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Mr & Mrs Smith

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Get the low-down from the original style-seekers' latest good-time hunting expeditions, find destination inspiration and insider tips from around the world. Welcome to the official Smith blog: we hope you enjoy your stay

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Archive for the 'United Kingdom' Category

Christmas cooking with Raymond Blanc

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

We Smiths like to rank ourselves rather highly in the cookery stakes. In fact, a week rarely goes by without Gareth bringing in baking-parchment parcels containing new-recipe treats or Anthony relaying his latest culinary combinations (eg. pork balls and rice for breakfast). But if there’s any time of year when you need skills in the [...]

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Make mine an… architectural punch bowl

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Jelly. A curious entity – reminiscent of school days, lumpy custard and Seventies trifles. Many would agree it’s an unlikely object of passion. Not Bompas & Parr, the oddballs behind the Horseless Carriage of Curiosities, Flavour Tripping and the breathable cocktail. Their slippery creations include wobbly wedding cake-alternatives for adventurous brides, alcoholic stars for Courvoisier, [...]

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Hotel of the Week: Aviator

Friday, November 13th, 2009

We’ve taken to the skies this week and, after looping the loop over farm and field, we have landed in Hampshire to award our Hotel of the Week accolade to one-of-a-kind aeronautical affair, the Aviator hotel…

Style: Silver belle
Setting: Airfields of Farnborough
Why this week? Until the end of the year, you can stay Friday and Saturday [...]

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Bathtime at the Baglioni Hotel

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

It can be tough sometimes, working for boutique travel experts, whose daily tasks include jetting around the world, seeking out glamour-soaked hotels in wow-factor destinations. No really, it can. Especially when said work involves testing out our luxurious hotels’ facilities, just to check they are still as top-notch as ever - the spa for instance, [...]

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In the diary: bonfire bacchanalia

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

LEWES BONFIRE

Date 5 November
Place Lewes, East Sussex
Style Pyro pandemonium
Setting Not-so-sleepy Sussex streets

Indulge your pagan and your pyromaniac urges with the UK’s greatest bonfire bacchanale.
Event Highlight The Bonfire Societies signal the start of the processions by racing barrels of burning tar down the High Street at 6.30pm, after which the whole town seems to parade past [...]

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Multiple bedding opportunities

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Simmer down, people – this is, after all, about the freebies you get with consecutive sleeps (nothing to do with chain-laying hotties, nor plural hay bales). But we’re excited. Three nights for the price of two: that’s what we’ve been doling out to Daily Telegraph readers, weaving smartly Smith-like passwords into three issues of the [...]

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Loosen your belt for London’s resto fest

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

As summer slowly slips away, the music and alfresco festivals have dismantled their seasonal gazebos to make room for the fallen leaves lacing our London streets. But it’ll take more than a chilly autumnal breeze to keep us Smiths from venturing out to savour the gastronomic delights of the very first London Restaurant Festival (8-13 [...]

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Couture comes to the baggage carousel

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Of all the fabulous finery that billowed and swished its way down the catwalk at London Fashion Week 2009, Smith HQ fell hardest for Erdem’s whimsical watercolour dresses. In particular, the demure and divine ankle-length silk gowns with their daubs of jewel-bright colour, available from Net-a-Porter - well, before they (predictably) sold out that is. [...]

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Wining, not winning: the Call My Bluff challenge

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

We Smiths are a sophisticated bunch, right? We know our velouté from our mirepoix, our Miu Miu from our Missoni and we certainly know our Chablis from our chardonnay. So when Juliet and I received an invitation to take part in a Call My Bluff-style wine quiz at Westfield’s new Meat & Wine Co restaurant, [...]

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Insider address book: Linda Pilkington

Monday, September 21st, 2009

At the start of the summer, we asked luxury perfumer Linda Pilkington to share her scents of smell (and a few other things). As the founder of Ormonde Jayne on London’s Old Bond Street, she’s journeyed to far-flung frangipani-lined shores and knows more than a thing or two about travelling in style. We delve into [...]

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