“Blu-ray stands for superior picture and sound, verging on cinema quality. The integration of Blu-ray technology in three models of this new line-up will enrich the home cinema experience by delivering outstanding quality from high definition discs. Combined with the ‘HD ready 1080p’ cinematic picture quality of a KURO flat screen TV, the immersive audio capabilities of these new systems will intensify seeing and hearing like never before,” states Jim Catcheside, product manager for Pioneer GB.

Distinctive design
Pioneer brings together the best in technology with the best in design to create complete entertainment solutions. Sharing the minimalist aesthetics of Pioneer’s KURO TVs, all four home cinema systems sport the same clean lines and piano black finish characteristic. With a combined glossy black/brushed aluminium front and top panel the LX03 and LX03BD are a true visual treat. For optimum ease of use, these systems feature intelligent touch sensor buttons that are automatically lit by a motion sensor whenever a hand approaches, whereas the LX01BD benefits from an intuitive LCD touch screen remote and a separate display.

All-encompassing entertainment solutions
The LX01BD includes a profile 1.1, BonusView Blu-ray Disc Player with 1080p true 24 movie frames per second playback, 12-bit HDMI Deep Colour support, a dual-drive subwoofer receiver and four distinctive 3-dimensional shaped satellite speakers. The LX03 comprises a DVD player system, allows SACD/DVD-audio playback and comes with compact satellite speakers, as does the LX03BD. The LX03BD combine the BDP-LX08 stand alone design Blu-ray Player with a slim 5.1 channel A/V receiver for advanced audio capabilities.

With two-in, one-out HDMI connections all home cinema systems are completely future ready for the latest sources. KURO LINK support will allow consumers to use the remote control of their KURO flat screen TV to operate these systems’ main functions.

Focusing on media friendliness, the LX03 and LX03BD are iPod digital compatible, which means an iPod can be directly connected to the receiver with the supplied USB cable and controlled by the receiver’s remote, guaranteeing digital and lossless music transfer. The Advanced Sound Retriever function will enhance compressed music formats such as MP3, Windows Media Audio or MPEC-4 AAC to such a degree that the opulence and richness of the original are restored. To eliminate the fluctuations in volume level of different MP3 recordings Auto Level Control keeps the dynamic of all content and sources at a constant level.

Three-dimensional sound
Not only is the picture quality offered by these systems exceptional, consumers will also be able to enjoy the purest sound available. The LX01BD system incorporates a unique dodecahedron - a geometric shape with 12 sides – speaker concept, which allows the speakers to generate sound fields in all directions. The result is a three-dimensional soundscape that can fill every space and any living room. The LX01BD comes with two compact combined front/centre satellite speakers and two rear speakers which can also be positioned in the front for a minimalist look. The LX03 and LX03BD allow flexible speaker set-up, with the Front Stage Surround function enabling the most neat and elegant integration by placing all speakers directly alongside the TV to free up space and eliminate the potential issues related to running cables to the rear or your room.

With the speakers in place these home cinema systems allow the user to enjoy every nuance and every note in high definition quality. An internal decoder is capable of processing the latest audio formats DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD resulting in undiminished quality and dynamics. All systems feature Pioneer’s propriety Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System (MCACC) analysing the room’s sound characteristics and calibrating the system accordingly, tailoring it to the user’s living environment. Potential standing waves are effectively minimised using Standing Wave control. Additionally, the LX01BD features a uniquely designed subwoofer-receiver with dual-drive subs, which enables more powerful handling of lower frequencies. The LX03 and LX03BD systems on the other hand boast a compact, yet powerful A4 size down firing subwoofer with acrylic glossy black top.

The LX03 and LX03BD home cinema systems will be available in October and the LX01BD will be available in November.

The maths doesn’t end here. This kind of holiday is priced by the vertical foot, as a measure of flying time, and includes an allowance that you might easily exhaust in three days. After that the meter is ticking, and you need to be aware of the ratefrom the start. There are varying refund formulae that can be applied in case of bad weather, as well as different configurations of helicopter, which may or may not suit your group size. If this all sounds much too complicated, you should consult James Orr, a UK-based agent who has wide experience of working with a broad range of Canadian operators. This winter, Orr recommends Northern Escape, located near Terrace in northern British Columbia. ‘The six-seater helicopter is a nice size for a ski group,’ he says. The resort town of Revelstoke in the Selkirk mountains offers an appealing combination of outstanding resort skiing and great heli. James Orr can arrange tailor-made packages, including transatlantic flights and a few days of warm-up skiing at the celebrated Whistler resort.

The rhythm of the heli-ski day is fast, furious and repetitive – for obvious commercial reasons, the operators are keen to offer as many runs as possible. Lunch is a chilly picnic: there are no cosy glühwein huts on the mountain, and no loos – so, ladies, go easy on the coffee at breakfast. The fat skis specifically for powder snow are so helpful these days that you don’t need to be an ace to consider a heli-ski holiday. You do need to be keen, however, and fit. In fact, the less expert you are, the fitter you need to be, because it is hauling one’s tired body out of the snow that really drains the energy.

James Orr Heliski 01799 516964
www.heliski.co.uk

SECRET LUXURY
Ste Foy Tarentaise, France

The luxury ski chalet has a lot to answer for. We put on weight instead of losing it and without the iron will of a monk, we may easily neglect our skiing. These two perils are linked, as I was reminded last January when a close friend and insatiable skier (or so I thought) chose to miss out on a morning’s powder-skiing in favour of lying flat out on the leather sofa at Chalet Merlo (below) watching Serena Williams live from Australia on an immense flatscreen TV. ‘It’s such a fantastic sofa,’ my friend announced at breakfast. ‘I just can’t believe the skiing will be as good.’ Well, I’m sorry, it was. I know, because after following Chalet Merlo’s private mountain guide through a silent forest filled with lightest-gossamer snow all the way to Chalet Merlo’s door, I got my sofa time too.

Ste Foy is a low-key refuge in the French Tarentaise which is tucked away among the chain of ski resorts that stretches from Val d’Isère to Valmorel. It looks across the valley at the Les Arcs ski area, and, on blizzard days, instructors from Val d’Isère bring groups here for secret powder-skiing in the woods. However, few skiers actually stay at Ste Foy for the simple reason that it has very little accommodation; it built its lifts in anticipation of planning permission and, with permission yet to be granted, it remains the ski resort without a resort. But really, who needs a resort when you have two magnificent luxury chalets competing to seduce you with Champagne and canapés, rose petals sprinkled in your bath, and chauffeured 4×4 vehicles to shuttle you to and from skiing or shopping – wherever and whenever you desire?

Chalet Yellowstone, just two minutes from the nursery slope, is run by the market leader in ski luxury, Descent, and sleeps 12 people. Chalet Merlo, in the rustic hamlet of Le Miroir, also sleeps 12, and has a near-identical neighbour, Chalet Pecchio, which is also available for larger groups. The Merlo team can arrange helicopter transfers to and from Geneva airport, avoiding weekend traffic jams on the N90 and allowing you to maximise time on the slopes – or the sofa. Merlo also has its own superbly equipped gym in an outbuilding, so there is really no excuse for laziness.

Chalet Merlo 0845 324 3521
www.chaletmerlo.eu
Chalet Yellowstone 020 7384 3854 www.descent.co.uk

THE GOOD LIFE
San Cassiano, Alta Badia, Italy

Move over, Cortina d’Ampezzo. Your long-held status as the bolthole of choice among Italian skiers with a taste for the good life has been usurped by your country cousins in the neighbouring valley of Alta Badia. Zooming Google Earth to pinpoint the crucible of this revolution, we find the pretty little Dolomite village of San Cassiano. Its centrepiece is the Hotel Rosa Alpina, home of the Pizzinini family for many generations, which has blossomed into a pleasure dome of extreme refinement, with a rare combination of spa and gastronomy to complement mile upon mile of delightful skiing through the breathtaking Dolomite mountains.

Where Paolo and Daniela Pizzinini have led, others in Alta Badia have followed, though they’re having trouble catching up. The Rosa Alpina’s slap-up
restaurant, the St Hubertus, is overseen by the brilliant chef Norbert Niederkofler, and has won two Michelin stars for its exceptional food. Daniela’s department is the spa, and at Rosa Alpina she has created a luxurious facility without parallel in the region. One could easily forget skiing altogether and luxuriate in the spa for days on end, enjoying the ultra-soothing Cleopatra bath, delicious wraps flavoured with Alpine herbs, and treatments that use locally grown ingredients. Rosa Alpina has the most comfortable loungers in the business. Wake me up for breakfast, will you?

These days, the day-to-day running of Rosa Alpina is in the hands of Paolo and Daniela’s son Hugo and his wife Ursula. They run the show with real panache, offering guests ski itineraries that invariably lead to a superb lunch – at Piz La Ila, for example, whose dashing owner Maurizio brings in fresh seafood from the Venetian port of Chioggia every morning. Make time in your schedule too for lunch at beautiful Rifugio Scotoni, half-way down the delightful ski-ramble from Lagazuoi cable car. This run fizzles out near a bus stop half a mile from the nearest lift, but Hugo will arrange for a team of Lippizaner horses to be there, and offer a ski tow.

For a really sybaritic experience, Rosa Alpina offers a dine-around arrangement that works particularly well in Alta Badia, which has the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants of any mountain resort area. You’ll need to up your work rate on the slopes, though.

Rosa Alpina 00 39 0471 849500
www.rosalpina.it. Stays at Rosa Alpina can be booked through Select Collection (0207 491 7171 www.selectcollection.co.uk) or Relais & Chateaux (00 800 20 00 00 02 www.relaischateaux.com)

CHIC & CLASSY – Lech, Austria

There is no end to the resourcefulness of the citizens of Lech, in western Austria, in dreaming up new ways to take the effort out of skiing. Their resort is the supreme Alpine comfort zone. Fast-moving chair lifts with wind shields, heated seats and a moving carpet to cushion the impact of chair on back of knee; perfectly combed snow with the texture of fine corduroy; a lift to take you to the lift in the morning, bypassing a staircase of, oh, at least 20 steps. Not to mention artificial snow-making everywhere in case the weather turns warm. Small wonder that you see warning signs on the motorway advising skiers that Lech and its sister resort Zürs are no longer selling lift tickets; they have enough skiers to be going along with, thank you very much. But if these comforts sound a little synthetic, too much like American-style pampering, try the distinctly traditional pleasures of lunch at the Alter Goldener Berg restaurant at Oberlech. Mind your head as you enter – the doorway was built in 1486, when they weren’t quite so tall as today. Equally quaint is the covered wooden bridge over the river at Lech where sleigh horses shelter from the snow, beneath the elegant profile of the onion-domed 17th-century church tower.

Loyalties are divided between Lech’s best hotels. Princess Diana took her boys to the Arlberg. The Royal Houses of Norway and the Netherlands prefer the traditional splendour of the Gasthof Post. Caroline of Monaco stays at the Lorünser in nearby Zürs, a high-altitude colony of expensive hotels particularly appreciated by new Russians. The same description might also apply to Oberlech, except this expensive hotel colony attracts a quieter family clientele and has no road running through it, only gentle pistes and a hilarious toboggan run served by a cablecar late into the evening.

When it comes to ski boots, however, all agree. The only place to have them fitted and handmade is at the Strolz store, on the high street in Lech. Drinks are served while you stand waiting for the hot foam to mould itself around your feet. Lech stops at nothing to make us comfortable.

Ski Solutions (020 7471 7777
www.skisolutions.com) can arrange tailor-made holidays to Lech

FAMILY VALUES
Hotel holidays in Switzerland

Many are the ‘family specialists’ who tell us the only way to give our children the start in life we never had is to book a space (a cramped space, usually) in a chalet (or ‘chalet club’) with sterilisers and nappy sacks at every turn, an in-house crèche and junior working parties dedicated to the manufacture of snowmen. They have been doing family holidays for years, they tell us (while we, of course, are new to the parenting game).

Well, it’s a point of view. An alternative one is that other people’s children lack the irresistible charm of our own, and the feeling is probably mutual. These clubs and crèches are greenhouses for contagion – the space and flexibility of the old-fashioned hotel formula has more to recommend it. Such are the stresses of family skiing that the best approach may be to postpone it until the kids are old enough (six or seven, roughly) to make a decent fist of skiing, by which time we will have put enough aside to do the family ski thing properly.

Enter Powder Byrne, an experienced supplier of family holidays at the best hotels in the best Swiss resorts. The Mont Cervin in Zermatt, for example, will send a horse-drawn carriage to meet your pony-mad princess at the station, and keep the enchantment going all week, with a superb indoor-outdoor pool and the mother of all pudding buffets. Powder Byrne organises junior ski school (the real thing, in small groups under resort professionals) and offers guided group skiing for grown-ups.

Powder Byrne 020 8246 5300
www.powderbyrne.com.

Lena Bergström: Winterland Lena
The Vessel Gallery’s display of new works by Sweden’s Lena Bergström includes her firstcrystal chandeliers (produced in conjunction with Orrefors), and a display of glass
candle-holders, bowls, vases and sculptures which form a glittering tribute to Christmas.
Until 2 January. Vessel Gallery, 114 Kensington Park Road, London W11, 020 7727 8001 www.vesselgallery.com

Fernando Ortega and Giulio Paolini
Two new solo exhibitions at the Lisson Gallery showcase the work of Italian artist Guilio Paolini and Mexico’s Fernando Ortega. Paolini is showing prints, mixed-media works and a multi-part sculptural work, Immaculate Conception: Without Title/Without Author. Ortega seeks out the exotic and alien in everyday life; his work at the Lisson combines installation with sculpture and photography.
Until 17 January. Lisson Gallery, 29 and 52-54 Bell Street, London NW1 020 7724 2739, www.lissongallery.com

Thomas Demand
The photographs in Berlin artist Demand’s new show seem to depict a deserted Oval Office in the White House. Look closer and you’ll discover this is not the real thing, but a meticulously detailed model in paper and cardboard. The uncanny emptiness of Demand’s images raises questions about authority and authenticity, at a time when the real White House is undergoing its own change of regime.
Until 17 January. Sprüth Magers, 7A Grafton Street, London W1, 020 7408 1613, www.spruethmagers.com

GSK Contemporary
The Royal Academy’s inaugural contemporary art show is an ambitious two-part season which includes exhibitions, live performance events and film screenings. Collision Course, the second half of the season, explores the interactions of different art forms and media, and features post-apocalyptic visions and a series of films on William S Burroughs. Four rooms at the show are given over to Dark Materials, an exhibition of works from the Frank Cohen collection, featuring artists Banks Violette, Hyungkoo Lee, Jitish Kallat, Sudarshan Shetty and TV Santhosh.
Until 19 January. Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1, 020 7300 8000, www.royalacademy.org.uk

Thin Wild Mercury: Photographs of Bob Dylan by Jerry Schatzberg
A revealing portrait of Dylan as shot by his close friend, the photographer and film director Jerry Schatzberg – also responsible for the iconic Blonde on Blonde album cover. This exhibition will be the only opportunity to see
these images.
Until 28 January. Proud Central, 32 John Adam Street, London WC2, 020 7839 4942, www.proud.co.uk

The Blues Anthology
A major exhibition that brings together the icons of blues and its lesser-known artists, The Blues Anthology will show the photographic work of Terry Cryer, Herb Snitzer, Charles Sawyer and others.
Until 1 February. Proud Camden,The Horse Hospital, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1,
020 7482 3867, www.proud.co.uk

YZ Kami: Endless Prayers
Iranian artist Kami’s massive painted portraits dominate this exhibition – providing a counterpoint to his intricate, spiralling collages, Endless Prayers. These mosaics are constructed painstakingly out of tiny fragments of paper cut out from poetry books, their kaleidoscopic patterns inspired by Sufism and Islamic art.
Until 11 February. Parasol Unit, 14 Wharf Road, London N1, 020 7490 7373 www.parasol-unit.org

Scarlett Hooft Graafland: You Winter, let’s get divorced
Dutch artist Hooft Graafland spent four months living in an igloo in the snowy reaches of Northern Canada; the artwork she created in response forms the basis for her second solo show at the Michael Hoppen Gallery. Her work is witty, bold and surreal, and informed by the folklore of the Inuit people amongst whom she spent a long, cold winter.
5 February – 29 March. Michael Hoppen Gallery, 3 Jubilee Place, London SW3, 020 7352 3649 www.michaelhoppencontemporary.com

DON’T MISS

Campanas Honoured
3 – 6 December 2008:
Design Miami/Ernesto and Humberto Campana, winners of the Design Miami/ 2008 Designer of the Year Award, feature in a documentary film about their life and work which will be screened throughout the Design Miami/ fair at the HSBC Private Bank VIP lounge – itself designed by the Campana Brothers.
Design Miami +1 305 572 0866, www.designmiami.com

Flash Food
As part of the Royal Academy’s GSK Contemporary show, David Waddington and Pablo Flack of London’s Bistrotheque are staging their second ‘pop-up’ restaurant, FLASH. The temporary space, constructed from storage boxes, will feature Giles Deacon chandeliers and Gareth Pugh sculptures; afternoon visitors can enjoy the Josiah Cream tea, named after Josiah Wedgwood and served on limited-edition crockery that commemorates his company’s 250th anniversary.
FLASH is at the Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1, www.royalacademy.org.uk until 19 January; information and reservations 020 8880 6111

Haunch Relaunched
After six years at Haunch of Venison Yard, in February 2009 the eponymous gallery will move to new premises at 6 Burlington Gardens – a property owned by the Royal Academy of Arts. Haunch of Venison’s current show of work by Keith Coventry will close in January 2009 ready for the gallery’s move, following which its new exhibition schedule will be launched.
www.haunchofvenison.com

The Wapping Project
20 November – 28 February 2009
Curator Jules Wright has devised an ambitious exhibition to explore the cultural phenomenon of English high society, Turning the Season, in this disused hydraulic power station, one of the most influential and fashionable art venues in the UK. The exhibition encompasses dance, writing, photography, sculpture and music. Inside the Boiler House, floor space will be fenced and covered in grass as a countryside setting for Luca Silvestrini’s dance duet. Untold is a turbulent summer romance, captured on film and inspiring five short stories by writers including Deborah Levy and Erica Wagner. Each one is recorded and played in the building. A lily pond occupies the roof and in the grounds, 100 bird houses fill a tree. This edgy urban location is also home to a destination restaurant, Wapping Food.
The Wapping Project, Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, Wapping Wall, London E1, 020 7680 2080 www.thewappingproject.com

The furniture, fittings and fixtures of ‘Chambre 406’ of the Royal Monceau Hotel near the Arc ld desktop publishing and database-management magnate who is backed by Qatari funding. Allard is a man with a blazing vision: he had invited 600 of the jeunesse d’orée to a ‘night with no limits’, a party that paid homage to the iconoclastic spirit of the Dadaists. A host of musicians, artists, intellectuals and fashionable figures took the hotel by storm, while crowds cheered from behind crash barriers. Guests included Jude Law, Juliette Binoche and Dasha Zhukova. Among four ex-Ministers of Culture in attendance was Jack Lang. ‘Paris has always known how to make space for all the excesses, all the luxury and all the wildness that today makes it so legendary,’ he said as he picked his way through piles of broken glass and plaster. ‘From the sumptuous parties of the Renaissance to the surrealists’ artistic assault, Paris has known how to dazzle as much as shock.’

The ostensible reason for the Demolition Party was to prepare the way for a 100 million euro metamorphosis of the Royal Monceau, designed by Philippe Starck. Due to open in October 2009, the new-look hotel will be more attuned to the contemporary zeitgeist than its palatial predecessor, with a recording studio, permanent art gallery, cinema, party suites and the biggest swimming pool in Paris, not to mention the largest suites in the capital, 12 of which will be sold to a handful of super-rich clients. M. Allard’s brief is to ‘reinvent the luxury hotel, shake its world and dynamically transform it’. It will, he says, be ‘a cocktail of creativity, culture, history and intelligence, coupled with glamour, energy, decadence and a splash of madness.’

‘The French are great at creating fantastic things, when they indulge their eccentricity’

Allard is a charismatic figure on a number of levels. He personifies a glaring oxymoron: a self-made young French multimillionaire. France doesn’t do self-made multi-millionaires, unless they’re corrupt politicians. Dirigiste socialism has seen to that, driving a generation of highflying talent in their twenties and thirties to work abroad. It is hard to think of another French man or woman of a similar age who is worth writing about who isn’t a sports personality.

Thanks to France’s youthful exodus, Allard is keenly aware that Paris is losing its creative edge to other cities – London, Barcelona, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin and, increasingly, Moscow. To redress this, he wants to turn the Royal Monceau into a place where leading artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, installation, design, music and film can show their work and mingle with patrons. He wants the Royal Monceau to return big-time arts patronage to Paris, which is what made this city a cradle of liberalism, creativity and culture in the first place.

As it happens, Allard has previous at the hotel. His stepfather Michel Junot is the son of one of the two founders of the Royal Monceau, which was a fashionable meeting place in the Roaring Twenties. Michel was a director of the hotel in the 1970s, so the place is etched in Allard’s family history.

As the Demolition Party warmed up and the Champagne took effect, it began to resemble the set of a surrealist film. Among the guests was a sorority of elaborately bewigged women dressed, Marie-Antoinette-style, as 18th-century dolls; they were later found engaged in a pillow fight in a snowstorm of feathers. At one point, I found myself standing ankle-deep in broken mirrors, glass in hand, conversing with a Frenchman who had just offered me a joint, while a few feet away, a figure who looked like a blood-sucking rock’n’roll incubus was smashing down a pillar with a sledgehammer. Meanwhile, outside the hotel, men with megaphones organised crowds behind crash barriers. It was hard to know where the art ended and reality began.

Just to prove that the hammers and chisels of destruction are also the tools of creation, Allard had invited artists to mount installations in the first-floor rooms. Among the videos, photographs, paintings, happenings and ephemera curated by Hervé Mikaeloff were works by Kendell Geers, Olympia Scarry, Xavier Veillant and Kirill Chelushkin. Jean Pigozzi, the Italian photographer, hung one room with pictures of celebrities and then filled it with bubbles from two bubble machines. Sudarshan Shetty created an installation in which two tables covered in wine glasses were smashed repeatedly by hammers. One room was filled with rubber slime; in another, a girl wearing a basque, heels and stockings lay on a bed, smoking and drinking champagne. The Chinese artist Wang Du took guests on a ‘cruise’ in a cast-iron bathtub in which he had placed a noisy outboard motor. The installations are due to be auctioned at Phillips de Pury in Paris next summer.

If nothing else, Allard has reinvented the art of partying. Champagne flowed until 5am, and the crowds refused to go home. Underpinning it all was Allard’s message to Paris: ‘We are paralysed by the beauty of our city and our culture,’ he tells me. ‘Paris has become a caricature of itself. We have beautiful museums full of masterpieces and countless cultural events, but none of them are part of today’s life. It’s dead stuff. It is showing pictures of what the world is, but no longer being active in contemporary life.

‘The French are great at creating fantastic things, provided they indulge their eccentricity,’ he adds. ‘But this eccentricity has been overwhelmed by the heaviness of the beauty of Paris and by our sense of responsibility and history as cultural guardians. We have forgotten that Paris was built by the madness of Louis XIV. If you read about what happened at Versailles, our party really was not ambitious compared to his. If you look at what happened in Paris after the Commune at the end of the 19th century [following an uprising after France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian war], and what happened in the Montmartre revival of the 1920s and 1930s, which brought together artists from all over the world, our party would have seemed tame. This city has always been one of patrons and artists living this fantastic life together.’

Jean-Baptiste Mondino, the photographer and director, agrees. ‘For Paris to become an interesting place again,’ he says, ‘luxury needs to reinvent itself and to imagine new adventures. A whole new way of living needs to be created, and the creation must be something quite unreasonable. Everything must be shaken up and perhaps even broken. When a designer like Philippe Starck meets a builder like Alexandre Allard on a project as wild as the Royal Monceau, we can really expect to be rocked. Especially since they have chosen to attack a venue that plays such an important role in the city’s historic and artistic heritage.’

Allard is seeking to redefine a notion of luxury aimed at the very upper stratum of the global rich for whom there is no longer any emotional component in buying luxury goods, because their attainment no longer entails personal sacrifice. ‘The business world has finally been democratised,’ he explains. ‘For the past fifteen years we have witnessed the rapid growth of new wealth and new energies, breaking away from the industrial dynasties of the past. A new client has been born: one who has little in common with the fixed and formatted vision of luxury currently on offer. Because their success is often the result of their daring, intuition and taste for adventure, these clients expect something different from luxury. I want to create a place where this “intelligent tribe” – the sort of people who can spend a hundred million dollars on a painting without blinking – can still feel an emotional gratification in acquiring and being surrounded by luxury and beauty.’

‘We are paralysed by the beauty of our city and our culture. Paris has become a caricature of itself’

So what is the luxury that will provide this intelligent tribe with the same buzz, the same emotional component, that buying a Vuitton bag or a Rolex watch or a new car gives to ordinary mortals? ‘Well, having a big boat doesn’t make life better or easier,’ says Allard, ‘nor does owning a huge private jet. The mere fact that they are costly makes them exclusive, but there is nothing practical about owning them. In fact, they are the contrary of luxury. So how do you find so much luxury that it doesn’t come back and bite you? You have to learn how to become happy. This requires magic and it comes in an encounter with others. What counts in life is love and emotions that make you progress. And that is what I call “beyond luxury”.’

Allard’s agenda runs deeper than merely catering to the ultra-rich, ultra-bored and ultra-spoilt. He is on a mission to bring artists and patrons closer together, cutting out the middle men, dealers and gallerists whom he believes are commoditising contemporary art. ‘The amount of money being poured into art right now is fantastic,’ he says. ‘Brazil, China and India are coming out with new art. But the dark side of this is that money is taking over and is putting art into huge contemporary art supermarkets like Art Basel. The hotel will be a place where patrons can meet artists in a ‘theatre of total artistic experience’ consisting of happenings, projects, previews, performances, concerts and exhibitions.’ Guests can become patrons of the arts by supporting the Royal Monceau Foundation, which Allard has already endowed to the tune of a million euros.

Allard sees his personal inspiration as having come from outside France. ‘I just have an incredible sense of feeling,’ he says. ‘I lived in the Ivory Coast until I was 15. I have the African vibe, which means that if you see a banana on a tree, you take it. Maybe European culture has taught us to ask about the banana first. If I see a banana, I eat it with joy. That is the African vibe.’

Allard points to two important lessons that have guided his approach. ‘Firstly, you cannot do beautiful things if you are not beautiful inside. Secondly, if we lose our money, we are young enough to make it back again. We no longer believe in dynasties. I don’t want my children to be weighed down by the responsibility of looking after hundreds of millions of euros. The good thing in life is to learn how to do things by yourself and achieve what you have to do in society. If you are crushed by hundreds of millions of euros that your father amassed, and are worried that anything you might do will be a mistake, then you do nothing. We are a generation that can give, because we have time to make money.’

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught
When Angela Hartnett left the Connaught this year, the hotel surprised everyone by recruiting another female chef with an even starrier CV. Hélène Darroze has two Michelin stars in Paris and her inventive cooking marries elegant technique with the gutsy products from her native South West France: duck confit, chickens from Les Landes and of course foie gras. Three large tables laden with fresh bread, artisan cheese and vast mounds of butter meet guests on arrival. Her trademark is intense flavour – baby squid with chorizo, black rice and a whisper of Parmesan, for example, or a cocktail of oysters and caviar topped with a rich infusion of white beans.

The dining room becomes theatre with witty amuse and intermezzo courses, sweet black-foot ham cut by an antique slicer and perfect poached chicken dissected before your eyes – all performed by a slick team you will recognise from London’s grandest restaurants, and who were keen to join Darroze. The room with its mahogany panelling has been rejuvenated by designer India Mahdavi with comfortable mismatched chairs, banquettes and sofas in cut velvet and deluxe textiles. Large windows flood the room with natural light by day; at night a dramatic modern chandelier, candles and 16 Venini wall lamps lend the space a bewitching glamour.

Verdict: Just six months in the job, Darroze is set to be a permanent fixture.
The Connaught, Carlos Place, Mayfair, London W1, 020 3147 7200,
www.the-connaught.co.uk

Ambassade de l’Ile
With French backing from a big-deal industrialist and a City trader, Jean-Christophe Ansanay-Alex brings to London the unashamedly grand cuisine that won him two Michelin stars for his restaurant in Lyon. JC, as he is known, has opened his London outpost in the heart of South Kensington – an honorary district of France, judging by the smart and prosperous expat locals and the nearby Lycée. The food is divine, with show-stopping signature dishes including foie gras in a halo of brioche, pike mousseline with frogs’ legs and garlic nougatine, and milk-fed lamb in a salt crust. There’s an impressive wine list, wonderful cheeses, balletic formal service and a newly recruited head sommelier from the high priest of gastronomy in Lyon, Paul Bocuse.

But something feels wrong, and it’s the decor. The French may admire Eighties retro interiors with shag-pile carpet, purple walls, white-leather buttoned panels and matching seating; they may not be confused by the dizzying arrangement of mirrors, TV screens into the kitchen, charmless monochrome modern art and loos that border on the vulgar. But the British are nonplussed. Foodies will enjoy memorable gastronomy, clever seating (including a communal sharing table) and a stunning private room, but perhaps they should close their eyes?

Verdict: Even true gourmets will be deterred by scary prices and disco decor.
117-119 Old Brompton Road, London SW7, 020 7373 7774,
www.ambassadedelile.com

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
Alain Ducasse was in London once before, in the late Nineties, when he opened in the club formerly known as Monte’s, part of the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge. It was a magnificent room with an even more astonishing wine list and very grand food, but it was short-lived.

Now Ducasse is back, in the lush surroundings of the Dorchester. The French mega-chef has a global empire of restaurants, ranging from the ultra-chic to the cosy and traditional. He’s in a class of his own, combining glamour with a passion for authentic flavours and ingredients. Virtually every chef in British kitchens and on telly has been inspired by the gospel according to Ducasse. At the Dorchester he’s in super-deluxe mode, with heavenly cooking and a show-stopping wine list. The restaurant opened a year ago, instantly becoming the destination for foodies and expense-account eating; in September, it picked up the Best Newcomer award from the highly regarded Zagat Guide.

Despite being plutocrat heaven, the restaurant is not stiff and formal, thanks to the playful design of the room – a sea of opulent leather and wood in well-mannered tones of cream, tan and taupe with large windows looking out over Park Lane. In a private alcove to one side, the walls are studded with thousands of silk buttons in different shades of green to mimic Hyde Park opposite, and there are dramatic features like an oval leather screen that marks the entrance, a walk-in wine cave, and the Table Lumière, the ultimate private dining room, which seems to float in its own glittering capsule of fibre-optic strands.

The restaurant has been kitted out with fine china, crystal, cutlery and linen, and the Table Lumière has its own range to enhance that delicious feeling of exclusivity. Instead of a predictable posy of flowers, there’s a charming ceramic of fruit or vegetables on each table. A huge curved pewter wall masks the entrance to the kitchen where the Ducasse team produces accomplished French cooking which is definitely – as they say at Michelin – vaut le detour.

Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s worth it – though thank goodness they’ve abandoned the ruinous £70 supplement for a few shavings of white truffles. Head sommelier Hugues Lepin has put together an impressive wine list boasting more than 70 Champagnes, including the rare 1999 Bollinger Grand Année Rosé, a snip at £235. The friendly, informed front-of-house team is led by Christian Laval who, accepting the Zagat award, said: ‘It’s been a tough year, but now we can start.’

Verdict: Despite the financial meltdown, Ducasse is here to stay.
The Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London W1, 020 7629 8866,
www.alainducasse-dorchester.com

Pierre Gagnaire at Sketch
When it opened in December 2002, Sketch was the most controversial, reviled and misunderstood restaurant in Britain. Most people simply didn’t understand what owner Mourad Mazouz (‘Momo’) and his collaborator, French super-chef Pierre Gagnaire, were trying to do. It was not a conventional opening, but a hugely ambitious artistic project in a large Grade II listed building.

The name gave a clue to the philosophy: Sketch was, and is, a work in progress, a flexible space whose design and purpose can change on a whim. For Pierre Gagnaire, whose status in France among gourmets and intellectuals alike places him above criticism, the savage criticism of the British press was a bizarre culture shock, but he and Mourad stuck to their guns and Sketch is now one of the most admired and loved destinations in the city.
Newcomers need a route map for the rambling multi-storey building. The front door opens onto a grand hallway decorated with cheeky contemporary art. To the right is the Parlour, with witty decor and yummy pastries, open for breakfast and tea and in great demand for private parties in the evening. Go deeper into the building and you’ll find the Gallery, a multi-purpose space that’s trendy art gallery by day and brasserie in the evening – and as midnight approaches, the room morphs into a funky lounge space.

On one side of the Gallery is a space that has seen a number of incarnations, including the Sixties-style West Bar and a quirky restaurant called Glade with Lord of the Rings vegetation. On the other side is the sunken East Bar and beyond that, the futuristic white pod loos. To reach the first floor, take the formal winding staircase (with molten colour surging like lava down the treads), past more loos extravagantly decorated with thousands of Swarovski crystals, to reach the lavishly furnished Lecture Room and Library. This is the inner sanctum, a gourmet destination for grown-ups and obsessive foodies with deep pockets, and recently applauded by the AA as the best restaurant in Britain. This is where Gagnaire’s cooking, interpreted by head chef Pascal Sanchez, is experienced in its truest form: luxurious without being old-fashioned, always playful and experimental, pushing the bounds of taste and of texture.

Mourad had no doubts about wanting Pierre Gagnaire to join him in Sketch. ‘I could not think of someone else for the Sketch project,’ he says. ‘I’ll never forget the first meal I had in his restaurant in Paris – he never ceases to arouse my senses. Every day is a learning process and an adventure.’

Verdict: Here for the long haul and a huge asset to London.
Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, London W1, 0870 777 4488
www.sketch.uk.com

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Two years old this autumn, L’Atelier is the first appearance in London of Joël Robuchon, a huge talent with worldwide appeal and applause. He’s a notoriously hard taskmaster, but Gordon Ramsay and Michael Caines both learned their stuff in Paris under his guidance. In 1996, after two decades at the very top of haute cuisine, he retired – but not for long, returning a few years later with a concept so fresh and original that it has swept the world (Paris, Tokyo, New York, Las Vegas). L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon discards the traditional dining room and meal structure, replacing them with tall stools at a counter and tiny, precise portions using Japanese techniques and European foodstuffs. The interiors are ravishing – chic, luxurious and mysterious. And until now, Robuchon’s restaurants have taken no reservations: it was a shock to see the smart inhabitants of Paris’s 7ième district queuing round the block.

In London, the concept has been tweaked to accommodate the demanding British market, but stays true to Robuchon’s vision – pricey but divine. He occupies three levels of a building just a whisker away from the Ivy: L’Atelier is on the ground floor, a wonderful jewel box of red leather, black lacquer, exotic woods and mirrors, offset with seductive lighting and green foliage. You sit at the high counter watching chefs work with priest-like calm, preparing mouth-watering dishes such as langoustine carpaccio, neat rows of anchovies and red peppers, chestnut velouté with caramelised foie gras, or sea bass with lemongrass foam. Above is La Cuisine, a more conventional restaurant with normal tables and a broader menu. On the third floor is Le Bar, a decadent space to flirt, network and chill out, with rich leather chairs and a black marble fireplace.

Verdict: Robuchon quickly installed a booking system – Londoners won’t wait, especially the expense-account brigade.
13-15 West Street, WC2, 020 7010 8600
www.joel-robuchon.com

Claude Bosi at Hibiscus
Claude Bosi arrived in London via an unusual route – not across the Channel, but down from Ludlow. Having spent a decade in Shropshire gathering Michelin stars, getting married and opening his own restaurant Hibiscus to great acclaim, in October 2007 he and his wife Claire boldly moved Hibiscus to London, right into the heart of Mayfair.

Bosi’s food credentials are undeniable. A native of Lyon, he has worked in Paris with Michel Rostang, Alain Ducasse, and with Alain Passard at Arpège – so he is no stranger to the grandest style of French cuisine. But in London first reactions were mixed: there were cruel suggestions that the food was over-worked and over-mannered, the room a little too beige, and the service a bit too stuffy and, dare one say it, just a little provincial.

But a year is a long time in this town and Bosi moved swiftly to counter the niggles. The 45-seater restaurant now wins plaudits across the board from hard-to-please critics like Time Out and the Harden’s Guide, while Michelin awarded him a single star with ‘rising star’ status, promising great things for the next edition in January 2009. As well as attracting smart-suited captains of industry, Hibiscus is a focus of gastro-tourism across the UK and Europe, reinforcing London as the most exciting food destination in the world.

Verdict: Elegant, very French, worth saving up for.
29 Maddox Street, London W1, 020 7629 2999
www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk

Bryan Ferry once explained why his attire has rarely deviated from a simple, impeccable Anthony Price suit: ‘Because a suit is the only thing that doesn’t look ridiculous in photographs twenty years later,’ he said. Men’s fashion may be something of a nonsense even to the mildest of cynics, but there’s no denying that the suit is one of those alchemical devices that effects real change, whether the transformation is geared to upgrading the physique or persuading a magistrate that the individual in front of him is more accustomed to halls of power than a sink estate.

A suit is a suit and, unless your name is David Furnish or you’re an authentic dandy, most men are only concerned with whether their clothes fit and flatter them. Even the most adventurous rarely stray beyond ‘classic with a twist’. And yet men’s fashion has moved on: over the last six or so biannual seasons, there has been a significant change in the male silhouette. The times they are a-changing.

The most radical move – and no eye-rolling please, we’re not about to start talking men in skirts here – has been a long-overdue move back towards the double-breasted ensemble. For some, the double-breasted suit never lost its currency, yet it’s a solid 20 years since double-breasted was the norm. In the 1980s the likes of Thierry Mugler championed an aggressive single-buttoned, single-breasted jacket that looked every stitch like the future and duly consigned the double-breasted version to the charity shop along with the shoulder pad (‘the flares of the Eighties,’ as David Bowie correctly diagnosed at the time).

So what happened to bring it back? Well, the return of double-breasted is very much a part of the return to favour of traditionalist dressing. It’s conservative and luxe, but with a fresh twist. One of the upsides of the current economic crisis is that the more ridiculous element of menswear is shrinking fast. The market for £800 jackets that make you look like Sgt Pepper just isn’t there any more. People want to look serious, not frivolous. And now, more than ever, business clothing has to reinforce the credentials of the wearer.

“The only thing worse than having no interest in fashion is knowing nothing
about it”

When Tom Ford opened his first standalone store in New York it aped an upscale classic gentleman’s outfitters rather than the Studio 54 tart’s handbag of his Gucci stores. Ford, backed by Ermenegildo Zegna’s meticulous manufacturing arm, has been at the forefront of the double-breasted renaissance. Ford’s styling and shape is sleek, modern and high fashion without smacking of the fashion victim. This is where Cary Grant would get kitted out if he were around today – and where the current James Bond, Daniel Craig, does.

The edgier international designers are also embracing and fast-tracking the change in style. For this autumn Alexander McQueen showed sedate but perfectly handsome double-breasted suits (styled tieless but with top shirt buttons fastened – very au courant), while Martin Margiela, whose artisanal white-on-white Mayfair boutique with its lab-coated shop assistants is a temple to the avant-garde, has embraced a mature and serious aesthetic with his capsule Sartorial collection.

Sartorial utilises the kind of tailoring expertise more commonly associated with the very best of Milanese bespoke to create discreetly luxurious suits and coats that work well with similarly less showy (and almost never publicised) pieces in the Margiela canon: the Perfect White Shirt and the Perfect Black Trousers. And who hasn’t gone shopping for those simple pieces, only to give up when faced with racks of over-fussy details that have been tacked on gratuitously to differentiate the current season from previous ones? No wonder so many of us, when dabbling with off-the-peg, dash straight back to our tailors to get what we want.

Around the corner from Margiela’s London store, Gieves & Hawkes on Savile Row is pushing the new look with its ready-to-wear range in the form of a beautiful dandy-meets-neocon chalkstripe double-breasted suit and, more excitingly, double-breasted black velvet evening jackets – something that Giorgio Armani has also been doing for his Emporio label. The double-breasted evening jacket is the epitome of dressy, and its resurgence points to things having come full circle from the 1980s. It’s shamelessly showy but not vulgar – though to be done well, it has to be tailored at the Savile Row level.

The one problem with double-breasted is that it can be unforgiving if you have a paunch. Like fine-gauge knitwear (particularly cardigans) it can add pounds on top of already-surplus pounds. Far more forgiving is the other main strand to the new traditionalism that is reappearing in men’s suitings – the three-piece. This really has taken off over the last couple of seasons, and its formal, slightly fogeyish quality has been spliced with a just-the-right-side-of-outré selection of fabrics.

Paul Smith has mixed the look up for this winter with Wind in the Willows mismatched tartans and bow ties, while Ralph Lauren has taken a power-broker stance with his top-end Purple label – monochrome checks and charcoal greys, cut slim but muscular, that look like they, and their wearer, really mean business. The label also boasts some of the best double-breasted suits around. That Ralph Lauren has shown these suits in an advertising campaign styled with a bowler hat speaks volumes. There’s been a resurgence of the bowler among East End kooks and wannabe flâneurs in 2008, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if it came back properly, Avengers-style?

While half of the men’s fashion world has been looking to the pre-microchip past to create a well-dressed future, the remainder has been reworking the minimalism that the likes of Jil Sander and Miuccia Prada have made their own over the last decade. You could call it the Scandi-American look, even though it stems from a German and an Italian designer respectively. The silhouette is currently being refined by Swedish designers such as Filippa K and Americans like Thom Browne.

The Scandinavian elements are in the narrow cuts, monochrome palette and severe styling (never more than two buttons). The American element is in the change in proportions that has been taking place. The trousers break above the shoe rather than on it, and the jackets show a good couple of inches of shirt cuff. Thom Browne is an exponent of this look, and what he does shouldn’t really work. Essentially, he makes shrunken suits – stuff that doesn’t fit. As New York magazine says, ‘He dresses like an insurance adjuster circa 1957’, and he designs like he dresses. There’s a touch of the Pee-wee Herman as well as the mid-century modernist about Browne, but he’s dead clever and a skilled tailor.

“The market for £800 jackets that make you look like Sgt Pepper just isn’t there any more. People want to look serious, not frivolous”

To see his own label at New York Fashion Week is to view it in what one could kindly call its ‘pure form’ – overstyled to the point of the risible. And if you aren’t stick-thin and over six foot, forget it. However, to see it at Brooks Brothers, where Browne designs the Black Fleece range, is to see it in an entirely wearable form. The quirk is there, but the Black Fleece man is resolutely a serious Eames-era, super-stylish Hitchcock villain made modern. And then there’s Browne’s double-breasted suit, bringing it all together in one look, straddling both schools of design. This is very possibly where men’s fashion is ultimately going – a little bit minimalist but more than a little bit traditionalist, yet with the confidence to bring the elements together in a brand-new way.

No matter where it ends up, menswear has moved on. Men will never be slaves to fashion like their wives – mercifully, the silhouette and proportions of menswear move at a pace that you’d need stop-motion cinematography to chart. But the only thing worse than having no interest in fashion is knowing nothing about it. Despite the metrosexual revolution and the explosion of the men’s style press, the city of London is still full of men wearing clothes that are badly made and don’t fit. No Swedish or Italian businessman would ever keep wearing a suit that only fitted them before middle-aged spread took hold. For this very reason, your wardrobe needs to be reassessed every year.

A young generation of men, fashion-literate but with more experience of the high street than of Savile Row, is demanding a higher quality of design and finish in menswear. The likes of Pokit, with its smart but decidedly casual HQ on London’s Lamb’s Conduit Street, is a fine example of the change in the market. Pokit tailors suits for the kind of man who might work in the media, but for whom the idea of wearing jeans every day is as unthinkable as a baseball cap. Its customers are likely to mix one of their suits with a Margiela shirt, a Mulberry bag and Uniqlo socks. Ultimately, there is more choice than ever out there off-the-peg – which means there’s no excuse for merely making do with what’s in the wardrobe when you haven’t bought anything new for five years. Go shopping. Make sure it fits. Make sure it flatters. And finally, make sure you’re wearing it, not vice-versa.

Located just at the rear of Battersea Park, Purple Dragon will occupy a 10,500 square foot site with every inch utilised to maximum effect. Divided into three age groups, Purple Dragon members will be able to engage in a huge range of activities, clubs and classes, as well as playing and socialising in a motivational, supportive and safe environment that encourages them to make their own decisions and choices.

Hatchlings (0-3 year olds) can immerse themselves in the maze, splash around in the wet play zone, scoot around the bike track or simply enjoy story and rhyme time. Little Growlers (4-7 year olds) may prefer a round of mini golf, a cookery lesson in the purpose built kitchen, or a spot of dressing up in the theatre pod. Finally, Fire Breathers (8-12 year olds) can look forward to booking some time in the recording studio, a stint in the science lab or enjoying the latest PS3 games; honing their dancing skills or simply chilling in their own lounge.

Members can also take part in a wide range of classes and clubs, ranging from toddler yoga, the Saturday morning disco, the gaming league, drama, language, art and music lessons through to fashion styling or creative writing for older children. Study groups and homework clubs will provide a wealth of support across the national curriculum.

Using only organic produce sourced, from the British Isles, Purple Dragon’s 100 seat brasserie will offer nutritionally balanced food all day long. From pure purées for tiny tots through to DIY pizza trays for creative cooks and sushi and gourmet salads for slightly older tastes, complemented by a range of delicious seasonal dishes from the grill the restaurant offers something for everyone.

Children from four years of age may be dropped off and left at the club if they are participating in a structured class or club, otherwise parents and carers will be expected to remain on site at all times. However, this will definitely be no hardship with lots of fun to be had participating in the activities with their little ones or taking the opportunity to unwind, whether it be socialising with friends; enjoying a spot of pampering in the nail bar or simply sitting with a good book in the beautifully appointed relaxation area. Alternatively parents and carers can also participate in a range of classes including sessions in nutrition, paediatric first aid and parent coaching.

Parents can have complete peace of mind knowing that all Purple Dragon Staff are rigorously interviewed, reference checked and screened and all have up to date CRB checks. Our playmates are dedicated childcare and education specialists with both the qualifications and experience to help make Purple Dragon members’ time at the club as enjoyable and productive as possible.

5% of everything spent at the club will go straight to its own charity, the Out Of School Project. This initiative aims to provide children living in dangerous and often violent communities with a safe haven in which to learn and have fun. Overseen by trained staff and volunteers, the children also develop key skills that will ultimately help them combat poverty. Purple Dragon aims to open the first such club in a Vidigal a favela in the heart of Rio de Janeiro.

The driving force behind Purple Dragon is Sharai Meyers. Over the course of her extraordinary career, Sharai has turned her talents to everything from criminal law to interior design – not to mention transforming Roland Mouret Design from a small company into a multi million pound global brand. Now married with a young family, Sharai recently decided to fill what she perceived to be a gap in the market, combining her love of design with her role as a mother to create a unique new offering for children and their carers.

Says Sharai: “I am so excited about this project. I really believe that Purple Dragon will provide families with a fantastic opportunity to eat, play, learn, and have fun in a beautiful environment. Hopefully we’ve succeeded in creating something that will inspire our young members and, at the same time, appeal to their parents and carers. We are aiming to build a community that nurtures talent and creativity, engenders self respect and most of all lets children have a good time.”

The Purple Dragon Club is situated at Alexandra Avenue, Battersea Park, SW11 4NY and is open between 8am and 9pm, seven days a week. Membership fees apply with full terms and conditions TBC.

For more information Black Card readers should visit www.purpledragonplay.com

‘KURO’ means black in Japanese. But not just any black but perfect black. In the world of televisions, black is everything. The ability to create the deepest, truest black results in the richest colours and depth of vision. KURO screens have up to 80% deeper black levels than any other flatscreen on the market and the new range of televisions can produce colours so accurately that they make looking at the screen the same as looking at real life.

When the award-winning KURO range was launched in 2007 it wowed both the industry and consumers alike. Rather than resting on its laurels Pioneer continued to push the boundaries of picture quality to produce the new generation of KURO TVs which have black levels five times deeper than the previous models.

“This new range of KURO plasma televisions exceeds the boundaries of what was thought possible. By continuously reinventing and recreating, Pioneer manages to offer consumers a truly moving experience, the essence of outstanding entertainment,” said Heidi Johnson-Cash, general manager for Marketing at Pioneer GB.

With 70 years experience in speaker technology, Pioneer is perfectly positioned to integrate the very latest sound features into the new KURO TVs. The units have unique sound settings associated with each of the KURO video settings – Dynamic, Standard, Movie and Game. The models boast the most advanced SRS WOW HD technology providing greater control to manage low, mid and high audio frequencies. This adds to the virtual surround sound effect and produces clearer and more precise audio.

Having perfected the colour and sound, Pioneer also improved the intelligence with an adjustment feature called Optimum Mode. This allows the TV to synchronize sight and sound by monitoring the content and light conditions of a particular room. Meaning that if the light in a room changes i.e. from day to night, or a light is turned on or off - the KURO will seamlessly adjust the picture and sound settings to reflect this. The result is that films feel like a cinema experience and televised sports feel like you are actually on the field.

For more information Black Card readers should visit www.pioneer.co.uk

While so many London venues regularly come under fire for overcharging customers on New Year’s Eve, the Waterloo Brasserie have devised the ultimate party extravaganza with a refreshingly inexpensive price-tag. Their £45 package includes a glass of champagne, a 4 course menu, including Amuse Bouche, a three-course dinner, live entertainment and a smoking hot DJ.

To kick-start the New Year festivities in style, guests of Waterloo Brasserie will be greeted with a glass of complimentary champagne and Amuse Bouche on arrival.

This gorgeous eaterie - which regularly caters to some of London’s most illustrious movers and shakers - have devised a winning entertainment rosta and a three-course dinner as created by talented head chef, Frank Lebiez.

Meanwhile, a leading New York DJ is being jetted over from the Lower East Side to spin the dancefloor into a frenzy of soulful, funky and deep house grooves, chart tracks and rock ‘n’ roll.

And just before the bells of midnight chime to usher in the year ahead, guests can venture into the night to witness one of the Europe’s most speculator sights: The London skyline and River Thames resplendent with fireworks.

The Waterloo Brasserie will continue to deliver some rockin’ tunes for partygoers who wish to push on through to the early hours. And to keep momentum at an all time high, the Waterloo Brasserie have crafted a special four drink offer entitling their guests to select beer, wine or cocktails and special New Year’s nibbles for only £20.

**menu**

Amuse bouche served with a Glass of Champagne

***

Vanilla foie gras terrine with saffron fruits chutney
or
Goat’s cheese encrusted with mixed nuts, mixed leaves salad
or
Pan fried scallops with herb butter & creamy leeks

***

Roasted turbot fillet, artichoke mousse and champagne sauce
or
Pan fried duck breast with wild mushroom fricassee and red currant sauce
or
Mushroom risotto scented with truffle

*

Chocolate fondant
OR
Pancake soufflé with orange mousse

Says Ellisdon, “While some designers have been including a few bags for men in their collections, I wanted to go further, creating a cohesive range of bags for men that are superbly practical yet ultimately covetable”.

Ellisdon has succeeded in her mission quite brilliantly, designing an exceptional range of bags that are different enough to be cool, yet understated enough to be serious.

Handmade in Spain in the finest leathers and some funkier modern materials, the collection offers perfect-for-purpose items, from messenger bags through to supersize holdalls; the designs range from the classic to the cutting-edge.

All pieces are stitched, lined and finished without compromise. They feature contrasting trims and linings, pockets exactly where needed and ergonomic detailing such as adjustable straps so that the bags can be worn across the body, to the front or back, as well as over the shoulder. Hallmarked with distinctive brand mascot, Bo, these items have truly raised the status of the male kit bag to the It-Bag.

This lavish collection comprises 47 options across 14 designs including contemporary classics like the Club in black tumblegrain leather; the retro-referenced Action with its red and white sporty vibe and Sketch, a tough statement in black and white extreme canvas, with a blast of graffiti, black leather trim and hi-viz orange lining.

The bags themselves are divided into four sizes:

Compact Messenger: The classic courier shape but scaled-down small and slim. Perfect for mobile phones, iPods, pens, keys - anything that’s too bulky to be jammed into the pocket but not enough to fill a cavernous bag.

The Messenger: This medium-sized bag with flap front and black nickel clip is slim yet still A4 compatible, making it essential urban wear for those on the go.

Super Messenger: Designed for those who need a little bit more space each day.

Super Holdall: The ultimate Weekender is just perfect for anyone intending to be away from HQ. Whether for a short stopover or maybe a spot of sport, this is the perfect bag.

Complimenting this collection is manbagcompany.com’s irresistible range of accessories. Choose from handy pouches for everyday pieces; sturdy oversized wash bags that are large enough for those weekend toiletries, and simple yet stunning wallets.

Available exclusively at www.manbagcompany.com, prices for the collection range from £15 to £495.