Bleeding Heart Restaurant

Ooh La La...

Knowing my penchant for Tudor History, Paris and all things heart shaped, my boyfriend took me and my glittery shoes to dinner at Bleeding Heart in Hatton Cross.

There is a restaurant, a bistro, a tavern and a crypt (where King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon held their three day wedding feast) all spread over a secluded cobbled courtyard – the same courtyard where the murder of Lady Hatton took place in 1626; Her jealous lover left her body lying in this courtyard, "torn limb from limb with her heart still pumping blood into the cobblestones...” Hungry?!

Jack, or in this case, Jacques, chose this particular location to give me a beautiful, Topaz ring (found in an auction by our friend Charlie Goode, of Goode and Son.)

Given that The Times voted Bleeding Heart as London’s most romantic restaurant and one of my girlfriends was recently proposed to here, so there could be no misunderstanding as to the ring’s purpose (can you imagine?!) upon presenting me with the aforementioned sparkler, Jacques loudly and slowly accompanied his gift with “THIS.. IS.. FOR.. OUR.. ONE.. YEAR.. ANNI.. VER.. SARY..”

With such clear instruction and stage projection our nearby neighbours will more than likely have assumed I was deaf or foreign.

“MER…CI… JACQUES... I... LOVES... IT!” ;)

Honestly Healthy

Yesterday saw the launch of Honestly Healthy in the Selfridges Food Hall, the joint venture of Natasha Corrett (health retreat organizer and vegetarian chef) and Vicki Edgson (nutritionist and original co-founder of The Food-Doctor.) Their range of freshly prepared gourmet vegetarian food promises to help balance, alkalise, calm, revive and revitalize you.

As a nutrition novice (chocolate raisins count towards your 5 a day surely?!) Natasha explained that adding alkaline into your daily diet helps to calm nerves, focus your mind, replenish your skin, improve your digestion, reduce the toxin levels in your body and considerably reduce the risk of cancer.

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A salad encompassing a range of ingredients from quinoa, feta and tofu to bok choy, red rice and chickpeas, and a series of ready to cook dry mixes including risottos and tagines are available to buy from today.

I left with a jar of ‘Rise and Shine Muesli,’ which I have been promised that it is so delicious and naturally sweeted from the dried fruits inside, I will not have to add any of my usual morning time spoonfuls of sugar, dollops of honey or sprinklings of chocolate…

If anyone can challenge my sweet tooth (teeth… mouth... body...) its these ladies. Honestly.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition

"Every Night In My Dreams...."

I have been obsessed with the story of the Titanic for as long as I can remember (and not just since Leonardo played Jack Dawson and Celine belted out ‘My Heart Will Go On...’ although perhaps this may have exacerbated it somewhat…)

I went to London’s O2 arena to see ‘Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition’ where more than 300 artifacts rescued from the shipwreck’s debris were laid out for me to peruse (including parts of the ship itself, crockery and personal belongings such as top hats and perfume bottles.) Historically accurate room recreations are also showcased.

You are given a White Line boarding card at the start of your Titanic journey with the name of a real passenger and a few other details on it. This makes the tragedy even more real and distressing for you, when at the end you search for ‘your’ name on the passenger lists of survivors and victims (alas, ‘I’ – little Hanora Heggerty, from County Cork, did not make it.)

There is also a chance to pose in front of a green screen where a photographer will superimpose your image onto the bottom of the Titanic’s sweeping main staircase – obviously I forced Jack (Yes!! A real life Jack!!) to do this with me.

You have the opportunity to read many compelling testimonials from survivors and poignant stories about those who did not, and an opportunity to touch a real piece of the ship.

Despite the walls being a little text heavy and the constant, eventually mind numbing, fiddle music playing throughout the exhibition, the show is both informative and moving.

On until Sept 1st.

Too Many Women

The totals are now in - a group of my girlfriends and I managed to raise nearly £11,000 at our 'Spring Fling' fundraiser last month, held at Guy Pelly's PUBLIC nightclub. All this money will go towards Harry Beecher's Two Many Women Campaign - raising money for Breast Cancer Research.

Thank you to all those who donated raffle prizes (which included goodies from Mulberry, Temperley, Jimmy Choo - to name but a few!) for the generous donations and for everyone who came down and helped to make it a really fun night.

Musical Moment - SoKo ('I'll Kill Her')

I love this song by SoKo - featured in a 2007 Stella McCartney fashion show – her frank, unapologetic threats to the blonde girl who is now dating the man she has imagined, in psychotic depth, to be ‘the one,’ are issued with the most perfectly distant, ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude, that only a French girl can pull off.
http://www.myspace.com/mysoko

"I would have met your friends, we would have had a drink or two
They would have liked me, coz sometimes i'm funny..."

Pizza East Meets West

The ever-expanding Soho House Group has once again added to its empire, this time with Pizza East Portobello, the sibling to Pizza East Shoreditch. Towards the end of Portobello Road, the restored Georgian pub is now a light, airy, hip New York style restaurant, takeaway and deli.

With wooden floors and antique café style furniture, the atmosphere is laid back and perfect for dinner with friends; its been an instant hit with the Yummy Mummies and Beautiful Young Things of Notting Hill.

I visited last night with my girlfriend Beatrice - we met early for a school-like tumbler of prosecco, some green olives and a good gossip before her husband and Jack joined us. 3 tumblers later (they were late!) we were ready to attack the menu. Despite their wood-fired Pizza being the obvious lure (toppings include crispy pork belly, tomato and mushroom) it was the antipasto menu I found truly delicious and would recommend.

Dynamo - Magician Impossible (and INCREDIBLE!)

Never ask your boyfriend what to wear to a party. I made this mistake last year when attending Jack’s friend’s wedding in Long Island. He had lost the invitation but told me it was a black tie event and I dressed accordingly; a sweeping, long sleeved, jewel pink Issa London dress. Apart from myself, and the bride, every other woman at this wedding was wearing black. That was one helluva long night.

So I cannot believe I made the same ridiculously naïve mistake before attending the WTA Tour Pre-Wimbledon Party, hosted by Holly Branson, at The Roof Gardens in Kensington. Running late from meetings, with little time to research the event, I asked Jack, who had attended this party before, the dress code. I was told it was “very casual, Babe.”

Turning up in skinny BDG black jeans and a Broad Anglais long sleeved top (from Staring At Stars) I was instantly surrounded by shimmering and glistening cocktail dresses and towering Nicholas Kirkwood heels everywhere I looked (which was not very far considering I was in flats by Pretty Ballerinas and was eye level with most other girl’s hips.) With the WTA and the British Fashion Council partnering together, this occasion was anything but casual… Babe. My heart sunk and Jack ran for his life (not for the hills, to the bar.)

After squeezing past many of the stilettos and sequins (Maria Sharapova in Alexander McQueen, you are SO NOT helping matters) my manhunt for Jack was halted by bumping into someone equally as casual and equally as short, Bradford magician, Dynamo. Knowing there is power in numbers, he instantly, however unwittingly and momentarily, became my NBF in the room.

After witnessing him tapping Sam Branson on the back three times, and his girlfriend, the beautiful Isabella Calthorpe, with her eyes tightly shut, convinced that it was her back being tapped, Dynamo soon had the rapidly growing crowd around him, both mesmorised and dumbfounded. But this was just a teaser - his new television series, ‘Dynamo: Magician Impossible’ is ridonkulous. Already with a fan base including Chris Martin and Will Smith, the first episode has him levitating Matrix-stylie, throwing mobile phones into empty beer bottles and walking on the River Thames... ON the River Thames!!

After watching an episode of Dynamo's magic with me, my Father decided he must be from another planet… And I tend to think this could be the only reasonable explanation.