JOAN BURSTEIN Browns' first lady of fashion - Mayfair Times

JOAN BURSTEIN
Browns’ first
lady of fashion
SHERIDAN SMITH
Paints the town pink
US INVASION
American retailers rush to Mayfair
£3
April 10

Contents
12
48
Mayfair Times
Mayfair’s house magazine
now in its 23rd year
www.mayfairtimes.co.uk
20
18 Cover story
Joan Burstein, co-founder of
legendary boutique Browns,
on 40 years in fashion
Photo: Stephanie Rushton Mallinson
Make-up: Karen Beadle at
www.karenbeadle.com
Hair: Joseph Koniak at
www.josephkoniak.com
6 News
Make like Grace Kelly at the
Connaught and stay with Diane
von Furstenberg at Claridge’s
10 Events
Easter in Mayfair – from treasure
hunts to church services
16 Art
The London Original Print Fair
celebrates its 25th anniversary
20 Nightlife
The champagne is flowing once
more in Mayfair’s bars and clubs
23 Food
Why Seven Park Place, St James’s
is heading for a Michelin star
28 Health & beauty
Michaeljohn gets a makeover.
Plus: Mayfair’s new spa experience
12 Pink lady
Sheridan Smith wows the critics
and the crowds in Legally Blonde,
The Musical
26 London calling
Why American retailers are falling
over themselves to open European
flagship stores on Regent Street
30 Boss and PA
Mark Fuller and the woman who
organises his rock’n’roll lifestyle
33 Business
Pop-up shops are in vogue for
everything from Marmite to vodka
48 Property
The secret gardens of Mayfair.
Plus: Savills opens on North
Audley Street
52 Interiors
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s
colourful approach to decorating
58 Meanderings
Galvin’s Chance is changing the
lives of young people at risk
28
24
Editor Selma Day
T 020 7259 1052
E selma@pubbiz.com
Art Sophie Bishop
Business, Personal finance Erik Brown
Events Lucy Brown
Fashion, Food & drink,
Health & beauty Selma Day
Theatre, Property, Interiors Nuala Calvi
Sub-editor Nuala Calvi
Designer Andy Lowe
Publisher & editorial director Erik Brown
T 020 7259 1053
E erik.brown@pubbiz.com
Publishing director Adrian Day
Advertisement director
Sam Bradshaw T 020 7259 1051
Advertisement manager
Katie Thomas T 020 7259 1059
Printed in England by
Precision Colour Printing.
© Publishing Business Ltd 2010
Mayfair Times is produced by Publishing
Business in partnership with Grosvenor
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T 020 7259 1050 F 020 7901 9042
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and observes the PPA Code of
Publishing Practice
5

6
news
The art of fine dining
URBAN CAPRICE has joined forces with luxury goods
fair Masterpiece London to offer guests the chance to
experience fine dining from Le Caprice, The Ivy,
Scott’s, Harry’s Bar and Bam-Bou – all under one roof.
An event, which takes place in June on the site of
the former Chelsea Barracks, it will bring together
some of the art world’s leading dealers, showing
traditional fine art and antiques alongside
contemporary works of art, fine wine, classic cars,
jewellery and other premium collectors’ items.
Des McDonald, chief executive of Urban Caprice,
Caprice Holdings and Annabel’s Clubs, said: “We are
delighted to be working with Masterpiece London. We
are always looking for suitable opportunities to convey
the different facets of our restaurants and clubs and
this fitted perfectly for us.”
Mayfair dealers confirmed so far include SJ Phillips
and MacConnal-Mason as well as established founders
Mallett, Ronald Phillips, Apter-Fredericks and Asprey.
Style driver
GQ MAGAZINE, based in Hanover
Square, has teamed up with Citroën to
launch a concept car designed to create
“the ultimate gentleman’s drive”.
Mark Lloyd, the designer responsible
for the new Citroën DS3, responded to
a brief by GQ editor Dylan Jones
(above) and integrated it with a typical
Citroën design approach.
The result was GQbyCitroën, a
futuristic, stylish car with interior
detailing and upholstery provided by
Patrick Grant, creative director of Savile
Row tailor E.Tautz.
A month
in Mayfair
RI showdown
LIBERTY PLC, the 134-year-old
British luxury retailer, mostly owned
by MWB Group Holdings, sold the
freehold of its mock-Tudor flagship
store on Great Marlborough Street
to German private investor Sirosa
Liberty Limited for £41.5 million. On
completion of the sale, Liberty will
lease back the store for £2.1 million
a year and continue to operate it.
DES MCDONALD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF
URBAN CAPRICE AND CAPRICE HOLDINGS
A CRUNCH meeting of the Royal
Institution of Great Britain’s members
is due to take place next month. The
RI ran into financial problems after a
£22 million refurbishment, and its
director, neuroscientist Baroness
Susan Greenfield, was made
redundant earlier this year.
Last week, it was reported that
supporters of the Baronness had
called for fundamental changes to
the RI’s bye-laws that would enable
the full-scale replacement of the
institution’s council. Top UK
scientists and members of the 211year
old Albemarle Street institution –
including two former RI directors of
research, a former RI director, two
past Christmas lecturers and a Nobel
Prize winner – have since thrown
their weight behind the current
trustees.
A special General Meeting of the
RI membership has now been called
for April 12.
Yummy
mummy
STRICTLY COME DANCING
presenter and mum of two
Tess Daly was at Mamas &
Papas in Regent Street for a
brunch to celebrate the launch
of her new book, The Baby
Diaries: Memories, Milestones
and Misadventures.
As well as signing copies
of the book, Daly answered
questions from competition
winners about her
experiences and looking
after a newborn baby.
NATALIA VODIANOVA
(pictured) and Lucy
Yeomans, editor in chief of
Harper’s Bazaar, hosted
The Love Ball, supported
by Mayfair jeweller De
Beers in aid of the Naked
Heart Foundation, which
builds playgrounds for
urban children in Russia.
The centrepiece of the
event and evening’s charity
auction was The Magic
Moment necklace,
designed by Vodianova
herself and created by
De Beers.
MOTOR RACING legend Sir Stirling
Moss suffered two broken ankles after
falling down three floors in the lift shaft
at his Mayfair home. The 80-year-old
is now recovering in hospital after
surgery. He is expected to take six
weeks to recover from his injuries,
which include broken bones in his
foot, skin abrasions and four chipped
vertebrae.
Live like a princess
THE CONNAUGHT is to celebrate the life and
career of one of its most famous residents,
Grace Kelly, to coincide with an exhibition about
the actress at the Victoria & Albert Museum
(April 17-26).
The hotel will offer guests the chance to relive
the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood star
through its Grace Kelly: Style Icon Weekends
package. The package includes two free tickets
to the V&A exhibition, a commemorative
exhibition book, a box set of Kelly’s films and a
private visit to Balenciaga on Mount Street –
one of Kelly’s favourite boutiques.
The Connaught Bar has devised three
bespoke cocktails inspired by different stages of
Kelly’s life: Hollywood Star, Beloved Princess and
Royal Bride.
Many of the staff have fond memories of
Kelly. “Whenever she came to London, this was
her home,” said general manager Anthony Lee.
“I remember escorting her to her favourite suite
and she was absolutely delightful. She was very
low key and used to love the privacy of the
Connaught.”
MAYFAIR WAS the scene of two smashand-grab
robberies last month. A fourstrong
gang on two mopeds struck at the
Belstaff store on Conduit Street, grabbing
several designer jackets, while a few days
later a motorbike-riding gang raided the
Mappin & Webb store on the corner of Old
Bond Street and Piccadilly, making off with
a number of distinctive Rolex watches. Both
incidents happened in broad daylight.
Home help
ARCHITECT IN THE HOUSE, the annual
fundraising initiative run by housing charity
Shelter and the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA) launches on April 19.
Each year, architects nationwide give up
their time for free to offer hour-long
consultations to members of the public in
return for a £40 suggested donation to
Shelter. The Green Street property pictured
below had a luxury extension carried out by
Good with food
TWENTY OF LONDON’S most prestigious chefs, including
many Mayfair participants, left their restaurants to cook for an
audience of 200 at The Langham Hotel in support of Leuka,
the annual charitable dinner to raise funds for the leukaemia
care unit of Hammersmith Hospital.
Guests at the event – which included a post-dinner auction
of the chefs’ services for private dining – included Sir Stuart
Rose, Jeremy Clarkson, Nigella Lawson and Cilla Black.
Chaired by restaurateur Chris Corbin of The Wolseley,
the evening raised £429,000.
THE NICOLE FARHi brand,
whose store is in New Bond
Street, has been sold for
£5 million to Los Angeles-based
private equity house OpenGate
Capital. Farhi, who founded the
label in 1983, will continue in her
role as creative director and Niki
Scordi, currently managing
director, will be promoted to CEO.
Chaudhuri Architects as part of the scheme.
Now in its 14th year, the initiative has
raised more than £1 million for Shelter’s
work with homeless and badly housed
families.
Participants will be matched with
architects in early July and consultations
take place any time up to the end of
November. To register, visit
www.architectinthehouse.org.uk.
Going for
gold
LADY ANTONIA FRASER
received the 2010 Leonardo da
Vinci Gold Medal for
outstanding contribution to the
arts and literature at the Arts
Club in Dover Street, presented
by club president
Sir Peter Blake.
Each year, the recipient is
asked to nominate an emerging
artist in their field to receive the
club’s annual bursary. Lady
Antonia chose young historian
Dr Anna Whitelock for her
recent book on Mary Tudor,
England’s First Queen.
AWARD-WINNING
actress, screenwriter
and author Emma
Thompson was at
Waterstone’s Piccadilly
to sign copies of her
new book, Nanny
McPhee & the Big Bang,
a novel based on the
new Nanny McPhee film.
7

86
8
news
Star treatment
THE LONDON CLINIC has officially opened its
new state-of-the-art pathology laboratory and
consulting rooms at 116 and 120 Harley Street.
Actress Joanna Lumley (pictured) joined
consultants and representatives from the clinic to
unveil a plaque commemorating the event.
Called The London Clinic Consulting Rooms
and Pathology Laboratory, the 35,000 sq ft
building includes 29 new consulting rooms.
The project involved the redevelopment of four
Harley Street houses and took 36 months to
complete.
Halcyon days
CONTEMPORARY ART DEALER Halcyon Gallery has
acquired the lease of 144-146 New Bond Street, formerly
the home of antique dealer Partridge Fine Art. The
gallery will open in autumn following a redevelopment of
the space by architect Alford Hall Monaghan Morris.
Halycon currently has galleries at 24 Bruton Street
and 29 New Bond Street. The 144-146 New Bond Street
gallery will operate in addition to the Bruton Street one.
News in brief
VALENTINE’S DAY hit new heights
this year as a sales and footfall
driver in the West End. Many
hotels in the area, including The
Langham, reported strong
occupancy from domestic and
international shoppers taking city
breaks for the special day.
Theatres and cinemas reported a
record weekend’s trade and retail
sales, according to the London
Retail Consortium, were up by
9.9 per cent on the previous year.
THE ATHENAEUM will be hosting
an Easter egg hunt in Green Park
on Sunday April 4 as part of a
range of activities for families
seeking an action-packed break in
the capital this Easter. Children
and parents alike can enjoy the
event, hosted by the hotel’s own
kids’ concierge and, weather
permitting, there will be other
activities such as kite-flying, bikeriding
and bird-feeding. For further
information, call 020 7499 3464.
ON APRIL 13, Grosvenor House
hotel will be hosting its second
Literati book club event, where
author and radio presenter Libby
Purves will be discussing her
latest novel, Shadow Child.
For further information and to
book a place, email
literati@marriotthotels.com.
OXFORD STREET retailers
including John Lewis, Marks &
Spencer and House of Fraser,
along with members of the New
West End Company, dedicated a
Friday to sprucing up St Andrew’s
Youth Club in Westminster – the
world’s oldest youth club. Retailers
donated new furniture and other
equipment to the club, while
members of the New West End
Looking east
VIETNAMESE ART dealer
The Apricot Gallery is
opening a flagship gallery
at 27 Albemarle Street.
Focusing exclusively on
contemporary Vietnamese
art, the gallery is launching
on April 22 with an
exhibition of works by five
artists, ranging from
established to emerging.
Designs on Claridge’s
CLARIDGE’S HAS announced a collaboration with
Diane von Furstenberg, which will see her design a
series of rooms and suites using her iconic prints and
bold colours as well as original pieces of furniture.
The deal marks the first interior design project for
the fashion designer, whose only London store is in
Bruton Street. However, the relationship between
Claridge’s and von Furstenberg goes back a long
way and some of the designer’s past collections have
been inspired by the hotel.
“One of my fondest memories was when I was in
London as a young, independent businesswoman
and stayed at Claridge’s – I knew I had made it,” said
von Furstenberg.
“Claridges’s is the most glamorous hotel in the
world; I regard it as my home from home. I am
honoured to become part of the hotel’s legacy.”
Company, including chief executive
Richard Dickinson (pictured),
painted two key rooms in the club.
ALEXIS RUFUS, the UK Thai
boxing champion featured in
Mayfair Times last month, has
become European champion.
Rufus says the ISKA European
Championship fight, at the City
Pavilion, Romford, on March 13,
was one of her toughest. Weighing
in at 55kg, Rufus beat Caterina
Valerio of Portugal. Rufus stormed
to victory after giving Valerio a
bloody nose in round three. Rufus
is PA to Richard Cutt who heads
Knight Frank’s Mayfair office.
NEWS: Selma Day
selma@pubbiz.com

10
what’s on events
what’s on film
FRIDAY 2
Beatrix Potter exhibition
and storytelling
Bookshop, Selfridges, 400 Oxford
Street, W1. 12pm, 1.30pm, 3pm
and 4.30pm, runs until April 5.
Storytelling performances of The
Tale of Peter Rabbit, with a
special appearance from Peter
himself. The event runs alongside
a Beatrix Potter exhibition,
featuring original illustrations and
books and toys from the archives,
which runs until April 12.
Info: 0800 123 400,
www.selfridges.com.
SATURDAY 17
Afternoon Tea masterclass
Claridge’s, Brook Street, W1.
11.30am, £157.50 including
lunch and welcome coffees.
Pastry chef Nick Patterson reveals
some of the secrets behind
Claridge’s famous afternoon teas,
including how to make perfect
scones and delicious pastries.
Info: 020 7409 6307,
www.claridges.co.uk.
SATURDAY 24
St George’s Day and Rhythm
of London Finale
Trafalgar Square, WC2. 1pm-
6.30pm, free.
A free concert to celebrate
London’s musical heritage and
future. Presented in two halves,
the first sees young musicians
and groups from schools perform
(1pm-3pm), with the winners of
last year’s Busking Underground
competition and special guests
playing from 3.10-3.40pm. The
second half (3.50-4.50pm)
celebrates music hall, with
performers from the Royal
Academy of Music and the
Player’s Theatre singing favourites
such as The Lambeth Walk. Song
sheets will be provided and
audience participation is
welcomed. Joe Brown and his
five-piece band headline the
second half (5-6pm).
Info:
rhythmoflondon@london.gov.uk,
www.london.gov.uk.
SUNDAY 25
Theatreland Walking Tours
Tour around Leicester Square and
Covent Garden. 2.30pm, £9.
Places are limited so book early.
Also on selected Sundays in May,
June, July, August and October.
Diane Burstein, professional guide
and LBC 97.3FM broadcaster,
leads a walking tour of the West
End’s best-loved theatres and
lesser-known theatrical treasures.
Info: 0207 557 6700,
walkingtours@solttma.co.uk,
www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk.
EASTER SERVICES:
THURSDAY 1 TO
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel, 24 South
Audley Street, W1.
7pm, Eucharist of the Lord’s
Supper with the Washing of Feet
and a Vigil until 10pm.
Info: 020 7499 1684,
www.grosvenorchapel.org.uk.
St George’s Hanover Square
St George’s, Hanover Square, W1.
5.45pm, Holy Communion.
Info: 020 7629 0874,
www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org.
Farm Street Church
Farm Street, W1.
6pm, Concelebrated Mass of the
Lord’s Supper with Washing of
the Feet, Stripping of the Altar,
Procession of the Blessed
Sacrament and Watching at Altar
of Repose until midnight.
Info: 020 7493 7811,
www.farmstreet.org.uk.
FRIDAY 2 TO
GOOD FRIDAY
St George’s Hanover Square
St George’s, Hanover Square, W1.
10am, Liturgy. 2.30pm, Vespers.
Music includes JS Bach’s St
Matthew Passion (ticket only –
Box office: 01460 54660).
Info: 020 7629 0874,
www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org.
Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel, 24 South
Movies + Music = Morricone
The Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, SW1.
Tickets for each screening £9, £8 concessions,
£7 ICA members. Runs until April 11.
A season of films featuring scores by Ennio Morricone
to celebrate his appearance at the Royal Albert Hall on
April 10 (7.30pm, box office 0845 401 5045). Films
include The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (April 3, 9,
11), Guns for San Sebastian (April 4, 10), The Battle of
Algiers (April 4, 10, 11), and The Thing (April 10, 11).
Info: 020 7930 3647, www.ica.org.uk.
THURSDAY 22
NT Live: The Habit of Art
Curzon Mayfair, 38 Curzon Street, W1. 6.45pm,
more details from the venue.
A new play by Alan Bennett, live from the National
Theatre, starring Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths
and Alex Jennings, directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Info: 0871 703 3989, www.curzoncinemas.com.
RICHARD GRIFFITHS IN
THE HABIT OF ART
Audley Street, W1.
12pm, act of devotion. 1pm,
Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion.
Info: 020 7499 1684,
www.grosvenorchapel.org.uk.
Farm Street Church
Farm Street, W1.
12pm, Stations of the Cross.
3pm, Solemn Liturgy of Good
Friday, Veneration of the Cross
and Holy Communion. 6pm,
Meditation on the Seven Last
Words and Veneration of the Relic
of the True Cross.
Info: 020 7493 7811,
www.farmstreet.org.uk.
SATURDAY 3 TO
HOLY SATURDAY
Farm Street Church
Farm Street, W1.
8pm, Easter Vigil and Mass.
Info: 020 7493 7811,
www.farmstreet.org.uk.
SUNDAY 4 TO
EASTER SUNDAY
St George’s Hanover Square
St George’s, Hanover Square, W1.
8.30am, Holy Communion. 11am,
Sung Eucharist. Music includes
Mozart’s Coronation Mass.
Info: 020 7629 0874,
stgeorgeshanoversquare.org.
Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel, 24 South
Audley Street, W1.
6am, Vigil and Eucharist of the
Dawn with the lighting of the fire,
followed by a shared champagne
breakfast. 11am, Sung Eucharist
with orchestra. Music includes JS
Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G
major and Mozart’s Coloredo
Mass in C and Regina Coeli.
Info: 020 7499 1684,
www.grosvenorchapel.org.uk.
Farm Street Church
Farm Street, W1.
Usual Sunday Mass times (8am,
9.30am (Family Mass), 11am
(Sung Latin), 12.30pm, 4.15pm,
6.15pm).
Info: 020 7493 7811,
www.farmstreet.org.uk.
what’s on music
THURSDAY 22
The Magic Numbers
The Pigalle Club, 215 Piccadilly, W1. Onstage 8.30pm,
tickets £15. (Over-18s, ID required, fully standing show).
The band take a break from recording their third
album to play some of their new songs as well as
some old favourites.
Info: 0800 988 5470,
020 7734 8142 (after 6pm),
www.thepigalleclub.com,
www.themagicnumbers.net.
SUNDAY 4
Hallelujah for Easter: Live
Music and Easter Egg Trail
Handel House Museum, 25
Brook Street, W1. 12pm-6pm,
last entrance 5.30pm, admission
£5 for adults, free for children.
Drop in to listen to the Handel
House harpsichord and take part
in an Easter egg trail, with
chocolate egg prizes for all
participants. Suitable for all
ages.
Info: 020 7495 1685,
www.handelhouse.org.
MONDAY 5
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Handel Festival 2010
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar
Square, WC2. For full details and
ticket prices, contact the church
or see the website below. Runs
until April 10.
St Martin-in-the-Fields, where
Handel played the opening organ
recital in 1726 and performed
during the 1730s, hosts its
annual festival celebrating his
music. The series opens on April
5 with Handel’s Messiah,
performed by the English
Chamber Choir and soloists from
the Belmont Ensemble of
London. It closes on April 10
with a performance of Handel’s
Music for the Royal Fireworks,
excepts from Water Music Suite,
Let the Bright Seraphim and
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.
Free lunchtime concerts on April
6 and 9 are performed by
students from Trinity College of
Music and the Royal College of
Music.
Info: 020 7766 1100,
www.smitf.org.
TUESDAY 13
Joe Perry Project
The 100 Club, 100 Oxford
Street, W1. 7pm, £32.50
(advance).
Aerosmith’s lead guitarist
performs with his band, the Joe
Perry Project.
Info: 020 7636 0933,
www.the100club.co.uk.
THURSDAY 15
Jarvis Church
The Pigalle Club, 215 Piccadilly,
W1. Doors 7.30pm, tickets £15
(more on the door). Fullystanding
show.
Canadian soul singer Jarvis
Church performs, with special
guests Love Revue and Johnny
and the Mets.
Info: 0800 988 5470/020 7734
8142 (after 6pm),
www.thepigalleclub.com.
THURSDAY 22
The New Atlantis
Handel House Museum, 25
Brook Street, W1. 6.30pm,
tickets £5, £4.50 concessions.
Handel House becomes a ‘sound
house’ in response to Francis
Bacon’s 17th century novel The
New Atlantis. Each room will be
an individual performance space
to be experienced in a
promenade fashion, mixing
period repertoire and
contemporary electro-acoustic
works alongside a new work for
electronics and harpsichord.
Info: 020 7495 1685,
www.handelhouse.org.
FRIDAY 23
I Was Glad – music for St
George’s Day
St James’ Church, 197
Piccadilly, W1. 7.30pm, tickets
£15, £12.
The English Chamber Choir
perform music by Parry, Handel,
Vaughan Williams, Harris,
Gowers, Rutter and Walton,
conducted by Guy Protheroe and
featuring organist Ian Curror.
Info: 020 7766 1100,
www.st-james-piccadilly.org.
EVENTS: Lucy Brown lucy.brown@pubbiz.com

SHERIDAN SMITH’S
SUGAR-COATED
PERFORMANCE AS
ELLE WOODS IN
LEGALLY BLONDE,
THE MUSICAL HAS
WON HER FANS
AMONG CRITICS AND
SCREAMING
TEENAGE GIRLS
ALIKE. BUT SHE’D
RATHER PUT THE
SHOW’S SUCCESS
DOWN TO THE
CHIHUAHUAS, FINDS
NUALA CALVI
Pink lady
First one pink-collared Chihuahua appears. Then
another, and another. Soon, there’s a line of five, with a
greetings card-perfect bulldog keeping up the rear,
marching their dogwalker down the alley. It’s clear that
this is the stage door for the Savoy Theatre, currently
home to Legally Blonde, The Musical.
Inside, the Blonde – Sheridan Smith, aka West Coast
ditz-turned-lawyer Elle Woods – sounds very much like
her alterego, albeit with a Lincolnshire accent. “Oh my
God!,” she squeals, stealing the words from the show’s
signature song. “How gorgeous are the dogs? They’re
certainly the stars of the show. There are five
Chihuahuas now because they have, like, understudies.
How cute is that? I have to resist stealing them every
night. I take different ones home different nights, to
bond. I keep the Chihuahuas in my bed.”
On stage the night before, Smith banished all
memories of Janet, the trashy bird she plays in longrunning
BBC comedy Two Pints of Lager and a Packet
of Crisps, with a glossy, hot-pink performance that had
the critics on a sugar high. “Infinitely more likeable than
Reese Witherspoon in the film,” said one; “blessed with
vitality, warmth, great comic timing and sudden
moments of touching vulnerability,” wrote another.
The latter could be a description of 28-year-old
Smith herself, whose standard greeting is a friendly
hug, a mischievous laugh and an endearing selfdeprecation.
That the show has been both a critical and
commercial success is, she says, down to the cold
weather and the credit crunch. The story of a fashionobsessed
apparent airhead, who blags her way into
Harvard Law School to pursue her college sweetheart
and surprises everyone by ending up top of the class,
has a much-needed feel-good factor.
“We were worried people would be, like, ‘This is just
a big, fluffy, pink show’,” Smith says, earnestly. “Really,
you know, we could’ve been slated, and we prepared
ourselves to be. So the fact everyone’s taken to it and is
enjoying it as much as we are is brilliant.”
Every night, Smith spends up to an hour signing
autographs for the crowds of teenage girls that now
habitually gather for her, some of them dressed in pink
and sporting blonde, Elle-style wigs, outside the
theatre. Foremost among her followers are the SAS –
the Sheridan Appreciation Society – her nickname for
the hoards of friends and family from back home in
Epworth, who pay visits en masse, orchestrated by
Smith’s mum.
“Oh my God, they’ve been so many times,” she
laughs. “My mum came yesterday with a bus trip from
the village. Fifty people. All in pink, because she told
them that was the dress code. She’s got another bus
load coming in April, and another in May...”
It’s 12 years since Smith herself left the village, aged
just 16, to be in a National Youth Music Theatre
production of Bugsy Malone that transferred to the
West End. She had intended to return home when it
finished, but the work kept coming, and she never quite
got round to it.
“I moved in with five other 16-year-olds from the
cast,” she recalls. “We lived on jam sandwiches – it was
ridiculous. But we loved it. It was scary, scary – but
brilliant – and bless my mum and dad for letting me
go, because I don’t know if most parents would.”
As a country music duo who brought Smith up
listening to Dolly Parton (“She’s one of my idols –
there’s her calendar up there”), her parents
presumably understood her calling. But once
Smith was in London, she found there were
other people to convince.
“To move down to this industry, this
showbizzy world – I felt really out of
place and really judged because of
my accent and because I was from where I was from,
because I was working class,” she admits. In that way,
she says, she knows just how her Legally Blonde
counterpart feels arriving at law school in high heels
and a pink dress to face her snooty fellow students.
Nevertheless, a critically-acclaimed role in the
Donmar Warehouse’s production of Sondheim’s Into the
Woods followed, and soon a move into TV, with parts
including Ralf Little’s girlfriend Emma in The Royle
Family, Smithy’s sister Rudi in Gavin & Stacey, Brandy
in Benidorm and, most enduringly, Janet in Two Pints.
By the time Smith played Audrey in the West End
production of Little Shop of Horrors last year, she
hadn’t done any musical theatre for eight years, and
wondered if she would be able to break out of the Janet
mould. “I wasn’t sure if people would take me seriously,
because people start pigeonholing you,” she says.
When rehearsals for Legally Blonde started, she was
plagued with similar self-doubt. “At one point I thought,
‘Oh my God, am I really going to be able to do this
part?’” she recalls. “I started thinking maybe I’d bitten
off more than I could chew.
“I’m not your typical leading lady, I’m not like a
Christine in Phantom of the Opera. Usually a leading
lady is a soprano and also the leads are quite often
male – the women are either the girlfriend of, or the
mistress of, someone. It’s rare that you get a part like
this where she’s front and centre. I’ve got the two
boyfriends in this, which is great. It’s very girl power.”
The critics would disagree: Smith has more than
proved her leading lady credentials, but for some
Legally Blonde’s pink-tinted politics haven’t stood up to
scrutiny quite so well.
“Is it a good message, a girl with a Chihuahua in a
bag being a ditzy blonde?” Smith sighs. “I think people
can get too bogged down with that. I think the message
is about this girl just being true to herself. It’s a bit of
fun, you know – it’s not Chekhov or Shakespeare.
“Dolly Parton has a brilliant quote where somebody
said to her, ‘How do you feel being called a dumb
blonde?’ and she was like, (puts on American accent)
‘Well, I don’t mind – ‘cause I ain’t really dumb and I ain’t
really blonde, neither’.”
Legally Blonde, The Musical is at the Savoy Theatre.
Tel: 0844 871 7687.
THEATRE: Nuala Calvi nuala@pubbiz.com
13
theatre

16
art
RIGHT: JIM DINE, WIESBADEN
BELOW: CRAIGIE AITCHISON,
THISTLE STILL LIFE, 2007
COURTESY THE ARTIST AND ADVANCED
GRAPHICS (LONDON, ENGLAND)
25 years in print
THE LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR is celebrating its
25th anniversary, with this year’s event at the Royal
Academy set to be the biggest ever.
More than 60 exhibitors will show works, ranging
from Old Masters to contemporary pieces. Those who
have shown since the fair began in 1985 include
Christopher Mendez, Andrew Edmunds, Picasso expert
Frederick Mulder, Gordon Samuel of Osborne Samuel
and Hilary Gerrish.
They will be joined by first-time exhibitors from
America, including Mary Ryan Gallery and The Old Print
Shop, as well as Japanese print specialist Israel
Goldman.
Speaking about the fair’s growth, chairman Gordon
Cooke commented: “Looking back over 25 years, I am
struck by the way prints have become accepted by the
art world at large. Our first fair attracted print
collectors, curators and enthusiasts; now many of our
buyers collect paintings or drawings as well as prints. I
feel we are now in the mainstream.”
The London Original Print Fair runs from April 29-May 3
at the Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly.
Tickets: £8, £4 concessions. Tel: 020 7439 2000.
www.londonprintfair.com.
ART: Sophie Bishop sophie@pubbiz.com
art events
Art from the heart
THE HEART IS ONE of Jim Dine’s most
enduring vehicles for the exploration of
line and colour – and also one of his most
expressive motifs.
Since the 1970s, the American pop
artist has continuously revisited the heart,
reinterpreting it in an ongoing series of
paintings, prints and sculptures.
It’s fitting, then, that this is the theme
for Alan Cristea’s exhibition of around 40
recent works by Dine, created in his
UNTIL APRIL 10
Flowers for Maggie’s
An exhibition of floral paintings
by Penny White in aid of
Maggie’s Cancer Caring
Centres.
John Martin Gallery,
38 Albemarle Street.
Tel: 020 7499 1314.
UNTIL APRIL 24
Marine Hugonnier
New works on paper by Marine
Hugonnier in Max Wigram’s new
Mayfair premises.
Max Wigram Gallery,
106 New Bond Street.
Tel: 020 7495 4960.
UNTIL APRIL 27
Vicente Grondona:
Vegetable Man
Silk drawings and charcoal
sculptures by Argentinean artist
Vicente Grondona.
Maddox Arts, 52 Brook’s Mews.
Tel: 020 7495 3101.
APRIL 7-30
Antiphonal:
Recent Paintings from
St Petersburg
Paintings by British artist Kate
Giles focusing on the Kazan
Cathedral’s interior and the
forests outside St Petersburg.
Frost & Reed, 2-4 King Street.
Tel: 020 7839 4645.
UNTIL MAY 8
Mark Evans: Skin Deep
Portraits of powerful figures
from the world of fashion and
sport, carved out of animal hides
by artist Mark Evans.
Scream, 34 Bruton Street.
Tel: 020 7493 7388.
APRIL 21-MAY 14
Mark Shields:
Here and Elsewhere
New paintings by Northern Irish
figurative artist Mark Shields.
Grosvenor Gallery, 21 Ryder
Street. Tel: 020 7484 7979.
APRIL 9-MAY 15
Rina Banerjee:
Forever Foreign
The first UK solo show of
Bengali-American artist Rina
Banerjee’s mythical drawings
studios in New York, Germany and on a
recent trip to India.
The exhibition features 20
watercolours and a similar amount of
limited-edition prints, made using a
combination of etching, screen printing
and digital printing.
Jim Dine Hearts runs from April 21-May
22 at The Alan Cristea Gallery, 31& 34
Cork Street. Tel: 020 7439 1866.
and sculptures.
Haunch of Venison, 6 Burlington
Gardens. Tel: 020 7495 5050.
UNTI MAY 29
The Fying Kabakov
A new series of paintings by
leading Russian artists Ilya and
Emilia Kabakov.
Sprovieri, 27 Heddon Street.
Tel: 020 7342 0066.
APRIL 26-MAY 29
Stuart Semple:
The Happy House
New works by popular imagemaker
and social commentator
Stuart Semple.
Morton Metropolis,
41-42 Berners Street.
Tel: 020 7636 1177.
UNTIL JUNE 13
Paul Sandby RA
Exhibition of more than 80
works by British watercolourist
Paul Sandby, marking the
bicentenary of his death.
The Sackler Wing, Royal
Academy, Burlington House,
Piccadilly. Tel: 020 7300 8000.

18 19
profile
ABOVE: JOAN BURSTEIN AT BROWNS
IN SOUTH MOLTON STREET, THE
BOUTIQUE SHE FOUNDED WITH HER
HUSBAND IN 1970.
PICTURE BY STEPHANIE RUSHTON MALLINSON
RIGHT: FUTURE COLLECTABLES
FROM NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD,
MISSONI, DRIES VAN NOTEN AND
SONIA RYKIEL
Queen B
“Isn’t that beautiful?” Joan Burstein – or Mrs B, as she is
affectionately known in the fashion industry – points out a
colourful dress by Erdem that resembles an Impressionist painting.
Erdem is one of a new generation of designers supported by
Browns, the multi-label boutique she founded along with her
husband Sidney back in 1970.
This year, the company is celebrating its 40th anniversary with
an exhibition in May, a series of pop-up shops around the world
and Future Collectables – a project that sees collaborations
between Browns and 40 designers – launching on April 14.
Browns has nurtured many designers over the years including
John Galliano (Mrs B invested in his whole MA collection), Giorgio
Armani, Sonia Rykiel, Jil Sander, Azzedine Alaia and Comme des
Garçons, not to mention US designers such as Calvin Klein,
Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, whom she introduced to the UK.
“What originally attracted me to them was that nobody was
aware that there was an American market,” says Mrs B. “Calvin
Klein was getting a lot of editorial in Vogue but nobody had
Calvin Klein here, so that’s why I went over to America and got
him and once that started, other designers came.
It’s difficult to believe that the diminutive figure sitting opposite
me has been such a major influence on the way women dress.
She puts it down to “gut feeling” and a “passion for
fashion”.Though Mrs B has always loved clothes, it was her
husband Sidney who was in the fashion business and in 1946,
two years after the couple got married, they started selling
underwear in Ridley Road Market in the East End.
By the 1950s, they owned a string of shops in the West End,
but the business went bust and they lost everything. Determined
to carry on, they opened a boutique called Feathers on High
Street Kensington, which employed, among others, a young
Manolo Blahnik.
The Bursteins acquired the South Molton Street shop in 1970
from Sir William Piggott-Brown, after whom it was named. They
also opened in Sloane Street after a call from Vidal Sassoon
offering them the front of his shop.
“Truthfully, the reason we started Browns was survival,
absolute survival,” says Mrs B. “We had to get back on our feet –
OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS, BROWNS HAS NURTURED
THE CAREERS OF COUNTLESS DESIGNERS, INCLUDING
JOHN GALLIANO, GIORGIO ARMANI AND SONIA RYKIEL.
THE BOUTIQUE’S CO-FOUNDER, JOAN BURSTEIN, TELLS
SELMA DAY HOW SHE WENT FROM RUNNING A MARKET
STALL TO BEING THE GRANDE DAME OF FASHION
we had to succeed. So when Vidal asked if we’d take it over, it
was a natural. That was luck. I’ve had a lot of luck along the way,
especially in the beginning.”
Browns has survived but not without its challenges. While 40
years ago it was the only multi-label boutique, the competition
now is fiercer. Famous shopping streets such as Bond Street,
Sloane Street and Mount Street are littered with designer labels,
other independent boutiques have sprung up and then there are
all the department stores.
“We’ve just had to survive,” says Mrs B. “It’s a family business
(her son Simon is chief executive and daughter Caroline creative
director), I have a passion for fashion, and that’s driven me all the
years. I’ve also kept a very close team who understand Browns.”
As she speaks, Mrs B notices two young girls walk into the
shop carrying several bags. She quickly excuses herself and gets
up to greet them, asking if she can take their bags and help them
with anything. Along with Mrs B’s intuitive eye, it’s that kind of
personal touch that has kept Browns at the forefront of fashion
for so long. “We like to know our customers and establish
relationships with them,” she says.
Browns now has seven outlets (five in South Molton Street),
including Browns Focus which champions cutting-edge
designers. At 83, Mrs B might the coolest granny on the planet
but even she admits she wouldn’t buy for the latter. “I’m not on
that wavelength any more,” she says, although she still attends all
the college shows to keep an eye on the upcoming talent.
One of the biggest changes she has seen over the years has
been the growth of online shopping – “challenging but we’re
pretty good at it” – and designers collaborating with the high
street. “That is a new thing,” she says. “Jil Sander, one of the
designers we started, is now doing it for Uniqlo, which is
marvellous. It keeps people looking better on every level.”
Does she think women in this country have become more
style conscious? “Yes, but only in the last few years,” she says.
“The British woman has always been very satisfied with how she
looks. The emphasis was always on their lifestyle and their
children’s education. They have always been very comfortable in
their own skin and I’ve always admired that.”
Mrs B describes her own style as low key. She gives me a
twirl of the Roland Mouret dress she is wearing. “It’s so simple
and easy to wear,” she says. “I’ve always gone for
understatement in clothing, but always quality. And I’ve enjoyed
every era. Fashion always evolves – it’s like a cycle. I went to
Saint Laurent’s exhibition in Paris and the things he did for Dior all
those years ago are all wearable now.”
So what’s going to be the next hot thing? “Where’s that
crystal ball,” she laughs. “I’d love to be able to tell you.”
Mrs B is still very involved in the business. “I go away with all
my buyers and I still have my say,” she says. In fact, she has only
just returned from Paris Fashion Week after doing the rounds of
the autumn/winter 2010 catwalk shows. “I still get the same buzz
– and the same disappointments,” she says. “It was a bit more
subdued, or rather, a bit more refined – not so brash.”
Standout shows for her included Celine (“really beautiful”) and
Alexander McQueen (another label that was once exclusive to
Browns). “Just a few people were invited to see the pieces that
he did at the very end and they were just amazing,” she says. “It
is so sad to think somebody who could have had everything had
nothing really, and nobody will know why. It’s just heartbreaking.”
Mrs B has indisputably made her own mark in the history of
British fashion and in 2006 was honoured with a CBE. “That has
been the highlight both professionally and for me personally,” she
says. “To have that honour for fashion and what apparently I’ve
done for fashion, was amazing and that really has meant
everything to me.”
Browns: 40 years of Fashion Innovation takes place from May 13
at The Blake Penthouses, The Courtyard, 16-18 Marshall Street.

20 21
nightlife
Members’ club Aura made the headlines last
month after a mystery banker and five friends ran
up a bar bill of around £44,000 in just two and a
half hours on the day Royal Bank of Scotland
announced it was handing out £1.6 billion in
bonuses. So, are the good times really back for
Mayfair’s clubs?
“I don’t think there are many people spending
that kind of money at the moment,” says Alberto
Barbieri, one of the owners of the club.
“You do get big spenders but they’re usually
Russian or Arab and not normally people who
live here. But what it shows is that confidence is
back – we’re out of recession and people aren’t
afraid of spending money.”
Aura, situated on St James’s Street, reopened
under new ownership last September and,
through various initiatives such as setting up a
sub-membership specifically for hedge funds
and teaming up with luxury brands to hold
special events, has managed to pull in the
punters.
“The feedback we had from our first drinks
party was phenomenal – we had 200 hedge fund
guys who had a fantastic night,” said director
Joseph Ryan. “We’ve got around 400 members
now and I’d be amazed if we didn’t get 1,000 by
next month.”
Mark Fuller, who runs the Embassy club in
Old Burlington Street, says he has seen an
upturn in business but admits the club world has
taken a knock in recent times. “I think things
have levelled out now and what I’m seeing is
people being more discerning,” he says.
“It is picking up again
and we have more
people with more
money coming in”
Luca Maggiora
Luxx
“I believe one of the things that has
happened with the recession is that it’s now
gauche to be seen spending very large amounts
of money unnecessarily when there are so many
terrible troubles in the world. I think the rich
would always spend money but even the rich are
being more discerning.
“What I’m seeing is people who want to have
fun coming out and having a really good time at
the weekends but getting their heads down
during the week.
“I have often asked the question: which bit of
paying £50,000 for a small table in a nightclub
and serving the drinks yourself makes your penis
any bigger?
“What I want to see is nice people enjoying
themselves in our restaurants and bars, finding it
AFTER A PERIOD OF
AUSTERITY, THE
CHAMPAGNE CORKS
ARE POPPING ONCE
AGAIN IN MAYFAIR’S
BARS AND CLUBS.
SELMA DAY REPORTS
good value for money, and if they want to splash
out on a good bottle of champagne or
something, then that’s a bonus.
“And we want to convince people that going
to our clubs doesn’t mean you have to take a
second mortgage out or you’re going to have an
awful night out and be packed off in a minicab at
the end of the night.”
Nick House, one of the team behind celebrity
hangouts Mahiki and Whisky Mist, says he hasn’t
seen any particular drop-off of people spending
money. “Mayfair is obviously a lot more bulletproof
than some areas,” he says.
“There was a small drop-off last year in some
of the corporate card and event activity, but
when those corporate customers stopped going
out there were hundreds of other people who did
“Mayfair is obviously a
lot more bullet-proof
than some areas”
Nick House
Whisky Mist
have money there to replace them.
“And in about August or September last year,
there was a big swing in the comfort factor as
people realised the world wasn’t going to end
and it was less of a political faux pas to do a
corporate event. We did see the corporate cards
coming back out again.”
Mayfair’s latest new opening is Luxx, a 200capacity
boutique club in New Burlington Street,
brought to us by Luca Maggiora, previously
involved with local hotspot Maddox Club.
Is he totally mad opening now? “Yes, it is a
brave time to be opening,” he says. “But the
economic situation is way better now than it was
this time last year. It is picking up again and we
have more people with more money coming in.
“Still, the middle of the week is difficult for
MEMBERS’ CLUB AURA
ON ST JAMES‘S STREET
Rejoin the club
everyone. People don’t go out every single night
like they used to. And there are so many clubs in
Mayfair right now, if you open a new club, you
have to be able to offer something different.”
For Maggiora, that means offering a personal
service – so personal in fact that, although not a
members’ club, you still need to be invited to get
in.
“If you know me, you know you will have a
great time,” he says. “So far, people have loved
the concept, they like the place and the intimate
sensation and vibe that we create.
“We don’t push people to spend – they can
spend whatever they want to spend. It’s about
how comfortable people feel inside a place. If
people feel comfortable, feel loved and
welcomed, they will keep spending.”

WILLIAM “BILLY” DRABBLE
KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS. HE
WANTS HIS MICHELIN STAR BACK.
AND HE’S GOING TO GET IT.
ERIK BROWN REPORTS
Here’s a prediction: Seven Park Place in St James’s
will pick up a Michelin star next year. After an hour with
chef William Drabble, I’d put money on it. And before
anybody opens a book, you’d better know that it’s a
pretty safe bet.
William has had a Michelin star for the past 12 years,
and has been very carefully positioned in the kitchen of
the St James’s Hotel and Club by MD Henrik Muehle to
get one there.
You can tell he’s going to do it sooner or later, and
probably sooner. A softly-spoken Liverpudlian, William is
passionate about cooking and simplicity and consistency
and ingredients and freshness.
The fact that the kitchen in the hotel is quite small
becomes an advantage. A lack of storage means
turnover is quick – “it’s in and it’s out” – and the
ingredients fresh.
Get William talking about the ingredients and it’s
almost poetic: hand-dived scallops from Scotland, off the
boat at 3am and into William’s kitchen by 9am, still
throbbing; Lune Valley lamb that is “incredibly
consistent”; the Cumbrian butcher who makes the
sausages and cures the bacon for breakfast; the day
boats at Brixham and Poole that bring in William’s fish.
Get him talking about his work, and he’ll say in that
gentle Norfolk-inflected Scouse: “It’s not a job. It’s
something you love. It’s a passion.”
To top it all, he is the most gracious chef I’ve ever
met, with kind words for everybody: Tom Aikens “lovely
bloke”; Gordon Ramsay, whom William followed into the
hot seat at Aubergine, “they were big boots to step into”;
and everybody else, from his gran, who inspired him,
and his college lecturer in Norfolk to Philip Vogel, who
was head chef at St James’s Hotel & Club when William
took over last August – “a great help – he’ll do well”.
At one point he says, “I’m not one who comes in and
screams and shouts …” And it’s easy to believe.
Listening again to the recording of our conversation is
strangely calming: it isn’t usually.
Take a look at the menu for lunch at Seven Park
Place by William Drabble, to give it its full title, and you’ll
see things like galette of pig’s head with roasted
langoustine, shallot and caper dressing, confit salmon,
tarte tatin of endive, red wine and tarragon, and white
chocolate parfait with bottled cherries. Modern French,
Michelin standard food at £24.50 for two courses,
£29.50 for three.
“I suppose people are going to be getting a bargain
for a year,” William says, without a trace of immodesty.
But then he’s been a Michelin-starred chef for a long
time, and admits to feeling odd without a star. “You cook
what you cook, what else can you do?” he asks,
shrugging.
Trust
William
Drabble’s journey to Seven Park Place
College in Norwich with Tom Aikens.
Three years at the Mirabelle at The
Grand in Eastbourne, with Tom Aikens,
Keith Mitchell and Neil Wiggins.
One and a half years at The Capital
Hotel in Basil Street, Knightsbridge,
with Philip Britain.
Three years with Nico Ladenis at Chez
Nico on Park Lane, with Jeff Galvin and
André Garrett.
One year with “incredibly talented”
Tom Aikens at Pied à Terre, “so hard
it was nuts”.
One year at Michael’s Nook, Grassmere
in the Lake District. Started in August,
picked up a Michelin star in January.
Eleven years at Aubergine in Chelsea.
Started in September after a call from
Tom Aikens, got a star in January.
Joined St James’s Hotel & Club in
August, with Seven Park Place by
William Drabble opening a little too
late for the 2010 Michelin awards.
23
food

24
food & drink
Maze meal
solutions
GOURMET FOOD FOR A FIVER (Quadrille
Publishing, £19.99) is the second book from
Jason Atherton, Michelin-starred chef/proprietor
of Maze in Grosvenor Square. Based on the idea
of a two-course meal – a starter plus main
course, or main course plus dessert – you can
cook a recipe from the book for less than £5
per head.
Atherton’s aim is to bring inexpensive,
accessible food into the home kitchen. “One of
my fears was that when the recession took hold a
year and a half ago, people would go back to
things like egg and chips, saying that’s all they
could afford,” he says.
“So this book is really just to teach people that
good food doesn’t have to cost a lot of money –
it’s about being creative. It also teaches people
how to marry different flavours and how to plate
the food.”
Atherton tried out his idea for two months
before committing to the book. “Unless I’m
confident about my subject, I’m not interested,”
he says. He and his wife would go shopping,
spend a fiver, then go back to their kitchen and
try to make something with the ingredients they
had bought.
“We found that it worked but not how we
wanted it to work, so then we said, okay, let’s
cook with 20 quid for four people for two
courses,” he explains, “and that started to get a
little bit more exciting. And then we tried it on the
ten quid theory – two courses for two people –
and that worked.”
Over a period of eight or nine months,
Atherton built up a collection of recipes, with
influences ranging from British to Asian to Middle
Eastern. “I’m quite lucky to have lived in quite a
few places around the world and I’ve drawn on
PHOTOS: YUKI SUGIURA
that world larder,” he says. “We also used a lot of
cheaper cuts of meat and fish that people
wouldn’t normally use at home, such as gurnard
and whiting.
“There are a few things, like sardines on toast,
that go back to when my mum used to go on
holiday with her colleagues and used to leave us
with dad. He was a crap cook, and every night it
was sardines on toast. We’re even going to put it
on the lunch menu here at Maze.”
It’s five years since the launch of Maze, one of
the success stories in the Gordon Ramsay
Holdings portfolio. Since then, Maze Grill has
opened, Jason’s first cookbook, Maze: the
Cookbook, has sold more than 50,000 copies
worldwide, and his imaginative, tapas-style
cuisine has made him one of the hottest chefs in
town.
The Maze concept has been rolled out to New
York, Prague, Cape Town and Qatar and this
month sees the opening of Maze Doha, followed
by Maze and Maze Grill in Melbourne, Australia.
But even Maze hasn’t been immune from the
recession. “It’s going pretty well although we were
hit by the credit crunch – our spend dipped by
about 14 per cent. It was going to happen,” says
Atherton.
“We’re still full and we do our turnover, which
is great, but we have had to work extra hard to
keep it that way. As I say to the guys in the
kitchen, you’re now learning to work in a
restaurant in times of hardship.
“This is one of the worst recessions this
country has ever had, but if we can keep our
restaurant doors open, keep staff costs under
control, keep food costs at an acceptable level
and still produce Michelin-quality food, the good
times will come back.”
COLONY BAR & GRILL, 7 Paddington Street, is
the new venture from Atul Kochhar, Michelinstarred
chef of Benares in Berkeley Square, and
restaurateur Carlo Spetale. Taking its inspiration
from the bars and clubs of the British Raj, the
food is designed “to marry the mystery of the
East with the sophistication of the West”. Mixing
the cocktails is Marco Perrotti, who has worked
at Sketch and at Buddha Bar in Paris.
FROM APRIL 26-30, the Promenade at The
Dorchester will be paying homage to The Beverly
Hills Hotel’s most famous dining spot, The Polo
Lounge. During a week of LA-infused food and
service with an old-fashioned Hollywood style,
The Promenade will feature flower displays in
the Beverly Hill’s Hotel’s signature pink and green,
while executive chef Alex Cheng and his team
will prepare Hollywood classics from his
renowned menu.
PIERRE HERMÉ, one of Frances’s most
celebrated dessert chefs, has opened a boutique
at Selfridges selling his trademark macarons.
The flavours on offer include dark chocolate and
blackcurrant with blackcurrant berries, lemon and
hazelnut praline, milk chocolate and passionfruit,
and matcha green tea and sesame nougatine.
FORTNUM & MASON, Piccadilly, has partnered
with handbag designer
Lulu Guinness to create
quintessentially English
designs for its Easter
egg boxes. Guinness’s
designs celebrate a
selection of well-known
London icons including
Big Ben and the Union
Jack, but the standout
piece is the Lulu
Birdcage Egg (£125),
based on the iconic
Lulu Guinness Birdcage
handbag.
FOOD & DRINK: Selma Day selma@pubbiz.com

26 27
fashion
Since 2002, the Crown Estate has been regenerating
its 400,000 sq m portfolio on Regent Street as part of a
£750 million investment programme to reposition and
reinvigorate the street.
One of the biggest trends to appear out of the
redevelopment is a recent influx of American
companies opening their European flagship stores in
the area. Regent Street alone has welcomed American
giants Armani Exchange, Guess, Banana Republic,
Brooks Brothers and most recently Anthropologie,
while Abercrombie and Fitch is tucked just behind in
Burlington Gardens.
And so the question arises: why do US fashion
retailers seem to regard London and, more specifically,
Regent Street, as a stepping stone for establishing
themselves in Europe? According to managing director
of Anthropologie Europe, James Bidwell, it’s all about
translation.
“Anthropologie has done very well in the States and
the obvious step was to think about other places
around the world,” Bidwell says.
“London’s often a very good stepping stone for
American companies, primarily because of the
language being English and because there’s
THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS
HAS SEEN A STREAM OF
AMERICAN RETAIL COMPANIES
OPENING EUROPEAN FLAGSHIP
STORES ON REGENT STREET.
SOPHIE BISHOP INVESTIGATES
THE APPEAL OF THE WEST END
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: BROOKS
BROTHERS, BANANA REPUBLIC,
ANTHROPOLOGIE AND GUESS ARE
AMONG THE AMERICAN BRANDS
REALISING THE POTENTIAL OF
REGENT STREET
London calling
generally usually good connectivity.”
Part of the Urban Outfitters Group, Anthropologie is
one of America’s most popular lifestyle brands with
137 stores operating across America. It is, however,
relatively unknown outside the States, due to the
company’s low-key approach to marketing and lack of
expensive advertising campaigns. As such, the
location of its first European flagship store was of the
utmost importance.
According to Bidwell, much of the appeal of
Regent Street lay in its central location and status as
one of the biggest tourist shopping destinations in
London.
“With Regent Street, a lot of people from different
places visit – so it’s not only a UK tourist destination
but an international tourist destination,” he says.
This view is shared by the New West End
Company’s Jace Tyrell, who attributes much of the
street’s popularity with international brands to the
area’s standing as “a mecca for both domestic and
international shoppers”.
Indeed, since opening, shoppers from the UK and
abroad have been visiting Anthropologie in their droves
and the Regent Street store had the second most
“Regent Street is not
only a UK tourist
destination, but an
international tourist
destination”
James Bidwell, MD
Anthropologie Europe
successful opening day in Anthropologie’s history, after
the company’s big store in the Rockefeller Center.
An American brand of similar standing is Banana
Republic, which opened its 17,000 sq ft flagship
European store in March 2008. Part of the Gap Inc.
group, the womenswear label looked west following
demand from European customers. But the decision,
they say, was as much swayed by the opportunities
presented by Regent Street itself.
“The Regent Street location, particularly in light of
its redevelopment, was a key part of the decision to
bring Banana Republic to the UK,” says a
spokesperson. “It is a unique international destination,
synonymous with quality, heritage and style, and thus
utterly in keeping with the brand.”
Of course, it’s not entirely by chance that Regent
Street has been welcoming so many American
retailers. Much is down to the Crown Estate and its
proactive campaign to encourage American
companies to open flagship stores here.
According to the head of Crown Estate’s head of
Regent Street portfolio, David Shaw, the focus on the
States began around three years ago, with
representatives travelling to America to meet with
retailers and persuade them that they should consider
the UK and specifically London.
“The basic thrust of it is that if you’ve got a retail
business that you want to take to the UK and the West
End of London, there will be somewhere for you in
Regent, Oxford or Bond Street,” says Shaw. “Core
West End has got all the offers you could possibly
want.
“The American retail thing goes in waves. There are
periods where there is a strong opportunity and if
you’ve got James Bidwell at Anthropologie or any of
the other guys, they see Europe with a beach head in
London to start with, as being the way to go. But
we’re not only looking for American retail, there just
happens to be a bit of a focus at the moment.”
Indeed the latest opening on Regent Street is
Swedish-owned fashion brand Gant, which opened its
UK flagship store in January following the launch of its
e-commerce site in August 2009. And next to open in
June is The Sting – a Dutch youth-fashion brand that
has more than 75 stores in the Netherlands and has
recently expanded into germany and Belgium. Once
again, Regent Street will be the brand’s only standalone
store in the UK.

28
health & beauty
Shimmer in corals
CORAL IS the hot new colour for spring, according to
make-up artist Bobbi Brown. One of the most uplifting
shades a woman can wear, it makes the skin look
younger and fresher, she says.
Brown’s latest Cabana Coral collection includes a lip
and eye palette, a new Cabo Coral Pot Rouge, new
Shimmer Brick colours and a selection of lip colours and
glosses to suit most complexions. Priced from £14-£48,
you’ll find it at Fenwick, John Lewis and Selfridges.
HEALTH & BEAUTY: Selma Day
selma@pubbiz.com
See the West Wing
THE CONNAUGHT has joined forces with Amanresorts for the opening of the
Aman Spa. Located in the hotel’s new West Wing, it features five treatment
rooms, a swimming pool, a fitness studio and a steam room infused with
essential oils.
The spa is designed to be warm and welcoming, while offering an air of
simplicity, and the treatment menu is based on key Asian-inspired therapies. It
includes a green tea aromatic foot bath and massage using traditional Chinese
techniques, and an oriental oil massage and Thai herbal compress. From
India, there is a Chakra balancing treatment with essential oils and crystals and
a Samadara facial technique. Reflecting the Americas, guests can experience
a red-clay body wrap with Navajo herbs and a river-rock stone massage.
Both body and face treatments are designed to target individual needs and
to help guests achieve personal wellness goals. Even the music is chosen
specifically to match the rhythm and flow of the treatment, be it a facial,
massage or scrub.
Treatments cost from £80 for a 45-minute body scrub, £110 for a onehour
holistic massage and £280 for the Aman Spa Experience (two and a half
hours). They are available between 9am and 9pm daily. To book, call 020 3147
7305/6 or email amanspa@the-connaught.co.uk.
Colour me good
THE MAHOGANY hair salon at 17 St George
Street in Hanover Square has launched
Colour Plus treatment to enhance hair
colour, add shine and brighten dull tones.
Unlike a tint, the treatment is peroxide
and ammonia free and is therefore said to
be non-invasive, non-permanent and kind
to hair.
Instead of physically changing the colour
of the hair, it acts as a transparent film that
Makeover for Michaeljohn
MAYFAIR’S ORIGINAL super-salon – Michaeljohn in
Albemarle Street – has undergone a major
refurbishment. The chic new interior features
mahogany, marble, crystal and leather in tones of
bronze, cream and honey, offering clients a tranquil
and discreet environment.
The salon continues to provide services such as
dry-hair precision cutting, bespoke colouring,
permanent blow-dries, facials, waxing, threading,
nail care and semi-permanent make-up.
Its online boutique, which features several toptier
and luxury brands, has also been revamped.
The site has how-to videos with Michaeljohn
stylists as well as the latest hair and beauty news.
adds to the original colour. For instance, light
brown hair can be made warmer and shinier
using a chocolate or mahogany shade.
Colour Plus could also be used as a
tester for a different shade before committing
to a new permanent colour.
The treatment, priced at £43, should last
between eight and 12 shampoos, depending
on the length of time the colour is left on.
To book, call 020 7629 3121.

30
boss and PA
MARK FULLER IS THE MAN
BEHIND SOME OF LONDON’S
BEST-KNOWN CELEBRITY
HAUNTS, INCLUDING THE
EMBASSY CLUB IN OLD
BURLINGTON STREET. HIS PA,
MARINA WURZER, IS THE
WOMAN BEHIND THE MAN
THE BOSS
MARK FULLER
Working for me is not easy, as I’m
completely crazy and I need at least
30 hours in a day. These are
challenging times in the hospitality
industry, and by the very nature of my
business my working hours are
unsociable, but Marina is kitted up
with a Blackberry and handles the
workload well. It’s probably a bit like
being on a rollercoaster – lots of ups
and downs, a little scary at times, but
lots of fun – and she’s never quite
sure which direction we’ll be heading
in next.
My projects range from Sanctum
Hotels, Geales Fish Restaurants,
Embassy in the UK and our new
opening in the UAE to overseeing the
artist and VIP backstage catering at
all the big music festivals in the UK
and my own filming commitments. No
day or night is ever the same, which
makes working with me very
interesting, exciting and challenging (I
hope).
Marina is a hard-working girl and I
feel we work well together, even when
the day drags on and everything gets
too much. I am continuously on the
go, so my PA needs to be on the ball,
have quick reactions and be irreverent
about time keeping. Even if she is at
home, she knows she might be back
at work the next moment.
Having worked for me for a while
now, I am certain Marina knows how I
like things run and pre-empts issues
for me before they become problems. She understands the company’s core values,
our commitment to five-star service and passion for 100 per cent entertainment at all
of our venues. I am very hands-on and a total control freak – I find it difficult to
relinquish control so I take virtually no time off – but with Marina at my side I have
been able to delegate some responsibility. She will follow up to ensure the job gets
done so I can see my family from time to time.
As we approach the summer months my schedule gets busier with all the music
festivals – it’s a bit like being on tour for three months – along with TV series and
new openings. It’s good to know that I have someone at base camp, making sure
things run smoothly in my absence. I am a hard task master at times, but Marina
takes everything in her stride as she knows, strangely, that behind this hard exterior I
am a pretty understanding boss.
THE PA
MARINA WURZER
I first met Mark three years ago when I came to work in the reservations and events
department at Embassy London. I was eager to progress my career as quickly as
possible, so when the Sanctum Soho Hotel opened in May 2009, I transferred to
head up the events team.
Based in the head office, the six months leading up to the opening were
relentless – we were all working under extreme pressure 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. During this period I was working closely with the directors and senior
management team and got a real sense of the company’s operation. I think it is fair
to say that Mark treats his company as his second family – he certainly spends
plenty of time with us and has a very hands-on approach. It is his passion for his
business and the industry as a whole
that really motivates people to work
as hard as he does and strive to
create unique venues, exceptional
entertainment and a personal service.
When the position of PA became
available I jumped at the chance.
Having covered the role before, I
knew it would be a challenge but also
the best opportunity to gain insight
into every aspect of operations,
maintenance, licensing, sales, finance,
marketing and PR for a growing
group.
The concept venues company is a
diverse one, incorporating fine dining
restaurant and members’ club
Embassy in Mayfair, which has been
franchised to the Grosvenor House in
Dubai; hotels Sanctum Soho and
Sanctum in the Green in Berkshire;
posh fish restaurant and family
favourite Geales in Notting Hill, with a
second site on the way in Chelsea;
and outside catering facility Sanctum
Special Events, which specialises in
VIP backstage hospitality at the big
gigs around the UK. Basically, this
means no day is ever the same,
which is great as I love the variety.
My normal day consists of
managing Mark’s diary and trying to
keep him on time. Mark is pretty
manic, continuously juggling
numerous projects at once, and I am
affectionately known as his “little
Austrian” – organised and thorough.
It’s hard work, as he is a demanding
boss, but do I enjoy my job?
Absolutely – rock on Mr Fuller!
Rock
solid

32
restaurant directory
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020 7259 1050
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at £60 pa in the UK
and £144 pa overseas
If you're in Mayfair or
St James's and you would
like your own copy
delivered for free
contact us on
020 7259 1055
or email
barbara@pubbiz.com
MARMITE POPS UP ON REGENT STREET
Just before Christmas last year, a Marmite pop-up shop on
Regent Street made a special offer to its customers – five per cent
off if you sang the line “five golden rings” at the till. The shop’s
Facebook site added, helpfully, that “this must be done with true
holiday cheer, so please belt it out like you are a kid again.
(Fiiiiiiiivvvveee Goool-dennnn Riiiings!).”
The Marmite store, in a Crown Estate property, was a typical
example of what is now being called “experiential marketing”.
Designed by SunHouse Creative, it was funky. Offering customers
the chance to take part in Marmite v Vegemite taste-offs or to
take their place at a table in the window as Mr and Mrs Marmite,
it was fun. And, with more than 100 Marmite-labelled products on
sale, it was fantastic brand marketing. The Times described it as
“the best pop-up shop”, which for Marmite must have been
priceless.
The pop-up trend started six years ago with the opening of a
Comme des Garçons “guerrilla” store in Berlin and gained
impetus as brands spotted the marketing potential. Now pop-ups
are appearing and disappearing all over the world.
One of Mayfair’s latest was a Claire’s Accessories shop on
Maddox Street, themed along Alice in Wonderland lines to
coincide with the release of Tim Burton’s film. It was there for just
one week: a perfect example of retailing in a high-speed delivery,
short-attention span culture, a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t
counterpoint to the growth of online retailing.
Brand partnering like Claire’s Alice shop is increasingly
common. At 100 Mount Street, Belvedere Vodka launched
Belvedere Black Raspberry in a pop-up store it fitted out for
Jonathan Kelsey, the shoe designer. The opening night party was
co-hosted by R&B singer and rapper Estelle and attracted
trendsetters like Daisy de Villeneuve.
Helen Franks, director of London retail leasing at Grosvenor,
which owns 100 Mount Street, sees real benefit in pop-ups,
although she favours the non-income producing kind.
“The reason I’m doing it for Grosvenor,” she says, “is that it
enables new brands or smaller brands to test the market before
taking a full-time shop. I think it’s nice for us to be seen as a
property company who’s looking forward”.
For Grosvenor, the pop-up phenomenon started when Franks
was asked if there was any space in which an existing Belgravia
tenant, Eleven Gallery, could exhibit works it had in store. A
relationship quickly developed that saw Eleven popping up all
over the place – and a piece mentioning Eleven and Grosvenor
appearing in The New York Times, which Franks says was
“incredible PR”.
“We do think it works,” she says. “It creates interest in
something new on our retail streets and that’s of paramount
importance. To have someone new pop up on Elizabeth Street (in
Belgravia) creates a PR opportunity. There’s a party. There are
people coming to that party that have never heard of Elizabeth
Street. So, for the other retail tenants in the street, that’s great.”
David Shaw, head of the Regent Street portfolio for the Crown
Estate, said the estate’s first pop-up was for designer Irwin &
Jordan.
POP-UP SHOPS
HAVE BEEN AROUND
FOR A WHILE – BUT
YOU CAN EXPECT TO
SEE MORE OF THEM
NOW THAT THE
MARKETEERS HAVE
SPOTTED THE
TREND. ERIK BROWN
REPORTS ON A
POPTASTIC IDEA
Pop
culture
33
business

34
business
“Zoe Jordan wanted to trial how it would be to have a shop in
the West End, and she wanted a temporary commitment,” he
says. She took a pop-up store in a Crown property on Conduit
Street, just off Regent Street.
“The first one we did on Regent Street was Marmite,” Shaw
says. “We try to find brands which have got historical
connotations, which Marmite clearly has, and then find people
who are doing it to a particular level of quality. With Marmite the
quality of the product and its price point fitted very well. I even
bought things there myself.”
The Crown Estate is currently in discussions with three
potential pop-ups. “I would guess one of those will come off,”
Shaw says. “We’ve got 118 shops on Regent Street and
therefore if at any one time two of them or so were pop-ups,
that’s about where we see it.”
That said, the amount of vacant space in the Crown’s
£1.8 billion Regent Street portfolio has been very limited since
2005, when the benefits of a major redevelopment programme
began to kick in. And while it’s good marketing for landlords to be
seen to be nurturing new talent, it isn’t easy – or quick. “You
can’t leave these things in the hands of your average letting
agent,” Shaw says. “It has got to be done directly.”
Franks agrees: “My time is not being covered so it’s definitely
not a financial gain for Grosvenor and doing a pop-up takes quite
a lot of administration. I’m not saying I mind, but it’s something
that anyone else thinking about it needs to take on board.”
Even so, the pop-up trend is set to continue. In America,
developers are already producing “plain-vanilla boxes” in
warehouses to encourage pop-ups – although that may have as
much to do with the recession as with experiential marketing.
And the trend is spreading – to pop-up restaurants and bars,
for instance. Visit London recently picked up on the trend with
what it claimed was the world’s smallest pop-up hotel: a luxury
US Airstream caravan created with the help of Radisson
Edwardian Hotels, which was moved from one London tourist
attraction to another during British Tourism Week. A competition
on the Visit London website offered winners the chance to stay in
the trailer, which featured its own concierge, check-in desk and
room service.
Now that’s pop-up marketing. Expect to see more of it.
“with Marmite
the quality of the
product and it’s
price point fitted
very well. I even
bought things
there myself”
David Shaw,
Crown Estate
BUSINESS: Erik Brown
erik.brown@pubbiz.com

102 Mount Street . London . W1K 2TH
Tel: 020 7529 5566
CURZON SQUARE MAYFAIR W1
With direct access to a landscaped courtyard garden, a
duplex apartment in this building with 24 hour porterage
& security plus a secure underground parking space.
■ Entrance Hall ■ Two Reception Rooms ■ Kitchen/Breakfast Room
■ Two Bedrooms ■ En Suite Bathroom ■ Shower Room ■ Comfort
Cooling/Heating ■ Multi Room Audio ■ Secure Parking Space
■ 1,921 Sq Ft ■ 120 year lease
£3,000,000
Sole Agents
BRINGING RESIDENTIAL LIFE BACK TO MAYFAIR
HILL STREET MAYFAIR W1
A two bedroom flat for sale which ‘ticks all the boxes’ -
private parking space, 24 hour security, share of freehold
and storage.
■ Entrance Hall ■ Reception Room ■ Kitchen/Breakfast Room
■ Two Bedrooms ■ En Suite Bathroom ■ Shower Room
■ Secure Parking Space ■ Basement Storage Locker
■ 1,019 Sq Ft ■ 985 Year Lease & Share of Freehold
£1,700,000
Sole Agents
102 Mount Street . London . W1K 2TH
Tel: 020 7529 5566
NO-ONE KNOWS MAYFAIR BETTER THAN WETHERELL

4 SOLD
2 REMAINING
MAYFAIR LIVING
ERSKINE HOUSE, DAVIES STREET, W1
■ All apartments to be sold on brand new
Grosvenor 20 year leases
■ All apartments have access to a pretty
and secluded communal garden, 6 person
passenger lift, and individually assigned
storage rooms in the basement
An impressive first
floor 2 bedroom
apartment of nearly
1,000 square feet.
£540,000
A spacious second
floor 3 bedroom
apartment of over
1,200 square feet.
£650,000
Joint Sole Agents
Large Entertaining Space
Farm Street, Mayfair W1
■ Reception Room ■ Kitchen ■ Master Bedroom with
En Suite ■ Double Bedroom with En Suite ■ Courtyard
■ Private Entrance.
£725 PER WEEK FURNISHED
The Ultimate Pad
Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair W1
■ Double Reception Room ■ Dining Room ■ Kitchen
■ Master Bedroom Suite with Dressing Room ■ Two Further
Bedroom Suites ■ Cloakroom ■ Direct Lift Access
■ Two Terraces.
£7,500 PER WEEK FURNISHED
Perfect for Shopping
Davies Street, Mayfair W1
■ Reception Room ■ Kitchen ■ Two Double Bedrooms
with En Suite ■ Guest Cloakroom ■ Shared Private
Garden.
£850 PER WEEK FURNISHED
Find
your
View Towards the Square
Carlos Place, Mayfair W1
NO-ONE KNOWS MAYFAIR BETTER THAN WETHERELL
■ Reception Room ■ Dining Room ■ Kitchen ■ Master
Bedroom with En Suite & Walk-in Wardrobe ■ Two Further
Double Bedrooms ■ Bathroom ■ Guest Cloakroom ■ Lift.
£2,700 PER WEEK UNFURNISHED
nest
this
Easter
102 Mount Street . London . W1K 2TH
020 7529 5588

48 49
property
Mayfair properties may be among the most historic, prestigious and
beautiful in the world, but when it comes to outside space, a small terrace
straining to contain a table and chair set is usually about the size of it.
Estate agents swiftly motion to nearby Hyde and Green parks. Why,
they ask, would you need a garden when the lungs of London are on your
doorstep? And anyway, despite being synonymous with exclusivity, Mayfair
is surprisingly generous with its famous Georgian squares: Hanover,
Berkeley and Grosvenor squares are all open to the public, instead of
under lock and key as in neighbouring Belgravia and Knightsbridge.
But for those in the know, it is possible to find rather more private
green spaces in Mayfair, safely tucked away from the joggers and dog
walkers. Mayfair’s finest have hoarded a few glittering green gems to
themselves: three secret garden squares that are so hush hush they do
not appear on maps of the area and cannot be viewed from the street.
Green Street, South Street and Culross Street gardens are only
accessible to the lucky few whose homes surround them – about 75
properties in total. “The gardens on Green and South streets can only be
accessed by owners of ground and lower ground floor properties, making
this a very exclusive benefit,” says Peter Wetherell, of the estate agency
Wetherell.
“These properties are in high demand by people who want to be in
Mayfair but also want outside space. Private access to a garden in Mayfair
generally adds seven to ten per cent to the value of a property.
Unsurprisingly they rarely come onto the market.”
For those gasping for some green space, however, your luck is
currently in. Two flats have come up for sale with direct access to Green
Street Gardens – a beautifully quiet plot of three octagonal lawns edged
with potted flowers and a little pond.
The first is a ground and lower ground floor, three-bedroom apartment
at 42 Green Street, with 2,374 sq ft, going for £3.95 million leasehold. The
second, at 5 Dunraven Street, is a recently renovated four bedroom
apartment over three floors, currently owned by a father and son (and
boasting a suitably manly black marble bathroom), available leasehold for
£3.75 million.
“I haven’t seen anything come on like this for a while,” says Kinleigh
Folkard and Hayward’s Mai Pexton, of the latter. “Once you’ve got one,
people don’t let them go because they’re such a rarity. They also make
perfect holiday lets for the high-end international buyers who love being on
an exclusive square and will pay over the odds for it.
“Green Street Gardens is one of the best squares in Mayfair because
it’s surrounded by properties, not cars. It feels so serene – like you’re in
the country, yet you’re in the heart of town.”
A rarity they may be, but a short stroll away there is an even more
impressive property up for grabs on South Audley Street, if you have £11
million to spare. The five-bedroom, 4,112 sq ft, 18th century townhouse at
number 11 has been completely refurbished with cool, airy interiors and
bright Scandinavian-style fittings, making it feel roomier than most
Georgian townhouses.
The reception rooms overlook a private two-tier garden, which leads
directly onto the secret communal South Street Gardens. More compact
BELOW: 11 SOUTH AUDLEY STREET BOASTS COOL, BRIGHT INTERIORS
RIGHT: THE PROPERTY’S TERRACE LEADS ONTO SOUTH STREET GARDENS
PROPERTY: Nuala Calvi nuala@pubbiz.com
Secret
gardens
THREE TRANQUIL GARDEN
SQUARES PROVIDE A GREEN
OASIS IN THE HEART OF MAYFAIR
– BUT ONLY FOR THOSE IN THE
KNOW. NUALA CALVI REPORTS
More square deals
TWO-BEDROOM, ground-floor flat
overlooking the gardens of Grosvenor Square.
Available to buy for £2.9 million through
Foxtons. Tel: 020 7973 2000.
THREE-BEDROOM flat on Duke Street with
views over Brown Hart Gardens. Available to
buy for £1.95 million through Savills.
Tel: 020 7730 0822.
than those on Green Street, they are equally charming, with well-trimmed
topiary and a water feature overlooked by a majestic chestnut tree, and
shared by only 12 residencies.
“It’s less busy than Green Street Gardens, because fewer people have
access to it,” says Wetherell’s Jayne Weldon, “There’s no garden furniture
in it - it’s more of an ornamental garden. But to have the extra space and
the peace and quiet is just wonderful.”
• 42 Green Street is available through Wetherell (020 7493 6935) and
Beauchamp Estates (020 7499 7722).
• Flat 1, 5 Dunraven Street is available through Kinleigh Folkard &
Hayward (020 7486 5551) and multiple agents.
• 11 South Audley Street is available through Wetherell (020 7493 6935)
and Knight Frank (020 7499 1012).
LEFT: THE PEACE AND QUIET OF GREEN STREET GARDENS
BELOW: THE LIVING ROOM AT 5 DUNRAVEN STREET, WHICH HAS DIRECT ACCESS
TWO-BEDROOM flat in Grosvenor Hill
Court, Bourdon Street, with views of and
access onto a roof garden. Available to rent for
£1,500 a week through Mercer Pasqua. Tel: 020
7665 6633.
CORNER BUILDING in Grosvenor Square
described as being in a shell condition, with
potential for 15 bedrooms and ten reception
rooms. Available to buy for £12 million through
Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (020 8222 7200)
and multiple agencies.
RECENTLY REFURBISHED three-bedroom,
ground floor apartment in a popular portered
block on Grosvenor Square. Available to rent
through Wetherell (020 7493 6935) and multiple
agencies at £1,600 per week.
SOUTH STREET apartment with three
bedrooms overlooking Mount Street Gardens.
Available to rent for £3,500 per week through
Wetherell. Tel: 020 7493 6935.

50
property
“We’ve been selling property in Mayfair for 25
years,” Charles Lloyd says, “but until now Mayfair
residential has been run from our Sloane Street office”.
Lloyd is the estate agent who heads Savills’ new
Mayfair residential office at 36 North Audley Street.
Builders willing, the office should be open now – but at
the time of the interview, we’re sitting in a meeting room
in Savills’ Sloane Street building, writes Erik Brown.
“It’s not a completely cold start,” Lloyd says. “We’ve
got a reasonable portfolio of properties we’re taking
with us.”
But why now – in a recession?
“We’ve got some good properties coming up there
over the next 12 to 24 months – good stock we’ve
sold, for example, to developers,” he says. “Our clients
would like to see us there: client demand says we
should be there.”
Lloyd is no stranger to the area. He worked for a
Moving into Mayfair
Greenwich
G
Reach
even
more of
London’s
most
affluent
readers
Spring 2010
The ethical
face of
modelling
Eat your way around the
world at Greenwich Market
A voyage of discovery
at the new visitor centre
STOCK-EXCHANGE LISTED SAVILLS
HAS OPENED A RESIDENTIAL
OFFICE IN MAYFAIR. BUT WHY WAIT
UNTIL A RECESSION TO DO IT?
smaller firm based in Mayfair for 14 years, and moved to
Savills three and a half years ago because he thought
there would be “more of a career path” in a larger firm.
“It proved right,” he says. “I came to Sloane Street
with a knowledge of Mayfair and that stood me in good
stead when we wanted to open an office there.”
Lloyd will be joined in the new office by David Turner
in May, Ed Cooper, who will run lettings, and Jennifer
Foort, who runs Savills’ Russian desk.
“There has been quite a big call for property in
Mayfair from Russian buyers,” Lloyd says, “so they think
it’s quite a good place to be based”.
The new office won’t restrict itself to Mayfair property
– it will reach out to Marylebone and St James’s too:
“We’ll do prime Hyde Park estate and if somebody’s got
a good property to sell in Covent Garden or Soho, we’d
be very happy to deal with it.”
36 North Audley Street isn’t Savills’ only Mayfair
office. A global property adviser listed on the London
stock exchange, the company has an office in Grosvenor
Hill dealing in commercial property and offices in
Lansdowne House on Berkeley Square, which house
the firm’s country houses, valuations, planning and
research teams.
THE PORTMAN
S
In addition to Mayfair Times, Publishing
Business also produces, Belgravia The
Portman, Sloane Square and Greenwich –
high-quality local magazines for London’s
wealthiest areas.
SLOANE SQUARE
The sensual
world of
Fonssagrives
Daisy de Villeneuve:
A life in colour
Spring
2010
Living on The
Portman Estate
Art • Culture • Fashion • Food
February 2010
Valentine’s Day in
Duke of York Square
Heavenly harmonies
at Cadogan Hall
B
8
PARTY TIME
Save the dates for this
season’s big events
16
YES, CHEF!
Marcus Wareing on
being his own boss
18
SUPER SHOPS
Elizabeth Street’s
best boutiques
Belgravia
April – May 2010 Issue 103
A newspaper for the residents and business occupiers of the Belgravia Estate
Stefan Turnbull,
Barry Hirst and
Ankur Wishart
prepare to cycle from
London to Cannes
Hero sends muggers packing BID for
Victoria
Mohammad Mosaad Abdalla is the hero
of Motcomb Street after he chased
away two muggers with his broom.
Mosaad, 42, works as a street cleaner
in north Belgravia. One lunchtime in
January, he was outside Waitrose when
a car drove past at high speed and
stopped outside Starbucks.
Two men jumped out of the car and
approached a woman outside the café.
They tried to grab her necklace and
bag. Mosaad ran across the street with
his broom and chased the muggers off.
They leapt into the waiting car and
were driven away with their legs
hanging out the back door. They did
not manage to steal anything.
“It was like something out of a
movie,” said Mosaad, who noted the
car’s registration number and passed it
to the police. “I wasn’t scared, I didn’t
even think about it. Where I am from
in Egypt, people always want to help if
there is some trouble. Here people
mind their own business a lot more.”
Bystanders had a whip-round in a
Hats on for Haiti
Hats off to the girls at Francis Holland School on The Cubitt House team – Stefan Turnbull, Barry
Bourne Street. The students, aged between four and Hirst and Ankur Wishart – have also been raising
18, have raised £4,500 for the Haiti Earthquake cash for Haiti, with a sponsored bike ride from
Appeal with a series of fundraising events. Here they London to Cannes in March. They were halfway
are wearing hats to school, which raised £700 on a towards their £9,000 target as this magazine went to
single day in February. Headmistress Stephanie press. Cubitt House’s Pimlico Road pub, The
Pattenden said: “The girls and staff made a
Orange, also held a fundraising evening with a
tremendous effort and really embraced the appeal. dinner, quiz and auction.
They looked fantastic.”
Find out more on page 6.
local restaurant and offered Mosaad
£100 to say thank you. “It was a nice
gesture but I didn’t take it,” he said.
“For me it wasn’t about the money.”
PC David Pullan said the car was
found abandoned in an underground
carpark in Pimlico. The registration
plate was traced back to a well-known
criminal in north London, but he was
in prison at the time of the attempted
robbery. Police took a fingerprint from
the numberplate and interviewed the
person it belonged to, but he denied
any involvement and there was not
enough evidence to convict him. The
incident was not caught on CCTV.
PC Pullan warned people to be
careful when wearing expensive
jewellery and watches. He said: “With
the weather getting warmer, jewellery is
more likely to be on show, and that is
when people can become targets. If
somebody does try to snatch your
jewellery, our advice is not to resist.
We were lucky that Mosaad was there
on this occasion.”
Call
Sam Bradshaw
020 7259 1051
or
Katie Thomas
020 7259 1059
Students at Francis
Holland School don
hats to raise money
for the Haiti appeal
It’s all change at Victoria from
April, after more than two thirds
of local businesses voted for the
area to become a Business
Improvement District.
Victoria businesses and
stakeholders will pour £1.2
million a year into the BID to
improve the environment, safety
and tourism. It includes streets
in east Belgravia.
Chief executive Ruth Duston
said: “We are eager to get started
on the delivery of our
programme of improvement and
will work hard to make a lasting
positive impact on the area.
“We believe that with our
agreed five year life span, we will
undoubtedly make the area
prosper and grow into a prime
destination within London.”

52
property
ESTATE AGENTS ARE NO LONGER SINGING
THE PRAISES OF BEIGE – INSTEAD, THEY’RE
URGING PEOPLE TO ‘DO A LAURENCE’. THE
RECESSION IS TREATING THE KING OF
HOME MAKEOVERS WELL, LAURENCE
LLEWELYN-BOWEN TELLS NUALA CALVI
Britain may be struggling to get back into the black, but
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s colourful approach to living is
back in vogue. According to the dandified designer, who first
flounced his way into the nation’s heart in Changing Rooms,
2010 is set to be all about home makeovers.
“We can’t entertain the certainty of untold riches by selling
our houses anymore, so we might as well enjoy the roof over
our heads,” he explains. “Taking the heat out of the property
market has forced us to want to really engage with living
where we’re living and put down roots again.”
The recession has also made the low-budget, quick-fix
approach to decorating that Llewelyn-Bowen popularised in
the 1990s suddenly look oh so good again.
“I think people are very turned on by the idea of clever
shopping–- it’s not about going to Harvey Nichols and
throwing money at the problem,” he says. “It’s about going to
Matalan or TK Maxx, going to the sales or a car boot sale.
It’s about assembling your own style on a budget that is
reasonable – and it’s a very creative, very rewarding thing.”
Cue Llewelyn-Bowen’s latest tome, Decorating with
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, which urges readers to be their
“own interior designer” – beginning, of course, “with a cold
glass of Chardonnay”. And then?
“Be brave,” he advises. “Colour is a lot more flexible than
most people realise. They have this idea that some colours
are good and some colours are bad – it’s not true. It’s down
to the character of the room. In my home we have a brown
Colourful
character
ABOVE: LLEWELYN-BOWEN USES BROWNS AND REDS TO
GIVE HIS DRAWING ROOM A WARM FEEL
BELOW: HIS “PARTICULARLY NOISY” DINING ROOM
drawing room which is wonderful because it’s north facing,
there is no direct light, and it could be quite cold in there if
you weren’t careful. It’s a great way of warming up the room.
“At the other end of the house we have a garden wing
and everything is green. The dining room is done in a
particularly noisy, bird-encrusted chintz, with duck-egg blue
and lots of bright pastels. That suits it brilliantly because it’s a
warm, summery space.’’
So what are the classic mistakes that people make in
their houses? “Lighting is always a big problem and there’s a
very simple rule on this: never, ever, ever light from the
ceiling,” he warns. “It makes everything so ugly and
unflattering. Everyone has bags under their eyes, the furniture
looks awful.
“One of the big things is that some people just buy
furniture that is far too big – they buy sofas with these great
big rollover arms and footstools and those are very
unflattering in a room. Elegant tailored furniture with tapering,
narrow legs means that a room feels much bigger because
there is air circulating around the legs. These great big lumps
really absorb space.”
Other tips include using boldly patterned wallpaper to
camouflage the edges of a room and make it appear bigger,
and leaving everything in plain sight on chunky shelves rather
than obsessing about storage. Above all, the book is an antiminimalist
manifesto that encourages us to be bold and
vibrant, not dour, in the face of the downturn.
“Estate agents are now actually saying, ‘If you want to
sell, do a Laurence’,” he insists. “When people are viewing
many houses in a row, they want to remember something.
Yet it’s the estate agents who bullied us into creeping into our
shells in the first place.
“What I don’t like about a neutral colour like beige is that
it is no taste. I think that’s worse than bad taste. I hate
people trying to opt out – basically, it’s people who don’t
want to be judged. There are beige clothes as well and beige
holidays and beige food. These people are just not enjoying
what they’re doing because they aren’t taking a risk. And
they should all die consumed by their own beige.”
Decorating with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is published by
Quadrille, priced £20.
INTERIORS: Nuala Calvi nuala@pubbiz.com

58
meanderings erik brown
A Chance meeting
ISN’T IT GREAT when a plan comes
together? A couple of weeks ago, I was
called to the bar of Galvin at Windows to
witness a small presentation to a waitress,
Kamal Manhas.
A “mystery guest” carrying out a
covert inspection had given 23-year-old
Kamal a 100 per cent score for her
waitressing work, and she was being
presented with a bottle of Pommery
champagne.
The interesting thing is that Kamal is
one of the apprentices benefiting from
Galvin’s Chance – an employment
programme for 18 to 24-year-olds “at
risk”.
Kamal is painfully honest about the
low spots in her life – and they were
frighteningly low for someone so young –
but now she seems to have found herself.
“I love working here,” she said. “The
customers are amazing. It does make you
realise that if you really want something
you can do it. I want people to know
that.”
It’s not easy work, though. On the day
we met, Kamal had started at 4.30 in the
afternoon and was due to finish at 2.30
the following morning – and she does a
shift like that five or six times a week. But
she told me about it with a brilliant smile
and a giggle, and it was clear the other
staff are already very fond of her.
Best thing for us is that Mayfair Times
helped get her there. Working alongside
Galvin, Springboard the catering charity,
the Hilton in the Community foundation
and Fred Sirieix – Galvin’s general
manager – we helped establish the
Mayfair Park and Tower Race to raise the
cash to make Galvin’s Chance happen.
Around 120 of us were sponsored to
run around the Serpentine, under Park
Lane and up all 28 floors of the Hilton by
the back stairs. And we’re going to do it
again on July 7.
If you’d like to join us, go to
www.mayfairparkandtowerrace.com
for details.
By the way, Kamal may look every
inch the perfect Park Lane waitress – but
she’s also a European junior power lifting
title holder. I hear that super-fit Fred
challenged her to an arm-wrestling match
in the bar one day. He won. But only just.
Good to hear, too, that one of Kamal’s
role models, my good friend and
restaurant manager Michele Gaggianese,
has got through to the final round of the
UK Restaurant Manager of the Year
competition – the only finalist from Mayfair.
Well done, chum.
KAMAL MANHAS, GALVIN CHANCE
APPRENTICE AND TIP-TOP WAITRESS
The gods weep
Making a splash
WE MAY HAVE RUN around the Serpentine for
charity, but Francis “Bob” Kelly spent years
swimming in it. He was, in fact, the first American
president of the Serpentine Swimming Club, and
it was during his tenure that the club voted to
allow women to join.
It was good to see him, then, at the opening
night of his exhibition Journey: 60 Years in Art, at
Editions Graphiques in Clifford Street.
Now approaching 83, Bob has had a
fascinating life. He was one of the sailors in the
nuclear fleet surrounding Bikini Atoll when the
Americans tested an atom bomb there – and he
studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere
in Paris in the 1950s, which must have been
remarkable.
The retrospective was arranged by his sons,
and went ahead despite the recent death of the
owner of Editions Graphiques, Victor Arwas – a
noted expert on art nouveau and art deco, and
prolific writer. Thanks are due to Victor’s widow,
Gretha.
I WAS GOOGLING “Piccadilly Circus lights”
recently, trying to pin down a tale of a fund
manager who used the lights to send warning
messages about the economy, when I came
across an extraordinary claim: the statue of Eros
(Cupid, if you’re Roman) isn’t supposed to be
Eros at all, but the Angel of Christian Charity.
It’s on the official Piccadilly Circus lights
website.
It made me sad
to think of all the
romantics over the decades
who thought they had arranged
trysts under a statue
of the god of sexual
love and beauty.
So, I looked it up on
Wikipedia, which said
although the statue is
sometimes known as the
Angel of Christian Charity (a
result of Victorian prudishness), it is supposed to
be Anteros – god of selfless love and one of a
host of winged love gods called the Erotes.
Perhaps the creators of the Piccadilly Circus
lights website could make an amendment.