Hints and tips:
...As American TV chef (aka Barefoot Contessa) Ina Garten (or her hilarious TikTok impersonator Tom Hearn might say), “How easy is that?!”...
...Fulk’s designs for Contessa, the rooftop bar and restaurant, brings all the more-is-more joy you’d expect, from the multi-hued marble floors to the pink velvet banquettes....
...“But . . . you know, I don’t think I’m tough, I think I’m clear. I’m very focused . . . I kind of have this philosophy that either you’re on my train or you’re off....
...Notwithstanding a nasty leg injury, Leith retains her crown as contessa of the cake house. Few are better qualified for the title....
...I’m just not cut out for it. The Contessa saw my enthusiasm dwindling. “Do you want me to project manage and decorate?” she asked....
...In my day job, I’m delighted to have my new business partner....
...The Contessa has cut a swathe through the art scene in her Luisa Beccaria dresses and Jimmy Choo shoes....
...I’m hoping our new government will be as keen on action as they are on the polemic.” “We’ll see,” shrugged the Contessa, unconvinced. “Anyway, I’m not planning on selling for a long time.”...
...Not such a smart move on my part; and now older, wiser and owning my own business, I’m a little more solicitous, on the whole....
...I’m touched that she, a university friend, chooses to stay in my less-than-grand Holland Park attic....
...When I point out that he is everybody’s idea of a writer, he says, somehow by this point for reasons I forget in the voice of an Italian contessa: “Yes!...
...I’m pleased. “That’s just the sort of client we like.” Some details have been changed secretagent@ft.com More columns at www.ft.com/secretagent...
...The darling Contessa is a perfect example; she has champagne tastes but wishes to part with only a beer budget....
...The Contessa was in London for 24 hours for viewings and has concluded, as all Italians usually do, that South Kensington and Chelsea are where her pied à terre should be....
...At that moment the Contessa called. She is flying over next week and has decided my services are essential....
...La Senza and Contessa followed and, for eight years, he was chairman of Millwall FC....
...I’m hoping the parishes will start to grant access to some of them soon....
...For the past few decades it has felt as if Italy has been winning but I’m sure Sir Paul Smith and others would agree that the pendulum is now clearly swinging the other way....
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