COMPLIMENTARY Edition
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ISSUE 05 • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
ESSENTIAL FOR LUXURIOUS LIVING
n
N º05 -NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
essential essential magazine® gibraltar
GIBRALTAR
Rolls-Royce
wraith MOMY LEVY MR. GIBRALTAR
AIRFIELD
FUNKY FASHION
Style
Haute Couture
HOTELS
statement
Winning
Wines
N E W S I C U LT U R E I P E O P L E I T R E N D I S T Y L E I S P A I P R O I L E I S U R E I G O U R M E T & M O R E
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Help us make a magazine that really reflects the Gibraltar way of life... Please contribute to some of our most well-read sections!
Issue05•November/December 2013
S T A F F
THE PRO
PUBLISHER AND DIRECTOR
Have you organised a corporate or cultural event recently? Launched a new product or opened a new office and you want Gibraltar to know? Send us information and we will consider it for placement in the Pro section.
GENERAL MANAGER
ANDREA BÖJTI sales@essentialmagazine.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MARISA CUTILLAS editorial@essentialmagazine.com
GIBRALTAR EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER
GOURMET
ACCOUNTS EXECUTIVE OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR
For new openings, dining events and new products, our popular Food News page is the place to be seen. Our restaurant listing section will become a reference when you consider dining out, so if your favourite place is not included, please let us know!
CREATIVE DIRECTOR DESIGN & LAYOUT
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WHAT’S ON
GIBRALTAR PHOTOGRAPHY
Our What’s On section is designed to keep readers up-to-date on forthcoming events including shows, clubs and meetings, either a specific or a reccuring event. If you are an organiser, let us help you get your message across to the whole of Gibraltar!
IAIN BLACKWELL director@essentialmagazine.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY PRINTING DEPÓSITO LEGAL
BELINDA BECKETT belinda@essentialmagazine-gibraltar.com SUSANNE WHITAKER design@essentialmagazine.com MARIANO JEVA cuentas@essentialmagazine.com MONIKA BÖJTI info@essentialmagazine.com
ANDREA BÖJTI INMA AURIOLES MELINDA SZARVAS KEVIN HORN JON SEGUI jon@essentialmagazine-gibraltar.com IAIN BLACKWELL, ALEX CARUANA, ROCIO CORRALES, MICHEL CRUZ, DAWN DEACON, RIK FOXX, AJ LINN, TONY WHITNEY AIRFIELD, courtesy of FashionVilla JIMÉNEZ GODOY A. GRÁFICAS, MURCIA D.L. MA-512-99
PRODUCT / COMPANY PROFILE Do you have a special company or product that our readers should know more about? Send us details and we’ll consider it for a profile feature in one of our upcoming editions.
EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING OFFICES COMPLEJO LA PÓVEDA, BLQ. 3, 1º A, CN 340, KM 178, 29600 MARBELLA, MÁLAGA. TEL: 952 766 344 FAX: 952 766 343
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The publishers make every effort to ensure that the magazine’s contents are correct, but cannot accept Marbella Magazine cannot accept responsibility for the effects of errors or omissions. responsibility for the claims, goods or services of advertisers. Marbella Magazine. © Publicaciones Independientes Costa del Sol S.L. for No part of this magazine, including texts, photographs, illustrations, maps or any other graphics may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of Publicaciones Independientes Costa del Sol S.L. Printed on recyclable paper, produced without wood and bleached without chlorine.
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contents The Trend Cinema 12 Home Viewing 14 Books 16 Music 18 Cars: The Rolls-Royce Wraith 20 Gadgets 22
(
The Local
24 Christmas Shopping in Gibraltar 34 Gibraltar Literary Festival 38 Momy Levy 40 John Galliano
g The Focus
The European Hotel Design Awards 44 Style Icons 50 Danny Avila 54 Gentlemen: Now and Then 56
The Style
Décor: The New Baltus Collection 58 Fashion: Airfield Autumn/Winter 2013-2014 Collection 64 Fashion News 70 Beauty: Chic Hairstyles for Winter 72 Health: The Benefits of Echinacea 74
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The Pro 76 Enterprise 80 Finance: Tax Developments for Expats 82 Business Profile: Bishop’s Move
The Leisure 84 Los Angeles and Bora Bora
The Gourmet 92 Café Rojo 94 Enate 96 Wines with Style 98 Listings
10/31/13 12:36 PM
Winner of the Gibraltar’s Leading Hotel Award since 2009 The AA’s highest rated hotel in Gibraltar
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Two AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence
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3/1/13 12:37 PM
publisher’s letter WORDS BY IAIN BLACKWELL
Style
statement
W
ith five issues of Gibraltar published, the magazine is steadily growing in popularity and stature in Gibraltar, spurred on by its quality content & design. Welcome to the November/December Christmas edition, which is focused on Style – especially appropriate for a lifestyle magazine. Don’t miss our lead feature on Christmas Shopping in Gibraltar, revealing interview with Momy Levy and profile on John Galliano. Style is present in Architecture, Design, The Arts, Music, Cuisine, Fashion, in how we look, dress & behave. It is highly pervasive and a determining factor in our lives. Hotels are very often at the forefront of sophisticated architecture & design and November sees the European Hotel Design Awards being announced at the Park Plaza Hotel in London. We present some of the world’s top style icons, review the current revival of gentlemanly behaviour, and talk with Danny Avila on a recent visit to Marbella. There are few vehicles more refined than a Rolls-Royce and we invite you to join us aboard the sumptuous new Wraith. For unparalleled luxury and distinguished décor, it doesn’t get much better than Baltus. This month’s cover displays stylish fashion from Airfield, courtesy of FashionVilla, and you can check out highlights from the new Autumn/Winter Collection. Finally, to finish off a great issue, relax with a grand glass from our Wines With Style feature. Merry Christmas to everyone!
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All you need is GBC
Bringing Music to Your Ears & Gibraltar to your Screen
GBC Television
Radio Gibraltar
GBC Online
available on Gibraltar Freeview and gbc.gi
91.3, 92.6 & 100.5FM, 1458AM, DAB+, gbc.gi and Gibraltar Freeview
available at gbc.gi
Viewpoint Talk About Town The Hub Sessions Diversity Inspired by Morocco If The Walls Could Talk The GBC Open Day The Christmas Cake Off Christmas Surprise Full schedule at gbc.gi
Weekdays: 7 am – Ben Lynch 10 am – Ros Astengo 1 pm – James Neish 2 pm – Teresa Goncalves 4 pm – Paul Grant Overnight: Latest Hits, Classic Songs, non-stop
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10/29/13 4:59 PM
trend READING / MUSIC / FILMS / GADGETS / MOTORING / TRENDS
A passion for style is in the air so we reveal our penchant for fashion and all things chic in this special edition. Cruise along the streets in the epic Rolls-Royce Wraith, check out super-stylish electronic gadgets and enjoy great blockbuster films just being released.
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12
Cinema
14
Home Viewing
16
Books
18
Music
20
Cars: The Rolls-Royce Wraith
22
Gadgets
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trend
WORDS MARISA CUTILL
CINEMA
AS
e BLOCKBUSTER
OF THE MONTH
: s e m a G r e g n The Hu Catching Fire After their incredible r victory in the 74th Hunge on Games sparks a rebelli em, in the Districts of Pan e Katniss and Peeta becom d an ol pit Ca the for targets once again have to use ll every resource and ski e to fight and defeat ‘th powers that be’.
» GENRE Adventures » DIRECTOR Franci d)
Lawrence (I Am Legen » ACTORS Jennifer erson, Lawrence, Josh Hutch Liam Hemsworth
» GENRE Drama/Biography » DIRECTOR Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy)
» ACTORS Tom Hanks, Catherine
Keener, Barkhad Abdi
12 Years a Slave
This powerful film is based on the 1853 autobiography of the same name by Solomon Northup, a free man who was tricked, kidnapped and sold into slavery. Solomon struck up a remarkable friendship with his first ‘owner’, Baptist preacher, William Ford. Unfortunately, his time with Ford was all too brief and he was forced to endure terribly inhumane conditions during his 12-year life as a slave.
» GENRE Thriller » DIRECTOR Jorge Dorado
(in his debut feature film) ACTORS Taissa Farmiga, Mark Strong, Brian Cox
Mindscape
Mindscape is the mindblowing story of John, a gifted man who is able to delve into the thoughts and memories of others. The action begins when he is called upon to take the case of a young girl who may be a victim of her circumstances or a cold-blooded psychopath. Meanwhile, he must avoid becoming so united with her that the negative consequences of this powerful experiment begin to outweigh the positive.
» GENRE Documentary/Musical » DIRECTOR Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me)
» STARRING One Direction
This Is Us
Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis are names that may not mean much to you if you’re over 25, but to millions of teens around the world, the components of One Direction are what The Beatles were to 1960s teens. This Is Us is an enlightening documentary which delves into how the lads rose from their humble beginnings to competing on X-Factor and eventually performing at London’s famous O2 Arena.
» GENRE Crime/Thriller » DIRECTOR Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising)
» ACTORS Ryan Gosling,
Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm
Only God Forgives
Talented actor Ryan Gosling plays a drug-smuggler making a mint in Bangkok’s criminal underworld. Things are going surprisingly well, until his mother comes to him with a desperate plea: to find and kill whoever assassinated his brother. Winding Refn and Gosling have made tension-filled magic in the past in the unforgettable film, Drive.
» GENRE Crime/Thriller » DIRECTOR Denis Villeneuve (Incendies)
» ACTORS Hugh Jackman, Jake
Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis
Prisoners
Hugh Jackman plays a desperate father who kidnaps the man he suspects has caused the disappearance of his six-year-old daughter and her best friend. Yet the closer he comes to getting the man to confess, the closer he gets to losing his soul.
12 / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 ESSENTIALMAGAZINE.COM
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THE
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a vibrant destination that combines the spirit of the Mediterranean with British tradition.
To order a brochure or for further information contact the Gibraltar Tourist Board: United Kingdom
Gibraltar
T: +44 (0) 207 836 0777 E: info@gibraltar.gov.uk
T: +350 200 45000 E: information@tourism.gov.gi
You can also find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. facebook.com/visitgibraltar
@visit_gibraltar
2013
s • Dr rera • Joseph Dr Cliv e Finlay Garcia • Nhe son • B e • Mad an Hay Profes en Okr hur Ja Shah • sor Sir nes i • Ke ffrey • Cardina Paul M n Hom D .J. l Cormac Taylor ellars Profes • Claud • Kevin Murph sor Sir ia Rode y-O’C Crossle Diarm onnor n • Sa y-Hol aid Mac Roma ira Shah land • • Harde Culloch Tearne Profes ep Sing • Profes • Robi sor Pa h Kohl n Han sor Nor Victor ul Pres i bury-T José M ton • G man St enison aicas Sa av one • in Hew • Moham Profes font • itt sor Dav med A Carmen chaari id Cry Corde stal • Box O ro Am Dr Mer ffice op ores • ens as ce Fe de rn s Casem from O Aguirre ando Pé ates In ctober rez Sa format 7th at njuán Monda ion Offi the Gib y to ce, ra Sir John
trend HOME VIEWING
WORDS MARISA CUTILLAS
» GENRE Comedy » DIRECTOR Pedro Almodóvar
(Talk to Her)
» ACTORS Javier Cámara, Hugo
Silva, Raúl Arévalo
» IMDB RATING 5.7/10
I’m So Excited
One of the most rewarding aspects of Pedro Almodóvar’s wide body of work is how unexpected and original each of his films is. In I’m So Excited, Spain’s most famous Manchego once again touches on an array of taboo subjects, including sex, death and madness. Don’t worry about things getting too serious, though: I’m So Excited is probably Almodóvar’s most light-hearted film ever, a campy romp centred on the crazy antics of a charismatic bunch of pilots, stewards and stewardesses, who discover that their plane is probably going to crash in a few minutes. The proximity of danger leads to a string of shocking confessions and to a musical number that will leave you in stitches. Only Almodóvar could still manage to shock, delight and present his loyal fan base with something incredibly new and different, after so many years in the business.
ASE OF THE MONTH
D RELE e FEATURED DV » GENRE Thriller » DIRECTOR
Steven Soderbergh » ACTORS Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine ZetaJones, Channing Tatum
» IMDB
RATING 7.2/10
s t c e ff E e d Si
to be Channing Tatum seems and, usually, s day se the e her everyw hunky the en; that’s a good om has shone in er ipp -str /ex tor /ac dancer e to Step Mik gic everything from Ma charm his h wit n me wo g Up, dazzlin vado. In bra ish and men with his boy m his fro ay aw rs vee he s, Side Effect d of a ban hus usual roles, playing the is life ose wh n ma wo ng suicidal you ins beg she en turned upside down wh ing rm ala h wit n atio taking a medic is magnificent side effects. Jude Law Catherine and ist as her Psychiatr her former as g cin vin con es on Zeta-J s friend. riou ste Psychiatrist and my
Bullet to the Head » GENRE Thriller/Action » DIRECTOR Walter Hill (The
Warriors)
» ACTORS Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater
» IMDB RATING 5.7/10
Our Spanish readers will probably find the name of Sylvester Stallone’s character in Bullet to the Head rather comical: Jimmy Bobo. Jimmy is a tough mercenary who is taken by surprise when a ruthless assassin murders his good friend and sparring partner. Determined to take revenge, Jimmy allies with an inexperienced detective (Sung Kan) to uncover one of the biggest mafia organisations in New Orleans.
» GENRE Biopic » DIRECTORS Joachim Rønning (Pirates » GENRE Action » DIRECTOR
Taylor Hackford (The Devil’s Advocate)
» ACTORS
Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez
» IMDB RATING 6.1/10
Parker
Jason Statham plays Parker, a thief with a strict code of ethics who demands absolute loyalty from anyone he works with. During a heist, his crew double crosses him and leaves him for dead. Parker vows vengeance and follows their trail to Palm Beach, where he meets a struggling real estate agent (Jennifer Lopez), who knows the island like the back of her hand. Parker enlists her help to discover his former colleagues’ plans to steal jewellery worth a whopping $50 million.
of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), Espen Sandberg (Max Manus) » ACTORS Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård » IMDB RATING 7.2/10
Kon-Tiki Kon-Tiki is the true story of Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian explorer who crossed the Pacific on a wooden raft in 1947, just to prove that in preColumbian times, South Americans could have crossed the sea to settle on the Polynesian islands. The voyage was 8,000 kilometres long and took 101 days to complete. Heyerdahl eventually wrote a biographical book which was translated into 70 languages and sold over 50 million copies around the world. To this day, his story is as inspiring as it is unique.
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What you see is what you get Do you like a banking partner that speaks to you frankly about, products and services? We do. Therefore, we believe in open communication: What you see is what you get, no hidden surprises.
Jyske Bank (Gibraltar) Ltd. • Tel. +350 200 59205 • www.jyskebank.gi Jyske Bank (Gibraltar) Ltd. is licensed by the Financial Services Commission, Licence No. FSC 001 00B. Services and products are not available to everybody, for instance not to residents of the US.
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trend BOOKS
WORDS MARISA CUTILLAS
VOGUE: THE EDITOR’S EYE BY ANNA WINTOUR Vogue’s iconic Editor, Anna Wintour, brings us her latest gem: a compilation of some of the most stunning images appearing in Vogue magazine, captured by photographers such as Steichen, Horst, Avedon, Penn, Newton, Leibovitz and Testino. The Editor’s Eye is much more than a visual feast; it provides a colourful study of the importance of the role of the Fashion Editor in top fashion magazines. “With the same photographer, the same model and the same clothes, three different Fashion Editors would produce three vastly different images”, says the introductory blurb and, indeed, Fashion Editors are responsible for conceiving the idea for a shoot and selecting the tone and feel of a published photograph. The book focuses on some of Vogue’s all-time greatest professionals: Polly Mellen, Babs Simpson, Grace Coddington, Tonne Goodman, Camilla Nickerson, Phyllis Posnick, etc., through a series of enlightening articles and interviews.
STYLE CLINIC: HOW TO LOOK FABULOUS ALL THE TIME, AT ANY AGE, FOR ANY OCCASION BY PAULA REED
The best thing about this ‘DIY’ style guide is that it teaches you that looking effortlessly chic is a matter of careful planning and shopping for a set of basic outfits and accessories that don’t necessarily require a big budget. Style Clinic will also teach you how to dress for your body shape, personality and profession, so you can use the way you dress to express who you are and who you want to be.
CUPCAKES AND CASHMERE: A DESIGN GUIDE FOR DEFINING YOUR STYLE, REINVENTING YOUR SPACE, AND ENTERTAINING WITH EASE BY EMILY SCHUMAN
Truly stylish people create universes of beauty around them – at work, at home and wherever they tend to spend a lot of time. Cupcakes and Cashmere is set to unleash the inner interior designer in you, providing a host of inspirational ideas to style yourself and your home, as well as present food and entertain guests in fresh new ways. The book is divided into seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter), and it teaches you how to make the most of every time of the year. You will find advice on everything from the five outfits you should have in your wardrobe, to how to navigate flea markets, organise jewellery and layer your accessories for the perfect boho-chic look.
STYLE BY LAUREN CONRAD AND ELISE LOEHNEN
Lauren Conrad, alias Olivia Palermo’s nemesis on hit reality TV show, The Hills, offers readers a host of style tips and dishes on her favourite designers, outfits and sources of inspiration. She says that the pursuit of style is a long-term journey for her and that her metamorphosis from scruffy Californian teen to chic cover girl was a laborious and rather well-planned effort! Lauren delights fashionistas with an array of little tips (including beauty and hair secrets and how to shop vintage), revealing how fun it is to play dress up, even when you’re all grown up. There’s plenty of practical advice here too, on everything from what to pack when you travel, to how to dress for work and how to make heads turn at parties.
DESIGNERS AT HOME: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON STYLISH LIVING: INSIDE THE LIVES AND HOUSES OF LEADING TASTEMAKERS BY RONDA RICE CARMAN
Ronda Carman presents the personal living spaces of today’s leading interior designers, including Ashley Hicks, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Jan Showers and Rose Tarlow. The homes range from sprawling country villas to luxurious penthouses and contemporary apartments. Style isn’t about how much money you have, however; the book is a treasure trove of inspirational ideas for those which much smaller budgets too.
INDULGENCE: STYLISH FOOD FOR FRIENDS BY
MURDOCH BOOKS
“Serving luscious meals is an art form as intimate and varied as making love itself, and like good lovers, good cooks are experts on how to tantalize and satisfy”. So begins this beautiful testimony to the importance of creating visual splendour with every dish that you serve. Budding Chefs will find a wealth of fantastic recipes from Asia, the Mediterranean and North Africa.
16 / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 ESSENTIALMAGAZINE.COM
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real estate agency
Gibraltar
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NEW DEVELOPMENTS
DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS
BMI Group is widely known as being the leading real estate agent in Gibraltar.
experience
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With over 15 years’ experience trading within the Gibraltar Property Market, we take immense pride in our work and offer an exceptional level of service to all our clients. BMI's portfolio of properties in Gibraltar includes lettings, sales and commercial properties for sale. Our Development Consultancy arm has been involved in over 50% of all new developments locally over the past decade, including developments such as Atlantic Suites, Kings Wharf and The Anchorage. Gibraltar’s economy remains strong with average GDP Growth over the past 5 years of 6%. A focus on regulation, high quality financial services and a reputation that ranks the jurisdiction highly, are but a few reasons to consider relocation to the Rock.
experience
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BMI Group Limited, Unit 7 Portland House, Glacis Road, P.O. Box 469, Gibraltar
Price: £955,000 • 3 Bedrooms • 3 Bathrooms • Balcony • Terrace • Communal Swimming Pool • Close to amenities
Tel: (+350) 200 51010
Email: info@bmigroup.gi
w w w. b m i g r o u p . g i
trend MUSIC
¿QUÉ PASA?
WORDS RIK FOXX
2013 has been a brilliant year for DAVID BOWIE – and it’s not over yet. The return of the Thin White Duke has been welcomed by millions worldwide and the January released The Next Day album was favourite to win the prestigious annual Mercury Prize award which was due to be announced on October 30. The album is being reissued on November 4 with an extra 10-track CD of bonus songs and a DVD featuring the four videos made for the album. And he has reportedly signed up to be the face of LOUIS VUITTON – a TV ad is due to be aired before the end of the year. ONE DIRECTION are returning to Spain next July; as you can imagine tickets went faster than these words were written – but there were tickets for Barcelona still available at the time of writing from El Corte Inglés. Bet those boys won’t have much time to themselves while on tour as (Cruella) COWELL is insisting on a fourth album which they will record thanks to a mobile studio that will follow them around (just in case the bubble bursts?). Meanwhile their third album, Midnight Memories, drops on November 25. The band say it is “quite retro” – well I’m hearing Should I Stay Or Should I Go by THE CLASH in Live While We're Young and latest single Best Song Ever sounds like Baba O’Riley by THE WHO - quite retro indeed!
n Music Awards will be The prestigious MTV Europea in Amsterdam. Well when we 10 er emb Nov broadcast live on will be a slight broadcasting say live, what’s the bet there n – who knows what she will tow in is US delay as MILEY CYR a pancake”? get up to after a “shmoke and
Christmas is coming and every Tom, Dick and GARY (as in BARLOW) are pushing their wares this month. His new album, Since I Saw You Last (his first solo in 14 years), lands on the 25th and it has TV coverage of a different kind with a poster at the bus shelter on TV soap Coronation Street. But his old mate ROBBIE WILLIAMS will beat him to the shops by seven days with his newie Swings Both Ways. However both will have SUSAN BOYLE breathing down their necks with her festive offering on the 25th, Home For Christmas, which includes a mastered duet with ELVIS PRESLEY (who has The Nation’s Favourite Elvis Songs out on Nov 4). It’s said that WAYNE ROONEY likes to relax before a game listening to her songs. In February we told you about HAIM; last month the three Californian sisters went to number one with their debut album Days Are Gone. Another new name to note: LORDE, this 16-year-old New Zealand singer/songwriter has caused ripples the other side of the Atlantic by becoming the youngest person to top the Billboard singles charts in 26 years with Royals. She is 17 on November 7 and hopes to celebrate her debut album, Pure Heroine, which is released the week before, getting to number one.
Is ADELE ready to resurface? Since having her baby she has been lying low but talk around town suggests she is in line to portray the legend that was DUSTY SPRINGFIELD in a biopic which will be set in the late 1960s when the Son Of A Preacher Man singer recorded her classic album Dusty In Memphis. Adele has a lot of admiration for Springfield, who released 14 studio albums between 1964 and 1995 and passed away in 1999 following a battle with breast cancer, saying the late singer “put English women on the map”.
With the winter now here gigs are few and far between but the Coca Cola Experience 2013 takes place at Málaga’s Sala Paris on November 9 with Spanish boy band AURYN headlining plus XUSO JONES and Spain’s first girl band SWEET CALIFORNIA. Get tickets from Corte Inglés.
The end is nigh for JLS; they release their final single Billion Lights on November 10 with Goodbye: The Greatest Hits, out a week later. A farewell tour starts next month but MARVIN HOLMES could be in for a busy 2014. In January he will start presenting The Voice and he is also an official ambassador for the Ryder Cup golf tournament that takes place in Scotland next September. While on tour in Mexico last month, Spanish band DELOREAN were taken hostage by kidnappers posing as local police who called each band member’s family to demand a ransom of 5 million pesos (€283.000) for each person. The plot was foiled with a joint operation by Interpol plus Mexican and Spanish police. The prayers of many have been answered as MUMFORD AND SONS are said to be taking an “indefinite break” from the biz. After their recent appearance on Later With Jools Holland, a fellow musician on the show called them “Village idiots with instruments”.
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trend MOTORING
the elegant
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce built its original Wraith for just two years – 1938/39 – and its brief life was probably due to World War II interrupting the production of luxury cars. The all-new 2014 Wraith will certainly have a far longer run, though comparing the two cars is like discussing the difference between a Sopwith Camel and a Eurofighter Typhoon. WORDS TONY WHITNEY PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROLLS-ROYCE
T
he new Wraith is claimed by Rolls-Royce to be the fastest and most luxurious motor car it has ever built and few people are likely to doubt that. Perhaps even more importantly, it’s being described by many who’ve seen the car (including me) as the best looking Rolls ever, though purists of the marque would have lots to say about that. Basically, the Wraith is a two-door fastback coupé and it’s obviously based in some respects on the four-door Ghost model – the nearest thing to a ‘compact’ the company has built in years. It’s also unusual for Rolls-Royce to create a sporty car rather than a stately saloon or a graceful drophead (Rolls-speak for convertible). Many years ago, back in the 1920s and 1930s, Rolls-Royce followed other luxury car builders by offering only the engine/chassis setup to buyers. After that, the owner would have a custom coachbuilder complete the body and interior. Back then, there were all kinds of sporty Rolls-Royce around,
WRAITH some highly attractive and others somewhat less so. There’s been talk for years about a smaller Rolls rigged out as a grand tourer and finally, it’s arrived, or will have by the end of the year. As a styling exercise, it works wonderfully well and is sure to be the most attention-grabbing Rolls for decades. It’s a front-engined, rearwheel drive car with a conventional boot which is power-operated. The design may indicate a hatchback, but Rolls baulked at this, probably because there’s a notion among luxury buyers that hatchbacks are ‘low end’ and belong on economy models. Clearly, the car is aimed squarely at the Bentley Continental GT, which has been very successful and quite the darling of sports superstars and A-list music artists. Many years ago, Rolls-Royce and Bentley were the same company, but as most people know now, Rolls is part of BMW and Bentley a division of the VW-Audi Group. Consequently, both cars use componentry from top end BMWs and Audis. Without these mergers with major international vehicle manufacturers, it’s more than possible that Rolls-Royce and Bentley wouldn’t be around anymore to add elegance and excitement to the luxury car market.
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The Wraith uses a silky-smooth and almost unbelievably refined twin-turbo 6.6-litre V-12 (with BMW origins) that puts out a whopping 624-horsepower. This kind of power puts the Wraith into some pretty rarefied territory and among the world’s top performance cars. The transmission is an eight-speed automatic and it uses the same GPS system as the SatNav system to sense when a downshift is needed – a “first,” I believe, for Rolls-Royce. It’s an exceptionally fast car by any standards at all and as with so many Rolls-Royce products, handling is outstanding without this affecting the refinement of the ride. Even the big Phantom handles surprisingly well for what must be one of the largest saloons on the world market. All-wheel drive would’ve been nice to have, though, with all those horses, you really don’t need any slippage coming out of a wet corner. Having said that, electronic stability control systems are a great benefit to a vehicle lacking all-wheel drive. It’s certainly a car that demands you keep a close eye on the speedometer because you can be doing twice the speed limit without even noticing the pace has risen. Naturally, the car has a wideranging ‘suite’ of electronic safety aids all of which are nice to have, but hopefully, never needed. Open up one of the rear-hinged doors – RollsRoyce calls them ‘coach doors’ – and you step into a world that’s something akin to the finest and most expensive of Pall Mall clubs. There’s luxurious (and wonderfully aromatic) leather in every direction and the hand-finished wood trim is a total delight. While
many luxury car manufacturers try and reproduce this effect in their flagship models, none of them quite comes close to Rolls-Royce. Apart from all this traditional opulence, this is a very state-of-theart high technology automobile and it has all the features you’d expect to find and probably a few more. The fit and finish and the detailing of all the knobs and switches is beyond criticism. I can’t imagine any owner, however jaded, not getting a thrill every time he or she got behind the wheel of this Rolls. The market in which this new Rolls-Royce competes is expectedly a very limited one and it goes without saying that this kind of quality and craftsmanship doesn’t come without a hefty price tag. And yet, when looking the car over, assessing its performance and checking out the detailing and the amount of labour that goes into it, the price seems fair. The work that goes into the wood trim alone is intensive and Rolls-Royce goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that your car can be kept in top shape for years – decades if need be. One example of this care is found in the company’s policy of keeping a supply of matching carefully-numbered veneers from the same tree stored at the factory so that if ever the owner has an accident and the panelling is damaged, an exact match can be found to effect a repair. It’s the kind of fastidious care with which Rolls-Royce built its reputation and, thankfully, the people who run the operation today don’t plan to change that any time soon. e
Z ENGINE 624-horsepower V-12 Z TRANSMISSION 8-speed satellite-aided automatic. Z ACCELERATION Zero to 100 km/h in approx 4.5-seconds. Z TOP SPEED In excess of 300 km/h. Z I LIKED Truly distinctive styling that is possibly the most appealing from RollsRoyce for many years. A superbly-crafted sporting car that, at the same time, offers the unmatched cabin ambiance of the big saloons from Rolls. Surprising handling for a heavy car and, of course, stirring acceleration. Z I DIDN’T LIKE It would be nice to be able to get all-wheel drive with this very powerful car – the Bentley Continental GT does boast this feature. Fuel consumption is high, reflecting the weight of the car and its power levels. Z MARKET ALTERNATIVES Bentley Continental GT V-12, upcoming new Mercedes-Benz CL V-12, Aston Martin Vanquish V-12, Ferrari FF V-12. Z WHO DRIVES ONE? Younger buyers who always thought the more traditional Rolls-Royce models were too ‘old’ for them. Bentley Continental GT owners who want to take a step up to even more opulence. Z PRICE AND AVAILABILITY Available late 2013 at around €245.000
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trend ELECTRONICS
CHROMECAST This device looks like any other pen drive but you actually plug it into your TV’s HDMI (if you don’t already have a Smart TV) and voila! You can enjoy online video and music on your TV, controlling what you’re watching with your smartphone, iPad or laptop. i www.google.com/chromecast CREATIVA MELODY 2 HOME ESPRESSO MACHINE BY NESCAFÉ Made by Krups
and De’Longhi, this vibrant coffee making machine boasts an LCD display that allows you to programme the machine to automatically make you your first cuppa of the day at a specific time. i www.dolce-gusto.es
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WORKING
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ONE GOAL: YOURS SOCIETE GENERALE PRIVATE BANKING HAMBROS Yo u r p r i v a t e b a n k e r w o r k s c l o s e l y w i t h a t e a m o f d e d i c a t e d i n d u s t r y e x p e r t s d e v e l o p i n g appropriate solutions to help you manage your wealth and meet your personal objectives.
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Issued by SG Hambros Bank (Gibraltar) Limited, which is regulated and authorised by the Financial Services Commission, Gibraltar. Š GettyImages - FRED & FARID
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THE LOCAL christmas This month the Rock will light up with thousands of twinkling lights, announcing the arrival of the festive season early in true British style! And this year it promises to be a real Christmas cracker, as Belinda Beckett reports.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town! Photography jon segui and courtesy of Gibraltar traders
Question: Why are chocolate buttons rude? Answer: Because they’re Smarties in the nude. If you think that sounds like a cheesy Christmas cracker joke you’d be right. Like mince pies, turkey and M&S socks, cracker mottos are part and parcel of a great British Christmas and nowhere in these parts is the festive season quite so red, white and blue as in Gibraltar. It’s a more commercial scenario than neighbouring Spain’s festivities. There, Three Kings Day on January 6 is the ‘big gig’ when the Spanish celebrate the arrival of the Maji who, in typical mañana fashion, turned up late for the birth of Jesus. Gibraltar marks that occasion too with an equally spectacular parade. But from the switching on of the Christmas lights on November 22 to the shiver-yourtimbers Polar Bear Swim on Boxing Day, it’s jingle bells all the way in the British territory!
The season starts early (Morrisons opened a Christmas aisle at the end of September) and gathers momentum week by week – but beware of leaving your shopping until the last minute. During Christmas week, Main Street becomes a slow-moving human conveyor belt and the aisles of Morrisons are in gridlock. And that’s without there being a big cruise ship in port! Of course, you can buy many British products in Spain these days (just as you can buy many Spanish products in Gib) although not in such wide array. But that’s not the only attraction bringing shoppers to the Rock from all over Iberia at this time of year. Cigars, cigarettes and alcohol are way cheaper and with no VAT, you can save 21% on luxury items like perfume or designer sunglasses up to the value of £145 (approx. €170). Plus, with the new zero import duty on electronic goods, computer software, DVDs and CDs coming into Gibraltar, and reduced duty for watches,
jewellery, clothing and mobile phones, many of these items are available at British prices or close to them. Meanwhile, Gibraltarians can purchase a state-of-the-art computer, camera or swanky watch for amazing savings (over £1,000 on a £5,000 spend)! “Shop early and be selective” is the dual message from Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce’s Chief Executive, Edward Macquisten, who predicts a busier Christmas for traders this year. “We usually send out a Christmas message encouraging Gibraltarians to shop locally but this year the Spanish have done it for us,” he says. “Apart from not wishing to spend hours in a border queue, many Gibraltarians are preferring to spend their money here for the moment, rather than in Spain. We’re already seeing that at weekends, which are usually quiet due to the big Friday night exodus to Spain. Lately, restaurants have been fully booked on a Friday and Saturday evening.”
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While you won’t find everything cheaper than in Spain or Britain, electronics, mobile phones, cameras and sunglasses are all excellent buys. If you’re into the new GoPro brand of highdefinition personal cameras, Carlos of Gibraltar carries a wider stock of accessories than some of the leading British retailers. Newton Gibraltar is an authorised dealer for all the latest Apple devices and big stores like Marks and Spencer, BHS and Morrison create dedicated Christmas departments within their shops and carry a huge range of stock. One of the joys of shopping in Gib is that commerce is concentrated in Main Street, so you don’t have to burn shoe leather. It’s the quintessential British high street with knobs on. Along with well-known brands like Top Shop, Next, Monsoon and Wallis there are others with names that might have come from the pages of A Christmas Carol. Indeed, some have been run by the same families since Charles Dickens’ time, dating back to the 19th century when the Rock flourished as a strategic trading port. Many of
these shops can still be seen today and are run by the direct descendants of the founding families. The Genoese ancestors of wine merchants Lewis Stagnetto started out in 1870 as tobacco importers and manufacturers, selling Havana cigars hand-rolled at their factory in Irish Town. Today, connoisseurs still travel miles to buy their exclusive cigars and think nothing of purchasing a dozen Cohiba Behike 56 cigars at £28 each! E. Sanguinetti & Son, the oldest toy importers in Gibraltar, was established in the days when lead soldiers were the Christmas gift of choice for children and more than a few adults, too! Perfumiers Seruya has long been a luxury goods emporium supplying the officer class in Gibraltar. High-end jewellers like Cohen and Massias and Essardas also date back generations although you couldn’t tell from their sleek modern shop fronts, which lend a touch of Bond Street chic to Main Street today. History oozes from every Portuguese tile, Genoese window shutter and British wroughtiron balcony above this busy shopping metropolis
which is a colourful pastiche of many creeds and cultures – Moslems, Hindus and long-bearded Sephardic Jews who are all British Gibraltarian, although not all of them celebrate Christmas. For those who do, this is Oxford Street with a Mediterranean twist, complete with British pubs serving three-course Christmas lunches, trendy pavement cafés offering mulled wine and mince pies and leafy squares where you can pop your shopping bags down on a park bench and take a breather. With stores playing all your favourite carols and Britpop hits from Christmases past, summoning up the festive spirit is a cinch, even if the sun’s shining. That’s the best thing about Christmas shopping in Gibraltar – the un-British weather! If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, bad luck… it only comes in a spray can here! In the pages that follow, we’ve done some shopping around to help you make light work of your Xmas list with seasonal gift ideas. To combine your trip with some festive entertainment, check out our Christmas Events Countdown.
CHRISTMAS EVENTS COUNTDOWN EDITED HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS CALENDAR, JAM-PACKED WITH FESTIVE CELEBRATIONS ALL THE FAMILY CAN ENJOY. » NOVEMBER 22 Christmas Lights Switch-On at the Piazza, 6.30pm for the Big Switch-On at 7pm including family fun and carols by Bishop Fitzgerald Choir. » NOVEMBER 28 The Convent Christmas Fair at the Governor’s Residence with stalls selling festive fare, 12 noon-7pm. Tickets, £2. Information sheet from The Convent reception. » DECEMBER 3 Christmas Tree Lighting lead by the Mayor of Gibraltar, 7pm, Casemates Square, with carols by St Anne’s Middle School Choir and presents from Father Christmas. » DECEMBER 7 Small Business Saturday Entertainment throughout the day in and around Main Street with a discount or gift offered by participating shops, advertised by window stickers. If successful, this joint government/ GFSB initiative to encourage shoppers will be continued throughout the year. » DECEMBER 7 & 8 Disney in Concert. The Music Theatre Company presents Disney Songs at Ince’s Hall Theatre, 8pm. Tickets, £7.50 (£5 for senior citizens/children) from Sacarello’s Newsagent, 96 Main Street. Further information, Tel: +350 540 11460. » DECEMBER 12-15 Masters of Illusion present their new family show at Ince’s Hall Theatre, headlining World Champion of Magic, Norbert Ferré and his cast of award-winning conjurors, comedy magicians and illusionists. Evening shows, 12-14 at 7pm, matinees on 14 and 15 at 3pm. Tickets, £10 and £12,
from Chique Boutique, Ocean Village. All profits donated to GBC Open Day. Further information, www.gibmedia.gi (Also performing on December 10 for one night at the Palacio de Congresos in La Linea. Tickets €10 from www.atrapalo.com) » DECEMBER 12-22 Santa’s Grotto Wednesdays to Fridays, 4-6pm, Saturdays 10.30am-12.30pm, King’s Bastion Leisure Centre. Tickets, £5, including gift and photo with Santa, from the Leisure Centre. Further information, Tel: + 350 200 44777. » DECEMBER 13-14 Children’s Christmas Show A Musical Wonderland, 6pm, John Mackintosh Hall. Tickets, £5, from Tiny Tots Nursery, Grand Parade. Further information, Tel: +350 200 45895. » DECEMBER 13 Carols by Candlelight with the Gibraltar National Choir, Holy Trinity Cathedral, 8.30 pm. Tickets, £10, from choir members or the cathedral side entrance every Tuesday and Thursday. Further information, Tel: +350 200 61165. » DECEMBER 21 Ceremony of the Clocks children’s parade, 7pm from The Convent via Main Street to Casemates Square, to mark the shortest day of the year. Further information, terk1967@hotmail.com » DECEMBER 26 Polar Bear Swim Traditional Boxing Day dip in the sea at Catalan Bay, followed by hot toddies. Further information from the Caleta Hotel, Tel: +350 200 76501. » DECEMBER 31 New Year’s Eve Celebrations: live entertainment and fireworks display in Casemates Square. Further information, Tel: +350 200 48063 or minculture@ gibtelecom.net
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GIFT IDEAS
Magic Fragrance Lamps If you’re so stuck for a gift idea you feel you could do with Aladdin’s Magic Lamp to conjure up a solution, abracadabra! Your problem’s solved with a home fragrance lamp by Lampe Berger of Paris. They scream luxury and exclusivity and will make the world a lovelier place for the recipient, purifying the air in their home with subtle fragrances via a catalytic diffusion system. Created by goldsmiths, ceramists, glassblowers and metal crafters to suit any style of décor and work across all cultures, their beautiful designs have made them collectors’ items. Choose from exquisitely-named collections like The Ices, The Flames and The Oceans and a range of fruity, flowery and spicy fragrances. We recommend something from The Winter Selection – sweet, warm scents to cocoon a home in Christmas comfort. g Available from Patricia Darch Interiors, Ocean Village. www.patriciadarchinteriors.gi
The Precious Gift of Time We’d all love to receive the gift of time but when it comes with the TAG Heuer label, it’s precious indeed. Long associated with the high-powered world of motor racing – the cars and the stars – the new Carrera Calibre 1887 Chronograph 43mm marks the 50th anniversary of the Carrera collection in true racing style. Specs include a black ceramic bezel with tachymeter scale and a stainless steel case with brushed and polished surfaces. Available in four versions, our featured watch showcases a sandblasted black dial and H-shaped steel bracelet. It’s one of a wide selection of luxury timepieces at Cohen and Massias, specialist jewellers and watchmakers since 1958 and authorised dealers for high-end brands like Bulgari, Cartier, JaegerLeCoultre and Longines. With five elegant shops in Main Street, it’s worth setting aside time for yourself to choose that perfect gift. g www.cohenandmassias.com
Luscious Lingerie the Guys can Buy! Girls love it, guys love to buy it for them but they often get their knickers in a twist knowing what to get in the sexy lingerie department. Not with Boux Avenue! The brand set up by TV ‘dragon’ Theo Paphitis has a savvy Buying Guide for Men on its website with secret ways to suss out your girlfriend’s vital statistics. The girls at the Main Street store will also be happy to help out any gentleman in distress. Look out for Christmas lines like the Ebony Bow Plunge Bra and Brief set and the Jude Cami Set in festive red, guaranteed to set the pulses racing! g www.bouxavenue.com
Dishy Dresses If you’re looking for something glam and glitzy to wear this Christmas you’re sure to find it at Hanny’s Boutique. This Christmas the rails are a-twinkle with sexy numbers for the sophisticated woman, like this sequinned bandeau dress with beaded baroque-style bodice by Dynasty. You’ll find many other great designer labels here, from daywear by Gerry Weber to sleek French styles by Fuego and the new collection of jeans by NYDJ (Not Your Daughter’s Jeans) which make you look and feel a size slimmer – essential if you’re planning to over-indulge this Christmas! g 5A Cathedral Square. Tel: +350 200 65965.
Family Favourites & All the Trimmings Christmas wouldn’t be the same to many of us Brits without something from M&S, whether that’s a sexy new lingerie set, sinful Belgian chocolates or the customary socks! You’ll find festive fashions in the Main Street store right now, and by mid-November the ground floor Gift Shop will be stocked with presents for all the family along with cards, toiletries and novelties. The Food Department also starts expanding (as our waistlines will) with scrumptious seasonal goodies: think Christmas puds, yule logs, biscuits in snazzy tins, sauces, nibbles, hampers and a fantastic drinks range, including spiced mulled wine and champagne. Closer to the Big Day, the star attraction arrives – the famous M&S luxury butter-basted turkey. Simply defrost and cook. With all the oven-ready trimmings too, you can enjoy a traditional British Christmas Dinner with minimum workload! As if the tempting merchandise isn’t incentive enough to splurge, throughout December there’ll be a half-price Deal of the Week toiletry promotion. g 215 Main Street, Tel: + 350 200 75857. 26 / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 ESSENTIALMAGAZINE.COM
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GIFT IDEAS
Toys to Grow Santa’s reindeer have a big order from the Early Learning Centre this year as more parents request toys to help their children develop as they play. Whatever their talent, an innovative ELC toy will help to bring it out! If your little adult has a flair for design she’ll love furnishing Rosebud House, a classic wooden dolls house with three storeys to decorate! Kids with a gift for music can have hours of fun singing, drumming and DJ-ing with the Key Boom Board recordable mega music station (make a note to buy ear plugs)! The Gibraltar shop has a huge selection of gift ideas for boys and girls (Happyland, Toybox, Let’s Pretend and Adventure, to name a few of the popular Christmas picks) and is offering a free pay-and-reserve service up to Christmas to ensure you don’t miss out. g www.elc.gi
Gorgeous Gifts for Every Age Festive fever takes over BHS at Christmas when a quarter of this mega store is dedicated to Yuletide fun. Look out for scrumptious giant gingerbread men, traditional candy canes and the cute Scotty Dog range of novelty gifts (love the Scottie hottie you can heat in the microwave and cuddle up to on cold winter nights)! ‘Something for everyone’ is this store’s motto and among the slippers, nightwear and other seasonal stalwarts you’ll find many surprises – like the Shots and Ladders adult drinking game! The ladies will love the sparkly accessories, Dad and the boys can bond over DVD sets on sporting topics while the Secret Santa range of £6 gifts, or two for £10, will suit small pockets. Head up to the BHS Home and Lighting store to add to your collection of Mr Giles wine accessories, only on sale at Christmas. g facebook.com/bhsgibraltar
Fun and Games for All Ages ESS Ltd has been helping Father Christmas with his deliveries in Gibraltar since 1870 and the array of specialist toys in store are guaranteed to light up youngsters’ eyes. Classics from yesteryear (with a modern twist) are still popular with Monopoly and Lego among the top three picks for boys aged five-10. Lego Friends is a favourite with girls in the same age group, along with cuddly Furbies and Sylvanian Families. The latest VTech InnoTab 3 tabelts with age-appropriate games and apps (in pink or blue) are high on the wish list of the toddler-to-five age group. They can be used for reading interactive e-books and learning vocabulary with the inbuilt dictionary. With toys and gizmos for every age range, from baby rattles to adult games, you can turn your Christmas shopping into a family event! g Us for Toys, Main Street and Dacta Galt, Irish Town.
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GIFT IDEAS
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Stars Your little princes and princesses can have a ball this Christmas with Mothercare’s gorgeous-but-practical party clothes. The rails at the Main Street shop are stacked with cute special occasion outfits in easy-care fabrics that are designed to survive the washing machine. Even tiny tots can twinkle like little stars and never mind the sticky fingers! g facebook.com/mothercaregibraltar
High Tech Toys If you’ve asked Santa for the new Xbox One or Playstation 4 this year, shop early! Demand for the faster editions of both games consoles will be massive when they hit the shops in late November. Also look out for the latest update to Skylanders Giants, a best-seller last Christmas with its revolutionary idea of bringing collectible toy figures to life inside a video game. This year’s Skylanders Swap Force introduces 16 new figurines with swappable tops and bottoms, allowing kids to create over 250 different character combinations. Disney Infinity, a similar concept for younger kids, brings together favourite characters from Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles and other Disney/Pixar movies. As well as the latest video games, Vijays and sister shop Euphoria stock DVDs and CDs, mobile phones, tablets and gadgets. Both are open on Sundays through December when you can shop in peace and avoid the stampede. g www.vijay.gi
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GIFT IDEAS
A Calorific Festive Feast
Camping it up for Christmas
Morrisons’ chefs have worked all year to devise scrumptious treats that will take you from the party season to the Big Day and beyond. Look out for Shimmering Bauble brandy-soaked fruit cake, the Crackling Turkey Joint that’s pre-basted for golden crispness, and Christmas pud with a candy apple twist for afters -- you won’t be counting calories! You’ll enjoy the spicy aromas emanating from the bakery section where German stollen and Italian panettone are prepared from scratch. The Christmas aisle is a trip down memory lane past bumper packs of Bassets Liquorice Allsorts and Jelly Babies, Fox’s Biscuit Assortments and tins of Cadbury’s Roses (great value at £5 for 850 grams) while Jacobs Cheeselets, KP Cheese Footballs and other salty nibbles from yesteryear will give your ‘do’ a retro twist. With its vast festive food and drinks range plus wrapping paper, home decorations, toys and gifts, you can accomplish half your Yuletide to-do list in one hit. g www.morrisons.co.uk
Manilva’s fabulous Lola Boys are bringing their high-class camp West End comedy cabaret to the Caleta Hotel this Christmas. The boys will be performing along with a live DJ on selected dates for just £40 p.p., including a Christmas buffet dinner. The hot-and-cold party buffet is available throughout the holiday period, featuring festive favourites like honey-glazed ham, traditional roast turkey and Christmas pudding, and international dishes such as Thai prawn salad and grilled monk fish with white wine and cherry tomato sauce. The Caleta’s 2 rosette-rated, AA Italian restaurant, Nunos, will also be entering into the spirit with three gourmet menus for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Why not leave the car at home and stay over? With the Caleta’s discounted room rates over the holiday season, starting from £75 per room per night including continental buffet breakfast, you know it makes sense! g www.caletahotel.com
Connoisseur’s Choice
Happy Vaping! If someone you know has resolved to quit smoking next year, head into the ICC Centre where Mark Williams and his team at TC cigs will give you a demo of their electronic cigarettes and gift-wrap your purchase. They come in all styles, colours and sizes and you can choose from more than 50 flavours of e-liquids. “It’s one of the most thoughtful gifts you can buy anyone and we’ve got Christmas flavours too, like candy cane and amaretto,” says Mark. If you smoke yourself, why not invest in one now? With all those Christmas parties coming up, who wants to stand outside and miss all the fun! g www.TCcigs.com
The spicy notes of a tawny Port are the very essence of Christmas but, whatever your vice, Lewis Stagnetto has it covered in its five Main Street emporia. Number 41 stocks specialist Spanish wines (think Faustino, Pesquera and Vega Sicilia), single malt whiskies, Champagnes, beers, spirits – everything you need for your drinks cabinet or bespoke Christmas hamper. Pata negra fans can order a limited edition Cinco Jotas jamón (the best acorn-fed Jabugo ham) in a presentation pack, at a wholesale price, thanks to Stagnetto’s special relationship with Osborne bodegas. La Casa del Habana, next door, attracts cigar connoisseurs from all over Spain. The super selection of Havana cigars are stored in peak condition in the walk-in humidor; why not present your gift in a mini humidor to impress your business clients? Other branches sell pipes, tobacco accessories, confectionary, Royal Dalton crockery and fine glassware to complement your festive feast. g www.stagnetto.com
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GIFT IDEAS
Festive Fragrances & Cosmetics to Go Wrap up your Christmas shopping at a stroke with a festive gift basket from S.M. Seruya, on display in their five Main Street stores and not just for show! Whatever your fancy – Chanel perfume, MAC, Estée Lauder cosmetics, Paco Rabanne aftershave – you can have a bespoke basket made up to order with ribbons, cellophane and lots of freebie ‘samples’. No one will have one like yours and for guys who hate present wrapping (most of them) it’s a no-brainer! Their His and Hers Christmas fragrance sets are also a great buy, containing various goodies for just the price of the perfume/ aftershave. Chloe, Bulgari, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein – you’ll find all the top brands. If that’s just too much choice, the problem’s solved with Seruya’s electronic gift card. It comes in a presentation pouch and can also be ordered online. g smseruya@gibtelecom.net 165 Main Street, Tel: +350 200 44026.
Christmas Rocks at The Rock ‘All the traditional British trimmings with a Mediterranean twist’ sums up Christmas at The Rock Hotel. Many UK guests spend the festive season at this emblematic establishment – Costa del Sol ex-pats too, who are homesick for a British celebration, although the cuisine also pays homage to Gibraltar’s Iberian and Moroccan connections. The Christmas programme includes Christmas Eve afternoon tea and dinner with drinks and canapés, Christmas Night buffet and Boxing Day dinner as well as the slap-up traditional Christmas Day luncheon, a popular social occasion that’s always packed out with locals too who prefer to leave the cooking and washing up to someone else. g To book, Tel: +350 200 73000 or email alex.amartin@rockhotel.gi
Red, White and Blue Christmas With many Gibraltarians voting with their feet and shopping on their own side of the border this Christmas, these Original Brit Wellingtons by Hunter make a nicely ironic gift – the perfect way to fly the flag in these politically stormy times! The company that makes wellies for royalty sourced a vintage Union Jack for the screen-printed, waterproof fabric leg which reproduces the exact details of the flag in all its time-served glory. The boots are made from 28 parts to deliver the legendary fit and all-round comfort expected from the brand. You’ll find them at Shoe, which also specialises in stylish Italian footwear and has a great selection of Ugg boots, too. g 226 Main Street, Tel: +350 200 48480.
Christmas Sparklers If you’re splashing out on some Christmas sparkle, you’ll find it at Essardas where a giant poster of Chopard’s Happy Sport watch collection catches the eye (the one with seven real diamonds floating inside). You don’t have to spend a fortune (there are reasonably-priced scarves, key chains and wallets bearing the musthave Chopard logo, too) but you’ll be sorely tempted, so best not to mention the stunning collection of aquamarine jewellery… For ‘affordable luxury’, think His and Hers timepieces by Frederique Constant, a reconditioned Rolex watch (with full documentation) or trendy fashion jewellery by Pandora. For something fun and funky to wear day or night, we can recommend Marco Bicego’s inspired designs (pictured) which reinvent yellow gold with interesting textures and chunky gemstones in fruit gum colours. Essardas has five shops in Main Street including one specialising only in GIA-certified diamonds, all dedicated to making Christmas a glittering celebration. g www.essardasgroup.com e
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THE LOCAL literature
Booked Out! I
Gibraltar’s first Literary Festival was a best seller, with close to 4,000 tickets sold for the debut event and top writers already signed for next year. The destination rocked with authors, too, and the Mediterranean sunshine factor wasn’t the only attraction, as Belinda Beckett reports.
f you didn’t bump into a famous face in Literary Festival in Oxford, which Gibraltar last month you should have attracts 550 leading authors over nine gone to Specsavers! days. The Rock has its fair share of celebrity Despite the logistics of bringing visitors although rarely all at once. But in writers and their partners from all during the last weekend in October, corners of the world by air, sea and some 60 high-profile authors converged land, and transporting thousands of on the tiny 2.6 square mile territory their books from Britain, holding the PHOTOGRAPHY JON SEGUI AND COURTESY OF THE GILF for the Gibunco Gibraltar International festival in Gibraltar turned out to be a Literary Festival and none of them were “huge advantage”, says Special Adviser keeping a low profile. If you thought you Tony Byrne, speaking before the festival went to press. saw Indian cookery doyenne Madhur Jaffrey checking out spice shops as “From the outset there was such a tremendous response from in Main Street, or the BBC’s former chief news correspondent Kate Adie crossing the frontier of yet another war zone (as the Gibraltar border has authors of the highest calibre that we have already signed a number of exciting new names for next year’s festival,” says Tony, the Mr Fix It been likened to, of late), then you probably did! They were making the most of their visit to an event that has sparked behind the Oxford and Blenheim Palace Literary Festivals which have as much excitement in literary circles as the prestigious Sunday Times headlined Ruth Rendell, Sir John Major and Rick Stein.
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Literary Fireworks As a former Director at BAFTA who has worked with the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Sir David Lean, Tony has some impressive contacts in his little black book and although he won’t name names, he promises more literary fireworks for Gibraltar’s 2014 and 2015 festivals. “Although people at this level have tremendous commitments, if we don’t get them first time around, we will for the second or third year,” he promised. That’s all the more impressive considering that, unlike the UK festivals, none of the speakers in Gibraltar were paid to attend! Asking authors to waive their fees was “very unusual”, Tony admits, “although, of course, we promised to look after them very well.” Fringe benefits included plenty of free time to explore, relax and enjoy the best Mediterranean cuisine at glamorous official dinners. A private banquet was
Chocolat author Joanne Harris was among the festival’s star attractions
hosted at the Gibraltar Governor’s residence while Claudia Roden, author of books on Spanish, Arabic and Jewish cuisine, devised the menu for the Closing Dinner at the Caleta Hotel. A Green Room in the restored ballroom of Gibraltar’s emblematic Garrison Library provided round-the-clock hospitality. But the prospect of selling their books on an allexpenses-paid weekend in a Mediterranean climate wasn’t the only seduction. “In a strange way the Spanish government actually did us a favour in putting Gibraltar at centre stage of late,” says Tony, referring to the escalation of Spain’s dispute with Britain over sovereignty of the Rock. “Recent press coverage has regenerated huge interest in a part of the world that has strong ties with Britain as well as its own remarkable history as the greatest fortress in the world, a place of refuge for the oppressed and a staging post of Empire, trade and travel.”
“We were also pleasantly surprised to discover how many of our speakers had a personal connection with Gibraltar,” adds Tony, citing: » Broadcaster Peter Snow, whose father was deputy fortress commander in Gibraltar from 1956-58, when the family lived at Cathedral Square. » Cookery book author and international charity fundraiser Lady Penny Holmes, whose father was naval chaplain at King’s Chapel. » Novelist Roma Tearne, who was a refugee fleeing with her mother from their native Sri Lanka to London when their ship called into Gibraltar. Roma fell in love with the place and decided, there and then, that she wanted to become a writer. » Madhur Jaffrey, who has dreamed of visiting Gibraltar since the liner she was travelling on from India to London called in there and passengers weren’t allowed to disembark.
Did you spot Madhur Jaffrey checking out spice shops in Main Street?
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BETWEEN THE LINES
What the authors said In case you didn’t get to hear them talk in Gibraltar yourself, asked some of the visiting authors for their impressions of the Rock, their expectations from the Festival and their top tip for writing a best seller!
© Murdo Macleod
Tourism Minister Neil Costa is an avid reader
Peter Snow, British TV and radio presenter, famous for his election broadcasts featuring the ‘swingometre’.
“I’m expecting to see Gibraltar blossom as a beacon of British culture and language at the gateway to the Mediterranean. This festival will demonstrate the great pride the Rock has in its close links with Britain and the English language. It is already a precious part of my life as I lived there for three years when my father, Brig John Snow, was deputy fortress commander. We did everything: sailing, climbing, walking, exploring every corner of the Rock, and of course enjoying the night life which I remember as second to none!” »» Latest book When Britain Burned the White House: The 1814 Invasion of Washington »» Top Tip “Find a good story and tell it with all the enthusiasm and flair for language that you can.”
Ken Hom, celebrity TV chef and a world authority on Chinese food, who has written more than 30 cookery books.
“I am very excited at the prospect of coming to Gibraltar for the first time. I have heard so much about it that I am not sure what to expect except it will be I am sure an unforgettable experience.” »» Latest book Exploring China, A Culinary Adventure »» Top Tip “Make sure it is a book you would like to read yourself. A bestselling cookery book needs to have every recipe tested so that it works!”
Robin Hanbury-Tenison, intrepid explorer, author, film-maker, conservationist and campaigner.
“Excellent hospitality and food, an exciting trip to Morocco – what better venue could there be for a book about modern explorers than Gibraltar, which lies at the hub of so much international travel, especially by sea. »» Latest book The Modern Explorers, co-edited with Robert Twigger. »» Top Tip “Just get on with it. Be yourself and write about what you know.”
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Cultural Crossroads Cultural connection was also a key festival theme, reflecting Gibraltar’s location at the crossroads of two continents and a new Tourist Board initiative to forge closer links with neighbouring Morocco. As a novel twist, writers from both Morocco and Spain were invited to talk about their culture and work in their own language, giving the festival wider appeal. As a scene setter the day before, authors crossed the Strait by ferry to Tangier for a glittering literary lunch at the El Minzah Hotel, built by the 4th Marquess of Bute in 1930 and a popular haunt for Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles and other leading writers in the 1950s. Many of the festival speakers stayed at Gibraltar’s Rock Hotel, also built by the Marquess of Bute, and with a Visitors’ Book signed by a Who’s Who of celebrities. Tony Byrne also praised “the level of enthusiasm and financial commitment from the Gibraltar government and local businesses which was as good as it gets. At Oxford we
have to raise £1.25 million pounds to subsidise the festival as it receives no public support and costs £30 for every £12 ticket sold.” Sponsorship from 30 Gibraltar and UK companies allowed the festival organisers to peg tickets at £10 – £2 pounds cheaper than the Oxford Festival – while a generous grant from the John Mackintosh Educational Trust funded free events for school students over the weekend. The atmospheric festival venues were the icing on the cake, showcasing iconic buildings that are often overlooked by visitors: among them the Garrison Library, founded in 1793 for officers stationed in Gibraltar, home to the most important collection of early printed English works in the Mediterranean; the 16th century Franciscan Convent, the official residence of the Governor of Gibraltar since 1728; Gibraltar’s stunning Roman Catholic and Anglican Cathedrals and the military King’s Chapel.
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford, who has made several notable series for BBC TV on the origins of Christianity.
David Taylor, novelist, critic, biographer and 2011 Man Booker Prize-winner who also pens Private Eye’s long-running What You Didn’t Miss spot.
“I’m looking forward to a glorious mix of cultural experiences and lively conversations in one of the world’s most spectacular settings. I like the sense of openness and excitement about future possibilities in a territory with a sense of its proud and dramatic past. Gibraltar is a place from where you enjoy the view on the rest of the world. »» Latest book Silence: A Christian History »» Top Tip “Find a subject that everyone’s interested in, but which no-one has thought of discussing in quite the way that you do. Look for the gap, in other words. But don’t bother even writing the first paragraph unless you are genuinely fascinated to discover what you will find in the gap. Readers will suss it straight away if you’re just trying to write a best-seller.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing Gibraltar again, meeting some local writers and climbing the Rock (last negotiated in 2001) to gaze out at North Africa. »» Latest book The Windsor Faction »» Top Tip “Follow your own inclinations and not the instructions or advice of other people.”
If the writers were sold on Gibraltar, the public jumped at the chance to meet the likes of Booker prize-winning novelist Ben Okri and Chocolat author Joanne Harris and buy personally-signed copies of their books. The one-hour talks ranged from the highbrow to the headline-making: from War and Politics to Sex in Literature, Crime in the Sun and Princess Diana, presented by her former Private Secretary. The food events also sold like hot cakes, including the £100-per-ticket lunch prepared by Chinese celebrity chef Ken Hom at the Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club. Tourism Minister Neil Costa – an avid reader himself who gets through as many books as he can – brought the festival to town as part of HM Government of Gibraltar’s policy to promote event-led tourism. He says: “We are delighted with the outcome of this prestigious event. HM Government of Gibraltar’s drive to attract event-led tourism is certainly evident and we look forward to many more events like this for the future. I am very pleased to have been part of this initiative along with all those in the team who worked so hard to make this festival a success”
Roma Tearne, Sri Lankaborn novelist who sets many of her books against the backdrop of conflict and violence homeland.
“I am looking forward to seeing for myself the unusual sense of solidarity that seems to exist in Gibraltar… something of a rarity in our troubled 21st century. I’m starting a small project called ‘Gibraltar Writes’… bringing a stack of postcards and hoping to entice everyone to write a little bit about their home, their history and their memories on the back. I did this very successfully in Stockholm with some lovely short stories being aired.” »» Latest book The Road to Urbino »» Top Tip Don’t for goodness sake set out to write a best seller. Don’t try to second guess the book-buying/ publishing market! As Scott Fitzgerald said, ‘Write because you have something to say, not because you want to write.’ True! e
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THE LOCAL people
total recall – not bad for a man who turned 77 last month! If his biography was ever made into a movie, he’d like Tyrone Power to play him. “He was always so welldressed,” says Momy, whose own penchant for colourful bow ties and waistcoats, Savile Row suits and bowler hats makes life on Gibraltar that bit more polychromatic than it already is. In Man on the Rock: Mayor Solomon Levy and the Jews of Gibraltar by journalist and broadcaster Michael Freedland, he’s described as ‘Our Beau Brummell’. (The source, I can reveal, was former Mayor Tony Lombard.) Is clothes shopping his only vice? “Absolutely, but I don’t take all day about it like most women do!” Having read the book and met the man, who’s an open book himself, I’m still not sure who the real Momy Levy is, he’s worn so many hats: a two-pointed Mayoral hat; a military Captain’s cap; a Jewish skull cap; patriotic Panamas and trilbies he’s had made in red to wear on National Day since as long as anyone can remember; and bowlers in four colours – blue, grey and brown to match his suits for synagogue on Saturday and a black one for formal occasions, such as taking charge of gun salutes. He’s given the order to fire on 175 occasions, including most of the Queen’s official birthdays, a record on the Rock! Whichever cap fits – and they all do – Momy the Family Man comes first. “My family is my fortune,” is his oft-repeated mantra and with a son, four daughters, 23 grand-children and distant blood ties to the Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth (whose father was a Cansino from Seville), there’s sense in that. He wasn’t super-academic like his brother James who’s head of Hassans, Gibraltar’s biggest law firm founded by Uncle Sir Joshua; he didn’t have a religious calling like his brother Abraham, one of 10 rabbis in the family. Nor is he very political. “I’d be happy if Gibraltar was run by the 15 most able men, regardless of political colours,” he says. His own father warned him off early ambitions to become a lawyer, stating: “If you go into that court, before you start the case, the judge would know exactly what you’re going to tell him.” That doesn’t mean Momy can’t put on a good act when required. His performance as the rabbi in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof went down a storm! If he could choose a career today he’d go into PR. He has all the qualifications! And a testimonial from Freedland as ‘a one-man public relations operation on behalf of not just the Rock’s Jewish community but of the Rock itself’. Momy the Sephardi Jew, head of his synagogue for 38 years, is strictly kosher; from his daily lunches at his daughter’s restaurant next door to his favourite tipples, Tio Pepe and Rioja – courtesy of his rabbinical connections and a son-in-law in the import business. But he’s not ultraOrthodox. One of his first acts as Mayor was to invite the RC bishop, Protestant dean, Moslem imam and his own rabbi to shake hands over tea. A leading light in the largest Jewish community outside
Momy Levy
T
he sign in his front office reads: Solomon Levy, F.R.I.C.S. (Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) but if you’ve come to buy a house you’d swear you were in the wrong place. The photographs – everywhere – have little to do with property, unless Buckingham Palace is up for sale… But if you’re puzzled by the royal portraits, the mechanical models of Queen Elizabeth II waving from the window and the bunting from her long-past Diamond Jubilee hanging from the ceiling, rest assured: this is indeed an estate agents, although no ordinary one. Over 53 years, the Main Street shop has morphed into a museum to his eventful life. There’s Momy receiving his MBE from the Queen, welcoming the Earl and Countess of Wessex, being invested as the first civic Mayor of British Gibraltar; Momy with British Premier Margaret Thatcher, with Israeli Premier Menachem Begin, with his uncle Sir Joshua Hassan, the Rock’s first Chief Minister; Momy in military uniform, in caricature, in a bowler hat in London representing Gibraltar’s ex-servicemen at the Jewish Remembrance Day parade… They occupy every available surface (pity the poor cleaner who has to do the dusting!) Beyond a welcome sign written in Hebrew, there are Union Jacks and patriotic slogans at every turn: ‘I was born British and I want to die British’ is just one; a corridor has become a portrait gallery dedicated to his two heroes: “Nelson got rid of Bonaparte and Churchill saved the world from tyranny,” he explains. His ‘inner sanctum’ upstairs reveals other quirks of his nature: pin-ups of Laurel and Hardy (is that Tony Blair and George Bush beneath the hats?), glass cases filled with battalions of toy soldiers and an entire room dedicated to Arsenal. A psychoanalyst would have a field day! But these are no mere eccentricities. The many awards, gifts and thank-you letters from noble personages show a more serious side to this charming man and even the Arsenal shrine is appropriate. Besides supporting them since his student days in London, he was a ‘Gunner’ himself for 18 years in the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the team play in the colours of the Gibraltar flag! His desk is something else – if, indeed, there is one under the Everest of paperwork. “I know where everything is,” he says, producing my business card from beneath the pile without triggering an avalanche. “I do apologise for having to take a few calls but with two Jewish holidays this month there’s a bit of a backlog,” he says. I count 17 calls during our interview, and a hand-delivered invitation to dinner from the Governor of Gibraltar’s office at Number 6 (the Rock’s equivalent of 10 Downing Street). It gives me the chance to browse his ‘collection’ although you’d need a week to do it any justice. After each call which Momy conducts multi-lingually, flipping from English to Spanish to Hebrew to the Gibraltarian patois Llanito like a simultaneous translator, he returns to my question with
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Right royal reception: with the Earl and Countess of Wessex during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Mr.
He’s a ‘national treasure’ in Gibraltar – the UK, too, since his leading role in the BBC documentary, Gibraltar: Britain in the Sun. With the ink barely dry on his biography, can there be any secrets left to tell about the man they call ‘Momy’?
Gibraltar
Israel, he’s never missed morning prayer except when recovering from cancer which has left him on the thin side of slim. But there’s a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step that reminds you of another of his alter egos – Momy the Ladies’ Man. A bachelor for nine years when he was compared to David Niven, bombing about the coast in his red MG Midget and chatting up BEA stewardesses around the Rock Hotel swimming pool, he insists: “I never misbehaved. It was always my intention to marry a Jewish girl but not too soon, so I didn’t date any, in case they got the wrong idea.” Which brings us to Momy the Joker who frequently quips that Franco was his marriage broker. “When he closed the border in 1969 I said to myself: ‘What do I do with the Midget, up the Rock, down the Rock, around the Rock? I’d better start thinking of tying the knot.’” Mrs Sarah Levy “is very much the Jewish wife, mother and grandmother,” writes Freedland. “She tolerates the way her flat is literally smothered with photographs of Momy with various dignitaries and doesn’t care that he is something of a dandy who spends perhaps – as he accepts – more than he should do on his clothes and toys. ‘Why not?’ she says. ‘I do want him to be happy and if this all makes him happy, I am happy too’.” Then there’s the Momy everyone knows: the card-carrying British Gibraltarian who owes his loyalty to God and the Queen and stands to attention – even at home – when he hears the British National Anthem. “After his family and his religion, the relationship with his native land borders on being a love affair,” writes Freedland. Gibraltar is Momy’s Promised Land. There’s also Momy the Good Citizen who has served on umpteen committees, also chairing the Gibraltar Royal British Legion for 28 years; Momy the Civic Leader who has a T-shirt bearing the slogan, ‘I used to be Mayor of Gibraltar’, an appointment that was “The greatest honour of my life”; and Momy the All-round Good Guy who has done so much for the less fortunate… and, as he’s given away twice as many books as the 260 he’s sold, some of the more fortunate too although Momy swears no such person exists. It’s a long way off but this uncomplicated man would like a simple epitaph: Something along the lines of: ‘Here lies the most fortunate of men who has enjoyed life and done no harm to anyone’ will do him very nicely. e
WORDS Belinda Beckett Photography Jon Segui and courtesy of Momy Levy
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Kate Moss’ wedding dress designed by Galliano
I
t was a more subdued John Galliano who spoke those words this summer in his first TV interview since his very public fall from grace. Gone was the flippancy, the flashy clothes and the flamboyant Salvador Dalí moustache; in their place, a humbler tone, a clean-shaven face and a conservative blazer and button-down shirt of the kind any 53-year-old man might wear to the office. For a performance artist like Galliano who has made the runway a stage for his outrageous fashion narratives for more than three decades, it was the equivalent of sackcloth and ashes and shows just how eager he is to get back in the game. One moment fêted by the beau monde, the next, a social outcast, Galliano doesn’t remember the events of that fateful night in December 2010 when his anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris bar was captured on video. Out of his head on pills and alcohol at the time, it wasn’t the first occasion he had been accused of racist remarks. The incident cost him a court conviction and his £4 million-a-year post as head designer at Dior. “It’s the worst thing I have said in my life, but I didn’t mean it… “ he told Vanity Fair this June in what he claims is the first interview he has ever given while sober. “I have been trying to find out why that anger was directed at this race. I now realise I was so f***ing angry and so discontent with myself that I just said the most spiteful thing I could.” Coming from the world of haute couture, Galliano
© Getty Images
THE LOCAL people
“I am able to create. I am ready to create. I hope through my atonement I’ll be given a second chance.” should have learned that one false slip, whether with sharp scissors or a sharp tongue, can ruin everything. That year of scandal had marked a high point for the first British designer ever to head a French haute couture house. Galliano had just been named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, one of France’s highest honours of which he has since been stripped. The four-times British Designer of the Year who received a CBE from the Queen in 2001 and had a chain of more than 100 own-label international stores had been on a roll virtually since his student days. Before he’d even turned professional, the French Revolutioninspired collection that won him his first class honours degree was snapped up in its entirety by London boutique Browns. He went on to establish a reputation as the man who brought the staid world of French haute couture into the millennium age and made the catwalk his own with romantically-inspired, bias-cut designs which have graced the covers of Vogue and clothed Princess Diana.
He is particularly known for the strong historical and cultural references in his work. Once, describing his research technique, he said: “We film, video, sketch, take loads of photographs... and create many different looks from all the material gathered. We could take a make-up idea from a Russian icon, mix it with a folkloric skirt painted à la Léon Bakst for Ballet Russe and create a new look which is fun and inspiring but not slavishly literal.” His interest in different ethnicities was instilled as a child growing up in the cultural melting pot of Gibraltar. Just six years old when he left the Mediterranean sunshine behind with his Gibraltarian father, Spanish mother and two sisters, “grey skies and the smell of wet chalk” were his first impressions of London. “I will never forget the change in colours, clothes, and culture,” he told Vogue in 2009. “The idea of cultures colliding is something that continues to inform the way I work, research, and create.” He was bullied at school, not least because like most Spanish madres, his mother liked to
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With Christina Aguilera
With Julianne Moore
With Faye Dunaway
With Eva Herzigova
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING?
Belinda Beckett charts the turbulent career of Gibraltarian fashion designer John Galliano. dress him up to the nines for every occasion. “We were always bathed, talced, perfumed, hair slicked back; I was groomed to a T,” he recalls. At art college, he found solace in the company of like-minded artists and dreamers who introduced him to the social whirl of the 1980s Soho club scene. At last he could enjoy playing the peacock and being ‘himself’. If he played hard, he made up for it in his atelier, almost immediately launching his own label to critical acclaim. But his creativity was not matched by a head for business and, with bankruptcy constantly around the corner, he left London to seek his fortune in Paris. US Vogue editor Anna Wintour and other influential friends helped him find backing to stage an entrée into Parisian society with his now-legendary Princess Lucretia collection: 17 black dresses (all his budget would stretch to) modelled out of friendship by Kate Moss, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell. The Spring/Summer 1993 show was described by fellow designer Diane von Fürstenberg as “a watershed moment in modern fashion history.” The following year, Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury conglomerate LVMH, appointed him head designer at Givenchy and, two years later, promoted him to creative chief at Dior. Until that moment, Galliano had only produced prêt-à-porter collections. Now he was entering the big league of haute couture. Nothing fazed, this bold young designer stated his intent to “take the house into the 21st century” and did it with his first show, presenting feminine gowns with a Masai tribal twist for Dior’s 50th anniversary. The risqué collection was hailed a triumph by the critics.
For the next decade, whether under his own label or Dior’s, the designer could do no wrong – even when intending to shock. His Dior Clochards collection, inspired by the tramps he saw on his daily jogs along the Seine, incited a riot outside the flagship Avenue Montaigne store – and gained him a new contract with even greater creative control! His Dior Gaucho bag and Saddle bag remain design classics, manufactured in every imaginable fabric, from denim to crocodile. In 2007 he was included in The Independent on Sunday’s ‘pink list’ as one of ‘the most influential gay people in Britain’. His private life was another story – and it has taken him two years of rehab and remorse to be able to tell it. “I never drank in order to be creative,” he told Vanity Fair. “At first, alcohol was like a crutch outside of Dior. Then I would use it to crash after the collections. But with more collections, the crash happened more often, and then I was a slave to it. Then the pills kicked in because I couldn’t sleep. Then the other pills kicked in because I couldn’t stop shaking. I would also have these huge bottles of liquor that people got for me. Towards the end, it was whatever I could get my hands on. “I was going to end up in a mental asylum or six feet under and it sounds a bit bizarre, but I am so grateful for what did happen. I have learned so much about myself. I have re-discovered that little boy who had the hunger to create, which I think I had lost. I am alive.” He has spent what he calls his ‘atonement” learning how to keep his illness at bay, facing up
to what went wrong in his life, reading books on the Holocaust and Jewish history, meeting with Jewish leaders and attempting to pick up the pieces of his shattered career. He has received huge support from close friends in the industry who have stood by him: supermodel Kate Moss who commissioned him to design her 2011 wedding dress, Oscar de la Renta who invited him to work on his Autumn 2013 ready-to-wear collection and Anna Wintour who brokered the deal. The show was a success and has enabled Galliano to stage a tentative comeback. Among much speculation about his future, there has been talk of him taking up teaching or even becoming de la Renta’s successor. “Creating Kate’s wedding dress saved me personally because it was my creative rehab,” says Galliano. “She dared me to be me again.” Moss describes the gown as “a diaphanous 1920s-type dress, romantic, with gold sequins in the shape of the phoenix – as if he was saying he would rise from this. When my dad gave his speech he referred to the genius of Galliano… everyone stood up and gave John a standing ovation. It was the most moving thing, because suddenly John realised he wasn’t on his own.” To err is human, to forgive is divine. It seems that even the haughty world of haute couture might be prepared to welcome a black sheep back into the fold when huge creative talent is at stake. e
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CULTURE / HISTORY / FEATURES
focus FAMOUS PEOPLE / INTERVIEWS / HUMOUR
The mark of good design is its inherent harmony and visual splendour. These elements are present in fashion, interior design and architecture alike. We bring you top contenders for the European Hotel Design Awards, introduce you to some of the world’s top Style Icons and wow you with the enfant terrible of the house music scene, DJ Danny Avila. Finally, we rediscover the dying art of the Gentleman, which is garnering renewed importance in current times.
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The European Hotel Design Awards
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Danny Avila
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THE FOCUS design
Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel, Iceland
Principal Architects: Minarc Architects, Tryggvi Thorsteinsson, Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir
Once a dormitory for power station workers, now a luxury hotel for adventure seekers, the Ion’s use of natural light, outdoor living spaces and panoramic views creates a oneness with its wild environment. Raised on stilts in homage to the high seats found in the homes of Iceland’s first Viking settlers, large picture windows offer breathtaking views of Lake Thingvallavatn, mossy lava fields, crystalline waterfalls and the spectacular Northern Lights. Innovative materials and sustainable practices hold sway. Natural hot springs provide geothermal hot water and energy; driftwood and lava have been recycled into furniture; artificial lighting is restrained, allowing natural daylight to play the starring role. Colour schemes reflect the outdoor scenery: silver curtains cascade like water across a wall of glass in the restaurant, and upholstery in blue-green opalescent fabric emulates the underwater landscape of jagged lava rocks. i www.ioniceland.is
industry consultants and commentators who travel widely. “They know what’s trending and what has been over-used,” says Ford. “Some entrants still seem to think that it’s okay to cut and paste from something they have already done without further thought. Well it’s not, and all the shortlisted entries reflect a strong standard of presentation.” “This year, shortlisting was a tough call”, he says. “We were looking not only for creative excellence, but also for commercial viability and evidence that the designs had met the needs of client and end-user alike. We needed to see an innovative approach and intelligent use of space and materials which, in some categories, had to be balanced against heritage and planning requirements. Also high on our agenda was sensitivity to the location, the surrounding environment and issues of sustainability. Guest comfort as well as the practicality of the design were other significant factors.” The die has already been cast and winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony in London’s Park Plaza Westminster on November 19. One special award winner Simon Ford can announce is Ian Schrager, who will be recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to Hotel Design. Schrager, co-founder of New York’s iconic Studio 54 nightclub, is credited with introducing the lifestyle hotel and the urban resort to the world, epitomised by his Delano Hotel in Miami and Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood. Now join us on a visit to some of this year’s hot contenders.
Conversion / Extension, Non-Hotel Building to Hotel
B
asil Fawlty mightn’t agree but great hotel design is very much part of the service in today’s hospitality industry. The top establishments of tomorrow’s world must tick many boxes to win one of the coveted European Hotel Design Awards, regarded as a benchmark of excellence worldwide. Avant garde new-builds, cool conversions and restored Grand Dames have fielded entries in 13 categories this year, ranging from best architecture to best interior design of public areas, suites and leisure facilities. A new bar category for 2013 reflects the emergence of hotel bars as destinations in their own right. “The range, design talent and fresh thinking seen in the work of all our finalists amply demonstrates the flourishing, diverse and sometimes pioneering quality of the hotel design sector today,” says Simon Ford, in his third year as Chairman of the judging panel. “From the ‘posh-packer’ hotels that dominated last year’s winning line-up to the venerable historic properties of the type that held sway in 2011, and lots more in-between, there is an air of the unexpected around the awards in 2013 which is particularly exciting.” The five shortlisted hotels in each category, which this year includes San Sebastián’s legendary Hotel María Cristina, are visited by at least one member of the judging panel before final votes are cast. Judges are active architects, designers and hotel
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The Style
Oscars
Leading style gurus meet in London this month to announce the winners of the 16th European Hotel Design Awards. Celebrating architectural and design excellence across a wide spectrum, this year’s record entries are more diverse than ever, judging panel Chairman Simon Ford tells Belinda Beckett in an exclusive interview for Magazine. Relax and enjoy our round-up of some of 2013’s stunning hot contenders for Europe’s Oscars of hotel design.
Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht, Amsterdam Principal Architect: Marcel Wanders Studio
A lifestyle hotel that breathes the relaxed nature of the people and their city. Formerly Amsterdam Public Library, books – actual and deconstructed – provide inspiration for the wallpaper and other graphic décor. Video art is also showcased through 40 original artworks. Dutch heritage themes such as Delft pottery blue, navigation and exploration are also explored in the design to convey a sense of place, offering a local experience for visitors and a showcase venue for permanent residents. Consequent to being in the centre of ‘the capital of democracy’, a major overall design theme is the idea of ‘connected polarities’ – two individual, non-related elements stitched together to form a new logical whole. i www.amsterdam.prinsengracht.andaz.hyatt.com
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New-build Hotel
ME Hotel, The Strand, London
Principal Architect and Interior Designer: Foster + Partners
The triangular site of the ME on the corner of Aldwych, once home to the popular Gaiety Theatre, completes the grand sweep of buildings that make up this famous 1920s crescent. Designed inside and out by Foster + Partners, the building restores lost glamour to the West End and signals a new contemporary approach for London’s boutique hotels. Although modern, the structure corresponds in height, scale and materials to its neighbour. The Portland stone façade adds to the sense of cohesion while the glass cupola above the ME penthouse suite is a contemporary reinterpretation of the Edwardian-style domed roof of One Aldywch, directly opposite. The glazing uses pioneering technology to create an invisible joint, ensuring acoustic and thermal insulation. Windows can be screened by two layers of opaque glass sliding panels, rather than curtains, in keeping with the minimal elegance of the rooms. i www.melondon.londonhotels.it
CitizenM, Bankside, London
Principal Architect: Concrete Architectural Associates
Non-conformist Dutch hotel group CitizenM has been busy creating a different experience for a new breed of traveller: ‘mobile citizens – people who value personal choice, contemporary design and friendly technology for an accessible price’. Cutting out traditional ‘givens’ to cater more efficiently for the modern traveller’s needs is the key concept. Like their first UK hotel in Glasgow, this is a help-yourself place. There’s no room service or front desk – automated screens at the entrance offer one-minute check-in – and the restaurant is also self-service. The savings made have been spent on free wifi, on-demand movies and tablets to control TV, music and lighting in the rooms. Located in the upcoming borough of Southwark, the design references the old sand-coloured London brickwork in this historically industrial area. The vibrant décor in the lobby – the social heart of the hotel – adds to the arty urban feel. i www.citizenm.com/london-bankside
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© Paul Harmer
The Wellesley Dining Rooms, The Wellesley, London Interior Designer: Fox Linton Associates
The Oval Restaurant serves up glamour Roaring Twenties-style. The concertina mirror detailing is inspired by 1920s London interior designer Syrie Maugham, who established a glamorous new look for Art Deco interiors. The marble inlaid ‘sunburst’ floor is also very ‘of the period’. The Oval is one of two intimate dining spaces that, with the Jazz Lounge, form The Wellesley Dining Rooms. The spectacular circular coffered ceiling with feature chandelier and ivory faux ostrich wall panelling is repeated in the lounge, bonding these two separate spaces where fine dining, entertainment and relaxation come socially together in a sumptuous Belle Époque setting. i www.thewellesley.co.uk
Interior Designer: Richmond International
RESTAURANT
Kaspia, Four Seasons Baku, Azerbaijan Overlooking the Belle Époque rooftop turrets of Baku with views across the Caspian Sea, the Kaspia takes fire and ice as its theme. Aptly so, in the land of long hot summers and winter snow storms. A colour palette of ice blue, grey, amber and metallics runs through the architectural finishes, lighting and furnishings to create wow factor. A sloping wall made from vertical brass sections undulates through the space projecting a feeling of movement. The rich Asian influences of Azerbaijan are shown off in the main seating area, while a raw fish bar in contemporary Scandinavian style is a homage to the oil magnate Nobel brothers, who introduced Baku to Nordic trends in the 19th Century. Decorative glass and metalwork screens reflect the light to magical effect. i www.fourseasons.com/baku
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Interior Designer: Alfredo Häberli Design Development
Neni, 25hours Hotel, Zurich
True to the 25hours motto, ‘You know one, you know none’, the group’s latest hotel makes a special connection with its location. Zurich West is an up-andcoming area of the city, home to creatives, clubs and international companies. The hotel’s timeless interior greets guests with Zurich sophistication but the devil’s in the detail, with funky twists and splashes of colour that reflect its arty surroundings and set it apart from its sister hotels. One of those surprise twists is colourful Restaurant Neni, the brainchild of Austrian chef Haya Molcho, specialising in small dishes to combine and share in Middle Eastern tradition. To reflect this novel dining concept, the all-day dining area is an open space that’s part lounge, part restaurant, part bar where everyone can find their special corner. i www.25hours-hotels.com/zuerich
Café/ All Day Dining The philosophy at this South Kensington boutique hotel was less about traditional five-star luxury and more about providing a fantastic guest experience at the right price, with a design sympathetic to the Interior Designer: Dexter Moren Associates Victorian building. The Drawing Rooms required a split day-and-night personality, with distinct spaces for morning coffee/afternoon tea and Champagne cocktails to provide an overflow lounge for guests while also drawing in local clientele through a separate street entrance. The subtle distinction of these spaces is reflected through the artwork within each, which draws inspiration from the neighbourhood museums, referencing five central concepts – botany, music, geometry, ornithology and astronomy. The playful design is expressed with elegant wallpaper, in whimsical paintings of birds and beasts, on armchairs covered with prancing herons and in bird-embossed teacups and cocktail glasses embossed with birds. The spaces are warm and inviting with splashes of bold colour providing a welcoming environment for relaxing and socialising. i www.ampersandhotel.com
The Wellesley Bar, The Wellesley, London
Interior Designer: Fox Linton Associates
© Michelle Chaplow
BAR
The Drawing Rooms, Ampersand Hotel, London
One bar, five distinct spaces – and the only place to enjoy that ‘Hamlet moment’ in London, designed expressly for cigar smoking. The Crystal Bar is adorned with glass display cases containing the hotel’s impressive whisky, cognac and Armagnac collections and a back-illuminated bar front made from individual crystal rods. The centrepiece is a bespoke 2m2 chandelier fitted with hundreds of faceted crystal beads. Walls panelled with timber and midnight blue faux crocodile leather give the Cigar Lounge the feel of a gentleman’s club, the distinguishing features being a large circular blue chandelier, cigar-shaped wall lights and artwork made from tobacco leaves. The climate-controlled humidor is the largest in Europe and features a laser-cut marble inlaid map of Cuba in the floor. Two private, covered heated cigar terraces with open fireplaces, screened by an artificial ‘hedge’, complete this quirky cigar-lover’s paradise. i www.thewellesley.co.uk
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SUITE The architects took their cues from the fine tradition of Swiss craftsmanship and the natural beauty of Gstaad for this luxurious three-bedroom duplex. The living spaces of this chalet-style retreat flow from one into another, beginning in the lounge with its natural wood-burning fireplace, floor-to-ceiling, Alpine stone chimney breast and elegant seating. Materials are tactile and organic, mixing reclaimed local timber with embossed leather and bronze. The lounge opens onto a large furnished terrace with stunning views of glacial mountains and Alpine meadows. Wood-burning fires are features in the bedrooms, too, while the master also has a walk-in dressing room, a bathroom with a large free-standing tub and TV inset into the mirror. An elegant staircase leads up to the suite’s top floor spa, Jacuzzi, fitness and massage area where the ‘gimmwand’ timber latticework style of local farmland buildings allows light to filter through. Above, the view soars through skylights to the mountain peaks. i www.thealpinagstaad.ch
One Bedroom Suite, The Wellesley, London Panorama Suite, The Alpina Gstaad, Switzerland
Interior Designer: The Gallery HBA London
Dry Bar, Hotel María Cristina, San Sebastian
Interior Designer: The Gallery HBA London
BAR
The Wellesley harks back to its previous incarnation as iconic Knightsbridge jazz venue, Pizza on the Park, acknowledging its musical legacy with a modern take on the Art Deco style. Colour palettes for the One Bedroom Suites are in soft tones of ivory and cream, with gentle accents in gold. Walls are panelled with ivory faux reptile leather and stunning fashion photography from the 1920s and 30s Vanity Fair and Vogue archive. Bespoke Makassar ebony furniture, inlaid with leather and soft furnishings in sumptuous velvets, draped satins and rich pleated fabrics reflect the glamour of the period. Lighting is custommade and set differently for each room. The marble slab bathrooms with their decadent free-standing baths evoke a deluxe 1920s aesthetic. i www.thewellesley.co.uk
© Michelle Chaplow
Interior Designer: Fox Linton Associates
The legendary Hotel María Cristina has returned to queenly status with a design revamp that ‘celebrates the élan and sensuality of strong women’. Named after Spain’s Queen Consort, this previously faded landmark has been the social epicentre of the International San Sebastian Film Festival for decades. Fluid Art Nouveau detailing by the original architect behind the Ritz hotels in Madrid, Paris and London forms an exquisite canvas for this joint collaboration between the hotel and the Dry Martini Group. The masculine oak panelling and deep blues of yesteryear have been replaced with soft powder blue and bronze offset by cool white trim, a lacy rosette-patterned wool carpet and rich leather chairs, hand-stitched with the hotel’s insignia. A crystal chandelier, wall lights with coffeecoloured silk shades and twinkling mirrors enliven the ambiance. Dry’s signature image is a photograph of Bette Davis who, according to legend, smoked her last cigarette on earth here. i www.hotel-mariacristina.com e
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THE FOCUS style Canadian model, Coco Rocha, is not just one of 20 high fashion models ‘lucky’ enough to be mentioned in Kanye West’s much-touted single, Christian Dior Denim Flow; she is a perfect example of how fashion models can use their fame to encourage social commitment and to foster healthy minds and bodies in models and young women around the world alike. Coco, who boasts a stunning blend of Russian, Welsh and Irish ancestries, was first spotted by a talent agent at an Irish dancing competition, when she was just 14. Within two years, she had already been signed by the SUPREME modelling agency in New York and in another two years, she had landed the cover of Vogue. Coco is a top choice at the world’s most famous fashion shows, where she is often chosen to model
ha c o R o Coc
stunning ensembles designed by everyone from Anna Sui to Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney and Christian Lacroix. In February 2007, she opened Jean Paul Gaultier’s 2007 show by performing an Irish dance down the runway. Dubbed by Vogue as a “Coco moment”, her performance also marked the official return of the phenomenon of the “super model”. Rocha’s defining attribute as a style icon and model is her chameleonic ability to pay justice to extremely eclectic looks. If she wasn’t so famous, she could be mistaken for dozens of different girls; every cover she graces is completely different– and Rocha is a current favourite on Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Time Magazine’s Style & Design and more. Coco is also known for her quirky fashion sense; so unique that she was hired by the Vogue website to provide a daily rundown (pics and descriptions) of what she wore every day for a whole month. Coco is likewise idolised by girls the world over for her outspokenness against the fashion industry’s obsession with thinness. In an open letter to The New York Times, she said, “How can any person justify an aesthetic that reduces a woman or child to an emaciated skeleton? Is it art? Surely fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it.” In an e-mail to the Associated Press, she complained: “I’ll never forget the piece of advice I got from people in the industry when they saw my new body... They said, ‘You need to lose more weight. The look this year is anorexia. We don’t want you to be anorexic but that’s what we want you to look like.’” Coco is renowned for her work with the underprivileged; she launched a collection called Coco Rocha for Senhoa, to help Cambodian survivors of human trafficking; she was seen delivering supplies to survivors of the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and, recently, she and her husband, James Conran, were recognised for all their philanthropic work. Coco is, perhaps, so well loved because of her ability to take what has always been classed a superficial industry, and turn it on its head, using fashion to promote greater social good instead of separating the haves from the have-nots.
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There was a time when being considered truly stylish was a gift; it meant having an eye for picking out the components of a perfect ensemble. Style makers veered drastically from contemporary fashion; Coco Chanel, for instance, sported a boyish yet terribly chic look marked by generous lashings of black, beige and cream hues. She broke free of uncomfortable, arbitrary definitions of ‘femininity’ and her rebellion went beyond the realms of fashion. In many ways, she redefined what a modern, determined woman was all about.
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owadays, critics argue that style is just another accessory that can be bought by the rich and famous. Starlets and divas of the screen and theatre alike all employ fashion stylists, making red carpets little more than perfectly crafted (and visually seamless) collections of similarly cut Marchesa, Reem Acra and Dior ensembles. Yet, a true sense of style is personal: an expression of one’s inner realities, desires and individuality. There may have been only one Coco Chanel, one Jackie O., one Audrey Hepburn yet youth, like Nature, is constantly in bloom and a crop of young actresses, designers and entertainers are proving that it always pays to push boundaries, experiment with fashion and above all, express yourself.
Deemed ‘the Kate Moss of this generation’ and “one of the world’s most stylish women” by Vogue Magazine (whose cover she has graced three times already), British TV presenter, Alexa Chung, has sparked more trends than we can remember: brogues, pinafores, Barbour jackets with mini skirts and ankle boots and even babydoll smock dresses, Chung’s unabashed homage to Nabokov’s Lolita. There are more blogs chronicling her every move than you can poke a stick at: Daily Alexa Chung, alexachungworld. com and Fashionista, to name a few. Despite the careful consideration that goes into every element of her eclectic outfits, there is something ‘devil-may-care’, efortless, almost grunge, about Alexa’s look. Funnily enough, she credits Nature with her particular sense of style: “I just dress to suit my own figure… I am tall with skinny legs and no boobs and I try to dress to flatter my own figure”. Likewise, she admits to not being the only one in her circle to dress that way; “A lot of my friends dress like this, and so I feel somewhat bad about how I’ve made a career out of it,” she told The New York Times. Alexa is a fashion thoroughbred yet, if not for a chance meeting with a modelling scout, she could very well have ended up as an English teacher, having been accepted at King’s College, London, to read English. Her exotic beauty (her father is half-Chinese) and tall frame logically led her to be signed fairly early in her career by the prestigious Storm Model Management and soon she would be a favourite on a bevy of magazine covers, including Elle Girl, Cosmo GIRL! Etc. Knowing how to put an outfit together isn’t the only thing she’s good at, of course; Alexa is a great communicator and a natural at interviews (there was so much chemistry during her first interview with Chanel genius, Karl Lagerfeld, that they have since collaborated on various
projects together). Alexa has presented shows both in the UK and in the US, covering everything from celebrity news to fashion. She has also worked as a journalist and, in 2009, was made a contributing Editor of British Vogue. She recently published a book called It, an eclectic collection of illustrations, photographs and musings on fashion. She truly is her father’s daughter, crediting her dad, a successful Graphic Designer, with having instilled an eye for proportion and “putting things next to things” in her young mind. Despite receiving a bevy of compliments from veritable Gods of the fashion world like Vogue’s Anna Wintour,
Alexa Chung who called her “a phenomenon”, Alexa has just one piece of advice when it comes to finding your sense of style: Be yourself!: “I see old ladies on the street who have fabulous style and realise it’s because they are probably wearing really classic items that they’ve had for years and years. I think if you find something that suits you, you should just stick to it!”.
ICONS WORDS MARISA CUTILLAS
21st Century ‘It’ Girls
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Consistently topping every list worth its salt of the world’s most fashionable women, Kate Middleton has somehow struck the perfect balance between elegance and youth, so much so that she only need sport a particular hat, dress or skirt for “the Duchess effect” to seize the nation, with crowds of women rushing into shops to purchase the exact same item of clothing. Fervent fashionistas often muse on the tough challenge faced by Kate when dressing for public appearances; she isn’t really free to dress as youthfully as most women her age, yet somehow, she manages to show off her great figure by donning snuggly fitting dresses, figurehugging jeans and sporty ensembles that show off her passion for fitness. It is often said that Kate has managed to perfectly fill Lady Dianna’s shoes, her warmth and charisma taking over more superficial musings on her appearance and tastes. Yet she goes a step further than Lady Dianna, seamlessly blending high street outfits with the intricate designs of fashion houses like Alexander McQueen or Diane von Furstenberg. Kate is known for her simplicity, preferring ‘laid-back’ to ‘overthe-top’ styling in everything from her hair to her shoes; the affordability of many of her outfits speaking volumes about her understanding of the tough economic times the world is going through.
Kate Middleton
a ma b O e l l e h c i M Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State of the USA, was at the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 when a moderator asked a question which would understandable irk any self-confessed 21st-century feminist: “Which designers do you prefer?” Clinton replied, “What… designers of clothes? Would you ever ask a man that question?”, her indignation receiving thunderous applause from the audience. Like it or not, the President and First Lady of the US have always been deemed the equivalent of royalty in The States, with the press keeping a watchful eye on the attire of the President’s wife, in particular. Yet Michele Obama, a qualified lawyer who held an important post at the law firm where she first met her future husband, Barak Obama, seems to take her role as fashion idol in her stride, revealing great sartorial flare while still dressing comfortably and, often, casually – so much so that when prompted by talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres, to do a few push-ups live, she didn’t think twice before hitting the floor and showing off her athletic prowess (thankfully, she was donning a comfie top and pair of trousers that day). Michelle Obama is known for making fashion choices which are no less than inspired. Take her penchant for the designs of Tracy Reese, an African-American designer who was hardly known before Mrs. Obama decided to take her designs to a whole new level. Obama has professed a commitment to US designers, whose names she has helped take to the farthest corners of the globe. And it’s not all about brand names for Michelle; she often sports casual wear by low-budget fashion houses like J. Crew and Zara and always manages to look just as amazing in sports clothing as she does in a pricey Marchesa gown. When her husband was first sworn into office, Italian designing legend, Valentino, said of the First Lady: “She’s a very good-looking lady. She has this sort of beauty that is very strong. She must be dressed with things that are elegant, beautiful and young, but not too much… I’m sure that very, very soon, she will be like Jackie Kennedy”. One would argue that Michele has the added value of exuding happiness, humility and a sense of belonging; qualities that very much add to her widespread appeal.
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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Who would have thought that the twins who played baby, Michelle Tanner on hit 1980s series, Full House, would make such a big splash in the fashion world? Ranked by Forbes as two of the 11th richest women in the world, the twins have made forays into everything from home décor to fragrance, though there is no doubt that the area they really shine in, is fashion. Mary-Kate and Ashley put the words ‘bohemian-bourgeois’ into our fashion lexicon, combining high-end outfits with chic ‘grunge’ accessories like hats, long cardigans, oversized sunglasses, flowing skirts and boots, giving rise to a series of ensembles that were subsequently copied by style wanabees the world over. The twins may not have shone on the small screen of late, but they are keen entrepreneurs who have worked on an array of fashion lines, including a collection for girls aged four to 14 (sold at Wal-Mart) and a fashion and beauty line called Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real Fashion for Real Girls. They also launched a couture label called The Row, a vintage line called Elizabeth and James and a women’s line for JCPenney called Olsenboye. Most recently (in August, 2013), they launched a new fashion line in Oslo, Norway.
It’s fair to say that the stunning set of twins live for fashion; in addition to design work, they also published the book Influence, which contains interviews with some of the biggest movers and shakers in the worlds of fashion and art. Some of their most influential ‘friends’ include John Galliano, Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin and Margherita Missoni. The book is surprisingly well-written, containing a plethora of thoughtful, provocative questions which afford a unique insight into the sometimes self-indulgent lives of the rich, famous and talented.
American socialite, Olivia Palermo, has certainly come a long way since her beginnings as a reality TV star. She first graced the small screen in The Hills, a programme about young, upcoming rich women trying to make it into the fashion world in California. In the series, Palermo plays the nemesis to the star of the series, Lauren Conrad, yet in real life, she is miles ahead in the fashion stakes. Olivia, born into one of New York’s wealthiest families, was seemingly made for fashion, having attended the American University of Paris and subsequently studied at The New School in New York. In The Hills, we were able to take a peak into Olivia’s glamorous life, as she worked in the PR department for Diane von Furstenberg and the accessories department of Elle. Olivia’s elegant features have graced the covers of everything from Elle to Marie Claire magazines. She is the face of luxury jewellery firm, Carrera y Carrera, and has judged prestigious competitions such as Project Runway. Meanwhile, her website is popular with aspiring fashionistas. Look up ‘It Girl’ and Olivia Palermo’s name is bound to crop up; the girl simply oozes old world European elegance, wrapped up in a bit of all-American charm.
ele h c i M a e L
Olivia Palermo
When it comes to sheer perfection on the red carpet, few young stars can beat Lea Michele… The actress, who plays university student, Rachel Berry in hit TV series, Glee, very much echoes her character’s love for fashion and innate elegance. Lea, like Rachel, is every inch a ‘diva’: sheer perfection from head to toe. Sporting slinky wear by everyone from Oscar de la Renta to Giambattista Valli and Giorgio Armani, Lea manages to epitomise glamour without renouncing an ounce of sizzle, interspersing long, elaborate bead-and-lace gowns with cute little minis which appeal to her younger fan base. She ‘keeps us guessing’ with her wide range of styles, lengths and designers, yet her personality definitely shines through in every outfit. Lea is confident, determined and incredibly elegant, so it’s easy to see why she’s always the one to watch out for at every award show or A-list get-together. e
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THE FOCUS people
W
hen people hear about DJ Danny Avila’s meteoric rise to fame, their first reaction is usually one of astonishment. Who wouldn’t trade their day job to play a different city every night, receiving utter adulation from a crowd of thousands? The reaction is even more dramatic when one considers that he has just turned 18, yet has been a professional DJ for some three years. Danny is no less than a prodigy. He is the youngest ever resident DJ at Sin City (he performs at Hakassan, the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino), resident DJ at Ibiza’s coolest venues (Pachá, Space, Blue Marlin), touted as “one to watch for” in Billboard Magazine’s 21 Under 21 power list… Danny has played alongside the most lauded DJs in the world: Fedde Le Grande, Tiësto and Deniz Koyu, to name a few. Danny, who composes House and Electro music, released his debut mix album, Ministry of Sound Presents: Danny Avila Live a couple of months ago and is currently on his World Tour. When I ask him when his tour schedule ends, he answers, “It doesn’t stop. It’s one city to the next for me”. On the day I meet him at his hotel, the Villa Padierna Palace, he pauses to recall all the places he has been that week. “Yesterday I was in Ibiza, the day before that, I played New York, before that I played in three different cities in three days: Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles”. To meet this tight schedule this time, he “had to fly by private jet”; it’s tiring, he admits, “but lots of fun”. And don’t think he had much chance to enjoy chilling out at his luxury hotel; in less than 24 hours, he would be flying off to his next gig. Danny was born in Madrid yet to him, home is Marbella, since his family moved to the Coast when he was just five. One of the hardest things about travelling, he says, is “missing my family and friends”. When in Marbella he takes the opportunity to reconnect with those who were such an important part of his childhood.
I’m not sure if he’s still up-and-coming or already there, but DJ Danny Avila is doing really good at the moment. He’s going to be big, I think… And I think Hardwell, as well. There’s a difference between up-and-coming and the next superstars. They’re going to be the next mega-superstars”
Tiësto
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Mozart started composing at age five; Pablo Picasso began painting at eight; Magnus Carlsen was a chess grandmaster by age 13. It is inspiring and enviable to encounter great talent at such a tender age. WORDS MARISA CUTILLAS
DJ DANNY AVILA
It’s All About the Music Danny’s love affair with music began early; he was only seven when he learned to play the piano; soon after, he delved into the challenging worlds of the violin and the guitar. As soon as he started making an allowance, he would save every penny to buy the equipment he needed to make his first forays into sound. He was 15 when he decided to set out and conquer the world, leaving everything he knew in Marbella to find his destiny in Madrid. “I couldn’t move to a higher level here”, he says, telling me that by age 14, he was already performing at clubs. Indeed, fledgling talent seems to run in the family, for his brother Sandro, a year older in age (who is also a successful DJ in Madrid), took charge of “all the promotion work” required to introduce Danny into this competitive world. It must have been odd, indeed, for club owners to even consider hiring a DJ who wasn’t even old enough to drink, yet Danny’s drive and indisputable talent was a formidable force to reckon with. In Madrid, Danny had a tough time at first. “It was really hard to get shows for the first six months or so”, he says, yet by the time he was 16, he had already nabbed his first residency. Influential DJs like Tiësto (who requested that Danny completed a residency alongside him at Pachá), no doubt paved the way for the young artist, who still pinches himself when he realises
that he is working with people who used to be untouchable Gods for him just three years ago. At one stage, I ask Danny if he feels old for his age and he answers, “No, I still feel young, because I’m just 18, but I’ve experienced a lot. I’ve travelled so much, met so many interesting people, DJs and performers”. Of course, I’ve never met an 18-year-old who has had to hire three companies to perform tasks like travel bookings or P.R.. “Oh no, no, there is no way I have the time to book my flights myself,” he says, with the steely self-confidence of a Fortune 500 CEO. I ask Danny if he still has time for hobbies and he admits to indulging a second passion: wakeboarding. If you thought he was born beneath a lucky star, you’re right, for he is as equally adept at sports as he is at creative pursuits: Danny placed second in the Spanish Wakeboard Championships in his youth, seventh in the European Wakeboard Championships and 12th in the World Wakeboard Championships. He also verges on pro skate- and snow-boarder status. He actually considered being a pro wakeboarder at one stage, though a nasty knee injury would soon put an end to those plans. Still, here he is, living the life the stuff that
dreams are made of. Earning more in an hour-long gig than most of us make in a month, meeting and working alongside the music world’s movers and shakers and having fun while he’s at it. Yet surely what is most enviable about Danny, is something within the reach of everyone: the way he loves what he does with his heart and soul. In person, he oozes joy, kindness and a rare maturity which is warmed by his youthful smile. This kind of pure energy only comes from being true to oneself. Danny has no set plans for the next few years; right now, he is too busy taking the world by storm, playing club after club, racing through the skies and most importantly, making great music. Watch out for his new singles, Tronco and Rasta Funk which can be purchased on your favourite music sites. Danny also has his very own radio show: Ready to Jump, broadcast by SiriusXM, the largest purveyor of dance music in North America.
g www.djdannyavila.com www.facebook.com/dannyavilaofficial/info www.bigstage.se
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THE FOCUS style
Gentleman WORDS MICHEL CRUZ
THE RETURN OF THE
There was a time when a gentleman was the ultimate form of male humanity. If such a personage was also a bit of a dab hand at war, sports and the seducing of ladies, well so much the better. But it was the more serious characteristics of a gentleman that earned the greatest respect, making qualities such as good manners, refinement in appearance and intellect, a strong moral code and steadfast reliability the marks that made the man. You could rely on a real gentleman, and as the refined form of a ‘real man’ he was not confused about his gender role, but strong, resolute and also gentle and respectful towards ladies. THE DEATH OF THE GENTLEMAN
THE APPEAL OF THE GENTLEMAN
Of course, such a representation is more of an ideal than a day-to-day reality, but it gave people – especially young men – something rather lofty to aim for. In the end, it was not so much the shaking up of the ancient class system that undid the gentleman, but the coming of the social revolution of the 1960s. This about turn in society’s norms meant the rules regarding sexual and social conduct suddenly changed, altering in the process the roles in which men and women had been locked for so long. And so the arrival of youth culture sounded the death knell for the gentleman. Before long, the word stopped having a positive connotation and eventually it practically disappeared from the vocabulary altogether. The very concept of a gentleman was engrained in a past world that was no longer relevant or desirable in an environment where female emancipation, male gender confusion, homosexual rights and other forms of social change surged forward with a force that would not be denied. Each hurdle cleared led rapidly to the next. Rightly or wrongly, it has resulted in a society where a significant proportion of boys seem to have devolved into scruff y, weakwilled pleasure seekers with little or no goal in life but to indulge their immediate urges.
Naturally, not everyone fits this description, but it isn’t too farfetched to say that manhood is in a sorry state these days. Given this, it isn’t really so surprising that a new generation of young gents is slowly rising out of the ashes of the original gentleman. Perhaps tired of spending so much time, money and preening to ultimately appear scruffy and listless, the new gentleman is rediscovering style, manners and good taste. Drawing inspiration from the past, he is enjoying the novel concept of clothes made to fit, rather than being too tight or too loose, as well as the idea of looking smart and feeling rather dapper. Childish sportswear is replaced with quality shoes and jackets, bands and beads with good watches, and painstakingly crafted ‘messed up’ hair with cuts that are stylish yet manly. Dressed this way, his spine appears to straighten of its own accord, and as there is much more to a gentleman than appearances alone, his newly acquired selfrespect begins to translate into greater respect and courteousness towards others, most notably the women in his life. As a result of this trend, tailors and shoemakers are experiencing a revival, their customers now able to look beyond brand labels and appreciate the quality of fine materials, craftsmanship and the
pleasures of made-to-measure clothes that carry a discreet personalised monogram. In combining old-fashioned bespoke quality with modern cuts and designs, tailored clothes, shoes and accessories such as leather driving gloves provide the means not so much to express monetary success as a desire to revive the look, behaviour and values of the gentleman – and in so doing give the men who have chosen this path a sense of purpose and direction. It might sound like our chappie has won the lottery or suddenly joined the upper classes, but it costs little more to look smarter, speak better and have a more useful attitude towards your life and the world in general. At the end of the day being a gentleman is more about what is within than without, and the ultimate mark of a gent is his character. While there is no place for macho chauvinism, snobbery or even snivelling or insincere courtesies in today’s world, there is most definitely a need for strong-willed, respectful and ambitious young men with the conviction to chase their own happiness. As for ladies and girls, the revival of gentlemanly behaviour will no doubt be welcomed by women of all ages. As Modern Gentleman magazine says: “Style, manners and taste never go out of fashion”. e
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style
INTERIORS / ARCHITECTURE / ART / FASHION
Interiors oozing with flair are the specialty of Baltus, the interior design firm which demonstrates that there is, indeed, a perfect balance between beauty and functionality. Female fashionistas will love Airfield’s Autumn/Winter 2013/2014 collection, while those into health and beauty will enjoy our features on top hairstyles for the festive season and a proven immune system booster: Echinacea!
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BEAUTY / HEALTH
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DĂŠcor: The New Baltus Collection
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Fashion: Airfield Autumn/Winter 2013-2014 Collection
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Fashion News
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Beauty: Chic Hairstyles for the Winter
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Health: The Benefits of Echinacea
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THE STYLE decor
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There’s a new wind blowing through the design world. It’s not a revolution as such, and you can’t really speak in terms of a ‘modern’ design movement because we’ve had modern design in our midst for so long. Rather, it’s more of an evolution of modern styles as they seek new directions and inspiration.
A
s a result, architects are redefining ‘modern’ design, industrial designers are becoming more experimental and interior styles are breaking away from the shackles of rectangular minimalism. In moving forward, all these specialists are allowing themselves to be inspired by the past, seeking useful references from the 1950s, 60s and other eras of great creativity when futurism was less about being conformist and doctrinal and more about being optimistic and joyful.
Décor as a source of pleasure It’s a philosophy that the designers at Baltus share too, for to walk through their new showroom on Marbella’s Golden Mile is to feel your spirits rise. Naturally it is still all about quality and aesthetic refinement, but at Baltus the feeling of exclusivity exuded by its furniture and interior décors is also allowed to be accompanied by a sense of experimentation of form that breaks moulds and injects new life into high design.
BALTUS WORDS MICHEL CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY BALTUS COLLECTION
WHERE STYLE CAN BE FUN
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For too long chic bordered on sterile and avant-garde was confused with playing it safe and creating much of a sameness. Baltus is in touch with the latest zeitgeist when it infuses rounder, more irregular shapes to its designs, replacing formality with an elegant playfulness that recalls the pioneering spirit of the 1950s and 60s. The fact that many of the greatest architects – in Marbella and internationally – are drawing inspiration from the same modernist era means Baltus furniture and décors are a perfect match for the new villas being created now. In this philosophy of quality materials married to free-flowing creativity lies the formula behind the international success of the Baltus brand, which does not stem from the Italian or Scandinavian design traditions but builds on Spain’s growing reputation as a creator of world class designs and an increasingly important exporter of luxury goods. In a country abounding with talent, Murcia-based Baltus has design and production teams that can measure themselves with the best in the world – and the critical and commercial acclaim of Baltus not only in Spain, but in markets from the USA and Latin America to Russia and the Middle East confirms it as such.
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World famous design In fact, though most of its design, manufacture and management is based within Spain, the brand is already better established outside the country than within, with showrooms in Miami, Santo Domingo and Panama City catering to a rapidly growing clientele and an expanding range of luxury outlets across Europe, Asia and the Americas carrying the Baltus range. In Spain, the main showrooms of the Baltus Collection are in Madrid and Marbella, the latter of which opened its doors this year not just as a showcase store of the collection, but also as the main interior design centre of Baltus in Europe. Using a refined styling sense that follows the creative genius of its founder, Javier MartĂn Muriel, the design teams mould shape and texture, form and function, to produce furniture and dĂŠcor pieces that complete not just an interior but form the backdrop for a lifestyle. They build their design philosophy around this lifestyle concept, always remembering that they are creating products for real clients in real homes, not art projects with little practical purpose. As a result the tables, sofas, cabinets, beds, chairs and other furniture pieces within the Baltus range are by nature aesthetically pleasing and sophisticated but also solid and durable.
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Harnessing both handmade skills and modern technologies, the collection stands out not just for its design but also the materials, textures and finishes used. Elegant and durable lacquers feature prominently in the current collection, and though white is a popular tone there is ample opportunity to add colour and make statements through shapes and compositions. To accompany the larger pieces and artwork from within the Baltus catalogue, the interior designers that form an integral part of the business also source specially selected ranges of lighting, materials and smaller decorative pieces from luxury suppliers such as Hermès, of whom Baltus is the official representative in the Marbella area. Working with a broad palette, the design team at the Marbella showroom can count on a wide range of options and a flexible production system that allows them to create made-to-measure interiors for their clients in Marbella and beyond. Naturally, people are more than welcome to come in and choose furniture and decoration, but the brand stands out for its professional interior design teams, which combine Baltus products with those sourced to accompany them within the brief of each individual client. The range has proved itself to be highly flexible in terms of architectural and decorative home styles, yet naturally it shows a bias towards modern interiors – and the current modernist revival in particular. This, together with light tones, elegant lacquer finishes and luxuriant
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quality makes these interiors well matched to the modern Marbella home, be it a villa, a penthouse or a luxury apartment. Not surprisingly, the style is also well received in hotels, restaurants and other commercial venues, a market for which Baltus maintains a dedicated department. For these applications Baltus designs special product ranges, often bespoke and unique to individual projects, but also draws on an impressive diversity that includes the grand opulence of the Betty and Madrid sofas, the refined styling of the Caddy or Arena, and the quirky chic of the Mondrian or Gemma. Armchairs, likewise lend themselves to beautiful styling and finish, as seen in the modern elegance of the Roma and Lazio range, the design-led quirkiness of the Barco and Linate, and the classically-inspired Picasso, Verdi and Rocio. Such pieces are designed to live in conjunction with stylish coffee and side tables in lacquer, chrome, stone and corrugated steel, each representing a broad range of shapes, geometry and textural combinations. Such elegance finds its continuation in cabinetry that is made to fit perfectly, desks that add a contemporary touch to the classic workstation and poufs and chaises longues that amplify the comfort and sophistication of the interiors thus created. Further dressed with its own collection of contemporary art, soft furnishings from top international brands and accessories that complete the scene, a Baltus home is a place that oozes elegance, style and sophistication – combined with an innate sense of fun and discovery. e
g BALTUS COLLECTION Urb. Carolina Park, Edificio Aries, CN340 km 179, 29602 Marbella. Tel: +34 952 824 455. www.baltuscollection.com
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THE STYLE fashion
G N I Y FL
H G I H H T I W
D L E I F AIR
AT FASHION VILLA MARBELLA Airfield’s Winter 2013 collection is a true festival for your senses. It features a myriad of elegant hues such as Sapphire, Night Blue and Black on cashmere, leather, jacquard and silk, giving a breathtaking feminine look. Animal prints never fail to produce the ‘Wow effect’, while slimfit trousers combined with over-sized shirts, cardigans, jumpers or fitted blazers make a dazzling fashion statement. Best of all, all these beautiful items are available exclusively at Marbella boutique, Fashionvilla!
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ICE BREAKER ESSENTIALMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 / 65
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URBAN JUNGLE
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WINTER DELIGHTS
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MANHATTAN ROYAL
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ROCK MEETS GLAMOUR
The Airfield Collection is available exclusively at FASHIONVILLA MARBELLA. Paseo de Suiza 394, Elviria. Tel: 952 850 501. www.facebook.com/ Fashion Villa Marbella. www.fashionvillamarbella.com
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THE STYLE fashion
MICHAEL CAINE: WE FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM IN ALFIE AND, SINCE THEN, HE HAS ALWAYS ENTICED US WITH HIS INIMITABLE BLEND OF VULNERABILITY AND LONDON COCKINESS. STREET STYLE MEETS GENTLEMAN’S SMOKING ROOM IN EVERY OUTFIT HE SPORTS.
SEAN CONNERY: THE MAN LOOKS COOLER THAN CLOONEY IN A SUIT AND IT MAY HAVE LESS TO DO WITH AN INTEREST IN FASHION THAN IN HIS SMOULDERING GOOD LOOKS AND BUFF BOD, WHICH DO JUSTICE TO ANY GARMENT LUCKY ENOUGH TO COME INTO CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE QUINTESSENTIAL BOND. DAFT PUNK: THEY’RE UP ALL NIGHT TO GET LUCKY IN THE COOLEST GARB ON THE PLANET. ITALIAN LEATHER AND METALLIC ACCESSORIES NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD ALONGSIDE A HELMET.
AUDREY HEPBURN: THE MONOCHROME BLACK LOOK, CAPRI TROUSERS, BEEHIVE HAIRDOS… THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE TRENDS SPARKED BY THE ETHEREAL AUDREY HEPBURN.
PHOTOGRAPHY LIMITED EDITION PRINTS AVAILABLE AT WWW.MADE.COM
If you had to select a handful of history’s most famous style icons, who would they be? Marisa Cutillas brings you just a few style makers who definitely hold pole position on her personal list.
style
SULTANS OF
MARILYN MONROE: WE MUST SAY WE CAN’T BLAME JFK FOR SUCCUMBING TO MONROE’S CURVY CHARMS; WHO SAYS STYLE IS THE EXCLUSIVE REALM OF SKINNY MINNIES? HER PERFECT PROPORTIONS LED HER TO DO JUSTICE TO ANY OUTFIT SHE WORE, WHETHER SHE WAS SPORTING A CHANEL SUIT OR A SIMPLE BIKINI ON THE BEACH.
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STYLE HAS NO AGE
WHY SO GLUM?
FLOWER BUDS
It’s never too late to immerse your kids in the creative, liberating, expressive world of style. It’s never too early to aim high. We bring you the best from this season’s Baby Dior collection.
STYLE CHECK
SHY GUY
IN BLOOM CRIMSON DREAMS
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THE STYLE beauty
UPDATE
Are you tired of your sun-streaked locks or long, grown out mane? Autumn/ Winter is the perfect time to change your look. If a visit to the hairdresser’s is on the cards, be inspired by these trendy styles, which will be making waves this season: WORDS Marisa CUTILLAS
Hot Hairstyles for Winter 2013-2014
ZZ 1 – Seventies Style ‘Big Hair’: Volume is back in a big way, but rather than opting for a frizzy style, go for carefully manicured curls that ooze glamour and sophistication. ZZ 2 – Long Fringes: This ‘do’, is perfect for those who like to ‘hide’ behind a full fringe. It differs from last season’s Cleopatra styled bangs in that the fringe is so long it actually caresses your lashes. ZZ 3 – Low Knots: During the last two years, ‘donut’ buns, placed high on the head, conjured up images of Audrey Hepburn and other screen goddesses of the 1950s and 1960s, but this season the look is much more masculine and easy to master, with knots just touching the nape of the neck. ZZ 4 – Plaits: Subtle plaits will be seen on top celebrities this season; plait one or two small areas of hair and pull hair back for an elegant style. ZZ 5 – Short Cuts: Teased and spiky looks will abound, alongside punk rock and grunge fashions, which is great news for bolder, more daring femmes. ZZ 6 – Sleek Ponytails: Brush all your hair back with a bristle brush and spray on some shine serum for a fresh, youthful look. ZZ 7 – The ‘Outgrown Bob’: This hairdo is as cute on girls as it is on women; marked by a choppy, shoulder-length look, it’s easy to maintain; a quick blowdry, sans brush, is all you need to look your chicest. ZZ 8 – Soft Curls: Messy, wavy looks are ‘out’ and large, billowing curls, in. Keep them long and feminine with a semi-permanent or simply with the use of large curlers. Don’t forget the gel or mousse beforehand, for a longer-lasting hairdo. ZZ 9 – Dip-Dyed Ends: The ombre look very much belongs in the past; this season is all about starker contrasts, with colours like purple and pink making a major comeback.
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The perfect gift at any time of the year… Valmont Spa Vouchers, can be used for any treatment or products on sale in the spa.*
Valmont Spa - New in Gibraltar… The newly opened Valmont Spa in the Specialist Medical Clinic in Gibraltar offers four rejuvenating facial and décolleté treatments for men and women, from the luxurious Swiss skin care range of spa products and facial treatments from Valmont. Natural Swiss ingredients and the latest in cellular cosmetic research are used to formulate anti-aging skin care products that produce lasting results. The brand’s treatments are found at the world’s top beauty and wellness clinics and now, exclusively in Gibraltar, at Valmont Spa. Also available, an exclusive range of Il Profvmo His and Her fragrances from Italy which are not available for purchase on the high street.
*Different values available.
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Valmont Spa Specialist Medical Clinic 1st Floor, ICC Building, Casemates Square, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 49999 info@smg.gi
10/29/13 1:28 PM
THE STYLE health
KEEP COLDS AND FLU AT BAY WITH POWERFUL
Echinacea
Health buffs have long professed the power of Echinacea in relieving the symptoms of the common cold but recent research has provided exciting new evidence which proves that this popular herbal remedy can also stop us from catching cold in the first place! Marisa Cutillas brings us the very latest findings from Germany and the USA. Z THE COLD: MORE THAN A SEASONAL BUGBEAR: When the nights grow longer and the day shorter, we somehow resign ourselves to the impending onslaught of colds, flus and respiratory infections. The average adult suffers between two and five colds a year, while infants and pre-school children battle their way through four to eight bouts with a runny nose. The cold is man’s most frequently caught disease. A prime reason why colds are so hard to cure is that they can be caused by one of over 200 different viruses. The latter hijack our cells’ reproduction mechanisms in order to give rise to more virus cells, which proceed to attack and take over healthy cells. It seems impossible to beat the cold Goliath, unless we battle it with the most powerful weapon in existence: our own immune system Z ECHINACEA: THE DAISY WITH A DIFFERENCE: The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail in the UK recently published the results of an exciting new study – the largest of its kind ever conducted on Echinacea. If, in the past, most of us took Echinacea because of its known efficiency in shortening the length of colds and reducing symptoms, now, it has been shown that there is good cause for taking the powerful herbal remedy as a preventive measure, for Echinacea can actually stop us from contracting the common cold.
The study was carried out by the Cardiff University Common Cold Centre on 750 subjects. It centred on the effect of Echinaforce (a powerful extract taken in liquid form, by drops). For a period of four months, the subjects were randomly instructed to take a dose of Echinaforce, or a placebo. Those who took the Echinacea consumed three 0.9ml doses every day, which corresponds to some 2,400mg of Echinacea extract. Participants who contracted colds had their dosage upped to five doses of 0.9ml daily (4,000mg). The doses were diluted in water and subjects were asked to hold the solution in their mouths for 10 seconds to optimise local anti-viral effects. The results were telling: the combined total of colds contracted and the duration of the illness was 26 per cent lower in the Echinaforce group, than in the placebo group. To be precise: The Echinaforce group suffered 149 bouts of the cold compared to 188 people in the placebo group. The first group also spent a total of 672 days with a cold, compared to 850 days for the placebo group. A corollary finding indicates that while Echinacea boosts poor immune systems, it does no harm to well-functioning ones and does not cause side-effects. Z WHEN NATURE BREAKS BAD: It is quite amazing to realise how aggressively Echinacea can tackle the common cold and how much more effective it is than other medications, which most patients agree provide little relief and can have countless side-effects. Many of us have
been guilty of reaching for the nearest box of aspirin or paracetamol when we have a cold, but a 1995 study (Graham) reveals that aspirin and acetaminophen actually slow down the recovery process, since they neutralise antibodies and increase nasal symptoms. Antihistamines, meanwhile, are generally ineffective or they provide such mild benefits, that they are hardly worth taking. Z FINDING THE FORCE WITHIN: We could argue that although the Cardiff University Common Cold Centre study establishes an important point, it is nothing that most of us didn’t instinctively know. We fall prey to bacterial and viral infections when our immune system is weak and our best bet against everything from the common cold to cancer, is prevention and healing from within. Health begins with a diet filled with seasonal, fresh foods (including organic fruit and vegetables, living sprouts and raw foods). It also thrives when we supplement our dietary intake with powerful adaptogens like ginseng, antioxidants like green tea and natural calmers like Valerian. Together, these powerful health boosters take us a little closer to the feeling of utter invincibility. Echinaforce and a host of additional adaptogens, Vitamins, minerals and other herbal remedies can be found at Holland and Barrett. 160 Main St., Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 49504. www.hollandandbarrett.com
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thepro NEWS /ENTERPRISE / LOCAL BUSINESS /
PROFILES / FINANCE / LAW
CASTLES IN THE AIR Chess is BIG in GibraltarTURICUM but make thatCELEBRATES literally so this 20 summer when a giant mobile chessboard large-sized YEARS ON THEwith ROCK
pieces became the centre of attraction on the Rock. Designed and made locally, residents and visitors of all ages World-famous singer-songwriter Albert queued up to climb on the 64-square board and make Hammond helped Turicum Private their move, including newly-crowned 2013 Commonwealth Bank’s 20th anniversary celebrations Women’s Chess Champion Jovanka Houska. to go with a swing. He returned to It was all part of the run-up to August’s 3rd Gibraltar his native soil to entertain more than Junior International Chess to become 200Festival, invited set guests with hit as after hit popular as January’s annual Tradewise Gibraltar Chess at a lavish cocktail party held in the Festival, ranked the most prestigious open tournament Botanical Gardens’ beautiful open-air in the world. Giant chessauditorium. is popular in Amsterdam and Chief Minister Fabian Salzburg and Gibraltar hopes it will new ‘checkmates’ Picardo anddraw Turicum’s Chairman, into the game of kings. Dr Raymond Bisang, were among Making the opening the gambit in Casemates before guests of honour. Square Commenting the board moved on to other locations, Minister on how TuricumCulture combined “the best Steven Linares said: “Weprinciples hope thisoflatest chess Swisscommunity banking with the initiative will continue tobest develop the game locallyat and of Gibraltar banking its take heart”, the game to all corners of Gibraltar.” Minister Picardo stated, “The past 20 years have perhaps been the stormiest for the banking industry and you are sailing out of that banking storm as strongly and successfully as Gibraltar will sail out of the storm it finds itself in today. g www.turicum.com
PUTTING THE TEE INTO TRIAY & TRIAY In keeping with tradition, leading Gibraltar law firm Triay & Triay hosted their annual Corporate Golf Day at Sotogrande’s prestigious San Roque Club. Over 100 local private and corporate clients and intermediaries took part in a Texas Scramble tournament in the morning, with additional guests joining for the lunch and afternoon prize-giving. Victors of the 2013 tournament: Alejandro Ponce, Joaquin Crespo, Charles Gubbins and Bruno Leileur (pictured) each won a round of golf for four at San Roque Golf Club, plus a magnum of wine. Prizes were also awarded for longest drive and closest to the pin and all players took home Triay & Triay-branded golf balls. Commented Melo Triay, “Some great golf was played which helped strengthen the business ties between the players in each team, to our mutual benefit, and provided the ideal opportunity to thank our valued clients for their continued support and business.” g www.triay.com
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Business Solutions from FS FS offers a range of interconnected business services to deliver seamless transactions to clients in Gibraltar, the UK and Spain. Business consultancy, professional development training, Gibraltar tax residency and extensive property advice (from property sourcing and management to investor sourcing) are within the remit of this Londonbased company which has partnered with global leaders such as The Sovereign Group and World First to provide enhanced solutions to clients. Fiorina Fortunato, Founding Director of FS, has over a decade of legal and commercial experience within established London law firms and the private client sector as well as with multi-national clients Hermès, Rio Tinto, Total petrol stations, RBS and Royal Bank of Canada. “We are passionate about delivering a world class service through pro-activity and enthusiasm,” she says. “In addition to a pragmatic approach, we provide professional excellence to achieve clients’ objectives.” g www.fortunatosolutions.com
A Fashionable Start To The Party Season Hot on the success of May’s annual Runway Gibraltar fashion extravaganza, big sister act Runway Select took to the catwalk at Grand Battery House, headlining fashions from around the globe. The exclusive 250-ticket event premiered the A/W 13 collection of Gibraltar sportswear/streetwear designer Shorji, aka Christel Mifsud, winner of the 2013 Runway New Designer Competition. Shows from Main Street retailers Boux Avenue, Next, Oasis and M&S were followed by London-based label Arjan B and, the highlight of the evening, the latest collection from Londonbased Korean-Canadian Edeline Lee, who apprenticed in the studios of Alexander McQueen and Gibraltarian designer John Galliano. During breaks, guests enjoyed drinks and tapas with music from local band Fuse and London singer/songwriter Carrie Haber. Items from the collections were on sale at a discount price from the pop-up store. The main Runway event with another New Designer Competition will be back in May 2014. g www.runwaygibraltar.com
Wi-Fi Hotspots All Over! Gibraltar is close to its goal of providing outdoor Wi-Fi zones at all its key tourist attractions for the benefit of visitors and locals. The latest areas with online connectivity are the Moorish Castle, Europa Point, the Great Siege Tunnels and the Gibraltar Museum, bringing the number of Wi-Fi hotspots to 18, covering 80 per cent of the Rock’s main attractions, including beaches and hotels. Work on the five remaining sites is expected to be completed before the year-end. Gibtelecom, which has carried out the technical groundwork, is planning additional sites and further enhancements to the service in 2014. Commented Tourism Minister Neil Costa:“We are delighted that our target of 100 per cent Wi-Fi hotspots for Gibraltar tourist locations is now within our grasp. This represents a great technical achievement for Gibtelecom which will deliver a major marketable asset for the local tourist product.” g www.gibtele.com
The Governor’s Farewell Friends and colleagues said goodbye to Gibraltar’s outgoing Governor, Sir Adrian Johns, at a Farewell Dinner hosted by the Mayor, Tony Lima. Vice-Admiral Sir Adrian has held office since October 2009 and will live on in the British territory as the biggest vessel in the Royal Gibraltar Police fleet will be named after him when it arrives for service next year. His successor as Governor will be Lieutenant-General Sir James Benjamin Dutton, who has served 37 years in the Royal Marines, latterly in Iraq and Agfhanistan. “I very much welcome the appointment of Jim Dutton whom I have known for many years,” said Sir Adrian. “I am sure that he and his wife Liz will love Gibraltar and I know they are both looking forward to their arrival in early December.”
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Join the G100 Motoring Set
Top Students Visit the UN Six local students accompanied the Chief Minister on his visit to Washington and New York as their prize for coming top in an essay competition about The United Nations and the importance of Gibraltar's participation. Aysha Panter and Cristina Gonzalez from Westside, Thomas Blagden and Ryan Robba from Bayside and Tom Ramagge and Roger Cabral from the College enjoyed the trip of a lifetime. It included a visit to the Washington Press Club, a whistle-stop sight-seeing tour of New York and a visit to UN headquarters, which impressed the students most. Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, whose office organised the project with the Department of Education, said: "These young people are now keenly aware of the issues and challenges that Gibraltar faces at the United Nations. They have done Gibraltar proud through their behaviour and through the interest that they have shown."
Owning a car with a GBZ plate is the privilege of a resident of Gibraltar. Now a new specialist relocation consultancy that provides solutions for prospective Rock residents, run by Mark Wilkins, is compiling a photographic record of the first 100 Gibraltarian car numbers ever issued – from G1 to G100. “In 1924, Gibraltar was granted the use of the GBZ International Registration Letter by the United Nations,” explains Mark. “We’d love to hear from anyone who owns one as part of the 90th anniversary celebrations in 2014, and as a way to announce the arrival of our consultancy in Gibraltar.”Mark has already run 30 to earth which you can see at g www. geebeezed.blogspot.com If you or someone you know owns a cherished Gibraltarian number-plate and would like it to appear in this exclusive gallery, please send a photo to mark@therightsgroup.com
Sotovital Launches Toxin-Free Bio-Active Skincare Products A full range of tailor-made Bio Beauty products is now available from Sotovital in Torreguadiaro (Sotogrande) for those with skin allergies or anomalies. Products offered are: • free of parabens, • free of aluminium • free of artificial fragrances • free of petro chemicals • free of synthetic chemicals • free of cruelty practices & vegan friendly Sotovital also creates beauty products for hyper sensitive and/or dry skin types as well as acne or problem skins. The products provide much needed nutrition and repair to both normal and damaged skin and are made from natural, ‘live-sourced’ ingredients – i.e., they come from living environments like trees, flowers, plants, etc. as opposed to being produced in a laboratory. Sotovital cosmetics are in harmony with our largest organ – our skin! g Sotovital Beauty and Health Centre.
Tel: 662 321 075. www.sotovital.com
Get Party-Ready at the Valmont Spa With the party season around the corner, now’s the perfect time to book up for a skin care makeover to ensure you look the belle of the ball for Christmas. Gibraltar’s new Valmont Spa offers a pot pourri of rejuvenating treatments and facial massages from the celebrated Swiss skincare brand whose products are based on the latest cellular technology and contain active molecules to promote skin regeneration. “The cooler months are also the best time to have treatment for leg thread and spider veins and we offer this service at the Valmont Spa within the Specialist Medical Clinic in the ICC,” says Co-Founder Susan Rhoda, a qualified aesthetic nurse (pictured). Why not cross off some chores from your Christmas list at the same time, and treat your friends and family to a relaxing luxury facial or some beauty products with a Valmont Spa Gift Voucher?
g Tel: + 350 200 49999. reception@smg.gi or see Susan's Aesthetic Service FB Page. 78 / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 ESSENTIALMAGAZINE.COM
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In the last year there have been several developments in the complicated world of expatriate tax and finance and there’s much to report. Here’s a summary of where we are now and how we got here.
Taxing times?
THE PRO finance
g Dawn Deacon is an advisor at Totus, an international wealth and tax management group with over 20,000 clients worldwide. Contact the Gibraltar office on: +350 200 64966 or the Spanish office on: +34 952 931 462. www.totus.com
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pain’s future economic forecast is still not as robust or as healthy as it should be. Indeed, The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is forecasting a downturn in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in part caused by high private sector indebtedness. Therefore, during 2012, the Spanish tax authorities set up various measures to recoup long overdue tax revenues – with some degree of success, we think, but perhaps not as much as they had hoped. However, things are changing dramatically… and fast.
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FOLLOWING, FOR EXAMPLE? 2012 saw a brief tax amnesty, under which taxpayers were able to regularise their tax situation at a 10 per cent flat rate on previously undeclared income without penalties or any criminal liability. A great idea, although we understand that the monies collected were not as much as expected. The tax authorities’ estimate of recovering €2,500 million from funds, bank accounts and other assets had to be re-forecast at €1,200 million less. Big business did not escape the eyes of the authorities either. Corporate tax advantages were substantially reduced – for example, the leniency with regard to the deduction of part of financial expenses and the depreciation or compensation of losses from previous years. An increase in interim tax payments was also implemented in 2012. However, the biggest impact by far for expatriates has been the implementation in October 2012, of highly stringent new tax rules requiring those with non-Spanish or worldwide assets to declare them annually to the authorities. Individuals resident for more than 183 days in Spain are automatically deemed as Spanish residents, and as such, must declare the following: • Bank accounts • Immovable properties and rights over properties • Shares, Loans and Annuities • All types of investment assets and products The new legislation stipulates that these assets must be declared annually and applies to individuals, companies and Permanent Establishments. There’s even a new tax return form – the now famous ‘modelo 720’, launched in January 2013, with the first tax filing deadline having come and gone already: 30th April this year. In future years, ‘modelo 720’ must be filed in the period from January to March. With a four-year statute of limitation, ‘prescrito’, in effect enabling the authorities to backdate tax payments, serious fines with a minimum penalty of €10,000 per undeclared asset, have left many people, perhaps even unwittingly, breaking a new law. Also, any non-declared taxes could be subject to a fine of 150 per cent of the taxable amount. This fine is payable in addition to the tax that’s due – a heavy blow indeed and sometimes more than the capital sum involved. So, the new laws were, and are, serious but none of us should be surprised. These actions have been long expected in Spain and indeed worldwide, where resources have had to be carefully allocated to accommodate all the necessary steps not only to recoup tax revenue but also to ensure future compliance. As such it is vital that you try and regularise your affairs in the correct manner and there are plenty of Spanish compliant tax planning tools to allow this – leaving you free to enjoy the wonderful climate and lifestyle in Spain and also to sleep easy at night. Tax can be complicated – everyone’s circumstances are different, after all. Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of the authorities and we think that it’s quite easy to be there without even being aware of it. We’d strongly advise you to seek expert tax advice. The penalties are severe and could seriously impact your financial peace of mind – something to be avoided at all costs. e
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THE PRO business
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Relocating people and companies around the world is all in a day’s work for Bishop’s Move. But in the removals business, as in chess, the ability to react to surprise tactics is key to a winning strategy.
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t was a gambit the Gibraltar branch put to good use during the recent border upheavals when Spanish customs held several of its delivery trucks in check at the frontier for six days. Rather than become a pawn in a political game at customers’ expense, for the foreseeable future the company is shipping everything in containers by sea. Sometimes, a straight line is not always the best route from A to B – a game plan that has helped Bishop’s Move sweep the board to become the UK’s largest family-owned removals and storage company. “We’re used to reacting quickly to any given situation and the one thing we will never do is let our clients down,” says the company’s MD Alistair Bingle, who recently jetted over from HQ in Chessington, Surrey, to visit the Gibraltar office, established 10 years ago and still the only major international removals company on The Rock. “As double insurance for customers, we also have a depot in La Linea with removal trucks based on both sides of the border.”
Bishops Move has over 25 branches in the UK and Europe and works globally, taking care of all aspects of moving house, corporate relocation (including specialist removals for hospitals and IT companies), international shipping and secure storage. It’s a far cry from the company’s early years when Joseph James Bishop, an officer in Robert Peel’s then newly-established police force, hung up his truncheon and set up a general cartage business in London called Bishop & Sons’ Depositories. That was in 1854 – the age of four-legged horsepower. J.J., as he was known, looked after his animals royally, buying a nearby farm where they could graze during time off. The opening of Victoria Station in 1860 was a massive boost for business from which the company has never looked back, and it has remained in J.J.’s family ever since. Five of the current board members and several of the staff are sixth-generation descendants. “As well as upholding the traditional values of quality service and customer care, the family makes a point of knowing each of the 400 employees by name,” says Alistair, who has been with the company for 26 years. “Everyone is a team player, not a number.” Corporate relocations for banks, finance and gaming companies keep the Gibraltar team busy. Bishop’s Move also works with Agility GRMS, taking care of personal relocations for Ministry of Defence staff all over the world. “It accounts for 80 per cent of the company’s business in Gibraltar,” says Alistair, which explains why the local office is located at a British naval base. The economic crisis has also increased business on both sides of the border with some 25 per cent of customers moving back to Britain, he adds. Moving the old naval hospital to its new premises at the Princess Royal Medical Centre was one of their more challenging jobs which included the safe transfer of the vital plasma refrigeration unit. “It weighed one-and-a-half tons and
could only be switched off from the power supply for half an hour or the contents would have been destroyed,” says Jenny McNorvell, who manages the Gibraltar office and has solved the problem of the Rock’s narrow streets and lack of parking space with a fleet of smaller trucks and vans and a nippy scooter. Other ‘quirks of the job’ in this 2.5 square mile territory include the many multi-storey properties which don’t have lifts and, of course, the bureaucracy at the border – although that’s more of a problem for outsiders. “It’s surprising how many SOS calls this office gets from other removals companies whose drivers are stuck at the border without the required paperwork,” says Alistair. “As fellow members of the British Association of Removers, of course we help them out.” With space at a premium, many home owners use Bishop’s Move as their second attic, leaving personal belongings here on a semi-permanent basis. “Local estate agents tell us there are no unfurnished apartments left to rent so we’re storing a lot more furniture,” says Jenny. “Some customers even keep their Christmas decorations here and just take them out once a year!” Jenny has been with the company for 20 years. Does she have any tips for would-be movers? “People underestimate the effort required in moving and don’t pack their belongings carefully enough,” she says. “Also, packing things in cigarette cartons isn’t a good idea in Gibraltar!” What keeps her smiling? “It’s wonderful to come into the office on a Monday morning and open emails from clients with glowing reports, not complaints,” she says. “Most of our business comes from word-ofmouth recommendations.” Moving house is said to be among the top three stressful life events but Bishop’s Move clearly makes it a smoother transition. g www.bishopsmove.com/gibraltar
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Los Angeles
THE LEISURE travel
lying to L.A. is fairly straightforward, as you can fly from Gibraltar to London and catch a direct flight from there which will get you to L.A. in just under 11 hours, so make sure you have a good book to help you pass the time! If not, there are countless films to watch depending on which airline you take. British Airways provides great up-to-date movies which will help time fly by. Upon arrival in L.A., there are many fantastic hotels to choose from whatever your budget. The Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel is a great choice as it is smack bang in the middle of Beverly Hills, and the service is out of this world, making you feel like a true A lister. This was also the hotel that was used for the filming of Pretty Woman back in 1990, so make sure to watch the film again any time you want to remember L.A.! There is a possibility that you may run into some celebrities on your stay here, as Beverly Hills is one of their hang-outs in L.A. It is also a 15 minute drive from LAX International Airport. There are lots of nearby malls and shops that you can visit to shop until you drop. If you are not shopping within a mall, be aware that you can be fined for jaywalking in America, as you are expected to use the traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Here in the Mediterranean, it is perfectly acceptable for most people to cross the road even though the lights are still red for pedestrians, but don’t be tempted to try and get away with it if the cops are around! “L.A. is the place to see and be seen”, I am told by aspiring actress Ali Currey from London, who is currently in L.A. undertaking a course in method acting. We meet in The Grove, a lovely area full of restaurants, bars and shops. We stop for a bite at the Whisper Lounge, where we are greeted by refreshing cocktails and delicious food. Here, Ali persuades me to try the kale salad and mac and cheese, opposite ends of the health spectrum, but both just as delicious.
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Expect surprises around every corner in LA
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What is your ideal holiday destination? Do you enjoy relaxing by the beach with the option of water sports and activities; or do you prefer the hustle and bustle of a busy city with great nightlife and the chance to spot a few celebrities? Alex Caruana gives you an insight into both L.A. and Bora Bora, and helps you decide which would be your ideal holiday destination.
BORA BORA WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY ALEX CARUANA
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Despite being surrounded by the bright lights of American fast food culture, L.A. has a healthier approach to food, promoting creative and delicious salads. One of the most famous American-style salads is The Cobb Salad, which most of you may have heard about in the television series Friends, as Rachel eats it religiously every lunch time of the 10 year show. Although a cob salad has many variations depending on which restaurant you have it in, their main ingredients are best remembered with the acronym EAT COBB: Egg, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon and Blue Cheese. This salad is perfect for everyone as it can be varied to be as healthy or unhealthy as you would like it to be! If you fancy trying to spot a celebrity, head down to Mr Chows, a Chinese restaurant that is popular with the rich and famous. Make sure you book a table as soon as you arrive though, as reservations go quickly. A good tip is to ask the hotel concierge to reserve a table for you, as they may be able to pull a few strings to get you in! The weather in L.A. is generally sunny all year round, making it a fantastic holiday location for any time of the year. Make sure to take some warmer clothes for the evening though, as it tends to get nippy when the sun goes down. No L.A. trip is complete unless you hit the California coastline, so take the time to visit Venice Beach, which is a 20 minute drive on the freeway. This area has a great bohemian vibe with lots of trendy bars and restaurants. A favourite was a lovely restaurant called FEED Body and Soul, which is a prime example of
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the people of L.A.’s healthier eating habits. FEED’s ethic is that you can still indulge while eating sensibly. Everything on the menu is organic, and you can savour a hearty meal with a home-cooked feel to it. Do not expect fries and fizzy drinks as you would in other typical American food chains, as you will not find them here. A recommendation is their rotisserie chicken, which comes with a large helping of vegetables and whole-wheat fregola, which is very similar to couscous. FEED also serve appealing salads and soups, with an interesting array of ingredients that you may not have tried before. After this virtuous meal you can reward yourself with one of their exceptional baked chocolate brownies, as well as other cakes that they offer. Vegetarian or not, you will leave fully satisfied, yet hungry for more! People flock to Venice Beach in the hope of finding fossilised sharks’ teeth that are up to 15 to 25 million years old. It is known as the ‘Shark Tooth Capital’. Some snorkel and scuba dive in the hope of finding bigger teeth, but they can also be found on the shore of the beach. Great White Sharks, however, are a rare sight at Venice Beach now, so don’t be afraid to jump in if you fancy exploring the area further. It’s no surprise that surfing is popular at Venice Beach, and a perfect place for beginners to try the sport. The waves are a lot more mellow in comparison to some of L.A.’s other beaches. For more experienced surfers, Malibu Beach is the place to head, as it is the best known surfing resort and where the surfing culture in the USA began. Malibu is an easy drive from Venice Beach and depending on traffic can be reached in 40 minutes.
Hollywood is a must see while staying in L.A. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is located on the Hollywood Boulevard, and is great if you fancy a stroll, with many tourist attractions along it. There you will see hundreds of pink stars littering the sidewalk with your favourite actors, comedians and singers’ names. Tour guides will offer you bus tours around L.A., including the chance to visit the houses of the rich and famous. There are added bonus points to this tour if you actually see a celebrity coming out of their house! Souvenir shops dot the Walk of Fame, so this is a great opportunity to pick up gifts for your loved ones back home. You will also see the big white Hollywood sign, the iconic symbol of the film industry that the area is known for. The Hollywood sign itself did not always look the way it did. Before 1978, it read ‘Hollywood Land’, but was later revamped with funds of a quarter of a million dollars raised by a fundraising event held by Hugh Hefner at his Playboy Mansion. In August 1978, the old sign was demolished, and for three months there was no sign at all. Nowadays the sign is clear for all to see, a beacon of hope for aspiring actors all over the world. The Americans themselves are the friendliest people you will ever meet. Do not be surprised if they stop you in the street to compliment your outfit, and will always be happy to point you in the right direction if you are lost. Also, be prepared to have the Americans coo over your English accent. They love it! With all this in mind, L.A. is a great place that must be visited at least once in your lifetime and will not disappoint. With its glitz and glam, its amazing shopping malls, tourist sites and the chance to see celebrities, you will be booking your flight back as soon as you return.
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Brace yourself for the journey you must take to get to Bora Bora from Gibraltar; four flights taking just over 22 hours in total. From Gibraltar to London, London to L.A., LA to Tahiti and Tahiti to Bora Bora. Once you get your head around that you can prepare for the island of paradise waiting for you on the other side. Stopover in L.A., or Japan if heading the other way round, for a night or two. This will give you a chance to recoup and feel rested before continuing on to Bora Bora. From L.A., you will fly to Tahiti, the gateway to all of the French Polynesian islands which is surrounded by 5 million square kilometres of ocean. Flight time is just under nine hours. At Tahiti’s airport, you are greeted by Polynesian dancers and music, which definitely gets you in the holiday spirit, and the laidback lifestyle that the French Polynesians are accustomed to. From here, you can choose which of Tahiti’s islands you wish to continue on to, Bora Bora being one of the more popular holiday resorts. Landing there after a 50 minute flight from Tahiti you will see why, as the views are simply breathtaking. French Polynesia has been a French colony since 1880, when the French took over Tahiti. France then went on to annex other islands to form French Polynesia. There is a clear French influence in Bora Bora, especially during breakfast time, as it is easy to get a good cup of coffee, and enjoy their delicious pastries and bread. This is mixed with French Polynesia’s own culture, healthy fish being a dietary staple. Their specialty is Mahi Mahi, known as ‘Dolphinfish’. These fish change different colours over the course of their lives, but when on your plate, expect to find a white fish that goes wonderfully with a salad or in the form of a Mahi Mahi burger, which is perfect if you fancy a burger with a French Polynesian twist. Another favourite is locally sourced French Polynesian shrimps, which are found cooked in various ways and are a must try. Most hotels will feature fantastic restaurants, but there is also the option to travel out to the main island of Bora Bora with your hotel’s shuttle service. The Bora Bora Yacht Club is a popular restaurant because
Bora Bora of its mouthwatering dishes and relaxing atmosphere. You will be seated on a deck looking out to the lagoon, and can enjoy French Polynesian Cuisine with a French twist. There is something for everyone on the menu, including steaks, burgers, chicken, salads as well as the local fish and expect typical French Polynesian flavours such as vanilla, curry, honey and lime. If you fancy a real taste of French Polynesia, sample the trio of Tahitian fish, which is one of the Yacht Club’s specialties. The best time to head to the Yacht Club is for dinner, as you can enjoy the breathtaking, uninterrupted view of the sunset while sipping on delicious cocktails. Boats are the equivalent of people’s cars out here, as you are escorted by your hotel representative to their boat in order to transport you to the hotel. There are several reputable hotels within Bora Bora, including the Four Seasons, The Regis, The Hilton and the Intercontinental. Whichever one you choose, you are guaranteed to have a wonderful time, as it is the island itself that captures your attention. Upon embarking the boat, Tiare garlands
are hung around your neck. Tiare is the national flower and symbol of Tahiti and her islands, so you will come across them frequently during your stay. The locals are very friendly and will always greet you with ‘Ia Orana’ (pronounced yo-rah-nah) which is Hello! Thank you is ‘Mauruuru’ (pronounced mah-roo-roo). You will be confident with these two phrases by the time you leave the island! If your French is good you can also practise this, as French is the spoken language in Bora Bora, although most people speak English too. After a short boat ride, you will arrive at your hotel, ours being the Four Seasons Resort, where you will be shown to your water bungalow. These are great fun to stay in, as the bathrooms have glass floors, so you can watch the fish go by as you are having a bath. The hotel itself is surrounded by a lagoon, meaning that the water is shallow and extremely clear. Be cautious before jumping off the deck of your bungalow into the water as stingrays may be swimming past. There is no need to worry though; these graceful creatures generally do not sting humans unless threatened, so just keep out of their way!
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Tropical Paradise
There are many water activities that you can take part in once on the island, and your hotel will be able to arrange a guide to take you snorkelling or scuba diving with the rays and the sharks. To most, the idea of this may be terrifying, but as long as you are with your guide, you will be safe. You will be able to see both Manta rays and Sting rays with your guide. The Manta rays are huge, and can be up to 7m in width, but tend to stay further towards the bottom of the seabed. The Sting rays are smaller and tend to stay closer to the surface. Your guide will feed the Sting rays to encourage them to come close and give you a kiss! Their stings may reach a length of 35cm but they will only sting in self defence. The coral reefs provide fantastic areas for snorkelling as there is a diverse range of colourful fish, very different to what you would see here in the Mediterranean, including clown fish, oysters that snap shut when you swim past, and many more. The best place to snorkel is called the ‘Lagoonarium’, as there is a great amount of coral in the area, where the fish make their homes. Here, the water is crystal clear and shallow, and you will be able to see thousands of fish. Take a piece of bread with you and hold it tight in your hand. You will be amazed by the little nips of the fish coming to feed and seeing them so close. Travelling out to deeper waters, you will be able to encounter sharks. Swimming with the sharks is a surreal experience, as most of us will automatically feel wary when coming face to face with one. You may come across lemon sharks and black tip sharks. These are harmless and keep a comfortable distance so you can admire them from afar. There is also the chance to see humpback whales from August to October as they pass through the Pacific Ocean.
As for souvenirs, French Polynesia is best known for their Black Pearls produced by oysters found in the coral reef. Pearls can take up to three years to develop within the oyster, making them very precious. They are French Polynesia’s second highest money earner after tourism. French Polynesia accepts euros, making them preferable to use as you can bring them home and still be able to use them in Spain. To conclude, both L.A. and Bora Bora are amazing places to visit. L.A. is buzzing with excitement, so this is not the place to come if you fancy sitting around! There are plenty of opportunities to update your wardrobe and take advantage of all the great places to shop here. With so many amazing places to visit, you won’t have time to stop! And with the chance to meet a celebrity, who knows what could happen?!
Bora Bora is ideal for couples both young and old, but it is also the ultimate holiday destination for families, as there is something for everyone. Should you get bored of sunbathing and sipping cocktails on the beach, there are water sports to enjoy and new sea life to explore. If you are looking for somewhere to spend your honeymoon, this would be the place to come. The setting is romantic, with your hotel being able to plan special things such as a candlelit dinners on the beach under the stars. With the beautiful surroundings, you will also have fantastic holiday pictures to capture the stunning paradise island that is Bora Bora. With the stopover in L.A., it is possible to take advantage and see both the city and the island. Although both so different, you will be able to take experiences from both destinations and treasure them for years to come. e
By the pool in Bora Bora
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RESTAURANTS / REVIEWS / NEWS / WINE / CHEFS
They say that presentation counts almost as much as flavour in modern cuisine and we put this idea to the test at Café Rojo, enjoying a glass or two of a full-bodied red as we review wines with style.
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THE GOURMET restaurant
Café Rojo Fine Dining with a Funky Twist words Belinda Beckett Photography Jon Segui
Café Rojo has been a long-awaited pleasure. I’ve wanted to try it ever since this bijou bistro opened its doors in Irish Town, way back in 2006, when it struck me as a refreshingly different addition to the local dining scene. I can’t count the number of occasions I’ve stopped to admire the urban chic décor and check out the innovative menu (there always seems to be something new and unconventional to try). Regretfully it was always during working hours and I had to walk on by. Until now.
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fter seven years of waiting, my expectations were high but the rumours are all true. This stylish but unpretentious little restaurant is still setting trends with its adventurous choice of ingredients and funky flavour combinations. Luis is a chef whose passion shines through his cuisine on a menu that gives free expression to his spirit of adventure, although one that’s grounded in culinary know-how. Classically trained at San Roque Catering College, this foodie alchemist who mixes up lime and coconut with langoustine, raspberries with tarragon cream and Caesar’s Salad with cajun spices and salmon was never going to be satisfied with serving up meat and two veg! And if Luis is a Miró in the kitchen, his partner Annette’s artistic talents in the restaurant are the perfect showcase. The modern wall sculptures featuring mirror-tiled panels and twisted coils of steel – simple but effective – are all her handiwork. She also chose the smart red and black colour scheme and snazzy high-backed chairs which add a touch of ‘city slick’ to this elegant old highceilinged building. The candlelight creates cosy intimacy but, like a Tardis, the restaurant can accommodate 52 diners. Make sure to book in advance because when dining emigrates indoors for winter, Café Rojo comes into its own. A favourite for business lunches as well as leisurely dinners, the Christmas menu is also much anticipated. Annette and Luis were taking bookings in September and the Christmas
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Crumble is not the only dish that sounds intriguing! “Luis gets ideas from master chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Gary Rhodes and adds his own twist,” says Annette, who has been in the business for 28 years and ran her own pub in Oxfordshire before moving to Gibraltar. She’s used to working long hours but Café Rojo is open from 10am for breakfast and brunch and through the afternoon for tea as well as for lunch and dinner, so the job’s pretty full-on. Annette describes the menu as “small” and I think, she’s so wrong! There are nine different salads, 10 sauces interchangeable with pastas or risotto, nine starters, eight mains and daily specials too. But the secret’s in the flexibility. “Luis works with a few staple ingredients and uses spices and sauces to add different twists, that way everything can be prepared freshly,” she explains. Clever! Langoustines can be tried in a spicy mango salad, with chorizo, pancetta and chicken in a pasta or risotto dish or, as we enjoyed them, in a piquant pil-pil. Loved that warm chilli kick! Three of us were eating, so we also sampled a ‘special’ – smoky roasted red pepper and tomato soup – and a filo parcel filled with crisp spinach and feta cheese drizzled with honey dressing, perfectly balanced in flavours. If this popular dish was ever taken off the menu there’d be a riot, laughs Annette. Our banquet continued with half a roasted duck smothered in a summer fruit sauce; baked
salmon fillet thatched with a crunchy almond and garlic butter crust; and pork fillet medallions swimming in fig and brandy sauce – a marriage made in heaven. Very different dishes but they all went brilliantly with the vegetables of the day – a colourful medley of finely-sliced leeks and red cabbage. Portions are super-generous so I wasn’t too disappointed to find only one choice of potatoes – sautéed – or we wouldn’t have managed the cheesecake; we tried two versions – lemon, and Baileys with caramel – and a spicy apple and cinnamon crepe; comfort eating at its best and never mind the calories! The wine list is a mini tour of the world’s vineyards with choices from Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain and France but you can’t go wrong with the house red – a smooth Rene Barbier Penedes. By the time I’d drained the last drop the restaurant was almost full, filled with the laughter of contented diners. So was it worth the seven-year wait to try Café Rojo? I have to say ‘no’. I shouldn’t have waited at all! Deservedly ranked three in Gibraltar on Trip Advisor, and with a price/quality ratio that’s spot on, next time I’m in the vicinity of this delightful restaurant I won’t walk on by. The beauty of Café Rojo is, you’re welcome any time to eat as much or as little as you like. But it’s worth making time to linger. When you can enjoy a classy glass of wine and a divine main course salad in attractive surroundings (with super-friendly service) for little more than £12, it would be foolish not to! e
g 54 Irish Town, Gibraltar, Tel: (00 350) 200 51738. Open Monday-Friday, 10.00-22.00 and Saturday, 19.00-22.00. Closed Sundays. 10/29/13 2:18 PM
THE GOURMET wine
ENATE a perfect blend of Wine & Art… ENATE wines are produced in Somontano, in the North of Spain near the Pyrenees. The Denominación de Origen (DO) was created in 1984, and is located in the province of Huesca (Aragon). What does Somontano mean? I knew where the wine region is, but I was not aware of the meaning of the word. It means ‘beneath the mountain or at the foot of the mountains’. It perfectly defines this geographic area which spreads out from the foothills of the Pyrenees down to the Ebro valley. The DO includes 43 municipalities, most of them in the Somontano area, and a few bordering on Ribagorza and the Monegros. There are over 4,000 hectares of vines and about 500 individual grape-growers. WORDS ROCIO CORRALES ANGLO HISPANO PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BODEGAS ENATE
N
ot so long ago, around the year 2000, the area ENATE has a strong link with Contemporary Art. The of Somontano began to boom. New bodegas winery building itself is an architectonic work of art, (wineries) appeared and the existing wineries as well as the decoration of the inner spaces. The were modernised. Some great wines started to appear. love of art is mainly reflected in the fact that the wine It was at the beginning of the period of growth in Spain labels are reproductions from contemporary artists’ that ended up with the market crash in Wall Street in paintings. Moreover, the original paintings are part 2008. Back then, wines like ENATE Reserva sold for of over 1,200 works of art that make up Enate’s art around €18 (£16) and everyone thought that they were collection. Some of these works are displayed in the expensive. For this reason, many people consumed bodega’s own art gallery. Some of the recognised artists that have these wines in restaurants and gave them as gifts. Many wineries in the Somontano region have been collaborated with ENATE are Antoni Tàpies, Eduardo bought by larger wine and beverage companies, but not Chillida, Rafael Canogar, Pepe Cerdá, Antonio Saura, ENATE, which is privately owned and has been making José Manuel Broto, Salvador Victoria, José Beulas and Gustavo Torner. The artistic great wine for decades. It belongs patrimony of ENATE grows with to the Nozaleda family, who are the acquisition of works by old well known in the construction masters and by young artists who industry and owners of a group Z GRAPE VARIETIES Tempranillohave participated in the ENATE of companies. These wines have Cabernet Sauvignon (70:30). Award. been imported by Anglo Hispano Z AGEING Matured for nine The Enate crianza from 2005, into Gibraltar for over 15 years. months in oak and 18 months 2006 and 2007 with a label of in bottle. Different influences make Víctor Mira’s painting is an exciting Z TASTING NOTES Cherry the ENATE wines special. A blue blend of grapes producing an coloured with an intense and and clear Mediterranean sky exceptional wine. The crianza complex bouquet, rich in smoky, mixes with the humid Atlantic is the wine that has the most spicy tones over a base of ripe air coming from the Cantabrian Iberian character, because the fruit. With balanced tannins, this Sea. In the clash between Tempranillo (70 per cent) is the wine is full bodied with a long, these two forces, the mountain base of its grape composition. toasty finish. chain disperses the clouds and Z SERVING SUGGESTIONS Cabernet Sauvignon (30 per cent) softens temperatures, giving rise Served at 16-18 °C, ENATE Crianza contributes to reinforce the wine’s to the climatic conditions which complements smoked foods, structure. It is a flattering wine, full allow grapes to mature slowly. meats, casseroles and cheeses. of nuances – a skillful wine that This provides a higher acidity combines power and delicacy. e to the grapes, giving the wine a European touch.
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g Available at Anglo Hispano. 5/7 Main Street, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 77210, www.anglo.gi, www.enate.es 10/29/13 2:19 PM
Celebrate your
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Located in the heart of Queensway Quay Marina serving the finest local and international cuisine
.................................................................................................................................. 4/5 Ragged Staff Wharf, Queensway Quay, Gibraltar Tel: (+350) 200 45666 - Fax: (+350) 200 45665 waterfrontrestaurant@gmail.com | www.gibwaterfront.com Open daily from 9 am till late Waterfront Restaurant Gibraltar
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THE GOURMET wine
M
ost wine drinkers will agree that Robert Parker and his acolytes have disproportionate influence, and common sense dictates there is only one way of rating wine: searching it out on the basis of pedigree and breeding, as you would an Arab thoroughbred. Tough on new wineries and new wines, but the law of supply and demand dictates that established brands have a head start. The French classification of Bordeaux still lists the chateaux in the same order as in 1855 with only minor changes since then, but the Spanish are more pragmatic, and here the drinking public has no need of such inflexible cataloguing. With an impeccable history that dates back to Shakespeare’s time, few things can be classier than taking a copita of ice-cold fino sherry on a terrace looking out over the vineyards, or in the bar of a luxury hotel. Sherry sales are finally recovering, and the old iconic brands like Tio Pepe and La Ina have pulled
through. The smaller Valdespino bodega of the Estevez Group has not changed the label on its wines for 60 years and just reeks of style. Tio Diego single-vineyard amontillado is a drinking experience like no other; a bargain at €20. Red wines are by default more stylish than whites, and the greatest, classiest, granddaddies of them all are from La Rioja. The superb wines of López de Heredia and CVNE (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) were valid currency half a century ago, and the history of these wineries is the history of Spanish wine. CVNE’s beautifully-presented Viña Real Crianza costs only €6,95, although the bodega’s sensational Contino Graciano will set you back nearly €60, but worth it. So what about the Marquises you may ask, Riscal, Murrieta et al? They unquestionably have residual style but have been overshadowed by the likes of Muga and Martínez Bujanda, makers of superior wines. The latter’s Finca Valpiedra Reserva is made by Lauren Rosillo (who now makes his own superb Sedella wine in Málaga), and is a classic at €22, while Muga’s Reserva Selección Especial 2009 is one of Spain’s greatest at only €24. Their Prado Enea Gran Reserva 2005 at €35 is just sensational, so it is unsurprising that these wines are the best selling Riojas in the USA. Roda did not produce its first wine until 1992, with grapes sourced from 17 selected vineyards: a blend of tempranillo, garnacha and graciano.
Roda I is only made in good years, the last being 2008, which explains why it is often difficult to find, even at €43. That’s true style. There is also Roda II and Corimbo at more modest price levels. La Rioja Alta SA is another selective-vintage producer, and its Viña Ardanza has only declared a vintage in nine years since 1964; the current version is 2004. What could be more intriguing than having to wait half a decade for a new vintage? Amazing value at only €20. What about the Navarra region’s chances of being included under this title? Well, there are some spectacularly classy wines, starting with Viña Magaña’s Calchetas. This €28 wine has harvested a mountain of praise internationally, and although the most expensive of a trio with its Dignus starting at €8, the price is not excessive, but the identity of the grapes used is a secret. Of course the Chivite brand leads Navarra and exudes class, with its Colección 125 range established as a showcase of the region’s best. Its Arinzano selection has the coolest presentation and the La Casona 2008 (tempranillo and merlot) is still improving in the bottle. Viña Salcedo, now part of the Group, started in business in 1969, makes impeccable wines that you can be proud of ordering in a restaurant. The Puente de Salceda 2009 is a snip at €12. If you get the impression that it is necessary to pay top euro for a stylish wine,
Wine. There can be few other consumable products that get described in so many diverse ways, and about which there is less agreement. Eric Asimov, the veteran New York Times wine critic, doesn’t mince words. For him such descriptions as blueberries, tobacco, pepper and chocolate are ridiculous. ‘Have you seen anyone choose a wine because they prefer strawberries to gooseberries?’ he asks.
Style
WINES WITH
WORDS AJ LINN
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the impeccable pedigree of the Pascual family, traceable back to the 14th century, gives its name to Bodega Pascual’s faultless Ribera del Duero reds. The Buró de Peñalosa Crianza is backed by decades of lineage yet only costs €12, and the Heredad de Peñalosa Tinto Roble a sensational €7. Is the famous Vega Sicilia a classy wine? There is no doubt its bloodline is above reproach, and counting Churchill as a fan was a marketing coup like no other. Nevertheless perhaps in the style rankings it loses out to cooler competitors like Pingus, Carmelo Rodero, Viña Sastre, Alion, Pago de Carraovejas, and Hacienda Monasterio. All these wines ooze class and quality and any drinker would be proud to be seen enjoying them, although Arzuaga, López Cristobal and Abadia Retuerta are the unquestioned style kings of the Duero. The Arzuaga family is originally from Navarra, and Amaya Arzuaga is a well-known fashion designer who has a wine made for her, Amaya, costing a very cool €60, while the regular Reserva 2009 is excellent value at €35. López Cristobal is the newest of the bunch but makes wine that everyone wants. Founded in 1994 in Roa, at the heart of Ribera del Duero, the quality of its products have made it a trend-setter. The Roble Tinto 2012 is €7 while the superior and beautifully-presented Bagús 2010 is €26. Abadia Retuerta is just outside the boundaries of the DO but none the worse for that, and in 2005 it was voted the Best Wine in the World at the International Wine Challenge. Around €18. Are there any other Spanish regions that produce wines with style? Undeniably, and precisely owing to the fact these other regions are newer, do a lesser number of stylish wines stand out. In the Galician Rías Baixas, for class you can cut with a knife, the long-established José Pariente bodega is supreme. Its Cuvée Especial 2012 Verdejo looks, feels and tastes like the quality champion it is; €30. Style can also be projected by ownership, and the Ronda bodega of Cortijo Los Aguilares, established by Basque businessman José Antonio Itarte in 1990, is elegance personified. It took his winemaker, Bibi Garcia, who had never made Pinot Noir previously, no time at all to bring home three international gold medals for her Pinot Noir (€25), but its trendy Tadeo 2009 at €30 is the star turn. No tour around Spain’s trending wineries would be complete without a mention of Somontano’s Viñas del Vero (owned by Gonzalez Byass.). Try the Gewürztraminer Colección 2012 at €9,95. Toro’s Fariña bodega has made classy wines from tinta del país grapes for decades, but El Bierzo’s Dominio de Tares wins top mention. Using the fashionable Mencia grape from 60-year old vines, its Cepas Viejas sells for €13 with a stonkingly good white Godello available at €13,50 Spain boasts some of the world’s most stylish wines, as would be expected from a country with such a fascinating history, but they are generally not sitting on store shelves waiting to be bought. A little research is usually a good idea and can also be great fun. e
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restaurants All’s Well Bar & Restaurant
Gallo Nero
Maharaja Indian Restaurant
solo express
Unit 4, Casemates Square, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 72987
56/58 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 77832
5 Tuckey’s Lane, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 50733
Casemates Square, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 62828
BEAN & gone cafe
Gatsby’s
Mamma Mia
Taps Bar
20 Engineers Lane, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 65334
1 /3 Watergardens 1, Waterport Ave, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 76291
Unit C, Boyd Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 64444
5 Ocean Village Promenade, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 67575
Mons calpe suite
Gibraltar Arms
Top of The Rock, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 79478
Theatre Royal Bar & Restaurant
Bianca’s 6/7 Admiral’s Walk, Marina Bay, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 73379
Bistro Madeleine 256 Main Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 65696
Bridge Bar & Grill Leisure Island, Ocean Village, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 66446
Bruno’s Unit 3, Trade Winds, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 68444
Cafe Rojo 54 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 51738
Cafe Solo Grand Casemates Square 3, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 44449
Cannon Bar 27 Cannon Lane, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 77288
184 Main Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 72133
Ipanema Unit 11, Ocean Village Promenade, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 216 48888
Jumpers Wheel Restaurant 20 Rosia Road, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 40052
Jury’s Cafe & Wine Bar 275 Main Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 67898
Khan’s 7/8 Watergardens, Waterport, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 50015
Kowloon Restaurant 20 Watergardens III, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 42771
La Mamela
Mumbai curry house
60 Governor’s Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 51614
Ground floor, Block 1 Eurotowers, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 73711
The Chargrill Restaurant at Gala Casino
Nunos
Gala Casino, Ocean Village, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 76666
The Caleta Hotel, Catalan Bay, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 76501
O’Reilly’s Leisure Island, Ocean Village, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 67888
Piccadilly Garden Bar
The Clipper 78 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 79791
The Cuban
3B Rosia Rd, Gibraltar Tel. +350 200 75758
21B The Promenade, Ocean Village, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 67889
Pizza Express
the island
Unit 17, Ocean Village, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 50050
27 Leisure Island, Ocean Village, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 66666
Pizzaghetti
the ivy sports bar & grill
Sir Herbert Miles Road, Catalan Bay, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 72373
1008 Eurotowers, Europort Avenue, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 63868
Latino’s Diner
Restaurante Nunos Italiano
The Landings Restaurant
Casa Pepe
194/196 Main Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 46660
15 Ragged Staff Wharf, Queensway Quay, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 66100
Unit 18, Queensway Quay Marina, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 46967
Latinos Music Bar and Restaurant
Caleta Hotel, Sir Herbert Miles Road, Catalan Bay, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 76501
Champion’s Planet Bar & Grill
9 Casemates Square, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 47755
Rooftop Bistro, O’Callaghan Eliott Hotel
Europa Road, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 73000x The Royal Calpe, 176 Main Street. Tel: +350 200 75890
Casa Brachetto 9 Chatham Counterguard, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 48200
Unit 2B, The Tower, Marina Bay, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 46668
Charlie’s Steakhouse & Grill 4/5 Britannia House, Marina Bay, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 69993
Corks Wine Bar 79 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 75566
El Patio Unit 11, Casemates Square, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 40713
El Pulpero Unit 12A Watergardens, Waterport, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 44786
La Parrilla 17/18 Watergardens, Block 6, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 66555
Laziz Sail 2.2, Ocean Village Marina, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 40971
Le Bateau 14 Ragged Staff Wharf, Queensway Quay, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 66420
Lek Bangkok Unit 50 1/3, Block 5, Eurotowers, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 48881
4 Stagioni
Little Rock Restaurant & Bar
16/18 Saluting Battery, Rosia Road, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 79153
Casemates Square, Gibraltar Tel +350 200 51977
Governor’s Parade, Gibraltar +350 200 70500
Roy’s Cod Place 2/2 Watergate House, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 76662
Sacarello’s Cafe-Restaurant 57 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 70625
Seawave Bar 60 Catalan Bay Village, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 78739
Solo Bar & Grill Unit 15, 4 Eurotowers, Europort Avenue, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 62828
13a Ocean Village, Gibraltar. Tel: +350 200 68222
The Rock Hotel Restaurant
The Trafalgar Bar 1a Rosia Road, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 45370
The Waterfront 4/5 Ragged Staff Wharf, Queensway Quay, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 45666
Tunnel Bar Restaurant Casemates Square, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 44878
Verdi Verdi Unit G10, International Commercial Centre, Main Street, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 60733
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