| Celebrating VE Day at Peninsula, London with Beef Wellington with Black Truffles I watched the VE Day flypast from the Concorde themed Brooklands Bar at Peninsula, London, which looks over the gardens of Buckingham Palace. Quite a place to watch it from. Then I went down to The Lobby to eat Beef Wellington, with black truffles, personally cooked by Chef Saravanan Chamy, who previously worked at The Dorchester. It was better than Chef Gordon Ramsay's Beef Wellington at The Savoy. Never thought I would be able to say that. Later in the month Wiltons matched Peninsula, London's Beef Wellington but they have been perfecting their dishes since 1742. Lunch at 45 Park Lane & Dinner at The Aubrey at Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park With a Friend From Rome At lunch at 45 Park Lane with my friend from Rome, Chef Elliott Grover and his team treated us as VIPs. From Ruinart champagne, to too many Wolfgang Puck signature snacks to count and a Passion Fruit Baked Alaska that was dreamily refreshing. My face, in the cover photo, says everything about our dinner in The Aubrey. It was such a beautiful room and the bone marrow rice was even better the second time. Romain, and his Mandarin Oriental team, spoilt us with double portions of Iberico Pork etc. My Rome friend is a joy to spend time with & I was so glad to try to help her with her daughter's 18th birthday celebrations. GM of Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair Leaving During May 2025 Susanne, GM of Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair, emailed me that she is moving within Mandarin Oriental Group. We first met when she was GM of Mandarin Oriental, Manhattan. It was another month where I had a flawless breakfast at their Mayfair hotel and was even given the scent of that hotel, to add to my expanding hotel fragrance collection. The New Patisserie at Pan Pacific, London Pan Pacific, London are always so kind to me. They give me champagne each time I go for breakfast. However, on my May 2025 visit, their new Patisserie had opened. I selected cakes and macarons and, even I, was surprised when they then said "no bill for you Mr Frew". The cakes were light and delicious and the macarons so fresh they reminded me of ones I had at the Four Seasons George V in Paris. Flowers Inside & Outside My Barbican Place. Philip & Bruce Are Floral Geniuses May 2025 was the month my Barbican window boxes were redone in the style of a pre-COVID-19 Four Seasons at Park Lane design, with lavender & rosemary to provide fragrance this summer. The weekend of the work I ordered Dorchester hotel flowers from Philip Hammond again, including purples to celebrate 45 Park Lane and Dorchester hotel roses. I was so thrilled with them and the work Bruce has done on my window boxes. Perfect Four Seasons in London I visited the breakfast buffet at Four Seasons, Tower Bridge twice in the month, it is so good. At Four Seasons at Park Lane Peter made Issy an 'SF Martini', with the special vermouth from The Lana Hotel in Dubai (part of Dorchester Collection). I almost cried over this thoughtful surprise. Foodie Shrewsbury & Mum Looking So Healthy From a seasonal asparagus breakfast at C Sons; to mouthwatering steaks & fun cocktails at The Ol'Chemist; to the melt in the mouth roast beef at The Golden Cross, food in Shrewsbury keeps getting even better. It should also be noted that the Wagyu Oxtail & Bone Marrow Fried Rice we ate in Knightsbridge cost £26, while Bone Marrow Mash at The Ol-Chemist costs £4. It has to be another '8 teddies' score (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) for May 2025. I have not even mentioned my night at The Waldorf Hilton with one of my best friends from Qatar. Another evening with him I will never forget. If you click 'Read More' there are photos from that night. The fact mum is cared for so well is another factor in this high score. |      |
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 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.  With so many complex gifts, Maria needed her full concentration during our Christmas Day lunch. November & December 2021 were a whirlwind. The fact I signed the contract for my new banking job at The Rosewood Hotel, London, and started my new role in Canary Wharf in December, means 2022 should start well for me.
November 2021 included a meeting at The Guildhall to represent Barbican residents; a visit to The English National Opera to see HMS Pinafore; a Chinese breakfast at Four Seasons Hotel Ten Trinity Square before The Lord Mayor's Show etc December included seeing The Dior Christmas Tree at Claridge's; being given the 2021 Harrods Christmas teddy bear by the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park; trying the new scones at Four Seasons on Park Lane before their public launch; Christmas shopping for Maria at Hamleys etc Christmas itself was our first without dad at home. However, mum & I were able to visit him on Christmas Eve & again before I returned to work in London. His granddaughter Maria flew in from Moscow again and we had a very special family Christmas with her. Hope the photos below convince you it has been a '7 teddy' few months, despite COVID-19. I am double vaccinated and have had my booster shot & flu jab. Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog. I really value all your support.  I cannot say enough good things about Guy's Hospital & the NHS. 29 March 2021 will be my second birthday 'celebrated' under COVID-19.
I have already had some amazing birthday presents. The main one was having received my first Coronavirus vaccine shot. This, combined with news that Nuffield Health plan to reopen The Barbican gym, gives me hope that we are, finally, returning to 'normal'. I am thinking about Paris & their latest lockdown at present. Stay safe & strong everyone.  I decided to name the bellboy teddy bear Claridge's sent with my Daniel Humm take-out dinner Thomas, after their GM I met. Despite experiencing Fortnum & Mason & Avanti West Coast First Class train travel alone; a Daniel Humm Claridge's Fried Chicken dinner at home; showers with Aromatherapy Associates oils, my Frette sheets & my Dorchester hotel bed here in my Barbican London place; seeing a Red Arrows display on VE Day by Palace of Westminster; another spectacular Dorchester hotel roses bouquet specially created for me by Philip Hammond; walks in St James's Park looking at the black swans & Buckingham Palace etc, the UK lockdown since 23 March 2020 has been too long and the UK's new travel quarantine rules wreck www.sifrew.com and so many of my work plans.
My dad's birthday next weekend, & a 'physically distanced' picnic in Green Park with friends from my Qatar days, has made me think how much a miss hugging my mum, swimming & my personal training. Look forward to answering questions about the photos below, when we next meet! Off for another walk now to try to drop some of the weight gained in the last few months.
 The mother of my awesome godson. We have been friends since our Bank of England days & she took me to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. My Barbican window boxes are now looking, & smelling, fabulously thanks to the geniuses at Nurture Landscapes. The smell comes from rosemary & French lavender and the bees already love the latter. My original window boxes were based on work done at Four Seasons at Park Lane but this year's are inspired by Rules, the oldest restaurant in London.
The day before the work on my window boxes I visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Before this I walked through Mayfair to see Annabel's & smell the flowers at The Connaught and had lunch with astonishing friends from Shropshire at Four Seasons at Park Lane. Hope the photos below help to evidence the '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) life I am living here in London.  Remarkable GM Amanda, my stunning breakfast view of Hyde Park and the Plaza Hotel, New York Merrythought teddy bear that got me think about my London - New York Concorde flight. I have settled back into my London life. Personal training with Bart at Virgin Active, Barbican and enjoying my swims there.
I am living in my redecorated Barbican place again, with its Dorchester Hotel bed, personalised Frette sheets from Harrods, new Ligne Roset table from Heal's etc. Just the 'Four Seasons at Park Lane' window boxes to recreate again. Since I moved back to London Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has officially reopened. I visited on the day this occurred. On that, notable, occasion I met Rodolphe & Marco in the Mandarin Bar and was served a divine truffle gin martini that was not yet on the menu. Legendary GM Amanda also came for an inspiring chat. On my second visit I brought one of my unbelievable friends from Shropshire and got to try more cocktails and snacks being developed for the menu and was presented with a Mandarin Oriental teddy bear, MO tie pin and MO key ring, to add to my MO clufflinks from Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur. On my latest visit I decided to try their Hyde Park breakfast with Moet champagne, a choice of truffles or caviar and a spectacular view of Hyde Park. Breakfast ended up being better than I could possibly have imagined. Even the bellhops on the lobby stairs greeted me by name, the gorgeous dining room is so bright and impressive, the other guests as refined as I found before the deeply unfortunate fire and Amanda and her staff (eg Silvia the House Manager) seem reinvigorated/improved, what a contrast with when The Savoy in London reopened. Hope the photos below help you to understand why it was such a special day. A '7 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) hotel, with '7 teddy' staff and a '7 teddy' champagne/truffle breakfast. |
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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