| Digital Detox? Finding Quiet & Calm At the Claridge's Christmas tree party before Christmas Olivia Colman, before her reading, asked the Burberry fashion crowd etc to put their 'phones away and in his Christmas message HM the King said "our world seems to spin even faster" quoted poet TS Eliot's words about finding the "still point of the turning world". A Snowy Shrewsbury Christmas Full of Love & Happiness It was the first Christmas where I woke on Christmas Day alone in our family's Georgian house. After all the frenetic excitement before Christmas, I found my peace for a few days. At a breakfast before Christmas mum's former hairdresser offered to cut & style mum' hair again. She did an unbelievable job and made mum look elegant over Christmas. Christmas Day could not have gone any better. It started with Veuve Clicquot champagne. I had lunch with mum at a table for two and she was so happy & relaxed. Wearing her new Chanel lipstick and spraying herself with her new Dior J'adore perfume, saying how much she loved it and me. The prize I got in my Dorchester hotel cracker (Aromatherapy Associates bath oil) was the best I have ever got in a cracker. On Christmas Eve I drank a perfect 'SF Martini' in The Libertine cocktail bar. Prestfelde Prep School, Shrewsbury School & Old Ford Road - A New Year Before Christmas there were drinks in The Benbow pub with friends from my school days and their talented children. On New Year's Eve one of my friends, who I shared houses with in London in the late 1980s & early 1990s, threw a dinner party. He, and his wife, are perfect hosts. His wife made one of the best pavlovas of my life. However, must also mention his legendary chilli, made from his mum's Barbados recipe. Brought back happy memories of Old Ford Road in London E2 for me. 'Real' Turkish Delight & Vodka Chocolates from Moscow My brother returned from Christmas in Istanbul with his daughter with gifts from him of authentic Turkish Delight from 'Hafiz Mustafa 1864' and vodka chocolates from Moscow from my niece and Russian family. I tried both once back in London and adore them. A Fascinating & Scrumptious Sunday Lunch with a Family Friend Sunday lunch at 'Rhubarb' at Drapers Hall (which dates back to 1483) with one of our best family friends was a perfect end to my Christmas & New Year in Shrewsbury. Our thick watercress & Shropshire Blue cheese soup, on a cold & snowy day, was divine and the roast beef melted in the mouth, with the vegetables cooked perfectly. There was even a story about a meeting with David & Victoria Beckham that illustrated what a genuinely nice guy Sir David is. Orthodox Christmas & Perfect Gifts from House of Maybourne I collected the gifts I was sent from House of Maybourne from the porter in my Barbican building the day before Orthodox Christmas. It was a canvas Claridge's bag full of Claridge's goodies. There were crackers to replace the ones I pulled with mum over Christmas & a large Signature Candle with the scent of honey, tonka bean & patchouli, which smells heavenly but is was a glass bauble painted with a teddy bear in a Claridge's Bell Boy outfit that brought me near tears. It was all pure class. Starting 2026 with Chef Elliott Grover's Melt in the Mouth Roast Beef at 45 Park Lane 45 Park Lane invited me for a complimentary 'Sunday Roast' to start 2026. It was such a special afternoon that I would recommend to anyone needing a break from the stresses in this busy world. From the awesome singer; to shaved truffles on the sublime beef; Wagyu beef dripping; unbelievable cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes that cannot be beaten. I started with scallops with garlic & chilli butter. Sensational plump scallops cooked to perfection. Had to drink the butter from the half shells. It was too good. I finished with the banana cream pie. Delicious but I struggled to eat much of it. Sevice at 45 Park Lane is always flawless and friendly. Also Starting 2026 with a Revamped Legendary Coffee Table in My Barbican Place 45 Park Lane and Four Seasons at Park Lane were kind enough to provide elegant crackers to help me update/ slim down my legendary coffee table. Hope you all like the new look. It was a '8 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) period. Rocky family starts (involving our family lawyers), and ends, to Christmas (eg mum asking how my parents are, when I was leaving) were compensated for by my incredible friends. Hope you like the photos below, including two breakfast I made myself, one where I carved the smoked salmon myself. My 'House of Maybourne dream life' continues this weekend with Burns Night at The Emory hotel where I plan to toast my late Scottish father with The Macallan M 2023. I may even take a few puffs of a cigar, for the first time since Havana, Cuba in August 2018. |        |
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 I sent Easter lamb to Shrewsbury. This holiday was one of mum's favourites but I ended up spending 10 hours in A&E with mum on Good Friday, after she had another fall, getting out from a car this time.
A difficult time for our family has been exacerbated by Shropshire Council's Social Services. I am still unclear if they are incompetent or lack integrity, or a mixture of both. There are now Royal Shrewsbury Hospital discharge documents for mum that misrepresented my views. This erroneous information must have come from ICS Social Services but they are now trying to distance themselves from the mess they have helped to create. I have made numerous formal complaints to Social Services and PALS at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and a Freedom of Information Request to Shropshire Council. Organising mum's care arrangements (including physiotherapists, that RSH should have arranged); visiting Shrewsbury, while constantly correcting Social Services and undertaking my Board role at Jordan International Bank Plc, has taken me near breaking point. Hope the photos below evidence that I am still doing my best to maintaining a life for myself, while ensuring mum is well looked after.  I returned to London, after New Year, to find my Dorchester hotel hamper. It was a month dominated by the reopening of the ground floor of this iconic hotel.
The Pierre Yves-Rochon refurbishment of the Dorchester lobby & Promenade has to be seen to be believed. From Lalique glass columns under the Promenade's Artists' Bar; to Liberace's piano being played; to stunning original art from various exhibitions I have attended at 45 Park Lane. I found seeing it all the first time almost overwhelming. It was a month where I met Chef Elliott Grover at 45 Park Lane & Dorchester Collection artist Jill Berelowitz. I also attended a Shrewsbury School (Old Salopian) Epiphany Service at St Mary-le-Bow in the City of London; met with the City of London Police again, as part of my Barbican role; had lunch with colleagues I worked with at the Bank of England in the 1980s; ate Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama from Harrods and savoured a delicious bacon chop at the Mount St Restaurant surrounded by Matisse, Lucian Freud, Picasso, Warhol etc, before a tour of their exceptional private dining rooms. Chef Tom Booton at The Dorchester Grill's stuffed chicken; Chef Elliott Grover's Sunday lunch at 45 Park Lane; the Wolfgang Puck crispy fried beef & prawn wontons with honey spiced mayonnaise at 45 Park Lane; & the cream tea from Rick Stein at Home must all be tried. Hope the photos below do justice to an unforgettable start to 2023. I am off to Shrewsbury again tomorrow, to help mum again.  My first day wearing with Turnbull & Asser face mask, with a virus killing filter. July 2020 was the month I restarted swimming, buying new Cayman Islands style Vilebrequin swim shorts to celebrate, and exercising with personal trainer Bart again. We did this outside with breathtaking views of Tower Bridge. I was even part of a photo shoot at Virgin Active in Mayfair, as I will feature on the new Virgin Active website.
It was also the month where I was part of the reopening of 45 Park Lane & Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park; obtained my Turnbull & Asser face mask, with VIROFORMULA virus killing filters; had my first pint for 121 days with dad in The Admiral Benbow in Shrewsbury, the landlady Claire there was ahead of London with her anti-COVID-19 bar screen; drank Shrewsbury wine with mum & dad at Hencote in Shropshire; had a haircut at Truefitt & Hill, following in the footsteps of Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill & Frank Sinatra; Philip Hammond at The Dorchester created a spectacular new headdress for my Christian Lacroix wearing teddy bear from Bangkok; I attended a sublime lunch at Scott's in Mayfair with my Qatar friends; & ate caviar and drank gin from Kyoto, Japan, for breakfast, outside at 45 Jermyn Street, behind Fortnum & Mason. The Head of UK Retail at Fortnum & Mason now wants to meet www.sifrew.com. It has been another unbelievable month in my life & I just hope the move to the 'new normal' in the UK continues. Feel free to ask me about the photos below, when we next meet.  The 'NHS Rainbow' in Tanners window in Shrewsbury brought a smile to my face but seeing the Bank of England's front door closed during the day was a sobering sight. After a day working from home ("WFH") in my Barbican place in London on Middle Eastern banking issues, taking a 'break' for a webcast from Toronto, I am wondering what life will be like when the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is 'over'.
I spent the last month in Shropshire helping my parents with their self-isolation & I thought some photos of all that might cheer us up. 'Teddy Scores' do not seem appropriate at present but I have been so impressed by Shrewsbury & The Barbican's response to everything. I try to ring mum every day at present and will return to Shropshire, when that is needed.  When I received this personalised Veuve Clicquot signature arrow tin with its iridescent lid, I felt confident about my 2020 birthday. The original plan was to stay at the new Four Seasons in Madrid to celebrate, I know their General Manager from New York & Hong Kong and so it would have been an exceptional trip.
Since then the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has halted travel, closed hotels, restaurants, gyms etc and changed our lives. I am now in Shrewsbury in Shropshire helping my parents with their self-isolation. My birthday will, therefore, be a small family affair. Today is my 'Birthday Eve' and so I have decided to post some photos to cheer us all up. Stay safe, healthy & positive all at this difficult time & hope the photos below make you smile too. My awesome mum will ensure I have a '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) birthday tomorrow. Love Spending Time With My Incredible Family & Friends - Shrewsbury, Shropshire - April 201827/4/2018  I eat in some of the best restaurants in the world but my mum's Shropshire roast beef Sunday lunch still takes some beating. I provided the wine & my niece the company. A sublime afternoon. I am so proud to be a 'Shropshire lad'. Shrewsbury is such a beautiful historic town and I am so lucky to have been sent to Prestfelde Prep School & Shrewsbury School, with all the friends I still have from those places. It is amazing to think Charles Darwin also went to the latter.
During my time in Shrewsbury I got to spend more time with my incredible parents; ate in Darwin's Kitchen; Number Four; and The Golden Cross; helped my brother celebrate his birthday; went for drinks in The Three Fishes pub with friends; had lunch with a knowledgeable and sensible friend; had coffee with my marvelous artistic godmother and heard Charlie Adlard, Comics Laureate and artist for 'The Walking Dead', who I was at Shrewsbury School with, speak about this career. A memorably perfect week and I hope the photos below do it some justice. Well worth the 12 hour flight from Cayman Islands. Another 🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻(7 out of 5 ‘teddies’) stay in Shrewsbury. |
The AuthorsSi Frew has lived in the UK, Bermuda, Qatar, Cyprus & the Cayman Islands. During this time he met Whoopi Goldberg (in Claridge's), Mike Tyson (in the Concorde Lounge at JFK) , Gordon Ramsay (in the Doha Four Seasons), Chris Eubanks (in The Dorchester), Cherie Blair (in Bermuda & again in the Doha Four Seasons) etc. There are funny stories attached to all these interactions, feel free to ask Si about them when you meet him. Archives
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