Is it better to be late to the party or stay in your comfy, cosy place? On a flight to Stockholm this week, I read an interview with restaurateur Keith McNally that was pegged to his just released memoir, I Regret Almost Everything. I’ve spent many an evening at Odeon (when it was under his watch) and plenty of meandering lunches and lingering dinners at his buzzy Balthazar, and while I don’t gravitate to the biographies corner at Daunt Books, there’s something about McNally’s knack for running a hospitality operation that makes me want to dive in. I was intrigued to read about how, after a stroke that has impaired his voice and forced him to shift from being right-handed to left-handed (fun fact: I went in the other direction), he found that Instagram gave him a whole new voice. As Insta-avoidance is a running theme in both my life and the life of Monocle, I want to read about how he’s done it. That said, I won’t be jumping onto Meta channels any time soon. It’s more fun tapping this out for a Sunday morning and messaging on the Swiss-made, ultra-exclusive Threema. Number of chat friends? Two.

Speaking of Meta, it’s been hilarious to watch all of these “boycott Made in America” Facebook groups spring up in well-meaning nations like Denmark and the Netherlands. Where do these people think Meta comes from? Do they think it might be European? Mark Zuckerberg a German living in a large villa on Hamburg’s Alster? Come on people, Guten Morgen! For starters, real “Made in the USA” products should be heartily supported. Talk to any company that still makes shoes in the US and you will hear a story of pain and suffering as it’s difficult to find apprentices – the concept is foreign in the US and the customer doesn’t place a premium on a product made within the 50 states. In the meantime, Europe should work harder at building its own digital powerhouses. Why don’t all Monocle readers set up a mass chat on Threema?

Fear not, Europe does have a few powerhouses in its arsenal and, in case you missed it, Zara just turned 50. While I’ve never purchased anything from the Spanish retailer, I am a big fan of Zara Home (they need to make more products in Europe though) and its upmarket cousin Massimo Dutti. While many cite logistics and supply-chain mastery as being crucial to the company’s success, one particular attribute struck me as being even more integral to its dazzling growth while on a recent tour around its exceptional HQ outside A Coruña – it’s a monoculture. Sit in meetings, wander the halls and chat to staffers working in various parts of the business and you soon realise that the company is not so much Spanish as Galician. Instead of meeting talented people drawn from Madrid or Valencia, many are from Pontevedra, Vigo and Ferrol. “Much of our success comes down to the fact that we’re all from the same place, so people understand the codes and there’s no such thing as ‘lost in translation,’” explained someone from the housewares business. It’s an interesting case study in the power of efficiency driven by shared cultural capital.

And before I leave you to connect with my next flight (destination Manama), a small thanks to the maître de cabine in charge of my Swiss flight up to Stockholm Arlanda. Despite a two-hour delay and multiple gate changes, here was a woman (initials SK), who turned everything around with humour, warmth and a general sense of levity – useful at 38,000 feet above the Baltic. She was also a stunning example of why you need people in charge who have life experience and the confidence to interact with young and old. 

Happy Sunday dear reader. 

In a fast-evolving corner of Ghent’s green belt, Belgian restaurateurs Sam D’Huyvetter and Nina De Cuyper have channelled the spirit of San Sebastián’s pintxos bars into Taberna Bask (writes Femke Vandevelde).

The couple serve homemade morcilla, chorizo and coppa from family-owned pigs, fresh sourdough and imaginative creations including guinea-fowl croquetas and red mullet with chipirón squid.

Furnished with vintage finds, this corner spot strikes a balance between urban cool and Belgian conviviality, while soft ochre walls and warm lighting evoke a Spanish late afternoon.
tabernabask.be

For more hospitality roundups and top tables, pick up a copy of Monocle’s May issue on newsstands now.

An Chieh Chiang is the CEO of Hong Kong-based travelling essentials brand Lojel, which manufactures carry-ons, cross-body bags and phone straps for when you’re on the move (writes Valentina Venelli). Here, Chiang tells The Monocle Minute Weekend Edition about Hong Kong’s Nam Kee noodles and Taiwanese rock.

Ideal start to a Sunday? Gentle or a jolt?
Anything that doesn’t activate my brain. I usually start with 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training, then a bit of reading.

What’s for breakfast?
A fast-food breakfast is our family ritual on Sunday mornings.

Lunch in or out?
When I first moved from Japan to Hong Kong just over 10 years ago, I tried sour-and-spicy noodles from Nam Kee Noodle [restaurant chain]. It’s now one of my favourite lunch dishes.

A Sunday culture must?
Both the M+ and Hong Kong Palace Museum are great to visit on the weekend. Conveniently, they’re right next to each other in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

News or no news?
Nowadays you don’t need to look for news. It will come to you. 

What’s on the menu?
Hotpot or Japanese curry rice.

A Sunday soundtrack?
“Ghost in the Machine” by SZA or “Wayfarer” by No Party for Cao Dong.

Do you lay out an outfit for Monday?
Everything matches, so I don’t need to put much thought into it.

Monocle’s Japanese recipe writer, Aya Nishimura, has created an alternative to the much-loved Japanese savoury pancake using rice paper rather than flour. This traditional form of Japanese street food can be customised with a creative supply of toppings. We’ve recommended some options to get you started.

Makes 1 pancake

Ingredients
150g cabbage, finely shredded 
10g pickled ginger, finely shredded 
100g unsmoked bacon, sliced into 2cm strips
½ tsp vegetable oil
2 rice papers (22cm in diameter)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Suggested toppings
Okonomiyaki sauce 
Mayonnaise 
1 spring onion, thinly sliced, kept in cold water and patted dry with a kitchen towel 
Katsuobushi flakes (dried tuna flakes) 
Shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven-spice mixture)

Method
1.
Finely shred the cabbage and pickled ginger and combine in a bowl. Thinly slice the spring onion and soak in cold water to keep crisp. Slice the bacon into 2cm pieces.

2.
Before turning on the heat, drizzle half a teaspoon of oil into a non-stick pan. Place one layer of rice paper in the pan. Pour half of the beaten egg and spread lightly. Layer the cabbage and ginger mixture on top. Place the bacon over the cabbage, then drizzle the remaining egg on top. Place the second rice paper over it and press gently.

3.
Cook at a medium-high heat (keep pressing the rice paper if the top piece begins to peel off). When it sizzles, reduce the heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes.

4.
Flip the okonomiyaki using a wide spatula. Press gently, cover and cook for 3 minutes.

5.
Transfer the okonomiyaki to a plate. Use scissors to cut into six wedges. Drizzle with the okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise. Top with spring onion, katsuobushi flakes and shichimi togarashi. 

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find somewhere off the beaten track in Portugal’s popular Algarve region (writes Ivan Carvalho). But Quinta do Pinheiro, a converted 19th-century farmstead, is a good example. Located near the Ria Formosa Park and its sandy dunes, this property is made up of five terracotta-tiled cottages.

Lisbon-born architect Frederico Valsassina preserved key features of the buildings, including the prominent Algarvian chimneys, and used traditional local materials such as cane strips on the ceiling to create cosy, rustic living quarters. Views over vineyards and avocado groves await those who venture out in search of beaches and local birdlife, while a large water-storage tank once used by farmhands now serves as the pool.

Every cottage comes equipped with a kitchen but the restaurant Noélia, a Monocle favourite, is a short drive away should you have a hankering for superb seafood.
quintapinheiro.com

Is tennis the most glamorous sport (asks Rory Jones)? Vogue writer and longtime tennis fan Laura Bailey certainly thinks so and she sets out to prove it in Courtship: For the Love of Tennis, published by New York-based Rizzoli. Featuring photos by Maltese-British filmmaker Mark Arrigo, Courtship serves up the photographic splendour of some of the world’s most desirable courts, from the white-lined grass lawns in Positano to the handsome terracotta-clay arenas in the Swiss village of Grindelwald. It’s the kind of book that will have you reaching for a racquet this summer. Now the ball’s in your court. 
rizzoliusa.com

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I was about to wish you a “good morning” but stopped for sensitivity reasons. I then decided “happy Sunday” might be better but, for sensitivity reasons, I held back. “Sunny greetings” seemed like a good idea too but, for reasons of sensitivity, this wasn’t appropriate either. So here we are at a feelings stand-off because just when we thought it was safe to venture back out into the world and say what you want, we’re being bombarded with the most perverse marketing nonsense to ever be deployed by a send button.

To be fair, this is not a global phenomenon (thank heavens!) but something that has taken hold in the sensitivity departments of companies up and down the UK. If you’re not up to speed on this new form of e-blast, it’s meant to make the recipient feel like their personal history is at the core of a fragrance, fashion or hospitality company’s every concern as you’re asked to opt out of correspondence for Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day and any other day that is important for sales but might somehow cause offence, bring back bad family episodes and demand a week or two off work. What a lot of insincere, stupid nonsense!

For starters, if you’re a brand that is so concerned about the words “Mother’s Day” causing offence, then why bring it up in the first place? If you don’t want to encourage your customers to buy something for their mum then get your clever marketing team to cook up a better idea to flog your new scent or sell your discounted suites – and don’t send out an email that might already cause extreme pain by mentioning “mother” as a starter. Second, what does it say about your marketing department and brand in general when you send out something so half-baked and kneejerk? I received such a drippy email from a company I like(d) very much but I’m now wondering: who on earth is running the show over there? Do they really think that they’re going to win loyalty with such correspondence? And third, where do you draw the line? Do you stop at “good morning” because some customers might have woken up with extreme diarrhea at 07.00 and are forever traumatised because they narrowly missed the toilet bowl? Should a company stop sending email correspondence after sundown because some people might be scared of the dark? And what about seriously offensive words such as “wishing” or “kindest” in a sign off? I might be in therapy because not all of my wishes have so far come true and people haven’t always been at their kindest over the past five decades. 

That managers and business owners allow this behaviour to pass, and even flourish, is at the core of the ongoing collapse of common sense and the erosion of resilience. At a time when companies should be concerned with their bottom line and embracing as many customers as possible, the idea that there are sensitivity gains to be made by attempting to be a “feeling brand” is most offensive. We have been through a solid six to seven years of this type of behaviour and it’s not working. UK retail is in crisis and brands are presenting seemingly perfect worlds in their campaigns that are completely removed from the reality of demographic data – they need to get back to running customer-service training programmes that attract talent and retain passionate employees. They must park their politics and focus on selling better products and creating environments where people feel good and want to consume.

So far, I’ve not received any of these opt-out-of-daily-life emails from Sweden, France, Switzerland or the US. Hopefully this is one of those British curiosities that remains on the islands. Wishing you the sunniest, happiest, motherly week ahead.

Monocle invites you to our spring market with the support of Visit Portugal. Join us in Midori House’s courtyard to celebrate the diverse gastronomy, culture and design Portugal has to offer. Browse Portuguese guest brands including Claus Porto, La Paz, Util, Torres Novas, A Vida Portuguesa and the latest seasonal collections from The Monocle Shop and Trunk. Expect great Portuguese coffee, pastéis de nata, afternoon port tonics and delicious bites.

No ticket required.

Saturday 10 May, 10.00 – 18.00
Midori House, 1 Dorset Street, London

Since establishing the now-shuttered Chez Dominique in 1998, chef Hans Välimäki has been the flag bearer of French cuisine in Finland (writes Petri Burtsoff). “Lyon is the cradle of French gastronomy,” says Välimäki. “Its rich dishes are rooted in the region’s agrarian past and incredible fresh produce.” Bouchon Carême is Välimäki’s newest opening, offering cognac-flambéed duck liver, roasted bone marrow and snails gratinated in parsley and garlic butter.

The dark-green hues, ample use of natural wood and soft lighting lend the restaurant a certain warmth – an ode to the unpretentious bouchon (traditional Lyonnais restaurant). Set in a charming art-nouveau building dating back to 1900, Bouchon Carême’s large windows offer great views of Helsinki’s busiest commercial streets.
bouchoncareme.fi

For more hospitality roundups and top tables, pick up a copy of Monocle’s May issue on newsstands now.

Bangkok-based architect Stefano Rabolli Pansera is the former director of Hauser & Wirth in St Moritz and currently directs the Bangkok Kunsthalle, a multidisciplinary art space in the Thai capital’s Chinatown district (writes Maria Papakleanthous). Here, Pansera tells us where he finds his fix of duck-noodle soup, why he sleeps with his curtains open and how smart tailoring keeps things simple.

Where do we find you this weekend?
People-watching at the Kunsthalle while sipping coffee.
  
Ideal start to a Sunday? Gentle start or a jolt?
I sleep with the curtains open, so I wake up with the sun every morning.

What’s for breakfast?
All that my Italian DNA craves is a double espresso. 

Lunch in or out?
Bangkok has an extraordinary street-food scene. My favourite is an amazing duck-noodle soup that I get from a stall at the corner of the Kunsthalle in Chinatown. 

Walk the dog or downward dog?
I walk around Chinatown and have conversations with my Thai teacher Khun Airada Coker, who educates me on everything from the language to the culture. 

A Sunday soundtrack?
I love traditional Thai background music. It features a wonderful instrumental performance that’s not distracting to listen to. 

Sunday culture must? 
Watching films at the Kunsthalle’s cinema. We recently showed a special series of screenings including Chinatown by Roman Polanski and Big Trouble in Little China starring Kurt Russell. Sampeng (The Chinatown Montage), filmed in 1982 by Thai director Surapong Pinijkhar, is also incredibly special to me. 

News or not?
Not. The benefit of living in Bangkok is that life here feels as though I am on another planet. Sometimes there is no news and that, in itself, is good news. 

Sunday evening routine?
You’ll find me at my favourite bar, Ku Bar. Everything is so carefully selected there, from the atmosphere to the art and music.
 
Do you lay out an outfit for Monday?
No need for that. I wear the same outfit every day: a bespoke double-breasted black suit by Milan-based tailor Caraceni paired with a sleek black tie.

This sweet soufflé is Monocle chef and recipe writer Ralph Schelling’s reinterpretation of the version that he would make when working in a Salzburg restaurant.

Serves 4 

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
4 tbsps powdered sugar
Zest of lemon
Pulp of 1 vanilla pod
4 heaped tbsps quark
4 egg whites
4 tbsps flour
250g wild-berry mix
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 200C.

2
Mix the egg yolks with the powdered sugar, lemon zest, vanilla and quark until creamy. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they’re semi-stiff and then carefully fold into the first mixture, adding the flour bit by bit.

3
Cover a porcelain dish or tray with the berries and spread the egg mixture over it so that it takes the shape of soft peaks.

4
Bake for around 10 minutes.

5
Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and serve warm.
ralphschelling.com

Life moved at a slower pace in the high reaches of Switzerland until the country’s railway line brought skiers to the Bernese Oberland (writes Florian Siebeck). A golden age of Alpine hospitality ignited and majestic hotels such as the Grand Hotel Belvédère in Wengen soon crowned the mountaintops.

French hospitality brand Beaumier acquired the sleepy belle-époque gem in 2022 alongside its sister property next door, bringing new momentum to the small Alpine village. “We’ve spent a great deal of time undoing 120 years of so-called improvements to uncover the buildings’ original splendour,” says the hotel’s general manager, Lorenz Maurer.

Columns smothered under coats of paint were sandblasted to their natural timber, chandeliers journeyed to the vale for a dazzling revival and original frescoes were brought back to life. As of next week, guests will be able to ascend above the valley’s bustle into the Grand Hotel Belvédère’s tranquil world once more. 
beaumier.com

Melbourne-based aperitifs brand Non was founded in 2017 by Aaron Trotman, who was thirsty for still and sparkling wine alternatives that didn’t leave a disappointing taste in the mouth (writes Valentina Venelli).

Non focuses on using natural ingredients including cherries, chamomile and yuzu, combined with the juice of unripe grapes and spices such as cinnamon, pink peppercorn and garam masala. A team of food scientists and winemakers balance these punchy notes to create delicate flavour profiles that will have you saying “Non” to your traditional tipple. 
non.world

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