local markets for ingredients.
Doffing his hat to true Gallic flair, expect to find vol au vents, parmesan souffles, bouillabaisse soup.
Starters include Kenya green beans, white veal sweetbreads and a great duck terrine, served with crisp biscuits and fresh bread.
There are always a number of specials on the board and for my starter I tried the scallops with green chopped asparagus, beans, morel and trumpet mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, served in a lobster sauce with cod roe.
It was a real delight with a rich caramel flavour and, above all, a generous serving of four scallops.
For the main I went for the beautifully fresh turbot that came with new potatoes, watercress and fresh peas.
With a good wine, including some great French chestnuts, such as Gevrey Chambertin, you are in for a treat.
There is even a cocktail list and a pudding menu that included profiteroles with raspberries, guarantees that Casamono is here to stay.
Thursday 23 June 2011
Demand for art, watches, rare wines, vintage cars and other offbeat investments that set pulses racing expanded in 2010 as wealth levels of the world's super-rich rebounded from the financial crisis, a report said.
"The value of many categories of investments of passion rose and HNWIs (high net-worth individuals) made acquisitions for the aesthetic and emotional appeal and their potential to return value," Capgemini and Merrill Lynch said in the World Wealth Report 2011 published on Wednesday.
Growing wealth in emerging economies, especially in Asia -- which surpassed Europe in millionaires and wealth last year -- helped spur a revival in markets for these aptly named investments, the authors of the report said.
In times of low interest rates and volatile stock markets, alternative investments allow investors to diversify by buying assets with little correlation to global financial markets, thus offering potential shelter from market turbulence.
Luxury collectibles such as fancy cars, boats and jets accounted for almost a third of these investments in 2010. Chinese demand for expensive cars made by Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari (part of Fiat) jumped last year, the report said.
Individual tastes tend to determine whether a millionaire prefers investing in cars, watches or wine, while artworks are more likely to be acquired for their potential to gain value, the authors wrote.
"Newly wealthy Chinese buyers are widely reported to be keen bidders and buyers at galleries and auction houses, especially to acquire the fast-diminishing supply of works from native artists," the authors of the report said.
Art aficionados seemed willing to pay high prices at Art Basel, the world's top fair for modern and contemporary art, last week, suggesting the art market is returning to pre-crisis peaks.
Meanwhile demand for diamonds as well as gold jewelry and coins benefited from rising prices for these raw materials.
"Record prices for diamonds at international auctions in 2010 exemplified the growing trend among the world's HNWIs to see large diamonds as a safe and high-growth investment alternative," the report said, adding Russian and Middle Eastern investors were particularly keen on the expensive gems.
CAN signed Kerry, 30, in March 2010 when she was at rock bottom and Claire insisted she give up drugs, ease up on the boozing and stay away from her ex Mark Croft, 40.
But Kerry went on a massive alcohol binge while in Marbella recently with Mel B's sister Danielle Brown.
‘Her speech was slurred and she was gurning,' says a fellow partygoer.
‘I know she has bipolar disorder, but I haven't seen her look this bad for a long time.'
The final straw appears to have occurred when Kerry was expected to attend a 21st birthday bash for fellow CAN client Amy Childs.
Instead, she went on a six-hour bender and ended up sat in a luggage trolley in the lobby of London's posh May Fair hotel at 2am with her head in a bag.
‘She staggered into the hotel bar already hammered but she still carried on drinking,' reveals Now's eyewitness.
‘She was swearing loudly and making a real show of herself.'
Kerry has denied she was dumped by CAN and that she was 'bladdered' on the night of Amy's party.
'I was out with my therapist...I only had a few glasses of champagne,' she says.
'With my head in my bag it looked like I was being sick, but I was honestly just looking for my ticket.'
Monday 20 June 2011
It was meant to be a dating website exclusively for the use of "beautiful men and women", where members ruthlessly selected and excluded those who did not match their definitions of good looks.
But last month when BeautifulPeople.com was attacked by a computer virus, some claim standards slipped and around 30,000 new members gained admittance. Now, in a move which has made those rejected "apoplectic" with rage, they have been unceremoniously booted off at a financial cost of more than $100,000 (£62,000) to the site's operators.
The virus was quickly named Shrek – after the animated film about how looks should not matter – as it attacked the software used to screen potential members. A helpline has now been set up with counsellors on hand to help the distressed rejects from the site.
"We have to stick to our founding principles of only accepting beautiful people – that's what our members have paid for," said Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com. "We can't just sweep 30,000 ugly people under the carpet."
Hodge reckoned the Shrek virus – which may have been posted by a disgruntled former employee – had affected the software that existing members use to rate prospective new entrants, allowing anyone to join. The website boasts that "beauty lies in the eyes of the voter" who are able to rank aspiring members on a type of traffic light scale where red is "absolutely not" and bright green is "beautiful". The site posts applicants' photographs alongside information about their weight and height and ask candidates to describe their "body type" as well as whether they own a car or home along with their zodiac sign.
"We got suspicious when tens of thousands of new members were accepted over a six-week period, many of whom were no oil painting," Hodge told the Guardian.
The brutal axing of the 30,000 hopefuls is not the site's first brush with controversy. Last year, about 5,000 members were removed from the site after they had appeared to put on weight during the Christmas period.
This month, the website triggered anger in Ireland when it said that Irish men were among the ugliest in the world. This was based on the reasoning that only 9% of male Irish applicants to the site were accepted. Only 20% of Irish women are accepted, compared with nearly 70% of Swedish women who sign up.
The prospects are even worse for British men, as according to Hodge, they are the most likely be rejected. "It's a bit of a sting as I'm a Brit," said Hodge, who is based at the site's head office in Los Angeles. On average one in seven people are rejected from the site which has around 700,000 members in 190 countries.
He said Norwegian women and Swedish men have the greatest chance of being accepted into the club, while Brazilian and Danish men are also popular – along with women from Sweden and Iceland.
Conceding that the latest set back was a "very embarrassing day", Hodge said he felt "very sorry" for the "unfortunate people who were wrongly admitted to the site and believed, albeit for a short time, that they were beautiful".
He attempted to placate the rejects. "I sent them all a very carefully worded email, trying to be as sensitive as possibly," he said. "But naturally many of them are finding it a bit of a sting to have been rated beautiful by their peers only to lose the accolade overnight." The company has paid out $112,500 in refunds to 4,500 of the 30,000 who had paid $25 a month for membership of the site. The others were still on a free trial period.
Hodge said the site, which started life in Denmark in 2002, was investigating the origins of the virus but said it appeared to have been planted by a disgruntled member of staff.
"At first it looked like one of the 5.5 million BeautifulPeople rejects planted the virus, but further investigations point towards a former employee planting the virus like an evil Easter egg last month," he said.
Rachel Godfrey, a 31-year-old Australian nanny living in LA, said she received an email telling her she was rejected two weeks after being accepted. "I was getting on really well with this American guy and we were going to go on a date and then they said I'd been chucked off and they locked me out of the site," she said. "Now I can't get in touch with him."
Godfrey said she is planning to have a makeover and professional photo shoot before reapplying to the website. "What if he's the one? This is only way I'll be able to get in touch with him," she said. "If that doesn't work I'll see what I can do with Photoshop."
Sunday 19 June 2011
I am still not sure why El Bulli made me cry. Or at least how it magicked a hot tear to my eye. It wasn't the intensity of taste, with shifting textures and notes that lasted longer than Pavarotti's C. It wasn't that I felt I had to close my eyes in a crowded room to savour and surf every wave of flavour. It wasn't even that "peas 2011" tasted more like my first peas than in any dish I've eaten since I was seven. Nor was it, honestly, the toasty flow of Dom Pérignon 1973. It was simply, in the end, I think, the deliciousness that undid me.
Not all the dishes were sublime, of course – I am not sure chef Ferran Adrià is interested in that. He wants to make you think and to feel food, to orchestrate your mood, mess with your idea of what it could and should be. More flavour theatre than restaurant. We ate a Felliniesque, insane 50 dishes culled from Adrià's "greatest hits", the oldest from more than 20 years before, the newest only finalised that morning (the menu was revised six times). Plus endless choices from a giant chocolate box that looked like a flashing organ coming out of the floor. But if we pass over the Japanese-style tiramisu (a sleight of hand with miso that was plain unpleasant), the disappointing trademark carbonara tagliatelle, and the "challenging" frozen gorgonzola balloon, El Bulli's 50 cooks still sent out close to 50 plates of food for 50 people that no other restaurant may ever match. As Ferran Adrià's heir apparent and current number one cook in the world, René Redzepi of Copenhagen's Noma, tells me: "Ferran and his team are culinary freedom fighters. They helped free me."
Our superluxe Spanish food trip started, surreally, in Luton, in an anonymous single-storey airport building where celebrities and top business people avoid civilians and waiting for flights. We had just missed Ozzy Osbourne shuffling though the lounge, and then Simon le Bon suddenly couldn't come. But 30 minutes before takeoff on our private jet – like a top-end Lexus limo with wings – actress Rosamund Pike has heroically stepped in for the year's hot meal ticket: an El Bulli supper, pitch perfect for a selection of rare champagne, devised by Adrià with Richard Geoffroy, Dom Pérignon's effervescent chef de cave.
Later that day, over dinner in a private Catalan castle, I am sitting opposite Hollywood's Heather Graham and Jason Silva, her film-producer boyfriend, who have also flown in for the feast, watching as the star of Boogie Nights and The Hangover delicately transfers her food from her plate to her partner's. While the rest of us gorge on octopus, Iberico ham and vintage fizz, she is saved from starvation by a strawberry kebab.
But the star everyone is here to see is Ferran Adrià, the "best cook on the planet", according to Joël Robuchon, and he should know, with his world-record 26 Michelin stars.
"I never said I wouldn't feed people," Adrià smiles when I ask what he will miss when he closes his door at the end of this, his last season. "After July, El Bulli won't be a restaurant, not open every day. But I will still need feedback." Adrià's plan is for a nonprofit centre for "culinary creativity" opening in 2014, with a stream of new recipes posted on the internet. "We are excited," he says through an interpreter (Adrià doesn't trust his English to be precise enough for our purposes). "Bulli has always been about change. Why does Madonna with all her money need to earn more? She could share, not her money but her creativity. The young share, and we at the top should, too.
"When we started there were eight of us, all bachelors; now we have families, kids. I don't have children but I am very happily married, with a wonderful wife. With the foundation I can give something back – my talent, my luck. I have created 1,846 dishes – 80 per cent of new cookery techniques come from here – but no one can be number one for ever. Even those that love us get tired" – though this may be news to the two million people who desperately tried to book when the news of El Bulli's closure was announced.
"I will be 50 soon, with maybe 25-30 years left," he laughs. "I want to be happy like I have always been, and I can do this by taking away the things I don't like. Do what I want, when I want, for who I want."
I head into the El Bulli kitchen in time to catch the team troop in at 1pm, seven hours before service: heads bowed, hushed, intent. More like medieval novices come to mass than chefs about to prepare perhaps the greatest avant-garde meal ever seen.
Mateu Casañas, who has been with Adrià for 12 years, talks me through the preparation. Quietly, the chefs split into smaller teams. Ten start by teasing the germ from pine kernels, another six grade peas and skin them; 12 extract translucent filaments from sea cucumber to be intricately, delicately, lined into squares; four more sort papery yellow roses for perfect petals to be stuffed and steamed like dim sum. Seamlessly and almost silently, they shift between jobs, splitting young almonds to extract a jelly, making "parmesan frozen air".
I talk to Francesca, a Canadian of Asian heritage. On the day the call came from El Bulli she had been offered a staff position at Thomas Keller's three-star Per Se in New York. "So did I take a paid job in New York," she smiles, "or another 'stage' in Spain where I didn't speak the language?" And yet here she is in her second unpaid season, frothing and freezing buckets of cheese foam with a large grin on her face.
Jason Atherton also worked a stage at El Bulli, in 1998 when he was 27 – the year Adrià created his first foam. Before my trip to El Bulli we talk in the bar at Pollen Street Social, the British chef's celebrated new place in Mayfair. "I had worked with great chefs before," he says, "Marco Pierre White, Nico Ladenis, Pierre Koffmann, but it was from Ferran I learnt to question everything."
It took a full three years, says Atherton, before he realised how much his time at El Bulli had changed him: "There were 40 of us at the start of the season and at the end there were only 20 left. It takes a lot out of you, but the principles of how to run a great restaurant stay: the system, the time clock, the attention to detail. If I hadn't learn that, I wouldn't be here today.
"The sangria foam I serve at Pollen Street is the exact recipe I learnt, 12 years on. It is the lightest, airiest sangria you will ever taste. Why would I need to mess around with that? Chefs aren't geniuses, we are cooks," he says, "but Ferran deserves the mantle. A place like El Bulli will never happen again. It is impossible. One man's vision of what you could do with food."
Back in Spain, Adrià's relentless assault on my taste buds has driven me from the table overwhelmed, succumbed, surrendered, my hands and legs shaking, and we are "only" around 30 courses in. I have licked my plate of "gazpacho" and "ajo blanco", oblivious to my more reserved, more refined companions. I have tasted five of Geoffroy's dazzling Dom Pérignons, but I need respite before the two hare dishes, the "game meat cappuccino", the "blood", the "pond", the donuts, the other desserts and the "box".
I wander into the kitchen, where Observer photographer Howard Sooley is seven hours into his shoot – the first time Adrià has let anyone photograph behind the scenes during service.
Sooley used to work for US Vogue, and I watch as he slides between the chefs as they change direction like a shoal of silvery fish. And it strikes me: this is almost cooking as couture, backstage behind the catwalk as fantastical creations are pinned and primped into shape. I take in the dozens of tiny saucepans, the syringe-spiked dishes, a group of six young chefs intently plating up. All the cooks appear choreographed like a beautiful, complicated machine. Nothing is taken for granted, nothing is unconsidered.
There is true art in the artifice here, an underlying integrity to every technique. But somehow my celebrity-spiked supper has conjured up memories and emotions as much as the expected exquisite tastes. The plate-licked gazpacho is saturated with Spanish holidays. The peas take me back to podding on the porch with my mother in her yellow summer dress. The smell of the hare stock I will carry with me for ever.
At the perimeter of the kitchen, Ferran Adrià paces in silence, quietly observing. The general, seemingly unemotional, almost uninvolved. But watching. His eye seeing everything, like an eagle hanging high in the sky to catch the movement of every blade of grass.
He turns, sees me, too, standing there with lost eyes, and comes over. "Magic," he smiles softly, and he is right. As Jason Atherton says: "The guy is a legend, simple as that. We won't see his like again in our lifetime."
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Former porn star Ginger Lee said at a press conference in New York today that New York Rep. Anthony Weiner sent her sexually suggesting messages, then asked her to lie about their communication when his Twitter scandal erupted.
Pictures: Anthony Weiner's alleged porn star pen pal Ginger Lee
While Lee said she did not initiate sexual talk with Weiner, she did say the congressman's messages were often sexually suggestive.
"I have wardrobe demands too, I need to highlight my package," Weiner allegedly wrote in an email read by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, Lee's press representative.
"We did communicate on a fairly regular basis," said Lee. "However, I did not sext Anthony Weiner. I did not send photos to him or receive any from him," reports CBS station WCBS.
Lee said that Weiner contacted her in March after she began following him on Twitter.
Allred said that several times Weiner tried to take the conversation to another level, always referencing his "package." Lee and the congressman spoke on the phone once, Allred said, when he gave her advice a couple weeks ago on how to handle the crush of media inquiries.
Lee said it was on Thursday, June 2, that Weiner called her and told her to avoid the media.
"He asked me to lie" at the beginning of the scandal, Lee said. "I refused to lie, so I went into hiding."
Entertainment website TMZ published messages it says Weiner sent to Lee about how to mislead the press about their relationship.
Weiner has acknowledged that he had sent lewd photos and texts to women after a photo of his crotch was posted on Twitter. In an interview two weeks ago, he acknowledged that he had exchanged messages with Lee but didn't elaborate.
Lee said she thinks Weiner should resign for lying to the public about the sexting scandal, saying "It might have never turned into this if he told the truth."
Weiner has taken leave from the House and is said to be seeking treatment. President Barack Obama and House Democratic leaders have pressed him to resign.
The Chelsea footballer met TV presenter Christine at the Daily Mirror's Pride of Britain Awards in October 2009.
Love blossomed, and the pair returned to the Awards last year as a couple.
Christine told us: "Tonight is particularly special for Frank and I as it's here where it all began for us, this time last year. They hold fantastic memories for us."
After that first meeting, Frank and Christine went on a string of dates in the months that followed, with Christine also spotted in the stands at Chelsea games.
In January 2010 the couple were photographed together for the first time, after a romantic lunch in Belfast, where Christine's parents live.
She confirmed they were dating later that month as she prepared to cross the English channel on water skis for Sport Relief.
She admitted: "It is early days, so we are trying to be low key. But I am very happy."
And Frank joined her on media outings as she promoted the challenge in March, although he kept to the background.
By May she was one of the team, joining Chelsea's Premier League and FA Cup celebrations, first on the dance floor in Whisky Mist, then complete with Blues cap and scarf on the open-top bus parade.
And their romance meant reuniting with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid was not an option for Frank, as he told friends he felt the relationship was too important to risk.
Spain's Inditex, the world's largest fashion retailer and owner of the Zara brand, Wednesday posted bumper profits for the first quarter as it pursued an ambitious programme of international expansion.
Profits for the February-to-April period totalled 332 million euros ($447 million), up 10.3 percent from last year.
Sales leapt 11 percent to 2.96 billion euros, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or EBIDTA, was up 7.0 percent at 601 million euros.
The group said it opened 110 stores in 29 different countries during the quarter, bringing the total to 5,154 as of April 30, 2011, "providing a snapshot of the global growth potential of the Inditex Group?s retail concepts."
They included the opening of Zara?s first store in Australia, which increased the number of countries where Inditex sells its products to 78.
Inditex, whose other brands include youth label Bershka and the upmarket Massimo Dutti, also plans its first stores in South Africa, Taiwan and Peru before the end of the year.
It said e-commerce operations of Zara, currently present in 16 European countries, will begin in the United States from September 7, 2011.
In the financial year ending January 31, Inditex reported a 33 percent jump in profits to 1.73 billion euros. Asia was the fastest growing revenue source during the year, expanding its share to 15 percent from 12 percent
Monday 13 June 2011
The jazz legend, who enjoys a strong fan base on the coast, will play a one-off show at the Puente Romano Hotel in Marbella on June 25.“I love Marbella, it’s such a beautiful place with so many great memories for me and I can’t believe that it’s nearly six years since I last performed there,” the triple-platinum artist said. “Time flies I guess.”
The former child prodigy, best known for his 1976 hit album Breezin’, is famous for never having a set list.
“I play it by ear, it all depends on the audience,” the 68-year-old said.
“You gotta give them what they want. Some want to sit and listen, some want to dance but knowing how Marbella loves to party I’ve got a pretty good idea which one it’ll be,” he joked.
Benson was discovered at an early age by jazz great Wes Montgomery and has an eclectic musical style including soul, jazz and R&B.
The American’s hits include On Broadway, Turn Your Love Around and Never Gonna Give Up On a Good Thing.
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