Theo Randall (ex chef at the River Cafe) recently opened his restaurant at the newly refurbished Inter Continental Hotel at Hyde Park Corner (about time too). The restaurant has a Milanese chic with well spaced tables and Frette table linen.
The food? The simple dishes are done well - spinash with olives, pan
fried squid. Avoid the complicated ones - my Panna Cotta was a weird
grappa flavoured wobbly blob (which resembled a silicone breast
implant, though I have been told they don't wobble) with
not-sweet-enough Chestnut paste.
What was enjoyable? Spacious environment. Not hurried service and genuinely good natured staff. Good simple dishes.
What was not enjoyable? The more complicated dishes - Italian food is about simple dishes made with superb ingredients - it's astonishing how many English chefs try to jazz up La Cucina Italiana ... with weird concoction and tastes.
Carl Fillion's set design for The Ring at The Met caused a real stir at the premier. Though not having the luxury of seeing the whole Ring, I managed to get a ticket to see Götterdämmerung. Fabio Luisi at the helm of the large Met orchestra kept everything going. There was enough breathing space for the drama to unfold, and there were muscular moments that needed to punctuate the drama. Probably not as poised as Bernard Haitink at Covent Garden many years ago, or as gutsy as Antonio Pappano this season in the same house. But nonetheless very good. Deborah Voigt was a fine Brünhilde - as the role demands from beginning to end. Lars Cleveman was quite a believable Siegfried - youngish looking, jumps about, looking slightly naive on stage. Hans-Peter Köonig was OK - none of his phrases sent shiver down my spine as there was not enough evil. Back to the set. The rotating 'fingers' really worked (you can see them in this pic - sitting above the performers), especially...
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