Del'Aziz - Vanston Place

I regularly go to Del’Aziz. A delicatessen, bakery and café set in the middle of Fulham Broadway’s bustling Vanston Place, Del'Aziz is a veritable treasure trove of foodie delights.

Surrounded by a plethora of pastries, Turkish Delights and over-sized meringues you cosily settle down at chunky wooden tables adorned with fresh flowers (and shisha pipes upon request.) The service is slow at times but the delicious menu offers a diverse collection of tantalizing dishes from the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean – but for me, it is all about the chocolate gateaux…

A boyfriend once bought me a huge slice of this cake as an apology – clever move – everyone knows a girl is faaar more likely to be forgiving after chocolate...

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt" - Charles M. Schulz.

The Designer Pudsey Collection

The iconic, yellow Pudsey Bear has been given a fashion makeover from 12 of Britain’s designers for Children In Need.

The little furry mascot has been transformed by Giles Deacon, Emma Hill, Jonathan Saunders, Erdem, Henry Holland, PPQ, Liberty, Patrick Grant and Kate Hillier using an array of different fabrics and patterns to create one off bears which will each be auctioned on ebay, helping to raise money for disadvantaged children within the UK.

How cute is this Pudsey on the left?! Designed by Mulberry’s Creative Director, Emma Hill, this bear was hand made in their Somerset factory in the finest Mulberry leather, “He comes in the same Soft Buffalo leather we use for our Alexa bag and his colour is classic Oak with Chocolate paws and mouth - two of the most iconic Mulberry colours!”

The bears are on display at Liberty London and will be there until November 19th.

For more information and links to auction pages click here.

Credit Buy - Audrey's 'Lucky Dress'


The ivory lace gown Audrey Hepburn called her ‘lucky dress’ is up for auction. Worn in the last scene on ‘Roman Holiday’ in 1952, the dress was worn once again by Audrey to collect her Best Actress Oscar for the same film.

The auction will take place on Tuesday November 29 at 2pm at La Galleria.

The estimated auction price is between £40,000 - £60,000.

The First Actresses - Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons

I recently went to see ‘The First Actresses - Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons’ at The National Portrait Gallery, where more than 50 portraits of actresses take centre stage in a vivid spectacle of femininity, fashion and theatricality in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Britain.

Women were first permitted to perform on the English stage in the early 1660’s, after the restoration of Charles II, and this exhibition reveals the many ways in which these notorious, glamorous performers became early celebrities and fashion icons, shrewdly using portraiture to enhance their reputations, deflect scandal and increase their popularity.

Portraits of everyone's favourite Restoration pin up girl, the ‘pretty witty’ Nell Gwyn (with her varying, revealing ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ on display - above, both by Simon Verelst) alongside Moll Davis, Kitty Clive, Hester Booth, Lavinia Fenton, Elizabeth Linley, Sarah Siddons, Mary Robinson and Dorothy Jordan are exhibited.

What makes this exhibition really fascinating is the focus on the social history of the time and the biographies of the ladies which really does keep your interest from the first painting through to the last. With some early actresses becoming mistresses of Kings and aristocrats and with Covent Garden being just as famous for its brothels as it was for its theatres, the struggle which these women were up against was profound and you really leave admiring these theatrical pioneers.

Touchingly, to complement this exhibition, in a nearby exhibition entitled ‘The Actress Now’ displays a cacophony of portraits featuring contemporary actresses, ranging from Dame Judi Dench to Helena Bonham Carter (left, by Trevor Leighton) and Keira Knightley, who all owe a great debt to their predecessors in the next-door room.

Exhibition on at The National Portrait Gallery
until 8 January 2012

Murmuration

A murmuration, one of the most magical, yet underrated, wildlife spectacles on display in winter, is a swirling cloud-like formation of starlings flying together. With each bird flying as close to its neighbour as possible, copying any change in speed and direction, the birds create a vast, impenetrable, rippling mass that is completely magnificent to watch.

Sophie Windsor Clive and her friend recently captured this beautiful phenomenon while canoeing across the River Shannon in Ireland... Wow! Its awesome!

Movember

In 2011, more than 240,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thousands of men worldwide will this Movember, the month formerly known as November, lay down their razors and embrace a ‘tache to raise both funds and awareness for men’s health.

So boys, become a Mo Bro by registering here and start getting fuzzy… But will you go for The Chaplin, The Sigmund or The Borat? I obviously would recommend The Gosling...

La Petite Mort Halloween Banquet

Last week I was invited to Petersham House for ‘La Petite Mort,’ on the first of three nights of Halloween banquets organized by The Old Vic Tunnels and the newly established Petersham Playhouse. It was a spookily special night out…

I was met by a 12ft stilt walking girly ghoul, carved pumpkins, flame throwing and tarot card reading followed by fantastic performances from Les Enfant Terribles. The fantastic troop of actors frighteningly interacted with their anxious audiences in the dimly, chandelier lit rooms around Petersham House (opened for us to explore at our own peril.) I screached when a meat hacking, psychotic crazy, in blood soaked bandages, jumped out at me from a cellar wielding an axe...

Luckily, a deliciously decadent feast by Petersham Nurseries Michelin Star Chef Skye Gyngell soon calmed me down (wouldn’t everyone find rice pudding covered in drops of blood-red, raspberry compote relaxing?!)

Dancing with my fellow revellers to music by Tankus The Heng followed and I found myself at one point, toffee apple in hand, bopping along with an extremely dapper baboon in a velvet jacket, vintage fur stole and top hat… Hell-a fun night!