And the award goes to… the Michelin-starred Quilon Restaurant.

The Wine Spectator magazine’s 2009 Restaurant Wine List Award of Excellence was announced last week and the winner was Quilon Restaurant in Victoria, London with an extraordinary wine list offering over 140 different wines. Quilon’s wine list was compiled by Peter McCombie, one of the UK’s most renowned Masters of Wine, and Sriram Aylur.

The Wine Spectator magazine’s 2009 Restaurant Wine List Award of Excellence is an award that since 1981 has recognised restaurants who’s wine lists are special, “offer interesting selections” and “are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.” To qualify for an award, a list must offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Peter McCombie and Sriram Aylur goal was simply to “offer guests the opportunity to enjoy top quality wine alongside their Michelin-starred food.”

Wine Spectator is one of the best wine magazines available and has earned a good reputation as the leader on wine recommendations and criticism. Their ratings and awards are highly regarded worldwide. “I am absolutely delighted to receive such a prestigious award”, commented Sriram Aylur, Quilon’s Executive Chef. “We have always placed enormous importance on our wine list, handpicking an extensive selection that complements the contrasting flavours and subtle textures featured on the menu. It is fantastic that Wine Spectator has recognised our hard work.”

They will now have very wine and food lover in England knocking on their door. Better book a table quick if you fancy getting a table reserved for before next year.

Quilon Restaurant

41 Buckingham Gate,

London SW1E 6AF

Tel: 020 7821 1899

The pioneer of Optical art, Bridget Riley has been fascinating art lovers since the 1960s. Now the abstract artist will be beguiling audiences around the country with a touring exhibition which is set to begin on 25th September.

Combining both her iconic works with four never-before-seen paintings, it even includes three “colour study” pieces from 1967 that will be leaving her studio for the first time. The exhibition will show Riley’s developing style from first creations such as Movement in Squares, which Riley describes as “her breakthrough work,” to more recent pieces which include Painting With Verticals I. It’s clear that although Riley’s unswerving style remains true and consistent throughout the forty year span, her palette and complex structures are constantly evolving, pushing and playing with verticals, curves and diagonals without losing a sense of direction and intention.

Her success is from being anchored in Cezanne and Seurat, while at the same time creating some of the most poetically insidious metaphors for the uncertainties and spiritual unease of the 1960s.
The exhibition is organised by the Hayward Gallery in London and the Arts Council England and will tour museums throughout England.
Exhibition opens at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (25 September – 13 December 2009) and tours to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (6 February – 23 May 2010), Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery (5 June – 5 September) and Southampton City Art Gallery (17 September – 5 December).

Did you ever think you would hear the following: top model becomes cake-maker? From the catwalk to the kitchen Lorraine Pascale is cooking up a storm and her speciality, cupcakes.

One of Britain’s premier models during the Nineties, working along side Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Lorraine Pascale, the former face of Versace and Donna Karen, is turning her hand to baking. After many successful years as a top model Pascale enrolled in a cooking course at the world famous fulltime Diploma of Food and Wine course at Leiths which lead her to work in some of London’s best restaurants, The Wolseley and Bluebird restaurants as a patisserie chef.

She has now started to branch out on her own as her yummy little treats have everyone wanting some. Her cupcakes sell to Marco Pierre White and Selfridges. Ewan Venters, Selfridges’ food director, believes she could be the next Jane Asher. She is the official Celebration Cake Supplier at Selfridges and has created a delicious rich rum flavoured cake for the festive season. Wrapped in thick white icing and packed full with fruit, spices and flavours. The Lorraine Pascale Christmas cake costs £29.99 and is available now from Selfridges.

But there’s more, her cupcakes are now at Ella’s bake House, the cake cafe in Covent Garden which is Pascale’s newest venture. Her company’s moto: ‘Stay calm and eat a cupcake.’ We totally agree.

www.ellasbakehouse.com

Oasis-smasis … the Chelmsford crowd reckoned MGMT’s version of Wonderwall complete with cardboard cut-out of Liam (well he’s a bit of a cartoon rockstar anyways) was just as good as the real thing and less lightly to lamp you if you give him a funny look.

It was gossip central on and off stage on the Essex leg of V Festival.  Having made a ‘completely unorchestrated surprise appearance’ with The Specials on the main V Music stage, the Wino made a comeback later in the Virgin Union tent.

With a good eight hours extra drinking time under her skinny belt, she followed Pete Doherty around the stage pawing him like a puppy dog and then proceeded to ram her tongue down his throat during Albion. Was she staking her post Moss claim? Who knows? But whatever she was staking she staked it a bit harder later on backstage with plenty more snoggage…

Daniel Merriweather was in fine fettle … hardly surprising as he was on the Irish coffees from 10am but the booze story of the weekend goes to Lily Allen … not that she was drunk … perish the thought … but she’s let it be know that she’s a big fan of Magners Cider so the company created a special edition batch just for her complete with her picture on every bottle – talk about special brew!

Kanye West protege Mr Hudson treated the crowd to the first airing of new track, Let’s Pretend. He was seriously taken with US country dream girl, Taylor Swift and is desparate to work on new material with her … watch this space. 

Other backstage antics included Pixie Lott running around with a girlfriend doing a seriously good harmonized version of JLS’ Beat Again … could there be a collaboration on the cards? 

And then of course there was Alesha Dixon who arrived with her handbag sized Chihuahua in tow which ran amuck backstage causing some serious havoc.

Lady Gaga was also on true diva form with riders including top of the range dehumidifiers for her dressing room and although she arrived with enough suitcases to sink the Titanic she inexplicably conducted all interviews in her undies.

All the celebrity fraternity loved Virgin Media’s VIP Louder Lounge – a secret garden with its own VIP campsite, day spa with Redken hairdressers and Shu Uemera make-up artists on tap and St Tropez tanning yurt … there was Pixie Lott freshing up post performance, Myleene Klass dancing with supercute two year old daughter, Ava, sporting mum’s kids’ clothing range, presenter Konnie Huq, Girls Aloud Kimberly Walsh, Dr Who star Billie Piper, Rupert Friend riding around in a buggy starting off his birthday celebrations a couple of days early and Charlotte Church and Gavin Henson having a bust-up over the latter’s gaggle of boozed up mates. 

Festivals eh – guaranteed to bring out the best in all of us!

Freshly out of The Royal College of Art, Gisele Ganne is already dazzling the macrocosm of the jewellery world. 

Her Oxymoronic style unites the macabre and the beautiful and in her first collection, her pieces are inspired by Victorian mourning jewellery.  Gisele explains,“Mourning is not just about dead people; it is also about dead relationships and decaying marriages and the divorce jewellery refers to old and contemporary wedding customs.” 

Yet, before you’re put off by the sombre style, it is the paradox in Ganne’s work that makes it stand out.  Along with a slightly grave undertone, her jewellery is vibrant, abundant in bright colours and uses absurdly complicated detail which gives the collection a unique and memorable edge.

The inclusion of nature in her jewellery also adds a sense of otherworldliness, which gives the pieces instant life and all seem to come from a personal inspiration: a shoulder ‘broach’ inspired by the black widow, a single skull on a pendant of a necklace inspired by the women of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, who wear their husbands skulls round their neck.  Following on from Hollywood’s current obsession with dark antiheroes, it’s clear Ganne has certainly finely tuned her timing.

Gisele Ganne can be seen in this month’s Vogue and also at www.giseleganne.com