The East Room

Entrepreneur Jonathan Downey has set the trend for smart bars and private clubs for a decade. Ultra-cool Milk & Honey in London and New York, The Player in Soho, and more recently, The Clubhouse in Chamonix, in the French Alps, have been the watering holes of choice for a savvy media, fashion and business crowd. But he's been biding his time with no new openings for several years while he was planning a mega expansion here and abroad. To kick off the next phase, Downey has Shoreditch in his sights and is wooing Hoxton hipsters with The East Room, a super slick club for modern food, fine wines, cocktails and great music compiled by international DJ Gilles Peterson, the undisputed champion of new music and emerging talent from around the world. Eating has never been healthier with the East Room concentrating on a New World style of cooking that includes light, low-calorie, low G.I. low-carb choices along with seasonal, local produce. Busy modern lifestyles need quick, guilt-free dining that won't turn you into a telly tubbie so no bangers & mash, sushi or sandwiches. The New World Wine Room is the brainwave of Aussie wine specialist, writer and TV presenter Matt Skinner who's famous in the wine world for his down to earth "cut-the-crap" approach. All wines in the East Room are from the Southern Hemisphere and more than 50 of the New World's greatest wines will be available by the glass. There's also a clever wine chart centred on varietals and a help-yourself system with Enomatic wine samplers and a pre-pay card where you can hone your own taste and expertise. Membership of Milk & Honey has been closed for five years but with this new opening, there are opportunities again. The membership process is refreshingly straightforward. Applicants can join on line at www.thstrm.com or apply in person at Milk & Honey or The East Room. No address or phone number is disclosed for The East Room (though I can tell you it's in EC1). As normal, Downey puts prospective members through the hoop. If you would like to check it out, you can make a booking by calling 07000 847876 or emailing eat@thstrm.com

Caption:
Jonathan Downey, the man of the moment

 
 
 
 

Terminal 5 - Elemis Travel Spa

Elemis is a brand that's acquired a high profile and lots of cachet without the usual carpet-bombing ad campaign that big international names go in for. This smallish, British spa and beauty name punches above its weight, discreetly attracting an affluent, confident clientele and a genuine celebrity following for its high-performance products and treatments. Men in particular seem to go for it and nearly 50% of visitors to the Elemis day spa in London are male. British Airways recognised the chic importance of the company last autumn when Elemis Travel Spas opened at Heathrow Terminals 1 and 4 and Terminal 7 at New York's JFK where on-the-ground spa services are available in British Airways lounges for First Class, Club World and Executive Club Gold members travelling long haul. Now Elemis launch into Terminal 5, the new home of British Airways with three luxurious design-led Travel Spas with special amenities kits and a programme of treatments aimed at the male business traveller. Canny travellers know the dehydrated, red-eye look and jet lag don't go down well in meetings. For more information visit www.elemis.com

 
 
 
 

Terminal 5 - Art Work

There'll be no escaping news stories about Heathrow's Terminal 5 this month but one of the most surprising is the amount of fine art that has been commissioned by British Airways for their swanky new HQ. Apparently BA has an outstanding collection of contemporary art which began eleven years ago under the guidance of Artwise Curators, founded by Susie Allen. The BA collection currently includes work by all the big names: Peter Doig, Anish Kapoor, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Mark Titchner. Terminal 5 will see a re-hang of the collection including a number of classic Bridget Riley works from the Egyptian series and one of Gary Hume's most icon pieces, Tony Blackburn. Under the direction of Artwise, several artists have created site-specific work that references design and technology. These include a 22-metre long art wall by Troika that functions as a world clock, and Troika have also designed a kinetic sculpture in the form of a stylised cloud at the entrance to BA's luxurious suite of lounges. Christopher Pearson has used animation to design a trompe l'oeil British Airways crest that comes alive in 3D, and a moving eight-metre wallpaper inspired by William Morris' famous Willow Boughs design.

Caption:
Glass screens with 3D laser etchings in the First Class lounge, designed by Christopher Pearson