We escaped the bustle of Oxford Street  to take in the calming atmosphere of the hotel’s restaurant, The Montagu, and get into the festive mood. 

We ordered their special Christmas-themed afternoon tea which included turkey and cranberry sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam, mini mince pies and iced gingerbread cupcakes. I especially loved the mini Christmas cake and the mini chocolate Santa Claus.

I appreciated the roaring log fire which made the place feel homely and as an extra special treat, had a glass of champagne before we braved the shops again. 

The Festive Afternoon Tea is served daily, 3-6pm, £28 per person or £35 per person with a glass of Pommery Champagne. To make a reservation or for further information contact The Montagu on + 44 (0) 20 7299 2037 or email montagu.hrlondon@hyatt.com

Aly was a guest of the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill

Dressing up is the best thing about Halloween but the food and drink comes a close second. Halloween-themed cupcakes are springing up all over the place and I can’t pass the Krispy Kreme stand on my way to the office without taking a look at the Halloween doughnuts.

Eat your way through the spooky season with these ghoulish treats:

• Day of the Dead De-Light at the Met Bar: Taking inspiration from Mexico’s colourful Day of the Dead festival, the Met Bar is presenting chocolate cupcakes with sugar skulls, coffin-shaped mud pies and savoury snacks. All waist-friendly of course! 25 Oct-2 Nov
• Halloween at Planet Hollywood: Staff in fancy dress will serve you from a special Halloween menu. There’ll be games and face painters for the kids from 3-8pm and dressing up is encouraged. 31 Oct
• Gilgamesh Halloween Party: Music, visual displays and spine tingling Halloween cocktails will keep you entertained all night. 30 Oct
• Gourmet Burger Kitchen: Keep vampires at bay with a Garlic Mayo Burger at GBK. Available until 31 Oct
• Evil Cupcakes: Thought cupcakes were cute? Think again, as this over-18s pop-up shop brings the most gruesome of cupcakes to London. Oozing eyeballs, skulls and even squeezable zit cupcakes are all on the less-than-appetising menu. 29-31 Oct, Maiden, 188 Shoreditch High Street.

Where are you eating and drinking this Halloween? Tell us in the comments below.

Yesterday, I popped along to The Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill to try their Sex and The City Par-Tea afternoon tea.

Designed to celebrate Sex and The City 2, the tea has been snapped up by guests on their way to the film, a night out or just for an afternoon treat.

The tea is beautifully presented and the mini hotdogs, cupcakes and exquisite white chocolate stiletto were almost too cute to eat. Almost, but not quite, as we finished the lot!

We also chose from four cocktails and four different teas – one for each Sex and The City character. I had a refreshing Flirtini (Samantha), consisting of vodka, champagne and pineapple juice. For the tea, I had Sapphire Earl Grey (Charlotte).

If you haven’t seen the new Sex and The City movie yet and are planning to make a night of it, this tea would be the perfect start to your evening. And even if you’ve seen it already (or have no desire to) the Sex and The City Par-Tea is a still lovely treat.

Sex and The City Par-Tea is available until 31 Aug 2010, served between 3 and 6pm. £39 per person. For reservations call +44 (0)20 7299 2037 or email montagu.hrlondon@hyatt.com

If you enjoy making them as well as eating them, you might be interested in a little cupcake-based competition…

The Primrose Bakery is asking baking enthusiasts to design and create their own cupcake recipe. The winning cupcake will be sold in the Primrose Bakery for five days in July, with £1 of each sale donated to charity Wellbeing of Women.

To enter, post your recipe and cupcake photo onto the Primrose Bakery’s Facebook page, to be judged by the Primrose Bakery panel. You have until 14 July 2010 to enter.

Wellbeing of Women raises money to improve women’s health through research, education and training.

London’s Soho Hotel this week announced it will now be offering a “sensory” afternoon tea, which combines the delights of Ruinart Champagne, Miller Harris teas and delicious cakes and sandwiches.

London perfumer Miller Harris launched its range of teas a year ago. Created by company founder Lyn Harris – a self-confessed tea fanatic – because,  she said, “I was frustrated by not being able to find teas I loved in London”. Using her perfumer’s nose, Harris crafted four delicate blends of Fragrant Tea including Thé Bergamot, which was designed specifically to match the tasting notes of Ruinart Champagne.

Describing the process, Harris spoke of her joy in discovering the similarities between how she creates her scents and the way Champagne is blended.

Frederic Panaiotis from Ruinart echoed the sentiment, while showing off the cool, apothecary-like tray of Champagne tasting vials he uses to create the drink.

After a glass of crisp Ruinart (possibly my new favourite bubbly), I tried three of the lovely Miller Harris teas, accompanied by scrummy sandwiches, decadent cupcakes, biscuits and tartlets. I’d suggest you do the same.

The Ruinart Miller Harris Sensory Tea is available at The West End Firmdale Hotels - The Soho Hotel, Haymarket Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel and Covent Garden Hotel – until September.

This week I attended The 39 Steps Vintage Night in London’s West End.

The 39 Steps is a classic play (and a book, and a famous film directed by Alfred Hitchcock) that’s been running since September 2006 at the Criterion Theatre at Piccadilly Circus.

I was attracted to the idea of their special “Vintage Night” because I love dressing up and I’d heard the show was good fun. However, given the Hitchcock connection, I expected they play itself to be a bit serious and moody. In this, I was utterly wrong, The 39 Steps is a fast-paced, thoroughly enjoyable, highly entertaining spectacle from go to whoa.

Set in the 1930s, the play begins with leading man Richard Hannay (dashingly played by David Bark-Jones) having just returned from abroad to his “humble” Portland Square abode. He laments he’s tired of life (tired of London too, we presume) but his situation quickly becomes a lot more exciting when he meets a dark and mysterious German woman (Dianne Pilkington) who reveals a plot involving international espionage before she is killed, leaving Hannay as the prime suspect. He goes on the run, catching a train to Scotland (on which he encounters a stylish blonde – also played by Dianne Pilkington) then racketing about the countryside attempting to prove his innocence by exposing the arch criminals at the heart of the spy ring.

There’s a host of minor characters – policemen, newspaper boys, Scottish farmers and hoteliers – all played by two actors (Timothy Speyer and Jeremy Swift) and it’s amazing what they can do with some quick costume changes and ingenious set devices.

In fact the whole thing is extremely slick and clever – using all the old drama school tricks such as the four-chairs-make-a-car routine, flapping coats and bits of mime to denote a windy roof of the train and in-jokes about other Hitchcock movies – all delivered to great effect and with impeccable comic timing.

Afterwards we joined the other vintage lovers for a very civilised supper in the Criterion Theatre‘s impressive Victorian foyer. Here we were treated to retro teacups containing iced tea with a shot of gin (G&Tea by Vintage Secret), and delicious cupcakes decorated with recurring motifs from the play – handcuffs, lampposts, a pipe – from The Vintage Patisserie.

The Vintage Night was a nice twist on a traditional trip to the theatre and I was left with a big smile on my face. And I’d recommend this show to anyone who wants to see a jolly good West End play without it being too serious. There’s no need to dress up (although you can, of course!).

Buy your The 39 Steps tickets today.

Loads of funny female comics took to the stage and had the audience laughing all evening. Highlights included the compere Mrs Barbara Nice, the 2009 winner of the Funny Women competition Miss London, Carrie Quinlan, Deborah Frances-White and a memorable and hilarious performance by A Ant (Bridget Christie).

Dead Ringers star Jan Ravens taught us how to impersonate Anne Robinson – we had to make crow noises to practice her voice! With so many brilliant acts on the bill, some of the sets were over too quickly. Even the interval was fun thanks to free cupcakes courtesy of Wendy May Cakes.

Funny Women was founded in 2002 to inspire and promote female stand-up comedians. The annual Funny Women competition gives female stand ups the opportunity to compete and get noticed. One of the most successful comedians to come from the awards is Mock the Week star Sarah Millican.

Visit the Funny Women website to find out about live stand-up comedy events, including the Second Sunday Showcase and workshops where you can learn some comedy skills.

But for those of you who are still on the straight and narrow, now is the perfect time to sample The Met Bar’s COMO Shambhala cuisine. Part of the COMO Shambhala holistic health concept, all the dishes are made with raw ingredients and cooked in a way that reduces the fat but preserves the nutrients - the perfect way to fill up without breaking your detox diet.

Of course, there’s also our favourite indulgence without the bad conscience, Afternoon De-Light Tea. With rice flour scones, no-bread sandwich pots and fresh-fruit flavoured cupcakes, the tea is low in gluten and sugar. A naughty treat with less of the guilt!

And for those of you who like us are, quite frankly, ready to retox, we already have parties galore planned for 2010!

We were both back on the champagne as of 2 January (!) and have been thinking about our forthcoming fabulous events ever since the New Year began.

First up we have our annual members’ party. This year the theme is “2010: A Space Oddity”. Think Lady Gaga meets David Bowie. Those of you lucky enough to be members will have seen our animated invite and know exactly what we’re talking about!

But while we’ve been dreaming of mirror balls and glam-rock wigs, we have also been busy creating a tropical-themed Jonny Awsum show to banish those winter blues; another 80s music quiz for all those Kajagoogoo fans; and a Valentine’s burlesque and cabaret night that’s sure to top even our “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Christmas extravaganza!

So whether you’re a detoxer or a retoxer we’ve got something going on for everyone. It’s time to dust off those wintery feelings and come on down and join us!

We’ve had a 53ft inflatable rabbit, a 37ft topiary reindeer (last chance to see!), a giant cupcake and a vintage tea party, all in the space of a few months.

There was the odd smattering of celebrities, with Elton John and David Furnish’s clothes sale, Donatella Versace’s Fashion Fringe initiative, Paul Smith’s bin, Jamie Cullum acapella performance, and even a gig from the Stereophonics.

High fashion came to the piazza in September, with Anna Wintour herself putting in an appearance. OK, so it was a look-a-like, but that didn’t stop the fun at our inaugural Fashion Fete event, complete with Fashion Woof doggie show. How they barked!

Before we bid you farewell, don’t forget you can still nip down to Covent Garden to pick up something hot at our mulled wine hut on East Piazza. Santa will be on duty in his grotto right up until Christmas Eve, so no excuses! And of course all the shops will be open on Christmas Eve for those last-minute purchases.

Have a very Merry Christmas from all at Covent Garden.

Make Do Mend launched their chic craft party business at London’s 40 Winks on Thursday night with champagne, sewing, sequins and cupcakes!

Make Do Mend organise bespoke craft class parties for you and your friends. Last night we were offered a little taster of their fun, friendly parties with Christmas cupcake decorating and corsage making.

Novice sewers worriedly announced that they couldn’t sew and then dived into the enticing pile of Liberty print fabric and vintage buttons and made beautiful corsages and Christmas tree decorations. Textile tutors Claire Montgomerie and Bee Clinch were warm and entertaining hosts and were full of ideas and advice to make sure that we all learned how to make lovely things.

Downstairs in the kitchen, creative cupcake expert Mae Len Nam was teaching guests how to professionally decorate sparkly silver and red cupcakes which were sweetly wrapped in little bags to take home. (The take home bags were nice in theory but anyone who managed to get a cupcake that tempting home has more willpower than me!)

40 Winks is the perfect venue for crafting. This stylish townhouse owned by internationally acclaimed interior designer David Carter is full of design inspiration and beautifully crafted objects – the house regularly features in magazine photo shoots.

To keep the house in pristine condition we were asked to leave our shoes at the door and sat around wearing little red fluffy slippers which added an even cosier, comforting atmosphere to the evening.

Bespoke craft parties are a lovely way to celebrate a birthday, a hen night or learn a new skill with your friends. One class Make Do Mend host is a baby shower party where each of your guests knits or crochets a blanket square for a baby blanket. Too cute!

Make Do Mend will arrange a class for you and your friends in a chic local venue or they can host a craft party in your home. Prices are per person and depend on the venue and your craft desires. You can find more information about their parties and classes at makedomenders.blogspot.com.

Everyone attending a Make Do Mend party gets an exciting little goodie bag to take home so you can keep practicing and playing with the techniques you’ve learned.