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A London Art-U-Cation with Le Meridien at Frieze
A luxury hotel, lashings of fine dining and a whirlwind of contemporary art? Chez Epicurienne, that’s what I call a killer combination that I’d be happy to dive into on any day of the week. Courtesy of the Le Méridien hotel group, I was recently invited to partake of just such a tantalising synthesis of sensory stimulants during an arts-focussed stay-cation, based at their landmark hotel in London’s Piccadilly. I’m still recovering, in a good way.
A top hotel’s relationship to food is a no-brainer; the two go hand-in-hand, but where does art enter the equation? In this case, Le Méridien, the forty-year old international hotel chain, has incorporated art into its properties so that wherever guests look, art will meet their eyes – be it on arrival, on relaxing, even on using their key card. Steering Le Méridien’s artistic intentions is Jérôme Sans, the French art curator and critic, in his capacity as the LM Cultural Curator. What’s more, for the past five years Le Méridien has been a principle partner and supporter of an arts initiative called OFT – the Outset/ Frieze Art Fair Fund to Benefit the Tate Collection. Through OFT, the Tate is able to bypass purchasing bureaucracy to acquire work by emerging artists featured at the annual London fair for contemporary art: Frieze.
Over two days, our small group of bloggers along with various members of hotel management and Le Meridien’s PR company, Fleishman Hillard, managed to experience one art discussion panel, several types of unforgettable hors d’oeuvre, one unusual afternoon tea, six delicious meals, one international art fair, three world-famous art galleries, exhibitions various, two nights of sumptuous sleep, meetings with key art experts and personalities, a lesson in Le Méridien’s history and brand and various forms of London transport – including the water kind. For obvious reasons, I will not attempt to squeeze everything listed above into one post, lest it resemble a hefty artistic monograph. Instead, I invite you to join me on a multi-post tour of Le Méridien’s London art-u-cation. It’ll be an inspiration – for locals and visitors alike.
Photo above courtesy of the Le Meridien website, http://www.lemeridienpiccadilly.co.uk
A Love Letter from Bosch
Someone lovely at Bosch sent me this poem last week. I thought I’d better share it – what a comment! Long, considered, amusing…what do you think I should say by reply?
I was thinking about sending a poem back to Bosch. While I look out my poetry cap and write something worthy of the Bosch poet’s time, perhaps in iambic pentameter, maybe a haiku?here’s the comment that was left on my post about that little Italian workhorse vehicle, the Ape.
Epic, oh Epic…
Lovely Epicurienne
Your blog has inspired us
To pick up our poetry pen
And celebrate your love for food
(You gorgeous bon vivant)
We’re jealous of your travels
You have the life we want
We’re picturing you on a Vespa
Or on an APE (ah-pay) as it is called
Travelling to France and Italy
Keeping us all enthralled
With your Epicurious adventures
You really make us smile
Which is why you’re our favourite blogger
You’re number one (by a mile)
You’re probably aware of us
We make household appliances
That deliver yummy recipes
That define food blogging sciences
We’ve seen you hangin’ out in restaurants
Dining in Kerbisher and Malt
We’ve made the compact kitchen appliances
Just bring your own vinegar and salt
But even before you flew
From New Zealand to old Blighty
We were making gorgeous products
More beautiful than Aphrodite
We’re also in the food processors
Which help you make tomato paste
Like your hero Kenny Everett
It’s all done in the best possible taste!
And now that you’re moving house
And hopefully have outdoor space
Our range of gardening accessories
Can help you customise your place
Whilst we know that you’re quite cultured
And know your decorative arts
Our mission is to develop technology
That wins over minds and hearts
…that power your weekend wagon
For you and your beau Monsieur
From brakes to your ignition
And the bits that make your engine roar…
When you worked in the world of auctions
You kept valuables protected
Our Bosch security alarms
Ensure that burglars are detected
We wish you’d blog more often
As your posts sure are a beaut!
You keep our stomachs growling
(You cheeky kiwi-fruit)!
You are true blogging royalty
In you, a friend we’ve found
So spare a thought for us today
Because Bosch is All Around (http://bit.ly/BoschUK)
Hope you enjoyed that (come on over and say hello on Facebook or Twitter)!
http://on.fb.me/ShbgAU – Facebook
http://bit.ly/ShbyrC – Twitter
