Jan 25
đ5ïžâŁ. Next and last up in my annual listing of Top Fives is Restaurants. I tell people that when I am travelling with work Iâm either eating in Michelin starred restaurants, or sitting at an airport gate munching my way through a packet of crisps and overdosing on Haribo.
I did have some great meals last year, and occasionally I took the family! Here are my 2025 Top Five Favourite Restaurants đ
Please click for moređ5ïžâŁ. Up next in my annual collection of Top Fiveâs is Restaurantsđ. I was lucky to eat in some fantastic restaurants last year and selecting just five wasnât easy.
After a lot of thought I did settle on five, and here are my Top Five 2024 Favourite Restaurants đ
Please click for moređ5ïžâŁ. Up next in my annual collection of Favourite things are Restaurantsđ„. My ever expanding waistline is evidence of my propensity for eating out and that does not come without a lot of effort, and much good fortune to eat in some very nice places.
Please click for moreFlying on the red eye tonight from Las Vegas. I had four days in this crazy place on the premise of a best mateâs 50th birthday that never got to happen during the pandemic, and was swiftly thrown together for this past weekend.
Las Vegas really is a nuclear attack on the senses. Some of the things you see, and some of things you canât un-see are disturbingly funny.
Please click for moređ5ïžâŁ A little bit of annual self-indulgence so apologies in advance. My 2022 Top Fiveâs begin with food.
The restaurant industry is in recovery mode after the pandemic, but sadly restaurant closures in the UK have been worse since as owners wrestle with rising energy costs, staff shortages and simply people not having the disposable income to splurge on going out to dinner.
Please click for moreThe only other time I went to Barbados I stayed with my son up in the north of the island at Saint Peter.
That was 19 years ago, but this past year I was in Barbados twice, both times (first) and (second) to watch my daughter represent Bermuda swimming. Those trips centered around the Aquatic Centre, which forms part of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on the outskirts of the capital Bridgetown. The national football stadium Wildey Turf is also there.
Please click for moreIâve been working this week from Sarasota in between making room for some Christmas festivities, and tip toeing around the obligatory workman at the house.
We have just got in from an early dinner, and there is a real chill in the Florida air. Tonight is expected to be the coldest night in Sarasota and most of Florida for 30 years with the temperature set to hover just above freezing. Extreme weather warnings are being sent all across the country with the rather dramatic threat of bomb cyclones closing in around the Great Lakes.
Please click for moreOur daughter becomes a teenager this week, and to kick off her teenage odyssey we took her to New York this past weekend.
Weâve taken her to NYC a few times before, but she was much younger then and her fascination with life has matured.
Please click for moređ5ïžâŁ Two more of these Top Fiveâs to share. Bermuda is like no other place in the World in so many different ways. Itâs is peculiar and beautiful in equal measures.
Please click for moređ5ïžâŁ Restaurants are the next subject of my 2021 Top Fives. My dry January and eating healthier hasnât quite gone to plan. Very off plan in fact, and may explain my love of the nice things in life.
Eating out has been a very different experience since the pandemic and restaurants have suffered more than most. Many need support, and I was lucky to enjoy some great meals out attempting in some small way to do that last year. Here are my 2021 Top Five Favourite Restaurants đ„©
Please click for moređ5ïžâŁ A global pandemic has curtailed a lot of eating out, and it has been the year of the take-away. Even Bermuda now has a delivery service 25 years after Pizza Hut first started doing it.
Like elsewhere for long parts of this year restaurants were shut on the island (fortunately for us they are open again although with plenty of restrictions), and we are lucky that for most of the time we are able to sit outside.
My next 2019 Top Five picks surround food, and, well, more food.
My waistline is evidence of lots of good eating out last year, although I did seem to do that mostly in Miami and New York. It was tough to select my Top Five Favourite Restaurants but I narrowed it down to a handful in the end plus some notable mentions.
Last one from last year. I like to explore, I like to travel, I like to eat.
I keep a list of the restaurants I visit, mostly away from Bermuda, and gee, last year was a difficult choice. Itâs a little New York centric, but pride of place goes to an absolute gastronomical experience in my kinda town, Chicago. There were two or three great places that never made My Top Five Favourite Restaurants from 2018, but these ones did:
Next on my personal Top Fiveâs from 2018 are right here on my doorstep. Bermuda is not the place to come for big restaurant openings, star-studded theatre, cool music concerts, cutting edge art shows or world class museums, itâs so much simplier here. The outdoors, the beach, the ocean.
I gave it some thought and these are My Top Five Favourite Bermuda Things from last year:
Last summer we spent a week for my birthday in the volcanic Caribbean island of St. Barts, or Saint Barthélemy (St. Barths) as the French call it in the French West Indies. Miami is 3.5 hours away and St. Barts lies 160 miles east of Puerto Rico and immediately south of the French and Dutch shared island of Saint Martin, where we flew into to jump on a noisy seaplane for a 15-minute journey across the water to St Barts. The flight is not for the faint hearted but there is the option of a boat, which takes slightly more than an hour.
The island has a jet-setting reputation of photo shoots, paparazzi and huge homes owned by billionaires that mostly sign idle. The haunt monde reputation began in the 1950âs when David Rockefeller bought two plots of land, including one on Gouveneur Beach. That move compelled the Rothschilds to follow and they arrived with a suitcase of cash and developed an estate in a coconut grove nextdoor to the Rockefellers. Today the Rothschild property is the Hotel Guanahani & Spa.
The island certainly has an air of chic. A mixture of St-Tropez sophistication with Caribbean laissez-fare, but the island doesnât come across as pretentious. Just over 9,000 people permanently live on St. Barts, although around 200,000 tourists visit the just over 9 sq. miles during itâs summer months.
In Miami for a day and night en route to Colorado for some last minute skiing. The snow omens are good with a fresh powder of snow covering the Rockies. We get to Vail tomorrow lunchtime.
The Easter weather in Bermuda has been chilly (yep I know) but we could feel the warmth as we left Miami Airport this morning, possibly because we had our ski stuff on to save packing it, but the sun has warmed us all, and there were a lot of burnt bodies sat this afternoon by our pool in Miami Beach.
I got a little waylaid with these, well actually I forgot. But selfishly I wanted to post them, so close your eyes if youâre not interested in a little narcissism.
I going to post my final three 2017 Top Fiveâs in quick succcesion starting with Restaurants. Picking five wasnât easy but Iâve had a crack so these were my Top Five Favourite Restaurants of 2017:
Bermuda has been home for nine and half years which is scary in so many ways. One of my problems with living on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, and I appreciate this for some has itâs advantages, is that rarely do things change. Yet in the recent year or so brought about by the Americas Cup, Iâve witnessed a renewed confidence in the local economy and a surge in young and talented Bermudians willing to challenge the status quo.
The Island has seen an uptick in overseas visitors and they have witnessed a much more thriving island, Hamilton in particular where autonomous stores and places to grab a drink or food, often owned by young creative individuals or partnerships compete with the established but often humdrum and uninspiring names, all owned by just a handful wealthy families.
The American’s are responsible for a lot of things – disposable nappies, the light bulb, mac & cheese, the computer (these are in no particular order) and of course Thanksgiving, once described by my old boss as a 4-day Sunday where all you can do is eat, drink and watch sport on TV, with no added pressure of buying anyone presents. God bless America and all that sailed in The Mayflower.
A week back in a combination of East Sussex, Chislehurst and London Town, all now surrogate homes to me, and now I’m back to reality, if Bermuda is actually reality, with an imminent general election which the media is full off. It’s the week after next and if I can bring myself to, I’ll put a few words together on it soon.
I do a lot of travelling but generally as a rule I don’t like being away for as long as a week on my own, and I was ready to get out of dodge yesterday. As is usual I did a lot of running around, and caught up with a lot of people including old mates on Friday for 50th birthday celebrations. That was a long but funny day.Â
After a few days in New York working, or as my daughter calls it, on work vacation, I headed south for the rest of the week to Miami where I met up with the family.
New York was good, and I particularly liked staying across the river in Brooklyn, although at certain times of the day the Brooklyn Bridge bore close resemblance to the Dartford Bridge in rush hour. On my last night I met up with old mate New York Addick, where we talked Charlton and the unmitigated disaster of Duchatelet’s ownership.
After many pints we came to the conclusion that Duchatelet hasn’t purposely tried to kill the club, but rather mass incompetence, utterly poor management and sheer stubbornness has resulted in the diabolical situation the club finds itself in. NYA’s most recent analysis of the club’s accounts are well worth a read by the way.
I’ve spent the last few days staying in Brooklyn, at a hotel at the foot of the iconic suspension bridge that connects Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River. I hadn’t previously spent any real time in Brooklyn, one of New York’s five boroughs, but I did get a little opportunity to explore.
Close up the Brooklyn Bridge is an incredible feat of architecture with it’s immense granite towers and thick steel cables, not to mention its birds-eye views from a span of 1,595 feet. Built in 1883 at a cost of $15m, my hotel room looked out onto it and I found myself just staring at this moving art installation as the sun lit it, the mist hid it, helicopters flew over it, ferries and barges moved underneath it and 120,000 vehicles and 4,000 people criss crossed it on any given day.
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My final Top Five selection from last year are things closer to home. Bermuda has much natural beauty, and outdoors is an alfresco activity heaven but beyond that it lacks some modern day indulgences. So I’ve avoided all the natural beauty, which I should remind myself I must never take for granted, and chosen some oddments that make life in Bermuda a little more sweeter.
So, here are my Top Five Favourite Bermuda Things from last year:
Next up in my Top Fives involves eating, which I appear to do a lot off. I am lucky to eat out a lot, although mostly not with people I would hand pick, but still I did get to some very nice places in 2016, with I’ll add some very nice people .
Here are my Top Five Favourite Restaurants of last year:
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Jul 23
My son has been with us since last weekend which has meant a lot of time in the sun. Understandably he just wants to be outside and in the water, whereas selfishly this time of year here in Bermuda I just want to hide under an air-conditioning unit inside. 100% humidity is no fun, and although the temperature rarely exceeds 29C (85F), the Gulf Stream can bring many winds to this little isle and the summer southern ones bring horrid humidity.
Today to wrap up his latest visit we rented hydro bikes. It was fun biking across the shallow waters of Daniels Head. Out there is the hotel Cambridge Beaches, Daniels Island plus what is left of the 9 Beaches resort, which although in a state of dilapidation or still eerily charming. The shipwreck HMS Vixen is also within reach and the whole area is a haven for turtles and fish. The bikes were a lot of fun and quite a little work out.
One place we all tried for the first time was the new Hamilton Princess Beach Club (photo), which is only around the corner from us. The Green family have completely renovated the 130-year old Hamilton landmark and it is unrecognisable from the over-priced, outdated pink elephant that charged 5 star prices for 2 star quality just a year or so ago.
The Hamilton Princess is a city hotel so the Green’s also acquired the previous land that belonged to the Pompano Beach Hotel on Bermuda’s south shore and in their own inimitable style have built a simple but beautiful Beach Club on the land. We all had dinner there last night with the beach as a backdrop and the fantastic Big Chill as the backing soundtrack. Very nice indeed.
We fly back to Gatwick tonight and will spend a couple of days with parents down in East Sussex where I believe the weather has been equally as hot.
“What is your favourite city” my son asked as we both looked out of a Shard window 33 floors up (photo). A bit of loaded question that, although since I was old enough to explore London on a 36 bus from the bottom of Sandhurst Road in Catford I have always given the same answer.
My Kent-country-living son is a lot less travelled than I was when I was 16, but Saturday with no football was the ideal opportunity to open his curious eyes. Admittedly my Dad and I were never fortunate enough to be in the position to blag ourselves into a posh restaurant with no reservation and a pair of trainers and jeans on, and all the same you’d normally have found us in The Valley Club on a Saturday afternoon.
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A man has to eat, and I love to. Eating out for me remains an experience, and in our house we have over 50 signed menus framed hanging on walls.
A restaurant experience is not only about the food, but it is the occasion and the memories. These were my 2015 Top Five Favourite Restaurants
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I have now lived in Bermuda over 7 years, 2 more than I lived in Chicago, which every time I think about it just sounds more incomprehensible. Chicago was a place where everyday I experienced something new. I never found a routine because the city would always throw up alternatives.
Bermuda is not like that, little changes apart from the tide of the sapphire blue Atlantic Ocean. However this year the island finally appeared to come out of the other side of a tough recession and there is a very noticeable wind of optimism coming in with that tide.
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Home after a week in Florida, the majority of which was at a crazed work event in South Beach, where having a pee, let alone sleep, was at a premium. I had the two girls with me, so we schlepped it up to Palm Beach on Thursday morning to get a couple of days of family time, and sleep, which was great.
I do like Palm Beach, kind of like Eastbourne, but with high hair and false boobs. The place is dripping in money and a cooler, swankier street than Worth Avenue is hard to find.
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Just a few more 2014 Top 5’s to share. Two of my favourite hobbies are eating out and going to new places and I managed to combine that a lot in 2014.
The fact that three of my Top 5 Restaurants are in Miami tells me that I spent a lot of time in the city in 2014 and also that Miami’s restaurant scene, historically listless, is booming.
I was lucky to eat in a number of great places, so I also picked a couple of Honourable Mentions, but firstly these were My 2014 Top 5 Favourite Restaurants:
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I am making the most of having Thanksgiving Friday off work and fly back to Gatwick overnight for the weekend, literally until Sunday when I will fly back.
Despite the disorientating nature of it, I love these quick weekenders back at home. I cram in as much as possible, travel light and the body doesn’t get time to adjust, at least that is what I tell myself anyway.
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After collecting my lost suitcase just an hour before I left my Los Angeles hotel, I flew north this morning to San Francisco where I will be until Friday.
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Thursday and Friday in Bermuda are national holidays, officially known as Emancipation Day and Somers Day, but more widely known as Cup Match, when the two end’s of the island take each other on at cricket.
It’s a fun time to be in Bermuda, but I’ve ticked that box a few times and it is hard to give up an opportunity to go away for a long weekend. Thus, we find ourselves at the airport on our way to Miami, a familiar retreat for us.
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In New York City for a couple of days of working, and continuing to work on my project of how the World Cup impacted the life of American’s.
My Chicago homecoming last week was short and sweet and left me craving for more. It certainly is my kind of town, and as anticipated I ate well.
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I spent four days in the smoke the week before last.
I rarely get to spend that much time in the City these days, but I have in recent times taken to staying just sarf of the river and this time I decided on a small hotel near Borough Market and I was shocked by how much that area had changed.
Borough Market of course has been there for ever, 1014 apparently, but in recent years it has been polished like a diamond. There was a real aura to it, and the market is bordered by a whole range of cool cafes and restaurants.
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Next up in my last year’s Top 5’s are my Top 5 Favourite Restaurants.. Five were hard to pick but pick I did, all five from North America as well.
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Exciting foodie news in Bermuda yesterday with the Hamilton Princess announcing that celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson will create the hotel’s new restaurant as part of the $70m renovation of this famous landmark property.
I am a big critic of the restaurants in Bermuda, particularly Hamilton, not necessarily because of the food but what has always annoyed me is the complete lack of any innovation or creativity with one or two exceptions.
Menu’s rarely change, service is mostly lacking and I invariably leave Hamilton’s restaurants after paying more than New York prices cheated, uninspired and apathetic.
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After two weeks away from home today we are back on the ‘rock.’ I can’t remember the last time I had two consecutive weeks away from home, and although I was working – 6am starts in Colorado, and 7am in Miami and every night was a late night – it was enjoyable, particularly as I had my family with me.
I’m not going to pull the wall over anyone’s eyes, I am very lucky. Working from 6-10am and then again in the evening but in-between the Colorado mountains calling you to play outside or in a windowless conference room in a Miami hotel from 7am to 6pm with very demanding clients, whilst all the while Miami South Beach’s temptations lie await for later, is nice life, as long as one is prepared to think about little else but work save for the odd bad dream about football!
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After a busy weekend taking in a little football, a very enjoyable dinner at The Oak celebrating some good news, a couple of curries, one in Birmingham and one with some mates in Hornchurch plus a swift game of bowling in Maidstone, the most important reason for being home, allegedly, was that I needed to renew my passport.
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I was just downstairs at reception asking for a new key as I’ve managed to misplace mine. “What room are you in sir?” I was asked. “Um, 1727” I said. “Sorry sir, we haven’t got a room number 1727.”
I had no idea what room I was in, this being the 4th different hotel I’ve stayed in since Monday. I moved from the ultra trendy SLS in South Beach earlier this afternoon to the ultra staid Ritz Carlton in Key Biscayne for another worky thing that begins tonight.
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One of the things I love about Bermuda is the stars. Because of the lack of light pollution and remoteness of the island the stars and moon provide the night skies with such an intense glow especially on clear evenings.
Saturday night’s Supermoon was so big and vivid that as we sat outside enjoying drinks and dinner with friends at a great little place called The Dock, the moon was like a huge burning candle sat overhead.
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It’s been nice today not having to worry about what was going on with Charlton. My 3-year old daughter asked me earlier if I “was winning at football.” No, there’s no game I replied, why? You seem happy she said.
England even managed to wrack up an old fashioned score last night, although don’t mention this to Dave, who sounds thoroughly miserable.
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Home with a bumpy and early landing last night as a result of very strong winds. The BA pilots are renowned here for getting their planes down whatever the conditions, whereas more often than not, the US airlines tend to shirk a tricky landing and head back from whence they came. No fun that, I can tell you.
I had a very nice trip home and was once again impressed with my son’s school Oakwood Park Grammar, so much so that I sat listening to the various presentations beginning to wish I could go to school all over again. I don’t think I have ever felt the need to re-live my school days but the enthusiam with which teachers discussed subjects like Media, Psychology, Graphics and History got me wishing it could be me. I was at his school to discuss his GSCE Options, which they are doing a year early, and I am sure my son wished it actually could be me!
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Five more favourite things from 2012. The following five begin with two things anomalous to Bermuda – a decent cafĂ© and a decent shop both with very good service. The third was my best loved local restaurant and finally two stunning reminders of paradise. Here are my Top 5 Bermuda Things from 2012:
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Back to the annual Chicago Addick Top Five and next up is restaurants. My five were all in the United States, but each one very distinguishable. Here were my Top Five Restaurants of 2012:
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As expected we spent a good part of the day in Victoria Park. Breakfast was at The Pavilion cafe, which was pretty awesome and set us all up, including a 11-week old puppy and a 3-year old human, for a gigantic walk around the park.
I’m in Chicago the whole of this week and in true Charlton traditions I am attending a Rail Conference, which will include a visit to America’s largest inland intermodal in Joliet, south-west of the city. Oh, I see that you have logged off….
Anyways, I will also have the opportunity to catch up with some old friends and work colleagues, and plan to be as near as I can to updates as the Addicks attempt to redeem themselves at Derby on Tuesday night.
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I hit a few new places out and about in Chicago last week. My favourite was Trenchermen which had only been opened a few days when we got there on Wednesday night. We had just walked out of the haughty Violet Hour, after we had got blind sided by a bum-fluffed assistant manager who roundly accused us of something we didn’t do. He handled the situation incredibly badly, we told him so, and we walked out without even sipping a drink.
Trenchermen mind you gave us a very warm welcome and we recognised one of the bartenders as an old colleague’s brother. That set the scene for some imaginative drinks (I really don’t like gin but the Green Hornet was superb) and even better food (the sea trout was wonderful).
Trenchermen, named for someone that eats heartily and often to excess, occupies a space that was once a Turkish bathhouse. Itâs got authentic white glazed brick, similar to tube station tile, and a terra cotta exterior.
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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray produced an excellent final of the Sony Ericsson Open here in Miami this afternoon. In searing heat and high humidity the Serb and the Scot slogged it out for almost two and a half hours producing rally after rally.
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I do like a bit of tuna. Served raw preferably as opposed to a tin of John West’s but there will be a lot of it about this next week in Bermuda as yesterday a local fisherman hauled into his boat a 10 foot, 920 pound blue fin tuna (photo).
It was the biggest tuna caught in local waters for 28 years and the single fisherman wrestled with his catch for over two hours, all the while fighting of a school of sharks, which took a shine to some easy lunch and bit a big chunk out of the tuna’s tail, which also probably prevented the fish from weighing over 1,000 lbs.
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The next installment in my Top 5 collection from 2011. There was plenty of nominations, but here are my Top Five Restaurants of 2011:
1. Joe Fortes, Vancouver
An atmospheric seafood and chop house in Vancouver. I remember the night more than the food, but it was a great night mostly because of Joe Fortes. Tip-top service, sensational and flavourful food.
Website
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Amongst bundles of discarded wrapping paper, turkey leftovers and bags under the eyes during our trip home I also made my first ever visit to Colchester Zoo, re-discovered some old London stomping grounds and had a couple of cracking pub lunches.
Colchester Zoo was much bigger than I imagined. Our friends had suggested a 4-hour visit and as we drove up there in the drizzly rain I truly wondered what an earth we were going to do for 3 of those hours.
But I should have feared not as we comfortably strolled it’s 60 acres during 3 hours and still left some for another day, although there were a fair amount of exhibits that had migrated for the winter. There are apparently over 260 different species and they are laid out in numerous zones where you can get pretty close to the animals.
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Another year over. A new one just begun.
About this time every year I sit with a pen and paper and write a list of resolutions and personal goals. I’ve done it for years but last year I wrote just two things:
Lose weight
Get fit
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Today is the opening day of a new restaurant in Bermuda, something that doesn’t happen very often, so I normally like to promote them, yet sadly it is at the expense of another.
I had dinner at Latin (photo) on Victoria Street last week, and although the service was characteristically poor, the South American/Cuban cuisine was again very good. Hamilton is stuffed full of steak, expense burgers and catch of the day type restaurants, and Latin was always a nice alternative so it will be a real shame to see it disappear from the short list of options.
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A family orientated week in Chicago accompanied by early nights and late mornings. September is a beautiful time to be in Chicago. Liberated from any humidity, walking the cities convivial streets is an absolute pleasure. The leaves on the trees might be changing colour but the locals are hanging on to every thread of summer despite the pumpkins, witches and skeletons rapidly appearing in readiness for the wintery Halloween celebrations in 6 week time.
Tonight we have our one night out of the week when we have collected together six of our best friends for a dinner at Prasino in Wicker Park, a neighbourhood a short cab ride away.
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My body doesn’t like me too much at the moment. After a weekend on the toot in Magaluf pretending to be 25-years younger than I really am, I then flew myself 9 hours back in time to Sin City, Las Vegas which included a sprint through Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 to make my final connection.
When my alarm went off on Monday night when I was in a cab taking me from the airport in Las Vegas to the hotel, it signalled that I had been up for 24 hours.
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Not content with discovering good coffee at the Tribe Road Kitchen last week, this week I came across a good lunch spot in Hamilton.
The Plaza CafĂ© is tucked away upstairs in what is called the Walker Arcade between Reid and Front Street’s and used to be a very third rate coffee shop.
Upon research the Plaza CafĂ© got renovated by the owners at the back end of last year and I normally have no reason to venture near it, so when I did stroll past earlier in the week it was a pleasant surprise to look in it’s window at the very sleek interior.
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This weekend was my 3rd anniversary of being in Bermuda, more on that another day, but I have to tell you that I finally found a coffee shop to rival one I found in my early decent coffee hunting three years ago.
The Tribe Road Kitchen has been open just a few weeks and is on the corner of Reid Street and King Street in Hamilton. The owners stripped down and restored a derelict 200-year-old Bermuda cottage and have used appealing reconditioned furniture and fittings to give it a hip but homely look.
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We tried a new place to eat last night which is a rarity in Bermuda. 64 Degrees at the Port Royal Golf Club has been open for over a year but we hadn’t been anywhere near it despite the fact it is probably the closet restaurant to our house.
Named after one half of Bermuda’s co-ordinates (64W 32N), the simple but spacious restaurant forms part of the revitalised club house at Port Royal and is elevated perfectly to give panoramic views of the course and the south shore.
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We are leaving Chicago first thing tomorrow after an enjoyable few days here. Without one shadow of a doubt, me and the other half will have the same conversation we always have when we leave Chicago during the journey back which will end in us categorically agreeing to move back as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
That of course doesn’t mean it will and we are happy in Bermuda, although we have had a couple of blips recently, namely having great difficulty in getting our daughter into a (decent) pre-school, which we have finally done for a start in September.
There are few places however that light me up more than when I’m walking the streets of Chicago, which I did a lot these last few days, mostly holding my daughter’s tiny hand as she explored every minute detail at an extremely slow pace as only 16-month olds can.
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Back in Bermuda after a short hop home for my son’s birthday and mascot exploits.
There was a lot of flying around, which is customary. I had a cracking night with my Hornchurch mates on Friday plus a very hot chicken madras in the Cinnamon Spice. We followed this up on Saturday after the game with another curry, this time in Brick Lane. We vowed not to be enticed into the first place we passed, but sure enough the offer of two rounds of drinks and a lively atmosphere was enough for us to eat at The Famous Curry Bazaar. It was very good and full of local hipsters and pre-clubbers at 8pm. Whatever happened to eating a curry after the pub shut?
The next morning my brother took us just up the street from where he lives to The Premises Cafe on Hackney Road. According to The Observer, one of the 50 coolest places to eat in the world! It’s attached to the renowned recording studios (with an impressive list of artists) and next door to the gigantic rabbit (which at the end of last year caused quite a stir) and our brunch was top-notch. The dinner menu looked good too, and at a tenner a head for two courses bloody good value.
Last week my favourite hotel brand Rosewood officially took over the management of Tuckers Point. Interestingly at the same time Tuckers announced an agreement with the Bermudian Government to circumvent restrictions on building on prime open space. This has been met with outcry from the National Trust amongst many others as the land earmarked for development around Glebe Road and Paynter’s Hill (right) is currently a swarthe of open hills that are home to 17 of the last 19 Yellowwood trees in Bermuda, rock outcrops and also include a large network of ancient caves.
Tuckers Point’s viability has been a continual struggle and this expansion is believed to be the only way it can be financially successful. Rosewood and HSBC, who are reportedly owed $85m, are said to have insisted on the further development which will include 78 residences and another 70 hotel rooms. However the work will not be immediate as the hotel’s Bermudian owners look to weather the recession.
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Sarasota, Florida
