Monday Margarita - start the week with a bang

Who said cocktails are only for Fridays; this week we thought we would go traditional with a classic Margarita. To make a jug to share with friends you will need:

• 4 shots Cointreau
• 8 shots tequila
• 4 shots freshly squeezed lime juice
• Ice

• Lime wedges and juice to serve
• Salt to serve

Method

1. Shake all ingredients with ice.
2. Dip the cocktail glasses in lime juice and salt.
3. Strain the cocktail into the glasses and serve immediately.
4. Count down, only 5 days to the weekend.............

Meet our New Spa Manager - Ann Middleton

Our newly appointed Spa Manager is Ann Middleton. Originally from Dundee, Scotland, Ann left when she was 18 to work in London. She originally trained as a secretary/PA and worked at that until she had her two daughters

Ann lived in Italy on two occasions, one for a period of 12 months in Rome and the other for almost 5 years in Milan.  During that time she worked as the Membership Director for an English speaking Womens Club called the “Benvenuto Club”.  It had over 500 women from approx 50 different nationalities and I maintained and produced their membership booklet.  It was during that time that shefell in love with the style and beauty of the Italian women and upon her return decided that she would train in hair and beauty. She is a beauty therapist and her speciality is in Massage but she is also qualified in Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage and Reiki so is the perfect person to advise on treatments.

For a while Ann ran her own small company and then joined a training academy called The Cheshire Academy, where she was both a practitioner and administrator. The Academy trained therapists , focusing on ITEC  courses as well as carrying out treatments, using La Prairie products.  Her next move was as Clinic Manager with MySpa Clinics in Cheshire where she had a team of 12 therapists/practitioners.  Within two years they had expanded around the country and Ann moved on to become Business/Area Manager.  She was instrumental in the setting up of each new clinic, ensuring that all the staff were trained in the same way; implementing the same policies and procedures. This is extremely valuable to Layla Liverpool as it is important to us that each of our customers comes out feeling very special and pampered.

Looking for a new challenge, Ann decided to apply to Layla Liverpool – knowing that it will be the most luxurious Spa in Liverpool and wanting to be a part of its inception.

Ann has worked with my products, including Decleor, Carita, Guinot, Espa, Dermalogica, OPI, Jessica and Caci and is looking forward to introducing our products and treatments to the Liverpool Ladies – and the Liverpool Menfolk will be very welcome too!  When she is not in work she gets lots of practice on her two daughters and is, of course, very popular with their friends too!

It's Friday.............. Cosmo time!!!

The weather forecast is good so how about the classy, classic cosmopolitan to start the weekend off in style. Into your cocktail shaker pour:

50ml Absolut Citron
25ml Cointreau
Dash of Cranberry Juice, squeeze of fresh Lime

Shake and strain into frozen martini glass, Garnish with flamed orange zest.

Say goodbye work and hello weekend!!!

Wine Choice of the Week

Not one but 2 suggestions this week….Everybody loves Chablis and Sancerre, and what is there not to love from THE classic Burgundy Chardonnay, and THE Loire Valley Sauvignon. So thinking along those lines to keep all you wine lovers happy, Im suggesting another couple of classics from the same regions. From Burgundy, and one of my all time favourites…Pouilly Fuisse, and from the Loire, Pouilly Fume. Readily available from most supermarkets, but here are a couple of crackers from Marks and Spencer, Enjoy!!:

Pouilly Fume Cailbourdin 2008, £12.99

La Fleur Jaune Pouilly Fuisse, 2008, £16.99

We'd like you to meet our new Resident Manager, Jessica Bennett

Jessica Bennett, our recently appointed Resident Manager, comes to us with a vast wealth of knowledge and experience, climbing the ranks of corporate hotels. She started her career by working for a prestigious golf club in the Ribble Valley and then travelling through Australia. Then Jessica realised her passion lay within customer service and she was offered an opportunity to start her career in Glasgow, where she entered into what was going to be a very successful career within hotels.

After 2 years with Marriott as Guest Relations Manager Jessica was given the opportunity to follow her love for customer service by being offered Executive Lounge Manager at Glasgow’s five start 319 bedroom Hilton.

This was the beginning of an intensive 6 year career with Hilton where Jessica gradually moved her way to Assistant Front of House Manager and then to her goal as Front of House Manager.

With a desire to expand her management experience an opportunity arose to take part in a Hotel opening; Jessica, seeing this exciting new challenge became Front of House Manager at the new Hilton Liverpool.  Here she handpicked and coached her new team ensuring the hotels success and high guest satisfaction.

After 2 years as Front of House Manager with Hilton Liverpool, Jessica, needing another challenge, decided to branch away from the corporate hotel industry and concentrate on more intimate boutique hotels. As she loves living in Liverpool, the obvious next move was to join us here at Layla and we feel very fortunate to have her, particularly because of her experience of being with a hotel from its inception. Jessica has been appointed to ensure that customer service is at its highest throughout the hotel, overseeing Front of House, Housekeeping and Revenue.

Jessica is already incredibly busy with the build up to our opening, especially as her role touches on so many aspects of Hotel management. Once we are open she will be pivotal to ensure that Layla is at the forefront of customer service and excellence.

Pete Dyer - Our Food and Beverage Guru

Pete Dyer is our Director of Food and Beverage and as such will be the person responsible for sourcing all the food and drink consumed in Layla. Well travelled Pete has a reputation as a leading Mixologist, which he established in Scotland's finest bars and restaurants. He developed his skills at the Corinthian private members bar, Oblomov and The Cul de Sac in Glasgow but then took his skills across the Atlantic to Canada. There he positioned himself at the forefront of wine culture, heading up Idoru - Toronto's most acclaimed wine bar, set  in the fashionable district of Roncevalles. This experience cemented his interest in wine and sparked his enthusiasm for the industry that led to his role as Head Sommelier at Ken McCulloch's revolutionary hotel group Malmaison in its Glasgow hotel. There, the mentorship of the legendary Johnny Walker saw Pete forge an in-depth knowledge of hospitality and food. He progressed to Food and Beverage Manager and, during his tenure, Malmaison Glasgow bar and restaurant was ranked in the top three out of 1500 for customer service in the Scottish Restaurant Awards as well as producing a UK Sommelier of the Year finalist.
Attention to detail is one of Pete's main strengths and he expanded his experience by moving to Le Monde in Edinburgh, which during his tenure was Winner of Scottish Boutique Hotel of the Year in 2009.
He then joined Bespoke Hotels as Operations Manager - Food and Beverage. Pete's new role at Layla Liverpool will be to oversee our unique food and beverage destinations: our New York style brasserie Madison's; The Annexe - a sophisticated restaurant and bar with Private Wine Tasting Room; our Cigar Terrace; our extensive banqueting and meeting facilities and our residents lounge.
This is the challenge he has been waiting for and although we are not yet open he is busy making our wine selections and overseeing every last detail to ensure the ultimate customer experience.

That Good Friday Feeling

It may be Thursday but we have that Friday feeling so within a few hours we are going to be wanting a cheeky cocktail. What could be more refreshing than the classic Mohito - made famous by Ernest Hemingway.  You will need:
1 shot white rum, 6 fresh mint leaves, 1 tbsp caster sugar to taste, 1/2 shots lime juice to taste, dash of soda water, ice.

Gently crush the mint leaves in a highball glass. Add the sugar, lime juice and ice and stir. Add the rum, then fill the glass with more ice and top up with a dash of soda water and stir well. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a wedge of lime.

If you are not a purist you can always vary it with other citrus fruits or pineapple - why not?

Enjoy the weekend!