Call Me Ischgl
People do not travel to the Alps for a ‘holiday’. They never have. Ischgl’s tourism board know this, it’s why they use the slogan: “Relax. If you can.”
Author David J. Constable
Parma: An Esculent Escapade
“Parma is a city built on its food. It’s as important an association as Pizza Margherita to Naples and ragù alla bolognese to Bologna…” David Constable flies the flag for the city noted for its, err, ham…?
A Corner of Tuscany: Forever Castelfalfi
Victoria Sackville-West lyrically wrote of the region, “This calm of husbandry, this redolent tilth. This terracing of hills, this vintage wealth.” David explores the luxury properties of Tuscany’s Castelfalfi…
Ibérica Canary Wharf
It’s a real slog getting across to Canary Wharf. ‘The City’, as those in the…
A Swiss Sojourn in Gstaad
“I hadn’t skied for ten years. Yet I set myself a journey to the Swiss Alps, filled with a mixture of trepidation and ballsy, thrill-seeking adventurism.” David J. Constable skiis, sleds and strips naked in Gstaad.
Hawksmoor Guildhall
You’ll hurt at Hawksmoor. If you don’t then you’ve failed. Aching, distressed, belly-burning protein poisoning. Covetous carnivores in their baggy shirts and lose-fitting trousers have declared Hawksmoor steaks the best in town.
Tsuru
“I found Tsuru in its metallic City cave. A steady flow of suited zombies entered and ordered, their lunch neatly boxed in sushi selections and Bentos. We began where all good meals should: with green tea and a Scotch egg.”
The Crown at Bray
When Heston Blumenthal bought his second pub in Bray, a few disgruntled locals of the gastro-hamlet expressed their irritation. There were puffed out cheeks and the waving of fists. Understandably, the inhabitants wished to hold onto their local ale house. How has The Crown fared?
Israel: The Ancient Land
Its heart is religion but its veins are in the earth. It has one foot in its archaeological history and the other firmly marching ahead through the fireworks of the twenty-first century. David J. Constable visits Israel.
The Gaggle of Geese
Kings and Queens. Ships, Sails and Dinghies. Red Lions, Foxes, Goblins and Griffins. A pub name should not follow trend. We need more character taverns, muses David, on his way to visit The Gaggle of Geese in Dorset.
Combal.Zero
Lunch was booked for one o’clock at Combal.Zero in Rivoli, which had only re-opened two days previously after the summer sojourn, and perhaps word hadn’t yet caught on, as I was the only diner, at least for the first hour…
Feng Sushi
The love affair the British have with sushi peddles on. It occupies both extremes: those…