The London Lounge

La Campana, near the Piazza Navona, is a good location for traditional Roman cooking. La vignarola, a stew of mixed vegetables, is on the menu only for a few weeks in early spring, and should not be missed if available.

The Raphael, near l'Etoile, is a little more intimate, a little more a l'ancienne, a little more eccentric than the other palaces. Wonderful English-style bar. This is where the Astaire character in Funny Face stayed. The location is not interesting, but transportation of all types in readily availa...

Look at Glaser Designs in San Francisco. Excellent quality and service.

Robert

Kuro:

Thank you for the reply. I have never seen or heard anything during my visits to the Paris shop that made me think John Lobb sur mesure had stopped making wooden lasts. Maybe the moderator would consider a correction to the post in question?

Robert

"Lobb Paris no longer hand carve a wooden last but make a plastic last using computers." Can anyone confirm this? I know that the trial shoes are now frequently made in polyurethane, but supposedly on a wooden last. As of a year ago, trial shoes in leather had not been completely abandoned. I ordere...

If you're still in Salzburg, don't miss the bar at the Goldener Hirsch.

The best garment bag I've ever come across was from "Hold Everything," a now-defunct Williams-Sonoma subsidiary. Each single suit bag was heavy cotton canvas on one side, thick transulucent plastic on the other, with a three inch wide gusset along the top and edges. Nothing ever gets crushed in one ...

Be careful with hotel shoe shines. I have been warned by the John Lobb grand mesure staff in Paris that even the best hotels in the city use excessive amounts of acetone/alcohols for their shines. This gives good-looking quick results, but is bad for the leather long-term. I do not know if this appl...

I also send laundry cross country to Rave. I recently took a shirt in one of their inflated plastic sleeves to Charvet after it had been in a lost suitcase for 8 days; the vendeuses were impressed with the ironing job.

Robert

I think the Pierre has retained a little more of the old elegance of New York City than the other top hotels. This is partly due to the fact that the building is over half residential; most floors are divded between private apartments and hotel rooms. The staff, including the elevator operators, hav...

I remember reading that Churchill's method was "a fleeting glimpse at the bottle of Vermouth on the other side of the room."

There is a shop in Paris that specializes in antique canes. I can't remember its name, but its in the same gallery as the Hotel Chopin.

Robert

I will be very interested to hear your impressions of the "renovated" Connaught after your stay in June. The few sketches that are shown on their web site do not inspire confidence.

Robert

Mr. Vrinat, owner of the restaurant Taillevent, died Monday. As many have said, he was probably the last of the great restaurateurs , in the tradition of Vaudable and Terrail (as opposed to the chef-owners now favored by the Michelin guide). Along with thousands of others, I was introduced to fine F...

Dear Manton and David: Thank you for your wonderful posts. I also make a large pot of veal stock every six months, saving up veal breast when it's on sale and adding shank and chop bones as available. Every 12 months or so, I go the whole demi-glace route. I freeze the demi- glace in two cup contain...