SEE IN THE NEW YEAR FROM THE WEST END’S HIGHEST RESTAURANT

Paramount will host an opulent evening:

Champagne reception
5 course sumptuous meal including wine
DJ from 11pm

£160 per person

For further information please contact:
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PARAMOUNT
At the top of Centre Point
101-103 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1DD
Phone: +44 (0)20 7420 2900 Fax: +44(0)20 7420 2919
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.paramount.uk.net

ALTERNATIVE NY’S EVE IN THE NYC OF THE NORTH AT THOMPSON TORONTO

Ring in 2011 in Canada’s largest and most cosmopolitan city at Thompson Toronto, for a funky alternative to the usual New Year’s bash. This trendy hotspot is surrounded by award winning restaurants and an explosive nightlife. That’s, of course, if you can drag yourself out of the hip hotel which houses two restaurants; Scarpetta and The Counter, as well as night club 1812, a screening room and incredible rooftop pool bar with jaw dropping city views.

Early bird tickets for the New Year’s celebration are £47 which includes champagne, hors d’oeuvres and party favours.

If dancing the night away doesn’t tempt you, why not reserve a table at Scarpetta for an evening of gastronomic delight. Choose between a delicious a la carte or a four course prefix menu for £53. The restaurant offers upscale Italian cuisine from Famed Chef Scott Conant.

Thompson Toronto was designed by New York based Studio Gaia, the 102-room hotel is sleek and elegant, with multiple dining and nightlife venues including a private rooftop bar/lounge with panoramic views of the city. A 125 foot wide by 12 foot high hand-painted, three dimensional mural of Toronto’s skyline by renowned Spanish artist Javier Mariscal is the focal point of the lobby, which has both an elegant and relaxed atmosphere, with dark oak hardwood floors and accents of red and orange. The hotel features an unprecedented 30,000 square feet of dining and event space, including a signature restaurant, operated by New York-based Scarpetta with Chef Scott Conant.

Stay at Thompson Toronto from just $250 US per night.
Enjoy return flights to Toronto with British Airways from just £501 including taxes and charges.

To book visit http://www.thompsonhotels.com/ or call +1 416 640 7778

CELEBRATE THIS CHRISTMAS WITH GILGAMESH

Gilgamesh is renowned for offering guests luxurious Pan-Asian delicacies in opulent surroundings – and this Christmas will be no different. Enjoy Christmas with friends, family and colleagues as the highly acclaimed Camden restaurant has devised three set menus to herald the start of the festive season.

With the first of their Christmas set menus, guests are able to enjoy 12 different Pan-Asian dishes for £49.95 per head. For starters there will a selection of plates including Salmon Sashimi, Crispy Squid with Adjud Sauce and Chicken Gyoza with Black Vinegar. For main course, enjoy sumptuous dishes like Roast Chinese Duck and Lychee Curry, Crispy Chicken and Papaya Salad or Hoba Miso Chilean Seabass.

Gilgamesh has created a bespoke Vegetarian spread for £39.95. Guests can enjoy nine delicious dishes to sample including the Wild Mushroom and Tofu Cheungfun and Pomelo and Betal Leaf. Mains include Avocado and Sweet Potato Tempura and the Sweet Potato and Baby Corn green Curry, beforefinishing with a sumptuous Gilgamesh Dessert Plate.

The last, most decadent menu also contains 12 tempting dishes, for £59.95. Guests can feast on starters including a Selection of Sushi and Sashimi, Dim Sum Basket Selection and Lemon Sole Tempura. Main dishes include Fillet of Beef Bulgogi with Japanese Chive Mash, Duck and Watermelon Salad with Cashew Nuts and Hoba Miso Chilean Sea Bass, before finishing off the finest of Pan-Asian Christmas meals with a Gilgamesh Dessert Plate.

Finally to complete this festive banquet, Gilgamesh has created a bespoke cocktail especially for Christmas, Aca Tiky, made up of Warm Sake, Strawberry Preserve, Whipped Cream garnished with Strawberry and Mint.

Throughout December, the restaurant will be decked out with baubles and tinsel, sparkling lights on the palm trees, Santa Claus style beards on the Sphinxes and a giant Christmas tree, making Gilgamesh the ultimate festive party venue.

GILGAMESH
Camden View

Camden Stables Market

Chalk Farm Road
London NW1 8AH
Tel: 020 7482 5757
www.gilgameshbar.com

BRASA OPENS ON CHRISTMAS DAY

West London’s new high-end grill restaurant, Brasa, will be spreading some festive cheer by throwing their doors open on Christmas day, offering the perfect yuletide menu for their first Christmas. The bespoke menu has been created by Head Chef Danny MacGechan, who trained under Marco Pierre White and more recently headed up the team at renowned gastro-pub Paradise by Way of Kensal Green. MacGechan brings his distinctive, hearty-but-refined style to Brasa. His trademark approach to cooking shines through in the form of enticing dishes, featuring lovingly cooked produce with a rustic edge.

Literally meaning ‘live coal’, Brasa, which opened in November, has devised a delectable festive menu based around dishes cooked on an impressive Asador Grill, imported especially from the Basque Mountains area of Spain. The restaurant’s food offering is distinctly British with emphasis on quality cuts of meat from organic UK farms, fish straight from the Dorset coast and fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced locally.

On offer for starters will be dishes such as Foie Gras & Smoked Eel Terrine or Artichoke Soup with Trompettes. There will be a selection of five main courses to choose from including Roast Turkey with Trimmings and Halibut with Gnocchi & Cockles or Roast Goose & Peaches. Finally, the desserts on offer will stay traditionally festive with a choice of either Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter and Tipsy Trifle or Chocolate Yule Log.

Brasa’s dining room is also available for those preferring a more intimate Christmas gathering with friends or family. The private dining room has a warm and chic New York loft-style feel. Large windows cover an entire side of the dining room, flooding the spacious room with natural light. The décor of exposed brickwork and luxurious fabric-covered walls is perfectly paired with dark wooden floorboards, interspersed with plush carpeting. Backed by a well-stocked wine cabernet, the striking marble bar runs almost the length of the restaurant and the front is upholstered, softening the look of the restaurant.
Guests will be able to enjoy the finest cocktails, including a bespoke Christmas Eggnog cocktail, created specifically for this special occasion.

A varied wine and Champagne list featuring wines sourced internationally will be available, including the house wine priced at £13.50 (Vina Pena, Castilla, Spain, red and white) through to more complex wines such as a Chardonnay, Santa Maria Vineyard, Byron Napa, USA and a Chateau La Pointe, Saint Emilion, Bordeaux.

The Brasa Christmas menu is perfect for those wanting a festive meal with a modern and gourmet take on the traditional Christmas roast dinner. Dinners will be able to enjoy the one-off menu for just £55.
Brasa
474 - 476 Fulham Broadway
London
SW6 1BY
Tel: 020 7610 3137
Web: http://www.brasalondon.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Brasa_London
Opening Hours: Tues–Weds, 5.30pm - 12am
Thurs – Sun, 12pm – 12am

CELEBRATE THE END OF 2010 IN STYLE WITH FLORIDA’S GLAMOROUS AND DECADENT ELECTRO-SWING SPECTACULAR.

NYE at Floridita, the Latin-American supper club in the heart of the West End - http://christmas.floriditalondon.com/newyearseve2010.php

The prices are as follows:

Bar Tickets
£30.00 with cocktail

Early Sitting
3 course dinner £50.00

Main Sitting
4 course dinner, cocktail on arrival £125.00
Group of 10 or more £100.00 per person
VIP seating – Booths and dance floor £150

THE PERFECT PICK ME UP THIS WINTER

What could be more quintessentially British than spending an afternoon in one of Manchester’s most iconic buildings sipping cocktails? The award winning Radisson Edwardian Manchester offers the perfect excuse to take the weight off after a day of Christmas shopping in the city, with its NEW winter cocktail menu.

The Radisson Edwardian offers something decadently different in its winter warmers menu; cocktails are themed on sweet treats and rich coffee roasts, each containing a mix of flavoured spirits and luxurious liqueurs. Choose from the following specialty cocktails (£10 each):

· Almond Coffee - sweet almond vodka and delicious Frangelico cream.

· Chocolate Dream - a dream cocktail; rich Kahlua, luxurious Baileys and mouth-watering Cream de Cacao finished off with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

· Orangiata Coffee - tempting Cointreau and whipped cream.

· Warm Pear Coffee - warm and refreshing pear Vodka with Xante liqueur and cream.

· Vanilla Vodka Coffee - an indulgent treat; vanilla vodka, vanilla syrup and cream.

· White Surprise - creamy Advocaat, sweet Amaretto and caramel syrup to finish.

Each cocktail is served with a festive mince pie or a rich, chunky homemade chocolate brownie.

The cocktails are served in Opus One and are available now. Opus One restaurant is a stand-alone restaurant situated within the 5* Radisson Edwardian Manchester, Free Trade Hall Hotel.

For more information visit http://www.radissonedwardian.com/manchester.

ORA TO BRING AUTHENTIC THAI TO LONDON
Launched late November, new restaurant ORA is tucked away from the chaos of Oxford Street and brings authentic Thai cuisine to the West End, 6 Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JE (www.ora-restaurant.co.uk).

With his background and early training in oriental cooking, head chef Tamas Khan previously of Busaba Ethai uses his extensive experience within oriental kitchens to establish ORA as one of London’s key Thai destination restaurants. Tamas, whose mother is Thai, learnt his skills at an early age from his grandmother and serves a menu of traditional dishes presented in a contemporary style. The menu includes Thai favourites alongside less well known specialities such as Taub Yeng (grilled foie gras served with homemade dip and a mixed herb salad), Meunh Kaum (roasted coconut mixed with pomelo, peanut, lime, dried shrimps, ginger and chillies served on top of betel leaves, Ped Pad Hed Horme (sliced duck with shiitake mushrooms, chillies and bamboo shoots) and Neur Yeang Rad Prik (grilled sirloin steak topped with homemade chilli and basil sauce). The Pastry Chef has joined ORA from the Intercontinental, Bangkok has created a feature of dbnvesserts, an element often forgotten in Asian restaurants. The menu will include specialities including Hok sa-hai (a platter of traditionally made Thai sweets), traditional in regions across Thailand and a staple in the Thai diet.

The restaurant has 90 covers with both banquette seating and a large centre piece table which seats 20 sociably. A 30 seat lounge bar nestled into the restaurant offers a relaxing space for pre dinner cocktails prepared by bar manager Ivanic Branislav, whose pedigree includes the Firmdale Hotel in Soho and Quaglino’s restaurant and bar. For those looking for a more virtuous experience the expert barmen has created a ‘healthy drink of the day’ to suit everybody’s needs. The design of the venue is sleek and modern, combining flashes of hot pink against a soft grey background with hanging glass light installations and striking candelabras to set the mood.

Developed by general manager Nok Murphy, who has been the driving force behind The Mango Tree and Awana, every detail has been attended to, including the uniforms which are designed by former Fashion Director at Maxmara New York, Polpat Asavaprapha. All the washroom products have been created exclusively for ORA by Erb spa products Thailand.

BURNS NIGHT BREAKS AT TITCHWELL MANOR, NORTH NORFOLK
TWO NIGHTS DINNER B&B FROM £175PP

Celebrate Scotland’s best loved poet Rabbie Burns at Titchwell Manor, a coastal boutique hotel near Brancaster in North Norfolk. Two-night dinner, B&B Burns Breaks starting on either 24th or 25th January are priced from £175 per person, based on two sharing.

In time honoured custom, Thursday 25th January will see a special dinner in the hotel’s elegant two AA rosette Conservatory Restaurant. Piper R Bayes and ‘poet’ Alan Felton will ensure the bard and the haggis are celebrated in traditional style as you dine on haggis, neaps and tatties, washed down with many a wee dram. A collection will also be made for the Help for Heroes campaign.

Titchwell Manor is a smart retreat for those seeking fine dining in stylish surroundings. The former Victorian farmhouse now offers a delightful fusion of traditional values and contemporary furnishings. There are 27 bedrooms, in either the main period hotel, a cottage or around a courtyard herb garden. Pets welcome in selected ground floor rooms.

To book call book call Titchwell Manor on 01485 210 221, http://www.titchwellmanor.com.

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