The Old Bristolian
Bristol had changed. An influx of investment into the city centre had seen the depressing Broadmead area revitalised (a Harvey Nichols was now there!) and there were countless new places to visit and enjoy…
Author Alex Larman
The Brompton Bar & Grill
Coalescing into a trend at the V&A end of Old Brompton Road is the French brasserie-cum-bistro. There are three notable examples: Henry Harris’ excellent Racine, Marlon Abela’s Cassis and, last but certainly not least, the Brompton Bar & Grill.
La Pergola, Rome
La Pergola, the only three Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome, and one of a mere eight in all of Italy, has a substantial reputation to live up to. Alex Larman and the Holy Roman Empress went to test the water…
Debauchery in Dorset
A group of adventurers, drinkers and bon viveurs gathered for the trip down to Lyme Regis for a foraging expedition with chef extraordinaire Mark Hix and a whisky dinner hosted by Talisker…
Le Pont de la Tour
When Jonesy drops one an email, one tends to sit up and take notice. More often than not, they offer tidings of comfort and joy. However, this one was laconic: “Larman, old chap. Cookery class at Le Pont de la Tour.”
The Artichoke
Alex Larman and She Who Must Be Delayed escape London’s grey vistas and sloughs of despond, for a jaunt out of town to the leafy domain of Amersham and a dining destination called The Artichoke…
Boundary
Alex and Rugby Jamie venture into the trendy badlands of The East End for an inappropriately romantic meal at Boundary, Terence Conran’s remarkable creation in the well-fed bowels of a Victorian warehouse.
The Merchant of Venice
Alex Larman visits the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for a performance of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, transplanted by director Rupert Goold into a bustling Las Vegas.
Watatsumi
Alex Larman and Rugby Jamie pass up the opportunity to dine at an all-you-can-eat Kazakh buffet, and instead visit Watasumi near Trafalgar Square, a modern Japanese restaurant serving cocktails, steaks and sashimi.
The Cherry Orchard
‘Straw-hatted melancholy’. Is there a more dismissive way of referring to one of the greatest…
Gilliam’s Damnation of Faust
Alex Larman, eagle-eyed journalist and cultural commentator with a voracious hunger for all things splendiferous, visits the ENO to experience Terry Gilliam’s operatic production of The Damnation of Faust.