Monthly Archives: December 2008
Via Graça
This place has easily the finest views of any Lisbon restaurant over Mouraria to the Baixa, so it is heartening that the management has not rested on its laurels and let the quality of the food or service slide. Less in your face than some of the city’s other upmarket restaurants, Via Graça maintains its well-deserved reputation as a place for fine Portuguese food in a relaxed, if slightly formal atmosphere. It scores highest with heartier dishes such as game casserole with chestnuts and various duck dishes. The range of Portuguese wines is excellent, although the prices are a little high.
New York Philharmonic – Kurt Weill Centennial
Like his longtime collaborator, playwright Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill pooh-poohed elitist pretensions in the music world. ‘I have never acknowledged the difference between ‘serious’ music and ‘light’ music’, he once remarked, ‘There is only good music and bad music’. And Weill left us plenty of the former, in genres ranging from opera to jazz. His score to Brecht’s classic ‘Threepenny Opera’ left us such classics as ‘Mack the Knife’, best sung by his widow and muse, Lotte Lenya. Leonard Slatkin and the Philharmonic celebrate Weill’s 100th birthday with the world première of a new suite from his opera ‘Street Scene’, while a new trombone concerto from James Pugh and a suite from Leonard Bernstein’s opera ‘A Quiet Place’ complete the programme.
Jorge Drexler
Uruguayan singer and songwriter, Jorge Drexler will perform with his customary passion at Lasal, a very hip, laid-back beach bar located some 20 minutes up the coast from Barcelona. Drexler will play songs from his fifth album and the third recorded in Spain, ‘Frontera’, a work which speaks of the indignities and oppression suffered under the military dictatorship in his country. After the concert, chill-out DJs will take over.
Pitti Gola e Cantina
Pitti Gola e Cantina is the one place worth visiting among the row of mediocre, touristy bars outside the Pitti Palace. It has been an excellent wine and foodie bookshop for some time, but has only recently become a wine bar where you can enjoy a snack or a light meal. Classic Tuscan dishes are on offer, as well as some more original delights such as the asparagus or artichoke flan, ‘millefoglie’ of aubergine and game terrine. There is a mouth-watering selection of unusual and well-sourced cheeses and a good choice of wines by the glass.
Ray Davis
The so-called godfather of Brit Pop, Ray Davis, makes a return visit to Dublin for two nights at the HQ. Selling out his dates 12 months ago, these will be probably be two of the most popular gigs at the venue all year. As one of the most successful and influential songwriters of the 60s, Davis is considered a legend by the likes of Blur. Along with brother Dave, Ray formed The Kinks in 1963 and if that wasn’t enough Ray Davis songs became hits for everyone from the Pretenders and Van Halen to the Jam and the Stranglers. Catch the legend at HQ.
