Sail away to a Conran lunch
Get fresh with Isola's head chef Graziano Bonacina as he holds a pasta masterclass or jump on the Thames Clipper to be whisked off to Conran's 'gastrodrome' restaurants.
Where better to brush up your modern Italian cooking skills than at Oliver Peyton's glamorous Isola? Head chef Graziano Bonacina is running a series of intimate cookery masterclasses at the restaurant. The first, on fresh pasta, is on Saturday and costs £100 per person, which includes all ingredients, tuition, lunch - with a taste of your own labours - and a wine tasting tray. Classes start at 9pm and are limited to eight people per session.
Isola, 145 Knightsbridge SW1. For information on upcoming classes and to book, call 020 7439 0005.
Until January 31, Terence Conran's 'gastrodrome' restaurants - Butler's Wharf Chophouse, Cantina del Ponte, Pont de la Tour and Blueprint Cafè -have teamed up with the Thames Clipper to offer a lunchtime Shuttle Service between Canary Wharf and Butler's Wharf. A 62-seater catamaran leaves at 12.30pm and arrives in ten minutes, taking you back for 3pm. The trip costs £5 return (tickets from the Thames Clipper office on the Canary Wharf pier) and also entitles you to a glass of champagne when you show your ticket in the restaurants. Book tables only online at www.conran.com
February 1 sees the celebrations for the start of the Chinese Year of the Sheep, or Ram, and many of the capital's Chinese restaurants are marking the occasion. The two Mao Tai branches are offering a six-course meal at £38.50 a head with wine suggestions for each course; the menu includes grilled pea shoot and prawn dumplings; Tianjin steamed turbot on the bone; lettuce-wrapped duck with ginger; and jade green spinach rice. Mao Tai, 58 New King's Road SW6. Tel: 020 7731 2520. Tube: Parson's Green. 96 Draycott Avenue SW3. Tel: 020 7225 2500. Tube: South Kensington
