London High Life: Christmas Cocktails – The best Cocktails in Town

Once you have donned your party dress, make up and designer jewellery, it’s time to head out – so we decided to check out some of the best places to meet friends for a cheeky cocktail in London before heading off to the Christmas Party. Here's our low-down on some of the best venues in London.

Dukes Bar

A personal favourite is Dukes Bar – we believe they serve one the best martini cocktails you have ever tasted. Dukes is well hidden – off St James's Place, but their martinis are straight up frozen gin or vodka enlivened with dashes of bespoke vermouth expertly wrung from the peels of Amalfi lemon. Please note the cocktails are strong so two is fine - after that you may well forget about your Christmas Party. 

• Martinis from £17, 35 St James's Place SW1, 020-7491 4840, dukeshotel.com

The Bar at The Dorchester

The Bar at The Dorchester may have a feel of the old American bars in New York with its deep wood and mirrored walls, however it is home to some of the finest cocktail artists who create their own unique cocktails. You will be guided through a list of cocktails best suited to your palate and are bound to find on their menu cocktails you have never heard of but will be tempted to try. If you have time, pop downstairs to China Tang and try a chestnut negroni. 
• Cocktails £16, 53 Park Lane W1, 020-7629 8888, dorchestercollection.com

The Connaught Bar

The winner of many awards, the lively Coburg Bar is lovely and the cocktails impeccable. Whilst there and if you have time, also make your way to the tiny Connaught Bar with its minute tables and chic setting- perfect for looking the part as you dazzle in your L&G jewellery. Ago Perrone and Rusty Cervin will offer you a varied selection of bitters for your martini and drinks are prepared by your table.
• Cocktails from £16, Carlos Place W1, 020-7499 7070, the-connaught.co.uk

Nola

Nola is a fun bar which is inspired by New Orleans. Their top selling cocktails are The Hurricane, The Sazerac and The Grasshopper, which was created by the Mississippi river at Tujague's by the owner Philibert Guichet around 1919. There is a cigar terrace and humidor in the back. The cigars are best taken with a Sazerac. 

• Cocktails around £10, 66-68 Rivington Street EC2, nola-london.com

El Camion

Finally to add a bit of spice, visit El Camion – it is located next door to a Soho sex shop,  which may seem the unlikeliest destination for great drinks, or maybe not. Either way it boasts one of the finest cocktail mixers, Dick Bradsell, who is known to be the guru of modern British bartending and has trained some of the best cocktail masters in London. The margaritas are outstanding as are the Bramble and Espresso martinis.
• Cocktails around the £8, 25-27 Brewer Street W1, 020-7734 7711,elcamion.co.uk

So wherever you are in London, we hope you have time to treat yourself to a Christmas Cocktail!

This week in London - London Restaurant Festival

This week in London - London Restaurant Festival

For those who love food, the London Restaurant Festival is a must in the London calendar. It comprises of three weeks of fabulous foodie events and special menus at London restaurants.

Now in its sixth year, the London Restaurant Festival is a city-wide celebration of London restaurants and chefs. From great-value festival restaurant-hopping menus to pop up one-off chef-led events, there is a great range of menus during the three weeks duration.

As the London restaurant festival comes to a close, we take a look at some of the highlights of the London tasting festival. This year, Lee Broom Designs launched a new restaurant in Soho called Old Tom & English. It is situated on London’s Wardour Street, and officially opens on November 14th. Designed by Lee Broom for brother and sister duo Maria & Costas Constantinou, the space also features products from Broom’s latest collection, Nouveau Rebel. The London restaurant comprises of intimate tables in hidden rooms, and visitors can enjoy personally prepared cocktails and traditional English dishes with a twist. “Old Tom” refers to an 18th century English gin recipe and pays homage to Soho’s colourful history.

In addition, Chinatown hosted a special guided food trail as part of the Festival. Six London restaurants were selected across Chinatown to allow visitors to sample a wide range of rich and diverse Asian Food. They served Chinese classics like thick noodles with coconut, tamarind and shrimp as well as hot spicy pots and pickles. It was a tour we would recommend to those who enjoy Asian cuisine and spices. Recommended London Restaurants in China Town included: Rasa Sayang, 5 Macclesfield Street, W1D 6AY, Maotai Kitchen, 12 Macclesfield Street, W1D 5BP. Next year make sure you book your ticket to the London Restaurant Festival in China Town.

Central Saint Martins: Where the World’s Top Designers Come From

Ever wondered how some of the World’s top jewellery designers get to where they are? Most assume great designers were born with a god-given talent and that moving into creating beautiful jewellery pieces came easily.
Whilst their natural talent may have been in abundance, all designers – even the World’s best – have honed their skills through hard work and, more often than not, excellent tuition at design institutions.
Lolo & Galago has many links to one of these in particular, with several of our World class designers having graduated from the prestigious Central SaintMartins in London, widely recognised as one of the greatest design universities in the World.

We caught up with Caroline Broadhead, CSM’s BA Jewellery Design Course Leader, to find out how the World’s future Creative Directors are taught, and why she believes CSM stands out. 

Unlike scientific subjects, with design there are no set rules. Nevertheless, Caroline very much believes there is a process to be followed. “It’s about looking, thinking and then combining those ideas” she explains. “Designers need to have a great awareness of their interests.” To help students do this and keep constantly engaged with the World around them and its inspirations, all CSM students keep a book of inspiring text, images and photos throughout their time at the university. 

Whilst every student approaches design in their own way, Caroline explains it is important that they understand a process from initial concept right through to final design. This means developing an original idea, looking at technical details and materials – and using this technical understanding to present the concept into a first designs. Then, test the design both visually as well as physically. This allows them to expand their concept and keep iterating until a final design is created. 

With so many stages, we wondered what the hardest part of being a designer is. “The hardest part of the process is the design development: Taking your initial ideas from your head and creating that first physical concept from those ideas is tricky for a lot of students” explains Caroline. To help with this, students are given project briefs, in which they are given very narrow guidelines for a design. This forces the students to delve deeper into that specific subject rather than take a broad approach, causing them to use their imagination to an even greater level.

This is all well and good, but of course a truly talented designer creates beautiful work not only for themselves but also for their customer, and this is something that needs to be ingrained into all future designers’ ways of thinking. Caroline explains that all students are encouraged to have an ongoing dialogue with clients. One of the great things about CSM is that many fashion and jewellery firms get involved – currently they have 13 companies working on projects with students – which allows them to practice working with their customer and learning how to anticipate what will be popular.

So what makes CSM stand out amongst most other universities? “London is inspirational,” says Caroline. “There is so much to be taken from the city, and it attract sambitious and talented students from the outset, so we are starting with a lot of raw talent. We also work with industry regularly, which gives great connections and real-life experience.”

We were curious to know what the head of jewellery design thinks are the most important qualities in a designer – we were given three. “A positive attitude. You can’t give up and have to keep working. Energy and an excitement for your surroundings, awareness of trends and a feel of today’s styles.”

We couldn’t agree more, they are all qualities we see in abundance with Lolo & Galago’s designers, and from this we have created ground breaking collections that are true exotic luxury, and we are sure much of this has come thanks to CSM’s excellent early influence.