A Prodigal 2009 reviewed: Happy New Year to you all
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 1 January 2010
We’ve been blogging for a couple of years now but we like to think of 2009 as The Prodigal Guide’s first real year in business.
It’s really only in the last 12 months that we’ve made a concerted effort to keep it regularly updated and relevant. And we’re delighted to report that the effort seems to have paid off. You’re reading The Guide in ever-increasing numbers: hits have increased tenfold since January. For that, we thank you.
We hope you’ll continue to stay with us in the future – we’ll be doing more, writing more and involving you more than ever before (not least, with a renewed focus on The List.) In the meantime, here’s our review of 2009’s highlights. See you soon.
Cars
We started the year on a high, celebrating the news that Chris Bangle was finally retiring. At last, a chance that BMWs might be elegant again.
The Porsche Panamera loomed large in more ways than one in 2009. We welcomed the first shots of its beautiful cabin, recoiled in dismay when the exterior styling was revealed and then a gorgeous ad made us question our sanity. We’re still undecided.
Of course, styling is a tough thing to get right, but when you do, it can make all the difference. Witness the stunning Maserati GranTurismo; the courageous Lamborghini Insecta Concept; Ferrari’s return to form with the 458; or the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider that continues to take our breath away every time we look at it.
But we wouldn’t want to give you the impression that we just watched 2009 pass by as we sat on the automotive sidelines. Oh no. As we try to do at least once a year, we set ourselves a little motoring challenge in 2009. The Prodigal Run 2009 involved blasting down to Geneva and back in the Audi S4. We just about made it.
Films
Not a great year for movies really. We had a decent stab at predicting Oscar winners in February; then sat back and started looking forward to the year’s releases. Inglourious Basterds, Public Enemies, Shutter Island and Mel Gibson’s return in Edge of Darkness were all exciting enough to prompt a post. On the review front only three – very different – films got us to put fingers to keyboard in praise: Daniel Day Lewis’ unparalleled, career-defining performance in There Will Be Blood, the joys of seminal Western The Searchers; and the best damn drunk on celluloid: Annie’s Miss Hannigan.
Food
We did a lot of eating this year but the highlights were surely: the inimitable Hunan in Pimlico; our favourite Thai restaurant, Sukho, in Fulham; phenomenal steaks at Shoreditch’s Hawksmooor; the wonderful Gilmour’s in Chelsea; peerless burgers at Byron on the King’s Road; superior cocktails at both Eight Over Eight (now, very sadly closed) and Hereford Road; and, last but not least, the excellent Bedford & Strand.
We also owe an honourable mention to the ancient art of dim sum making. We wrote up two very different examples of its execution: Ping Pong in Notting Hill and Hong Kong’s BO Innovation. Both were pleasing in very different ways.
Low points for our palates? Well, Benihana and Bertorelli need to slug it out for that title. Low points for our reputations? The meal we had at Isaka-Ya in Brussels that we were too drunk to remember let alone write about authoritatively…
Gadgets
The year started on a low with the news that Pioneer, purveyor of the world’s finest plasma screens, was pulling out of the market. But while we were mourning that, February and the Mobile World Congress soon rolled around with some enticing news: Nokia’s E75 and Samsung’s OmniaHD both looked promising. Both, unfortunately, were ultimately disappointing.
The other huge disappointment in 2009 was Nokia’s N97: a device with such incredible potential was let down by some odd hardware decisions and some truly terrible software. Shame on Nokia. In July, as a result, we had no choice but to declare the N86 the best phone the Finns currently make. But that was before the N900 surfaced. Reviews since have demonstrated some of this new tablet device’s weaknesses. Nevertheless, we remain convinced that the N900 – or rather its successor – represents Nokia’s best hope of getting back in the game.
While we’re talking gadgets, we’d be remiss not to mention the incredible technology that Audi have crammed into its latest A8. Surely, a geek’s only possible choice of wheels.
Watches
As a whole, 2009 was all about vintage here at Prodigal Towers. As early as February we’d posted about the allure of vintage watches but it wasn’t until October that Straight-Six threw himself into the world of vintage with gusto, trading in his entire watch collection for just a couple of old Subs. We questioned his sanity. He retorted and has been waxing lyrical about vintage ever since.
Along the way, while welcoming Omega’s new Liquidmetal Seamaster Planet Ocean as the latest example of the brand’s renaissance; uncovering a left-handed Rolex Sea-Dweller and rubbishing one of our friends’ suggestion that the IWC Aquatimer Automatic 2000 was a timeless classic, we also found time to advise others on how to spend £1,200 on a vintage piece.
The highlight of 2009 from a watch perspective though took place over two days in November during which we combined a drive to Geneva, a presentation from the Panerai CEO, and a visit to SalonQP. Both were fantastic fun and ultimately led to our attendance at Bonham’s auction later in the month. This is a sale which Straight-Six would rather forget: after partaking in one too many glasses of wine over a simply superb lunch at Scott’s, he managed to ‘drunk purchase’ an IWC Pilot’s Chronograph by mistake. We had to retreat to the bar at Claridges for some restorative Martinis. An expensive but truly Prodigal day out.
A Prodigal 2009 reviewed: Happy New Year to you all
We’ve been blogging for a couple of years now but we like to think of 2009 as The Prodigal Guide’s first real year in business. It’s really only in the last 12 months that we’ve made a concerted effort to keep it regularly updated and relevant. And we’re delighted to report that the effort seems [...]
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Straight-Six
1 January 2010
Wait just a doggone minute: I wasn’t drunk, I merely wanted to give the first pushy bidder a run for his money, dammit.
Oh, and it wasn’t a mere current IWC Pilot’s Chrono I bid on. No, no, no. I had the good taste to bamboozle myself by bidding on a collectible IWC previous gen. DoppelChronograph with a rare curved sapphire glass.
Bonham’s still haven’t sent the blokes round to collect, thank God…
Anyways, here’s looking forward to a prodigal and equally riveting 2010; chin, chin!