Step into the light

Dani holds a glass of champagne with Pegasus reflection in mirror, at the Brasserie of Light in London

Absolutely no secret I love eating. Food makes me very happy. And i love a pretty place.A glass or two of champagne.

I had been to the Brasserie of Light before for drinks and a light snack at the bar. It was so good that it’s been in my hit list for a full meal. Spoiler alert: it didn’t disappoint.

With theatre booked for 7pm, we decided to have a very late lunch (or very early dinner if you prefer). Underwhelmed with the pre/post theatre menus in the area, we decided to broaden the search area and go a bit early. Then the Brasserie of Light came to mind straight away.

Not widely available for booking, we got lucky, given the last-ish minute decision, dinner wouldn’t have been possible (tip: book early), but it seems the stars aligned.

It is located within Selfridges in Oxford Street and is so pretty – all art-deco style with its (literally) shining piece de resistance: Damien Hirst’s 24ft crystal encrusted Pegasus statue with its 30ft wingspan soaring over us with its majestic hooves lifted, as if flying into the light. There are some little ones dotted around other areas, but the main dining room really is where fabulousness is at.

Watch the video

We started with a chilled glass of Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label while we chose.

For starter Dan went for the tuna carpaccio, with mooli, spiced avocado purée, sesame seeds and citrus ponzu. He cannot fault it.

I went for the roasted sea scallops with creamed truffle polenta, parsnip crisps and salad mâche. Not gonna lie, I feel this dish was constructed for me. It ticked all my flavour boxes.

I really wanted the duck main but sadly they were out of it. Enter the miso black cod with pickled fennel and miso sauce, which filled the duck’s spot with no gaps. Cannot go wrong with black cod. Also ordered a side of the truffle mash. DIVINE.

I am intolerant to raw fennel, but it came on the side. As it was pickled, I had a go at my own peril and it was too good. I ate it all but as it was pickled it didn’t make me unwell. Score.

Dan had the monkfish and prawn Keralan curry with sweet potato, coriander, coconut and jasmine rice. He loved it.

We shared a bottle of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, te Muna, Craggy Range, 2021 over our courses.

Orbit dessert dish picture at the Brasserie of Light in London

Now, I don’t often have desserts, especially chocolate ones, but the Orbit the table next to us had was so damn pretty that we had to order one to share. It’s a very indulgent dark chocolate mousse, salted caramel ice cream, milk foam, honeycomb and popping candy.

Love the theatricals and it was real party in my mouth, with amazing flavours I adore. The milk foam, although delicious, was a bit too rich for me in the quantity.

We washed it down with another glass of Veuve while they brought the lovely surprise at the end as we celebrated our anniversary (we don’t have a date for it, but it’s loosely around that time, so we celebrate another cycle of sheer toleration love).

Now, I am usually suspicious of pretty venues as had bad experiences in other good looking, poor tasting and pocket bleeding venues but this wasn’t the case, much on the contrary.

Service was impeccable throughout, so added to the whole experience.

Tip #2: toilets are shared with Selfridges so on a Saturday evening the queues were brutal. I found another one in another floor and got lost on my way back, naturally. Dan had better luck.

Main downside: having to go through the Shoe Galleries after a few drinks. I did not buy on that day but a week later I was back for the shoes. Damn. Do not say I didn’t warn you.

A brown paper bag containing a brown paper shoebox with a red ribbon
written by Dani

A little London haven

Agua. In my mother tongue, something I cannot live without and if I had my way, I wouldn’t go without the agua Spa, at the newly renamed Sea Containers London hotel in London.

Beside the fact it’s my favourite hotel – it has a great restaurant, an amazing growing floor bar facing the river, a cracking rooftop bar and a gorgeous cinema, the agua Spa really lives up to the rest of the family.

Delighted does not even describe when I was invite to sample one of their treatments and their delightful spa menu.

I experienced the hot oil manicure which is great to help improve the condition of nail that may have been a bit neglected.

The 55-minute treatment combines nourishing organic oils from Dr. Jackson’s which soften the cuticle and moisturise nails. Then, using Japanese techniques, nails are buffed so the nutrients go deep into the nail bed.

It is great for nails that have been damaged by gel application, polish changes, health conditions or medical treatment, as it helps restore them to health and no polish is needed for up to two weeks.

This picture was taken 5 days after the mani and it still looks perfect – shiny and pink!

The hot oil treatment is available for pedicures too (I am tempted to have one as my toe nails are indeed in need of post-winter hibernation TLC), and is priced from £50 (off peak, £55 peak).

Treatments take place at the fabulous Glamour Room within the spa, an area that can also be hired for pamper parties – birthdays, hen do and other celebrations. They offer a great range of treatments and packages.

Which leads me to the menu. What a fab food and drink menu to help take relaxation to another level!

I tried the delicious Immunity (£10) and Energy (£15) booster bowls and could not have enough of the tasty, fresh goodness in them. However, the star was the scrumptious salmon tartare, avocado mousse and oscietta canape cone (£12). The flavour was off the charts! I could’ve eaten 10.

The also have a range of snacks, fresh juices, sundaes and of course, champagne for celebration or well, just champagne. Definitely check out the impressive menu on offer.

And you can have afternoon tea there (from £38pp).

Last, but not least, the spa itself. What a gorgeous haven or tranquility. I had a terrible day that Tuesday and very quickly it all got wiped away by such a great environment and people – service was professional, attentive, personal, warm and overall lovely; the people are the real assets there!

The lounge is an (insta) dream, the steam room is superb with a great shower, and the showers are amazing. And the toiletries are Malin+Goetz, so… Love.

You can check out all the spa treatments available, including massages, facials and body, including maternity specific ones. The range of products they use is also carefully curated to offer really bespoke, quality treatments. Well worth a visit.

For more info, visit the agua Spa website.

written by Dani

You know the drill, but I’ll say anyway: I as invited to the spa, so this post contains some PR samples. This review, however, is based on my experience with the product and reflects my honest opinion on them.

Colourful and confident at Goodwood

dove-invisible-dry - 4It is no secret I love bright colours. Although, like most of us, I fall back into black most of the time, I usually feel very comfortable being colourful.

60% of British women feel happier when wearing colour, but 79% are not confident enough to actually don the brights.

I can say I notice that quite a lot, especially when I wear brights; I always get comments such as “so summery”, “so bright”, “how colourful”, that carry in that tone that they do like it, but feel I am brave for wearing it.

Dove started, a while ago, a campaign to boost colour confidence, with the help of Invisible Dry deodorant, which won’t stain your blacks and other 99 colours!

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And because it is one of my favourites, of course I’ve been using it for a while: you can read my full review here.

You can rest assured you are protected, your armpits are kept soft and you won’t have marks on your favourite colourful attire.

Dove Dress of 100 Colours Revealed at Goodwood Ladies' Day

Dove Dress of 100 Colours Revealed at Goodwood Ladies’ Day

This summer, Dove got together with Gok Wan, who is a fabulous advocate for body confidence, to create a bespoke dress featuring 100 colours, to inspire women to be more colour -confident.

The dress was revelead at the Goodwood races, and I was there displaying all my colour confidence and looking for inspired looks.

We stayed at box number 1 with fabulous views of the races and I might even have made some money!

Colour confidence expert Annie Ashdown gives us some tips, if you are still a bit shy about embracing colour in your life:

  • replace your socks for a colourful pair. I am into pop socks at the moment, and they makey it really easy to add a touch of colour.
  • wear turquoise – it’s the confidence colour!
  • magenta is powerful – the perfect choice for that business meeting!
  • gold says you have high standards; it’s high time you donned those skinny golden heels.

Dove Invisible Dry is available from retailers nationwide and costs £2.39 (50ml roll-on), £32.79 (compressed 75ml) and £3.79 (compressed 125ml).

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This post contains PR samples. This review, however, is based on my experience with the product and reflects my honest opinion on them.

 

Champagne brunch at Aqua London

Fill it up!

They had me at the champagne. And I knew I simply had to go when I read the word “unlimited” next to the drink’s name… That’s right, you heard it – UNLIMITED!

I don’t really post about events that don’t relate to shoes or beauty, but I had to share this…I headed over to Aqua London for an eagerly awaited indulgent champagne brunch, to celebrate my birthday. My lovely boyfriend was kind enough to take me – you can tell he knows me very well!

Having been to Aqua before (they have a lovely rooftop terrace, in the heart of London) , I knew the experience was going to have quality.

As we sat down, the options were explained by a very friendly waiter, the restaurant offers japanese food – unlimited sushi and some grilled options, desert and champagne. You can go for a champagne free option – why would anyone in sane mind do that, I don’t know, unless of course, you don’t drink alcohol at all. As we settled for the bubbly option, flutes were brought over and we were offered our first glass.

Food was displayed around their central sushi bar and freshly replenished steadily.  There were nigiris, varied sushi rolls, seared tuna and beef, an amazing seaweed and sesame salad amongst other. The grilled options were made to order and brought to table: chicken teriyaki, rib of beef (amazingly tasty, boneless, medium rare), king prawns and courgettes.

The deserts we had were the sake prune créme bruleé and green tea, chocolate and yuzu mochi ice cream. Yum yum yum!

But the best – and I knew you knew I was going to say that – was the constant flow of Veuve Clicquot into my glass. In all seriousness, I don’t think there was a point my glass made it emptier than half-way. And the last top up was after 15:30. Amazing!!!

So worth it. I am so glad I went and I plan to go back, although it was delightful with my boyfriend, I think it would be the perfect girly brunch.

Aqua holds their brunch every Sunday, from 12-3pm.