Milford's Art Deco Delight

click image to enlarge

MSN Travel recently ran an online article featuring 'The best of Britain's art deco'.

Iconic buildings, such as the Hoover building in West London, and the Daily Express Building in Fleet Street were featured, as was The Marine on the seafront in Milford on Sea.

 

It is an impressive achievement for a modern building to sit alongside such iconic structures.

The Marine is just as impressive internally, and with a Café Bar and Restaurant it is easy to get inside to take a look at how modern technology and classic architecture can be seamlessly combined.

The Marine was born of a vision inspired by the unique location, and former elegance of the original 1930’s Art Deco building. The new building was conceived and designed by its current owners, Richard & Sue Thompson, and is built in a ‘Modern Art Deco’ style, which reflects the previous architecture of the original building on the site.

 

Please click here to view the MSN Travel article.

 

Lionel's Stuck

News has reached us that a resident of Milford on Sea is stuck in South Africa and he is at present unable to return to the UK, after visiting his homeland to renew his visa.

 

Lionel Illgner has lived in Milford on Sea for a number of years and is a familiar and popular face in the community. Since arriving, he opened 'Milford Hardware' in Keyhaven Road 3 years ago, and recently started a new venture 'Lionel's Home Maintenance'.

 

Lionel also has a partner in the village, Ali. We have heard that he has been refused a visa on the grounds that it was not believed his relationship was truthful. I understand his friends would vehemently argue this not to be the case.

 

We have also heard that he has also been told that if he returns, he can't work for six months, which of course puts both his business, and a valuable shop for the village, under severe risk.

 

It seems pretty unfair when an honest hardworking bloke, who has invested time, money and a lot of effort in building a life here, can then have it all put under threat or just taken away by bureaucracy.  The emotional and financial stress must be immense.

 

Roz Waters of the Lymington Times broke and covered the story last Friday, and it is nice to see that his case is receiving publicity.

 

There is hope that resubmitted evidence may provide a solution, and we certainly hope that common sense prevails and that we soon see Lionel back behind his counter in the village.

 

 

Jobs at The Marine

A number of Full & Part Time positions are now available at The Marine.

They are soon to open a number of rooms for overnight and holiday stays, and are currently looking for someone to come in as a part-time housekeeper to look after the rooms after guests have visited.

There are also vacancies for experienced bar & waiting staff, and a kitchen assistant.

If you, or anyone you know, are interested please call Richard on: 01590 644369

The Marine
Hurst Road, Milford on Sea, SO41 0PY
www.themarinemos.co.uk | 01590 644369

Sam at Hardy's

We recently heard from Sam Hughes, the former head chef at The Marine.

Sam is now head chef at Hardy's Brasserie in Marylebone, London. As with many chefs, Sam's career in the kitchen has meant spanning the country.

Before arriving at The Marine, Sam trained with Rowley Leigh at Kensington Place and also worked under Raymond Blanc. He then spent several years as head chef at the celebrated Sir Charles Napier in Oxfordshire. Last year you may also have seen him in the latest series of 'Masterchef: The Professionals.'

If you fancy looking him up and trying his latest menus, you can find him at Hardy's.

Hardy's Brasserie

53 Dorset Street, London, W1U 7NH
www.hardysbrasserie.com

The Marine
Hurst Road, Milford on Sea
www.themarinemos.co.uk

Phil Wins Lifetime Achievement

Local teacher and Milford on Sea resident, Phil Hill was nominated by his school and shortlisted for a German Embassy Lifetime Achievement Award for German teaching.

His nomination gained him an invitation to the 'Sommerfest der Deutschen Sprache' (Summer Party) at The German Embassy in London, hosted by Ambassador Boomgaarden. Elizabeth Truss MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare, was the keynote speaker for the event.

The glamorous Summer Party took place on Tuesday, 25 June and due to the prestige of the event it even got a mention by Chris Evans on his radio show.

Phil Hill,
German Ambassador Boomgaarden
 and Elizabeth Truss MP
*Pic Courtesy of German Embassy

The purpose of the Award is to recognise outstanding achievement by individual teachers of German in the UK, to pay tribute to the work of German teachers in the UK and to highlight the commitment of the winners' schools to modern language teaching.

Over 200 teachers and representatives from the education and language teaching sectors came from all over the UK to join the celebrations.

As Phil enjoyed the surroundings and hospitality, the award ceremony got underway. To his immence surprise and pride it was then announced; The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Philip Hill of Highcliffe School. Cue one delighted professional from Milford on Sea.

Phil is married to Sue Hill, who runs the very informative Village Voice Magazine. He is due to retire at the end of July, however he has no concern about keeping busy, Sue has plenty of plans, and he has many interests, one of which is playing keyboards in the party funk, soul & rock band 'Dorsal Fin'.

In his career, Phil has acted as Deputy head of department, School publicity officer and more recently co-director of Language College, but German has always remained his passion and focus.

His Year 11 German class produced the best set of GCSE results across the entire school in 2012 and this year he has had the pleasure of seeing one of his Year 13 students accepted at Oxford University to study German. He played a key, inspirational and driving role in the successful designation of Highcliffe School as a Language College in 2000.

Highcliffe School say; "It is true to say that Philip Hill has been a towering influence on German teaching".

Congratulations Phil!
----------------------------------------------

PS: I am keeping a close eye on the post, as I understand the French Embassy also do awards for service to the French language and culture. Must only be a matter of time for moi nomination to arrive.

Dorsal Fin Band
www.dorsalfin.co.uk

Chewton Glen comes to Milford

Luke Matthews
(with James Martin)

Chewton Glen’s very own Executive Head Chef, Luke Matthews is going to be cooking at Milford on Sea C.E Primary School.

He hasn't changed his job, but The Parents Friends Association have been fortunate enough to have been able to organise an evening of fine food and tasting with Luke and his team.

This is a unique opportunity to join Luke and some of his team from his Michelin Star  kitchen, in an entertaining and engaging evening of cookery demonstrations, audience participation and tasting! The school will be filled with delicious aromas, as the audience will be shown how to cook six mouth-watering dishes, including Tortellini and Crispy Beef Vietnamese Salad – just to name a few!

Luke Matthews has been at Chewton Glen since 1993. He worked for ten years as Senior Sous Chef and in 2003 was appointed Executive Head Chef. Luke has honed his skills and developed a fabulous team and a well-recognised style of cuisine, whose secret lies in the quality of the ingredients selected and a deceptively simple approach to their preparation.

Luke's passion is the preparation of fish dishes and combining a lighter healthier style of cooking to all the dishes that he creates. Coming from Christchurch, Luke is married to Claire and they have two young children.

Tickets are priced at £18 per person and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and tickets are limited so please get in early.

To book your tickets please call the school office on 01590 642945.

Sheep & Dogs Don't Mix

Our local farmers, Simeon and Lisa from Aubrey Sheep Farm in Keyhaven recently got back from a couple of weeks holiday to find that one of their lovely ewes was attacked by a dog on the 8th June and was so badly injured that she had to be put to sleep.

The ewes and lambs are now in residence at their summer grazing down by Sturt Pond and the Crabbing Bridge in Keyhaven and are a real pleasure to watch as you enjoy the spectacular scenery, so it is a bit of a shock to hear of this sad news.

Their are clear signs up that clearly state that it is within the farmers rights to shoot any dog that worries their livestock. Naturally they would never want a situation to come to that, but the farmer has to consider the distress caused to the ewe, the lambs she leaves behind and the staff who have to deal with it.

I suspect we all hope this is an isolated incident, but should you spot any dogs worrying the sheep you can contact Simeon or Lisa below. The police also have a rural crime department on the 101 non-emergency number.

Aubrey Sheep Farm

Simeon: 07767 688399

Lisa: 07702 556207

Verveine on BBC Food

The word on the amazing food being created at Verveine is certanly spreading far and wide.

This week, a video and article appeared on BBC Food featuring David Wykes and his Milford on Sea restaurant.

The interview was carried out by Anna-Louise Taylor, and focuses on ‘deconstructed cuisine’ and how David is using different smoking techniques on seasonal ingredients. 

click image to see full interview



Anna-Louise discovers how he does a lot of smoking with a cold smoker "to control the flavour a lot more." He also uses a "smoking gun" to infuse a dish under glass, and he says; "We smoke things with dried elder flowers, berries, cigars, to give a different level of finish." 

David is a fan of smoking anything from vanilla pods, fish, flour for bread, vegetables, lobster shells for bisque's through to langoustine shells to make oils, as it; "imparts a noticeable flavour".

David does not simply smoke some of his dishes, he is also known to include Smokey elements in some drinks, such as straws made from vanilla pods, or smoked seaweed-infused martinis.

Two things are guaranteed at Verveine. One: You will see something totally unexpected on the menu, and Two: The dining and taste experience will be somthing to savour!

We look forward to the day Verveine gain national recognition, surely it cannot be too far away.

Click here to see the full BBC Food interview.

Verveine Fishmarket Restaurant
98 High Street, Milford on Sea, SO41 0QE
01590 642176
www.verveine.co.uk

Restore Old Photos in Milford

On our travels we have discovered another interesting business in the village.

 

AB Design is an online based business that revives and restores old and damaged photos and pictures. The company is based in Milford on Sea, and Anna Banton is the company’s Founder and Creative Director.

 

The photo restoration is done using the latest in photo editing software, and their retouching service is intended to be competitive and affordable. In fact, it appears that they could do just about anything with a photograph, such as Photo Tinting, Colouring Black and White, Combining Photographs, Photographic Collage, and Replacement of Backgrounds.

 

so, if you have any old photos you would like restored to their former glory it may be worth giving them a call.

 

Anna’s business also offers affordable static websites, e-commerce websites, full colour printing and logo designs.

AB Designs | Anna Banton
www.abdesigns.org.uk

Knees in Milford

Local village author, Frederick Webb (Alias; Archpip Plumtree) has published his second book.

 

Totally tongue in cheek and designed to amuse, his new work 'My Knee's are My Children', follows his first book 'The Zombie at the Sandy Palms Golf Club'.

 

The book is simply an attempt to generate amusement from decades of painful knees, a tongue in cheek account of the effect they had on every aspect of his life. The knees belong to the Archpip Plumtree, founder of the Plum Tree faith.

 

Archpip Plumtree (Fredrick) says: 'We should never let our infirmities dominate our lives, it is not British. And in an area where the retired outnumber the working, the dread disease of Premature Prunification is a special danger, it can cause an incurable disease which wrinkles the skin and kills the mind.'

 

Fredrick also has plans to create a 'Knees Blog'; The Nine O'clock Knees will go out every Friday at Nine PM, and incorporate the Knees of the World; and Kneesweek, plus Kneesflashes from kneeshounds all over the world.

 

Either of Frederick's books (My Knees are My Children | The Zombie at the Sandy Palms Golf Club) can be obtained from: www.winstongrit.com

If you would like your copies signed, he is happy to do so, just call: 01590 642026

 

School Lane Housing Plans Go Ahead

At a recent meeting, the Parish Council have approved the New Forest District Council Local Plan (Part 2) objective to place 30 homes on the Green Belt site at School Lane (MoS1).

Some time ago a number of objections had been raised against the MoS1 Plan, and a Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group had been formed. We understand that their recommendations were not satisactory for a number of reasons, and therefore not accepted at the meeting.

The Parish Council have provided a full statement to explain the situation and their resulting decision as below:

STATEMENT

SITE SELECTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND

FORMAL PUBLIC OPEN SPACE

 

17th June 2013

 

“This was a very difficult decision. Our original and long standing preference was for small clusters of units. However despite our best efforts only a limited number of sites were offered by landowners.

 

The Parish Council decided that none of the options for allocating the units between the sites available was satisfactory. The Parish Council therefore instead decided to accept the proposal from NFDC to develop the site at School Lane. We recognise that some residents are disappointed, but decisions of this kind are inevitably controversial.

 

The Inspector at the current Public Inquiry has now made it clear in the following statement that any development at School Lane must deliver important new public facilities:-

 

MOS1: Land north of School Lane

 

Land north of School Lane is allocated for residential development specifically to provide for local housing needs in accordance with Policies CS12 and CS15(b) of the Core Strategy, and for public open space. 70% of the dwellings provided will be affordable housing. The site will be developed in accordance with the following site-specific criteria: 

• provision of a maximum of 30 dwellings on the southern part of the site (on the land within the defined built-up area)
• on site provision of public open space in accordance with Policy CS7, including the provision of play space for children within the residential development
• a minimum of 2 hectares of formal public open space (playing fields) in the northern part of the site (east of the Milford Primary School)
• provision of suitable land for a minimum of 5 full size allotment plots within the site
• provision of vehicular access from Lymington Road at the southern end of the site (diverting School Lane at its western end through the site, with the existing route of School Lane being retained as a pedestrian and cycle route and for access only to existing properties in School Lane and Lymefields)
• provision of off-road cycleway along the site frontage with Lymington Road with links through to public open space provided on the site 
• pedestrian access to the site from Lymington Road and School Lane
• provision of a safe pick-up and drop-off area for Milford Primary School
• provision of car parking sufficient to serve the playing fields and available for dual use with the school
• significant landscaping to integrate the different elements within the site and with adjoining features and to create an appropriate transition from built development across the playing fields to the wider countryside beyond. 

Planning permission will not be granted for any built development until a comprehensive plan has been prepared showing how all the required elements can be satisfactorily accommodated and integrated within the site and any phasing for the provision of the different elements.

 

Built development shall not commence until arrangements are in place to ensure that the land for playing fields would be made available for that use in accordance with the planned phasing of the development or other clear timetable.

 

The Parish Council will be fully involved in the proposed development to ensure we win the best possible result for Milford-on-Sea”.

 

Cllr Julian Davis

Chairman

Milford-on-Sea Parish Council

 

 

 

 

40 B4 40-L'Autre Pied

No.36- L'Autre Pied (London W1)

Some days you just know it is going to be a good day, ....and this was one of those.

 

Today we were dining at L'Autre Pied in Marylebone London with our good friends Alistair & Natalie. Alistair is not one for the sun, mainly due to his pasty skin and bald head, so it was no surprise when following the recent good weather he arrived looking like a beetroot on fire.

L'Autre Pied has a Michelin Star, and is the sister restaurant of Pied à Terre, a restaurant we have had the pleasure to dine in before, and where Alistair says he had his best meal ever. Expectations were understandably high.

 

Each year we like to visit a nice restaurant to celebrate the girls forthcoming birthdays. (My wife's birthday celebrations tend to last for a month before and month after!) On this occasion she had seen a great deal on Groupon, offering the 7 Course Taster Menu at £75 for 2, which is around half price.

click image to enlarge

Before dining, we decided to have pre-lunch drinks at the Artesian Bar in The Langham Hotel which was apparently voted 'The World's Best Bar' by Drinks International. The lounge is a glamorous cocktail bar with a taste of exotic Orientalism and nostalgia. We discovered that the bar is named after the 360ft-deep artesian well under the hotel and specialises in exclusive rum creations, but as it was going to be a long day we stuck to some London brewed beer and gin & tonic.

Suitably watered, we made our way to L'Autre Pied.

The restaurant had a contemporary interior and was pretty hot when we arrived. A quick word with a member of the friendly front of house team and the door was opened and the problem over.

As we commenced our dining marathon, it soon became evident why this restaurant holds a Michelin Star. The service was sharp and the dishes created by Head Chef Andy McFadden were simply incredible creations of flavour, texture and art on a plate.

The first course arrived a nice time after we had settled and enjoyed our first drink. We then had the pleasure of the following menu:

7 Course Tasting Menu

• Compressed Cucumber with Black Onion Seeds, Avocado Puree and Cucumber Granita
• Salad of Radishes with Black Quinoa, Creme Fraiche, Fennel and Dill
• Heritage Potatoes with Creamed Jersey Royals, Black Garlic, Onion Jam and Nasturtium.
• Grilled Mackerel and Tartare with Hazelnuts, Apple Tapioca, Celery and Miso
• Roast Suckling Pig with Glazed Aubergine, Ras el Hanout, Green Olives and Sambal
• Apple Custard with Passion Fruit Sorbet and Pistachio
• Strawberries with Coconut, Yoghurt and Lime

As you may have spotted, the menu contained two sweets. so, there was I, anticipating a nine course meal. The first pudding went to plan, as my 'no pudding for me' wife simply passed it to me.  Then, shock, horror, she ate the second one!

 

Thankfully, the bread had been plentiful and delicious. My favourites were the Onion Brioche and Walnut & Raisin, whilst others also enjoyed the Guinness Bread and Mini French Baguette.

Amongst our various conversations, the girls were taking a practical angle, and working out the volume and logistics of washing up the complete cutlery sets provided with each course. Alistair and I had no idea what they were talking about, and concentrated on creative ways of insulting each other, whilst savouring the few bottles of wine that accompanied our meal. It was nice that the Vouvray and Gamay de Touraine were pretty fair value for Central London.

The whole event was completed with coffee and Mini Carrot Cake Petit Fours.

 

The restaurant team had managed to leave a perfect time between courses for both our digestion, and time to chat and enjoy each others company. All to soon it was over, and around three hours later we were on our way in a very satisfied frame of mind.

 

The day was still young, so the natural course of action was to find a cocktail bar. Soon we were inside No.5 Cavendish Square trying some alcoholic concoctions.  Alistair was glowing and almost burst when he cracked a joke about a 'couple of pies'. This was pretty strange, as it was actually funny, not Alistair's normal track record with jokes.

 

Whilst having our cocktails we spotted an outside terrace on the floor above. On enquiring, we were told that this was a private Middle Eastern Shisha Lounge. Having never tried Shisha before, we all decided it was worth trying to see if they would let us in for a new experience.

 

Climbing the grand staircase there was no signage whatsoever, only a closed carved oak door. We knocked, explained we would like to come in, and the guy took us to a table on the terrace.

Around us were a number of groups, all appeared Arabic in origin, and experts in the art of the Shisha. The men were looking cool whilst simultaneously puffing and using their mobile phones, there was also a party of girls in a smoke filled corner, and a TV was playing an episode of Arab Idol. One floor up, and a complete change in atmosphere and continent!

 

The waiter helped us through the menu and we decided to share two Shisha's (Hookah), one flavoured Water Melon, the other a Cherry 'Fruit Head'. We did our best to work out how the Hubba Bubba Pipes worked. Apparently, the bottom vase contain water and the bowl is then covered with a perforated foil sheet on which hot coals are placed. This causes the tobacco in the bowl to heat up and create smoke. By sucking on the hose, the smoke is drawn down through the down stem, underwater and then smoked, .. or something like that.

 

It all looked so easy, but it took real long draws to pull the smoke through, only to create a coughing fit when it hit your throat.  We did our best to look as though we knew what we were doing, but we all failed. Indeed, Alistair ending up drawing so hard his head became a smoke filled receptacle with grey clouds appearing from just about every orifice.

 

Having had our fun, and our lunch now running into its seventh hour, it was time to make for Waterloo station and home. But... not before a quick final drink at The Cabin. How we all managed to share some Hot Chorizo Sausage Rolls and Pork Pie & Mustard I am not quite sure, but it did go well with our nightcap.
 

L'Autre Pied: 5-7 Blandford Street, London W1U 3DB
www.lautrepied.co.uk

Pied à Terre: 34 Charlotte Street, London W1T 2NH
www.pied-a-terre.co.uk

Langham Hotel - Artesian Bar
1c Portland Place, Regent Street, London W1B 1JA
www.langhamhotels.co.uk
www.artesian-bar.co.uk

No.5 Cavendish Square
5 Cavendish Square, Oxford Circus, London W1G 0PG
www.no5cavendishsq.com

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.