shout out to stonebarn

stonebarn hotel

Looking out over the epicurean heartland of Pemberton, WA, there aren’t many rooftops to shout from, so here, we’re going to have to climb one of the many trees in this verdant expanse of nature to tell the world about the amazing boutique hotel, Stonebarn.

Reflecting all of the surrounding nature’s serene brilliance, Stonebarn is the place to go to escape from the rushing reek of traffic and the stress of life in the urban fast lane. Witness as your world here transforms from stressed-out humbug to nature loving zen guru. Don’t think that discarding the city’s hum means you have to skimp on luxury. No, no. Having been designed by Paris’s famous architect, Aviva F Shpilman, at Stonebarn there is nothing that isn’t supremely chic and stylish; there are only six rooms, each handcrafted out of local stone and timber with luxury four-poster beds, handpicked furnishings, and stylish bathrooms, complete with an agelessly elegant claw-foot bath.

The kicker for Stonebarn though, ahead of even its setting and its style, is the amazing food and wine served up. In a region that is fast earning deep respect and racking up the accolades for its delicious fresh produce and wineries, Stonebarn is leading the WA way with their philosophy of sourcing locally and using it to create innovative and exciting dishes. Work your way through the menu of dishes prepared using ingredients from Stonebarn’s own herb garden, hen house, truffiere and orchard. Move onto the fresh artisan breads, cured meats, pates, cheeses and salsas, and wash it all down with one of Stonebarn’s brilliant selection of local wines. You’ll quickly discover that Stonebarn really is the ultimate treat for the senses and the soul.

Like the sound of Stonebarn, love the sound of WA click here to find out more….

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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beach awards 2011

Beach

Introducing the Beach Tomato Awards 2011

Ladies and gentlemen, let us reveal the first ever Beach Tomato Awards 2011 launched by our sister website, Beach Tomato. Naming the best in beach fashion, beach beauty and beaches around the world, the Beach Tomato Awards will showcase the best of the beach this year.

Combining the Beach Tomato team and industry experts to form a judging panel, June will be spent deliberating the 15 different categories to announce final winners on 28th June 2011.

Alongside a judging panel of industry experts this is your chance to cast your vote in the People’s Choice Award categories to nominate the places and products that make the world’s best beaches worth bragging about. Don’t forget to drop your email address when you vote for a chance to win a very special Beach Tomato goody bag.

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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steve mccurry: exclusive

boy in bombay

click on the image above for more inspiring photos…

Clear those coffee tables, have we got a gem for you…

One of the most admired and talked about photo journalists of our generation; Steve McCurry the intrepid photographer has released his eagerly awaited limited edition collection showcasing his most poignant shots that have captured and intrigued the world over.

One only need mention that shot ‘the green eyed Afghan girl’, a haunting yet outstandingly beautiful example of how photography has the ability to conjure up emotions and surpasses our imaginations.  We all love to travel and this collection of shots is the closest thing to transporting you right there. Desk-side wanderlust, bring it.

With only 3,000 copies available this master piece published by Phaidon will be snapped faster than you can say cheese.

And you all you special friends of Black Tomato quote this code: BT20CP for 20% of the original price. Click here for more information.

Boy in mid Flight India

Procession of Nuns Burma

Kuchi Nomads Afghanista

Flower seller India

Pilgrim Tibet

Boy at festival India

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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from jamaica with love

golden shores

beaches at goldeneye

After rather a large shake (not stir) up, GoldenEye in Jamaica has reopened after two years of renovations in a blaze of glory…well they do say diamonds are forever. Just a 20 minute flight or 90 minute private car transfer from Montego Bay to the private Ian Fleming airport located 10 minutes drive from GoldenEye, this exclusive island retreat is set in 52 acres of tropical forests. Now boasting a brand new array of chic lagoon suites and beach cottages, the bedrooms are all individually designed with understated elegance meets modern Caribbean flair. The rooms are resplendent with lagoon and ocean views, private decks and outdoor dining tables for supping under the stars. The outdoor amenities continue with beautiful al fresco rainfall showers and claw foot bath tubs set in your own lush tropical garden.

Ian Fleming, the James Bond maestro, was originally sent to the Caribbean on his majesty’s secret service during WWII to monitor U boat activities, in an operation nicknamed GoldenEye. At the close of the War he decided to stay and make Jamaica his home. The great news…it is still possible to stay in his iconic home known at GoldenEye as The Ian Fleming Villa where he penned all 14 classic Bond novels and we wanted to go and check out what all the hubbub was about…

gardens of goldeneye

Starting our morning in a new lagoon suite, suspended over the edge of the water to create that dreamy floating illusion we sat taking in the uninterrupted lagoon views with the only ripple of water following the occasional guest on a paddle board quietly trawling past, we also simply loved wading out from the perfect powder white sand to a tiny Island, replete with sun decks and carefully carved stone seats, to enjoy a fruit punch. The most difficult thing then was deciding what to do next. The options for day time activities are endless. We found ourselves trying to decide between scuba diving and snorkelling in the calm waters of the protected reef, paddle boarding, jet skiing, fishing or even triathlon training with GoldenEye’s ex Olympian spa & fitness director Iona Winters or simply lazing on the beach (…fortunately we managed to squeeze them all in..well apart from the triathlon training).

We loved the fact that rooms came complete with a pair of kayaks for exploring the 250 metre lagoon and Caribbean coast line; we even paddled off to the field spa for our treatment one afternoon.  Much to our delight we found out that the dining options had expanded with the addition of two new restaurants. We loved tasting head chef Conroy Arnold’s decadent offerings in the Gazebo restaurant before heading down to the Bizot bar for a night cap. It may have seemed apt to finish off the night with an espresso martini but we were tempted away by owner Chris Blackwell’s (founder of Island Records) own Blackwell rum a popular choice served on the rocks throughout  GoldenEye…an excellent idea ‘ay Money Penny.

We made sure that before we left we became part of the Bond history and kept ourselves in very good company from ex PM’s to Hollywood A listers by planting a young guava tree in the GoldenEye garden with donations going to GoldenEye’s Orocabessa foundation…why not take a trip and see how it is doing?

(7 votes, average: 4.86 out of 5)

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go west with willy

kayak

the big blue…

This summer we’re hooked (line and sinker) on Canada’s eastern region; Québec. A place usually synonymous with winter sports and the cutting edge cosmopolitan hubs of Montreal and Québec city, and whilst these are all great, during the summer months this expansive region comes alive with colourful national parks teeming with wildlife and that’s just on dry land…

Just off the dramatic coastline in a unique location nestled between the Saguenay fjord and the Saint-Lawrence River, Tadoussac is where the whales come to play. The confluence point of these two water masses brings a ton of food that attracts the regal creatures of the deep, grab a kayak or hop on a motor boat and keep those peepers peeled for Belugas, Humpbacks and the elusive Blue.

Terrace on Saint Denis Stre

Finish off with a city hit in true Quebecois style a la Montreal, for cafe culture, boutique bargains, and a dynamic music scene to sink your teeth into.

Fancy a real summer adventure… get in touch

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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down the canal with a paddle

panama canal

the great canal…

On a recent trip to the secluded beauty that is Panama, I was super excited yet a teeny bit apprehensive to find that I would be kayaking the Panama Canal. An architectural and engineering masterpiece; the canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to great expanse of the Pacific, and has seen a whopping 815,000 vessels voyaging through its tropical passage since opening in 1914. Quite the feat you’ll agree. Bearing in mind the closest I’ve come to a kayak voyage before this had been in a swimming pool on the Isle of Wight, you’ll see where the slight concern comes in. However the thought of gliding through the waters with lush jungle lying ahead and giant cargo ships destined for the farthest corners of the globe behind me was just too appealing. So I grabbed an oar and took to the waters.

We set off early in sight of visiting an indigenous community hidden on the edge of Lake Gatun, an artificial lake which links the canal to the Chagres River. With the monstrous ships setting sail for the Far East behind us we glided further into the lake, until we were surrounded by the blissful sounds of nothing, apart from the odd call of a howler monkey echoing from the teetering jungle. After making our way (very slowly) through a dense mass of waterlilies we approached the indigenous community where we were met by the community’s children showcasing handcrafted trinkets forged from local materials, followed swiftly by a brief overview of the community’s past.

Once back on dry land and having conquered the kayak  it seemed amazing that we where so close to one of the worlds busiest waterways, yet with a few strokes of a paddle you could find yourself nestled in the midst of a pristine jungle wilderness.

Fancy experiencing the secret beauty of Panama for yourself get in touch…

(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)

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way to go

the way

We’re always interested in new inspirations on the paths of old journeys, and how classic routes can be reclaimed and re-imagined in modern times, so when we heard about the forthcoming release of Emilio Estevez’s The Way, starring his father Martin Sheen, we sat up.

Set in one of our favourite regions in northern Spain, the film follows Sheen along the path of the ancient Camino de Santiago de Compostella as he comes to terms with the loss of his son, who died during a storm on his own attempt to complete the ancient pilgrimage.

This film is a poignant reminder of why we travel and our overarching intrinsic desire to undertake a journey, and there’s not too much we find more inspiring than that.

The Way is now on general release in the UK.

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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into the wild with mamont vodka

mamont mammoth

Deep in the heart of wintery Russia something quite special is happening. Our adventurous team at Epic Tomato have partnered up with Mamont Vodka to bring you our bespoke pioneering voyages into the heart of the planet’s Polar Regions.

The story of this unique vodka begins when 12 expedition members found themselves stranded in Antarctica following an emergency landing and set about devising a plan to go in search of the ‘great mammoth’. As they spent their time huddled together passing round a bottle of vodka to stave off the cold, one of the adventurers, Paulsen, came up with the idea of creating an aspirational vodka that embodied the timeless spirit of exploration. And Mamont was born.

Housed in a tusk-shaped bottle, this vodka earns its Siberian stripes from its intricate distillation process. It is produced in limited small batches using water from artesian wells that has filtered through the volcanic rocks over thousands of years, the vodka is distilled five times and triple filtered through Siberian birch charcoal to obtain a truly smooth flavour. Now here’s the clever bit… cedar nuts, the very same nuts that the woolly mammoth would have fed on, are added to the vodka as it ferments to add a deeper, more complex flavour.

For centuries, explorers have relied on the translucent firewater to fend off the elements and with its mission of obtaining perfection complete, Mamont and Epic Tomato now invite you to embark on your unique Polar discovery.

(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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currying our favour

brick lane curry is a london favourite

what's your favourite indian curry?

Returning to Shoreditch for its 11th year (and handily just round the corner from Black Tomato HQ), the Brick Lane Curry Festival once again ignited our taste buds with treats from the East. Well, it was near enough in time for a perfect lunch hour feast…We are pleased to confirm that every delicious gastronomic titbit we stuffed into our traps was amazing. Still full in fact.

Got a craving for India? We hear you. Check out this bespoke foodie experience…

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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just the tip of copenhagen’s gastronomic iceberg…

copenhagen

copenhagen hues

As the sun slow-baked the industrial courtyards of the Copenhagen’s burgeoning Meatpacking district last weekend, impromptu terraces unpacked in front of the modestly glamorous restaurants that have credited this city with a world heavy-weight title in ageless culinary excellence.

This town is indisputably a design-aficionados dream and the food served amidst this blue-and-white gallery district certainly doesn’t disappoint the eye.  At Pate Pate (Slagterboderne 1) we broke the yolk of a perfectly poached egg over a savoury polenta cake cushion and lingered over a main of snails and beef. Yep, it’s not a combination you find too often, but trust me, it works. The desert I managed to shield from the eager spoons of my fellow diners, a molten blueberry soufflé with perfect posture, lives on in my memory of finest non-celebratory suppers…

copenhagen

Copenhagen’s cocktail culture doesn’t lag too far behind its culinary counterparts. At the (deservedly) frequently cited canal-side Ruby (Nybrogade 10) a team of hand-son experts seamlessly blend the offerings from an exceptionally large spirit cabinet amidst ultra laid-back drawing-room surrounds.  Across the other side of town, the lesser-known neighbourhood bar Salon39 (Vodroffsvej 39, 1900 Frederiksberg) – partner property to the distinctly un-Danish and therefore locally-esteemed tiki bar Brass Monkey (Enghavevej 31) – takes mixology to a new (spirit) level with an elegant dimly-lit intimate space reached via a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it doorway. No. 39 that is.

Un-surprisingly, the Danish do nourishing brunches exceptionally well too. Ricco’s on Studiestræde 24 was our favourite for a late Saturday morning. The hand-made bolle that came stuffed-to-the-brim with local produce were just as the owner himself had assured us from behind the counter; not savoury nor sweet. On the food journey between my clasped hands and my mouth I pondered yet another sensual balancing act, and then I stopped pondering and took another big bite…

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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