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This week we’re whetting the whistle at a west London watering hole that’s been given a seemly makeover. Then we’re off to stir things up with a French lawyer-turned-bartender. We also sample sticky rice waffles at a funky new Bangkok restaurant and bed down on the Cycladic island that’s worlds away from Santorini’s tourist traps. Setting the tone is our editorial director, Tyler Brûlé.
The Faster Lane / Tyler Brûlé
The week has been punctuated by a series of key words that have popped up in conversations social, work-related and all chatter in between. We start in Abu Dhabi but the focus was on a neighbour up the coast.
Bahrain
The tiny Gulf state is on everyone’s lips. But why? “Bahrain was a first mover in the region and it’s a bit ahead of everyone else. In part because it’s much more in private hands than other states,” explains the elegant lady across from me. “Less control and more relaxed. More confident.” More from Manama soon.
Saadiyat Island
Currently a building site that already boasts a branch of the Louvre and the Abrahamic Family House, Saadiyat Island is on track to become one of the most impressive cultural hubs between Paris and Tokyo. With the Guggenheim nearing completion, the island on the doorstep of Abu Dhabi’s CBD reminds me of tracts of Singapore circa 1992 – but with more architectural and design ambition.
Huna
At a busy intersection in the Jumeirah 3 district, a real-estate brand is fast establishing itself as a new neighbourhood. The current offer is a gleaming white mix of F&B outlets and apartments while across the street a raft of new shops are about to throw open their doors and new residences are on the rise. Part of ARM Holdings, Huna is a developer whose name might come to define the whole area as the group seeks to upgrade the public realm for locals and visitors alike.
AI
I need to ask the question: is the AI hype akin to all the airtime that the metaverse consumed four years ago? I can remember every big corporate I met with in 2021 being completely distracted by this new technology and how it was going to transform consumer behaviour. At the World Governments Summit in Dubai this week we heard some radical and frankly depressing scenarios that will be rendered by AI. As I write this from the Summersalt Beach Club, surrounded by people hustling trays, mixing drinks and spinning discs, I am not entirely convinced about how transformative AI will be in the end. Feel free to challenge me on this but if you don’t want to be impacted, you can opt out. As one tech investor suggested, we’re likely to see the rise of more Amish-style societies that will simply reject technology that’s designed to make us dumber and more dependent.
Etihad
Keep an eye out for the UAE’s other carrier as its Brazilian CEO, Antonoaldo Neves, plans to make Etihad the only airline with a first class on all aircraft while still focusing on the fastest-growing regions in the world. I’ve even started to hear Dubai locals grumbling for the first time about Emirates and some are now starting and finishing their journeys in AUH rather than DXB. The sentiment expressed over a dinner dominated by Lebanese, Syrians, French and Monocle Patrons at Cala Vista on Friday evening was that Emirates has become a little arrogant and less personal.
HOUSE NEWS / Paris
If you missed editorial director Tyler Brûlé’s metaphorical ribbon cutting last Sunday, listen back to the inaugural broadcast of Monocle on Sunday from the French capital. Our Paris bureau chief, Simon Bouvier, and fashion director, Natalie Theodosi, were joined by CNN senior correspondent Melissa Bell, The Bold Way’s Adrien Garcia and film director Audrey Diwan.
Connected to Midori House’s control room around the clock, our newest outpost expands Monocle Radio’s global network, joining London (home to Studios 1 and 2), Tokyo (Studio 3) and Zürich (Studio 4). We will be broadcasting from 16 Rue Bachaumont with the latest developments in French politics, business and culture in addition to insightful conversations with the city’s leading creatives, entrepreneurs and decision-makers.
Watch this space for news on our Paris bureau, café and shop opening this month.
Eating out / Kaenkrung, Bangkok
This new spot in west Bangkok has a refreshingly offbeat take on Thai cuisine with a menu that draws on the flavours of Isan, Thailand’s northeastern province (writes James Chambers). The converted shophouse on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya river is the second restaurant by Paisarn Cheewinsiriwat and Kanyarat “Jib” Thanomseang. At Kaenkrung, the pair bring their signature dishes and a playlist of funky, folky mor lam music to the capital
Isan pork sausages are an easy entry point, before moving on to a creative twist on spicy green salad (som tam), made using jicama, a tropical root vegetable, instead of the usual papaya. Northeast Thailand is home to some of the country’s best beef, so the charcoal-grilled ribeye with vegetables and a sticky-rice waffle is a must, even if it means giving the popular lamb massaman curry a miss. As appreciation for Isan cuisine grows, a taste of Thailand’s little-known northeast should be on your wishlist.
Soi 23 Arunamarin Rd
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Eating out / Julie’s, London
Tucked away among the leafy green spaces of London’s Holland Park, Julie’s is a 160-cover wine bar and restaurant that was once a celebrity haunt (writes Rory Jones). It’s where Kate Moss celebrated her 22nd birthday, where Mick Jagger was a 1980s regular and where Tina Turner once danced on a table.
West London resident Tara MacBain (who dined at Julie’s as a child) took the helm of this modern French bistro in 2024. “We didn’t want to do the whole industrial aesthetic,” MacBain tells The Monocle Weekend Edition. The retouch, tasked to interior designer Rosanna Bossom, brought in vintage-style flowery wallpaper and dim lighting that spills out of flamboyant lamp shades onto the modish menagerie of furnishings.
When Monocle visits there are sharing plates of tuna tartare, crab toast and pea panisse with Cornish gouda. Julie’s feels more like a sophisticated Parisian boudoir than a buzzy west London watering hole.
juliesrestaurant.com
Sunday roast / Margot Lecarpentier
Former lawyer Margot Lecarpentier found inspiration in the cocktail bars of New York and London before opening Combat in Paris’s Belleville neighbourhood in 2017 (writes Adrian Moore). She has also just become the mixologist for the Ducasse Paris Group, which promotes French culinary savoir-faire through hotels, restaurants and training schools. Here, she chats about restaurant hopping on the Basque coast, her love of fried rice and penchant for vintage football jerseys.
Where do we find you this weekend?
Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the Basque Country, where I’m finally getting the chance to dine at Iñaki Aizpitarte’s new restaurant, Petit Grill Basque. I’m a huge fan of his cooking. Then I’ll return to Agathe and Quentin’s bistro, Café Belardi, for the umpteenth time. I’m staying in Biarritz at the Regina Experimental, the new hotel from my first bosses when I started in the cocktail world, Experimental Group.
Ideal start to a Sunday? Gentle start or a jolt?
My Sundays start with a squash session.
What’s for breakfast?
Matcha, every morning.
Lunch in or out?
If I have free time for lunch, I’ll have a quick snack at home that involves anything I can eat quickly and standing up: eggs, raw veggies, smoothies and the like.
A Sunday soundtrack?
“Thinking of You” by Sister Sledge.
Sunday culture must?
Spending as much time with family as possible, be they my real family or my chosen family.
News or not?
Morning is for world news; the evening for cultural information. Mediapart and Radio France’s France Info and France Inter.
What’s on the menu?
The week’s leftovers. The secret is to cook everything in butter. Often I’ll transform everything into fried rice.
Do you lay out an outfit for Monday?
My outfit consists of a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from my bar, Combat, or a vintage football jersey. I collect these because they’re comfortable for sport and shaking cocktails behind the bar.
Recipe / Ralph Schelling
A variation of Tuscan gnudi, these roughly shaped, ricotta dumplings are light and fluffy. Swiss chef Ralph Schelling recommends oversalting the water to remove moisture from the mixture and to give the gnocchi a firm consistency when cooked.
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g ricotta
100g grated parmesan
250g plain white flour
100ml olive oil
2 anchovies
Sprinkle of peperoncini
1 tbsp salted capers
3 cloves of crushed garlic
250g datterini tomatoes
Pinch of ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
Basil (to garnish)
Zest of 1 lemon
Olive oil
Method
1
Place the ricotta in a bowl with the parmesan and flour. Mix the ingredients together until they form a smooth dough.
2
Working in sections, separate the dough into long strands. Cut each strand into 1.5cm pieces, shaping them into rounds that resemble gnocchi.
3
Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water for 3-5 minutes. Drain the pasta water from the pan when done, reserving about 100ml for later.
4
Crush the anchovies, peperoncini, capers and garlic in a mortar and pestle. Place them in a sauté pan with olive oil over a medium heat. Cook until the garlic is golden.
5
Add the tomatoes and a little pasta water to the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes.
6
Add the gnocchi to the pan and combine with the sauce until everything is thoroughly mixed together.
7
Plate up the gnocchi. Sprinkle with basil, lemon zest and a little olive oil to serve.
Weekend plans? / Gundari, Folegandros
Gundari sits atop a cliff at the southern end of the Cycladic isle of Folegandros (writes Katharine Sohn). Echoing the island’s wild, rocky landscape, Gundari’s interiors feature earthy browns and limestone chosen by Australian owner Ricardo Larriera. The 25 suites and two villas are designed by Athens-based architects Block722.
All have windows framing the ocean views but some include subterranean rooms carved into the cliff where infinity pools and dark-wood joinery enjoy shelter from the summer Meltemi winds. Chef Lefteris Lazarou brings city flair from his Michelin-starred Athens kitchen while one of the capital’s best bars, Line, helps with cocktails. Best of all, the Santorini-style swarms of tourists are nowhere in sight – just the sapphirine Aegean Sea stretching away to Crete.
gundari.com
‘Greece: The Monocle Handbook’ is out now. Buy your copy today.
Bottoms up / Al’s beers
When Alban de Pury struggled to find an alcohol-free beer that could match a well-made craft ale, he took matters into his own hands by co-founding Al’s brewery in New York (writes Myriam Zumbüehl). The beer’s name came about organically. “After I moved from Geneva to the US in 2012, people started calling me Al,” says De Pury.
Like a full-strength pub staple, Al’s is both crisp and robust, fresh and flavourful. The sweet note on the finish also makes Al’s easy to reach for when you need a clear head in the morning but still want to enjoy beer that tastes as good as the real thing.
drinkals.com
Monocle’s February issue is on newsstands now. Grab a copy or subscribe today. Have a super Sunday.
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