Spectator Life

Spectator Life

An intelligent mix of culture, style, travel, food and property, as well as where to go and what to see.

Tanya Gold

Where I love to eat

We can enter restaurants on Monday, and I wondered if I should tell you where to eat if you want the most fantastical or expensive or original food in London, or where I will eat in the early days of re-opening. What have you missed? A ball of ice on wheels containing champagne bottles at

10 films about the upper classes

Emily Mortimer’s BBC1 adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s classic The Pursuit of Love is proving a hit with viewers, demonstrating that the antics of our social betters continue to fascinate many of us. Downton Abbey may have helped pave the way for this interest, but there is far more to the upper classes than Julian Fellowes’

Seven walks inspired by artists

As we all discovered during lockdown, going for a walk is one of the best things you can do to keep your mind and body in good working order, and for me it’s even better if there’s some artistic or literary interest en route. Some of my favourite outings over these last few years have been spent following

A handy guide to hugging

Boris Johnson has announced that the government will permit hugging from Monday 17 May. In subsequent weeks, it is expected that permission will be granted for people to hold hands, kiss and, perhaps, engage in even more intimate acts of mutual appreciation. However, the authorities remain cautious about mutant variants and their ability to spread

Should Marmite get back in its jar?

The reopening of pubs is not only good for those of us that have been gasping for a pint. It’s also great news for Marmite. Supermarkets were running low on the sticky brown condiment last month because of yeast shortages while breweries lowered production during the pandemic. During the first national lockdown last year, Marmite had to

Olivia Potts

Potatoes Dauphinoise: a rich dish made for sharing

There’s no getting away from the fact that potatoes dauphinoises is a rich dish. It’s a celebration of richness, of creaminess, and of carbs. If you recoil from richness, or are the first person at the table to bring up calorie counts, potatoes dauphinoises is probably not the dish for you – and frankly, any

The remorseless rise of ‘so’

So, a question for you. Are you bothered by the fact that you hear the word so, quite so often? Does ‘so’ grate on you? It grates on me. A lot. Every time I hear it I shudder, which makes certain television channels frankly hazardous. In fact, I’ve reached my absolute ‘so’ saturation point. It

London’s best sky-high dining spots

Pity the poor panoramic restaurant. They might boast the best views of the capital, but the lack of outdoor space on the 42nd floor means they haven’t been able to take advantage of the easing of restrictions for the hospitality industry — until now. But from 17 May, they’ll be sashaying out of lockdown like

Is there a link between Asperger’s and genius?

The world’s richest man – who, beyond Tesla and Space X, is known for naming his first child X AEA-12 – generated more headlines this week, when he announced on the American television show Saturday Night Live that he has Asperger syndrome. ‘I know I sometimes say or post strange things, but that’s just how my brain works,’

Six literary adaptations that outdo The Pursuit of Love

The actress Winona Ryder once declared that if anyone attempted to film The Catcher in the Rye, she’d have to burn the studio down, such was her love for the book. There’s many a Mitfordian wishing they could enact this retrospective action on the new BBC production of The Pursuit of Love. RAGE-messaging amongst my

The sad demise of Alan Partridge

One of my favourite Alan Partridge moments — and there have been many — is the now infamous scene from I’m Alan Partridge, where north Norfolk’s most beloved DJ — Alan’s words not mine — is chased down a remote country track by a psychotic stalker. On reaching a dead end our hero leaps over a

Travel podcasts to fuel your wanderlust

After a miserable year for would-be globetrotters, international travel is finally returning – albeit slowly – with the unveiling of the (rather short) green list. What better time, then, to stoke up your wanderlust by listening to one of these excellent travel podcasts: The Trip Former TIME foreign editor Nathan Thornburgh has a pretty cushy gig:

Where to beat the crowds in Portugal

Following the news that Portugal, including Madeira and the Azores, has a place on the UK’s green list, many of us are writing off other destinations and eyeing up its travel potential for the first time. There’s more to Portugal than the Algarve: whether you’re in search of vines, hiking trails or secluded shores, it’s possible to pull

Into the wild: hidden campsites to explore this summer

We all know it’s going to be another bumper year for the UK’s tourism sector. With confidence in international travel still not yet fully in-place, and staycation options booked out, camping is a fantastic alternative, giving you the flexibility to follow the weather and families the ability to meet again in a socially distant way with

All’s well that ends well: TV’s most satisfying finales

As national irritation continues to simmer over what many viewers felt was the disappointing denouement to BBC1’s hit police drama Line of Duty, here’s a look at ten shows that bowed out on a more satisfying note. A good ending is comparatively rare, as the tendency in TV is to squeeze every last drop out of

Melanie McDonagh

Move over Meghan: classic books every child should read

There are so many better ways to spend thirteen quid on children’s books than on Meghan Markle’s The Bench; how about something that children might actually enjoy, which isn’t written to gratify the vanity of the author? Here are a few of the ones that I liked and that your children (or you) might like.

The joy of blue plaques

This week saw the unveiling of the latest English Heritage blue plaque. It marks one Caroline Norton, a 19th century writer celebrated for her pioneering legal battles against her drunk and violent wastrel of a husband which resulted in some of the first legislation to enshrine women’s rights. The plaque is at Chesterfield Street, Mayfair,

Olivia Potts

Pistachio soufflé: a small act of faith

I often think (and write) about how much faith baking requires. Every time you entrust a batter, a dough or a sponge to the oven, there’s little you can do to change its fate. Sure, you can make sure you don’t open the oven dough (don’t open the oven door!), you can double check your temperatures

Ross Clark

The dangers of buying a ‘doer-upper’

Is there any television programme as cruel as Grand Designs? At least Jeux Sans Frontieres only offered 15 minutes of humiliation at a time. Grand Designs, by contrast, offers a lifetime’s worth, often with bankruptcy and divorce thrown in. But none have come quite such a cropper as Edward Short who, in 2008, paid £1

Can Somerset gazump the Cotswolds?

Life is peaceful there. Go west, in the open air. So sang the Village People and subsequently the Pet Shop Boys. They had a point as according to Rightmove, Bruton in Somerset is the top country hotspot for home buyers. With a 122 per cent increase in the number of house sales over the past 12 months

What we can learn from the noughties teen movie

There’s a movie scene forever etched into the minds of young adults. It’s probably as vivid as our parents’ recollection of the moon landing, or Maxwell House ads. In American Pie, hopeless high-schooler Jim decides to copulate with an apple tart. You don’t think he’s going to do it, but he does. And then, because

How to master the Gin Gimlet

The Gin Gimlet was an unlikely hero of our socially distanced year. With their venues shuttered, bartenders were forced to get creative in order to ply their trade to a homebound audience. In a rush to create cocktails that could withstand bottling and postage, many turned to shelf-stable cordials in place of more temperamental citrus

Short books to read on the commute

As lockdown shows early signs of (finally) coming to an end, there is the likelihood that, once again, early morning trains will be full of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed commuters, keen to leave their ‘home offices’ in favour of being around people who they are neither married to nor responsible for. And this means, one hopes,

Why I picked an apprenticeship over a politics degree

I’d always wanted to work in the media but had no idea how to get there. I would spend hours during sixth form trawling the pages of impressive journalists on Wikipedia, desperately trying to get some sense of what was required. My conclusion? An Oxbridge education tied most of them together. Inspired, I applied to

Can the Porsche Taycan convince me to go electric?

How far the world of electric vehicles has come in just a decade. Back in 2011, the most prevalent ‘EV’ to be found on the streets of London was probably a G-Wiz, the Indian-built microcar that was so light, small and slow that it was officially deemed not to be a car at all, but

The problem with driving in Britain

Admit it, the joy of driving is a myth – in Britain at least. Drivers who talk about the thrill of getting behind the wheel should ask themselves, when was it that they last really enjoyed driving somewhere? Because the grim truth is that unless you are on an isolated country road miles from the nearest speed camera –

Ten films about the end of World War II

The 76th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe will take place on the 8 May; although in fact the conflict continued for days (if not weeks) after this date with heavy fighting in parts of the former Eastern Front and areas newly occupied by Soviet forces. Indeed, anti-communist resistance groups in

What to look forward to at the theatre

It might seem counterintuitive to say this about such a chatty medium, but what I have missed most about the theatre during its long year in the Covid wilderness is silence. More specifically, the two distinct types of silence unique to this artform, the silences that top and tail a production of import, a piece

8 crime mini-series to watch this weekend

Kate Winslet’s latest drama, Mare of Easttown, has been winning praise from critics and viewers alike. The seven-part series, currently available on Sky Atlantic, is a reminder that – in a world of sprawling box-sets – the old-fashioned crime mini-series still packs a serious punch. Here are eight others worth a watch: Your Honor, Sky Atlantic/NowTV There