BLUEOut of the

Explore azure waters and vast canyons at the finest new hotels

FASHIONSummer style takes a

bold turn with statement pieces and bright shades

She’s in

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FOOD & DRINK

FOOD & DRINKWORDS: CHARLOTTE PHILLIPS

A visit to Plateau shows KATY PARKER how the restaurant’s new grill menu is hotting up Canary Wharf’s restaurant scene this summer,

Summer LovingRESTAURANT REVIEW

CARLUCCIO PICNICThis summer, go al fresco and take a taste of Italy along, with a Carluccio’s picnic basket full of fresh, delicious dishes. Choose between the classic and vegetarian options: both feature an antipasti selection, along with dishes such as citrus poached chicken breasts and soft goat’s cheese salad with beetroot, asparagus, walnuts, radish and baby spinach. There’s also a strawberry and pistachio cake and a traditional fig, hazelnut and chocolate biscotti. Just add sunshine. four hour notice period needed, £45 for one adult picnic box serving two

A DRINK WITHA DIFFERENCEBlack Cow Pure Milk Vodka is the first of its kind: vodka made from whey, from the milk produced by grass-grazed cows in West Dorset. No wonder Black Cow vodka is distinctive by its creamy, smooth character. Delicious sipped as a chilled shot, it also works in a vodka-based long drink or cocktail. For accomponying nibbles, pair with Black Cow cheese, made from curds produced from the very same cows’ milk. Black Cow Vodka, from £25.75, Marks & Spencer, Jubilee Place and Nicolas wine bar and store, Canada Square

SOUPER TASTYHealthy food options in Canary Wharf are now even more abundant as superfood soup brand Soupologie launches into Waitrose. The nutritious soups use plant-based ingredients, with many vegetables, herbs and spices chosen for their ‘superfood’ qualities and immune-boosting properties. With options like spinach and kale with garlic, spirulina greens, and – our favourite – curried sweet potato with coconut and raw cacao, it’s a case of so many superfoods, so little time. Soupologie soups, £2.99 for 600g, Waitrose Food, Fashion & Home, Canada Place

HOT NEWSStarting on 11 July, a hot dog campaign at Sports Bar & Grill (Crossrail Place) will see it giving away 100 hot dogs every Monday – Wednesday (11-13, 18-20, 25-27 July,)from 6pm. Download a voucher at sportsbarandgrill.co.uk

At a time when one is frequently mired by desires to be ‘bikini body ready’ and as such is constantly weaving in and out of a variety of different diet plans, nothing feels better than an evening of unadulterated indulgence – in the form of a delicious slap-up meal.

My dining destination of choice is Plateau – a restaurant that forms part of the D&D London Group. Perched above Third Space gym, the eatery overlooks Canada Square Park and affords an excellent vantage point for viewing One Canada Square and the surrounding skyscrapers. Fortunately for my guest and I, we are seated right next to the window and we gaze out upon the area with a sense of ease as we sip on our welcome glasses of Champagne.

Now feeling fully relaxed, we take a moment to peruse the menu. We are sampling the restaurant’s new grill menu, which has arrived just in time for summer with a tantalising range of fresh fish and meat dishes. To begin, we opt for the Colchester Rock oysters with ginger and cucumber ponzu. At this point I must confess: when I order oysters it is often just for the novelty factor and as such I spend the next ten minutes or so downing them

in the way you would with a dodgy shot of whisky. This oyster experience however, was a completely different kettle of fish (excuse the pun). Each oyster was seasoned to perfection, with an overriding taste of ginger, and went down exquisitely. A dash of Tabasco on top added an extra kick to what was already a deliciously gratifying starter. We washed these down with a glass of Chardonnay wine, which had been expertly matched to the dish by our waiter.

On to the next course, and we enjoy baked whole sea bass with samphire and lemon and fennel confit, accompanied by tender stem broccoli with chilli and sesame. Our ever-attentive waiter removes my fish from the bone, and again chooses a world-class wine to complement the meal; this time it is a Sancerre. The fish is flaky,

well-seasoned and well-cooked and is enhanced superbly by the confit, which suprises me with its strength of flavour, while the samphire serves to add texture to the plateful.

In the spirit of going to town in the eating stakes, we order dessert. I opt for the grilled peaches with brioche and

mascarpone while my guest decides upon the Bakewell slice with vanilla ice cream. The fresh, gently cooked peaches lighten up what would otherwise be a dense dish and the combination of sweet bread, delicately flavoured vanilla cream and fruit is a winner in my book. Could there be a more perfect pudding for the summer months? Meanwhile, I heard nothing but contented grunts from the other side of the table so I can only presume that the Bakewell slice was welcomed with similar gusto.

So give those holiday dreams a rest for a while, and focus on the pleasures that lie in store for us right here at home – and don’t forget to treat yourself. Plateau, Canada Square, E14

Each oyster was seasoned to

perfection, with an overriding taste

of ginger

SOUTHERN VIBESFood experts at Marks & Spencer scoured the street stalls and food markets of Latin America and the southern United States to inspire the new Spirit of Summer range. Look out for tropical guava in sparkling caipirinha fizz and dulce de leche in alfajores biscuits and Peruvian chocolate and coffee cake. Chili aficionados will find varieties such as malagueta, amarillo, chipotle and rocoto, appearing in a range of dishes and drinks. Marks & Spencer, Jubilee Place

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FEATURE

Wanting to shape up for summer is nothing new, but with conflicting advice and various diet options, it’s hard to know the most effective option. The Canary Wharf team put three different diets to the test, with mixed success

WORDS: CHARLOTTE PHILLIPS, KATY PARKER AND TIFFANY EASTLAND

Testing,TESTING,1, 2, 3

Dieting is never easy, but when you’re not even sure you’re attempting a diet with proven success, it’s downright miserable. From juicing and the Cambridge Weight Plan to the lesser-

known Protéifine diet, we’ve called in the experts and recorded our findings. Heed our experiences to make weight loss decisions a whole lot easier.

THE CAMBRIDGE WEIGHT PLANMy Cambridge Weight Plan journey starts with a meeting with my consultant Jeremy. One of the brand’s ‘mobile consultants’, he conveniently comes to my office on a Monday morning to help me embark on my week-long weight loss plan. A week prior, I had been sunning myself in Mallorca, gorging on cheese and almond Magnums by day and downing Aperol Spritz cocktails by night, and so I am treating this week as much as a detox as a chance to trim off some surplus pounds.

My meeting with Jeremy is insightful – the man is a walking encyclopaedia on nutrition – and his nifty machine reveals some interesting information about my body such as my fat and muscle percentages. After an extensive examination of the data available to him, Jeremy decides to put me on Step Two of the plan, which is a combination of meal replacement options and high-protein meals. Cambridge Consultants have all lost weight on the diet, so know exactly what you are going through and are on hand for those weak moments where a slice of chocolate cake looks only too tempting, and Jeremy assures me I can call him anytime. I leave armed with 21 sachets (three for each day), which are a range of soups, shakes and meals,

THE LIQUID DIET When I was offered the chance to take part in a three-day liquid diet on behalf of Canary Wharf, I agreed without looking too deeply into what it entailed.

with flavours including macaroni cheese, spaghetti Bolognese, maple and pecan porridge, oriental soup and a blackberry and apple smoothie. I am permitted a healthy meal in the evening and a ‘milk quota’ so thankfully I don’t have to forgo my morning coffee.

I start the week in high spirits, determined to do Jeremy proud and feel healthier when my time is done. In the evenings I prepare a tuna steak with vegetables or a cottage cheese salad and I spread my sachets out throughout the day; some are more appetising than others but they succeed in satiating the hunger until it’s time to have another. By day three I was feeling tired, and struggling to stay away from the sugary treats in the office, but I powered through as I was starting to see results. Then came the weekend. I found this particularly tough as like many other Londoners, my social life tends to revolve around occasions involving food and drink.

And though it was hard, I did manage to persist with the plan, opting for plain chicken with vegetables when I went out and avoiding wine at all costs. Now at the end of the week, I definitely feel lighter, and my waist (my problem zone) looks visibly smaller and my stomach flatter. But more than that, I feel healthier than I have in a long time and find that I actually have more energy than I used to in the evenings. The Cambridge Weight Plan is a manageable diet and perhaps more sustainable than other options out there, so long as you can lay off the wine… cambridgeweightplan.com

So, as the name suggests, a liquid diet involves getting all, or at least most of your calories from drinks. And no, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a bottle of Champagne. Some liquid diets are limited to juices or shakes for every meal, and my three-day diet would consist of, well, not a lot, as I would soon discover.

A Pret a Manger fruit smoothie proved a tasty start to my morning, and certainly a breakfast option I’d happily opt for in the future, coming in at less than 250 calories.

Delicious though it was, by lunch I was starving; more so than usual. I devoured the cauliflower amd kale with black garlic soup by Soupologie, a dairy and gluten-free soup range stocked in Waitrose. While perfectly tasty, by the afternoon I was struggling and felt slightly light-headed at times; after all, the soup contained 111 calories, so my count for the day was at an all-time low. I pushed through to dinner, which was a Protein Haus smoothie. Founder Carli Goss told me to “choose a shake that has 250-300 calories or less, and your shake will ideally have some protein and fibre to keep you feeling satisfied.”

Having been good all day, I rewarded myself with the Snickers shake, which tasted wonderfully indulgent but contained less than 400 calories. Miraculously, I got so full halfway through, I could barely finish it.

Day two followed the same pattern, however, for lunch I opted for the curried sweet potato soup in the hope that the thicker consistency would keep me satisfied for longer, and happily, it did. The second day was much easier, as was the third, but I think I would have struggled to get through another.

In just three days, I lost a solid four pounds – a great result, but would I inflict this upon myself

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THE PERSONALISED EXPERIENCEDespite being no novice to diets, I’m also no novice to enjoying copious amounts of delicious food, meaning my eternal quest for slimmer thighs remains as elusive as ever. With a big family wedding in three short weeks, I call in the big guns: namely, nutritionist Kim Pearson at Canary Wharf’s EF Medispa.

My first lesson is this: even for the well-informed, a nutritionist is worth the money, first in holding you accountable when willpower wanes (being tape-measured by a stranger is incentivising to say the least) and because your plan can be professionally tailored to you, taking into account lifestyle and medical background. Pearson’s first step is

sending me for a blood test to check for underlying reasons why I wouldn’t lose weight (such as an under-active thyroid) as well as any vitamin deficiencies that would prevent a diet plan from working optimally. Results all in as normal, Pearson formulates a personalised plan, immediately adding a concoction of vitamins, minerals and essential fats to my regime.

Pearson puts me on EF Medispa’s Well Woman plan, which focuses around the meal-replacement Protéifine diet, only available via a doctor or nutritionist. Five low carbohydrate meals per day put the body into ketosis (fat burning mode), where the body uses up stored fat rather than carbohydrates for energy, further aided by a recommended daily two tablespoons of olive oil. It’s protein-based, but not generically so: exact protein requirements are dependant on one’s own weight.

‘Meals’ include toast, soup, pudding and biscuits, all made from natural protein sources, like pea, egg and milk, delivered to my door in a two-week supply. They’re tasty, satisfying both savoury and sweet cravings (the dark chocolate afternoon pick-me-up is a lifesaver), and while portion sizes are very small, after an admittedly difficult three days, my stomach adjusts.

On the Protéifine diet, I enjoy the fact that all meals are ready-made, making it so prescribed and formulaic that it’s impossible to deviate or cheat. There’s also a list of low-carbohydrate vegetables that can be eaten in unlimited quantities, which I make the most of each evening when the thought of such a teeny dinner is a tad dismal.

Whenever it does get hard, Pearson is constantly on hand for support – one day I eat dinner at 4pm, a new

personal low, but generally I eat every three hours; more frequently than I would normally, and there’s minimal preparation. It’s boring and antisocial turning down meals with friends, but results make it worthwhile.

In two weeks, I lose four pounds, and more importantly, my centimetre measurements around my waist and thighs have come down significantly, which is a more dominant factor in looking slimmer and tighter. I’m pleased that my skin, hair and nails are in good shape, too.

Weight loss is often accompanied by irritability, boredom or headaches, but I’ve

experienced none, and feel great. And once off the plan, while I won’t be giving up bread, wine or

ice-cream indefinitely, it’s kickstarted a more mindful way of eating and readjusted how I think about

portion control, which I call a true diet success.Well Woman program from £575 at EF Medispa, Admirals Way, Canary Wharf, efmedispa.com;

ysonut.co.uk/proteifine

again? Perhaps if time’s not on my side and I have a dress to get into, but not if I’m aiming to lose weight and keep it off. An all-liquid diet is unsustainable, but I can see some merit in replacing one or two solid meals to reduce your overall calorie intake – though do consult a doctor, and don’t expect it to be easy. Fruit smoothie, £2.95, Pret A Manager, Cabot Place; Soupologie soup, £2.99, Waitrose Food, Fashion & Home, Canada Place; Protein shake, £4.50, Protein Haus, Canada Place

FEATURE

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