Thanksgiving is one of those American holidays with its own set of tropes and regalia – the gravy boat, the gigantic platter, the ‘good’ china and, of course, a cornucopia. But holiday entertaining can present a conundrum for those whose aesthetic inclinations slant more Rothko than Rockwell (read: all of us at Wallpaper*). How do you create a holiday spread that feels elevated, yet festive and celebratory? There’s no one-size-fits all approach for creating modern Thanksgiving table decor (our very own design editor recently swore off tablescaping), but there are a few places to start.

'A refined holiday table should exude quiet abundance, warmth, and generosity without leaning into the classic clichés,' says Bryony Sheridan, buying director at the luxury e-commerce site Abask. Lean into sculptural centrepieces, subtle glassware and grounding, earthy materials such as linen, hammered metal and ceramics, elements that 'create warmth without clutter,' per Sheridan. 'Minimalism and festivity work beautifully together when the focus is on intentional design rather than solely decoration,' she adds.

But don’t overdo it – no one wants to have an over-the-top flower arrangement blocking their dinner conversation. 'The golden rule with any table is to edit once before guests arrive because removing the one unnecessary element always elevates the whole table,' Sheridan adds.

Here are a few tabletop pieces we love to get you started. And remember: no matter what’s on your table, the most important thing is the people who surround it.

This limited-edition nakiri knife is a collaboration between London restaurant chain BAO – known for its coveted steamed buns and whose most recent launch was BAO Mary, earlier in 2023 – and British knife brand Allday Goods.

A take on the traditional Japanese vegetable knife, the design offers a striking contrast between the sharp edge of the blade and the soft, airy roundness of the handle, a playful nod to a stack of bao buns.

Each knife in the limited edition of 100 is handmade in Sakai, Japan. Allday Goods’ founder Hugo Worsley and BAO’s co-founder and creative director Erchen Chang called on the expertise of fourth-generation knifemaker Yoshikazu, reputedly one of the best blacksmiths in Japan.

The design of the knife was a collaboration between Worsley and Chang, with a focus on repurposing the waste plastic collected at BAO restaurants to create an intricate handle in white marbling, and shaped like BAO’s classic gua bao buns.

The blade itself is made from blue paper steel (high-carbon Aogami2) which is known for its edge retention, toughness and precision.

Speaking about the design, Chang commented, 'I wanted to create a knife that is both sharp and soft, gentle and forceful. The design takes inspiration from Constantin Brâncuși’s Endless Column sculpture, because who doesn't want a knife with a BAO-cusi handle?'

Worsley added, 'BAO is an iconic brand in the restaurant industry in London and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with them and turning their waste into a kitchen knife. I’ve never seen a knife like this before, and I can’t wait to see what people think of it.'

Knife available exclusively from Allday Goods, £230, from Friday 8 December 2023.

alldaygoods.co.uk

baolondon.com

These chocolate treats from boutique studios and confectionery legends look as good as they taste. Whether you prefer dependably delicious chocolate bars or more complex polyhedrous pralines, these treats are a delectable Easter treat for all your loved ones. 

Chocolate gifts that raise the bar

Alain Ducasse Easter eggs

Alain Ducasse sculptural praline-filler Easter Eggs are unmatched when it comes to luxury chocolate taste. After establishing himself as one of the most lauded chefs in Europe, Ducasse opened his Paris-based confectionery to explore his lifelong fascination with the art of chocolate making.

The result is sweet treats that live up to the top-chefs exacting standards. The Easter eggs, or accompanying animal-shaped treats launched for the holiday, are perfect gifts for the most discerning gormands in your life. 

lechocolat-alainducasse.com

Noon nootropic chocolate

Wellness brand Noon has just launched a dark chocolate that makes you feel good, and not just because it is satisfying your sugar cravings. 

The brand blends cacao with eight other nootropic herbs, including echinacea (for alleviating fatigue) and American ginseng (used to reduce nervousness), to make you feel relaxed and  gently energised without a sugar crash afterwards. Created in colaberation with therapeutic drug developer Neurotheryx and New York chocolate makers Kahkow, the Noon chocolate bar maganges to taste as good as it makes you feel. 

noonlife.co

BRIK Chocolate

The creations from London-based chocolatiers Brik are a perfect Easter gift for any design lover. The brand’s handmade bars are designed to look like architectural materials-- from terrazzo to marble and charred wood--and come in innovative flavour combinations like matcha and raspberry or salted caramel and passionfruit. 

brik.site.com

Bantu

Bantu is a new, ethically-minded chocolate brand that uses a regenerative agriculture approach on its Cameroon cocoa farm--planting thousands of banana, plantain, and avocado trees-- to enhance the region’s biodiversity. 

Their range of five chocolate bars vary from intense to subtle, with the intense berry and toffee flavours of Voodoo 83% being the richest and Nostradamus 35%, a sweet blend of toasted white chocolate, hibiscus, and cocoa, being a bar for gentler pallets. 

bantuchocolate.com

Casa Bosques

Casa Bosques is the brand for art lovers who love chocolate. Established by Savvy Studio, a New York- and Mexico City-based creative studio, the brand calls on a network of artists and designers to collaborate on one-of-a-kind chocolates. Past contributors include the conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, textile artist Megumi Shauna Arai, and DeVonn Francis, the founder of the gastronomic collective Yardy.

The chocolate itself is made from beans grown exclusively for Casa Bosques on a farm in southern Mexico, and is blended with intriguing flavours such as beetroot-stained dried apple slices and Castile flower with pistachio. 

casabosques.co

Pierre Marcolini

Pierre Marcolini is the authority on chocolate, so a box of his creations is the best choice for those looking for a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. We would recommend indulging in Marcolini classic chocolate tablets or champagne-filled truffles. 

marcolini.com

Oro de Cacao

Oro de Cacao infuses the traditional expertise of Swiss chocolate-making with an exuberant, Instagram-worthy aesthetic. Founded by Swiss industrialist, musician and conceptual artist Dieter Meier, Oro blends its kooky aesthetics with equally kooky flavour combinations, like figs and white pepper, or bananas and cinnamon. 

What really makes Oro special, though, is its unique production process, which preserves the authentic aroma of the cacao bean and releases its rich taste without any bitterness.

orodecacao.com

Marchesi 1824

Prada-owned Pasticceria Marchesi is one of the world’s most elegant destinations for sweet treats. When it comes to chocolate, the Milanese landmark’s Assorted Cremini box is an infallible choice. The cream-filled candies are made from fine cocoa and hazelnuts from the hills of Piedmont and come in milk chocolate, whole hazelnut, dark chocolate and Sicilian pistachio flavours. While these chocolate gifts’ pastel and gold packaging makes them look like they came right off Marie Antoinette’s dessert trolley. 

Londoners can visit the Marchesi on Mount Street or new new Prada Caffe space at Harrods which also has a selection of delicious pastries and cakes on offer. 

pasticceriamarchesi.com

Pars pralinen

Artist and chocolatier Kristiane Kegelmann makes angular, multi-coloured chocolate praline pieces that look nothing like any chocolate you have ever seen before. Kegelmann crafts and sells the chocolates at her Berlin store, Pars, where she collaborates with regional farmers, distillers, and pharmacists to create sweet treats that taste as beguiling as they look. 

Favourites include the Limo Omani & Walnut chocolate, which blends Persian limes with cardamom, as well as the Maca Ginseng chocolate that combines a ginseng elixir from pharmacist Dr Jaglas with bitter dark chocolate. 

parspralinen.com

This sensational Singaporean feast is just the thing to mark Lunar New Year. You may be inspired to rustle up curry puffs and cocktails, pandan chiffon cake and bubble tea, a glorious gado gado – or all the recipes in our tantalising Singapore fling, originally created for the May 2015 issue of Wallpaper*. Happy Lunar New Year!

Curry puffs

Makes 24

Ingredients 
2 tbs vegetable oil
2 onions, diced
thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
500g minced beef
4 tbs curry powder 
250g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes 
100g frozen peas 
2 tsp salt 
400ml coconut milk
juice of 1/2 lemon 
500g blocks of puff pastry 

Directions 
Heat the oil in a large, heavy pan over medium heat and add the onion, ginger and garlic, stirring occasionally until soft and golden.
Add the beef and stir until brown.
Sprinkle in the curry powder and stir fry for a few minutes, then add the potatoes and peas and fry for another minute or so. 
Add the salt, coconut milk and lemon juice. 
Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes until the potatoes are cooked and the mixture is thick and glistening, with no liquid left. 
Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Split each block of pastry into 12 pieces. 
Flatten each with the palm of your hand, then roll out thinly on a lightly floured surface to a diameter of about 10cm. 
Place a tablespoon of filling in the centre and brush the edges of the pastry with a little water. 
Fold in half and crimp the edges together to seal. 
Arrange on a baking sheet, spaced 3cm apart, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until puffed and golden. 
Eat at room temperature. 

Singapore chilli prawns 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients 
1kg raw king prawns in the shell
3 tbs tomato ketchup 
3 tbs Shaoxing wine
3 tbs chilli sauce 
2 tsp chilli oil
80ml water 
2 tbs corn oil 
3cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped 
4 large spring onions, sliced into rounds 
2 fresh red chillies, finely chopped 
2 eggs, lightly beaten 

Directions 
Peel the prawns, leaving the tail on. 
With a sharp knife, slice down the back of each prawn, removing the intestine but not cutting all the way through the prawn. 
Mix together the ketchup, wine, chilli sauce, chilli oil, and water, and set this mixture aside.  
Heat a wok, or a wide deep pan, over a very high heat. 
Add the corn oil and then, when very hot, add the ginger, garlic, onion and chillies, and stir fry for 30 seconds. 
Add the prepared prawns and stir fry for 2 minutes, then add the reserved sauce ingredients and continue to stir fry for another 2 minutes. 
Pour in the beaten egg and stir well until the egg is cooked and the prawns well coated with the sauce. 
Serve with sliced baguette. 

Fishball noodle soup 

Serves 4

Ingredients 
For the fishballs 
500g white fish fillets, such as cod or haddock, skinless and boneless
2 tsp of cornflour stirred into 50ml cold water 
1/2 tsp salt 
1/2 tsp ground white pepper 

For the soup 
150g glass (mung bean) noodles
1 litre chicken or fish stock, or use stock cube
3 cm fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 
2 tbs light soy sauce 
1 tbs sesame oil 
2 medium pak choi, chopped into large pieces 
3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced 
1 red chilli, thinly sliced 

Directions 
Place all the ingredients for the fishballs in a food processor and blend to a very fine paste. 
Transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge to firm up for 1 hour. 
Put the glass noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and leave for 10 minutes to soften. Drain and set aside. 
Shape the fishball mixture into bite-sized balls with your hands. 
Pour the stock into a large pot over medium heat, then add the ginger and bring to a boil. 
Drop in the fishballs, bring back to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 
Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and pan choi to the pot and simmer for another 2 minutes. 
Divide the noodles between four bowls. 
Add fishballs to each, followed by the hot soup. 
Serve with sliced spring onions and chillies. 

Bubble tea

Serves 4 

Ingredients 
125g tapioca pearls 
150g sugar
black tea
milk 

Directions
Pour approximately 8 cups of water into a pan and bring to a boil. 
Add the tapioca pearls and stir until they float to the surface. 
Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and rest for another 15 minutes. 
In a separate pan, bring 200ml water to the boil, add the sugar and stir until dissolved, then take off the heat and set aside. 
Drain the pearls and rinse them under cold running water. 
Stir them into the syrup. They may be stored like this for several hours. 
Brew a pot of strong black tea for four.
Pour into a jug and allow to cool. 
Add milk to taste.
To serve, fill three-quarters of a large glass with tea and stir in a scoop of the tapioca pearls and syrup. 
Serve with an extra-thick bubble tea straw. 

Hainanese chicken rice

Serves 6 

Ingredients 
1.5-2kg free-range chicken 
salt
5cm fresh ginger, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced 
1 tbs sesame oil 
2 cups long grain rice
4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped 
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped  
1 pandan leaf, tied in a knot

For the chilli sauce 
6 red finger-size chillies, chopped 
2 cloves of garlic, peeled 
4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 
1 tsp sugar 
1 tbs salt
juice of 1 lime 

Directions
Clean the chicken; remove and reserve the excess fat. 
Season with salt, and stuff with ginger and onion.
Place in a large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. 
Then lift it out of the pot, rub with sesame oil, and cool to room temperature. 
Strain and reserve the stock. 
Wash the rice thoroughly and drain. 
Place the reserved fat in a lidded pan and heat over a low flame. 
Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. 
Add the rice and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. 
Add three cups of stock and the pandan leaf, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and cook, covered, for 12 minutes. 
Turn off the heat and leave to sit with the lid on. 
For the chilli sauce, blend all the ingredients in a food processor with two tablespoons of stock. 
To serve, slice the chicken and serve with rice, chilli sauce and remaining stock ladled into small bowls. 

Pandan chiffon cake 

Serves 10-12

Ingredients 
12 pandan leaves 
6 eggs, separated, 
plus 3 egg whites
250g caster sugar
50ml vegetable oil 
170ml coconut milk 
225g plain flour 
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar 

Directions
Heat the oven to 160C.
Use scissors to snip the leaves into short lengths, then place in a food processor with 200ml water and blend to a pulp. 
Strain the pulp through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pressing out every drop of liquid. 
Add the egg yolks, half the sugar, the oil and the coconut milk, and whisk together until smooth.
Beat in the flour, baking powder and salt. 
In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites until just holding soft peaks.
Add the rest of the sugar and the cream of tartar, then whisk to a stiff, glossy meringue. 
Fold a third of the meringue into the cake batter in order to loosen it and then carefully fold into the rest. 
Pour the mixture into an ungreased, loose-bottomed, 24cm chiffon cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes until very well risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. 
Invert the cake tin onto a wire tray and allow the cake to cool completely, upside down, without loosening the cake from the tin. 
Release the cake by running a thin-bladed knife around the tin. 

Beef rendang 

Serves 8 

Ingredients 
6 kaffir lime leaves 
3 tbs vegetable oil
1.5kg braising beef, cut into 5cm cubes
400ml coconut milk
200ml water
1 tbs soft brown sugar 
2 1/2 tsp salt 
juice of one lime 

For the rempah (curry paste)
9 large fresh chillies, sliced 
4 stalks fresh lemongrass, rough outer leaves removed, white part of stalk sliced 
6 Brazil or macadamia nuts
5cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced 
5cm piece of galangal, peeled and sliced 
10 shallots, or 2 red onions, peeled and chopped
7 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs ground coriander 

Directions
Blend all the rempah ingredients to a fine paste in the food processor. 
Remove the ribs from the lime leaves and roll the pieces up tightly together like a cigar. 
Slice them, with a very sharp knife, into very thin slivers. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy, large pot and fry the rempah for 5 minutes until fragrant. 
Add the beef cubes and stir fry for a few more minutes to brown and coat the pieces, then add the remaining ingredients, including the sliced lime leaves. 
Simmer, without covering the pot, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and the sauce very thick. 
If the sauce seems too liquid, turn up the heat and reduce it down. 
Serve with steamed white rice. 

Sago gula melaka

Serves 6

Ingredients 
150g sago pearls 
1 pandan leaf, tied in a knot 
2 tbs caster sugar 
100g palm sugar (gula melaka)
1/4 teaspoon salt
250ml thick coconut milk 

Directions
Pour the sago into a bowl and soak in cold water for 15 minutes, then rinse and drain well. 
Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil in a large pan, then add the sago and pandan leaf, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. 
Simmer for 10 minutes until the sago is almost fully translucent, with just the barest white flecks in the centre. 
Turn off the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes, then pour into a large bowl of cold water and stir for 30 seconds, discarding the pandan leaf. 
Drain, then scoop the sago into a bowl and stir in the sugar and salt. 
Rinse six individual cups (espresso or Chinese tea cups are perfect), but do not dry them. 
Spoon the sago into the cups and allow to set in the refrigerator. 
Shave the palm sugar into a small pan containing two tablespoons of water and place over a medium heat. 
Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then allow to cool. 
To serve, unmould the sago puddings into dessert bowls and pour a little coconut milk and syrup over each. 
Place the rest of the coconut milk and syrup in small jugs for extra serving.

Gado gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce) 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients 
150g peanuts 
1 tbs tamarind paste
50g palm sugar (gula melaka)
2 fresh red chillies, roughly chopped
I clove garlic, peeled 
3 tbs nam pla fish sauce 
juice of 1 lime
250g long beans, trimmed, cut into 5cm lengths, and blanched for 2 mins
6 small potatoes, cooked, peeled and quartered 
1/2 large cucumber, seeds removed and cut into batons
large handful of beansprouts 
1/2 Chinese cabbage, shredded 
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved 

Directions
Roast the peanuts in the oven or in a dry frying pan for 5 minutes until fragrant and golden.  
Set aside to cool. 
Place the tamarind paste, palm sugar, chillies, garlic, and peanuts in a food processor and grind to a paste. Remove to a large bowl and stir in the nam pla, lime juice and 120ml of water. 
Add the prepared vegetables and toss well together. 
Add half a boiled egg to each serving.

An alcohol-rich cocktail has always been a popular choice for those marking special occasions or joining up with friends, but those who avoid, or are cutting down on the hard stuff are still invited to the party, and the non-alcoholic drinks market has opened up to reveal a well-stocked bar of delicious botanical elixirs and cordials. The new generation of soft drinks offers an exciting spectrum of styles and flavours – increasingly sophisticated and with their own characters rather than pale imitations of the alcoholic spirits we know.

Here’s a few non-alcoholic drinks from the Wallpaper* bar…

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS FOR HAPPY HOUR WITHOUT THE HANGOVER

Amass

‘Clean’ botanics company Amass, already known for its dry gin and botanic vodka, has now launched Riverine – a non-alcoholic spirit that still delivers the complex depth of flavour that discerning consumers expect. Says Morgan McLachlan, Amass’ co-founder and master distiller, ‘Riverine is inspired by the dense coniferous forests of the Canadian Pacific Northwest, where I grew up. The result is a nuanced, sophisticated spirit in its own right.’

Distilled and bottled in British Columbia, Riverine contains 14 natural botanicals, each one individually created using a hydrosteam distillation process. Its crisp forest flavours range from vibrant citrus, sorrel and coriander to bright notes of sumac and cool mint. Lingering herbal notes of juniper, parsley and rosemary complete the Riverine experience, which may be enjoyed in cocktails, or simply over ice with a splash of tonic.

amass.com

Artet

Artet is a delicious non-alcoholic aperitif that features cannabis. Made in California, the state that leads the way with all sorts of products offering alternative ways to enjoy THC (the main psychoactive compound in cannabis), each 50ml shot of Artet provides 2.5mg of THC – a moderate dose that is just enough to give a warm and convivial buzz that has nothing to do with alcohol.

A blend of cannabis and eight botanicals, Artet is inspired by traditional Italian-style liqueurs and aperitifs and has the classic, complex taste of bitters. Bright citrus notes are layered over the spicy, earthy, flavours of ginger, juniper, and cardamom, creating a memorable and elegant drink all by itself, on the rocks, or as the perfect cocktail ‘spirit’. For a more immediate and convenient non-alcoholic cannabis experience, the Artet team has also introduced canned cocktails featuring its flagship aperitif.

artet.com

Wilfred’s

Recalling a time when aperitif drinking was gaining in popularity, Wilfred’s elegant, art deco-inspired bottle will put you in a suitably cocktail-hour frame of mind. The deliciously bittersweet aperitif contained within is designed to be served with tonic water as a refreshing, spritz-style drink.

Using only natural ingredients, the luscious, deep-red concoction gathers keynotes of bitter orange, rhubarb, herbaceous rosemary, and a hint of spicy clove, and may also be made into a warming non-alcoholic mulled ‘wine’, perfect for colder months.

wilfredsdrinks.com

Ghia

The designer behind Ghia, Willo Perron, was inspired by traditional Mediterranean aperitif brands to create an alcohol-free alternative full of vibrant flavour. The visual identity of the brand, taking cues from the hospitality signage of the region and Italian postmodern design, feels both familiar and exotic, and is evocative of bustling bars on balmy Mediterranean evenings.

Satisfying complex, Ghia features earthy botanicals (including gentian root, which gives Campari and similar aperitifs their distinctive bitterness), and summery floral notes, plus the clean cut of citrus. It may be served with ice and soda or tonic, or as a cocktail ingredient.

drinkghia.com

Aplós

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has firmly emerged as an alternative to a relaxing alcoholic drink. Aplós has created a bold and aromatic non-alcoholic spirit that offers a new way to unwind. Each serving contains 20mg of organically grown hemp extract, with all the calming, mood-lifting effects of the cannabinoid spectrum but without the psychoactive THC.  

Aplós uses nano-emulsification technology to create smaller, water-soluble particles that allow for rapid and efficient absorption of the active ingredient. Taste though, does not play second fiddle to the hemp factor in this delicious non-alcoholic spirit – nuanced layers of flavour include notes of cardamom and rosemary, led by citrus, and it has the versatility to be served neat, on the rocks, in a spritz, or mixed in a cocktail.

aplos.world

Jukes Cordialities

Jukes Cordialities are a set of drinks that offer the experience of drinking a fine wine, but without the alcohol. Matthew Jukes used the expertise of over 30 years in the wine trade to create a non-alcoholic drink, using only fruit, vegetables and natural flavourings, which undergo a gentle maceration with organic cider vinegar. The resulting cordials are complex and aromatic, with the satisfying mouthfeel and perfume of fine wine.

Jukes cordial flavours range from the bright and fruity to more earthy, mellow, notes, and they are designed to be mixed with still, sparking or tonic water, in proportions that accord with the individual drinker’s tastes.

jukescordialities.com

Artist and designer Gergei Erdei has always been inspired by the glamour of the 1970s, and his latest homeware collection is a tribute to the era's most exuberant bastion of hedonistic opulence – Hollywood.

For the collection, called ‘Hollywood Grand Tour', Erdei looked to the celebrity homes of late 1970s and early 1980s Beverly Hills to create of collection of tablecloths, glassware, plates, placemats, cushions, and kaftans that look like they were lifted straight from a poolside soirée of Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Highlights include a leopard-print tablecloth, octagonal plates with a bamboo motif, and multi-coloured tornado-shaped glasses. Bright tones of dusty pink, emerald greens and honey yellows abound throughout the designs, recalling California sunsets, while flamboyant patterns are drawn from the wallpapers and evening wear of the period.

‘Hollywood Grand Tour’ follows Erdei’s ‘The Herculaneum’ collection which was inspired by the jet-set lifestyles of Florida, Palm Beach and the Italian Riviera and featured textured chalk motifs drawn from Greek and Roman antiquity.

This new collection marks Erdei’s move into an even bolder aesthetic: ‘I wanted to create a collection that reflects my evolving personal taste, which has become more and more flamboyant,’ he says. ‘My moodboards scream colour, pattern, and eclectic grandeur. I like when things are exuberant and purely decorative. Animal prints are my new thing – they are a bit sexy and they evoke the mood of a smoky cocktail party hosted in a New York penthouse.’

It is a decidedly decadent collection just in time for the holidays. As Erdei himself says, ‘They are the must-haves for the upcoming party season.’ 

gergeierdei.com

As iconic as the French silverware brand Christofle is, even the grandest dames could use a little tweak now and then. Founded in 1830 by Charles Christofle in Paris, the storied house reveals the results of a facelift this month, with the unveiling of a new graphic identity, signature colour, and collections to boot. Designed in partnership with fellow Parisian Ramdane Touhami and his creative agency Art Recherche Industrie, Christofle’s new direction is as much about looking back as it is about looking forward.

The new Christofle

Christofle’s collaboration with Touhami keeps in line with a long legacy of creative partnerships. Over the years, the brand has enlisted the creative talents of designers ranging from Ora-ïto and Martin Szekely to Andrée Putman, Gio Ponti and Man Ray. In Touhami’s hands, Christofle revives an old signature logo, which actually dates back to its early years.

Art Nouveau in style, this rework of an original logo is realised in an English, cursive script that twists and turns freely. Coupled with a new khaki-toned shade of green –also discovered by Touhami in Christofle’s archives and a shade that perfectly complements silver and is associated with Napoleon – the reinvigorated graphic identity speaks both to Christofle’s present and its past.

‘When I arrived at Christofle two years ago, the brand needed a refresh,’ recounts Christofle’s CEO Emilie Metge. ‘We came up with a strategy centred on retrofuturism, which capitalises on the patrimoine, the heritage and the savoir-faire, but in a way that speaks to a new generation that’s modern and inclusive.

‘In doing so, I thought about who is the guy, the one who can understand how to make an old brand cool again. Ramdane, through his work with Cire Trudon and Officine Universelle Buly, came into my mind and I actually sent him a DM on Instagram because I had no clue how to contact him, since he is very much a star in France. Two minutes later, he called me from Korea [and we set up a meeting the following week.]’

Touhami’s deep dive into Christofle’s archives also resulted in the reissue of several heritage collections for 2022. ‘Gallia’, a heavily Art Nouveau tableware service, which was first released around the time of the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris, is a fantastical addition to the table with its undulating floral motifs and suites of cutlery holders moulded in the shapes of peacocks, swans, dogs and cats.

This is accompanied by another reissue, ‘Fjerdingstad’, an 11-piece collection including a coffee pot, a double-bowl fruit basket and a slender water pitcher, that nods to the art deco tradition. 

‘Ramdane said, Christofle is not “arts de la table” (the art of entertaining), but “arts sur la table” (art on the table), which is our new quote. It’s so clever,’ says Metge. 

The 2022 collection also includes new cutlery, which exemplifies Christofle’s forward-thinking direction. Titled ‘Infini’, the elegant, yet pared-back set brings together the tradition of a 15-piece cutlery service with a contemporary, minimalist look. Designed as an extension of the hand, the sculptural set easily elevates the everyday table.

christofle.com

In partnership with Mortlach

A spirit of audacity pervades the complex curves of designer Felicia Ferrone’s new ‘Cowie’ glassware range for Mortlach, the Scotch whisky maker based in Dufftown, Moray. Inspired by the ‘audacious’ nature of Mortlach’s Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Ferrone, founder of the US- and Italy-based brand Fferrone, brought a sense of boldness and surprise into her design. ‘Cowie’ glassware pushes the envelope of expectation to the same levels of fearlessness as the Mortlach whisky that it holds. 

Named after George and Alexander Cowie, the 19th-century father and son owners of Dufftown’s first distillery and originators of the unique process that produces Mortlach whisky’s robust spirit, the glassware lives up to the family’s indefatigability and verve. 

‘Glassware, upon first thought, is quite simple,’ says Ferrone. ‘I needed “Cowie” to be anything but. I strived for the bold, courageous and outside-the-box. With this in mind, I designed these glasses to be unlike anything else, to have a single, dedicated use: for tasting Mortlach. I wanted them to match the intricacy of Mortlach and reflect the high level of craftsmanship that goes into the spirit’s distillation process. I continuously challenged myself as I iterated through various designs of the glassware to push the final product to truly embody what it means to be audacious.’ 

The glassware had to be unique, but functional, protecting the Mortlach Single Malt from changing temperature due to hand-transferred body heat. ‘I chose an adventurous route, creating a void straight through the middle,’ explains Ferrone.  The challenge was working out how the liquid would stay inside the glass when tipped and not pour through the centre void. The design also had to facilitate easy sipping without  the central stem interfering with the tasting process. 

The ‘Cowie’ glass holds a standard 1.5 ounce neat pour, its wider form allowing a fuller olfactory appreciation of the Mortlach Single Malt even before you taste it, and allowing notes of citrus, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and spice to swirl forth. The texture of the central, open stem’s interior is scalloped to highlight Mortlach’s unique tonal play, ‘creating a glowing effect when the spirit is in the glass’, says Ferrone. 

The designer insisted that each glass be intricately handmade, without a mould, by master craftspeople in the Czech Republic, using a specialist process not unlike the distilling at Mortlach’s Dufftown HQ; each step is carefully executed and considered to create the highest quality final product. 

Making the intersection between the glass’s two volumes – the ring shape where the whisky is poured and the central, inner void in the body of the glass – perfectly align and come together while both shapes are in a molten state, is a technical challenge requiring extraordinary precision and artistry. 

Honouring the eye of the designer, the skill of the glassware experts and the audacious spirit of the Mortlach founders, the ‘Cowie’ glass was created to surprise and delight. It makes for an intense and intimate taste experience, for Mortlach whisky only.

mortlach.com

In partnership with Louis XIII

One of the world’s most revered cognac houses, Louis XIII refers to time as its raw material. Its cognac is made from the finest Eaux de Vie, bequeathed by generations of cellar masters to their successors, and presented in decanters that have been mouth-blown by skilled master craftspeople.

Such is the brand’s reverence for time and its power to create, that it enlisted three creatives – couturier Guo Pei, filmmaker Mati Diop and singer, songwriter, and visual artist Solange – to demonstrate just how potent time is, in a film project entitled Believe in Time.

Appearing at first to be the prelude to an epic tale of empires and galaxies, Solange’s narration of Believe in Time is reminiscent of her music, and is just as compelling. Sparking thoughts of poetry, power and pain, the film epitomises time as a powerful force of life and beauty.

Creation is presented as a marvel only mastered over time. Through the piece, we find ourselves having a newfound adoration for things as disparate as fire, music and the Himalayas, which leads us to eagerly anticipate what else time may offer. Most importantly, we understand that the most wonderful things of our world were distilled through time – a message that Solange poetically delivers.

Solange has long been a siren of female power, identity, and expression. Her 2016 album, A Seat at the Table, was pegged as a radically honest collection of personal stories, and introduced a visual language that is now characteristic of her work. The artist celebrates movement, experimentation, poetry and the Black female body.

For Believe in Time, she created an original track that was built in real time – starting with one instrument and gradually adding layers, sonics and textures. Through the building up of music, we are made to wait for ever-potent time to reveal the whole.

Demonstrating the beauty of slowness, the film builds suspense, eagerness, and reverence through the simple enumeration of time and its products. By the end, Solange herself emerges as the centre of the piece, embodying Mother Earth and referencing the aesthetic form of the ornate Louis XIII bottle.

She appears in a custom garment by Guo Pei – the first and only Chinese designer to become a guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture – featuring precious fabrics, rocks and metals and made with traditional Chinese embroidery techniques over a two-year period. It’s yet another demonstration that the best things are worth the wait. Indeed, Believe in Time leaves you as eager for a glass of cognac as it does for Solange’s next album.

INFORMATION

louisxiii-cognac.com

Founded by former Noma employees Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen in 2017, Empirical started as a distillery with a mission to push the boundaries of flavour innovation, and in doing so, combine traditions, ingredients and techniques from around the world.

Guided by a curiosity and passion for the sensory realm of taste and smell, the Copenhagen based company have already gained recognition for their unique and exciting drinks, which include spirits and canned cocktails. 

The brand have used their experience in high-level gastronomy, and technical know-how in the fields of fermentation, distillation and brewing for further forays into flavour - with a deep understanding of its intricate nuances and possibilities, and the ways in which different elements work together, they have brought their expertise to the kitchen and launched a range of cooking ingredients.

Keeping a superior set of condiments to hand is the smart way to ensure a ready repertoire of delicious dishes - the addition of Empirical sauces and paste adds a complexity and balance to anything you rustle up, and effortlessly elevates your culinary style.

Led by Head of Provisions, Eric Heilig, the Empirical team have selected elements from their distinctive flavour portfolio, and also taken ingredients from Empirical’s own spirits blends; particularly the brewer’s grains, which are fermented for several months to create koji, which is an important factor in the Empirical taste adventure.

Koji is a fermentation culture made from a base of cooked grains, such as rice or barley - a foundation stone in Japanese cuisine, it is used to brew alcoholic beverages such as sake, and condiments, including miso and soy sauce.

The koji flavours are complex, unique and somewhat hard to define; they fall into the realm of ‘umami’, which may be translated from the Japanese as ‘pleasant savory taste’, and is sometimes referred to as the ‘fifth taste’ (the first four being sweet, sour, salty and bitter). Empirical offer a range of umami laden provisions that add depth and sophistication to a fantastic variety of dishes, and are designed to be used as either a condiment or a cooking ingredient. 

Elixir 01 is a Scandinavian take on traditional Japanese Shoyu - made with raw grey French marine salt, it has a light oceanic mineral quality; Elixir 02 is rich and earthy, with a base of Lapsang Souchong tea. 

Pasilla Sauce, a smoky and exotic concoction based on Mexican Pasilla Mixe chillies, is punchy, but with a focus on complexity and flavour rather than simply heat, and Tasty Paste is miso- like, though much less salty than traditional miso, and fermented for 18 months to develop a chocolaty and intensely savoury flavour.

As co-founder Lars Williams says: ‘We see flavour as a way of connecting people from around the world. Spirits and CANs were the first steps in sharing flavour, and now we are expanding that connectivity with our Provisions line. Building on decades of experience in kitchens and countless fermentation trials, the Provisions simply make anything you cook delicious.’

INFORMATION

empirical.co

‘British’ and ‘vodka’ might seem like two words that don’t belong together, but Edwards 1902 is on a mission to prove otherwise. 

An English potato vodka brand based in Lincolnshire, Edwards 1902 was founded on the principle that England’s famed King Edward potatoes would make the perfect base for smooth and delicate spirit. ‘My family has been proudly farming Lincolnshire Limestone King Edward potatoes for over a century,’ says co-founder Richard Arundel. ‘So we’re extremely familiar with the variety and we knew that its superior eating qualities and creamy texture made it the perfect base ingredient for a single variety vodka.’

Indeed, Edwards 1902’s vodka is mellow enough that it can be enjoyed on the rocks or as martini by even the most unseasoned vodka drinker. Or, to welcome the arrival of spring, try some of the brand’s spiked soda recipes like ‘Soda No.1’- 50ml of vodka, 25ml cloudy apple juice, and 75ml carbonated water- or ‘Soda No.2’- 50ml of vodka, 100ml carbonated water, 2 x fresh strawberries, and mint. 

With a mind towards sustainability, Edwards 1902 ensures that off-set potatoes that might be too wonky or strangely shaped to be sold in grocery stores are used to create the vodka. Meanwhile, solar panels are used to power the distillery and production waste material being is used to fertilise the local land. This ‘soil-to-spirit’ approach is a notable element of Edwards 1902’s approach to spirit production.

‘We truly believe that locally-produced spirits from natural, raw ingredients can transcend the popular craft market and conquer the premium spirits industry,’ says co-founder and distiller Matthew Hamilton. ‘We set out to prove that quality produce, originating from our own farms across Lincolnshire, could create a premium English potato vodka.’ 

For those who enjoy the idea of celebrating English spirits, but don’t have the taste for vodka, we recommend trying Monkey 47’s newly launched Experimentum Series gin. The batch-distilled liquor fuses British traditions, the spices of India, and the purity of Black Forest ingredients, where the gin is made.

For this latest edition of their premium spirt, the brand has taken inspiration from the traditional condiment served with a British Sunday Roast – mint sauce. The mint itself comes straight from the Monkey 47 herb garden in 24 Höfe and is blended with the sharp taste of vinegar and sweet honey for a peculiar but delicious flavour.

INFORMATION

edwards1902.com; monkey47.com

Exciting news from the premium spirits circuit as whisky expert George Koutsakis and Formula One racing star Jenson Button have united to create Coachbuilt – their impressive and delicious blended Scotch whisky.

The fortuitous meeting of this duo, both masters of their respective crafts, led them to discover a mutual appreciation of the similarities between coachbuilding and the blending of the best whiskies – each requires knowledge born of experience, great talent, and exceptional expertise.

The Coachbuilt name refers to the craft and engineering of luxury coachbuilding: the highly precise design and manufacture of the external body of a racing car, which global brand ambassador Button is passionate about. Indeed, the elegant Coachbuilt bottle reflects this, with the forms of car panels and a steering wheel etched into the glass. Button comments: ‘The timing was brilliant – I was in the middle of launching our coachbuilding company Radford [with designer Mark Stubbs and TV mechanic Ant Anstead] when I got introduced to George as he was on a mission to create the ultimate blended whisky.

‘I’ve always loved whisky but didn’t know a huge amount about the blending world. However, the more we talked, the parallels between blending and coachbuilding became pretty apparent. George then sent me an early sample of what he was working on and that was that; I asked how I could get involved and two years later here we are!’

On the international whisky circuit, it could be said that blended whiskies have taken a back seat, or even sat in the side-car of the more exalted single malts (each of which is the product of one single distillery) – but a skilful blend is a pinnacle of the whisky-making craft, requiring expert understanding of its different elements to achieve a perfectly tuned result.

As the brand’s founder and CEO, Koutsakis, says, ‘Coachbuilt began from a realisation that blended Scotch whisky does not receive the praise it deserves worldwide. With our whisky we cast the spotlight on the immense skill required to take components from dozens of distilleries across the country, and piece them together, to create a liquid defined by balance and complexity.

‘From sourcing liquid from each region of Scotch whisky, to the final touch added by the sherry cask finish, craftsmanship is the core of our blend,’ he adds. Coachbuilt is a blend of spirits from the five whisky-producing regions of Scotland – Islay, Speyside, Campbeltown, Highlands and Lowlands – each showcasing very different flavour attributes. The result is a beautifully balanced whisky with a depth and complexity of flavour that offers character beyond its years, and rivals some of the best ultra-premiums in the category.

The Coachbuilt blend is smooth, rich and creamy; full bodied and intricate on the nose and palate, with notes of summer fruits and subtle spice, followed by toffee, chocolate and a touch of citrus. The finish is long and soft, with fruit, toffee, and a hint of smoke leading the way.

Koutsakis and Button are genuinely excited and justifiably proud of the whisky, and we may look forward to further triumphs from the duo; this first release stands tall as the brand’s flagship expression before the ultra-rare, aged and limited-edition releases that will be coming round the track.

INFORMATION

coachbuiltwhisky.com

The 1970s style playbook keeps on giving – with a lush, exuberant glamour that still excites and inspires creatives from every sphere.

On the interior decor front, London based artist and designer Gergei Erdei presents The Herculaneum Collection: his latest homeware range which is inspired by the 70s jet-set lifestyles of Florida, Palm Beach and the Italian Riviera. This was an era when travel was glamorous, and people dressed to fly; ascending aircraft steps like movie stars, discovering sophisticated new experiences, and bringing home exotic tastes and souvenirs.

That Erdei comes from a fashion background is evident in his elegant attire. He walks the walk, showing the Herculaneum Collection at his beautifully curated premises – a masterclass in louche 70s style which is an eclectic mix of vintage finds and pieces from the Gergei Erdei home collections. 

The designer’s work inhabits a place between art and interior design, with a signature style that draws from an expansive range of influences. He pays homage to the past and celebrates those that have gone before, but his aesthetic, while particular to the Gergei Erdei brand, is constantly evolving to stay fresh and relevant with new inspiration and ideas.

For the Herculaneum collection, Erdei references Greek and Roman antiquity; the ancient town of Herculaneum was a popular seaside retreat for the Roman elite, located in what is now Naples, southern Italy, and buried under ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Erdei also acknowledges the influence of the British master of geometric prints, David Hicks, and the linear patterns of Andre Arbus.

Erdei’s bold and sophisticated designs feature textured chalk lines and drawings in relaxed sketch strokes which flow over textiles and ceramics. The exhilarating colour combinations of the tableware evoke long, sun-drenched lunches by the sea, with jewel-like drinks sparkling in crystal glassware.

Erdei says: ‘I designed the Herculaneum SS22 collection to a soundtrack of ‘60s and ‘70s Italian classics from Patty Bravo and Mina and Loredana Berte. Their joyful spirit inspired a certain nostalgia for the Italian Riviera during this glorious period. I wanted to create something very uplifting.’

A graduate in fashion design from the London College of Fashion, Erdei’s refined skills and his understanding of art, architecture and design brought him to the attention of Gucci’s creative office in Rome. He became part of the womenswear design team there as a ready-to-wear designer, and later as an embroidery designer and illustrator, and his distinctive drawings adorned prints, knitwear, and richly embroidered pieces in Gucci collections.

Erdei brings his precise fashion skills, with their exquisite detailing, knowledge of textiles and flair for colour, to the wonderful world of luxury homeware. The collection has been produced with an earth-friendly sensibility; handmade, and using natural materials - including tablecloths and placemats printed on linen, with hand-painted terracotta plates and serving dishes, and luxurious, opulently- patterned linen cushions, trimmed with rope and raffia, which are made locally in the UK. Erdei has sought out artisans with exceptional skills to make pieces of the quality his brand requires. 

The glass and tableware are both produced in Hungary by small manufacturers who are the last craftsmen in their fields with the knowledge of certain special techniques.

Since launching the brand in 2019, Erdei has designed exclusive collections for Matches Fashion, Selfridges, and The Conran shop, all of which carry his work. The Herculaneum collection is now available to bring Erdei’s lovingly crafted vision of Mediterranean joie de vivre to your home.

INFORMATION

gergeierdei.com

The Macallan whisky brand marks an extraordinary event in its history, as it unveils The Reach – a rare and highly significant 81-year-old single malt, and the oldest whisky ever released by the company.

The Reach was laid down in 1940, at The Macallan Estate above the River Spey in north-east Scotland, amid the turmoil of the Second World War, which compelled the distillery (which today occupies a Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners building, completed in 2018) to close its doors for the first time since it was founded in 1824.

This incomparable whisky is a testament to the skill and endurance of the craftspeople behind its creation, the dedication necessary to resume the art of whisky-making during turbulent times, and the excellence of those who continue to uphold the distinction of the brand today.

The Reach decanter

To honour the momentous launch, The Macallan is presenting The Reach in an exquisite decanter of mouth-blown glass, cradled on a bronze sculpture of three hands.

Sculptor Saskia Robinson created the piece with bold artistry – working with countless drawings, and the brief that each hand would represent important characters in The Macallan’s unique story. One commemorates the distillery workers of 1940, whose hard work and expertise brought the fine single malt into existence; another is the hand of one-time chairman Allan Shiach, whose grandfather headed the company when this remarkable spirit was first consigned to its cask; and the third is that of today’s master whisky maker Kirsteen Campbell, who carefully selected the 1940 cask used to create The Reach.

As Campbell explains, ‘The creation of many hands, The Reach has been a truly collaborative effort. It’s also a tribute to the people who made this precious whisky, and their enduring spirit, which never wavered.’

The eight-decade old spirit is revealed within layers of wood, bronze, liquid and glass – with an attention to detail that extends from the magnificent form of the sculpted hands, to the glass surface of the decanter, which features subtle indentations matching the fingerprints of the bronze hands that embrace it. The decanter is housed within a cabinet crafted using wood from a fallen elm tree that is thought to have been on The Macallan Estate in 1940.

Glowing at the centre of this visually arresting presentation is the whisky itself. Campbell says, ‘Its deep auburn hue is the first hint of this remarkable whisky’s astonishing depth. Offering notes of dark chocolate, sweet cinnamon and aromatic peat, leading on to treacle toffee, crystalised ginger and charred pineapple, before giving way to an intensely rich, sweet and smoky finish.’

Few will have the opportunity to taste this unique legacy, as The Reach is limited to only 288 decanters worldwide, priced £92,000 each.

INFORMATION

themacallan.com

In partnership with Mortlach

Mortlach By Design is a programme that sees the nearly 200-year-old whisky brand invite six designers to take inspiration from its unique characteristics, and the sculptural forms of the six stills behind its signature 2.81 distillation process, to create diverse projects. 

As part of Wallpaper’s contribution, US director Michael Reynolds and entertaining director Melina Keays hosted a 1930s-inspired, speakeasy-style dinner at interior designer Ken Fulk’s Tribeca loft, working with chef Hari Nayak, from Priyanka Chopra’s much-talked-about Indian restaurant Sona, to create the perfect dishes to pair with the unique and robust flavour profiles of Mortlach’s 12-, 16- and 20-year-old whiskies. (The dishes are shown here, recreated in Sona’s Flatiron restaurant.)

Mortlach whisky and a speakeasy-inspired soirée

Guests were offered a choice of whisky cocktails on arrival, specially crafted to celebrate the spirit’s complex and robust flavour. There was a Scotch Manhattan, New York’s rich and smoky take on the classic Rob Roy, made with 12-year-old Mortlach, sweet vermouth and dashes of bitters; and a Boulevardier, aka the Whisky Negroni, composed of 12-year-old Mortlach, sweet vermouth, and Campari. 

The latter’s creation is accredited to Erskine Gwynne, the American-born writer who founded Boulevardier magazine in Paris during the 1920s. Both cocktails were the perfect complement to the crab puri and caviar appetizers passing through the room. 

Mortlach 16 – with ice and soda – was served with dinner, chef Nayak pairing the complex expressions and unique flavour profiles of the whisky with beet galouti, buckwheat bhel and tamarind lamb chops. 

Alongside the darkly glamorous chocolate bebinca dessert, a dram of Mortlach 20-year-old provided a bold and magnetic finale.

INFORMATION

mortlach.com 

All interior items not credited are from Sona. With thanks to Sona, 36 East 20th Street, New York, sona-nyc.com, and Mortlach

The word ‘whisky’ derives from the Gaelic for ‘water of life’, and the fine whiskies featured in our edit are sure to bring life and warmth to winter evenings. From Scotland to Japan, we have scoured the world for the best whiskies money can buy, and we share them below. 

Best whiskies, from the rare to the refined

Coachbuilt's Blended Scotch Whisky

Coachbuilt is a new blended whisky brand created by whisky expert George Koutsakis and Formula One racing star Jenson Button. The whisky blends spirits from the five whisky-producing regions of Scotland – Islay, Speyside, Campbeltown, Highlands and Lowlands – with each bringing its own unique flavour attributes to create a singular spirit. 

The final product is a rich and creamy whisky with notes of summer fruits and subtle spice, followed by toffee, chocolate and a touch of citrus.

coachbuiltwhisky.com

Mortlach’s Mortlach 20

Mortlach 20 has been matured for a minimum of 20 years in the brand’s signature sherry casks to achieve an exceptionally smooth and mellow taste. This premium scotch whisky features notes of tobacco, dried fruit, and leather that make for an intriguing, aromatic drink.  

It's a subtle and sophisticated choice, ideal for pairing with food or a post-dinner cocktail. 

mortlach.com

The House of Suntory’s Yamazaki 55 Year Old

Yamazaki 55 Year Old is the world’s oldest, and arguably finest, Japanese whisky. Produced by Japan’s first distillery, The House of Suntory, this limited-edition whisky comes in an engraved crystal bottle whose neck is wrapped in handmade Echizen washi paper and bound with Kyo Kumihimo braided cord (a traditional Kyoto craft). Only 200 bottles exist worldwide and at $60,000, this lives up to one of the most exclusive whiskies released in the last year. 

house.suntory.com

Gordon & MacPhail’s Generations 80YO

When it comes to quality, any whisky would be hard-pressed to surpass Gordon & MacPhail’s latest batch of Glenlivet. That’s because it holds the title of the oldest single malt Scotch whisky ever bottled and comes in a decanter designed by none other than David Adjaye. 

At an astounding 44.9 per cent ABV, the Generations 80YO whisky gets its name from its 80 years inside Glenlivet Distillery’s casks. It is a remarkably multifaceted whisky that alters its flavour with each sip, revealing, in turn, notes of citrus, vanilla, and leather. 

gordonandmacphail.com

Royal Salute’s Couture Collection

Scotch whisky brand Royal Salute has launched The Couture Collection, a new line of collectable whiskies celebrating the world of fashion. The collection’s debut, the Royal Salute 21-Year-Old Richard Quinn Edition features a bottle design by the rising star of British couture fashion, emblazoned with his signature floral designs. 

The whisky itself has been crafted by Royal Salute’s renowned master blender Sandy Hyslop, who hand-selected more than 31 rare single malts and grain whiskies, all matured for a minimum of 21 years. The end result is a floral and fragrant Scotch with an edge of oak and spice. 

royalsalute.com

The Dalmore’s King Alexander III

The Dalmore’s King Alexander III whisky blends six different cask finishes to create an exceptional liquor admired by connoisseurs the world over. Composed of whiskies aged in French wine casks, sherry butts, Madeira drums, Marsala barrels, port pipes, and bourbon barrels from Kentucky, King Alexander III has a complex blend of flavours, from the sweetness of summer fruits to the richness of smoky oak. 

thedalmore.com

The Macallan’s Rare Cask 

The whiskies that make up The Macallan’s Rare Cask collection are drawn from the broadest spectrum of casks kept at The Macallan Estate. The brand’s use of sherry-seasoned American and European oak maturation casks produces a distinct breed of woody and richly hued whiskies. 

The first batch of the collection was launched in 2018, with a new, limited-edition batch released every year since. The latest, 2021 edition has a velvety taste with sweet raisin notes and undertones of vanilla and dark chocolate. 

themacallan.com

The Glenturret’s Trinity Provenance

The Trinity Provenance is The Glenturret’s most exclusive whisky. The first edition in what will become The Trinity series, The Provenance comes bottled in a limited-edition Lalique crystal decanter designed by Lalique’s artistic and creative director Marc Larminaux. 

With only 320 bottles in existence, the 33 Years Old single malt is a celebratory launch from two historic brands, with tasting notes of ginger, cinnamon sticks, and brandy-soaked cherries. 

theglenturret.com

Glenmorangie’s The Original

The Original Glenmorangie is a reliable choice when it comes to whisky. Since its debut more than 175 years ago as the first whisky of Glenmorangie, now one of the world’s most prestigious brands, The Original has stood the test of time with its delicate blend of citrus flavours with sweet honey, vanilla, and bursts of peach.

clos19.com

Midleton Very Rare’s Dair Ghaelach Kylebeg Wood

For Midleton Very Rare’s fourth instalment of the Dair Ghaelach series, Midleton’s masters worked with the guardians of Kylebeg Wood on the Ballykilcavan Estate, in County Laois, to carefully select the seven trees that would be used to create virgin Irish oak hogsheads in which to mature some of their best whiskies. 

The partnership is the latest example of how Midleton is collaborating with Ireland’s forestry custodians to meet the highest standards in forestry conservation, while simultaneously producing top-notch whiskies. The end result is a whisky characterised by woodland spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dried, earthy undertones.

midletonveryrare.com

Port and cheese never fail to please. Our guide – informed by leading artisan cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield – will teach you everything you need to know about curating the perfect cheese board to serve up this classic after-dinner pairing. 

Fonseca Siroco port with Lypiatt cheese 

This crisp, dry port is made from a blend of white Port grape varieties grown on the higher and cooler vineyards of the Douro Valley in Portugal. Like most traditional ports, Fonseca Siroco is made by foot-treading the grapes but these grapes are allowed to ferment for longer than most other styles of port before it is fortified. The result is a full and fruity port that pairs perfectly with the rich and mousse-like Jersey cows’ milk Lypiatt cheese from the Channel Islands. 

Fonseca Bin 27 with Manchego Villarejo cheese 

Fonseca Bin 27 ports are aged in seasoned oak vats to give them an added smoothness without sacrificing the vibrant fruit character of the grapes. The port’s full-bodied palette displays intense notes of blackberry, cassis, cherry and plums, interwoven with elements of spice. Those tart elements pair perfectly with the blanched almonds and roasted hazelnut notes of Manchego cheese. 

Fonseca Terra Prima Organic with Cremoso cheese 

Fonseca Terra Prima Organic is a pioneer of the relatively young organic port industry. It was only in 2002 that it became possible to produce port made entirely from certified organic grapes, and Fonseca was one of the first to harvest the innovation’s potential. 

The highly concentrated port has an opulent black fruit nose that pairs perfectly with the bitter edge of Cremoso ewes’ milk cheese. This Spanish cheese has a milky and creamy centre that makes it an ideal cheese board alternative for Camembert lovers. 

Paxton’s 10 Year Old Tawny with Schnebelhorn cheese

Paxton’s ‘Tawny’ port derives its name from its soft tawny brown colour, which results from ten years spent in a wooden cask. The result is a subtler port with delicate wood notes that works best with the intensely rich flavour of Schnebelhorn cheese. Made in Saint Gallen, Switzerland, this rare cheese gets its distinctive taste from milk produced by cattle grazing on high-altitude pastures. 

Paxton’s Vintage 2000 with Old Groendal cheese 

This is the crowning jewel of all ports, with a rich, full-bodied flavour that continues to develop the longer it stays in the bottle. Its big flavours mean it is best suited to blue cheeses and other strong varieties. Paxton & Whitfield recommends a cheese board pairing of Old Groendal, a Belgian cows’ milk cheese with a dense texture and Gouda-style taste.

INFORMATION

fonseca.pt

paxtonandwhitfield.com

From its inception in 2012, Ghetto Gastro has made a point about standing out. Co-founded by Jon Gray, Malcolm Livingston II, Pierre Serrao and Lester Walker, the Black culinary collective has been dedicated to bringing the ‘Bronx to the world, and the world to the Bronx’.

They have since served up their culinary flair and distinctive attitude through collaborations with Apple, Cartier, Instagram and Bank of America, creating food-focused experiences that verge on art. Gray serves as the firm’s CEO while veteran chefs Livingston (formerly of Noma and WD-50), Serrao (who was at Cracco in Milan) and Walker (who worked at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in New York) bring the gastronomical prowess.

John Gray on Ghetto Gastro

Admittedly, food is simply the vehicle to spark a larger cultural conversation. Commentary about race, equity and inclusion is inadvertently woven into Ghetto Gastro’s work – whether it’s disrupting the traditional French brasserie by way of the Bronx with a Cartier pop-up on Paris’ Place Vendôme; taking an unvarnished look at colonialism by casting the lens on the legacy of yams, as part of the Racial Kitchens programme at London’s Serpentine Galleries; or launching a line of sleek kitchen appliances for Crux, including an airfryer, smokeless grill and single-rotating waffle maker. 

‘What I love about what we’ve been able to build is the respect and adoration for what we do, which is very Black. [We’ve] been able to put a premium on Blackness, especially in this vernacular that we have that’s really coming from being a product of divested communities,’ says Gray. ‘We take the reference points and collective experiences coming from these underestimated, urban neighbourhoods, like the Bronx, and build a platform [that is] received and respected as a luxury offering. We wanted to make sure we made a space, took a space – in America, especially when you’re Black, nobody’s giving you anything, you gotta take it – [so that we can] break down the current table as it is and rebuild our own, and make it inclusive with a capital I.’

Gray, Livingston, Serrao and Walker are all native to the Bronx. Gray, the only non-professional chef and self-professed dishwasher of the founding group, has a background in fashion (he attended the Fashion Institute of Technology), and ran his own denim label before he came up with the idea for Ghetto Gastro. The collective’s holistic, multidisciplinary approach is fuelled by his wide array of interests, which spans art, design, music, history, fashion and, of course, food.

In addition to driving Ghetto Gastro, Gray’s ability to ride the cultural zeitgeist has been tapped by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (he was named as one of three Civic Partnership Artists in Residence in 2020) and the Cooper Hewitt, where he curated a show informed by explorations and interpretations of the museum’s collection of 215,000 objects for its ‘Selects’ exhibition series.

Gray’s exhibition (until 13 February 2022) transports visitors to the year 2077 in an effort to prompt a rethinking, repositioning and reclaiming of object stories and identities. Always one to collaborate with his network and community, Gray’s concept was supported by a fictional narrative by José Mejia, artwork by Oasa DuVerney and an exhibition display by Snøhetta, who previously teamed up with Ghetto Gastro to create a culinary space in Tokyo.

‘I worked on [the Cooper Hewitt] show in 2019. It felt crazy how things played out because the subject matter was very dystopic and about Afrofuture, and then we had a pandemic and that was the point of view we wanted to take,’ Gray recalls. ‘I try to be as pro-Black and disruptive as possible. I want to be the bull in the glass shop, I want to shake some shit up. That was the goal going into it. And also to critique the institution – museums are very Eurocentric and sometimes can feel oppressive. I grew up in El Barrio, just blocks away from that museum, and I went to elementary school on 103rd Street and Madison, another ten blocks north.

‘With all these things happening on Museum Mile, I never really felt like I was invited to that party. I wanted to have a meaningful dialogue with the institution and show objects that one might be ashamed to show or weren’t safe. I wanted to dust those off and have that conversation.’ 

Judging the Wallpaper* Design Awards 

In his role as a Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022 judge – serving on a panel presiding over our highest honours, the Judges’ Awards – Gray cast his votes with a similar level of discretion, throwing support behind Francis Kéré’s Slak education campus in Kenya and Byredo’s sculpturally packaged, egalitarian make-up line, whose appeal he sums up succinctly as ‘Byredo is bringing a different vibe to make-up’.

Elevating and amplifying these points of difference continues to be the driving force of Gray and his work with Ghetto Gastro. In 2021, he launched Gastronomical, a line of consumer goods and a content platform dedicated to nourishing the world. By engineering what Gray calls ‘gastro-diplomacy’ as a means of impacting culture worldwide, Ghetto Gastro has created visibility at all levels of the spectrum, and truly shows what can be possible.

‘[Rapper] Nipsey Hussle once said, “The highest human act is to inspire” – it unlocks all types of possibilities that I can’t even imagine,’ he says. ‘If the work that we do inspires generations of peers to think about things differently, value their point of view, and deconstruct these patriarchal ideas and the prose of white supremacy, then it gives them the power to think that all this shit is ours. That’s how we change the world.’ 

With the Bronx currently coping with the aftermath of one of the worst fires in New York City's history, Ghetto Gastro is campaigning for monetary aid, support and donations for the families and residents of Twin Parks North affected by the destruction. Find out how to contribute at their Instagram post below

INFORMATION

ghettogastro.com

The Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022 are revealed in full in the Feburary issue, on newsstands. Subscribe today!

You’ve just made the most phenomenal dinner for some pretty phenomenal guests. All it needs is some garnish ideas for the final flourish – a sprig of parsley or a few mint leaves, right? Wrong. 

You want to make your diners gasp with amazement, you want your table to look like a fin de siècle banquet, you want sumptuous creativity, and extravagance is key. Decorate your platter with a piece of ephemeral art. 

These stunning carvings made out of foodstuff will only last for one meal, and take a talented sculptor to create. Dish up pure elegance by whittling away the hours at a large root vegetable, or do what we always do – hire a consummate professional to create a work of genius that wouldn’t have looked out of place on an emperor’s dinner table.

Sculptural garnish ideas

Play squash 

Not exactly a garnish but a lot of fun, place this carved squash in the centre of your holiday table for a bizarre and beguiling centrepiece.

Piña envy

If these pineapple garnishes look too big for your cocktail, maybe your cocktail isn’t the right size.

Flesh and bud

Sculpt your watermelon into a floral tribute that pips the competition. 

Beets me

Harness some flower power and catapult yourself into higher circles. 

Fix your leek

Turn your spring onion into a celebratory tassel that's the perfect companion for your Bloody Mary.

Twisting your melons

Rose to the occasion with a game old Galia.

Of the world’s great drinks, single malt whisky, and the places where it is made, are particularly well endowed with heritage, culture, and beautiful surroundings. Glenmorangie Distillery, deep in the rugged Highlands of Scotland, has channelled these attributes towards creating an immersive whisky experience that offers the chance to appreciate every part of the whisky story at its source.

Glenmorangie House

Visitors may elevate their single malt adventures with a stay at Glenmorangie House, which is nestled in the stunning Highland landscape and only moments away from the distillery. The beautiful 17th-century house is surrounded by fields of barley, from which whisky is made, and has recently undergone a dramatic reincarnation that takes guests on an exciting sensory journey through the whisky-making process.

Designed with exuberant flair by Russell Sage Studio, every space is a window into the whisky world. Take a seat in the morning room, which, with its golden, hand-painted Fromental wallpaper, nods to a sun-filled barley field before harvest. The dining room, meanwhile, suggests the heat and grandeur of copper stills. Each of the luxurious bedrooms reflects an enticing aspect of whisky’s colours, tastes and scents, and is scattered with quirky and delightful details.

Russell Sage remarks on the ‘aim to create a joyful experience’ and for ‘people to have a real sense of surprise and discovery’. The drawers in the sunset room, for instance, are lined with maps of Jerez – a reference to Glenmorangie’s Lasanta expression, which is finished in sherry casks from Jerez in Spain.

A sense of place and community is enhanced by the celebration of local artisans, who have been called upon to craft unique pieces, from paintings and prints to hand-tufted rugs, blown glass, and woven willow baskets.

The world of whisky is steeped in history and heritage, but that is not to say that it is positioned in the past; far from it, the whisky experience is constantly moving forward with our modern world, and in addition to the reimagining of the house, the distillery has now revealed The Lighthouse research and innovation lab designed by architects Barthélémy Griño, a groundbreaking multi-million pound expansion to its existing stone buildings. 

Glenmorangie Distillery extension

The Lighthouse may be seen as a whisky maker’s playground, where Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s director of whisky creation, continues his pioneering work in pushing the boundaries of single malt production. 

The 20m-high glass building takes its place as a dramatic modern feature of the Highland coastline, with the signature, tall copper stills visible through the glazing. The custom-designed stills feature a host of modifications that hugely expand what is possible with the raw ingredients for producing whisky (there are only three: barley, water and yeast). A laboratory is housed above the still house, in which Lumsden and his team experiment.

The combination of heritage, technology, and exceptional expertise yields delicious results that are all to be explored at Glenmorangie, whose portfolio is showcased at the distillery and the house, where you may retire at the end of a glorious Highland day, reflect on the magnificent experience, and savour a cocktail by the fire.

INFORMATION

theglenmorangiehouse.com

As feelings go, horror and hunger have a lot in common. They are expressions of our most primordial instincts, we experience them in our gut, and they are capable of inspiring great art. Case in point, Horror Caviar, a new cookbook that features terrifying and tantalising recipes inspired by cult horror movies.

Horror Caviar: horror movies on a plate

The first cookbook from independent film company A24, Horror Caviar feeds your physical, aesthetic, and intellectual appetites with exuberantly ghoulish imagery photographed by Justin J Wee, and recipes from the likes of food stylist Laila Gohar and artist Chloe Wise, alongside essays examining the role of food in horror movies.

Highlights include a recipe by Yardy founder DeVonn Francis for an ‘Aspic Tower Studded with Insect Candy’, inspired by Suspiria, the 1977 horror about a witchy Berlin ballet school. Or chef Jen Monroe’s ‘Watermelon Sake Gelée Goldfish Pond’, inspired by the Japanese classic House (1977) and featuring jelly fish sculptures swimming in a pool of watermelon juice and cucumber garnishes. 

Finish things off with some ‘Brain Cake’ for dessert and indulge in a cocktail inspired by the stomach-busting creature in Alien made from warm vegan horchata, amaro and instant coffee. 

All these recipes sit alongside essays from a series of singular writers. Film critic AS Hamrah uses one of the most absurdly brilliant lines in horror movie history – ‘I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum’ – to kick off an examination of the horror genre’s complex portrayal of American consumerism. 

Carmen Maria Machado pens a tribute to the many terrifying guises a seemingly innocuous kitchen appliance – the refrigerator – can take when captured on film. 

Horror Caviar is an inventive take on the traditional cookbook that is well suited to movie fanatics and foodie fiends alike. As director Ti West says in the book’s introduction, ‘in the same way that a good meal brings people together, the best horror movies take our collective fears and turn them into a shared cinematic experience’. 

‘It’s a rare treat to find pleasure in the macabre. Where else do we have the privilege of being scared in a safe environment? But if there’s one thing horror movies have taught us over the years, it’s that just when you think you’re safe, there’s always something waiting to spring from the shadows and take a bite out of you.’ Dig in, if you dare.

INFORMATION
shop.a24films.com

Sauternes, for those who even know what it is, has developed a bit of an unfavourable reputation in recent years. A sweet white wine made in the Bordeaux region of the same name, Sauternes was once a highly prized indulgence, but today it is rarely served outside of end-of-year celebrations or perhaps alongside the occasional foie gras.

Yet there is a revolution brewing in Bordeaux; one aimed at upending the tired reputation of Sauternes and restoring it to its place as a wine du jour. It’s a coup led by Saskia de Rothschild, the sixth generation leader of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) wine group, which produces some of the most esteemed wine in the world and spans multiple Bordeaux estates, as well as wineries in China, Argentina, and Chile. 

De Rothschild has spent her lifetime learning the ins and outs of her family’s vineyards, and since assuming the role of Lafite chairwoman she has steered the company towards a more sustainable agriculture. Château Rieussec, the estate on which she is growing her new take on Sauternes, is a continuation of her ecological project. 

‘The time had come for Rieussec to reinvent itself, so that the vineyard, wine and bottle all share the same commitment to sustainable development, from agriculture that is more respectful of the environment through to the preservation of natural resources provided by our new packaging,' explains de Rothschild. ‘Devising an original bottle, one that you want to keep when it’s finished, is part of this same philosophy.’ 

Rieussec’s innovation

The bottle is made of 95 per cent recycled glass and emblazoned with a simple, graphic crown that gives the wine a distinctly modern edge. Most impressive is the bottle’s replaceable cork closure; created by Swiss design studio Big-Game (which has worked with the likes of Hay, Alessi, and Muuto), it makes it possible for the wine to keep in the fridge for several weeks after it is opened. 

When it comes to what is inside the bottle, Rieussec does not disappoint. Because of Sauternes’ unique climate, it is one of the few regions in the world where ‘noble rot’ (a moulding of the grapes that gives it a distinct, honeyed flavour) can happen frequently. It also means that each harvest of the Rieussec grapes has its own distinct flavour.

‘Each vintage is totally different depending on what nature, the climate and the action of noble rot want to give us,’ says estate director Jean de Roquefeuil. ‘And even more so since we are undergoing conversion to a more responsible form of agriculture.’ 

Rieussec is certainly an interesting experiment in wine-making. Whether this reimagining of Sauternes will catch on remains to be seen, but we’ll have our glassware sets at the ready to toast it.

INFORMATION

lafite.com

A veteran of the British grime scene, Skepta first collaborated with the Cuban rum brand Havana Club back in 2019. During a trip to Havana, the internationally acclaimed rapper and producer was struck by the links between Cuban traditions and his own West African heritage, and designed a pair of Havana Club 7 rum bottles, incorporating traditional Nigerian cultural symbols.

Havana Club Rum of Skepta: the creative process

Skepta and Havana Club have now teamed up once again, this time collaborating on creating a unique, one-of-a-kind spirit for a new generation of rum drinkers. The creative process began with another trip to Cuba for the musician, and a rum-and-cigar-tasting session with maestro del ron Cubano (Cuban rum master) Asbel Morales at the Havana Club distillery in San José de las Lajas in order to work out Skepta’s particular palate preferences.

‘We learnt all about the rum – the theory, the process, the different elements that go into it, and the unique flavours,’ says Skepta.

The London-based musician then returned to his hometown to complete the saporific journey. Drawing inspiration from gentlemanly symbols of British culture, the resulting spirit, Havana Club Rum of Skepta, is a full-bodied sipping rum, dark amber in colour, smooth and sweet, with closing notes that capture its creator’s sense of style, achievement, values and elegance. The blend is imbued with hints of tropical fruits, oak, cacao and tobacco. ‘And it finishes with a nice kick,’ adds the musician.

Havana Club Rum of Skepta is available in a limited edition of 3,000 bottles, priced £85/€100 for 70cl. Available in the UK at The Arts Club, Mayfair, and Harvey Nichols, and in Cuba at the Museo del Ron Havana Club. It is also available to purchase online in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic and Spain.

INFORMATION

havana-club.com

drinksupermarket.com

If you feel like your trick-or-treating days are behind you and boisterous costume parties are not for you, then perhaps your best – but no less fun – option is to host a Halloween dinner party. Below, we share tips for making a photoshoot-worthy spread that manages to toe the line between spooky and sophisticated.

Serve up your fare on witchy tableware

This new ‘Constellation’ collection of witchy tableware from Dior is the most delightfully lavish addition to any Halloween dinner. The collection features pumpkin-shaped bowls by ceramics workshop Jean Roger, black and white crystal glasses, and plates featuring Albrecht Dürer-like illustrations of tarot card motifs by Italian artist Pietro Ruffo. 

dior.com

Cue the mood lighting

These black candleholders and matching candles from Loewe are the perfect way to cast some eerie light over your dinner table. Their liquorice scent will bring a powerfully aromatic woody smell to your dinner location, the perfect fragrant accompaniment to a Halloween gathering. 

net-a-porter.com

Create an autumnal bouquet

Decorate the table with some autumnal blooms, such as this arrangement from London-based florist Ronny Colbie. Colbie suggests gathering dahlias, chocolate cosmos, hydrangeas and proteas in yellows, dark purples and oranges to make a standout bouquet. 

ronnycolbie.com

Lalique, which recently opened a fine dining restaurant at a distillery in Scotland, can always bring drama to a table with its striking decorative designs. For a vase you’ll want to display well past Halloween, consider investing in one of the brand’s exceptional black or orange crystal vases. We’re especially fond of its ‘Mûres’ vases, a classic design that features an interlocking pattern of thorny blackberry bush stems.

harrods.com

The Glenturret is a gem of a distillery – small and perfectly formed, it is located in a beautiful setting alongside the River Turret, at the foot of the hills of Crieff in Perthshire, and is also home to Aberturret Estate House. Crafting single malt whisky entirely by hand since 1763, The Glenturret is the oldest working distillery in Scotland and the maker of some of its finest whiskies. Now, in 2021, French crystal house Lalique has unveiled a restaurant at The Glenturret, making it the first distillery in Scotland to offer fine dining.

The partnership between The Glenturret and the house of Lalique (founded in 1888), is a fitting one, as the ties between Scotland and France stretch back centuries, and are fondly referred to as ‘the Auld Alliance’.

Silvio Denz, executive chairman of Lalique Group, says: ‘It was critical that the shared philosophies of both Lalique and The Glenturret were reflected in the new restaurant.’ 

A firm desire to celebrate Scottish heritage and to add value to the community lies at the heart of the venture. From the local craftspeople and suppliers, to the whisky makers and chefs who have put their skills into bringing The Glenturret Lalique restaurant to life, everyone involved is deeply connected to the place, and the atmosphere is warm and familial.

Head chef Mark Donald brings impeccable culinary credentials. He joins the restaurant from Michelin-starred Number One at The Balmoral in Edinburgh, previously having shown his flair at some of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants, including Noma in Copenhagen, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Hibiscus in London, and Bentley Restaurant in Sydney.

The new restaurant offers a unique gastronomic experience that honours its Scottish location and the excellent produce that is available there. Locally sourced venison, shellfish, and foraged leaves and mushrooms are among the choice ingredients showcased on the contemporary tasting menu, which is expertly executed from a foundation of classic French cuisine.

For those visiting during the day, afternoon tea is served in the Lalique Salon, with sweet delicacies created by award-winning pastry chef Kayleigh Turner. Look out for her superb Maracaibo chocolate and malted barley gâteau, which is made with the same grains used for making The Glenturret whisky, and is of special note.

As you would expect, the food is complemented by an impressive wine list that has already won a Best of Award of Excellence at the Wine Spectator Awards 2021. Curated by executive sommelier Julien Beltzung, the list features wine from five continents, and includes exceptional offerings from the private cellars of Lalique Group founder Silvio Denz. 

For whisky enthusiasts, The Bar at Glenturret is an exciting prospect in itself. Aglow with a glittering array of glass and enticing liquids, it offers an eclectic selection of 250 extraordinary whiskies, including rare and unexpected expressions that may be enjoyed by the dram or in a cocktail.

Designed by Green & Mingarelli, the bar and restaurant display a seamless melding of Scottish and French style. A pair of dramatic Lalique ‘Champs Elysées’ chandeliers and bespoke Lalique glass and tableware bestow a sparkling layer of French crystal. And those for whom a Scottish experience would not be complete without tartan will not be disappointed – traditional Glenturret and Murray clan tartans are elegantly used for the luxurious upholstery. 

This union of two great heritage brands is an exciting event that celebrates the culture of two countries, while placing an important destination restaurant in the heart of the Creiff community, and bringing the whisky distillery experience to a whole new level.

INFORMATION

theglenturretrestaurant.com

The Glenturret has now also opened Aberturret Estate House as a hotel

Our selection of the latest and greatest, comprehensive coffee machines. These are the devices designed for bean bores and espresso evangelists, all offering the ability to tweak and manipulate your daily intake exactly the way you like it – as the best coffee machines should. All the models below can make a variety of brews starting out with raw beans, from compact countertop coffee makers through to high-end built-in machines.

Small and sleek: Smeg BCC02 

Smeg’s BCC02 is the company’s first foray into bean-to-cup coffee machines. Compact and streamlined, the BCC02 offers a push-button experience with the ability to customise the strength of your brew, and the ability to create ristretto coffee, espressos and americanos, together with frothy milk. The 1.4-litre water reservoir holds enough for six cups. Traditionally, a full-service coffee machine takes up a lot of counter space, but the BCC02 manages to cram everything into a minimal footprint. The brushed aluminium exterior and prominent logo match it up to the company’s other retro-tinged products, and it’s available in four different colours. 

shop.smeguk.com

Two for one: Melitta Purista

Another ultra-compact coffee machine, Melitta’s Purista Series 300 boasts twin nozzles for serving up two cups at once, and promises a near silent operation thanks to a ‘super quiet steel cone grinder’. That same component can be adjusted for five different types of grind, and coffee intensity can also be easily varied. The machine incorporates Melitta’s own water filter system for good measure. 

melitta.co.uk

Digital delight: De’Longhi Maestosa 

De’Longhi’s top of the range Maestosa is a sizeable device that brings all the coffee shop trimmings to your home. Operated by a 5in touch screen, the Maestosa promises one-touch operation to serve up a variety of coffee, milky coffee and even hot chocolate drinks. With a black mirrored glass front and a ribbed metal frame, it has all the retro charm of a Soho bistro. 

delonghi.com

A history of creating coffee: Gaggia Naviglio

Gaggia is a pioneer in automatic coffee machines, having been set up in 1947 by Giovanni Achille Gaggia to commercialise his innovative high-pressure approach to brewing. The heyday of deco-inspired machines has passed, but the current range runs from the simple Brera all the way to the one-touch Accademia cappuccino maker. For our money, the Naviglio Bean to Cup Coffee Machine is a sweet spot between style and function. 

gaggiadirect.com

Glass act: Jura ENA 8

Another compact machine that won’t crowd the countertop, Jura’s new ENA 8 serves up one cup at a time courtesy of its touch screen interface. Ten specialty coffees can be selected on the 2.8in screen and the company has made a special feature of the 1.1-litre water tank, with its crystalline facets. 

jura-ena.com

Sleek but sensible: Siemens EQ.9

Capable of serving up two drinks at once, the EQ.9 continues Siemens’ tradition of no-nonsense industrial design, with the added benefit of app connectivity and a colourful touchscreen interface. The EQ.9 is for eager entertainers who like the idea of plugging in preferences to the accompanying app and then watching as the machine automatically makes its way through the various orders. 

siemens-home.bash-group.com

Dial it in: Sage Barista Express

If you’re not quite ready for espressos conjured up by an app and poured via touchscreen, Sage’s Barista Express is a far more traditionally styled machine. You’ll need to put more initial effort into mastering the arts of grind and pressure, but the end results will no doubt be more satisfying. One for those who savour the ritual of the coffee making experience. 

sageappliances.com

For the minimal kitchen: Neff N90

Built-in appliances take coffee making to another level. Although they’re best incorporated at the outset of a kitchen remodel, the standard fit and minimal trimmings ensure this high-end coffee machine from Neff will fit into most domestic schemes. The entire unit swings open for maintenance, with a 2.4-litre water tank, and twin nozzles for faster preparation.

neff-home.com

Thinking ahead: Fisher & Paykel Series 9

Fisher & Paykel’s Series 9 is another built-in option, offering 13 different drink options, a self-cleaning system, and the ability to be pre-programmed to deliver a shot of coffee at the same time every day. Available in both black and stainless steel. 

fisherpaykel.com

The 1960s were a notably creative and exciting decade in which many good things were born, including Suntory’s Yamazaki 55 Year Old whisky – the oldest in its history.

The House of Suntory has now released its highly anticipated blend of unique and exquisite single malts. Yamazaki 55 is a whisky whose journey began during the 1960s under the supervision of Suntory’s founder Shinjiro Torii, who built the Yamazaki Distillery in 1923. It stands as Japan’s first and oldest distillery, and is the birthplace of Japanese whisky.

The distillery is nestled in a misty valley at the foot of Mount Tennozan near Kyoto, where the region’s humidity and diverse temperatures, and the exceptionally high-quality mineral water, create the perfect conditions for the making of fine whisky.

Japanese whisky: delicacy, balance and complexity

Japanese distillers follow the Scottish standard for whisky production, but they tread their own path and have their own ways. The unique Japanese whisky palate has three main requirements: delicacy, balance, and complexity.

Chief blender Shinji Fukuyo worked closely with third-generation master blender Shingo Torii, and with their art and wisdom, created a complex spirit of extraordinary depth and splendour.

The deep amber colour is distinctive of the Japanese Mizunara oak casks in which it is first aged; Mizunara is much scarcer and more expensive than European or American oak, and tricky to work with, but skilfully used, it imparts exquisite nuances of flavour. Yamazaki 55 offers notes of sandalwood and ripe tropical fruit; the finish is slightly bitter, yet sweet, rich and smooth, with some lingering smoky peat.

Did we mention that Yamazaki 55 is a rare whisky? Presented in an engraved crystal bottle whose neck is wrapped in handmade Echizen washi paper and bound with Kyo Kumihimo braided cord (a traditional Kyoto craft), only 200 bottles exist worldwide, each retailing at $60,000. It is rare indeed, and a fitting tribute to the legacy of the founding family of Japanese whisky.

INFORMATION

whisky.suntory.com

Planning an event – from a wedding to a dinner party – always comes with its challenges; once you’ve pinned down the date, the location and the food, the amount of decisions which still need to be made can feel overwhelming. Keeping things simple is the key to a good celebration, and when friends sit down together all they need is a presentable table and good conversation.

Smart cutlery, sparkling glassware, flowers and placements will add an edge to a setting, alongside carefully considered napkin rings which can become a talking point in themselves. From marble to textured gold and brass, choose the right accessory to bring a frisson to your fare with our design guide below.

Napkin rings for the maximalist: L’Objet

Napkin rings don’t have to be classic, and a host of designers have cottoned on to the fact that intricately embellished napkin rings can spark a real sense of joy when sitting down to lunch. L’Objet, which creates beautifully crafted homeware with a bohemian eccentricity, has played with mythical themes in a collaboration with the Haas Brothers, in the ‘Monster Ball’ set of napkin rings, which are contemporary adornments in their own right. Crafted from antique gold brass and with a polished finish, these textured critters are sure to invite a comment or two. 

amara.com; £295

Napkin rings in sculptural shapes: Fiammetta V Home Collection

Classic, tactile materials are a natural fit for the sculptural simplicity of a napkin ring. Traditionally a delicate whorl of precious metal, a warmer base can transform the look and feel for pieces which guests will want to play with. This set of four napkin holders from Fiammetta V Home Collection crafts simple loops in pink Portogallo marble and green Guatemala marble. Each piece, handmade in Italy, is unique, and comes complete with delicate veining and hazy integrations of colour, bringing an Italian elegance to your dinner table. 

artemest.com; £120

The leather napkin rings: Métier

We use the term ‘rings’ loosely when considering Métier’s brown leather napkin rings which err more on the traditional side, nodding to the practicality of a simple strip of leather. The play on form brings a different aesthetic to the dinner table, appealing to those who are after something stripped-back and unpretentious. These pieces, from Métier’s first homeware collection, ‘The Art of Dining’, are made in Italy from buffalo leather and are secured with a thread-loop fastening. The rich warmth of their colour makes them the ideal foil for crisp white table linen. 

matchesfashion.com; £290

Napkin rings for the bold: Stories of Italy

A minimalist table not for you? For those who eschew the simplicity of a neutral palette, a rich clash of textures can be fun. Bold prints in vivid colours – think vibrant tablecloths, wildflowers spilling out their vases and clashing cutlery – can all bring a fizz to a dinner party. Stories of Italy has the perfect pieces for these tablescapes, crafting colourful napkin rings from mouth-blown Murano glass. The brilliant colour effects are created through many applications of pigments and flakes, which builds to a three-dimensional effect, a nod to the traditional patterns of ancient Italy. 

libertylondon.com; £175

Romantic napkin rings: Alighieri

Alighieri’s jewellery is created in Hatton Garden by Rosh Mahtani, who was inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy for her wearable sculptures that cut indulgent silhouettes. It is a sensual philosophy carried through to homeware that adds a flamboyant flourish to tables. This ‘Selva Oscura’ napkin ring set, handcrafted from gold-toned brass in Italy, will strike the right note for an intimate dinner for two. Embracing both curves and textural patterns, their voluptuously drawn forms are shamelessly seductive. 

alighieri.co.uk; £195

Napkin rings for the minimalist: Broste Copenhagen

Scandivian interior design company Broste Copenhagen focuses on slow production and carefully considered details in the two collections it releases each year. Homeware products including lighting, textiles and more decorative items all conform to the clean simplicity of Nordic traditions, with an added contemporary dose of cool. Napkin rings, crafted from brass and with a subtle matte cream finish on the outside, are neutral enough to style as you see fit. Keep things simple with pressed linen napkins, or transform them into an elegant foil for brighter patterns and let your imagination run riot.

padlifestyle.com; £50

When Sir David Adjaye drinks, there are no half measures. ‘One of my uncles is a huge whisky fan in Ghana,’ he tells me via Zoom. ‘West Africans brew all these high-octane things – they call it akpeteshie. Very DIY, but very loved. Whisky feels like something that’s really engaging with the body; I love that fire that goes down you. It makes you feel so alive.’

It seems, then, that far from being a surprise move, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal-winning architect’s newest project – designing the case and decanter for the oldest whisky ever to be freshly bottled – makes complete sense.

In 1940, in Elgin, north-east Scotland, 26 years before Adjaye was born, father-and-son whisky team John and George Urquhart were considering the latest batch they had acquired from Glenlivet Distillery. John had worked his way from apprentice to sole owner of Gordon & MacPhail, one of Scotland’s finest bottlers. Their decision to put aside a cask of Glenlivet for 80 years, knowing they would never taste it, took experience, foresight, and a little madness.

Stephen Rankin, director of prestige at Gordon & MacPhail, and fourth-generation member of the Urquhart family, explains that the pair weren’t averse to forging a path: ‘You can release a blend when it’s three years old, but in the 1970s, George released Macallan whisky from 1937, for £4.50 a bottle. It’s worth tens of thousands of pounds today.’ 

The result of this long-term thinking is Gordon & MacPhail’s latest release: the Generations 80 Years Old from Glenlivet Distillery, the oldest single malt Scotch whisky ever bottled. Maturation is a delicate art, especially when dealing with a spirit as rare as this, and decades of judgement has paid off.

The 80YO, at an astounding 44.9 per cent ABV, is remarkably multifaceted. Each sip of the amber liquid brings forward new notes, from citrus to vanilla and leather. While requiring astronomical restraint, leaving a drop in the glass overnight to revisit the next day brings its own rewards of lingering fragrances that transport you to a comfy corner in an old library.

Generations of craft

There’s a smokiness here, missing from most Speyside drams, that’s linked to the whisky’s age: distillers in 1940 would malt barley on site, creating more varied flavours. Decades on, the 80YO’s light smoke settles into the background, elevating the lighter notes at the forefront. It’s magnificent, the result of generations of care.

Adjaye’s pavilion-like oak enclosure, crafted at Wardour Workshops in Dorset, pays homage to the wood that made this whisky possible. When the oak tree harvested to make the cask first sprang to life in 1840, Queen Victoria had just married Prince Albert.

A century later, after housing mosto (pressed grape juice), sobretables (newly fermented wine) and sherry, Cask No. 340 was sent from Spain’s Jerez to Elgin, to be filled with Glenlivet’s best spirit, made rarer by the wartime rationing of barley. 

David Adjaye on his decanter design

There’s an enigmatic nature to Adjaye’s case, with only narrow slits in the front teasing at the interior. Innovative hinges click open to reveal the crystal decanter inside, topped with darkened oak to connect the whisky with the wood to which it owes its flavour. Individually hand-blown at Scotland’s Glencairn Crystal Studio, each decanter is encased by thick glass and two cut lenses, both magnifying the liquid inside and helping you keep a firm grip.

‘I’ve been obsessed with glass for a long time,’ says Adjaye. ‘It’s another world. There are certain proportions and certain flows: bottles follow some crazy laws. I did everything just to slow you down. I basically want you to really appreciate it – I don’t want you to casually pick it up. Please give it some respect, pick it up with two hands, watch the liquid slowly descend.’

This considered approach has been key to the work of Gordon & MacPhail for generations. ‘It’s all about the long term,’ says Rankin. ‘We’re not looking at how things will look for the fifth generation, it’s how it’ll look for the sixth, seventh generations.’

Adjaye, too, takes the long view: ‘I think that within five years, if you’re not doing anything meaningful about sustainability, your business is going to suffer, no matter how good your brand is,’ he says. ‘For younger generations, it’s not even a conversation. “How are you not thinking about this? Are you mad?” They’ll be laughing at us; we’ll be like the tobacco industry.’

To this end, Gordon & MacPhail supports the local charity Trees for Life in its mission to rewild the Caledonian Forest and, along with Adjaye, has committed to similar projects in West Africa. Proceeds from the sale of decanter #1, due to be auctioned at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in early October with an estimate between £80k and £140k, will go towards the Trees for Life nursery, which grows 100,000 native and rare trees (including oaks) from seed each year. 

Time and patience are concepts that seem in short supply in the modern world. For the fields of architecture and whisky, they’re two of the most important. With this project, the disciplines have combined to create a product that respects the past, embraces the present and focuses on the future. Not bad for something that’s been sitting around for 80 years.

INFORMATION

Public showcases of the Generations 80 Years Old will be held in London, New York and Hong Kong as part of Sotheby’s 2021 Hong Kong Autumn Sales Series preview exhibition

sothebys.com 

gordonandmacphail.com

adjaye.com

BiBi is a new London restaurant that is serving up traditional Indian cuisine in a contemporary European style. 

‘BiBi’, Urdu for ‘lady of the house’, is used as a term of endearment for grandmothers across the Indian subcontinent, and much of the restaurant’s menu and aesthetic is inspired by the comforting and flavourful Indian cooking traditions of chef Chet Sharma’s own BiBi. 

Prior to working at some of Europe’s most prestigious restaurants (Mugaritz, Moor Hall, and L’Enclume) Sharma was an Oxford-educated physicist, and his penchant for mathematical precision is on display at BiBi.

The BiBi fare

The menu is divided into four sections – snacks, chaat, sigree, and sides – all of which are ideal for sharing. 

Curb your hunger with some savoury snacks, such as crispy Kurkure Sweetcorn or mini Chettinad Chicken Liver Burgers in a buttery maska bun; followed dished from the chaat menu, such as Raw Beef Pepper Fry, a dry-aged Dexter top round with a coconut ash dosa and ginger pickle, or Gondhoraj Scallop with scallop roe, chaat masala and jalapeño. 

Save room though for the real showstoppers in the sigree, or grill, section, which features mouthwatering meats like Green Chukh Masala Thigh, Four-Pepper Lobster, and a Dagad Phool Lamb Rump. 

The veggie options are just as tempting, with dishes like Buffalo Milk Paneer and Truffle Millet, all well paired with sides like grass-fed Ghee Daal and Rumali Roti. 

Celebrate the experience with a bright, flavourful cocktail like the Champagne Lassi, Sparkling Tea (a mixture of vodka, Napalese cherry blossom tea and fermented rose petal), or an Ice Gola (tequila, calamansi, apple marigold and chaat masala).

‘At BiBi we will tell the story of Indian food through a different lens,’ says Sharma. ‘Pairing impactful flavours with techniques that I have honed at some of Europe's most celebrated restaurants.

‘My style of cooking is all about marrying the richly diverse cuisines of the Indian subcontinent along with the world-class produce available to us here in the UK.’

INFORMATION
Opens 9 September 2021
bibirestaurants.com

Anaori Kakugama is a new multi-purpose Japanese cooking tool that uses carbon graphite technology to grill, simmer, poach, fry, and steam food that is packed with umami flavour. 

Oddly enough, the genesis of this innovative new product was inspired by a sweet potato. Specifically, the sweet potatoes Anaori's founder, Eiichi Anaori, remembered his father roasting on chunks of carbon graphite that were discarded from a local factory. 

Working with legendary Japanese Chef Hirohisa Koyama, Anaori began figuring out how he could translate the unique cooking properties of carbon graphite into a tool that could be used in a modern kitchen. 

The result is the Anaori Kakugama, a square block of carbon graphite within which there is a grill and imo-gata (rounded bottom) pot that is ideal for boiling water, cooking broths, or making rice. Carbon graphite has the unique ability to minimise the cellular destruction of cooked ingredients, meaning that regardless of the source of heat and the mode of cooking, the essence of each ingredient is enhanced.

The Anaori Kakugama is compact enough to sit on a countertop and can be used for grilling, simmering, poaching, frying and steaming with a hinoki cypress lid that locks in umami flavour. Think of it as a combination of a crockpot and George Foreman grill reimagined with sleek Japanese aesthetics and eco-conscious technology. 

To celebrate the release of this unique product, the brand is launching the 'Naturality Tour,' which invites 24 world renowned chefs to cook with the Anaori Kakugama in their kitchen. 

Guests include Toru Okuda, head chef at Tokyo's famed Ginza Kojyu restaurant, and Rafael Cagali of London restaurant, Da Terra.

INFORMATION

anaori-international.com

In early 2020, Wallpaper* gave PriestmanGoode a problem: the mass of excess waste produced by food packaging. Its solution was ‘Zero’, a holistic reimagining of the entire takeaway food delivery system – convenience with a conscience.  

The ‘Zero’ concept comprised a range of reusable, planet-friendly food containers and delivery rider bag, which the team are bringing to life in collaboration with sustainable material partners: Ananas Anam (Piñatex), Euphoam, (Lexcell, Made With Yulex), Crafting Plastics Studio (Nuatan), Paula Nerlich, (Cocoa_001), Ty Syml (Mycelium) and Margarita Talep, (Desintegra.Me). It also involved a rewards system – such as discounts on future orders – devised to encourage a circular economy mindset. 

Top: 3D-printed models of PriestmanGoode’s ‘Zero’ takeaway containers, designed using environmentally conscious materials. Above: alternative materials by a range of sustainable manufacturers that could be used in the production of the project 

‘Zero’ proved an instant hit, with small start-ups, restaurant chains, food producers and global brands identifying its potential as a game-changer. ‘The project seems to resonate with people across all markets. It’s shown that there are other ways that you can approach food delivery and presentation, which address sustainability, aesthetics, customer experience and business needs,’ says Jo Rowan, associate director of strategy at PriestmanGoode.

So where can ‘Zero’ go from here? PriestmanGoode has taken the last year to think outside the takeaway box. ‘I think there are endless possibilities and applications, from packaging to furniture, interiors, and even transport,’ says Maria Kafel-Bentkowska, head of colour, materials and finish. ‘We’re seeing this in beauty, for instance, where some brands are focusing on natural products in environmentally conscious packaging, which is either compostable or reusable. Even larger supermarkets are starting to trial package-free bulk buying as a means to reduce waste.’

The pandemic has placed a new emphasis on food hygiene.The team are continuing to explore the potential of antimicrobial additives, reactive materials, and a communications strategy for safe delivery processes with minimal human contact. 

Covid-19 also brought with it some regressive views on disposability, but though plastic consumption may have increased, so too have the initiatives, legislation and research doubling down on waste. ‘We have seen a lot of new plastics entering the market as a result of the pandemic, in PPE and testing kits for instance. But what this seems to have done is to accelerate awareness of the issue of plastic waste across all industries,’ says Kafel-Bentkowska. ‘It’s encouraging to see that there is now momentum from all sides towards tackling this issue. For systemic change to happen, we need change in consumer behaviour, in supply chains and in legislation.’

INFORMATION

priestmangoode.com

The Makers Series is a new limited-edition line of Casa Bosques chocolate that honours the work of historically overlooked Black creators. 

The series is the initiative of creative directors Rafael de Cárdenas and Rafael Prieto (co-founder of Casa Bosques), and this first collection is a collaboration with DeVonn Francis, founder of creative studio and hospitality company Yardy. 

 Speaking about the project, de Cárdenas says, ‘I love working with friends and teasing out each one’s expertise; and I’m lucky to have such talented, extraordinary people in my orbit. The main goal of The Makers Series is focusing attention on overlooked and under-recognised artists and makers.’  

Casa Bosques honours Black creators

The packaging of each chocolate bar will feature work by one of three Black artists from the American South – Mary L Bennett, Joe Light, and Ronald Lockett. 

Bennett (born in 1942) is the only living artist of the three. She is a quilt maker working within, and adding her own unique perspective to, the rich tradition of Black female quilters in Gee’s Bend, Alabama.

Light (1934-2005) was a painter, sculptor, and assemblage artist from Memphis, Tennessee, who spent much of his twenties and thirties in prison. While there, he believed he heard the voice of God, and that spiritual experience spurred him to create bold, colourful artworks, often featuring his own devotional iconography. 

Lockett (1965-1998) was a visual artist from the steel town of Bessemer, Alabama, who combined painting with three dimensional objects, such as steel wires and scrap metal, to create a unique aesthetic. 

To create the chocolate itself, Francis and Prieto looked to the gastronomic traditions of the artists and Francis’ own Jamaican heritage, creating a bar infused with flavours of ginger, bay leaf, and chamomile flower. 

One hundred per cent of the proceeds will go to The Okra Project, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing healthy, home-cooked meals to Black Trans individuals worldwide. Future editions of The Makers Series will support other charities. 

Says Prieto, ‘It’s a very beautiful, delicious, and culturally charged chocolate. The Makers Series really highlights the importance of collaboration, experimentation, and kindness. There is a lot of emotion in the project, for us to be able to do what we love.’ 

INFORMATION

The Makers Series, available from casabosques.co

Over the years, French designer Pierre Yovanovitch has proven himself an innovating force in furniture design, interiors, and architecture; and now, just in time for the last few weeks of summer, Wallpaper’s 2019 Designer of the Year is lending his ingenious eye to rosé with his first wine bottle design.

La Bastide Peyrassol rosé

The wine in question is La Bastide Peyrassol, a new vintage from the Province-based vineyard Commanderie de Peyrassol. The vineyard was founded by the Knights Templar in the 13th century and served as a popular resting place for pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land throughout the Middle Ages.

A bastide, or small town square, from that period still remains on the vineyard grounds and the tower at its centre was the central inspiration of Yovanovitch’s design. 

The bottle’s elegant curves and conical top echo the shape of the tower, while the burnt-orange colour of its capsule is inspired by the structure’s glazed tiles. Embossed into the glass of the bottle is the iconic cross of the Knights Templar, under which is an asymmetrical label that recalls the playful shapes of Yovanovitch’s interior designs.

The wine itself is, literally, out of this world, having been harvested according to Commanderie de Peyrassol’s careful study of the affect different lunar phases had on the vineyard. Remarkably, they based what grapes would be harvested off of successive maturity checks, lunar cycle data, and knowledge of the effects of late-stage maturation on the flavours of the fruit.

The result is a rose bursting with all the sweetness of a red fruit at first sip that finishes off with a velvety lightness.

A homage to Provence

La Bastide Peyrassol is part of the Peyrassol brand’s mission to make rosés that are more reflective of the Provincial region; for them, and for Yovanovitch, this new wine is a homage to Provence.

In Yovanovitch’s words, ‘the bottle design reflects the architecture of the Commanderie de Peyrassol estate and serves as a homage to the natural tones and colors of the South of France. Light and airy both in aesthetic and taste, this rosé emulates its origins, and my own hometown, of Provence.’

INFORMATION

pierreyovanovitch.com

peyrassol.com

This August marks a truly exceptional date in the spirits calendar, as The Dalmore releases The Dalmore Decades – a unique collection of six outstanding single malt whiskies that span the years since 1951.

The collection’s title is fittingly chosen for a spirit whose exquisite nuances of flavour are developed over many years in expertly curated casks. Those who know about whisky will know that it is the skill and knowledge behind the choice of cask that results in a single malt whisky that stands at the very pinnacle of the whisky maker’s craft.

Master distiller Richard Paterson has been at the helm of The Dalmore for nearly 50 years, and is a pioneer of luxury single malt whisky production. With an unparalleled understanding of rare and precious casks, and the art of guiding the spirit contained within them towards its full potential, he pushes the boundaries of what is possible in whisky making.

The Dalmore Decades is Paterson’s personal selection – each decanter celebrates its uniquely talented creators, and also the illustrious 180-year history of the brand. Whisky collectors take note, though, that when asked what the greatest Dalmore he has ever made is, Paterson responded: ‘We haven’t made it yet.’ Something, then, to look forward to.

The Dalmore Decades: supporting creativity in Scotland

Three sets of The Dalmore’s whisky will be released, heralding an opportunity for collectors to own a rare piece of the history of this great spirit. The first set of six whiskies, the No. 6 collection, will be offered at auction by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in October 2021, with a significant percentage of the sale to be donated to Scotland’s first design museum, the V&A Dundee, designed by Kengo Kuma.

Not content to rest on its laurels as a producer of exceptionally fine whisky, The Dalmore recently unveiled a long-term commitment to championing the arts, and to supporting the design and creative sectors, including through its partnership with the V&A Dundee.

The pursuit of excellence is followed through with a determination to nurture creative talent and celebrate Scottish culture – and we can all raise a glass to that.

INFORMATION

thedalmore.com

Pierre Marcolini’s two decades in the chocolate industry have been an odyssey. In that time, he has become one of the world’s best chocolatiers, collaborated with Tom Ford, Tom Dixon, and Saint Laurent, and become an exemplar of what it means to source cocoa ethically.

Marcolini founded his eponymous maison in 1995, but it was only in 2001 that he started producing the chocolate for his creations. Now, celebrating 20 years of chocolate making, he is launching 20 new chocolate tablets on September 3rd made with cocoa sourced from around the world.

Marcolini was one of the first chocolatiers to source his own cocoa directly from plantation owners – a process he calls ‘Bean to Bar’ – and it has become the defining element of his success.

‘When we started the Bean to Bar project 20 years ago,’ he says, the idea of a company sourcing its own beans to make chocolate for its products, rather than buying in chocolate ready made, was somewhat advanced. Now, he adds, ‘we’re hugely proud to launch a new collection of Grand Cru tablets’. 

Grand Cru refers to the brand’s most exclusive chocolate, all of which is labelled according to the origin of its cocoa. ‘China, India, Indonesia,’ says the chocolatier. ‘I wanted to take lovers of fine chocolate on a journey and allow them to discover a diversity of flavours and textures. At times fruity, sometimes aromatic and at others tangy with woody undertones.’

For Marcolini, appreciating fine chocolate is like appreciating fine wine. Each bean has a unique intensity on the palate and depth of aroma based on where it comes from and how it was grown. For instance, the beans sourced from India are slightly tangy with nutty aromas, while the ones that come from Indonesia have notes of nutmeg and sumac. 

This is part of the pleasure of Pierre Marcolini chocolates. Not only does the chocolate taste exceptional, but it encourages a more considered type of consumption. These are not chocolates you chow down half way through a stressful day at work, but rather ones that you savour, with each box offering its own array of surprises.

INFORMATION

marcolini.com

‘The Always Pan is our answer to a simple question,' says Shiza Shahid, founder of the kitchenware brand Our Place, who is bringing fresh perspective to cookware for the contemporary kitchen. ‘Why do we need so many pots and pans of specific shapes and sizes when one pan could do so much more?’ 

‘It’s one pan that replaces eight kitchen pieces, shallow enough to flip a pancake and deep enough to make soup. It comes with a nesting spatula and a steamer basket that doubles as a colander. It has an exclusive non-toxic non-stick coating that makes clean-up a breeze, and it is so beautiful you’ll never want to put it away.’

The story behind Our Place

The design of the pan was inspired by Shahid's own childhood in Pakistan, where home cooking was at the forefront of her familial culture but for which her mother and other relatives only ever used one or two pans. 

When she immigrated to America, Shahid noticed that there was a proliferation of unnecessary cookware on the market, but not any products specifically designed for a multicultural kitchen that were easy to use and celebrated the food traditions of diverse cultures. Her brand Our Place, of which Always Pan is the signature product, was the solution. 

It should be noted that beyond her career as a kitchenware entrepreneur, Shahid is a celebrated activist and women’s rights advocate. She is the former and founding CEO of the Malala Fund, an international, non-profit organisation that advocates for girls' education around the world, and mentor to the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai. 

Cookware may not seem like the obvious next step for an important activist, but to Shahid, the move was a logical and necessary one. ‘In food media and mainstream kitchenware industry, home-cooking traditions of communities like my own have often been erased, co-opted or overlooked. I know what it means to me to have my traditions recognised, to feel seen, and that’s what we try to do at Our Place through our storytelling, our product design, our give-backs, and our platform.' 

Beyond the Always Pan, the brand's inclusive mission is realised through its Traditionware collections. ‘Our Traditionware collections are designed to celebrate home-cooking traditions: from Nochebuena to Lunar New Year, Shabbat to Ramadan, we create collections that honour all traditions,’ says Shahid. 

‘Sometimes that means sharing very specific items that are on the table during the celebration. For Nochebuena for example, we sourced hand-carved molcajetes made from volcanic rock, and mezcal glasses made from recycled glass from our artisan partners.'

When it comes to these collections, it is important to Shahid that every one of the products is created by local communities. ‘For each Traditionware collection, we partner with the community that celebrates that tradition from start to finish. Whenever possible, we work with the community itself to make the products.'

‘For Nochebuena we travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico, and partnered with several artisans who are preserving indigenous crafts, such as backstrap loom weaving, and using sustainable materials. We spent a lot of time with the artisans and were honoured to bring their beautiful craftsmanship to a wider audience.' 

In this way and more, Our Place is a brand made for the modern era, with an insistence on diversity and social consciousness underpinning its mission.

In just over a year since its founding, Our Place has built a leadership team composed primarily of people of colour and women, donated 250,000 meals to Feeding America, and partnered with Vote.com to create a national billboard campaign featuring immigrant voices in key swing states. 

All in all, Shahid's goal is to create objects that facilitate two fundamental human needs – to eat and to communicate. ‘As immigrants, my partner and I literally found our place by cooking and sharing foods with our new communities,’ she says.

‘That’s why we created Our Place – to bring people together. We make it easier to cook at home so you can spend more time sharing a meal with your chosen family.’

INFORMATION

fromourplace.com

It was the 71st night, a cold night in Rotterdam, recalls Mert Alas, when he and his team opened the oak casks in which the new gin had been ageing. They hadn’t expected to try the contents so soon, but in the end this was all one big experiment, so why not? One sip of the honey-coloured liquid and it was immediately clear – it was perfect. ‘The distillery was cold, I had this drink, and it all just came together. I thought, this is it.’ 

So goes Alas’ tale about the creation of his first gin, Seventy One, which launches today (12 July). Speaking to the fashion photographer, and now distiller, over Zoom it quickly becomes clear that he is an engaging storyteller and building a narrative is his preferred method of communication.

His voice takes on an almost rapturous tone as he switches from the basic facts of the story and into a discussion of the characters present, reporting dialogue and describing the setting. Similes and allusions are abundant. ‘I live with narratives. I work, I create, everything I do is narrative,’ he says.

Certainly, Alas’ photography, produced with his partner and collaborator Marcus Piggott, is recognisable for its distinctive visual storytelling. As Mert & Marcus, the duo have become some of the most respected image-makers in fashion by crafting glossy editorials that feature extravagantly glamourised characters playing out off-kilter scenarios. 

For Alas, Seventy One gin initially began as an outlet outside this demanding, fast-paced world of fashion photography. ‘It started as a passion project; I was just doing it for myself as a way of doing something beyond my photography,’ he says. ‘I was learning, experimenting.’

A new method

The more Alas experimented, the more he became enamoured with the technical construction of taste, the pairing together of different ingredients to get the results he wanted. ‘It was almost like building an orchestra, you know? Thinking, OK, the oboe should do that, the clarinet should do that, and the flute, you do that.’ But he found the traditional method of creating gin didn't lend itself to his idea of symphonic harmony. 

‘Traditionally, gin is made by mixing alcohol with a bunch of botanicals and then vaporising them, heating them up, and the vape becomes the gin. So this is where my question started. I said, “Why am I putting everything in at the same time?” In order for me to conduct this orchestra, I need to know what the clarinet is doing, what the piano is doing. [The traditional method] was impossible.’ 

The solution? Creating a gin the same way a perfumer creates a perfume. ‘I took the absolutes of botanicals individually and then assembled them, like a perfumer would do. So this means that I actually had control over how much the rose should be a top load. How much the juniper should taste more smoked, or more fresh, and so on.

‘This gave me a lot of control, but it was also like an exciting nightmare because there were hundreds of choices.’ 

Tasting notes

In the end, that exciting nightmare yielded a gin with typical ingredients – juniper, coriander, angelica and lemon – as the heart notes, mixed with unexpected flavours, such as rich, resinous base notes of smoke, peat and spicy citrus. These are finished off with the crisp, slightly sweeter tastes of Albanian ivy leaves, grapefruit and damask rose. 

The most notable ingredient in Seventy One is an orchid cactus known as Queen of the Night, which blooms for only one night a year. It infuses the drink with a perfumed, jasmine-like flavour, without being as sweet, and sets Seventy One apart as a gin.  

Once blended, the gin is aged in a sequence of barrels. These include virgin oak casks from Spain that are charred to impart smoky depth, sherry-saturated American oak casks that lend the sweetness of sherry, and French oak casks that infuse the gin with the warmth of cognac. 

It is a round and robust gin with notes that are warm and slightly sweet, a taste that is a little strange but compellingly so. Like all of Alas’ creations, Seventy One is designed to tell a story. In this case it’s a story about something that has been hard to come by in recent times – the perfect night out. 

‘For me, nightlife is about having a great drink in a beautiful glass that has got the right amount of ice. Right person in front of me, right words, right music. When that happens, I call that the night that never ends, because we always remember it. So with Seventy One I wanted to create an homage to that.’ 

Yet the meaning of nightlife has changed since last year, and even when lockdowns around the world lift for the last time, there’s a good chance many people will not return to the crowded rooms and sweaty dance floors of the pre-Covid past.

Alas realises this and believes Seventy One is a drink perfectly suited to this new era. ‘Seventy One is not for getting drunk,’ he explains. ‘It will hopefully bring good, creative minds together, minds with voice, minds with ideas, minds with surprises. 

‘I've got a very good energy, a good feeling about the future,’ he adds. ‘I feel like the renaissance is now.’

INFORMATION

seventyonegin.com

Harrods, the 1,000,000 sq ft London department store that once used a cobra to guard a pair of diamond-encrusted shoes, supplied Ronald Reagan with an elephant, and features a Vegas-style Egyptian themed escalator – has always had a penchant for grandeur. It should come as no surprise then that the store’s newly opened Chocolate Hall is an exuberant confectionary wonderland, with live demonstrations by world-renowned chocolatiers and dozens of chocolates on offer from some of the world’s most exclusive sweets brands.

These include To’ak, which is made with one of the rarest varieties of Ecuadorian Nacional cacao beans and fermented through a unique handcrafted process, as well as heritage favourites like William Curley and Pierre Marcolini.

Chocolate-making has long been a part of Harrods' history. It opened its first chocolate counter in 1870, before beginning its own in-house chocolate production in the early 19th-century and producing over 100 tonnes of chocolate by the 1970s. 

While the chocolate factory might be steeped in history, the new Hall is designed with the modern shop-goer in mind. The interiors have been designed by the illustrious David Collins Studios, who undertook an exhausting restoration process of the original chocolate hall which included reworking the space's extensive tilework by hand and recreating the impressive granite and marble floor.

These Edwardian features are enlivened by contemporary touches, including climate-controlled counters that ensure each piece of confectionary is kept at optimal temperature. 

A concern for ethicality and sustainability is also on display at the Chocolate Hall, with only responsibly sourced cocoa on offer. In a new bid to make sure all of their products are ethically sourced, Harrods has acquired chocolates only from accredited suppliers who either buy cocoa from farms that participate in certification schemes or who buy directly from the farms themselves to ensure that farmers are paid a premium.

The end result is a Willy Wonka factory for the sophisticated set, a much-welcomed bit of indulgence after a long period of prudence.

INFORMATION

harrods.com; davidcollins.studio

Orijins is a newly opened coffee shop that, with its elegant, minimalist interiors, feels like a tranquil oasis in the heart of Dubai’s bustling International Financial Center. 

Dubai-based interiors firm VSHD took its design inspiration from nature, specifically stones picked up from the shores of the Red Sea with their various shapes and textures.

This is reflected in the organic shapes of the space itself, with a ceiling and walls that slope and curve to create a peaceful, cave-like atmosphere, emphasised by the fact that they are painted in subdued colours inspired by natural materials such as sand, shells, stone, and wood. 

Orijins isn’t too mellow, though – it is a coffee shop after all. The curvilinear form of the space itself is offset by the large blocks of uneven stone, metal furnishings, and a large coffee bar made from blocks of various kinds of marble. These lend Orijins a contemporary edge, enhanced by the addition of textural finishes – including bouclé and heavy weaves – to the furnishings. 

‘The sparsely decorated space represents the vision of VSHD and a belief in the beauty of imperfection and the humility and integrity that comes from living in tune with imperfect nature,’ say the interior designers. ‘Orijins represents the firm’s interpretation of what it means to be calm, to sit still and observe the beauty that can be found even in our flawed everyday reality.’ 

Coffee aficionados will be happy to know that the roasts are as satisfying as the decor, and the pastries are pretty good too, with rich brownies and coconut cake on offer to satisfy your sweet tooth. 

A contemporary urban oasis, Orijins is Dubai’s go-to watering-hole, with soothing interiors and an endless stream of coffee to revive you.

INFORMATION

instagram.com/orijins/

‘For me, this was an opportunity to create tools that would be as good for amateurs as they are for professionals,’ says famed pastry chef Cédric Grolet (who shares a summer dessert recipe, below) chatting over Zoom from his restaurant in Paris. 

Grolet is discussing his collaboration with Zara Home on the brand’s first line of pastry tools. This collection is both technical and aesthetic. The tools are easy to use, clean and store, while sleek lines and matte black design make them well suited to any modern kitchen. 

The story behind Cédric Grolet and Zara Home

The success of the collection is all down to Grolet, a man who is perhaps better equipped than anyone to create a line of pastry tools. A star of the French culinary world, Grolet is executive pastry chef for Le Maurice hotel in Paris, and in 2018 he won The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ ‘World’s Best Pastry Chef’ award. 

He has channeled his experience into his new line for Zara, creating a line of 12 pastry tools that bring expert-level craftsmanship into a typical domestic setting. 

‘[In my work] I use many different kinds of tools, very good tools. When I started designing the Zara Home tools, I had in mind the way they would look but also the way they would be used – I wanted them to be easy to wash, easy to reuse, [overall] for it to come as a pleasant surprise that they are so easy to use on a daily basis.’ 

The collection is composed of a long-handled spoon, a spatula, a hand whisk, kitchen tongs, a black silicone brush, a peeler, a sieve, measuring bowls, a juicer, a rolling pin, and a pestle and mortar.

When speaking about the design of these tools, Grolet notes that it was important to him that they were instantly recognizable as his Zara Home collection. I wanted this collection to be unique, in terms of colours, shape, texture, and material. I walked into this with the same approach I have for my desserts’ creation – I wanted to use the material in a way that would be clearly identified [as my own].’ 

Cédric Grolet's strawberry cake recipe 

To celebrate the launch of this collection, Grolet has shared his recipe for fraisier, or strawberry cake. A delectable summer dessert that can be made at home using Zara’s pastry tools.

Ingredients for pastry biscuit: 

80g egg white 
56g sugar
11g milk 
25g butter  
33g flour T45
40g egg yolks  
45g eggs 

Method:

• Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with the sugar to make a French meringue. Make a choux pastry by heating the milk with the butter, once hot, add the flour and mix until the pastry comes away from the sides. 
• Put in a bowl with a pastry sheet and turn until the steam is gone and gradually incorporate the egg and yolk mixture. 
• Once the dough is smooth, fold in the French meringue in three stages until the biscuit is smooth. 
• Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C.

Ingredients for candied strawberries: 

300g whole strawberries 
30g sugar 

Method:

• Put the strawberries in a gastro tray, sprinkle with sugar and seal with a lid and cling film.
• Cook for about 1 hour 15 minutes in a steam oven at 100°C.
• Keep the juice to make the strawberry gel.

Ingredients for strawberry gel: 

500g strawberry juice 
50g sugar 
8g agar 
3g xanthan gum

Method:

• Boil the juice.
• Add sugar, agar and xanthan.
• Leave to set in a cool place.
• When cold, blend two-thirds of the gel in a thermomix until you obtain a smooth gel.
• Reserve the rest to make small cubes.

Ingredients for vanilla-mounted ganache:

775g cream 
20g Tahitian vanilla 1
72g white chocolate
42g gelatin mass

Method:

• Heat the cream and vanilla.
• Pour over the gelatin mass and the chocolate.
• Blend together and strain.

Ingredients for rum pastry cream:

450g milk
75g cream
125g sugar
40g cream powder
140g egg yolks
50g butter
100g mascarpone  
33g rum

Method:

• Heat and pour the milk with the boiling cream.
• Pour over the whitened mixture of sugar, cream powder and egg yolk.
• Boil for 2 minutes, then add the butter, mascarpone and rum.

Ingredients for strawberry cream: 

800g vanilla ganache
140g gelatine mass 
800g rum pastry cream
108g rum

Method:

• Whip up the vanilla ganache.
• Melt the gelatin mass and add it to the pastry cream along with the rum.
• Mix until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous paste.
• Mix the vanilla ganache and the rum custard/pastry cream.

Assembly method:

• You'll assemble the cake in a 16cm circular mold, for a cake to serve 6.
• After baking, cut out the biscuit cold [to a little less than 16cm] and place it in a 16cm circular mold, lined with a sheet of Rhodoid that protrudes slightly.
• Garnish with a light layer of strawberry cream on the biscuit and a larger amount around the edges, and smooth it out so that it is filled against the rhodoid.
• Then add the candied strawberries in the centre.
• Fill the gap with the mixed gel and gel cubes.
• Grate a quarter of a lime and sprinkle on top.
• Add a second layer of strawberry cream and smooth the strawberry cake.
• Set aside in the fridge for 2 hours, then remove from the mold.
• Put strawberry gel on top and add strawberries.
• Then pipe 5cm circles around the strawberry cake with the 125mm St Honoré nozzle.

INFORMATION

zarahome.com

Summer cocktail season is upon us and for many that means cracking open the tonic water and slicing up limes for a good old-fashioned gin and tonic. Classics are classics for a reason, but to those who want to mix up something a little different this summer season, we recommend trying these infused gin brands. 

Umami gin

Audemus Spirits has just launched an umami gin with a deliciously strange, savoury flavour. To make this spirit, Audemus distilled the gin with hand-picked capers and Italian Parmesan cheese, which is rich in the molecule responsible for our tongues’ ability to taste umami, the so-called ‘fifth taste’. 

The umami gin can simply be mixed with tonic, but we recommend serving it up in your Bloody Mary for an extra-punchy take on the classic cocktail.  

audemus-spirits.com

Akvavit infused gin

For a subtler flavour than the bold umami, we recommend Nordic Spirits Lab’s signature gin distilled with akvavit botanicals. Akvavit is a traditional Scandinavian spirit made from either grain or potatoes and flavoured with caraway or dill. By applying that same flavour profile to gin, Nordic Spirits Lab has created an intriguingly different take on the liquor. 

If you decide to try it for yourself, we suggest you mix it with tonic water and finish it off with a lemon peel and dill garnish. 

nordicspirits.com

Seaweed infused gin

Barra Atlantic Gin is a seaweed-flavoured gin distilled and bottled on the small Scottish island of Barra. The seaweed used to make the gin is hand-picked from the shores around the island and distilled alongside 17 other, more subtle, botanicals. 

It is an earthy, slightly salty gin that we propose using for a particularly piquant martini or Bloody Mary. 

isleofbarradistillers.com

Empirical is a Copenhagen-based purveyor of cocktail liquors and canned alcoholic drinks that wants to change your understanding of alcohol. 

A self-described ‘flavour company', Empirical disregards typical categorisations of alcohol – gin, tequila, whisky – instead taking a ‘flavour-first' approach to alcoholic cocktails that blends, ferments, distills and generally plays with liquors to create previously non-existent flavours. 

The brand's founders, Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, met whilst working at Noma in Copenhagen and the philosophy of the famed eatery is clearly at work in Empirical. For Williams and Hermansen, that the only delineation between edible and inedible is deliciousness – anything is up for grabs.

‘This process is unequivocally difficult and frustrating sometimes,' says the brand. ‘Actually no... it's difficult all the time. We’ve custom-built machinery, developed hybrid fermentation techniques, augmented low-temperature distillation, and traveled to source the highest-quality ingredients globally.’ 

‘All this because of our maniacal approach to complete our vision. We’ve told ourselves, we’ll worry about making it pretty later. For now, it’s about writing a playbook, that doesn’t exist, one distillation, one spirit, and one flavor at a time.’ 

The result is spirits like 'The Plum, I Suppose,' which is made from the kernel inside plum stones (spoiler: they taste like marzipan) and distilled marigold kombucha. 

The canned drinks blend equally unexpected flavours, like Can 01 which features acidic gooseberry, flowery oolong tea, and toasted birch. We recommend packing them in your picnic basket for an added edge to your day in the park.

INFORMATION

empirical.co

For over 30 years a craftsman, designer and innovator specialising in bespoke leather products, interiors and furniture, Bill Amberg has always held faithful to the simplicity, honesty, and versatility of animal hide. Now he has fallen in love with a new material. ‘English wool felt is curious and wonderful,' says Amberg, flexing a small but thick, variegated grey-brown sample on the wooden work bench of his creative HQ in Bruton, Somerset. ‘It is the great insulator and the great protector. And in just the same way that leather has been bi-product of the meat industry for the past 30,000 years, felt has always been a bi-product of the clothing manufacture.'

A feel for felt

It is made of nothing more than waste wool, he enthuses: ‘Excess material from trousers and jumpers. The manufacturing process is fascinating too; they lay swathes of crude, waste wool material out and pass over it a bed made up of thousands of tiny needles.' No chemicals or binding agents are required. ‘The repeated micro-teasing fuses the threads together to make this unusual material that is soft and strong, with pleasing acoustic and thermal properties. It’s a process that is very hard to reproduce synthetically.'

Bill Amberg has employed his new affection for this uniquely fuzzy material to a new project – a collaboration with West Dorset milk vodka outfit Black Cow – developing, designing and hand-making an insulated bottle sleeve intended to keep spirits cool on picnics and at festivals.

Because their vodka is distilled using sustainable sourced ingredients – nothing but the milk of grass grazed cows, or, in the case of the brand’s strawberry flavoured variant, misshapen fruits rejected by the supermarket business – the Black Cow people wanted to develop an accessory that held true to its environmentally friendly values. Rejected insulation materials included Neoprene, also commonly used as a cold bottle insulator, which employs petroleum during its manufacturing process, while potentially carcinogenic polystyrene used in chill boxes is non biodegradable and breaks down in the marine environment into smaller pieces, negatively impacting water quality and harming marine life. Fibre glass is non biodegradable and often contains harmful formaldehyde and even synthetic fleece (made of plastics and aluminium) releases microfibres in the water system non degradable. 

‘Wool felt, on the other hand,' explains Black Cow co-founded Paul Archard, ‘is sustainable, renewable, and 100 per cent green! Its manufacturing process has a very low environmental impact. Felt has an uncanny ability to trap air and behave as a thermal insulator, keeping things either hot or cold by absorbing the moisture in the air.'

Inspired by research by mountain apparel developers that found layers of natural fibres such as wool, cotton, silk and tweed performing favourably compared to man-made polar fleece and Goretex, the idea of working with Amberg, Paul Archard explains, was to make a piece of luggage that ‘becomes an "old friend" and isn’t immediately discarded after one use. Amberg’s signature as a leather worker arrives in a vegetable-tanned leather label, a bi-product of the shoe industry. 

Combined with a iced vodka bottle straight from the freezer, the sleeve can also be used to keep a round truckle of the Black Cow brand’s Deluxe Cheddar cheese snug and chilled whilst in transit. ‘Since the global lockdown, our attitudes to the outdoors have changed dramatically,' says Paul Archard. ‘We are eating and drinking outdoors now and the hospitality industry is adapting. We’re looking forward to a lot more winter picnics.' 

INFORMATION

The Black Cow x Bill Amberg picnic bottle cooler, £34.99

blackcow.co.uk

selfridges.com

Utter the words ‘Ottolenghi' and ‘dinner party' in the same sentence and chances are you're in store for a mouth-watering, laboriously-prepared, Middle Eastern-inspired feast. Anyone playing host for such an event will have no doubt spent most of the day breaking a sweat in the kitchen, and thinking about how to plate and present their masterful creations no doubt an unwanted extra consideration. 

Thankfully, the London-based chef has just released a new line of tableware to make that final task a bit easier. The Feast collection includes 100 pieces of tableware, including cups, glasses, cutlery, serving stands, and eight different-sized plates: two styles of dishes, two tapas plates, bowls in both small and large and a generous salad bowl.

The pieces are decorated by Italian artist Ivo Bisignano with an expressive ‘O' for ‘Ottolenghi’ or abstract vegetable patterns in a nod to the food group that forms the basis of most of the chef's creations. They range in colour, from vibrant aqua blues to deep navy, from mustard yellow to soft pink, and cream to black. 

Working with the Belgian design label Serax, Ottolenghi and Bisignano have created a line of dishware that both looks good and functions well. 

‘Alongside our newly found co-creators in Serax, we have tried to tell the Ottolenghi story in objects,' says the chef himself about the collection. ‘It is a story of the tension between the earthy and the sophisticated, between passion and refinement, tradition and novelty. Ostensible opposites, existing together in dynamic harmony.'

Throwing an Ottolenghi dinner party might be a complex affair, but at least now one aspect of it has been made easy.

INFORMATION

ottolenghi.com

After collaborating with the likes of Bottega Veneta and Burberry, Alex Pagenelli (who goes by the witty alias DeadHungry) will be taking over Selfridges Cinema for a one-off cinematic dining experience.

With an impressive background as a chef, photography has also long been a passion of Pagenelli’s. Now he merges both, creating sensory feasts that look as exciting as they taste. Taking visual inspiration from vintage film posters, camp 1970s cinema, horror movies, sci-fi films and westerns.

The chef-meets-artist tells us, ‘when designing dishes, I love taking a well-known menu concept – such as classic cinema food – and from there experimenting with new flavour combinations and unexpected ingredients.'

‘The first dish is a savoury cotton candy – I love the texture and it’s fun to eat, but by switching up the flavours, this simple sweet treat becomes a refined starter. From the plant-based hotdog, to the sweet truffle popcorn and natural fruit candies, each course explores foods that are a quintessential part of the cinema-going experience, in new and interesting ways.'

For a cinema experience far removed from sticky carpets and creaking seats, Selfridges state-of-the-art sound and vision technologies ensure a world-class viewing experience. To compliment DeadHungry’s plant-based four-course tasting experience, a short film will follow of iconic food scenes in cinema.

The experience doesn't end there, however, as guests will also be able to take away a bag of DeadHungry’s natural sour candies, created by preserving citrus in sugar for several days until you’re left with delicious sour sweets, reminiscent of childhood favorites.

INFORMATION

selfridges.com
deadhungry.co

London-based Child Studio has converted a disused 1960s London post office into a new outlet for Maido Sushi, bang on time for the new easing of the city’s lockdown restrictions.

‘We were fascinated by the unique story of this building and aimed to capture the nostalgic atmosphere of 1960s London, paying tribute to the modernist public spaces of the era,’ say the founders of Child Studio, Alexy Kos and Che Huang. 

‘The design evolved around the bold geometry characteristic for this period and juxtaposition of simple materials: wood, glass, clay and steel.’  

The restaurant is a unique blend of English modernist designs and Japanese interior elements. It’s a somewhat atypical combination but it makes sense for Maido, which was established in 2016 by founding members of Atari-Ya, the renowned distributors of Sushi-grade fish to Michelin starred restaurants around London. 

At the centre of the space is an island bar where the sushi master prepares and serves classic sushi dishes, from Nigiri with yellowtail to Inside Out Rolls with spicy tuna and spring onions. The counter is clad in reflective steel panels with complementary aluminium bar stools by Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa.

The rest of the restaurant is accessorised with a range of iconic midcentury pieces, including antique tubular steel chairs by Mies Van Der Rohe and moulded plywood armchairs by Norman Cherner.

These design classics are the perfect accompaniment to the space’s dark cherry wood walls and suspended coffered ceiling in a soft blue hue. That pastel ceiling is perhaps the most notable aspect of the interiors and it is emphasised by the reflection of the grid pattern motif on the floor, which is finished in black quarry tiles.

The end result is a space that is achingly chic without being intimidating, making for a dining experience that is both convivial and cool.

INFORMATION
maidosushi.com

For decades, Petersham Nurseries existed as a storybook oasis on the outskirts of London. To those who live in the UK and are able to travel safely, we recommend getting to the nurseries this summer to feast your eyes on the rich flowers and plant life, and feast your stomach on the café's equally sumptuous food.

To those who can't experience the nurseries in person, we recommend doing the next best thing and picking up a copy of the new Petersham Nurseries book.

Available from 20 May, this 432-page tome tells the entire story of Petersham, from its beginnings as a small plant nursery behind a family home to its current, lauded status as an exuberant emporium of flowers, plants, fine food, and enchanting curios. 

This history is told by Petersham’s founders, Francesco and Gael Boglione, a traveller and model respectively before their entrepreneurial adventure, as well as their four children, through personal anecdotes and archive imagery.

Those stories of Petersham’s past are interwoven with seasonal recipes from the location’s Michelin-star café. These include everything from plant-based starters such as artichokes alla Romana with basil and mint, to hearty mains like ravioli with ricotta di bufala and young nettles, and sweet desserts such as strawberry sorbet, meringue, and rose syrup.

The book also includes expert tips for styling plants and flowers in the home, as well as more than a hundred pages of colourful images of the property’s exceptional gardens. 

Bursting with flowery and foodie glory, Petersham Nurseries makes it possible to visit a 21st-century version of Babylon’s Hanging Gardens without even leaving your living room.

INFORMATION

petershamnurseries.com

Coffee companies are acting for positive change, making their buying and sourcing processes fully transparent and working with local communities to ensure a fairer process for all.

Easy Jose

Easy Jose coffee takes its commitment to sustainability seriously, aiming to act against the coffee industry’s role in the destruction of the Amazon. Co-founders Greg Campher and James Higgs work with remote indigenous communities to develop special blends that will have a positive effect upon both the communities and the local rainforest. Their work with the Mayni community in the Amazon rainforest, who handpick the coffee crop to minimise damage to the eco-system, is part of a fully transparent process that results in sweet and sustainable brews. 

easyjosecoffee.co.uk

Workshop Coffee

For the last decade, Workshop Coffee has roasted and brewed coffee from its roastery in London and supplied it to the brand’s four coffee bars as well as to wholesale partners including Claridge’s and The Fat Duck Group. Workshop Coffee’s single origin coffees are sourced from 14 countries, in a process that includes fair pay for producers and encourages reinvestment and training at a local level, for coffee the company describes as ‘clean, sweet and fresh’. 

workshopcoffee.com

Fireheart Coffee

Only a year old, Fireheart Coffee is a seasonal coffee subscription service that sends freshly roasted coffee from Ethiopia and Colombia straight to your door. The company roasts its beans on demand – including those which go into its pods – for minimal waste and maximum flavour. Packaging is sustainable too, including the pods, which are plastic-free and compostable, promised to break down in a matter of weeks. 

fireheartcoffee.com

Flying Roasters

Berlin-based coffee roastery Flying Roasters sources its coffee directly from cooperatives in a bid to ensure fair working conditions in the cultivation and harvesting of the coffee. Working only with small and medium-sized cooperatives and paying a minimum wage almost double that of the industry standard, Flying Roasters also finances the harvest upfront to make it easier for the producers to cover their costs. Its organic coffee is as sustainably produced as possible before making its way to Berlin, where it is roasted slowly at low temperatures for a delicious depth of flavour. 

flyingroasters.de

Bottleshot Cold Brew Coffee

Just in time for summer comes Bottleshot’s cold brew coffee. Created by steeping ethically sourced Arabica beans (from the not-for-profit Rainforest Alliance) in cold water, the cold brew is less acidic than a regular cup of coffee and also stronger, with one can equivalent to two shots of espresso. Company founders Charlotte Dales and Annie Mitchell are Louisiana natives rethinking New Orleans’ traditional cold brew coffee for the UK. Leftover coffee grinds are donated to a community project, which recycles them in vegetable growing. The coffee, available in two flavours, comes in cans made from recycled aluminium. 

bottleshotbrew.com

Looking to add a little panache to your picnic box? Well, London’s bastion of cuisine animale, St. John, is here is to help.

From 1 May, the famed eatery will be serving up two types of premade picnic boxes filled with a selection of savoury bites, crispy sourdoughs with meaty spreads, and a rich bit of dessert. Designed to be shared between two people, the baskets need only to be accompanied by a blanket, some tableware, a bottle of wine for the picnic perfection.

A moveable feast from one of London’s most beloved restaurants couldn’t come at a better time, as many of the city’s residents begin adjusting to looser lockdown restrictions and celebrating the arrival of spring. Since it is St.John’s, the baskets are heavy on the meat and cheese, but most palettes will be able to find something to delight in.

Adventurous foodies looking to indulge in St. John’s signature ‘nose-to-tail’ dining, won’t find any bone marrow or veal innards here. Instead, the baskets are filled with more straightforward, yet no less delicious fare, like smoked mackerel paté and asparagus with lardo.

Londoners can pre-order the baskets from St. John’s store for pick-up at the restaurant’s Spitalfields location. While those outside the English capital can find inspiration in menus for their own picnic perfection.

INFORMATION

stjohnrestaurant.com