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Sunday has arrived and we’ve bagged a coveted table at French chef Mory Sacko’s new outpost in Paris, along with a spot at one of Singapore’s most storied bars. We also stop off in Berlin to chat with an engineer-turned-hotelier and check out a new concept shop in London to discover a playful selection of under-the-radar brands. Plus: a Swiss rösti recipe to keep you warm as the mercury drops. Here to get our Sunday started, Tyler Brûlé has a front-row seat in Tokyo.
The Faster Lane / Tyler Brûlé
It’s Saturday morning and I’m sitting in the lobby of the Palace Hotel Tokyo waiting for my colleagues Andrew and Linard to return from what was supposed to be a brief shopping expedition. Hours earlier, there was a flurry of messages plotting out a grand plan for the day (with all involved trying to sound perkier than the rest). Why we were all putting on heroic faces I have no idea, as we were all complicit in the late-night Ginza smokes, champs and sing-along session, and we all knew full well how late things went and how rough the wake-up was going to be.
Nevertheless, we all went along with the little charade. Though I decided to grab another 30 minutes of sleep while the others made their way through the well-stocked racks of United Arrows. I made remarkably good progress and was in position in the lobby well before the agreed time. I found a comfy chair near the front doors and was going to read the FT or catch up on emails when I spotted an elegant older woman daintily stepping out of a gleaming Toyota Alphard in a brilliant blue kimono. She was assisted by one of the bellmen through the sliding doors, and as she entered the lobby a silver-haired gentleman in a morning suit greeted her with a bow and a formal-sounding salutation. Was he her husband? Brother? A distant relative? The woman made a few apologies before the pair started laughing and disappeared in the direction of the Palace’s sprawling café.
I glanced around the rest of the lobby to get a fix on what else was happening. Judging by the number of black-clad photographers and hair and make-up assistants, there must have been no fewer than 10 weddings on the go. Out of another Alphard stepped a bride in full gown escorted by a small entourage in charge of keeping her hair fluffy, shoulders covered and dress off the ground. The day before it was glorious sunshine and 20C in Tokyo but today it was gusty, rainy and less than ideal for tying the knot. And yet all seemed cheery in the lobby with a bit of light bossa playing in the background and the Palace’s battalion of staffers going about all the tasks that keep a large-scale, five-star property humming. I was about to check the time when a message popped up on my screen saying that my colleagues were about to pay for their purchases and would soon be walking back. “No stress”, I responded. I was so thoroughly enjoying my perch and observing the comings of various nationalities and dandy Tokyoites that I could’ve happily ordered a coffee and then moved on to lunch.
But as an Austrian family seemed to be celebrating some kind of reunion and a group of young Japanese women, also in kimonos, assembled near the reception stand of the restaurant while waiting to be seated, I was struck by a series of questions: What’s become of the grand lobby in the planning of modern hotels? Where are the porters, desk clerks, cashiers and telephonists? The florists on ladders and liveried housekeepers with giant feather dusters? And where are all the guests coming and going, meeting and greeting, sneaking in and slinking out? If I think about all the new hotels I’ve visited of late, the lobby as a place to watch the world swirl by has all but vanished. Space once given to fountains, sofas and palms is now retail. The capable staff have largely been replaced by people who want to manage your stay via Whatsapp. I rather enjoy checking in to such establishments and completely throwing a clerk by saying, “I don’t use Meta products.” Then I watch their face fall. How have we arrived at a place where a note under the door or a phone call will no longer suffice as a trusty form of communication?
Anyway, no matter, we can explore this topic in detail another day. Andrew and Linard have returned victorious from their shopping adventure and a full weekend in Tokyo awaits. Sadly, I must leave my lobby perch. More soon.
HOUSE NEWS / Monocle pop-up shop, Dubai
Every November the avenues of the Dubai Design District (D3) are turned into a parade of installations, pavilions and activities. The six-day Dubai Design Week gives the region’s studios and practitioners a chance to engage with an international audience. To celebrate, Monocle’s first UAE retail pop-up will be open from 2 to 30 November at Frame in D3’s Building 7.
Our Dubai outpost will stock a selection including our latest publications, stationery and luggage from Porter and Proteca. Keep an eye out for must-have items from across the region, chosen by our editors. You can also pick up a copy of Monocle 100: Dubai, our guide to the city’s top retail, cultural and culinary experiences. Plus: don’t miss our special event at Frame for Dubai Design Week on Thursday 7 November from 10.00 to 12.00. Enjoy complimentary coffee and engaging discussions with our design editor, Nic Monisse. We’ll see you there.
Frame, R03, G-Floor, Building 7, Dubai Design District
New opening / Mosugo Sentier, Paris
Emmanuel Macron’s request that Mory Sacko cater an Africa-France summit in 2022 was a remarkable achievement, even for a chef at the helm of a Michelin-starred restaurant (writes Claudia Jacob). Sacko’s debut opening, Mosuke, made the French chef of Senegalese and Malian descent a a star when he was just 28 – proof of his flair for fusing French techniques with Japanese and West African ingredients. Since Macron’s endorsement, Sacko’s 28-cover restaurant hasn’t seen an empty seat.
Cue Mosuke’s laid-back sibling: Mosugo. This temple to fried chicken can now be found in several locations across the city, including, most recently, in the Sentier neighbourhood. An area once known for its textiles manufacturing, the lively quartier on the Right Bank is quickly emerging as a meeting point for Parisian gourmands who spill out onto the busy boulevards until the small hours. Fried chicken might not be a stalwart of the Gallic menu but Sacko’s creations are refreshingly imaginative.
“I serve the fried chicken in a pretzel bun with a slice of emmental, pickled cucumbers and Cajun-spiced butter, with a side of Norwegian waffles drizzled with maple syrup,” Sacko tells Monocle. “It’s classic soul food served with a Mosugo twist.” Well, if it’s good enough for the president…
mosugo.com
Sunday Roast / Tim Wittenbecher
Former engineer Tim Wittenbecher is the founder of Floatel, a Berlin-based hospitality group that transforms lighthouses into hotels (writes Rory Jones). Wittenbecher, who launched his first outpost in the Canary Islands a few years ago, has since opened venues in Hamburg, Ischia and Cudillero in Asturias. Here, he tells Monocle about his eclectic music taste, his plans for Floatel and his undying love for the German capital.
Where do we find you this weekend?
In my garden in Charlottenburg, Berlin. Sometimes you might find me at one of the hotels, talking to the lighthouse keeper about, say, the previous night’s autumn storm. But whenever possible, I like to be in Berlin on a Sunday.
Your ideal way to begin a Sunday – a gentle start or a jolt?
Gentle, with the Sunday paper and my favourite German magazine, Mare, which is full of ocean-centric articles with deep research and beautiful language. I love the early Sunday-morning hours when no messages come in and I have time to read without urgency, simply for its enjoyment.
What’s for breakfast?
Eggs Florentine is one of my signature dishes. I’m not an amazing chef but I’ve tried to learn some difficult recipes, such as for paella, spaghetti alle vongole, labskaus (a type of salted meat), seezunge (Dover sole) and steinbutt (turbot).
Lunch in or out?
Berlin is full of cool places to explore. Today my wife, Heike, and I will go to Neukölln and walk through the open-air theatre at Tempelhofer Feld.
Walk the dog or downward dog?
An unfortunate topic – we recently lost our weimaraner, Lou. She was our most beautiful friend and saw everything that can fit into 16 years of a dog’s life.
A Sunday soundtrack?
Electro, 1970s disco, 1980s rock and classic piano concerts.
A Sunday culture must?
With my business, my interest focuses on the local communities around every lighthouse. Ischia, for example, has a super-cool art scene that is upheld by Ischitani who studied abroad, became talented architects, musicians and artists, then returned in their forties and fifties. I love that.
News or not?
The Sunday Tagesspiegel and Zeit podcasts in the morning.
What’s on the menu?
A falafel plate from the Habibi restaurant at Winterfeldtplatz.
Your Sunday-evening routine?
Today I’ll be talking to a friend who will tell me what he thinks about the next steps for our Faro Spignon project in the Venetian Lagoon. Of all the almost-impossible projects we have done so far, this one is the Champions League.
Recipe / Ralph Schelling
This week, Swiss chef Ralph Schelling whips up a hearty potato rösti, a dish invented by farmers in the canton of Bern. For the best results, use high-quality potatoes with a low water quantity and fry using clarified butter to avoid burning. Serve with mountain cheese, apple compote or a fried egg.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1kg waxy potatoes
1½ tsps salt
150g frying butter
1 egg
Sprinkle of parsley
Method
1
Peel the potatoes and grate into a bowl.
2
Mix the grated potatoes with the salt and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.
3
Wrap the salted, grated potatoes in a cloth and squeeze well to get rid of excess moisture.
4
Form the dry, shredded potatoes into a flat round. Fry the mixture in a pan with the butter over a medium heat until golden brown on one side.
5
Flip the rösti over and repeat.
6
Remove from the pan to cool. Using the pan, fry an egg to serve atop your rösti with a sprinkle of salt and parsley.
Weekend plans? / Billnäs Gård, Finland
Billnäs Gård, a six-room boutique hotel, is a repurposed 1912 manor in a quaint village an hour’s drive from Helsinki (writes Petri Burtsoff). The villa’s white columns and mansard roof give it a stately Mediterranean look that is accentuated by the rectangular saltwater pool and manicured garden in the backyard. Perched on the Svartå river and enveloped by vast ancient oaks, it has all the hallmarks of the Franco-Finnish couple who run it.
Taina Snellman-Langenskiold has worked for design brands such as Artek and Tikau, while her partner, Chris Langenskiold, is an entrepreneur. “We believe that surrounding yourself with beauty helps you feel better,” says Snellman-Langenskiold, who is responsible for the hotel’s interiors. Billnäs village is the site of an ironworks that was founded in 1641. The area is also home to a community of artisans, artists and farmers who Billnäs Gård works with to offer workshops, as well as to supply the villa’s restaurant, which relies on local produce to craft its French-Finnish seasonal menu.
The villa’s cellar has been converted into a sauna and spa. Its low ceilings and exposed brick and stone walls imbue it with a monastery-like ambience. “We all need to slow down and take a step back every once in a while,” says Snellman-Langenskiold. “Everything about this place – its design and elegance, the pure air and the untouched nature – helps you to do just that.”
billnasgard.fi
For more rustic retreats, check out our latestissue, available on newsstands now.
Top of the shops / Hato Press, London
Japanese-inspired concept shop-cum-independent publishing house Hato Press combines a tight curation of little-known fashion and lifestyle brands with its own titles. As part of the brand’s publishing arm, which opened in 2009 in London’s Barbican area, a bespoke studio space was created in August by UK brand Toogood, which drew heavily on materials used in the brutalist Barbican Estate.
Brand director Emete Kirton’s careful selection gravitates towards designers offering playful forms, including objects from Italian designer Martino Gamper and fisherman sweaters from Moscow-born Xenia Telunts. “When it comes to choosing new labels, it’s important that they demonstrate a consistent and authentic exploration of their creative process,” says Kirton, who prioritises the originality of the objects and designers.
“Our tight focus on design and publishing practice means that we’re coming at retail from a different angle. Where a lifestyle shop might just look at aesthetics and demand for a product, we look at who the designers are and why they are creating. This makes for a particularly eclectic selection.” We recommend the thick knits from Paris-based Waste Yarn Project for the chilly months ahead.
hato.co
Hospitality holdouts / Long Bar, Singapore
This week in our hospitality holdout series, we perch on a barstool at Raffles Singapore to toast its history – and its celebrated singapore sling cocktail.
The white colonnades of the Raffles Singapore have been an icon of Southeast Asian luxury since 1887 (writes Naomi Xu Elegant). But arguably more famous than the hotel itself is the cocktail that was invented on its premises. The too-sweet-for-some singapore sling is said to have been first shaken up by Hainanese bartender Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915, though the precise details of its origins remain a mystery.
More than a century after the pale-pink and foam-topped drink first slaked the thirsts of a parched colonial clientele, the Long Bar’s uniformed bartenders serve up hundreds of slings every day. (The libation now accounts for 70 per cent of the bar’s total revenue.) They stick to a strict recipe: the Raffles sling comprises gin, Bénédictine, cherry liqueur, fresh lime juice, seltzer and bitters. This is mixed together using an ornate green cocktail shaker, operated by hand crank, that can shake as many as 18 slings at once. Other colonial-era customs are proudly observed; guests are free to brush peanut shells onto the floor in a cheeky ode to the habits of the Long Bar’s first patrons.
raffles.com
For more on Monocle’s prized watering holes and historic hotels, pick up a copy of theNovember issue, on newsstands now. Or, better still, subscribetoday so you never miss a thing. Have a super Sunday.
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