Hong Kong, 24 August 2010 -- Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and The Fat Duck Group have joined forces to create Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Chef Heston Blumenthal’s first London restaurant which will open at the award-winning Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London in December 2010.

t was with sadness that I learned some months ago that The Park Restaurant at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge was closing, I have never written about The Park, though it has held a special place in my heart for some eight years now, long before I started writing for foodepedia, or for london-eating prior to that. Indeed it was my association with The Park that led me into reviewing restaurants. I was invited to a reception at the hotel, having been a regular visitor to The Park and it was this that led to me meeting and talking to Nick Harman the then editor of london-eating and now editor of foodepedia.

Breakfast isn't worth the money but the service is impeccable, says Harriet Long...

When we emerge from the tube, the front steps of the hotel are busy with Louis Vuitton bags and boxes being unloaded, whilst Mercedes and Jaguars drop off well-heeled clientele.

Attracting a crowd is a bright red Lamborghini Countach, apparently a rare sight. Even the doormen are surreptitiously taking pictures on their mobiles.

Away from the bustle, the hotel's marble entrance hall has a cool and luxurious feel. Check in is easy and efficient and within a few minutes we are ensconced in one of the small suites.

Chris Staines, head chef at the Michelin-starred Foliage restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London, was recently appointed by Lufthansa as the German airline's first British "star chef". He spoke to Kerstin Kühn about cooking for air passengers.

Most people spend the first weeks of January ripping down the garland, dismembering the Christmas tree and stuffing it anywhere it'll fit like some sort of pine tree mobster. Others leave the undecorating to staff and make their annual shopping pilgrimage across the Atlantic.

January is sales season in the U.K. and mainland Europe, as the continent's most famous department stores and designer boutiques offer their steepest discounts of the year.

While the euro has remained relatively strong against the U.S. dollar, the British pound is at multi-decade lows, making the U.K. fashion capital more affordable than ever for pond-hopping bargain-hunters.