Reviews, Travel

Hotel Review: Hotel Arts, Barcelona

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All Photos in this Post courtesy of NHYM Copyright 2015.

Hotel Arts

Marina 19-21

Barcelona, Spain 08005

34 93 22 11 000

http://www.hotelartsbarcelona.com/en

Design & Architecture: 5 stars

Service: 5 stars

Food: 4.5 stars

Rooms: 4.5 stars

Value/Price: 4.5 stars

Overall 4.5 stars

BOOK HERE

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Ground floor entrance. NHYM 2015

Barcelona!

It had been almost twenty years since I was last in Barcelona (gasp! How old does that make me??) and all I remember is a blurry haze of alcohol-imbibed dancing in some shopping mall club whilst on a backpacking excursion throughout Europe fending off pickpockets, cockroaches and leches. Fast forward twenty years and a whole family in tow, traveling has a very different image: where can you go that is family-friendly and has some kind of culture where both kids and parents will be happy. Cue in Barcelona. It is architecturally one of the greatest cities where walking around is like visiting a museum but where you can stop to have ice-cream while admiring the great Gaudi masterpieces. So off we went to Barcelona this half term with two kids and checked into the Hotel Arts, one of the iconic hotel greats.

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High Tech Architecture. NHYM 2015

Design & Architecture

The Hotel Arts was built in 1994 and is an example of High Tech Architecture. It is 154 meters tall and has 483 rooms, so in all terms and purposes is a very big city hotel. Unlike some gigantic hotels, Fontainebleau in Miami comes to mind, it is tasteful and sophisticated. The Frank Gehry public sculpture shaped like a fish called Peix is situated right next to it and was built for the 1992 Olympic Games. It is one of the most famous pieces of public contemporary art.

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Champagne at arrival. NHYM 2015

The Service

One of the things I appreciate in 5 star luxury hotels are the incidental perks or freebees that make the experience so enjoyable. At the Hotel Arts, you are welcomed with a champagne glass at the lobby, a clever way to make people think that they are finally on holiday, or that it is time to finally relax. In the lobby, Laurent Perrier bubbly is at hand for the adults and red and green sweeties for the kids.

The service at the Hotel Arts is really top notch. The staff is nice, courteous, young and energetic. They have had the best hotel management training in Lausanne or Montreux. This is the kind of service that you get in Asia, which is considered the best in the world. It makes a difference, compared to that grumpy old man in France/Italy who fobs you off to your room as if he had something else better to do. There are family friendly staff that come up to the children regularly, trying to engage them to make them comfortable in new surroundings.

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View from our Room. NHYM 2015.

The Rooms

We had two interconnecting rooms on the 15th floor and they had a great view of the water and the next door harbour, pictured above. The rooms were really rather large when you consider most hotel rooms in big cities: think the Mercer/Tribeca New York that has tiny rooms which are at least double or triple the price of this room. The beds were as good as you can expect from any 5 star hotel and the bathrooms were very nice, although the sinks were showing some wear with rusting around the plug hole.

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Overall, we were very pleased with our room.

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Ice Cream Trolley by the pool. NHYM 2015

Child-Friendly

Of course, these days, I am more interested in how child-friendly a place is rather than where the table-dancing goes on. The Hotel Arts won some big points for how child-friendly it was. I mean, who doesn’t like the unlimited, free ice-cream trolley by the pool side? The kids were in heaven. Although there wasn’t a kids club, there was a small child area at the breakfast restaurant where the kids played a whole morning (it is for very young children and it is tiny so don’t have high expectations, but my kids loved it). There is also a large pool, although it was unheated so they opted instead for the jacuzzi in the below gardens. They also had a Halloween treasure hunt, with spider lollies as prizes. What else could a child ask for?

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Gardens and Terraces. NHYM 2015. 

Overall 

This was a great hotel and a great base to visit Barcelona, with its seafront full of cool restaurants below it. Some people have gripes, including the food at the tapas restaurant but we didn’t have a chance to eat there, we were too busy trying out various other restos. The breakfast buffet was great, which to me is imperative for a stellar hotel. The other complaint is that it does show some signs of wear although it was renovated in 2006, but with its amazing service, it is easy to overlook that. Finally, they charge €25 for internet per day, but we were exempt with the deal we got. Speaking of deals, since we came end of October and got a deal, the rates were incredibly reasonable. Comparing that to a hotel I went to recently in Washington DC which charged $700 a night and the room looked like a 3 star motel room, this seemed like a bargain.

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Frank Gehry Fish. NHYM 2015. 

We loved this hotel and were even more surprised by how great it was with kids. Highly recommended and to put on your to do list when in Barcelona.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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Chill out Area. NHYM 2015. 

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Frieze-Mania: Frieze Art Fair 2015

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All Photos in this post belong to NHYM Copyright 2015. 

A Taste of Frieze… 

As always, October is a mad rush of art-in-the-city, where everyone in the art world congregates in London to the Frieze or has an event in parallel with the Frieze Art Fair. Right now, there is PAD, Frieze, Frieze Masters, and a ton of exhibits around the city. Considering I am very time-poor at the moment, I had to decide on a single event, which was the opening preview night of the Frieze, giving me a taste of what is currently going on in the Art world.

Forget Kidzania, it’s all about Frieze-mania

Oftentimes, modern and contemporary art can be a little bit ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ in that you can see a work of art and even though everyone else gushes and praises it, you feel a little like ‘Uhm, what?’ This year, I felt that there was more accessible art than in the past years, especially in Rows A-C of the fair (which tends to be the most well known galleries), whereas once you go to the F,G,H, it gets a little too abstract and conceptual for me.

Accessible Art

Here are some of my favourites that I would have liked to take home with me:

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Takashi Murakami. Frieze 2015. NHYM 

My favourite piece of the art fair from Takashi Murakami sold immediately for £180,000. A bit mainstream, but definitely ‘Happy Art.’

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Oil and Acrylic on Canvas. NHYM 2015. 

Another artist I quite enjoyed, Secundino Hernandez. Going back to basics, some artists are going back to what we, the mainstream, are comfortable with.

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Charcoal on Canvas. NHYM 2015. 

Mr. X’s lust-piece was this charcoal drawing on canvas. It really looked like a photograph. Quiet in the middle of Frieze-mania.

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Big Smile. Frieze 2015. NHYM

Inspired Art

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Warhol-esque Marilyn Monroe – NHYM 2015. 

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Colourful Rothko-inspired art. NHYM 2015. Or is it a Rothko? 

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Jeff Koons Inspired Inflatable Cartoon. NHYM 2015.

Sculptures

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Naked Lady. Frieze 2015. NHYM

This naked lady was impressive. She never blinked. Until I realised that she was a sculpture and not a real woman.

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Naked Lady Frieze 2015 NHYM

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Real life-sized dolls. Frieze. NHYM 2015. 

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Silver Polka Dot Aubergine. Frieze 2015. NHYM 

Weird Art

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Just weird. Not sure what it is or what it represents. Don’t want that in my living room.

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Planes on dishwashers. Frieze 2015. NHYM

I think this gallery won a Gold Prize for something. Not sure what it is. Definitely an ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ moment for me.

Installations

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Ken Kagami Portraits. Frieze 2015. NHYM

The most popular/talked about installation was the free one-to-one intimate portraits drawn by Ken Kagami. In 30 seconds, he will draw a portrait of you, for a man, his penis, for a woman, her breasts. One thing it did was make people smile. Read more here… http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/oct/13/frieze-art-fair-2015-where-you-can-get-a-comedy-drawing-of-your-genitals-for-free

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Sound installation inside a model replica of the Frieze Fair. Music made at frequencies for foxes to hear. Frieze 2015. NHYM.

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Modern Life: Overstimulation of modernity. Frieze 2015. NHYM 

Then there are the people…

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Part of the art or part of the crowd? Frieze NHYM 2015 

Sometimes, in the art shows, you can’t quite tell who is part of the art and who is part of the crowd. The Art crowd is a mixture of young Art students in student-wear, established artists dressed in girls clothes (Grayson Perry), pretty 20-something-rich-girls interning at a gallery, gallerists and socialites, and uber wealthy collectors in their Chanel/Dior/Birkin/Big Lips. It is always interesting. No slebs spotting this year. In the past I’ve seen Sienna Miller and 1-Direction’s Harry Styles. Must arrive earlier next year…

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Funny Shoes Frieze 2015 NHYM

I’ve had my dose of modern art for a while, but it was entertaining, interesting, and brain-bending.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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Restaurant Review: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

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Dinner By Heston Blumenthal. Photo courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

Dinner By Heston Blumenthal 

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

66 Knightsbridge 

London SW1x 7LA

Tel 02072013833

http://www.dinnerbyheston.com

Rating:

Food: 4.5 stars

Atmosphere: 4 stars

Service: 4.25 stars

Design & Theatrics: 4.5 stars

Price/Value: 4.25 stars

Overall: 4.3 stars

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The Kitchen, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Photo Courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

Din*ner: 

The main meal of the day, taken either around midday or in the evening.

A formal evening meal, typically one in honour of a person or event.

Dinner unfortunately has a lot to live up to: this year it was rated No. 7 Best Restaurant in the World, it has earned two Michelin stars, and was rated 3rd best restaurant in the UK 2015. I went to dinner at Dinner the other night (which, by the way, is really annoying to say), with very high expectations. It’s not the restaurant’s fault, but every critic and journalistic review about this restaurant just gushes about how wonderful it is, so I was feeling dubious about the whole experience. Nothing can live up to its reputation, surely. I remember going to my first Gordon Ramsay restaurant at Claridge’s probably 15 years ago and all I remember about it was that it was a terrible let-down. I don’t remember the food, not the room, not the atmosphere. Just that there was nothing memorable about the experience. So, going to another celebrity-chef restaurant full of accolades and applause left me a little lukewarm.

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Chef preparing The Meat Fruit. Photo Courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

Heston is known for his chemical-food wizardry, creativity and innovation, which made the Fat Duck Best Restaurant in the World in 2005. I read that this restaurant was going to be a very different experience. Where the Fat Duck is an ‘experience’ of theatricality and surprise, Dinner was meant to be somewhere you would want to go back to over and over for a nice meal rather than a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The whole point of Dinner is to re-create old (ancient) British dishes in new, modern and creative ways. Having seen some of Heston’s magic tricks on TV, I was looking forward to some kind of experience (so many restaurants dish out the same dishes over and over that lack any creativity).

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Dinner Menu. NHYM 2015. 

The menu, as described by Heston on his website is ‘inspired by historic British gastronomy’ with all dishes documented with the year of its origin. From the reviews I had read, there are some signature, ‘cult’ dishes that are a ‘must-try.’ And what’s the point in going to a restaurant without trying it’s world famous dishes. Some friends hadn’t been that impressed and I didn’t know if I was ever going to go to this restaurant again, so might as well try their ‘cult dishes’ or those that have been highly praised. So here’s what made the final list:

Starter: Meat Fruit (c.1500) Mandarin, chicken liver parfait & grilled bread.

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The Meat Fruit. Photo Courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

Neither myself nor Mr. X are particular fans of chicken liver parfait, but when in Rome… It is one of the ‘Cult Classics’ of this restaurant, so not to be missed. This dish is really a feast for the eyes. His Mandarin look-alike is really quite stunningly perfect as food-behaving-like-other-foods (and very appropriate eating it in the Mandarin Oriental). It is worth ordering just to see the mastery that comes with creating this dish. It is good, but it was never going to completely win us over in terms of taste. But even Mr. X was impressed by the artistry involved in creating the dish.

Frumenty (c.1390) Grilled Octopus, smoked sea broth, pickled dulse & lovage

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Frumenty, photo courtesy of the internet. NHYM 2015. 

The grilled octopus was perfectly cooked and chargrilled, lifting the salty, sea flavours out of the octopus. The ‘lovage’ (some kind of plant) was interesting, but for me it was all about the octopus itself. I skipped the sea broth etc.. which left my palate as I wanted it. Personally, I didn’t need all the extra garnishes.

Roast Iberico Pork Chop (c.1820) Smoked hispi cabbage, confit onion, apple & mean, Robert sauce

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The Pork Chop. Photo Courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

The pork chop was delicious. The quality of the meat immediately stood out. It was really tender and perfectly cooked and seasoned. Again, I didn’t need the added sauces etc… as I thought the meat to be perfect on its own. The smoked cabbage was a nice addition, but didn’t particularly need the confit onion, apple & mead.

Tipsy Cake (c.1810) Spit Roast Pineapple

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The Tipsy Cake. Photo Courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

The Tipsy Cake is another ‘Cult Classic,’ which I couldn’t resist ordering. It was served with spit roast pineapple, rendered sweet and salty on the spit. The doughy, sherry- soaked, sponge cake was full of sweet yet soft flavours, reminding me of my carefree childhood of devouring indulgent cakes in the backyard without the worries of muffin-tops and middle-aged-post-baby-fat.

Ice – Cream Machine

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Ice Cream Machine, photo courtesy of the internet. NHYM 2015. 

We didn’t manage to try the ice-cream machine, but it looked really fun and gimmicky. Next time…

Overall: 

Unlike many two star Michelin restaurants, there weren’t amuses bouches and palate cleansers in between each dish, which was a pleasant surprise. This makes it easier to come for a quick meal rather than a 3-hour sit-down extravagance. The service was great in that the servers were brilliant, knowledgeable, helpful and enthusiastic. It did mean they were a bit slow at times, but it was made up by our waiter’s charm and expertise. The room is a bit bland, but it is a 5 star hotel so can’t digress too much from the mainstream to please a demanding and varied clientele.

Finally, the food is really, really well executed, researched and cooked. Some of the added flavours were not to my liking, but I just didn’t eat what I didn’t like. I am too old for feeling like I need to eat everything on my plate, even things I don’t like. I am pleased that this restaurant wasn’t a let-down. I would happily go back and have the exact same meal over and over again, which I think was Heston’s intention with this restaurant. Now that I’ve found a good formula of starter-main-dessert, I would find it hard to break away from it. The price is quite similar to very pricey restaurants in London: Chiltern Firehouse/Arts Club etc…so not a deterrent for superior cooking.

Hats off to Heston and his team, helmed by the chef Ashley Palmer-Watts who runs the kitchen. It’s a foodie destination with some theatrics, some excellent cooking, and some flaws, but overall, I was won over and have become a devotee of the Heston-Cult.

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Chef preparing the Pineapple of the Tipsy Cake. Photo courtesy of the Internet. NHYM 2015. 

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

Dinner By Heston Blumenthal - Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Presenting The NHYM Shoe: Designing my own shoes with Upper Street

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The Notting Hill Yummy Mummy Shoe. NHYM 2015. 

A few months ago, I was approached by Upper Street, an online luxury shoe designing service, to see whether I wanted to design my own shoes. I checked out their website and thought to myself, this could be really fun. I could be creative, sip champagne and macaroons at their Shoe Lounge, and end up with my very own NHYM shoes! I agreed immediately, opting to come and visit their offices and their Shoe Lounge.

The Concept: 

Julia Elliott Brown founded www.upperstreet.com in 2010 and has been growing her company steadily ever since. The concept is simple yet smart: design your own shoes online. For women who never find the right sizes or have a very distinct idea of what they want, this certainly could help. In my case, I can’t wear high heels because my feet are a funny shape, so need medium-height heels, which aren’t always that easy to find.

Granted, there are pre-designed styles to choose from so it’s not designing them entirely from scratch, but there are new designs and designers being introduced regularly, which is a great feature (https://www.upperstreet.com/shoe-wonderland/cordwainers-collection). For those who are a bit weary of buying shoes online and not being able to try them on first, there is a Shoe Lounge in central London, where you can try various shoe sizes and shapes to make sure they fit comfortably and where you can actually look and feel the swatches of materials.

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To design my shoes, Janine, my stylist, asked me to go online to the Upper Street website and choose a style, the heel, the front, the back, straps, embellishments and colour prior to coming in to the Shoe Lounge so that she could get samples ready for me. Luckily, I found a style that I really liked and decided on silvers and snakeskin in terms of materials because a) it was summer b) my fave silver strappy shoed had recently experienced a slow demise c) who doesn’t love snakeskin? c) I thought something fun and brash would be oh-so NHYM.

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A few days after sending in my choices, off I went to visit the Shoe Lounge, which is located in Fitzrovia, a townhouse in the garment district.

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I was welcomed by Janine who brought Champagne and Macaroons for me to taste while she laid out a bunch of material swatches based on my colour and material preferences. This is where the fun began!

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While I tried on a sample pair of shoes to ensure a good fit, I looked around the various shoes on display, and I could see that you could really try a million different combinations and get very creative with it.

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I am very particular with my shoes because I can’t wear very high heels, you see, I don’t have ‘Happy Feet’, I just have ‘Funny Feet,’ funny-looking, funny-shaped and funny in general, which if you recall, are not the prettiest on the block: https://nottinghillmummy.com/2015/07/03/the-serpentine-summer-partys-uptown-funk-2015/ So it is difficult for me to find shoes that fit well. I was somewhat worried about how comfortable the shoes would be, given my shoe history: I have definitely bought a number of shoes that just didn’t fit my feet that ended up laying down to rest in my shoe cupboard untouched for years.

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Sample shoe with materials. NHYM 2015. 

I found the shoe style I liked, and started choosing fabrics and materials to go with it. Choosing is really difficult! Especially since I already really like the shoe sample itself. It is difficult visualising the different materials together and imagining how they would fit together. It made me realise how hard designing shoes really is. But I loved feeling the various swatches and coming up with different combinations for my shoes.

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Sample shoe. NHYM. 2015.

Ok, so my shoe isn’t very different than the sample shoe I tried on (I know, can you even tell the difference??), but I switched the satin silver for metallic silver, lowered the heel, and added silver snakeskin. I could have gone crazier with the shoe colour scheme, but I wanted shoes I could use regularly. I will let someone else take the risk. These shoes would be perfect with a white summer dress, or dressed up with a Christmas cocktail dress.

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Red sparkly shoes, Shoe Lounge, Upper Street. NHYM 2015. 

After agreeing to the final shoe design, all I had to do was wait three weeks until my shoes would magically appear.

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A few weeks later, my very pretty, Net-a-porter-influenced shoe box finally arrived with my very own NHYM shoes inside!

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The Verdict: 

I love my new shoes. They are more comfortable than I had imagined, which is very important for someone with ‘Funny Feet’. I wore them out to a dinner and so far, no blisters and no aching feet. I haven’t gone through the ‘dancing on tables’ shoe test, which will be the real test of comfortable-ness, but so far so good. The quality seems good, but only time will tell whether they will be durable like good old Jimmy Choos that I have had since 2003.

Upper Street is a fun, young, dynamic company that has a great vision. The only minuses are that there are only limited amount of styles and you can’t actually get your feet ‘moulded’ for the perfect shoe, but if that were the case, the shoes wouldn’t be hovering around £300 but rather around £1,000+. (£225 for flats, £380 and above for ankle boots). They now have their own workshop to really ensure quality control and to create a proper brand. Now that winter is coming, I am rather coveting Janine’s ankle boots, so they will be next on my list for autumn/winter ’15!

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Ankle boot. Photo from Upper Street website. NHYM 2015. 

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

 

 

 

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Top 10, Travel, Uncategorized

Top 10 Travel Tips: Sardinia in September

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Sardinia. All photos copyright NHYM 2015. 

BOOK YOUR TRIP TO SARDINIA

September is a bittersweet month. On one hand, it is great to come back to a daily routine of school runs, dinners and socialising and the comfort of one’s home. On the other hand, it is good-bye to summer and outdoor BBQs, and the realisation that the next summer is 10 months away.

So, as a tradition, we try to go away every September for our wedding anniversary. This year, we chose Sardinia, because a) it is only 2 hours away (yes, I know it’s with Easyjet, but sometimes I need to temper down my inner brat) b) my mother and friends told me to stay away from Turkey because of all of the unrest (where I initially wanted to go to) c) Mr. X had never been and it’s been years since I had been. d) And finally, because it is a rather beautiful melange of rustic and chic.

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Porto Cervo NHYM 2015.

Here are my Top 10 Tips in Sardinia:

  1. Check out the beaches. There are so many to explore, but my personal favourites are in Southern Sardinia, where there are less foreign tourists and the translucent water and rocky outcroppings remind me of the Seychelles. The beaches in Maddalena are equally spectacular.
  2. Porto Cervo, home to Flavio Briatore’s Billionaire Club, must be seen. It was created by Prince Aga Khan and reminds me of the Terra Cotta Hotel Byblos in St Tropez. It doesn’t have much charm, but has to be seen… as one of the most expensive real estates in Europe. Check out ‘You Porto Cervo’ for a cocktail.PortoCervo2NHYMView of Porto Cervo. NHYM 2015
  3. The Maddalena archipelago is the opposite of Porto Cervo: quiet, rustic and a has beautiful nature. I already mentioned La Casitta in another post (https://nottinghillmummy.com/2014/05/19/top-10-best-mediterranean-sea-view-boutique-hotels), best for its remoteness and seclusion
  4. Charter a motor yacht/sailboat/gulet to visit Sardinia’s wild nature and beaches and nature reserves. There’s nothing like waking up in an undiscovered cove on a boat with a cappuccino in hand…
  5. See the Grotto di Nettuno, Sardinia’s most famous cave.SardiniaViewNHYM
  6. Try one of the many Agriturismo farmhouses to get back to basics: http://www.agriturismo.it/en/
  7. Go to Phi Beach for the sunset and a cocktail. Great views and atmosphere.SardiniaBeach2NHYM
  8. The Cala di Volpe hotel, one of the most expensive hotels in the world, once featured in the 1977 ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ Bond Film. It may be the most famous hotel in Sardinia, but it seems a bit dated to me and is not by far one of my favourites. Personally, Il Splendido wins hands down. CalaDiVolpeNHYMCala Di Volpe
  9. Visit Nora in the South, an ancient Roman and pre-Roman town, where you can see a Roman theatre, temple and mosaics.
  10. Enjoy the food… It is Italy after all. Try La Gritta with views of the Maddelena, I Fratti Rossi for its seafood, or Il Pescatore purely for the best setting and view of Porto Cervo.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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Family Life, Social Commentary

Top 10 Tips: Children & Screen time

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Photo courtesy of the internet. NHYM 2015. 

I was reading an interesting article on children and screen time this weekend in the Times, Screen time and your child: what every parent needs to know, so thought I would share the most salient and pertinent points of the article:

  1. Professor Sonia Livingstone at LSE, a researcher on children and technology and an advisor to the UK Council For Internet Safety, thinks that parents need new guidance away from thinking purely in terms of time limits, towards sharing more of what their children are doing online.
  2. All screen time is not equal; we need to look at the quality of what our children are doing online; are they creative or passively consuming. ‘The challenge is for parents to work out whether they are doing something creative and imaginative or something mindless.’ says Professor Livingstone.
  3. On setting time limits: ‘If they are getting the grades you hope for and expect, if they are lively, creative, talkative and able to develop interests and hobbies, those are indicators that your child is fine.’
  4. Keeping an eye on the balance is key: Are they playing sports, going outside enough, and getting enough face to face interaction?
  5. More than three and a half hours a day on social networks is linked to low self esteem and depression. One study showed that the happiest 10-15 year olds spent no more than one hour a day on social networks.
  6. Aric Sigman, a psychologist, has come up with some time limits. He recommends 30 minutes to 1 hour a day of recreational screen time for 3 to 7 year olds, one hour for 7 to 12 year olds, 90 minutes for 12 to 15 year olds, and two hours for teens aged 16 and over. Wishful thinking. But it’s a good goal.
  7. Start having screen time with the family: make time each week where the whole family goes online and shows each other interesting sites or fun things they’ve discovered. Livingstone recommends one hour per week.
  8. For 15 years the American Academy of Paediatrics has recommended no screen time at all for under twos, but there is evidence that short bursts of time on interactive educational apps can help two to five year olds learn, says Dr. Gummer, a psychologist and play specialist.
  9. Teach your children responsibility about screen time. For younger children, you may need to set time limits and routines, for example two hours a day is accepted by many experts and police them. For older children 11 and over, it’s important to involve them in the process. ‘Parents should help them make decisions rather than trying to control every click which is impossible anyway. They need the skills and resilience to make sensible choices, which are the same skills they need to do their homework and going to bed. Parents can help them get into routines and explain to them that more than two hours a day of screen time is too much.’ says Dr. John Coleman, a teen psychologist researching a book on parents and screens.
  10. Have a screen free day. Boredom is a very important educational skill  because it gives them time and space to create and think about the things they want to do. Coleman recommends one totally screen free day maybe once a week.

Excerpts from The Times Saturday September 12, 2015 

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy

@NHyummymummy

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Review: Nailed! A new nail salon in Notting Hill…

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All photos courtesy of NHYM 2015. 

Nailed

70 Chepstow Road

London W2 5BE

Tel 0207 221 6685

A few girlfriends of mine mentioned a new nail bar in Notting Hill over the last few months, so when I received an invitation to try out the new Nailed on Chepstow Road, it wasn’t hard to convince me to go. Nailed opened in April by Richard Naylor, ex-management consultant, who has a background in business with an MBA and having worked in the city.

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Indoor Nailed Salon Bar. NHYM 2015. 

When I came in on a rainy Tuesday afternoon for a mani-pedi, I was warmly welcomed by Richard who set the girls on me right away. There are two pedicure reclining chairs at the back and four manicure tables in the front. He is also planning on starting waxing and eyebrow treatments downstairs in a few months. There are all the ESSIE and Shellac Colours you can ask for, and he mentions specialised, bespoke nail extensions that sound rather impressive.

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Adrienne my manicurist. NHYM 2015. 

Adrienne (or was it Arianne?) my manicurist was lovely, as was my pedicurist. The salon is bright, clean and warm. The herringbone wood flooring is great, and there are flowers adding some life to the place. There are a lot of nail salons that can end up looking a bit sad or grubby, but this isn’t one of them. It is clean and modern. Richard explains that he wants to provide a clean, professional approach with loads of great customer service. That day, I must admit that the customer service was 5/5. I had three people fawning over me, which is always a nice feeling.

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He tells me that the salon is doing very well, he even had Kate Hudson come in over the summer with a friend. His hopes are that he can open a second salon next year in St. John’s Wood. He has a whole business plan worked out in his head, and it seems to be working so far.

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Nailed Manicure. NHYM 2015. 

Time flies as Richard gives me the history of his lifelong dream to open a nail salon, which all started during a year abroad at McGill University. My mani – pedi is done and I didn’t even get a chance to see what the girls were doing. But the results are good. I really like my manicure, which is subtle. My toes are not in the best of shape after the summer, so they are not photo-worthy at the moment.

Richard is a lovely, friendly guy who could talk to you for days about his adventures, girlfriends, and godchildren. He makes the place what it is. The salon is open until 9pm on some nights to cater to the professionals, and he is there each and every night. But he loves it he says. It doesn’t even feel like work, it’s a party every day.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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Restaurant Review: Casa Cruz

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Owner Juan Santa Cruz in front of his new restaurant, Casa Cruz. Photo courtesy of the internet. 2015.

Casa Cruz

123 Clarendon Road

London W11 4JG

Tel 02033215400

http://www.casacruz.london

Design: 3 stars

Atmosphere: 3.5 stars

Service: 3 stars

Food: 3.75 stars

Price/Value: 3.5 stars

Overall: 3.5 stars

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Bowler man. NHYM 2015. 

The first thing that struck me as I arrived at this new restaurant on Clarendon Road, was the large imposing copper door that I mistook for a vault door rather than the entrance. In front stood a bowler-hatted gentlemen who opened the door for me. I was confused, having used a different entrance in all the various incarnations of this restaurant; Wiz (or Woz?), which served a mishmash of international plates, The Notting Grill by Anthony Worrall Thompson (which sadly closed during the recession), and the Clarendon, a Gastropub which was too loud to hear yourself speak and where I would often run into Nico, Pippa Middleton’s on-off boyfriend. This spot has a long restaurant history, which has all ended in closure, so hats off to Juan Santa Cruz if he can make this a long-standing success.

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Photo courtesy of the internet 2015.

Design

First off, we’ve really got to talk about the design. It’s owner, Juan Santa Cruz, former banker/private equity/finance guy turned restaurateur/designer, already made his mark in Argentina with three restaurants including the original Casa Cruz. In this version of Casa Cruz, there is an avalanche of copper than landed in the middle of W11. Not sure what it’s doing here, but it is everywhere. The bar, the walls, the doors and anywhere else you happen to look. The walls are panels of copper, on top of alternating wood panels, which are backlit.

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Photo courtesy of the intent. NHYM 2015. 

Friends have likened it to an S&M room where this could be Christian Grey’s Copper Room next to his Red Room.  Another friend called it a crash between Stringfellows and a chalet. Ok sure, Chile is the number one exporter of copper (where Santa Cruz is from), but too much is too much. I liked the two bars, that had enough copper on their own for the whole restaurant. The art deco tables downstairs are very nice, as are the Hermes-leather-boud menus. Then there is the mirrored staircase, which takes you back to the days of Mirror Mazes in fun fairs. Not an experience I particularly want to revisit. Thankfully, the upstairs terrace gives you a breather from the copper and the mirrors, where I saw the whole cast of ‘Wannabe-Made-In-Chelsea’ having a birthday party.

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Stag’s head Ground Floor Casa Cruz. NHYM 2015.

Service & Atmosphere

Then there is the Stag’s head staring at you on the ground floor, not sure what it adds to the room, but adds to the ‘chalet feel’ of the place. The restaurant isn’t full when we arrived at 9pm despite being told that there were no earlier seatings before 9:30pm on a Saturday night. This is a restaurant which should be fully booked and every spot taken to create a buzzing and cool atmosphere. Instead, I feel duped by the reservations team who told me there were no earlier seatings. Needless to say, we were seated at 9pm which suited me much better than 9:30pm. (This happened to me another time during the week when they gave me a 9pm reservation, but the restaurant was half full when I arrived at 8:30pm). Maybe this is because I heard that this was originally meant to be a member’s club as well, with one of the only perks being that members could get a table at any time they wanted. I just don’t like being lied to, so this just bugs me.

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Photo courtesy of NHYM 2015.

The Food

I liked the look of the menu, but it was rather simple and concise. The starters consisted heavily of raw food. We tried the sea bass carpaccio with lime, but truthfully, Nobu or Roka could give the chef a tip or two on how to choose and season it. It was chewier than the divine sea bass sashimi at either of these restaurants, leaving me pining for the Roka sea bass sashimi. It’s never good when you are coveting another restaurant’s food. The other vegetables and burrata starters were fine. Nothing out-of-this-world, but decent nonetheless.

As mains, we opted for the Steak. I mean, it’s an Argentinian restaurant right? The portions are quite big so are good for sharing. Happily, we all enjoyed the steak and even ordered an extra portion. I hear that the blackened chicken is also quite good. As sides, we tried the blackened broccoli, which is usually quite good, but I once had it with too much chilli and flavours that clashed with the tenderness of the steak. The quinoa side also had too many flavours mixed in, which I felt took away from the main dish. I liked the corn, but it also had quite strong flavours. The point of sides is to accompany, not overpower. I felt that these sides tended to overpower rather than let the mains do the talking. This is not finessed cuisine, but Argentinian cuisine isn’t necessarily known for that. Finally, as a dessert, I had the dulce de leche ice-cream, which I really enjoyed.

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Very cool wine fridge. Courtesy of the internet NHYM 2015. 

Overall

We ran into different groups of friends the Saturday night we went, who had enjoyed their meal. Still, the copper-tone feel to the place is overwhelming, as were some of the flavours. There were some things that worked, and some things that just didn’t. It still seems disjointed and is trying a little too hard to feel exclusive. I think if it was full of people having fun, the atmosphere could be improved. The food is good at times, but not good enough to be the strength of the restaurant. Rumours have it that Juan Santa Cruz wanted the atmosphere first, and the food was secondary. Unfortunately, I think he hasn’t managed either well enough to make it somewhere I am dying to go back to. It still has some potential, so hopefully he will make some important changes that could make it much cooler and much yummier.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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Photo Courtesy of the internet. NHYM 2015. 
Casa Cruz Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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‘I HEART FLOWERS’

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Apple yard Flower Bouquet. All photos NHYM 2015 Copyright. 

As you probably know, I love flowers. I’ve already mentioned that I went from Club Hopping to Flower Picking since becoming a mother: https://nottinghillmummy.com/2014/05/22/review-the-rhs-chelsea-flower-show-2014/ and that men should know that women can always be perked up by a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

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I’ve also decided that I want my daughters to become florists. Why you may ask? Well, it has been proven that being a florist is the happiest job! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20298238. Oh and please note: bankers were the unhappiest.

Here’s the full list: https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/work-and-wellbeing/career-and-money/a/28106485/the-happiest-jobs-in-the-world-revealed/

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Apple yard Flower Delivery Service. NHYM 2015. 

So when Appleyard Flowers wanted to send me over a bouquet of flowers, I was more than happy to accept. Flowers make people and a home happy. There are instant happy chemicals released when you look at flowers (same with the sea, if you wanted to know). And after all, it’s never to early to expose your child to creativity and aesthetics for their future career…

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I went online and ordered my beautiful bouquet of flowers on: http://www.appleyardflowers.com/flower-delivery-notting-hill and chose the Violet Orchid Bouquet. There is a large choice of beautiful bouquets to choose from and they can be delivered any day you like. I received the bouquet in a large cardboard box, which revealed a gorgeous array of orchids, roses, thistles and other flowers I can’t name. But wait – it wasn’t exactly the bouquet I ordered, there were red roses instead of light purple ones. I didn’t like the colour scheme as much, so I took out the red roses and put them in a separate flower vase.

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Which meant that I now had 2 flower vases to look at. Even more happiness to spread around.

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Despite the hiccup of not getting exactly the bouquet I ordered, the bouquet is still really stunning and the flowers fresh and vibrant.

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Thank you Appleyard for the wonderful bouquet!

To cheer you up that summer is over, Appleyard is offering a 33% discount to my readers, please quote BLOG33. 

Send Flowers – http://www.appleyardflowers.com/send-flowers
Next day flowers – http://www.appleyardflowers.com/next-day-flowers
Flower delivery Notting Hill – http://www.appleyardflowers.com/flower-delivery-notting-hill

 

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

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