Hutong, fiery food, fiery views

In which our Editor-in-Chief travels from a neo-Mongolian skyscraping culinary landmark in Hong Kong to a 17th century tithe barn in Hampshire, and points between

Arriving in Hong Kong from London in the early evening, being whisked to my hotel and being checked in in-room, the call of mild has never been more powerful. A thorough room service menu, ranging from Cantonese to club sandwich, the assurance of brisk service and a half-bottle of 2009 Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet, a view from the sofa across to Kowloon, and a four-day schedule of meetings starting with no respect to jet-lag at eight the following morning: why would you venture out of your luxury hotel room?

Because… well, just because a friend who owns a tour operator had told me the Star Ferry to Kowloon is the best introductory experience to Hong Kong, and because otherwise the city would be viewed for the first time through the rose-tinted spectacles of dinners, lunches and parties with friends.

And so with pockets jangling with change for the ferry ticket machine, and the hotel doorman’s slightly perplexed ministrations that it would be much more convenient for me to take a taxi to Kowloon, uncomprehending of the fact that the journey was the destination, I headed through the tropical rain, along a latticework of walkways, past hurrying locals and the odd sauntering tourist, and took my place on a seat by the window. The churning journey across the few hundred metres to Kowloon plunges you into a valley of sea between mountain ranges of human endeavour and show, the edifices on either side; and then you are in Kowloon, and ducking into the lobby of an office skyscraper just before the downpour starts again.

Strange for a Westerner to travel to an acclaimed restaurant in the lift of an office building, but exit on the 28th floor and this is the world of Hutong, a sort of Inner Mongolian gastronomic temple (I later learned that it is designed to mimic Ancient Peking) complete with contemporary bar and ravishing guests. I sat at a table by the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed at the jumble of skyscrapers, each bigger than the last, spreading up and across and out, of Central, Hong Kong, obscured sometimes for seconds by drifting low clouds of the storm and then switched on again as the sky cleared. I toasted the view with a half-litre of draft Veltins, one of German’s finest, most aromatic lagers served icecold and surprising at Hutong. The cuisine is a meld of northern Chinese with whatever else they wish to serve, and my beef fillet with Sichuan chillis was edgy, precise and focussed.

The following evening I was taken by a friend to his new(-ish) restaurant, The Principal, in Wan Chai, a formerly sleazy, now rapidly yuppifying, area along the seafront that mixes massage parlours and ultra-cool shops in roughly equal measure. The Principal is unusual for Hong Kong, I was told, in that its entrance is on street level, which makes it very usual for where I come from. You walk through a gleaming bar area and into a restaurant room that is pared back, minimalist contemporary chic. The menu is Australian in its imagination, and quite contemporary London in its simplicity. The signature starter of baby beet, yoghurt, black quinoa and micro herbs was a quadratic equation of flavours with a very complete resolution; saltbush tenderloin of lamb with sweetbreads, aubergine, chickpeas and Moroccan ras-el-hanout was not North African so much as mid-Indian Ocean, and perplexing and delightful. My friend also owns a wine business, so the Wine Atlas, with picks of the most interesting wines from around the world, was very compelling. This sort of laid-back glamour is the new Hong Kong style, apparently, and London could rather do with some of its own.

The Principal, a culinary highlight in Hong Kong’s cool Wan Chai area

Business finished at lunchtime on the last day in Hong Kong, a Sunday, so a friend who runs an auction house and I wandered down at teatime to the Captain’s Bar, a legendary institution in Central, the heart of town. In a part of the world where high floors and astronomical views are de rigueur for bars, it was arresting to be in a windowless space on a ground floor, an L-shape punctuated by glass tableaux of a chess game, low banquettes, and private jet set businesspeople of no fixed abode muttering deals to each other.

This is one of Asia’s most celebrated cocktail bars, but with a 12-hour flight ahead we weren’t in the mood for cocktails, instead finding solace in the metal tankards of extremely cold, perfectly headed Asahi lager. As the Germans and Belgians – and evidently the Hong Kongers – know, beer benefits from being served correctly as much as any wine appreciates its appropriate Riedel stemware. I had never had lager in a metal tankard before, but after two, we agreed that your own personalised, engraved tankard at the Captain’s Bar was an essential item for any gentleman of the world. My friend had auctioned off two of these for charity a year or two before, but sadly they are no longer available, so I left Hong Kong with a slight sense of yearning.

Frank Gehry-designed fish on the seafront at the Hotel Arts, Barcelona

I have wanted to visit the Hotel Arts in Barcelona for more than a decade, but despite a number of trips to the city, never quite managed to make it. Back in 1998, the world, or Europe in any case, had seen nothing like it: a new build skyscraper devoted to showing off artworks to its guests, more six-star than five. In a city as earthy as Barcelona, it is a strange and rather liberating feeling to be hoisted 20 floors into the sky and survey the scene from above, Asian-style. My room was a paragon of contemporary comfort: silence, a perfectly-sprung bed, a bathroom with the glass walls that are essential parts of a hotel designer’s repertoire now (affording more physical space as well as a feeling of it). And if you tire of Barcelona’s rather impressive (for a big city) public beach on the doorstep, you can view what is probably Spain’s finest overall collection of contemporary art or retire to the hotel’s own pool, stretched out just below the landmark Frank Gehry fish sculpture, which could be said to have kickstarted the whole contemporary design trend in northern Spain. The pool’s architecture is such that it reminded me rather of the Villa d’Este’s pool on Lake Como, famously floating in the lake on its own pontoon, even though the Arts’ pool is very much on dry land.

Without wishing to belittle the hotel’s art offering, which is compelling and makes a stay rather like staying in a contemporary museum, my highlight was art of a different form, in the restaurant Arola. This is food with wit, taste and just enough conception: cod esqueixada with tomato pearls, very particular patatas bravas, sea cucumbers and razor clams with kalix (which reminded me of samphire) were wonderful and not overdone. The artistry of the form of the dishes was matched by their culinary execution; here is another example of modern Catalan cuisine taking its inspiration from Ferran Adrià’s now departed El Bulli but painting with its own palette, so to speak. And one of the most refreshing factors was its informality: Arola is conceived as a modern take on a tapas bar, so the service was swift and down-to-earth, not remote and Michelenic.

Home territory this summer featured a tour of the ancient hillsides of the Cotswolds, and a delve further south. I was struck a few years back when a friend who owns some of the coolest hotels in the world told me he considered Barnsley House as his favoured retreat in the now-ultra-fashionable hillsides and wooded folds between Oxford and Gloucester. England has recently been host to a number of spectacular country hotel openings, and I went expecting a grand super-Cotswold resort, only to be greeted by a bijou little property, all higgledy rooms and hidden staircases, tastefully refreshed in a contemporary style.

Our suite was in a former stable, approached along stepping stones in its own private garden – very St Tropez and perfect for a shy rock star making an escape with the wrong person’s girlfriend, in its seclusion. Inside the palette was light and contemporary, an offset to the building’s history. It was all very refreshing, although the garden and private water area could perhaps have been more organic, more easy on the eye. For those who want country without Country Life, Barnsley House is probably a perfect weekend stop.

As traditional and cosy as Barnsley House is New Gen Chic, Woodstock’s Feathers hasn’t changed much, barring the required investment in keeping everything up to date, since I used to escape there on Sunday evenings with friends while a student at Oxford in the late 1980s. This establishment fixture can accurately claim to be the Gateway to the Cotswolds; it is also on the doorstep of my favourite stately home in the area, Blenheim Palace.

The Feathers has been nurtured lovingly into the modern era, not jolted into it: fabrics and warm and autumnal, grandfather clocks still stand, history is alive, but there is a lack of fust and fuss. There is a feeling of cosiness, enhanced by the enclosed (in the best possible way) nature of its 17th century buildings. Service is friendly and country, not town, and you get the feeling that a gin and tonic, rather than a raspberry Martini, will be the favoured drink here for a century to come – although naturally they will serve you both.

Fifty kilometres is a distance that means nothing in China (unless you’re breaching the border between Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region and China proper). In England, it takes you to a different part of the country, as a foray to Norton Park from the Cotswolds attested. Steep rolling hills are replaced by broad downs and open plains, and Norton Park makes the most of these views and its wonderful and vast 17th century tithe barn. Here is a new-style country hotel of a different perspective; the simple, well-sourced and thoughtfully cooked country cuisine tells the tale of a country whose culinary history has been jolted out of a shameful past in just the last 10 years.

Norton Park’s new building is removed by some ancient woodland from its original manor house, where we found snug ceilings, secret passages, and a lawn leading to a duckpond and an overgrown copse; ancient meeting modern.

Darius Sanai is Editor-in-Chief of Condé Nast Contract Publishing

Tasmania may be an unlikely location for a cutting edge art show, in a state-of-the-art museum space. But that’s exactly what you’ll find if you make the spectacular journey to the Museum of Old and New Art this summer Darius Sanai

If ever there were a show that could be dubbed Adventure Art, it would be this. On an exposed tip of the island at the farthest corner of Australia sits the spectacular Museum of Old and New Art, a space that combines a microbrewery, chic wine bar, restaurant, arresting architecture, and, oh, one of the world’s greatest collections of global antiquities, combined with dramatic works by leading contemporary artists from around the globe.

It is into this space that Jean-Hubert Martin, former director of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, is guest curating a one-year show launching this June, entitled Theatre of the World. The show is a journey through the wildest recesses of Africa, South America, Australasia, and east London, with works by artists ranging from Chris Ofili to Sidney Nolan.

There are more than 300 works on in a show the museum describes as taking visitors “on an experiential voyage that moves them from the visceral to the symbolic, and the factual to the poetic.”

In an interview with LUX, Martin commented: “There is no reason to look at art only in terms of historical and geographical categories. An anthropological perspective allows for comparison between any creations of humankind. It provides a much broader scope.”

Those making the journey, he said, “should be free to interpret and play with their imagination, combining and playing with their knowledge, not mine, in front of items we have put together to excite their neurons.”

And if your neurons don’t get enough excitement from the 4000 year-span of the works on show, there’s always the rest of MONA, which includes a rather splendid winery and brewhouse. MONA itself is the creation of David Walsh, a brilliant, colourful, and eccentric Tasmanian multi-millionaire, and if his aim was to put Tasmania on the world map, one could say he is certainly succeeding. A visit to MONA is an adventure in itself; and getting there only adds to the fun.

Chinese jewellery designer Dickson Yewn combines contemporary chic with rich historical references – and is a favourite of Michelle Obama. Karys Webber meets him

“It’s akin to asking if one likes a pretty girl with no soul”, says Hong Kong-based jewellery designer, Dickson Yewn, in response to my asking about the importance of symbolism in his designs. “It wouldn’t be a piece of Chinese jewellery if it doesn’t represent something auspicious, important designs need to have a story and I have plenty of untold stories.” Jewellery that is designed simply to be pretty to look at, this is evidently not. And it’s really rather refreshing. Each of Yewn’s unique and exquisitely designed pieces aim to tell a story, his collections are lessons in Chinese history and culture, told via the medium of jewellery.

Born and bred in Hong Kong, Yewn started drawing when he was just nine; “since then I haven’t stopped learning about art nor seeking beautiful things,” he claims. His fascination with all things oriental also took a hold of him in his early years. “I was top of my class in Chinese history and literature,” says Yewn, “What’s more, I was in a Catholic school where only two subjects were taught in Chinese, the rest were in English, so Chinese became something of a rare gem to me.”

Despite this, Yewn went on to study elsewhere, in Vancouver first, then Ottawa, and ended up in Paris at the Sorbonne studying French literature and civilisation. Once his studies were completed, Yewn first channelled his creativity into the world of film and advertising; “I’ve always had a burning desire to express myself in some sort of medium, as a teen, film was my first love.” But after four years, it was his self-confessed “poor verbal communication” that prompted a change in direction. “Film and advertising demanded a lot of communication, so I withdrew to something more personal, some form of expression that didn’t require me to work with others. I picked jewellery design and fine arts.” With that, Yewn went off to study again, this time in New York, at the Fashion Institute of Technology where he completed two courses to master the art of jewellery design. By 2000, Yewn’s conceptual jewellery store, Life of Circle, had opened in Hong Kong’s trendy Tsim Sha Tsui district and swiftly acquired a dedicated and elite clientele.

Yewn gained the ultimate seal of approval from the first lady herself, Michelle Obama

Since then, Yewn has gone on to receive impressive worldwide acclaim – Life of Circle was named one of the top 25 stores in the world by Forbes magazine in 2005 (alongside fashion forces, Hermés, Manolo Blahnik and Ralph Lauren) and a collaboration with Sotheby’s in 2008 saw Yewn’s jadeite, diamond and melo pearl (extremely rare due to its vibrant, apricot orange hue) collection sell for a whopping HKD$5.32 million at auction.

More recently, Yewn gained the ultimate seal of approval from the First Lady herself, Michelle Obama, when she wore his Jadeite Diamond Wish Fulfilling Lattice Ring to a high profile dinner at Buckingham Palace in honour of the British Royal Family. “I didn’t know about it until a month after the event” Yewn declares, “a Danish jeweller congratulated me at a trade show and showed me a gossip magazine of her wearing it. I found out later that she bought it at Bergdorf Goodman in New York.” Despite not being one for celebrity endorsements, Yewn admits that he was thrilled; “to have Michelle Obama wear my creation at such a major event is definitely an important milestone and an influential one, given that she is probably the most powerful woman any woman could aspire to be.”

Still drawing inspiration from the rich culture of the Orient, Yewn’s recent Imperial Cage collection portrays the ancient craftsmanship of bird cage making and China’s long-standing tradition of breeding birds for display, a symbol of wealth, social status and power. Yewn’s homage to this ritual incorporates black and white diamonds to depict a birdcage and traditional Chinese flowers, chrysanthemum and plum blossom. The equally stunning Fragrance Locket collection tells the story of the fragrance pouch, stuffed with aromatic herbs and worn around the neck in ancient China, thought to ward off evil and bring good fortune.

yewn.com

Indonesian art is hot at the moment as collectors worldwide discover its variety, spirituality and depth. Arianne Levene, a leading global curator of Asian art, presents her four favourite Indonesian artists.

Agus Suwage

Agus Suwage

Agus Suwage is one of Indonesia’s most influential artists. I first came across his work in 2008 at the Shanghai Art Fair where he presented an impressive installation of 50 watercolour depictions of major 20th century artists. This particular work, portraits of our most controversial and challenging conceptual and performance artists, excited me not just for the artist’s exceptional drawing skills, but for his almost encyclopedic knowledge of and interest in art history. The work is a homage to those who have most informed Suwage’s practice (Marcel Duchamp, Nan Goldin, Sarah Lucas); its quotations of iconic and transgressive poses create a tissue of visual rhythms, presenting the body as a site of influence.

Eko Nugroho

Eko Nugroho

Eko Nugroho is a key figure in the contemporary Indonesian art scene. His unique visceral visual language, which borrows from comic books, a combination of traditional Indonesian folk art, western painting and urban art, allows him to communicate serious political messages to both his contemporaries and to the younger generation. The hybrid characters in his art populate a mysterious universe, one which is disconnected to the rapidly changing nature of the world, dominated by social and political injustices around us. Nogroho’s multidisciplinary approach, which includes murals, paintings, sculptures, drawings and embroidery, add to his universal appeal whilst highlighting his creative talent.

Ariadhitya Pramuhendra

Ariadhitya Pramuhendra

Ariadhitya Pramuhendra is rapidly making a name for himself as an artist to watch in Indonesia. His large-scale black and white charcoal portraits capture the viewer with their striking beauty and powerful spiritual undertone. As a Catholic in a predominantly Muslim country, Pramuhendra is continuously driven to question his own identity. I am particularly fascinated by his daring decision to revisit figurative painting, reviving the tradition of western selfportraiture as well as Christian iconography by repeatedly depicting himself in a position of authority. His most recent works search for the truth and divine in man by raising thought provoking questions regarding the legitimacy of universally accepted organisations, such as established ‘state’ religions and medical institutions.

Nyoman Masriadi

I Nyoman Masriadi

Arguably the most well-known of the contemporary artists working in Indonesia today, Nymon Masriardi’s razor sharp observations of Indonesia’s male dominated society and, more precisely, its art world, are both highly entertaining and superbly executed. Superhero’s, boxers, footballers, athletes and men at work are characters that appear again and again in the artist’s theatre of the absurd and serve as both his alter ego and his contemporaries. Whilst his style has evolved tremendously in the last ten years from a more cubist inspired caricatural figuration to a comical realism, there remains a definite artistic stamp thanks to his signature black skinned figures.

Arianne Levene, Founder of New Art World. newartworld.co.uk

Six of the best Anyone with a few million to burn can buy a Richter, but who are the hottest living artists that everyone doesn’t know about? Our columnist, a consultant to some of the world’s most prominent collectors, gives the lowdown on her hot half dozen LISA SCHIFF

Tal R

Tal R is an Israeli-born, Danish artist who is often mistaken as German. His presence in Berlin and Düsseldorf seems to have overshadowed his actual roots in Copenhagen. I think this is important because much of what makes up Tal R’s paintings, drawings, or sculptures comes out of his personal experience in Denmark. One visit to the Tivoli Gardens and all of his figures come alive. While less known in North America, Tal has a line-up of European museum shows through 2017. He will be having his first New York show at Cheim & Read this November which should not be missed.

Tal R: Night Awning, 2012

Sterling Ruby

Sterling Ruby

Sterling Ruby is not unknown; maybe he even has too much attention. Nonetheless, I think it’s worth mentioning because I think he still has a way to go. Sterling has been making interesting work in LA for at least a decade now, if not more, and it keeps on coming. Sometimes an artist can attract a certain market hype early on that can actually damage his or her career. This has been the case with Sterling, but he seems to be impervious to it. Sterling shows with Xavier Hufkens in Belgium and with Sprüth Magers in Berlin and London. He is currently considering several galleries for representation in the US.

Sterling Ruby’s Installation at Sprüth Magers Berlin

Charline Von Heyl

Charline Von Heyl

Charline has been making great paintings for decades. Unfortunately, the first thing most people say about Charline is that she is Christopher Wool’s wife. At long last, those days are finally fading. One of the many difficulties in being a painter is to contribute something new to the history of the medium. It’s not easy to emerge with an original visual vocabulary, but Charline has done it and done it brilliantly. For the past few years, she has had back-to-back museum shows in both the US and Europe, and they are knockout shows. Sometimes it takes time to catch up with an artist’s vision. I have been looking at Charline’s work for years and finally, with her last show at the ICA Boston, I had my “aha” moment; I am catching up with her vision. The best news, the paintings are incredibly undervalued. At least for now, but I doubt for long. See Petzel Gallery in New York to learn more about her work.

Charline Von Heyl: Spanish Fly, 2007

Roe Ethridge

Roe Ethridge. Self-portrait (Polaroid)

Roe, I think, will emerge as the William Eggleston of this generation. Lately photography has taken a back seat to painting and sculpture, as the heyday of the big, glossy works of artists like Gursky and Struth seems to fade into the distance. Roe’s particular style never made it to the heights of fashion as did the former, and that appears to be a good thing as all the while he has been making consistently good work with consistently positive critical response. His prices have been kept fairly low over the years while the quality in production has remained high. I have been buying and selling his work for 10 years now and cannot wait to see where he is at in another 10 years. I am guessing he will go down in photo history as epic and I suspect he is now recession proof. Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York is where I bought my first photo in 2002 and it’s where I just bought the most recent.

Roe Ethridge: Louise with red bag, 2011

Alex Israel

Alex Israel

Alex Israel: Sky Backdrop, 2012

Throughout the history of southern Californian art, certain major father figures have emerged – Baldessari, Ruscha, Opie, Zittel, Kelley, McCarthy, Pittman amongst others. It seems that young Alex has a good chance of sliding into one of these spots. His work is informed entirely by popular culture but particularly that of SoCal today and largely by Hollywood film culture. He makes art different than any other artist working today – i.e. faux talk show videos, sunglasses, paintings fabricated on the Warner Brothers’ lot, rented film props, etc. Alex’s work is already becoming difficult to access. Javier Peres in Berlin is the best way to find him.

Tavares Strachen

Probably the best secret tip I could impart would be regarding Tavares. Born and raised in the Bahamas, he made his way via scholarship to RISD for his BFA and Yale for his MFA. Now based in NY, he makes art that is informed by science and that largely engages timely questions about man vs. nature and man’s place in the world. Unlike other black artists, Tavares is not focused on blackness as a subject; rather he is interested in the way travel, the Internet, and globalization have contributed to general displacement for any race. He reminds us of Gauguin’s famous work: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Although he does not have representation just yet, it’s almost impossible to obtain works by Tavares. Somehow those in the know have already made their way to his studio.

Tavares Strachan: 01 02 Already Home, 2010

Lisa Schiff is principal of Schiff Fine Art schifff ineart.com

A golden glen enroute to the Lodge

When your everyday car is a Rolls Royce Phantom and your back garden stretches over thousands of hectares, a drive between your properties in something completely different has its own sort of appeal. Dr Sin Chai, a Scottish-based entrepreneur, makes a tour of some of the most spectacular scenery in the Scottish Highlands in the Mercedes- Benz SLS AMG Roadster

A good friend and I try to do this at least twice a year: a road trip somewhere interesting in a ‘nice’ car. We both own a few of these, but this year we were presented with an interesting option: a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster, the most expensive model in their portfolio and a rival for some supercars we are rather familiar with.

The next question was, where to go. We have done most wine producing regions, and then one day it hit us: the obvious answer had been there all the time. Scotland has some of the best driving roads in the world, and it’s also where I happen to live and where my company happens to have a few hotels.

The car was delivered to The Atholl, our latest hotel and Edinburgh’s most exclusive, at 9:00 am on a weekday morning. The first thing I noticed was that it was holding up the morning human traffic on the pavement very seriously. Foot traffic in Edinburgh has been considerably disrupted by the tram works, and pavements have been diverted and traffic rechanneled. People (mostly men) were slowing down and taking a second look. Whilst leaning on the car, I made the most of it; nonchalant, sunglasses on, trying to look ordinary.

It felt rather well-placed to The Atholl: a car you could arrive in, park, and then stroll into your private whisky-tasting room (we have whiskies that nobody else does) or sample some first growths and cheese from your in-room cabinet while soaking in a hot tub on your terrace.

The SLS is powered by a 6.3 litre engine handbuilt by AMG. Most cars of this caliber give out a growl whenever the accelerator pedal is touched. The SLS noise was much more civilized, a controlled purr, indicating there is plenty of reserve. It was a different pitch, more like a jet engine, and again it was turning heads as soon as we started burbling down the streets. My friend drove first, and on the open road he put it to the test. In short bursts the acceleration was phenomenal. As soon as his foot was off the pedal, the car abruptly decelerated, obviously gearing down, ready for the next surge. The driver was completely in control, and so I felt safe as the passenger. Is this what Formula 1 driving is like? Will have to ask Jenson or Lewis.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG roadster

I am a more sedate driver than my friend, but I felt it was my duty to do the needful, since I was going to have to write about it. At slow speeds (70mph, legal) it felt comfortable, just like a luxury marque. It really came into its own when cornering at high speed. Twisty Scottish mountain roads are very testing, and Scottish winters are not kind to tarmac: cracked surfaces remain so all summer. Even on what the government euphemistically calls “uneven surface” (read potholes), the SLS was stable, and did not bounce around. And it shot out of corners like a rocket.

Alladale Wilderness Lodge

We made it, hair tousled by the wind, to Alladale, our other new hotel. Alladale Wilderness Lodge is a 23,000 acre estate in the remotest part of Scotland, the Northwest Highlands of Sutherland. Up here, you are more likely to bump into a European bison, moose, Scottish wildcat or a wild boar than a supercar, or indeed any car. Our Land Rover Defenders are rather more suited to the terrain there, but the SLS was happy ambling up the single-track lanes on the approach.

I was sad to let go of the car after two days of bliss. The very competent top opening mechanism (with the top open, at speeds over 50mph, rain is deflected by the very clever design and you don’t get wet!), the little warning flashes in the wing mirrors whenever a car (or a Highland cow!) sneaks up in the blind spots, all these made the SLS special. The superb handling one just took for granted.

Dr Sin Chai is chairman of ICMI and is not a racing driver; icmi.co.u

For the adventurous traveller, no continent has the allure of Africa. The cradle of civilisation is also host to the world’s greatest big game, some of its most magnificent vistas, and is spellbinding in the sheer variety of its wildlife. Award-winning photographer William Chua has travelled many of Africa’s most celebrated wilderness areas, from the Serengeti to the Namib, and we showcase his images on the following.

William Chua is an award-winning photographer whose work has been seen in numerous international publications such as Geographical Magazine (UK) and Asian Geographic Magazine. In collaboration with luxury travel experts Country Holidays, William also accompanies photo hobbyists to the far ends of the earth to share his passion and impart wisdom to help capture the perfect shot.

williamchua.com
countryholidays.com.sg

Epic Tomato’s Iceland trip

Travelling to the earth’s wildest places has obsessed humans for centuries. The difference is that now, we can do it in style and little risk, as Darius Sanai explains

To travel to the ends of the earth. It’s a metaphorical concept these days, but one that has inspired travellers from Livingstone to Scott. Many of us would like to think of ourselves as modern-day explorers, setting foot where no man or woman has gone before, and there are a surprising number of experiences that can take you very close to this goal.

Staying in a mountain village in Papua New Guinea, or trekking across the Antarctic, may not be replete with the kinds of danger Stanley faced in Africa or Scott in the South Pole, but it’s certainly a change from the office grind, yacht or private jet, however privileged your lifestyle. And a new generation of travel companies has emerged to assist clients with just such demands.

Antartica exploration from Abercrombie & Kent

It’s about far more than barefoot chic. “One of our clients, who is on the Forbes Billionaires list, comes from a very humble background,” says one travel company insider. “He wanted to show his children that the world is very different from their Chelsea house and Nikki Beach holidays. He asked us to organise a three month tour through South America, including being left on an Amazon tributary for a week with just the supplies on their back. They had no satellite phone, nothing: if they’d gotten ill or lost, they would have died. But they didn’t; and they had the time of their lives.” They also spent time in mountain villages in Peru where very few Westerners had gone before. Some may decry such journeys as “human safaris”, but how better to learn about the world? And if it is done with humility and empathy, there is no reason why all three sides – the traveller, the locals, and the travel company – can’t benefit.

Going over the edge with Epic Tomato’s first Guyana and Venezuela adventure

One of the companies at the forefront of this style of travel is the London and New York-based outfit Black Tomato, which has recently launched an even more extreme offshoot, Epic Tomato.

“To me Epic Tomato is about meeting the needs of an experience-hungry person who wants to be challenged and get more than the easily accessible,” says Tom Marchant, the company’s young founder and CEO. “They may have the yacht, the plane and the island but to summit a never-beenclimbed mountain, or trek through jungle that no western traveller has ever set foot in, is something truly unique. “To me it is also a modern definition of luxury. Luxury these days is about providing rare access and extremely personalised services to an individual and dropping off the grid to go somewhere where few others or no one has been before is the embodiment of that.”

They may have the yacht, the plane and the island but to summit a never-been-climbed mountain, or trek through jungle that no western traveller has ever set foot in, is something truly unique

Another player in the adventure travel field is the global travel company Abercrombie & Kent. Says their UK Managing Director Justin Wateridge: “Our clients have the curiosity and confidence to learn more of the astounding diversity of this planet. Travel gives them so much – experience, empathy, perspective, understanding and such vivid memories. They come to us for inspiration. We listen to their brief and deliver an experience that is tailor-made to their needs.”

The great Victorian-era travellers were criticised in some quarters as selfish, for leaving their families and seeking personal gain from their experiences. We can be just as selfish; the difference is, we can do it with our families, and with rather less risk to life and limb. These pages are a celebration of the enduring human passion for adventure travel.

Hunting in the jungles of Guyana

A 16th century palazzo in central Genoa is home to Via Garibaldi 12

Interior design and homewares are undergoing a boom to parallel the explosion in the art market. Karys Webber seeks out some of Europe’s coolest places to accessorise your living space

Objeto de Deseo. Barcelona

Objeto de Deseo, rather more of a gallery than a shop, stocks an eclectic mix of ornamental vintage and contemporary objects from both big name designers and anonymous artists around the world, most of which are exclusive to the store. Unusual items in glass, ceramic, wood, metal and clay range from the traditional looking to the exotic and often just utterly bizarre; a porcelain beaver skull complete with gold-coated teeth an example of the latter.
objetodedeseo.es

Objeto de Deseo, Barcelona

Via Garibaldi 12. Genoa

Via Garibaldi 12 is a family run emporium housed in a grand 16th century palazzo in central Genoa. Often mistaken for a museum, customers ascend the marble staircase to explore the eight impressive rooms, two of which have frescoed ceilings depicting scenes from the Punic Wars. Despite the building’s rich history, Via Garibaldi 12 displays an array of modern furniture and home accessories from the store’s own label, B Home Interiors, other established names and up-and-coming designers. The store, which recently celebrated its 10th birthday, has become a must visit for international industry professionals who attend the annual Salone del Mobile in nearby Milan.
viagaribaldi12.com

Via Garibaldi 12 features pieces from its own label B Home Interiors

Via Garibaldi 12

Ben Pentreath. London

Architect and interior designer Ben Pentreath opened his modest shop nestled in the heart of London’s Bloomsbury in 2008 and, alongside store manager Bridie Hall, has crammed it with delectable treasures for the home sourced from all over the world. Claiming they only stock products they themselves like, their exquisite taste has ensured a shop full of new and antique items that you won’t find elsewhere. Standout pieces include glass plates by John Derian, linen tablecloths and tea towels by Les Toiles de Soleil and limited edition illustrations by Glynn Boyd-Hart.
benpentreath.com

New and antique pieces at Ben Pentreath

Ben Pentreath, Bloomsbury, London

Normann Copenhagen. Copenhagen

Wander around Norman Copenhagen’s vast flagship store, once home to a theatre, and the most mundane household item seems like a work of art. The 1700 square metre space is filled with quirky products that challenge traditional design; tilted cognac glasses that gently rotate around a point and twisted ‘swing’ vases (each one unique) in which it would be impossible to put flowers in, are just a couple of the unusual items you can pick up from here.
normann-copenhagen.com

Normann Copenhagen’s 1700 sq metres of design

Normann Copenhagen

Moooi. Amsterdam

Moooi’s flagship store in Amsterdam is a weird and wonderful space full of innovative furniture, lighting and home accessories arranged in Dali-esque displays. Alongside the store’s own range, designed by co-founder Marcel Wanders, and other established designers such as Jasper Morrison and Ross Lovegrove, Moooi is credited with giving up and coming designers their big break. Relative unknowns Front were catapulted into the limelight when Moooi stocked their somewhat surreal matt black lamp in the form of a life size horse.
moooi.com

Moooi’s flagship store in Amsterdam

Dali-esque displays at Moooi

Il Valore Aggiunto. Milan

Set back from the street, the treasure trove that is Il Valore Aggiunto, project of sisters Elena and Patrizia Sterzi, is not easy to find but is well worth the effort. A loft space that opens out into a picturesque courtyard; the duo have amassed a vast selection of decorative furniture, frames, mirrors and chandeliers with elaborate Italian flair plus period pieces ranging from the 1700s to the 1970s.
ilvaloreaggiunto.it

Il Valore Aggiunto, Milan

Graanmarkt13. Antwerp

This unusual boutique in a residential neighbourhood in Antwerp houses founders Ilse Cornelissens and Tim Van Geloven in the top floor of their stately renovated row house whilst the remaining three floors they have thrown open to the public. The result is an intimate and warm shopping experience filled with a carefullly selected range of home accessories and fashion from cutting edge designers. The location also boasts an exhibition space, restaurant and outdoor terrace café where shoppers can relax with a glass of champagne.
graanmarkt13.be

Graanmarkt13, Antwerp

Graanmarkt13

Mint. London

Mint, based in central London, is an interior designer’s dream. Avant-garde furniture and home accessories are hand picked by owner Lina Kanafani, who champions emerging talent, often commissioning design graduates for one-off and limited edition pieces for the store, which is laid out in the context of a real living space. Hand crafted ‘bark bowls’ carved from reclaimed trees which are dried for a number of months before applying a bright lacquered interior, are just one of Mint’s unique offerings.
mintshop.co.uk

Mint, London

Hay. Copenhagen

For effortless style and the best of contemporary Danish design look no further than Hay on Copenhagen’s bustling Østergade. Clean lines and bold colours make up the desirable furniture from the likes of Louise Campbell and Jakob Wagner plus a fantastic selection of rugs range from the fun, multi-coloured ‘Pinocchio’ rug to some well chosen vintage boucherouites. Chic stationery sets and beautiful children’s toys are also on offer.
hay.dk

Iconic Danish design at Hay, Copenhagen

Svenskt Tenn. Stockholm

Established in 1924, Svenskt Tenn has a long history but a recent refurbishment has seen the store almost doubled in size and given a new lease of life. The perfect place to see the newest trends in iconic Scandinivian design, the store has an array of colourful and contemporary pieces plus an extensive fabric and textiles selection. The newly revamped store even has a charming tearoom offering a selection of teas specially customised for the store and served in teacups by Florentine porcelain maker Ginori.
svenskttenn.se

Scandinavian design Mecca, Svenskt Tenn