Open skies | April 2014

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CONTENTS / APRIL 2014

32

We explore the wonders hidden in the lanes of Taipei’s Yongkang Street

57

48

40

Tamikrest vocalist and guitarist Ousmane Ag Mossa shares his favourite tracks

Zurich chef Stefan Wieser Celebrating the reveals his favourite places printed word with the owners to eat in the city of LA’s The Last Bookstore

46 42

We spend the night at New York’s The Surrey

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OPEN SKIES / APRIL 2014

51

Our comprehensive guide to the food loving French city of Lyon

An organic café-boutique run by two French expats who are dedicated to clean living

contents / april 2014

84

The Vegivores Are Taking Over

front (21) Calendar The Grid The Question The Street Skypod The Room

23 28 30 32 40 42

Consume BLD Mapped Local Knowledge Column

Main (69) The New Vienna Our Man In The Vegivores Are Taking Over

45 48 51 57 65

briefing (93) 70 78 84

News Comfort Visas & UAE Smart Gate Route Map The Fleet Last Look

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Open skies / april 2014

94 102 104 106 112 114

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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Gareth Rees, Editor

“THE RESULT IS A PORTRAIT OF A CITY THAT RIVALS BERLIN IN THE COOL STAKES BUT ALSO HAS A CHARACTER ALL ITS OWN”

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’m not proud of it, but I have never been to Vienna. Come on, I’m only 31, I can’t have been everywhere, now, can I? It’s been floating around somewhere on my list of ‘places I simply must visit as soon as the opportunity presents itself’ for the past 10 years or so, but when it came to booking flights, I always – for one reason or another, or sometimes no good reason at all – chose one of the many other destinations scrawled on that tattered piece of A5 in my mind.

Carol Reed’s 1949 film noir, The Third Man, written by the great Graham Greene and starring the magnificent Orson Welles, is my point of reference for Vienna – a wonderful film, but perhaps not the most accurate guide for somebody visiting the city in 2014. As a result, I have always imagined Vienna in black and white. I am obviously aware of the city’s cultural heritage: the birthplace of Freud, Schubert and Strauss, but also a musical magnet that attracted musicians from Mozart and Haydn to Mahler and Brahms. But, alas, I have never set foot on its historydrenched streets.

So, when Christopher Beanland told me that a new Vienna was emerging – a vibrant Vienna, proud of its past but in no way stuck in it – I told him to book a plane ticket and go and speak to the young artists, creatives and entrepreneurs who are living and working in this revitalised capital. The result is a portrait of a city that rivals Berlin in the cool stakes but also has a character all its own; and it’s definitely in dazzling Technicolour.

Now, on to something I do have a lot of experience of: food. In another life, so recent that I am still trying to lose the excess kilos, I was a food writer.

So Trevor Baker’s ‘The Vegivores Are Taking Over’ is the sort of story I love to devour. Trevor spoke to several renowned chefs, including Alain Passard, Rene Redzepi, Rodrigo de la Calle and Bruno Loubet, who believe that the future of haute cuisine is veg.

That’s right, vegetables, the healthy

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ON THE COVER / Type Vienna into Google Images, and you will be presented with a grid of familiar vistas of a city with a long and celebrated history. An old city. But our cover story, celebrating the rise of a new, young Vienna demanded something very different, so we commissioned photographer Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek to present Vienna as it is today. We think this photograph of a solitary building – the new DC Tower 1 – is a striking and unexpected representation of the contemporary city.

plants and whathaveyou that your parents forced you to finish as a child before you were allowed to enjoy your dessert. This isn’t vegetarianism, mind you – meat isn’t going anywhere, but vegetables will be the stars.

Even if you’re an ardent carnivore, now is the time to eat, and enjoy, your vegetables. A silky steak, a tender roast chicken and a beautiful pink lamb chop are all personal favourites, and I remain an ardent meat lover, but one of the best dishes I have ever eaten was a bowl of peas. They were no ordinary peas, and the price, so great I am too embarrassed to share it here, reflected that, but the firm texture and the pure, fresh flavour as they burst between my teeth were a revelation. I could have eaten a bucket of them. And that’s just peas. Wait until you hear what these culinary greats are doing with vegetables, some of which you have probably never heard of, let alone eaten. Until next time, enjoy the issue, and eat your broccoli or you’re not going to be allowed your apple crumble and custard.

Inspiring minds Inspiring the world.

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CONTRIBUTORS

SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HELPED CREATE THIS MAGAZINE

TREVOR BAKER

Trevor Baker started his career as a music journalist, writing for Melody Maker.

He’s since gone on to write about food, drink and travel for titles such as The Guardian and The Sunday Times Travel. He recently published Depeche Mode: The Early Years. For this issue, he interviewed three star chefs for his ‘The Vegivores Are Taking Over’ feature.

“My favourite part of this feature was when chef Rodrigo de la Calle described himself as ‘the Freddie Krueger of lobsters’’,” he says.

“He and, equally entertaining, London-based legend Bruno Loubet are proof that you don’t have to be boring to really, really love vegetables.”

ALEX ROBBINS

Alex is a designer and illustrator who shuttles between Berlin and Bristol. His work is a mixture of typography, lettering and illustration. He was awarded an Art Directors Club Young Gun, and was named one of the 50 most influential creatives aged under 30. Clients include The New Yorker, TIME and Penguin. For this issue he created the images for our ‘The Vegivores Are Taking Over’ feature.

“Creating images using different types of vegetables was a lot of fun,” he says. “The fridge was well stocked at the end of the project, so l cooked up a gigantic curry for my studio neighbours.”

PANOS KOKKINIAS

Panos is an artist and photographer based in Athens, Greece. His work has been published in his monograph, Here We Are, and he has held shows in Athens, Paris, and New York. He has worked for the Athens-Epidaurus Festival, the European Patent Office, the British Council and the Danish and Greek Pavilions at the Venice Bienalle.

For this issue he photographed Kostas Voyatzis, founder of Yatzer.com.

“Photographing Kostas in front of the Acropolis Museum was a pleasure and a challenge, as I had to meet, in one shot, the high stylistic demands of both.”

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OPEN SKIES / APRIL 2014

DANIEL GEBHART DE KOEKKOEK Daniel is a photographer currently based in Vienna. His work has appeared in VICE, Vanity Fair, Monocle, Travel+Leisure, The Financial Times, Zeit Magazin and SZ-Magazin. He has exhibited in Europe, Asia and the US, and his first book, The World We Live In, was published in 2013.

For this issue, he photographed Vienna.

“I’m interested in new architecture and design,” he says. “But I also enjoy the city’s authentic, old buildings and the nature surrounding it. That contrast between old and new is a striking feature of today’s Vienna.”

LINUS CHEN MAGNUSSON

Linus is a Swedish freelance writer and photographer based in Taipei.

He specialises in adventure and travel, and his words have appeared on the pages of Outside, Centered On Taipei, Expressen, Res, Mountain Record and Brant. For this issue, he wrote about and photographed Yongkang Street, one of Taipei’s liveliest streets.

“I know Yongkang Street inside out,” he says. “I have met a lot of warm people while patrolling the street for the best offers, but the most memorable is roaster Shi-Bo Lin, who is keen on regaling you with the history of each coffee bean. I really admire his passion.”

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Yongkang Street Get lost in the alleyways of one of Taipei’s most exciting neighbourhoods

(32)

front LOS ANGELES: Browsing the shelves at an independent bookshop located in an old bank DUBAI: An organic café-boutique run by two French expats

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Open skies / April 2014

46 57

April

CALENDAR

April 24 to 27, California, USA

SAntA ClAritA Cowboy FeStivAl April 13, London, UK

London Marathon In 1981, 6,255 competitors completed the inaugural London Marathon and a global sporting event was born. The marathon is now televised in more than 150 countries, but it is well worth making the effort to capture the atmosphere on the London streets.

Live music and plenty of food and entertainment line the route, as well as thousands of spectators cheering on the runners, the majority of whom are running for charity.

Santa Clarita’s Cowboy Festival provides an extensive line-up of music, food, entertainment and activities that celebrate cowboy culture and a traditional Western lifestyle. Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio will host a range of performers, including Don Edwards and Nancy Lee, and visitors can purchase signed books, CDs and memorabilia.

CoWboyFEStivAL.oRg

viRgiNMoNEyLoNDoNMARAthoN.CoM

April 14, Shanghai, China

F1 Chinese Grand Prix Boasting one of the trickiest corner combinations in the F1 calendar, the Chinese Grand Prix has been delighting F1 fans since 2004. And with a deal signed to hold races until 2017, recent controversy over losses made by the event have been put aside. Spaniard Fernando Alonso won the last Chinese Grand Prix, but a Brit or a German won the five races prior to that.

FoRMULA1.CoM

April 3 to 13, Carthage, tunisia

JAzz in CArthAge

the ninth instalment of this wellestablished jazz festival has attracted artists from all over the world. Joss Stone has confirmed her attendance, while blues fans will be treated to music from US guitarist-keyboard player Lucky Peterson, who is flying in from the US. Another highlight is pianist Freddy Cole, younger brother of the great Nat King Cole.

JAzzACARthAgE.CoM

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Open skies / April 2014

APRIL

CALENDAR

April 11 to 14, Coulommiers, France

INTERNATIONAL CHEESE AND WINE FAIR More than 60,000 food lovers will descend on Coulommiers, home of the eponymous cheese, this month to be treated to a range of regional dairy products and wines supplied by more than 350 exhibitors. There is a brie contest and other dairy competitions as well as the ever popular guess the weight of Marguerite the cow.

FOIRE-FROMAGES-ET-VINS.COM

April 4 to 14, Morocco

Marathon des Sables Widely regarded the toughest footrace on earth, The Marathon des Sables is a gruelling multi-stage adventure through the Sahara desert. Competitors must carry everything they need to survive aside from water and a tent, which is provided each night. Started in 1986 by Patrick Bauer, the race is now in its 28th consecutive year and continues to grow in popularity, despite its ability to halt many competitors in their tracks.

MARATHONDESSABLES.CO.UK

April 5 to May 11, Berlin, Germany

SNAKE GRASS

Schinkel Pavillon is hosting the first institutional solo exhibition in Germany of the French artist Camille Henrot. The exhibition, Snake Grass, will feature two different works by Henrot: Is It Possible To Be A Revolutionary And Like Flowers? and The Strife Of Love.

April 19, London, UK

Record Store Day

SCHINKELPAVILLON.DE

The independent record stores of Berwick Street in London’s famous Soho neighbourhood have joined forces to celebrate Record Store Day, on which music lovers will enjoy exclusive vinyl and CD launches.

Known as ‘The Golden Mile Of Vinyl’ by record collectors since the 1980s, Berwick Street will also be showcasing a range of live music, which last year included Frank Turner, Steve Mason and The Wire.

Other events will take place across the UK and the US. BERWICKSTREETLONDON.CO.UK

Skypod

Ousmane Ag Mossa page 40 24

OPEN SKIES / APRIL 2014

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LONDON 64, South Molton Street MILAN Via della Spiga angolo Borgospesso FLORENCE Piazza Rucellai, 3 ROME Via del Babuino, 150

April

CALENDAR

April 23 to 28, st Petersburg, russia

DAnce open

Dance open 2014 is one of the most significant events in the ballet season, drawing ballet-lovers from all over the world to st Petersburg. there will be a series of master classes as well as the highly coveted Dance open Awards. the festival will conclude with performances by international stars igone de Jongh, melissa Hamilton and thiago Bordin, among others.

DAnceoPen.com/en

April 27 to May 4, Australia

Tasting Australia The biennial Tasting Australia celebrates the best in fine produce, food, drink, hospitality and tourism experiences. The 2014 event theme is ‘origins’, and it will celebrate the places and people that shape Australia’s food and wine industry. Tasting Australia will feature international guests, regional tours, cooking classes, children’s events and a gala dinner showcasing the best of South Australian cuisine. tAstingAustrAliA.com.Au

April 13 to 14, sri lanka

Sri lAnkAn new YeAr celebrAtionS

coinciding with the start of the southwest monsoon and the end of the harvest season, the Buddhist and Hindu new Year is a family festival during which presents are exchanged and the traditional kiribath (rice cooked with milk and cut into diamond shapes) is prepared. Businesses close, rituals are performed, new clothes are worn and horoscopes are cast.

April 8 to May 14, new Zealand

Billy Connolly High Horse Tour Comedian Billy Connolly is embarking on a 12-city tour of New Zealand, kicking off at Napier Municipal Theatre and finishing in Hamilton’s Claudelands Arena. The Big Yin, as he’s affectionately known in his native Scotland, has been entertaining New Zealand audiences with his live stand-up shows since his first tour in 1978.

BillYconnollY.com

Mapped 26

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Open skies / april 2014

THE GRID April 17 Lionel Richie Dubai, UAE

THE THREE BIGGEST EVENTS TAKING PLACE IN THE UAE THIS MONTH...

After more than 40 years, Lionel Richie is still on the road, and the singer-songwriter, who has been making music since the late 1960s, when his group the Commodores signed to Motown Records, will stop off for one night only in Dubai this month. The five-time Grammy Award-winning star, who has sold more than 100 million records, will perform in the Media City Amphitheatre. lionelrichie.com

April 3 to 18 The Wizard Of Oz Dubai, UAE

April 3 to 5 Middle East Film & Comic Con Dubai, UAE

Dubai’s Madinat Theatre in Soil Madinat Jumeirah plays host to the stage version of MGM’s classic Oscar-winning musical The Wizard Of Oz.. Directed by John Payton, and featuring actors from London’s West End, the show, created to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the film, will feature original songs, including We’re Off To See The Wizard and Follow The Yellow Brick Road. wizardofozlive.com

The third edition of the annual Middle East Film & Comic Con is taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre this month. A big draw for fans of science fiction, fantasy, superhero movies, anime, manga, comics and graphic novels, this year the event will welcome former Dr Who Sylvester McCoy, the writer of sci-fi hit Chronicle, Max Landis, and actor, director and screenwriter Seth Green. mefcc.com

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the question

WHAT CAUSES DÉJÀ VU? The French phrase déjà vu, translated as ‘already seen’, is, argue some, a moment in which we experience a life we have already lived.

But philosophers, scientists and psychologists inevitably disagree, and many have attempted to explain the strong sensation that an event currently being experienced has been experienced in the past in different ways. Algerian Émile Boirac was one of the first to use the term déjà vu in his 1918 book L’Avenir des Sciences Psychiques, but it wasn’t until 1928 that psychologist Edward B Titchener described déjà vu as a person having a brief glimpse of an object or situation before the brain had manufactured a complete perception of the experience. As the 20th century progressed, déjà vu became a popular subject for alien abduction theorists, and the scientific community swiftly removed itself from studying the phenomenon for fear of being stigmatised. But with advances in scientific apparatus

TWITTER Q&A Boston Symphony explains itself in 140 characters or less

and the ability to better scan the brain, the subject has been revisited. A more recent theory, formulated through the study of epilepsy, suggests there is a link between déjà vu and the seizures that occur in people with medial temporal lobe epilepsy, which affects the brain’s hippocampus.

According to a recent report published in medical journal Neuropsychologia, the hippocampus plays a key role in managing memory, and those with medial temporal lobe epilepsy “consistently experience déjà vu at the onset of their seizures”. It has resulted in some concluding that neural misfiring, even in healthy people, creates a false sense of familiarity.

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Open skies / april 2014

@OpenSkiesMag: Good morning, would you like to take part in a Twitter Q&A for our April issue? @BostonSymphony: Good morning from Boston!

We would love to take part in a Twitter Q&A. @OpenSkiesMag: Tell us about your distinguished history. When did the Boston Symphony start? @BostonSymphony: This is our 133rd season, the BSO gave its first concert in 1881.

Symphony Hall opened in 1900, one of the world’s top venues! @OpenSkiesMag: What can people expect from a visit to the Boston Symphony? What makes it special? @BostonSymphony: A truly world-class, world-renowned orchestra. The acoustic design of the Symphony Hall makes it one of the top halls in the world. @OpenSkiesMag: What events do you have coming up in April? @BostonSymphony: 15 great concerts featuring works by Mozart, Mahler, Debussy, Bach, Stravinsky & Beethoven! Also rehearsals open to the public. @OpenSkiesMag: That’s a lot to pack into one month. What do you have planned for the rest of the year? @BostonSymphony: Tanglewood Music Festival is our summer home, June 28-August 30. Then our new Music Director Andris Nelsons begins his 1st season. @OpenSkiesMag: Unless there’s anything else you would like to add, that should be enough.

Thank you very much for your time. @BostonSymphony: If you’re coming to Boston, make sure to experience something that the city is famous for, which is great art and music!

the street

Yongkang Street, Taipei

Words and images by Linus Chen Magnusson

Foodies have long been drawn to Taipei’s Yongkang Street; located in one of the city’s liveliest neighbourhoods, it is one of the best places to explore Taiwanese food, which, although strongly influenced

by Japanese and Chinese cuisine, has a character all its own. You

might find yourself standing in line waiting to dig into fried spring onion pancakes, steamed soup dumplings with minced crabmeat, or shaved ice topped with sweet mango to take the edge off the heat of the day. The longer the queue, the better the food. Most tourists begin and end

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Open skies / april 2014

their visit at the northern end of Yongkang, but the real gems can be found at the southern end and in the network of narrow lanes off the main street. It is in these lanes that you will find a vibrant coffee culture, renowned galleries and all manner of quirky independent shops.

Pinmo Pure Store The main Pinmo Pure Store is one of two on Yongkang Street (the other is two minutes away on foot). It is not easy to find – keep a lookout for the metal spaceship in its courtyard – but it is well worth the search. It is said that the name of the store came to owner Richard Wong in a dream, but design of the products sees

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Open skies / April 2014

the fantastical eschewed in favour of the simple and functional. The main store is known for its soothing artistic feel, and it is filled with the aroma of freshly baked cookies and tea from Biscuit & Rabbit Café.

10, Lane 75, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2396 8366 pinmo.com.tw

the street

Zhao He Ting Antique Market This indoor antique market is tucked away at the southern end of Yongkang Street, close to National Taiwan Normal University Library. If you’re on the lookout for movie posters, ticket stubs or toys from Taiwan’s Japanese colonial period (1895 to 1945), you will find what you’re looking for here.

Take a closer look, and

you’ll also unearth store signs, jade ornaments, scroll paintings, lacquered furniture, jewellery and tea-making artefacts. Every weekend, this market is crowded with antique dealers from all over the island, as well as local residents and newcomers, all hunting for unique treasures.

60 Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei

LV Sang If you can grab a seat at one of Lv Sang’s old wooden tables before it is packed with its many regular customers – predominantly senior citizens who return time and again for the affordable (most dishes are between NT$120 and NT$180) and delicious dishes – this is the best place to explore the traditional flavours of Yilan County in the northeast of Taiwan. Order the oysters with fried bean paste and cold shredded chicken, steamed fish, deep fried tofu and stewed intestines in miso soup, washed down with a cup of the excellent sweet and sour local tea. With its exposed brick walls, simple ceramic floor tiles and bright wall mounted menu, Lv Sang is unpretentious, but the quality of the food makes it one of the best places to eat on Yongkang Street.

12-5, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2351 3323 lvsang.myweb.hinet.net

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Open skies / april 2014

the street

Piao Piao & Art Gallery Established by owner Kang-Long Peng as a place where he could gather his friends on a daily basis to discuss art and drink tea, this intimate space, just 27sqm in size, has grown in reputation over the last eight years, and is now one of the most important galleries in the city. The gallery exhibits some of the country’s most renowned artists, and the work displayed ranges from Pu-Chun Teng’s dreamy Chinese ink paintings to Fei Fei Su’s exceptional wood carving work and BaiQin Fang and Xing-Yu Wang’s ceramics.

44 Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2393 7505 facebook.com/piaopiaogallery

Yeh Tang Culture Research Institute Yeh Tang Culture Research Institute is a peaceful teahouse staffed by passionate and informed people. Many visitors, lured by the street’s more visible offerings, miss it, but owner Chien Ho is dedicated

to preserving Taiwanese tea culture and is keen to tell you all about it while you enjoy your afternoon brew. Go for a cup of the region’s famed Tie Guan Yin, with its delightful balance of fruit and floral

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Open skies / april 2014

flavours, or Gao Shan, with its milky texture and sweet taste.

Tea, tea cups and tea pots are available to buy.

20-2, Lane 31, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2356 7841

the street

8% Ice When it’s time to take things down a couple of degrees, make a stop at this light and airy ice cream parlour.

The friendly staff at 8% Ice fill their scoops with unusual flavours such as Formosa aroma black tea, brown sugar with sea salt and banana with matcha and white chocolate, and each variation is made entirely from natural ingredients, without artificial additives. The flavours change with the season, and the ice cream has a beautiful texture and a smooth flavour profile. 8% Ice also displays art and is a popular venue for live music, including singer-songwriters, cellists and violinists. There is a second location in Xinyi District, the financial district in Eatern Taipei.

Number 6, Lane 13, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2395 6583 8-ice.blogspot.tw

The Coffee Bean Store The polite and passionate owner behind the counter at The Coffee Bean Store, Shi-Bo Lin, roasts all the coffee beans on site, in small batches, slowly and meticulously, to ensure the customer receives the finest roast. Lin’s dedication brings loyal customers from far and wide, and in addition to the intoxicating aroma of coffee

James Kitchen If you want to sample Taiwanese cuisine, head to James Kitchen and order the rice with lard, bamboo shoot with intestines, roasted threadfin perch, dragon whiskers salad, pumpkin fried rice noodles, crab meat balls in cabbage soup and fried oyster rolls. The menu changes daily, as owner James Tseng cooks what’s in season and available from the market in the morning.

The cooking methods are old-fashioned and the dishes require a lot of preparation, time and knowledge attained over years of daily practice, but the result is food that has a lasting memory in every bite. When the red lamp outside the door is lit (usually around dinner time), you know James Kitchen is open.

65 Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2343 2275

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Open skies / april 2014

beans roasting, Shi-Bo also offers filtered coffee. So you can grab a paper cup and stroll along the street or take the time and enjoy your coffee in the small, carefully considered space, furnished wooden stools and folding chairs. Be warned, seats go fast, so keep your eyes peeled and move quickly.

91 Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei Tel: +886 2 2392 7770

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SKYPOD

OUSMANE AG MOSSA GENRE: Blues AGE: 28 CITY: Kidal, Mali

Ousmane Ag Mossa, vocalist and guitarist in Tamikrest, a group of Touareg musicians from Mali, shares his favourite tracks

01.

02. 03. 04.

Alla Luth Orient

Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabate Savane

Pink Floyd Shine On You Crazy Diamond

I have always liked Ali Farka’s guitar, and combined with Toumani Diabate’s kora it reveals something more.

It starts with psychedelic and introspective keyboard, but when the guitar comes in it throws you into the music.

Alla is an old Algerian oud player, and his music is really beautiful – like a journey. I like to listen to it at night, or in peaceful moments.

Tinariwen Soixante Trois This is about the 1963 Tamasheq revolution, which the band’s Ibrahim Ag Alhabib experienced. If you understand the lyrics, you can’t fail to be touched.

05. 06. 07.

08.

Dire Straits You And Your Friend

Eric Clapton Layla

Bob Marley War

Tinariwen Islegh Taghram Tifhaman

There is fantastic slide and solo guitar from Mark Knopfler on this track. As ever, he’s very melodious in his improvisations.

I now know that this song is about falling in love with an unobtainable woman, but I don’t speak English, so it was Clapton’s playing that seduced me first.

Marley’s philosophy in this song is one that resonates with the Tuareg cause. He is a model of composition, a man who was completely inhabited by his music.

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This was one of the first songs by this band I ever heard – I remember listening to it on cassette. facebook.com/tamikrest

the Room

TEXT: GINa JOHNSON IMaGES: THE SURREY, NEW YORK

ROOM 1212

THE SURREY, NEW YORK

With its cosy pied-a-terre disposition in a neighborhood known for a more affected classical glamour, The Surrey offers the kind of cool, monochromatic New York style more often associated with a Downtown aesthetic. Here, in an enclave of Upper East Side sophistication a few blocks from Central Park, is where art meets fashion in a Beaux-Arts architectural building smattered with edgy furnishings from design duo Jimmie Martin and Sally Anne McCoy and art from Jenny Holtzer. A tapestry rendition of Kate Moss is the artistic centrepiece of the main reception and window seats in the salons are adorned with cushions embroidered with poems such as: ‘Through these windows lies the soul of the city’. Café Boulud now takes the place of the original home of Michelin-starred chef David Boulud’s first New York City restaurant Daniel, and, with it’s buzzy alfresco dining setting, attracts a well-heeled weekend crowd of residential locals. In a nod to fashion iconicism, Coco Canelinspired Bar Pleiades – all black laquered framing and beige quilted booths – is designed to represent that ultimate in stylish accessory, a Chanel makeup compact. But it’s not all style over substance, as The Surrey’s concierge team are among the city’s best, having scooped last year’s Silver Plume Awards for Concierge and Chef Concierge of The Year.

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INTERNET: Wi-Fi is US$15.95 per day PILLOWS: 6 BEDSIZE: US$10,000 King size DUX beds by Duxiana CLUB SANDWICH DELIVERY TIME: 19 minutes COMPLEMENTARY SNACKS: In-room tea and coffee, complimentrary champagne TOILETRY BRAND: Mitchell and Peach EXTRAS: Nespresso machine, iPod connections and HD television TV channels: 103 VIEW: 4/5 RATE: From US$525

OPEN SKIES MAR 2014 ENG.pdf 1 2/10/2014 10:32:44 AM

THREE NEW HOTEL OPENINGS

MISS CLARA Stockholm, Sweden

This 92-room boutique hotel is housed in a 1910 Art Nouveau building – formerly Ateneum girls’ school – designed by renowned Stockholm firm Hagström & Ekman in Sveavägen. Located in what is now the Stockholm City district, the property has a street level bar and restaurant. missclarahotel.com

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ALILA JABAL AKHDAR Jabal Akhdar, Oman

Sitting at 2,000m above sea level, Alila Jabal Akhdar is located in the Al Hajar Mountains, 150km from Muscat. The property’s 86 suites offer panoramic views of the mountain range. alilahotels.com

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Bathroom Accessories

consume albums

EDUCATION, EDUCATION & WAR Kaiser Chiefs

Indie The fifth album from British indie band Kaiser Chiefs is their first since 2011’s The Future Is Medieval, and the first to feature new drummer Vijay Mistry, who replaced Nick Hodgson in 2012.

The first single, Coming Home, was released in February, and the band will start touring for the album in Munich, Germany, on April 9.

FOOD Kelis

R&b The first album in four years from Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter Kelis is also her sixth, and the first she has recorded on British dance duo Coldcut’s Ninja Tune label. TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek produced Food.

EVERYDAY ROBOTS Damon Albarn

Indie Everyday Robots is the first solo album from Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Rocket Juice & The Moon). The first single from the album, Everyday Robots, was released in March.

CAUSTIC LOVE Paolo Nutini

Pop Scottish musician Paolo Nutini’s first album since 2009’s Sunny Side Up, which reached No 1 in the UK charts, is his third.

The first single from the album, Scream (Funk Up My Life) was released in January.

books

LOST WALLS eL Seed

art French-Tunisian artist eL Seed combines calligraphy and graffiti, referring to himself as a ‘calligraffiti’ artist.

The book features images of 24 walls eL Seed painted during a four-week road trip around Tunisia.

100 GETAWAYS AROUND THE WORLD Margit J Mayer

Travel This two-volume coffee table book is an A to Z of 100 of the world’s greatest hotels, featuring properties from B&Bs to five-star resorts.

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THE NEXT AMERICA Paul Taylor

Non-fiction Pew Research Centre’s Paul Taylor draws on the institution’s data archive to present a vision of America’s future, which, he argues, will be very different from its past and present.

consume The Bookshop

The Last Bookstore

PRINT LIVES / The owners of The Last Bookstore believe that there is still a strong demand for the printed word

The Last Bookstore, great name, yet surely not as apocalyptic as it would suggest. Who came up with it?

Owner/founder Josh Spencer came up with it as an ironic but memorable name more than a decade ago. It became a bit prophetic as bookstores started closing down all around us.

You’re located in a terrific space and we love the surreal Dalíesque interior. What are the influences and how did it all evolve?

When we ended up in what was an old bank, Josh wanted to pay tribute to the vintage feel while acknowledging the 21st century. I think that led to the ‘steampunk’ aesthetic we’ve embraced. We chose to use colours and designs that accented the original fixtures and partner with artists whose styles matched our own.

Books form a front-desk, murals, a literary tunnel and what could be described as an altar – a shrine to the printed word. Do you believe we’re witnessing the death throes of the print medium?

Books as a physical construct continue to have relevance – a pile of e-readers doesn’t make for the same architecture. It’s been interesting, as someone who loves to read, to see and hear how people interact with books now. Many people still simply love the printed word and, of course, they may also love the way a book looks on their shelf. Books are tactile.

You marry books with art, fashion events, music and, lately, food.

We love the concept of pop-up dinners in a bookstore. How does all that work?

We’ve been fortunate that people contact us about hosting everything from weddings to pop-up dinners to fashion shows. We love books here, but we also love music, food and art, so we try as much as possible to bring those elements together.

Do regular kids come to the store, or do you believe they’re lost to the digital age?

All the time. I’m passionate about people falling in love with reading at a young age. There are lots of children in the neighbourhood whose parents aren’t buying them smart-phones or tablets, but buying them a few books instead.

The store’s founder, Josh Spencer, is clearly not only a visionary but also a man who bucks the trend. What’s it like working together?

Josh gets an idea of what he’d like to do and I figure out how to help make that happen. We seem to work pretty well together, and have been [doing so] for almost five years now.

Since working at The Last Bookstore what’s your proudest moment and for what reason?

One of my favourites was the first time we won the Downtown News Best of Downtown readers’ poll for best bookstore. lastbookstorela.com

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ImAgeS: The LAST BOOKSTOre, reynALdO ArrIeTA, JOrdAn nAKAmUrA

Los Angeles, USA Questions: Andrew Birbeck / Answers: Store manager Katie Orphan

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BLD

Zurich

ImageS: ZURICH

Stefan Wieser, head chef at Zurich’s Stefs Freieck, shares his favourite places to eat in the Swiss city

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B

l

d

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DINNER

My favourite place to have breakfast or a brunch is the hotel Storchen Zürich at Weinplatz. I really enjoy sitting on the terrace on the first floor, which offers an amazing view of the Limmat [a river flowing through the centre of Zurich], as well as a great perspective over the old town. It’s currently ranked as the top hotel in Zurich on TripAdvisor, and you will certainly see why when enjoying your morning coffee or the wonderful home-smoked salmon and capers at this great establishment. Also be sure to try the sliced veal Zurich-style with noodles if you’re having brunch.

This is a really tough one for me, because I love a good sandwich for lunch. The bakery-style café Honold, which sits on the incredible Rennweg Street, is a real favourite of mine to pick up a lunchtime treat.

Their egg and bacon croissants are superb, as are the cheese tartlets.

The range of sweet options is beautiful, and they will happily recommend any special treats they have created. In summer, you have the option to either sit outside in front of the café and watch the pedestrians strolling up and down the small, car-free street, or to enjoy the deli food and sweets on the terrace. It’s more leisurely there, which is what I prefer.

When it comes to an evening meal, I love nothing more than dining at Restaurant Riviera Enoteca con Cucina. It is an exceptional Italian restaurant in the elegant Seefeld quarter on Zurich’s Dufourstrasse.

It is a great place to meet up with friends and indulge in the freshest handmade pasta along with all the traditional Italian delights such as ossobuco di vitello (knuckle of veal) or daily, freshly-caught fish Mediterranean style. The service is warm and welcoming, without being intrusive, and an added bonus is that the restaurant is located near Lake Zurich, which means I can enjoy a stroll along the shore after a marvellous and well-priced dinner.

Storchen Zürich Weinplatz 2, Zürich, Switzerland Tel: +41 (0) 44 227 2727 storchen.ch/en

Honold Rennweg 53, Zurich, Switzerland Tel: +41 (0) 44 211 5258 honold.ch

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Restaurant Riviera Enoteca con Cucina Dufourstrasse 161, Zurich, Switzerland Tel: +41 (0) 44 422 0426 enoteca-riviera.ch

MAPPED SEDAWATTA

05 Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or

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Champagne-au-Mont-d’Or Caluire-et-Cuire

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Écully

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Villeurbanne

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08 Tassin-la Demi-Lune

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Lyon

Hotels: 1) Mama Shelter (45.746947,4.845225)

Restaurants: 5) L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges (45.815745,4.847567)

Bars: 9) L’Antiquaire (45.767836,4.830625)

Galleries: 13) Musées Gadagne (45.763990,4.827566)

could be considered the stomach of France. People come eat, and eat well: from the14)legacy 2) Hotel LeLyon Royal Lyon 6) Bernachon 10) Leto Phosphore Barto à Vins Musée des Beaux-Arts (45.756385,4.833255) (45.758669,4.823395) (45.767138,4.833487) of the legendary Chef Paul(45.769008,4.84783) Bocuse to the city’s convivial bouchons (traditional bistros), the Rhône andetits markets, Lyon functions an enduring monument to gastronomy.

3) Châteauregion’s de Bagnols world-famous wines 7) Daniel Denise 11)as Le Melhor 15) Musée d’Art Contemporain (45.784367,4.852288) (45.917035,4.608572) (45.754499,4.834097) But there’s still plenty to do(45.762178,4.847173) when you’re not looking for your next meal. With its many accomplished museums and gorgeous Old Town (aJérémy Unesco Lyon is a city rich in culture.

4) Le Pavillon de la Rotonde 8) Restaurant GalvanWorld Heritage 12)Site), Le Fantôme de l’Opéra 16) Galerie Le Réverbère (45.787487,4.731857) (45.762162,4.826474) (45.771097,4.83741) (45.770431,4.834397)

HOTELS

RESTAURANTS

BARS

GALLERIES

01. Mama Shelter 02. Hotel Le Royal Lyon 03. Château de Bagnols 04. Le Pavillon de la Rotonde

05. L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges 06. Bernachon 07. Daniel et Denise 08. Restaurant Jérémy Galvan

09. L’Antiquaire 10. Le Phosphore Bar à Vins 11. Le Melhor 12. Le Fantôme de l’Opéra

13. Musées Gadagne 14.Musée des Beaux-Arts 15.Musée d’Art Contemporain 16. Galerie Le Réverbère

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OPEN SKIES / APRIL 2014

mapped

HOteLs 01 Mama Shelter There’s no mistaking this Philippe Starckbacked boutique hotel: from its bold, patterned rooms to its graffiti-scrawled lobby, Mama Shelter is as young and hip as they come. Partiers can stay put: the bar and restaurant draw crowds of weekend revellers. mamashelter.com/en/lyon 02 Le Royal Lyon Hotel Grand hotel-meets-boutique auberge, the 74-room Le Royal Lyon Hotel is an opulent sea of toile and damask. Open since 1895, the hotel – located centrally at Place Bellecour – offers classic Lyonnais hospitality. lyonhotel-leroyal.com 03 Château de Bagnols Located roughly 20 miles from the city centre, Château de Bagnols is a study in classic French décor. With views over Beaujolais vineyards, fourposter beds, wall frescoes and sumptuous gardens, the 13th century landmark hotel is one of France’s finest. chateaudebagnols.com 04 Le Pavillon de la Rotonde At once a five-star hotel and a wellness destination incorporating a world-class spa, Le Pavillon de la Rotonde is dedicated to the art of pampering. And, as this is Lyon, there’s a two Michelin-starred restaurant on-site. pavillon-rotonde.com

HISTORIC BEAUTY / Lyon’s Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site

restaurants 05 L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges No man is as worshipped in Lyon as Paul Bocuse, the legendary chef and father of Nouvelle Cuisine. His three Michelin-starred L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, which the octogenarian still partly oversees, is a testament to his enduring culinary influence. bocuse.fr 06 Bernachon Is anyone surprised that the best chocolate in France can be found in Lyon? Whether you’re sitting in the tea room or purchasing some sweets

01

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to go, save room for the Kalouga bar, a gorgeous mix of hand-roasted dark chocolate and salted caramel. bernachon.com/fr 07 Daniel et Denise Beloved of locals and tourists alike, Daniel et Denise is the ultimate Lyonnaise bouchon.

From the gingham tablecloths and homely décor to delicious plates of homemade foie gras and poulet au pot, this restaurant is as inviting as they come. daniel-et-denise.fr 08 Restaurant Jérémy Galvan This might not be Paris, but Lyon still has its fair share of experimental, culinary wunderkinds. Like Jérémy Galvan: the 29 year-old’s eponymous restaurant marries rich ingredients with cutting-edge molecular techniques. jeremygalvanrestaurant.com

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GaLLErIEs

bars 09 L’Antiquaire With L’Antiquaire, Lyon is officially in on the speakeasy trend. This dimly lit, charming little boîte is discreet (the entryway is disguised), and the glowing bar, stocked with all manner of rare spirits, is more than ample. facebook.com/theantiquaryroom 10 Le Phosphore Bar à Vins Wine tasting is a required Lyonnais activity, and one of the best places to partake is Le Phosphore, a sleek terrace bar that’s linked to chef Christian Têtedoie’s lauded restaurant.

The broad Côtes du Rhône selection is a treat. tetedoie.com 11 Le Melhor Set on the eighth floor of the Hotel Sofitel, Le Melhor looks onto a panorama of Lyon’s busy streets and the glittering Rhône.

All windows and plush red chairs, the cocktail bar also welcomes live music on Fridays and Saturdays. sofitel.com

12 Le Fantôme de l’Opéra Le Fantôme de l’Opéra is a cocktail bar whose drinks are as delectable as its atmosphere is unpretentious. It doesn’t take itself too seriously: the ever-changing menu features drinks inspired by everyone from Quentin Tarantino to Bonnie And Clyde. lefantomedelopera.fr

14 Musée des Beaux-Arts Housed within a historic 17th century convent in the centre of town, the Musée des BeauxArts contains everything from Egyptian antiquities to paintings from celebrated French artists such as Géricault and Bonnard. mba-lyon.fr/mba 15 Musée d’Art Contemporain The Musée d’Art Contemporain was officially founded in 1984, when it set up shop in a Renzo Piano-designed space. With a focus on temporary exhibitions that are created in partnership with artists, its gallery space changes dramatically with every show. mac-lyon.com/mac 16 Galerie Le Réverbère A destination in contemporary photography for more than three decades, Galerie Le Réverbère has a number of leading artists in its stable. Expect shows from the likes of Yves Rozet, Zhang Xiao and William Klein. galerielereverbere.com

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Words:hG2.com imaGes: corbis

DinneR tiMe / Lyon is one of the world’s most famous food cities

13 Musées Gadagne Where else can you explore exhibitions on both the history of Lyon and marionettes? The two Musées Gadagne together house over 80,000 objects in a listed building, and offer an intriguing look at these diverse elements of the city’s past. gadagne.musees.lyon.fr

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LOCAL KNOwLEDGE

Comptoir 102

Housed in a Jumeirah villa, a short stroll from the beach, this organic café-boutique, founded by French duo Emma Sawko and Alexandra de Montaudouin, offers far more than just healthy eating

S

eated at a long wooden table in the back courtyard of organic café-design boutique Comptoir 102 late in the morning, it is possible to hear the whir of a kitchen blender preparing a vitamin-packed smoothie, but otherwise it is peaceful. Bursts

Words by Danna Lorch / Images by REM

of fuchsia bougainvillea cascade over the white courtyard walls, and a deliciously salty breeze drifts in from the beach that sits just a minute’s walk through the back alleyways of the charming Jumeirah neighbourhood.

Comptoir 102 is gorgeously housed in a repurposed villa.

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Open skies / April 2014

Inside in an eclectic dining room with sun-hued walls, Dubai’s entrepreneurs hold meetings over laptops and organic coffee, while chic women carrying tote bags, novels and babies browse displays of delicate gold jewellery and shelves of bright linen pillows in the adjacent boutique.

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE

GOOD LIFE / Comptoir 102 is both a café offering a menu of simple, heathy cuisine and a lifestyle boutique

Emma Sawko, one of Comptoir 102’s two founders, swears she’s exhausted, having returned from a buying trip to Paris Fashion Week at 2am the night before our meeting, but her skin is glowing and her eyes are bright as she describes the process of growing the one year-old business she has built with her business partner,

Alexandra de Montaudouin.

Both women are originally from France; De Montaudouin once worked for the exclusive Sotheby’s auction house in Paris, while Emma was blissfully installed in New York, pursuing her dream job in children’s fashion. And when their husbands’ careers demanded moving families to Dubai, they

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were both determined to build something in their new home.

They met through a circle of expats and, bonding over their love of design, soon became fast friends and business partners, setting out to bring something new to Dubai. They affectionately refer to the emirate as “the city of opportunity”, because, they

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE explain, when an idea is planted, it can grow tall and heavy with fruit in no time at all. So it has proved with Comptoir 102. Founded a little more than a year ago, the café has rapidly established a reputation for its simple but delicious menu, while the boutique represents a refreshing alternative to the emirate’s many malls.

Although neither she nor Alexanda have a background in cuisine, Emma stresses that “it was extremely important to us to have a restaurant, because food is a huge part of your lifestyle – the way you eat is the way you feel, and this is reflected in the way you look. The connection is clear”.

Although it can be quite tricky in the arid desert climate, Comptoir 102 sources local organic ingredients whenever possible, often from local organic food store Greenheart UAE. The pair goes on road trips to farms, walking the fields themselves to survey the quality of soil and understand exactly how the produce that

will go into their recipes is being grown. The house salad is a bowl full of vitamins; the romaine, cucumber, and fennel have more crunch and zing to them than your typical grocery store veggies, which in Dubai are ordinarily shipped from overseas.

The café’s menu, which features changing daily specials, is fully gluten-free and always includes dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan optionws. Everything is served on traditional French canteen plates to set a casual, on-the-go tone, subtly implying that it’s possible to be both busy and fit. Emma acknowledges: “If you tell people you are going to bring them to a healthy restaurant, they automatically assume that portions will be too small and the food isn’t going to be tasty. We are proving that nutritious can also be delicious.”

No one will go hungry.

Traditional French recipes have been adapted with the help of

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Food is a huge part oF your liFestyle – the Way you eat is the Way you Feel, aNd this is reFleCted iN the Way you looK consulting macrobiotic guru Chris Clark, who added in tasty substitutes for butter and eggs.

A hearty crostini is topped with avocado and a fluffy macadamia nut sauce that is a stunt double for cream cheese. Forgoing dough, pizza is made with a savoury polenta base and topped with mushrooms that taste as though they were freshly picked in the forest. The kitchen is strictly coffee culture / Comptoir 102’s front courtyard is the perfect spot for a quiet coffee or a restorative smoothie

LOCAL KNOwLEDGE

HEALTHY EATING / Comptoir 102’s menu is constantly changing, offering daily specials alongside regular favourites

sugar-free, and dates or bananas are added for natural sweetness. This sounds dogmatic theoretically, yet it results in a decadently rich choco petit pot ganache, which magically enough also happens to be healthy and guilt-free.

Alexandra’s background in antiques is reflected in her classic taste, while Emma brings a more contemporary edge to the design aesthetic. Emma confesses, “To people who know us and have visited our homes, the shop feels like a natural extension of our

THE FURNITURE SECTION HAS BEEN ARRANgEd TO mImIC yOUR mOST STylISH FRIENd’S HOmE

living spaces.” None of the brands stocked at Comptoir 102 are factory produced or are designs that can be found anywhere else in Dubai.

The shop feels a little bit magical; Volière lamps resembling gilded bird cages (complete with pastel hued finches) abound. There is a selection of candles by Swiss brand Mizensir, one with the heady scent of chocolate mixed with orchids. There is a boho daybed inspired by the Princess And The Pea. A section dedicated to fashion features fringed bucket bags designed by Delphine Delafon, the reigning ‘it girl’ of Paris this spring.

Glass display cases showcase a selection of delicate, artsy jewellery – the same unusual pieces that Emma and Alexandra effortlessly layer on every day, casually mixing gold arrowheads with tiny tassels and indigo beads.

Curated largely by Alexandra, the furniture section has been arranged to mimic your most stylish friend’s home, with liveable grey

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couches, stackable side tables, and the odd Moroccan tea glass mixed in for a splash of local colour.

Remember the wallpaper craze that hit hard in the 1980s?

Comptoir 102 has brought it back big time – minus the taupe floral pattern from your mother’s dated powder room. Accent walls with hip, geometric prints demonstrate how a little wallpaper can go a long way towards making a space feel stylish and pulled together.

Most of the furniture, textiles and wallpaper can be customised and specially ordered according to individual tastes.

Comptoir 102 is a laid-back enclave from the constant pressures of fast-paced Dubai life.

Whether you’re a ‘health food’ devote or not, the simple but inventive cuisine and beautiful eclectic objects found in the small boutique are sure to win you over.

102, Jumeirah Beach Road, Jumeirah 1, Dubai Tel: +971 (0) 4 385 4555 comptoir102.com

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Beyond the Beach

Adrian Mourby says that you can enjoy the island of Mauritius without even setting foot on its pure, white sand Words by Adrian Mourby

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auritius is a paradise on Earth, and because of its lush beauty most visitors tend to see only the white sands of its palm-fronded coastline. At Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport cars and coaches are ready to whisk tourists away to hotels and resorts, where they are fed, pampered and encouraged to wash away their troubles in the clear waters of the Indian Ocean. And then it’s time to go home, and paradise is lost until they come back for another identical holiday.

And yet Mauritius is also a country with a unique history that visitors all too often miss. This curious island is the child of a most unusual upbringing. Since the 18th century, when the first settlers arrived, it has been run first by the French and then the British, but its culture today is a remarkable hodge-podge of colonial influence with the input of Indian, African, Chinese and Creole peoples who have settled there all thrown into the mix.

As an island, Mauritius is bigger than Hong Kong and just a bit smaller than Luxembourg. That makes for a lot of Mauritius beyond the beach.

A quick visit to the island’s capital, Port Louis, makes my point very clearly. It was here that the island’s human narrative really began, in 1721, when 16 French settlers and their African slaves arrived from Isle de Bourbon (now Réunion). In those days Mauritius was a lush, tree-covered island populated by some very odd-shaped birds – the dodo, the prong-tail and the solitary – but until 1721 none of its visitors, whether Arab, Portuguese or Dutch, had wanted to settle. The Dutch had called by long enough to name the island after their Prince Maurice of Nassau, and to name the poor, soon to be extinct dodo the walgvogel (disgusting bird), because of its flavour. But it was the French who gave the island its cultural flavour, taking over the abandoned Dutch port of Noord-Wester Haven and renaming it after their king, Louis XV. Ninety years later the incoming British administration kept the

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CAPITAL TIME / Many visitors to Mauritius never set foot in the capital, Port Louis, missing out on attractions such as the market

name but insisted on pronouncing it Port Lewis, an anomally you’ll still hear today on this predominantly French-speaking island.

Today the French influence is still evident everywhere all over the island, but especially in place names such the Champ de Mars, Les Salines and Place d’Armes, which, paradoxically is the site of a statue of Queen Victoria. France is also visible in the number of textile shops in Port Louis that sell their fabrics to top Paris fashion houses, in restaurants like La Bonne Marmite in Sir William Newton Street, and even in Mauritian street snacks such as the pain tikka poulet, a French baguette wrapped around pieces of chicken tikka.

The most obvious sign of Britain’s influence is Fort Adelaide, built above Port Louis and named for the wife of King William IV

be massacred by a after the Royal Navy today the population of more seized Mauritius in french than 8,000 angry 1811. The new British French traders and administration and the influence sugar planters who defeated French came is still relied on African slave to a very gentlemanly agreement whereby evident all labour. The fort, with its commanding view French settlers would over of the port and city, be allowed to keep the island was to be a place of last their property, speak refuge for the British if their own language, revolution erupted. live by their own laws It didn’t, however, and trade as they as the British brought please. In fact, they in Indian labourers to replace the could go on being French. The only slaves. This is why today you’ll find thing that spoiled this remarkably many Hindu temples and mosques civilised entente was the British on the island, and Indian festivals enthusiasm for abolishing slavery. going on throughout the year, That was why Fort Adelaide was including Maha Shivaratri, Ganesh built in 1834 – not because an Chaturthi, Diwali and Eid-Ul-Fitr. invasion was expected from the In fact, the quintessential sea, but because Britain’s 1,300 Mauritian experience is driving on civil servants feared they would

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the English side of the road, passing through suburbs with French names and Hindu temples while bhojpuri (Bollywood music) or seggae (African slave music given a reggae makeover in the 1990s) plays from the cafés.

L’Aventure du Sucre, north of Port Louis, is a popular and enlightening attraction. It’s an old sugar plantation and factory where visitors can follow the development of the sugar industry – and African slavery – on Mauritius. Then there is the Blue Penny Museum in Port Louis itself, which is all about Mauritian history but particularly about the British postal system, because whether by accident or design, in 1847 Mauritius produced some of the most valuable stamps in the world. The Mauritian engraver, Joseph Osmond Barnard, printed the words “Post Office” next to Queen Victoria’s face rather

than “Post Paid”. Several of these stamps, which are each worth millions these days, are on display in the museum.

Having been formed by volcanic eruption, Mauritius also has some impressive mountain ranges to explore. Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire (Little Black River Peak) is the highest point on the island (2,717ft) and stands in the Black River Gorges National Park.

Here in humid upland forest and marshy heathland you can seek out creatures unique to the island: the Mauritian flying fox, Mauritius parakeet, Mauritius cuckooshrike, Mauritius bulbul and the Mauritius fody.

There are also some impressive lakes, the most spectacular of which is Ganga Talao (also known as Grand Bassin), a crater lake in the district of Savanne and the most sacred Hindu place in Mauritius.

The first pilgrims journeyed here in

1898, and today it is traditional for Mauritian Hindus to walk barefoot to the temple of Lord Shiva with its 108-feet-tall statue on the shores of Ganga Talao.

And lest we forget the colonial legacy, horse racing, introduced by the British in 1812, remains a hugely popular among Mauritians.

It takes place for eight months of the year on the Champs de Mars, the old French Army training ground, and is organised by the Mauritius Turf Club. This is the oldest horseracing club in the Southern Hemisphere and the second oldest in the world, and it was on this very racecourse that the flag of an independent Mauritius was first raised in 1968.

To watch the European, Indian, Creole and Chinese racegoers cheer on their horses in the Barbé Cup or Duchess Of York Cup is to observe what a unique island Mauritius is.

diverse cultre / A sightseeing trip on Mauritius could take in Hindu temples and a day at day at the Champs de Mars racecourse

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The New Vienna A new generation of creatives and entrepreneurs are revitalising the Austrian capital’s cultural offering

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OUR MAN IN: Design commentator Costas Voyatzis on his life in Athens THE VEGIVORES ARE TAKING OVER: The top chefs who believe veg is the future of haute cuisine

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A century Ago, the AustriAn cApitAl, ViennA, wAs regArded As the culturAl centre of europe. now, Argues christopher BeAnlAnd, the city is experiencing A culturAl resurgence, driVen By A new generAtion of Artists And entrepreneurs words: christopher Beanland images: daniel gebhart de Koekkoek

OLD DANUBE / Vienna has scored highly in many quality-of-life surveys. This section of the Danube (right) is a popular boating and bathing area

PArk LifE / Many of the city’s newest buildings, including Zaha Hadid’s Wirtschaft Univeristat Library, have been built close to the large Prater public park (far right) , a popular attraction for centuries

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V

Vienna is the biggest Serbian town after Belgrade. The Balkans start right here.”

A century ago, that mix made Vienna culturally rich – with all the parts of Austria-Hungary represented. That cultural mix still exists today. “This unique mixture of western and eastern European artists and their experiences generates a vivid, productive young international art scene that co-exists with historical institutions – museums, theatres and opera houses,” says artist Anemona Crisan. Crisan uses lines of primary-coloured paint applied not just to walls but to floors and ceilings, too, to create spectacular set pieces. She adds: “Vienna is a western metropolis with eastern flair.”

At the opening party of the Wirtschaft Univeristat Library in October 2013, I found it hard to concentrate on the food because the building was playing a million little tricks on my eyes. Designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid – the most successful female architect in history – the library, built for the students of Wirtschaft Univeristat, provides answers, but in its lop-sided way, with its cheeky use of ramps and perspectival games.

It also asks many questions. It’s an intriguing

ienna is an old city – but it’s an old city for young people. Its past is obvious – in its buildings, its high culture and its cuisine.

Its present is subtler, but no less potent. A centre of culture, argument and freethinking 100 years ago, Vienna is flourishing again.

In Vienna today there is a tangible moment of change. Things are happening. Youth culture, modern architecture, music and art are all thriving, and Vienna is turning into nothing less than a competitor with Berlin for the unofficial title of ‘coolest city in Europe’.

During the Cold War – the days of Carol Reed’s noir classic The Third Man, which finishes spectacularly on the famous Wiener Riesenrad ferris wheel – Vienna was the last stop before Communist Eastern Europe. As well as mixing old and new, Vienna is now the natural meeting point between East and West. A leisurely boat ride down the Danube will take you to Bratislava in Slovakia. Creatives are exploring this fascinating culture clash, and artists such as Moussa Kone, who lives in Vienna’s Serbian district, joke, “People say

As well As mixing old And new, ViennA is now the nAturAl meeting point between eAst And west

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The underground arT and music scene has become so visible in The lasT few years ThaT vienna simply makes iT hard for oTher ciTies To live up To These sTandards TOP VIEW / The Wiener Riesenrad Ferris wheel (top left) in Prater park featured in Carol Reed’s 1949 noir classic The Third Man. The view from the wheel over the city’s rooftops is spectacular

space. It’s one of Vienna’s new landmarks, a symbol of the city’s cultural rebirth.

Hadid’s library is the centrepiece of a whole new campus for the university on the edge of Vienna’s gorgeous Prater park. There are other boxfresh new buildings in various supermodern styles by London’s CRAB Studio, Madrid’s No Mad Architects, Japan’s Atelier Hotoshi Abe and Vienna’s homegrown BUS Arkitectur.

And it’s all very deliberate. Vienna is associated in the minds of people who haven’t visited with history. With Klimt’s The Kiss, the Schloss Belvedere, the Secession and the deep decadence of art nouveau, with the imperial hedonism of Schubert’s waltzes and horse-drawn carriages and castles, and with the bohemian café life that drew intellectuals such as Freud and Marx to live in the city in 1913 when it was the cultural capital of the world.

Vienna went into a gentle decline for 100 years, but today it is re-emerging as a cultural force. “Vienna is too big for its small size,” says Moussa Kone, who draws startling monochromatic images, which explore the tensions of modern life. “I am not Viennese, I have to say, but Vienna for Viennese people still is, and ever has been, the capital of the world.”

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The mixing of old and new, of the old re-appropriated by the young, is a very Viennese trait. They never knock down – they recycle buildings. A Second World War flak tower is now an aquarium, Haus des Meeres.

Ruined palaces are converted into hotels. An old boat on the Danube is now Clubschiff, a key live music venue. “Vienna is somehow like vintage couture,” muses Lilli Hollein, director of Vienna Design Week. “Something that once has been very elegant comes to new life combined with a contemporary attitude – and it leads somewhere totally different.”

What goes around comes around. Ian Nairn – the greatest travel writer you’ve never heard of – visited Vienna for a UK BBC TV programme about the Orient Express in the 1970s and perceptively remarked that Vienna reminded him of circles. Not just the circular shape of the city, of its famous Ringstrasse, but the circularity of its history. The way trends come back round, the way the city flopped and then rose mightily throughout its history.

It’s on the up now. You can’t help but think of Berlin as you walk Vienna’s streets, your eyes drawn upwards by the many cranes and posters for enticing club nights. “Vienna is simply a more polished-looking Berlin,” agrees cultural publicist Katerina Kombercova, a Czech who studied at the University of Vienna. “The underground art and music scene has become so visible in the last few

Open skies / april 2014

years that Vienna simply makes it hard for other cities to live up to these standards.”

“I feel like the Viennese music and party scene has improved a lot in the past five to six years,” says Katharina Seidler, a music journalist for FM4, the Austrian state broadcaster ORF’s alternative music radio station. “There are a lot of young promoters who try their luck and host concerts or parties with ambitious bookings.

The number of pop-up venues and improvised events has increased and the loosening of the closing time regulations for clubs two years ago has also made it easier for everyone.”

“Vienna does not hide anymore behind the capital city of club culture, Berlin,” says Hennes Weiss, who runs gallery-nightclub Pratersauna with his friend Stefan Hiess.

Pratersauna pulls you in – you have to weave through the dark Prater park at night listening to beats on the breeze to find it. When you do, you’re welcomed into a white-walled gallery space that is also a superclub. I recently watched UK DJ Skream own the decks for a few hours while revelling in the Viennese youth’s ability to stay up until 7am. Pratersauna is a 1960s building: formerly a sauna of questionable reputation, it is now a very trendy hangout (with an al fresco pool) voted second best club in Europe by German electronic music magazine De:Bug. “Vienna’s local club and music scene is both laidback – and it

pushes forward at the same time,” says Weiss.

“Now Austrian musicians like HVOB, Dorian Concept, Wolfram and Cameo & Krooked are representing Vienna all over the world.”

Culture is central to Vienna – it always has been. “Vienna is a wealthy city that supports its art and creative scene,” comments Lilli Hollein.

“What is really overwhelming is how much people around here embrace culture. High culture as well as the ‘underground’. Theatres, opera, festivals and museums are always full.” She

Vienna is a wealthy city that supports its art and creatiVe scene laughs, before adding, “Most of the taxi drivers round here would know who is the current director of Burgtheater!”

During the 1990s, the whole of Eastern Europe opened for travellers. Tourists forgot about Vienna and went to explore previously forbidden places behind the former Iron Curtain such as Krakow, Prague and Budapest. But the Dame on the Danube is being rediscovered by a new generation of culture hungry travellers, and to cater to new visitors, a slew of trendy places to stay have popped up. There’s Terence Conran’s

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BOAT RIDE / Enjoy a stroll along the Danube Canal (bottom right), or be bold and catch the Twin City Liner to Bratislava in Slovakia

Vienna has something indefinable. it has a magic about it. look beyond the old and you see a thriVing, thrusting new city emerging here

WORLD STAGE / Vienna International Centre (top left) houses one of the UN’s four main offices

NEW BUILD / DC Tower 1 (top right), the first of two buildings that will make up DC Towers, is the tallest skyscraper in Austria

new Guesthouse Hotel in the city centre, and the ME in the brand new DC Tower 1, which opened in February and is now Austria’s tallest skyscraper. A stone’s throw from Stephensplatz, the Topazz and Lamee are sister boutique hotels that offer pure luxury to weary legs.

“I’m the heart and mind of both hotels – I created them in five years, working hard with the architects,” says Christiane Weissenborn. From the roof terrace of the Lamee I have watched the sun slowly set over the spires and domes of Vienna and over the intricate tiles that grace the roof of St Stephen’s Cathedral. Weissenborn adds, “I love Vienna.

It’s the perfect town. We have the best sweets, great shops and manufacturers: Lobmeyr for glass, Augarten for porcelain, Robert Horn for leather goods, a very special coffee culture and the hottest boutique hotels.”

The young collective Urbanuats has gone beyond just boutique hotels. They’ve opened bespoke short-rent lofts around the city, including one in a space where Professor Ernst Hilger, today one of the most important gallerists in Austria, held his first exhibition in the 1960s. Why though? “We started to think about gentrification. There are thousands of

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unused square metres of space that were basically unused in the last decades,” says Urbanauts’ Therseia Kohlmayr. “We wanted to establish something in this microcosm that satisfies the needs of independent city travellers – but reactivates the city as well.” Kohlmayr and her partners are currently creating a loft in an old blacksmiths, which will open later this year.

Vienna is a place to visit, but also a place to live. It is environmentally aware, safe, clean and easy to travel around – as well as pretty and rich in culture. “Vienna is recognised as the city with the highest living quality standard in the world,” points out Hennes Weiss.

“The international Smart City Index lists Vienna as No 1 at the top of the world,” agrees architect Herwig Spiegl. “High-end building techniques combined with open-minded thinking create an innovative and sustainable built environment in Vienna.” Spiegl works for AllesWirdGut Architects – ‘everything is going to be alright’ – which has designed several social housing schemes in the city and a new high-rise office development at Kagran Zentrum. Spiegl’s view seems dominant in today’s confident Vienna, and he thinks other cities could learn from the Austrian capital. “Viennese architecture has got the power to become an ambassador of a worldwide smart city revolution.” But Vienna has something more, something indefinable. It has a magic about it. Look beyond the old and you see a thriving, thrusting new city emerging here. History bleeds into the present, the two mix like paint on a palette and the end result is a beautiful new painting, a new landscape, a new city with its roots firmly set in the past. Vienna’s legend changes and continues. This is a city you can enjoy watching constantly evolve.

Open skies / april 2014

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CostAs VoYAtzis Editor-in-chief of Yatzer, 33

OUR MAN IN…

Athens

Costas Voyatzis, founder and editor-in-chief of design website Yatzer, and one of Europe’s most influential commentators on contemporary design, sees a new Athens rising

image by Panos Kokkinias

I

was born and brought up in Athens. It’s a city that never stops surprising me with its heady mix of aromas and sounds. Athens burns my skin with its glorious sunshine and rejuvenates me through its green parks.

I travel a lot, but I’ve never had the desire to live elsewhere. It’s very important to live in a city where you can speak the language of your heart and find the perfect words to express yourself. I may only be here a few days a month, but I always feel better when I come home. I was in Beijing this autumn and couldn’t wait to come back in order to breathe some oxygen. And, of course, this weather. Winter is a matter of three months – and not really cold at all.

And then we get spring and summer together. I feel so grateful that I live in Athens.

Being in the eye of the European financial storm has meant that many people have focused on the negative rather than the positive, but right now so many new businesses have opened their doors to the

public in the past year — albeit on a smaller scale.

I’ve seen a lot of thoughtful, opinionated design. It’s grounded in local culture but addressing a global clientele. And a positive side effect of the crisis has been that our inflated Greek ego has come down a notch and we are finally realising that in order to survive, we must collaborate with each other and go forward as a whole.

I’ve been very fortunate. Originally I dreamt of being a meteorologist, but one night during my obligatory stint in the military, in November 2006, the idea hit me. I was standing guard on Mount Parnitha in the wee hours of the morning when I decided to write down what I wanted to do with my life. It was one of those rare moments of clarity that you see in the movies. That’s when I realised that my biggest desire was to share my aesthetics with the rest of the world. I wanted to create a digital design collection available to everyone, everywhere, all the time. I started Yatzer in 2007, just before

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NEW BUILD / The Acropolis Museum (pictured) , opened in 2009, is one of Voyatzis’ favourite buildings in Athens aNcIENt grEEcE / Voyatzis lives very close to the Acropolis (pictured) PIzza PaLacE / Capanna (pictured) serves the best pizza in Athens, according to Voyatzis

the crisis, but by 2011 the UK’s Financial Times had named it one of the world’s most influential design blogs. I only found that out by accident – a friend told me. I really didn’t expect Yatzer to become so popular – we have two-and-a-half million followers now – but I do work on it 24/7.

That’s not hard. It’s not an obsession for me. It’s a love affair.

Design is everywhere and affects the way we live our lives. My motto is “design to share”, and I want to share what I like about contemporary art, design and architecture. I’m just glad other people want to read about it.

I chose the name Yatzer because it’s short for Voyatzer, my nickname as a child. But three years later, after the site had proved so successful, someone told me that Yatzer is the sensation of guessing what someone will say next before they get a chance to say it. It’s like being one step ahead of the game, so I guess that choice of name was serendipity. I was lucky from the start.

In a strange way, I’d say that the current financial crisis has boosted our self-respect, in the sense that we really value what we have left – and that’s our cultural points of reference. Local creatives will think twice before blindly adopting international trends in future. This new

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yatzer.com

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IMaGeS: PaNoS KoKKINIaS, GeTTyIMaGeS, CoRbIS

vivacity in style and design now reflects the best of both worlds – ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’ – and we are finally realising that in order to survive we must collaborate with each other. You will find that the liveliest parts of this city – be it a great restaurant, a really hot hangout or a fantastic shop – owe their good fortune to more than one person.

So many friends of mine have been left without jobs these last few years, but this has meant they’ve had more time to brainstorm ideas. This crisis has forced people to dig deeper and deeper into themselves and redesign their lives, and some beautiful things have happened.

You can see so much creativity in Greece at the moment.

I love the Acropolis Museum that opened in 2009. That’s a must-see. It was designed by the Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi, in collaboration with Michalis Photiadis, and has brought us all closer to culture, which is “the heavy industry of Greece”, as [Greek actress] Melina Merkouri used to say.

One area that has managed to flourish, even during this most crippling of economic crises, is the blessed Saint Irene Square in the Monastiraki district, which has opened so many new social hot spots, including my favourite Tailor Made Café. And in the uptown neighbourhood of Kolonaki don’t miss the opportunity to dive into the beautifully deconstructed world of fashion designer Sotiris Georgiou — call ahead for an exclusive studio visit. Just a couple of blocks down you can get the best pizza in town courtesy of Capanna, LUNCH TIME / a trattoria designed by Tailor Made Cafe Greek interior wizards (pictured) is Voyatzis’ favourite place to K-studio. eat in the flourishing In the up-andMonastiraki district coming Metaxourgeio area I’d recommend the IN FASHION / Pay a visit to fashion Breeder Gallery, representing some of the hottest local talents around, including designer Sotiris HOPE and Stelios Faitakis, while a few metres away Rebecca Camhi Gallery is Georgiou’s studio now showcasing the work of acclaimed international and local artists such as Nan (pictured) Goldin and Konstantin Kakanias.

ART SCENE / Living in a city that changes every day makes you reinvent yourself day Rebecca Camhi Gallery after day. My house is very close to the centre, literally a stone’s throw from the (pictured) exhibits work Acropolis, and I can walk everywhere. This is a walking city. Athens never claimed by big-name artists such as Nan Goldin to be the easiest place to navigate, but it does claim to have it all. All you need to do is get out and discover it.

C R A F T C A R E F U L LY . D R I N K R E S P O N S I B LY. Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 45.2% Alc. by Vol., The Woodford Reserve Distillery, Versailles, KY Š2014

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W O O D F O R D R E S E RV E . C O M

THE VEGIVORES

ARE TAKING OVER Some of the world’s most high-profile chefs, including Alain Passard, Rene Redzepi, Rodrigo de la Calle and Bruno Loubet, are relegating meat to a supporting role and making vegetables the stars of the show Words: Trevor Baker Images: Alex Robbins

if i could get away with it, I wouldn’t cook with fish or meat at all

I

f you’re the head chef at the restaurant of one of Madrid’s most luxurious hotels, you can’t get away with serving a dish that is, essentially, just boiled potatoes.

Luckily, Hotel Villa Magna’s Rodrigo de la Calle has come up with a solution. Following briskly in the steps of his waiter, he brings a plate with a large, white tuber to the table, slicing away at it with generous abandon, letting the slivers tumble over the dark potatoes like snowfall.

This is a white truffle, a delicacy that can cost up to US$6,000 a kilo. Nevertheless, we’re left in no doubt as to the star of this particular dish.

“These are from the Canary islands,” de la Calle enthuses. “They’re the best potatoes you’ll ever have.”

He’s right. The potatoes, papas antiguas de Canarias, may look like little volcanic rocks, but they have a richness of flavour that is to your typical potato what caviar is to cod roe.

The truffles, delicious as they are, are mostly there as the culinary equivalent of a diamond necklace around the neck of a supermodel.

Rodrigo de la Calle is one of a growing band of chefs who have decided that the ancient hierarchy of haute cuisine, with meat at the top and vegetables below, needs to be turned upside down. The potato, the carrot, the cauliflower and the leek are no longer there to be side dishes. They’re the main attraction.

It’s a change that’s been a long time coming and, surprisingly, it’s restaurateurs from carnivorous France who are leading the way. The three-Michelin starred chef Michel Bras, from the mountains in the southwest of the country, invented a much-copied dish called gargouillou, made of 40-plus individually prepared plants and flowers, more than 30 years ago.

But it was in Paris, in 2001, that vegetables really moved to the centre of the plate, when Alain Passard, one of the country’s most celebrated chefs, banned red meat at

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his L’Arpège restaurant and introduced a largely vegetable menu.

Since then the ‘vegivores’ (as opposed to vegetarians) have started taking over. One of America’s best known chefs, expat Spaniard Jose Andres, declared on current affairs show 60 Minutes recently that “meat is overrated” and fruit and vegetables are “unbelievably sexy”.

Meanwhile, at the end of 2013, Rene Redzepi, of Copenhagen’s Noma, wrote, “Eighty per cent of our menu consists of vegetables; there’s a little bit of fish, and even less meat. We’re seeing similar developments in kitchens around the world.”

It’s a trend that Rodrigo de la Calle unintentionally anticipated.

He’s been refining his green cuisine since 2000, when, in his early 20s, he started working with a botanist called Santiago Orts on what they dubbed “Gastrobotanics”. This was a form of cooking in which foraging in the countryside for unusual plant varieties was almost as important as what went on in the kitchen.

A few years later, Noma’s Rene Redzepi would independently have the same idea and, in 2010, be declared the best chef on the planet

by Restaurant magazine.

“Ten years ago, if you’d told me that the best restaurant in the world would be doing what we were doing, I’d have said you were crazy,” says de la Calle. “But in Noma they’re doing exactly the same, taking the vegetables that they find around them and putting them on the plate.”

De la Calle’s experience of running a vegivore restaurant has, however, shown him that not everybody’s ready to eat up their

greens. He opened his first eponymous place in Aranjuez, just outside Madrid, six months before the economic crisis arrived. Asked whether he ever regretted opening a vegthemed restaurant in central Spain, where, traditionally, vegetables are little more than garnish, he laughs.

“Every day! Every day!” he exclaims. “Until 2009, when I won Spain’s Best Young Chef award [at the influential Madrid Fusion], we were struggling. We had my dad washing the dishes, a cleaner from Senegal who didn’t speak any Spanish, one waiter, and that was it.”

The Michelin star that he received in 2011 helped, too, but at Hotel Villa Magna, where he took over in October last year, things are different. It’s the first choice of some of the richest people in the world when they visit Madrid. Located in the Salamanca district, not far from the Royal Palace, and on the corner of Serrano Street, it’s surrounded by fashion’s biggest names, including Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Louis Vuitton.

It’s hard to imagine Rodrigo de la Calle shopping in any of those stores. He’s down-to-earth, with a roguish sense of humour, but he also exudes the nervous energy that is typical of great chefs. The cuisine that he specialises in has often been seen as the preserve of hippies, or what are known in Spain as “frikis” – geeks. Can millionaire businessmen really be persuaded that carrots can be the centrepiece of a meal?

He admits that this is his biggest challenge. “The problem,” he says, “is that when people eat in a good restaurant they want to eat icons – steak, lobster, caviar, oysters – things that are a symbol of economic success. One of the things I’d like to do is raise vegetables up to the level of caviar. For me it’s as good to eat well-prepared asparagus in season as white truffles or an oyster. Nobody associates going to a restaurant with eating asparagus.

They think it’s not a luxury product.

I want vegetables to become icons, too. So that people associate vegetables with luxury. That’s one of the reasons I’m working here in Villa Magna, because this is the most luxurious hotel in Spain.”

His tasting menu, Gastrobotanic, does exactly what he claims, transforming ordinary

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ingredients into something rich and strange. It’s a journey, taking you deeper into the forest of de la Calle’s imagination. There’s a kind of faux-spaghetti made out of strands of celery, lichen formed into a mousse and studded with mushrooms, plus, of course, those gorgeous, nutty Canary Island potatoes. Perhaps the highlight is a “risotto” made with chips of grated carrot instead of rice, the crunchiness working like the clashing of cymbals beneath the smooth, understated melody of the sauce.

But, alongside the elevation of the veg, there is still a surprising amount of meat and fish, albeit mostly playing second fiddle.

There’s chorizo bread and an oyster served with carrot foam, plus a meaty stew with a yellow ball of pumpkin placed in the middle like a glowing sun. In deference to the hotel’s guests, de la Calle cooks other fish and meat dishes, too, but it’s not his true passion.

“If I could get away with it, I wouldn’t cook with fish or meat at all,” he says.

But why couldn’t you get away with it?

“The hotel would sack me,” he laughs. “The world isn’t ready to give up meat and fish yet. I’m not vegetarian. I couldn’t give up ham or mussels. And I need animal fat to cook. The majority of the dishes you’ve tried have had animal products in there somewhere.”

He offers a purely vegetarian menu, too, but he doesn’t regard vegetarians as natural allies of his project.

“I have sympathy with vegetarians, because it’s hard to find great vegetarian restaurants,” he says.

“But the bad thing about vegetarianism is that it’s negative. It’s more about the maltreatment of animals than it is the love of vegetables. I’m somebody who loves vegetables because I like eating them, not because I think that animals suffer when we kill them.”

I thInk it’s important to eat more veg, for health, for the planet, everything He speaks as somebody who spent much of his formative years on a farm in Jaen, Andalucia, where it was normal to eat rabbit, chickens and other animals that they’d killed themselves. It’s given him decidedly mixed emotions towards the production of meat.

“My dad would come back home with bags that he’d collected from the farm and that’s what we’d eat.

If there were eggs, we’d eat eggs.

If somebody had caught a rabbit, we’d eat rabbit. There was always meat. My favourite food was foie gras that we’d put on biscuits. I liked that more than vegetables. It never entered my head to be a vegetarian.”

However, despite this, he is still curiously sentimental about animals in some ways. He doesn’t like game, is squeamish about venison (“How can you shoot deer after watching Bambi?”) and he turned against foie gras after discovering how it’s made.

“I’ve never killed an animal,” he declares, before correcting himself.

“Well, that’s not true. I’ve killed a lot of lobsters. I’m the Freddy Krueger of lobsters! But I’ve never killed an animal making it suffer like they do with foie gras. That, to me, is maltreatment.

To humanely slaughter

a cow so we can eat it isn’t maltreating the animal. You’d be surprised at how many people there are, particularly girls, who call themselves vegetarians but who only eat pasta and pizza. But a vegetarian should be someone who eats vegetables.”

After 13 years of specialising in vegetables, is there not the danger that one day he’ll become bored?

“There are 3,000 varieties of vegetables, just in the region of Murcia,” he says. “Imagine how many there are in the whole of Spain. In my kitchen there are six different types of onion. If you go to most kitchens around the world there are two types of onions: the ones that are fresh and the ones the ones that have gone off.”

A big part of his love of vegetables seems to come from the joy and the challenge of cooking them well.

“You’ve got to be a very bad chef to cook a bad steak,” he says. “To cook grilled fish all you have to do is put the fish on the grill and then remember to take it off. To cook a delicious tomato is extremely difficult. If you haven’t chosen a good product, if it’s not at the right temperature, if it doesn’t have the right dressing, it’s no good.”

Since he’s been working as a chef, interest in cooking vegetables, as well as vegetarianism and veganism, has flourished, but he thinks that part of this has been cosmetic.

“People are buying more vegetables,” he says. “But that’s because 80 per cent of the population is on a diet.

When they go to the shops, they think, ‘I’m going to eat more vegetables,’ and they buy them and they end up rotting at the bottom of the fridge.”

Despite this, he feels that, in the long-term, history is on his side and the change that we’re seeing in high-end restaurants will appear in people’s homes, too.

“In 15 years, remember the conversation we’re having now,” he says.

“In 15 years’ time, even if my career’s on the floor and I’m ruined, the whole world will have started feeding themselves with vegetables.”

This is a bold prediction when you think that, for most of the last 50 years, the trend has been the other way. According to the FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN) in 1961 the Chinese, for example, consumed 3.6kg of meat per person. In 2002 that figure had increased to 52.4kg.

But there are signs that things are changing. In what was once one of the grimiest parts of London another chef is proving that vegivore food can be popular and accessible, as well as ethically sound. The area behind King’s Cross Station used to be a wilderness of boarded-up warehouses and struggling industrial units, divided from the rest of North London by a dirty canal.

Now there’s a swanky new plaza, Granary Square, and one of the first businesses to move in was Bruno Loubet’s latest restaurant, Grain Store.

Born in Bordeaux, Bruno Loubet made

his name at Pierre Koffmann’s La Tante Claire in London, before working for Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir and, finally, opening his own bistro in the 1990s. He then moved to Brisbane, Australia for nine years, but, in 2009, he returned and opened the, highly successful, Bistro Bruno Loubet at the Zetter Hotel. However, it’s the Grain Store, another restaurant that is “veg-centric” rather than vegetarian, which seems to be his real passion.

“I wanted to do this years ago,” he says, sitting in a quiet corner of the buzzing dining room, “but I waited for so long because I thought it was a bit adventurous and very different to anything we’d done before.”

The design of the restaurant makes this desire to be “different” very clear. The kitchen is placed in the middle of the dining room, with many of the units on castor wheels.

There are industrial pipes exposed across the ceiling and, with modish electronic music playing, it has the feel of a cool, lively canteen. Underneath, though, there are principles that, 20 years ago, would have been almost the sole preserve of stern vegetarian purists.

“I think it’s important to eat more veg, for health, for the planet, everything,” he says. “To me it doesn’t make sense to destroy the Amazon to grow soya beans to feed beef in Europe. If you look at it in the long term it’s a disaster. Why don’t we do things in a more rational way?”

But for Loubet being rational also means accepting that most people still want to eat meat, as he does himself.

“By not banning meat you’re changing the message,” he says. “If you say you can have a little bit of meat, a bit of animal protein, and have a delicious meal, 80 per cent of the work is done. People convince themselves, you don’t need to convince them. But my wife is

vegan,” he continues, “and when I started working on the restaurant, I thought, ‘If I’m putting these ideas into my restaurant, surely I should eat like that myself?’ I stopped eating so much meat, and I lost 12 kilos.”

Like Rodrigo de la Calle, he comes from the countryside, and many of his ideas, however trendy they might be now, are simply based

eat much meat, because we couldn’t afford it, but the meat we ate was very good,” he says. “We used to produce it ourselves. If we ate rabbit it was our own rabbits, pigeon, duck and so on. We had marrows in the garden. It was all natural food.”

But he thinks it’s that same tradition that has kept too many people in the affluent West tied to a restrictive diet of meat and two-veg.

People think if meat is missing you haven’t got so much flavour, and this is not true on old notions of eating what’s in season and not wasting food.

“When I was a child we didn’t

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“People think if meat is missing you haven’t got so much flavour, and this is not true,” he says. “For

us here the meat comes as a seasoning or as a plus on the plate. You can take away the meat and the dish still stands up on its own.”

This becomes evident when the first dishes of his Surprise Menu arrive. This is not the haute cuisine of Rodrigo de la Calle, it’s EUR35 for five dishes, (“you can eat here for less than in a pub,” he says), but it’s still sophisticated food. The emphasis is on seasonal products, which, in England, in winter, might seem unsustainable. Even Michel Bras’ restaurant in the south west of France closes from October to April.

For Loubet, though, it just means that cured, fermented and otherwise preserved ingredients come into their own.

A salad of pickled cucumber and smoked beetroot, cut through with the sweetness and sharpness of mandarins, is particularly appealing. Yet what stands out is how good very simple ingredients can be. One dish is just a baked leek. He cooks it in a charcoal oven until the outsides are blackened and the insides are perfectly cooked in their own moisture. Then, after throwing away the charred skin, he’s left with what he justifiably calls “the best leeks you’ll ever taste”.

Here, too, there are plenty of dishes to alarm vegetarians, notably the fermented red cabbage, which comes with a side order of wood pigeon. But in the trend-obsessed

London food scene Loubet does seem to have judged his market well.

He’s been almost fully booked since opening, despite serving almost 400 covers a day.

This alone might make other enterprising restaurateurs think that the time has come to go green. But the principal reason that chefs such as Bruno Loubet, Alain Passard and Rodrigo de la Calle give for embracing vegetables is not because they think it’s ‘the next big thing’. Nor is it for health or environmental reasons, although those are a factor. It’s not even just that vegetables taste nice. It’s because, after centuries of great cooking, vegetables are still something of a final frontier. There are only a few species of animal that we can eat on a regular basis. There’s a far wider variety of vegetables.

“I’m 52 years old, and I started when I was 14,” says Loubet. “After all that time you don’t really want to cook a steak or a piece of beef again.

It’s not as interesting for me as to burn a leek and find out that inside there is perfection. To me, that’s exciting. It’s like an artist who was always really good with charcoal

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Open skies / april 2014

Colour is very important in my life and cooking and somebody gives them a palette of colour.”

This echoes the reason that Alain Passard gives for making vegetables a central part of his cuisine.

“Colour is very important in my life and cooking,” he says, “and I wanted to use it more in my everyday work. Cooking with vegetables is artistic, to play with colours, textures gives me another level of creativity.”

This might all seem strangely frivolous, after years of being told that we need to eat veg because it’s good for us and good for the planet.

But, as chefs know better than anyone, food should be about pleasure. If we can learn to love the humble leek or beetroot as much as Rodrigo de la Calle, Alain Passard or Bruno Loubet, the result could be a greener, healthier and tastier world.

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PelĂŠ teams up with Emirates The greatest footballer ever becomes an Emirates ambassador

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briefing HELLO CHiCagO: Emirates announces a new daily service to the American city CiTY gUiDE: Our guide to Glasgow ROUTEmap: Discover the world as connected by Emirates

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briefing

news EMIRATES nAMEd MoST vAluAblE AIRlInE bRAnd

EMIRATES IS THE WoRld'S MoST vAluAblE AIRlInE bRAnd for the

third consecutive year, according to the Brand Finance Global 500 report for 2014. The airline is also the most valuable brand in the Middle East for the fourth consecutive year, and is currently valued at US $5.48 billion, an increase of 34 per cent over its 2013 value.

“A strong brand is an important business differentiator, and that is why Emirates has continually invested in our brand over the years. We are delighted that our brand valuation has increased and that Emirates has retained its top position, because this reflects our success in engaging our customers, and remaining relevant to them in a fast changing and highly competitive global environment,” said Boutros Boutros, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice President,

Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand.

Emirates brand platform `Hello Tomorrow' connects people and cultures by creating relevant and meaningful experiences that are shaping our world. A global audience now has diverse ways of engaging with Emirates through iconic sponsorships such as the FIFA World Cup™ and Formula One, to its many social media platforms.

Emirates is now one of the most engaged brands on Facebook, not only in the airline category but amongst other lifestyle brands, with posts about its fleet, products, sponsorships and crew. Emirates is also the world's largest airline on LinkedIn and has an active presence on YouTube, Instagram and Google Plus.

With a fleet of 220 aircraft, Emirates operates to 142 destinations in 80 countries from

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Dubai. Its multicultural workforce is made up of more than 48,000 people from over 160 nations.

“Emirates flies more passengers over longer distances than any of its rivals and has become the standard by which other airline brands are judged. As employees of the Middle East's most valuable brand, Emirates' staff are ambassadors for the whole region, building bridges and good relationships across cultures with their impeccable service,” said David Haigh, Chief Executive, Brand Finance.

Brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance assesses the dollar value of the reputation, image and intellectual property of the world's foremost brands across a number of categories, taking into consideration factors including emotional connection, financial performance, economic growth rates, revenue forecasts and analysts' insights.

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briefing

news PELÉ AND EMIRATES STRENGTHEN TIES

FORMER BRAzILIAN FOOTBALLER PELÉ recently attended the

announcement in Dubai of Emirates' continued sponsorship of American soccer team the New York Cosmos.

Widely regarded as the greatest footballer in history, the 74-yearold star became an Emirates Global Ambassador in January in the run up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, which will kick off in his native Brazil in June.

Pelé is also Honorary President of the New York Cosmos, who he played for between 1975 and 1977.

Emirates' sponsorship of the New York Cosmos' shirt began in 2013, but in light of the team's recent success – winning the Fall Championship and the Soccer Bowl in the US in the past year – the airline has decided to extend the

sponsorship deal for a further two years.

"Emirates has played a big part in the reboot of the New York Cosmos," said Pelé . "It's wonderful that they'll play a key role in the team's future, too, and that we remain part of the Emirates soccer family."

The airline and the football legend will work together on a number of other initiatives over the coming months.

HELLO CHICAGO EMIRATES WILL LAUNCH A DAILY SERVICE to Chicago’s O’Hare

International Airport from 5th August 2014.

The service will be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR powered by GE90 engines, and Chicago will become the airline’s ninth gateway in the USA.

Flight EK 235 will depart Dubai at 9.45am, arriving at O’Hare at 3.25pm. The return flight, EK 236, will depart O’Hare at 8.35pm, arriving in Dubai at 7.10pm the following day.

The addition of the Chicago route follows the recent launch of the

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airline's Boston service in March.

In the US, Emirates also flies to Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC and New York, as well as operating a daily linked service to New York via Milan. emirates.com

EXPANDING HORIZONS by reaching new frontiers

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In year 2001, the ASEZ was inaugurated. A liberalized, low tax, duty free and multi-sector development zone as part of Jordan's assertive reform strategy to provide investors, from all over the world, with an attractive business environment.

Strategically located on the cross roads between three continents and four countries, ASEZ covers an area of 375 Km2 encompassing the total Jordanian coastline (27 km), the sea-ports of Jordan, an international airport operating under an Open Skies airport policy and the historical city of Aqaba.

The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) is the financially and administratively autonomous institution responsible for the management, regulation, and the development of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ). Six ministerial – level commissioners, each responsible for a major area of regulatory or operational activity, govern the ASEZ. ASEZA is a service – oriented organization offering one – stop assistance covering all investment needs.

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BRIEFING

NEWS EMIRATES AND MONTBLANC CREATE EXCLUSIVE PEN

MONTBLANC HAS CRAFTED A MONTBLANC MEISTERSTÜCK BALLPOINT PEN exclusively for

Emirates.

Emirates will contribute 20 per cent of sales to the Emirates Airline Foundation, which aims to reach out to children in need and help them realise their full potential.

The pen sports a motif symbolising the work of the Emirates Airline Foundation, which is finely engraved in the high-grade stainless steel cap top ring. These symbols depict the foundation's projects, which extend from healthcare missions, to building homes,

supporting food programmes, schools, scholarship funding and more. A ruby gemstone adorns the platinum-plated clip and the barrel is made of deep black precious resin.

Christian Rauch, Montblanc international managing director of writing, culture, leather and jewellery, said Montblanc’s partnership with the foundation highlighted the brand’s presence in the Middle East.

“We are delighted to make this substantial commitment to an organisation that makes a difference to thousands of young lives every single day, and to offer Emirates

customers the opportunity to own a distinctive writing instrument that also contributes in a meaningful way to the future of our world,” he said.

Rauch also presented a cheque for US$150,000 to the foundation, at the launch of the Montblanc Emirates Airline Foundation Ballpoint Pen at the Emirates headquarters in Dubai.

The pen is available exclusively onboard Emirates flights and on emirateshighstreet.com.

Montblanc and the Emirates Airline Foundation are aiming to raise $1 million from the five-year initiative. emirateshighstreet.com

Perfect timing Don’t miss your next Emirates flight. Make sure you get to your boarding gate on time.

Boarding starts 45 minutes before your flight and gates close 20 minutes before departure. If you report late we will not be able to accept you for travel.

Thank you for your cooperation.

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BRIEFING

NEWS NEW LINKED SERVICE TO NIGERIA

EMIRATES WILL BEGIN A DAILY LINKED SERVICE TO ABUJA AND KANO in Nigeria from 1st August 2014.

Abuja replaced Lagos as Nigeria’s capital in 1991 and is the seat of the Federal Government and home to most of Nigeria’s major institutions, while Kano is known for the production and export of groundnuts, a major source of income before the oil boom.

Abuja will be the first stop on the linked service on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and Kano will be the first stop on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The route will be serviced by an Airbus A340-500 offering a total of 258 seats in a three class configuration.

Customers will experience Emirates awardwinning service by its multi-national cabin crew, gourmet cuisine and its ice entertainment system, offering more than 750 channels of on-demand audio and visual entertainment.

Emirates’ customers also receive a generous baggage allowance of 50kg for First Class, 40kg for Business Class and 30kg for Economy Class. emirates.com

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briefing

City Guide GLASGOW This month, Emirates celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Glasgow service on 10th April. Enjoy our guide to Scotland's largest city Based on a grid system of streets, George Square dominates the centre of Glasgow, with shopping precincts to the south and west. However, it is the cultural establishments that set the pulse of the city, and there are numerous theatres, libraries and galleries to explore alongside a vibrant nightlife.

THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL MUSEUM EMIRATES HAS OPERATED A GLASGOW SERvICE FOR 10 YEARS, and to mark

the occasion, it will operate a one-off A380 service from Glasgow Airport to Dubai on 10th April. Glasgow will be the first airport in Scotland to welcome an A380.

Historically Glasgow proudly proclaimed itself the second city of the British Empire, due to its commercial and cultural importance, before industrial decline in the 20th century saw the city fall from grace. But Glasgow is rapidly cementing a new image as a captivating cosmopolitan cultural centre.

The Scottish Football Museum aims to keep the tradition and spirit of Scottish football alive with more than 2,500 memorabilia on display.

Fourteen galleries explore the development of the modern game in Scotland, from the 19th century to the present day. A highlight of the tour is the world’s oldest national trophy, the Scottish Cup.

SHARMANKA Sharmanka is home to hundreds of carved figures and pieces of old scrap. Far from being a glorified rubbish tip, the creations perform haunting choreographed displays accompanied by music and light.

Founded by sculptor-mechanic Eduard Bersudsky and theatre director Tatyana Jakovskaya in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1989, the installation explores the funny and tragic stories of the human spirit.

THE BARRAS For many, Glasgow's flea market, the Barras, on Gallowgate, is the heart of the city. Boasting thousands of stalls that provide plenty to buy, eat and drink, the atmosphere is vibrant, and residents and visitors combine to make a bustling and boisterous experience.

GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART Arguably Charles Rennie Mackintosh's finest building, the Glasgow School Of Art is still being used for its original purpose. The incredible attention to design detail is impressive, especially when set against the simplistic, almost austere nature of the interior.

In 1907 a library was added, regarded by many as a masterpiece of a building, but the only way to experience the interior is to book a guided tour.

Fly Emirates twice daily from Dubai to Glasgow, with a one-off A380 service on 10th April.

POPULATION: 598,830 HISTORICAL FACT: The QE2 and the Royal yacht Britannia were built on the river on Glasgow's River Clyde.

INSPIRATIONAL CITIZEN: Architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Art Nouveau style swept across Britain and Europe.

WHAT IS GLASGOW FAMOUS FOR? The heated rivalry between Rangers and Celtic football teams is legendary.

DID YOU KNOW? There is a statue in the Glasgow City Chambers that bears a striking resemblance to the Statue of Liberty in New York (albeit a lot smaller).

WHAT TO EAT: There are unfair jokes about a Glasgow salad (portion of French fries), but there are plenty of culinary highlights to sample. Why not head to Black Sheep Bistro in St George’s Cross to sample modern Scottish fare.

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briefing

Comfort

Wellness in the air

To help you arrive at your destination feeling relaxed and refreshed, Emirates has developed this collection of helpful travel tips. Regardless of whether you need to rejuvenate for your holiday or be effective at achieving your goals on a business trip, these simple tips will help you enjoy your journey and time on board with Emirates today.

smart traveller

Drink plentY of Water Rehydrate with water or juices frequently.

Drink tea and coffee in moderation.

travel lightlY Carry only the essential items that you will need during your flight.

Before Your JourneY Consult your doctor before travelling if you have any medical concerns about making a long journey, or if you suffer from a respiratory or cardiovascular condition.

Plan for the destination – will you need any vaccinations or special medications?

Get a good night’s rest before the flight.

Eat lightly and sensibly.

Wear glasses Cabin air is drier than normal, therefore swap your contact lenses for glasses.

at the airport Allow yourself plenty of time for check-in.

Avoid carrying heavy bags through the airport and onto the flight as this can place the body under considerable stress.

Once through to departures try and relax as much as possible.

use skin moisturiser Apply a good quality moisturiser to ensure your skin doesn’t dry out.

keep moving Exercise your lower legs and calf muscles.

This encourages blood flow.

During the flight Chewing and swallowing will help equalise your ear pressure during ascent and descent.

Babies and young passengers may suffer more acutely with popping ears, therefore consider providing a dummy.

Get as comfortable as possible when resting and turn frequently.

Avoid sleeping for long periods in the same position.

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make Yourself comfortaBle Loosen clothing, remove jacket and avoid anything pressing against your body.

When You arrive Try some light exercise, or read if you can’t sleep after arrival.

briefing

Visas & UaE smart GatE Guide to us customs & immiGration Whether you’re travelling to, or through, the United States today, this simple guide to completing the US customs form will help to ensure that your journey is as hassle free as possible.

CUSTomS DEClArATIon Form

electronic system for travel authorisation (esta) If you are an international traveller wishing to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Programme, You must apply for electronic authorisation (ESTA) up to 72 hours prior to your departure.

esta facts:

All passengers arriving into the US need to complete a Customs Declaration Form. If you are travelling as a family this should be completed by one member only.

The form must be completed in English, in capital letters, and must be signed where indicated.

Children and infants require an individual ESTA. The online ESTA system will inform you whether your application has been authorised, not authorised or if authorisation is pending.

A successful ESTA application is valid for two years, however this may be revoked or will expire along with your passport.

apply online at www.cbp.Gov/esta nationalities eliGible for the visa waiver*: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, latvia, liechtenstein, lithuania, luxemburg, malta, monaco, The netherlands, new Zealand, norway, Portugal, San marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom**

* subject to chanGe ** only british citizens qualify under the visa waiver proGramme.

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BE SMART!

NATIONALITIES THAT CAN USE UAE SMART GATES

USE UAE SMART GATE AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT GO THROUGH IMMIGRATION IN SECONDS AND GET YOUR VISIT TO DUBAI OFF TO A FLYING START Citizens of the countries listed on the right and UAE residents can speed through Dubai International Airport by using UAE Smart Gate.

If you hold a machine readable passport, UAE Emirates ID card or E-Gate card you can check in and out of the airport within seconds.

Just look out for signs that will direct you to the many UAE Smart Gates found on either side of the Immigration Hall at Dubai International Airport.

USING UAE SMART GATE IS EASY

1

Have your UAE Emirates ID card, E-Gate card or machine-readable passport ready to be scanned

Place your passport photo page on the scanner. If you are a UAE resident, you can scan your UAE Emirates ID card.

If you have an E-Gate card place it into the E-Gate slot

2 3

OK!

Go through the open gate, stand in the blue footprint guide on the floor, face the camera straight-on and remain still for your iris scan. When finished, the next set of gates will open and you can proceed to baggage claim

UAE

ANDORRA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

BAHRAIN

BELGIUM

BRUNEI

CANADA

DENMARK

FINLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

ICELAND

IRELAND

ITALY

JAPAN

KUWAIT

LICHTENSTEIN

LUXEMBOURG

MALAYSIA

MONACO

NETHERLANDS

NEW ZEALAND

NORWAY

OMAN

PORTUGAL

QATAR

SAN MARINO

SAUDI ARABIA

SINGAPORE

SOUTH KOREA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

*UK

USA

*UK citizens only (UK overseas citizens still require a visa)

REGISTERING FOR UAE SMART GATE IS EASY

To register, just follow the above process and then spend a few moments having your details validated by an Immigration officer. That’s it! Every time you fly to Dubai in future, you will be out of the airport and on your way just minutes after you landed.

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UAE SMART GATE CAN BE USED BY:

Machine readable passports from the above countries UAE Emirates ID cards E-Gate cards

ROUTE MAP

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NEW ROUTES:

Kano/Abuja: from August 1, 2014 Chicago: from August 5, 2014 Oslo: from September 2, 2014

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route map

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• • • • • • • •

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• • • • • • • •

DUBAI EMIRATES TOWERS, 14TH FLOOR, SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD P.O. BOX: 9055, DUBAI, UAE TEL: +971 4 330 4343 | FAX: +971 4 330 3993 contact@emiratesadvocates.com | www.emiratesadvocates.com ABU DHABI Tel: +971 2 6394446 auh@emiratesadvocates.com

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WITH AFFILIATE OFFICES IN SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR, BAHRAIN, KUWAIT AND OMAN

FOR 24 HOUR LEGAL ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CALL +971 (50) 328 99 99

ROUTE MAP

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SPRING SUMMER 2014

the FLeet

Our fleet contains 214 aircraft made up of 202 passenger aircraft and 12 cargo aircraft

Boeing 777-300eR

Number of Aircraft: 94 Capacity: 354-442 Range: 14,594km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 64.8m

Boeing 777-300

Number of Aircraft: 12 Capacity: 364 Range: 11,029km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 60.9m

Boeing 777-200LR

Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 266 Range: 17,446km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m

Boeing 777-200

Number of Aircraft: 9 Capacity: 274-346 Range: 9,649km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 60.9m

Boeing 777F

Number of Aircraft: 10 Range: 9,260km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m For more information: emirates.com/ourfleet

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Airbus A380-800

Number of Aircraft: 49 Capacity: 489-517 Range: 15,000km Length: 72.7m Wingspan: 79.8m

Airbus A340-500

Number of Aircraft: 9 Capacity: 258 Range: 16,050km Length: 67.9m Wingspan: 63.4m

Airbus A340-300

Number of Aircraft: 4 Capacity: 267 Range: 13,350km Length: 63.6m Wingspan: 60.3m

Airbus A330-200

Number of Aircraft: 21 Capacity: 237-278 Range: 12,200km Length: 58.8m Wingspan: 60.3m

boeing 747-400erF

Number of Aircraft: 2 Range:9,204km Length: 70.6m Wingspan: 64.4m Aircraft numbers as of April 2014

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last look

Paris JULIEN BOUDET 28, PhOTOgraPhEr 4Th arrONDIssEmENT, ParIs I love Paris for its architecture, its history and, of course, its culture.

It’s a great place to work as a photographer. I am here outside Hôtel de Ville, where a Balmain fashion show is being held, shooting reportage street fashion.

This neighbourhood is right by the Seine and, when I’m not working, I enjoy running by the water here. The architecture in this area is inspiring, and it’s quiet and central. I would describe my style as minimalist avant-guard. I usually dress like I have today, but it’s been raining a lot recently, so I also wanted to make sure I wore something weatherproof.

IMAGE: MELODIE JENG, THENYCSTREETS.COM

bleumode.com

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Discover Luxury

The largest selection of genuine 19th century French antiques in the region, 19th Century Antiques includes rare furniture, bronzes, paintings, clock sets, and vases of exceptional quality and taste.

JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS, BOULEVARD | DUBAI, UAE TEL: +971 4 3887000 FAX: +971 4 3887111 | WWW.19CENTURYANTIQUES.COM