The Biker Baroness: Scooter Chauffeur: London

We have recently been made aware of the latest accessory for any well-scheduled power broker, a scooter chauffeur. Apparently there is an impeccably dressed high-powered baroness, heiress, or mistress (it remains unclear) who speeds around London on the back of her chauffeur driver scooter. Bypassing the soul crushing traffic of Central London, this fantastic creature zips through London with ease enroute to her latest kickboxing match, high calibre lunch, or to a discreet rendez-vous to stick her red soled Christian Louboutin in the face of her latest conquest. We are incredibly intrigued about this intel and if anyone has any information or photos of this goddess we will reward you handsomely if you put us in touch with her.

In related scooter chauffeur news, we have discovered that Virgin Limo bikes continues to operate is plane to champagne service from Heathrow into Central London. How you hang onto the scooter with Ambien induced jetlag as you criss-cross the A4 morning traffic we have no idea.
+Virgin LimoBike.

Cocaine Kate: London: Map

Bored with hungover dashes through immigration checkpoints, smokey afterhours orgies, and champagne showers -- all to find you the latest and greatest we discovered a very cool interactive map of Clerkenwell, East London from the trendy Zetter hotel. For those of you unfamiliar, the Clerkenwell-Smithfield Market area of London is a bit like the Meatpacking district in NYC 10 years ago but with more edgy crack addicts and less transexual hookers.
+Zetter, St John’s Square, 86-88 Clerkenwell Road, London. +44 (0)20 7324 4444.
+Former favoured haunt of : Kate Moss: W4: Cocaine Wife Swapping Orgies Back in Vanity.
+Fabric.
+Track: Retro: Hot Spot, Foxy Brown [itunes]
+Earlier on W4: Swinging London: Killing Kittens.
+Who, What, When, Where - We Don't ask Why. Read the latest from W4.

Booze Island Reports: Free Beer and Weeds

Only on Booze Island can you get a free beer while watching a show called Weeds. We can only imagine what freebies are on tap with Nip/Tuck and Sex and the City.
+Coors.
+Weeds, Sky One.
+Previous W4: Swinging London: Killing Kittens.

Wheels Up: GSM Roaming: Global

With the holiday travel season fast approaching you may be dealing with the tedious task of figuring out which plug adapters you need to take to French West Indies or maybe your trying to read the fine print on your digital camera to see if it is duel voltage. Most likely though you are concerned with sorting out if your mobile phone will work especially if you are going to the remote jungles of Cambodia or Bhutan because who knows when you may need to call for an airlift from the Tonle Sap when pirates descend on your boat. To find out where exactly your mobile will or will not work, the GSM association, the global consortium of GSM operators, have created a comprehensive website. The site details country by country which providers are operating, on what frequency bands, and with which companies they have roaming agreements, as well as maps of their coverage areas. Connected indeed.
+GSM World, Coverage Maps and Roaming Information.
+GSM World, GSM World Coverage Map [pdf].
+Classic Track: Stereo MCs, Connected [itunes]

The Bubbles of Parigi: Paris

Meanwhile across the pond in Paris, French luxury brand Hermes continues its quest for leather-bound world domination. Pierre Cynic reports:
"Uncontent with having its flagship store pillaged daily by throngs of label thirsty Japanese tourists, Hermes has embarked on a new marketing strategy to attract the now booming over indulged children's market. The company has installed three bubble machines high atop its amber lit window sill. Yes, bubble machines.
Every few minutes these bubble machines set off on their quest to fill the entire rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore with these magic bubbles. Children then proceed to run and jump through the streets begging their parents for the latest My Little Hermes Pony which is skillful placed in the store window. Over coiffed women seek refugee in the boutique lest the airborne designer froth tarnish their well painted faces. You have to hand it to the French they do have un peu d'imaginiation."
+Hermes, 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, Paris.
+Hipster Girls Pout: Le Baron, Avenue Marceau, Paris.
+Sexy Girls Dance: Neo, rue Ponthieu, Paris.
+Post 5am: Pink Paradise, rue Ponthieu, Paris.
+Tune: Rain Falls Down, Rolling Stones. Itunes.

Foodies Delight: Bellavitae: NYC

We here at W4 don't often get excited about restaurants for their food, but rather for the dancing girls, methusalems of Cristal, and hidden bathroom drug compartments. Well, Bellavitae is an exception to our rule. Tucked away on Minetta Lane, far enough away from pesky NYU students and yuppies on a budget lies this lovely Tuscan winebar. Simple decor, simple not attractive but non-offensive crowd (youngsters on dates and foodie types), and amazing wines and cuisine. All dishes are made to share, which usually we find irritating, but the Italian version of tapas is quite generous. Our menu consisted of fried risotto balls with gorgonzola and pistachio (which our waiter assured us was too small to even consider a real dish--liked his style), crostone with baked taleggio and mostarda di cremona, Sicilian-style cauliflower with pinoli and currants, a wood-oven baked mozzarella with erbe picanti, a plate of garganelli pasta with bolognese ragu, a sliced steak with salsa verde, and a vanilla gelato affogato for dessert. Truly an amazing meal and we haven't even discussed the wine. Bellavitae has an impressive book of some of the finest and rarest Italian wines we'd ever seen, especially for such an unassuming restaurant. We chose the 2001 Fonterutoli Siepi-a wine we've been searching far and wide for since it received a strong recommendation from the esteemed Commandatore Sapere di Bologna. The wine like the meal did not disappoint--thank you Commandatore! After this dinner, suprisingly we were so drunk on food and great wine that bad behavior seemed unnecessary, and we realized that that's okay too--just kidding!
+Bellavitae, 24 Minetta Lane, New York, +1 212 473 5121.

Sheiks on Skis: Dubai Hits the Slopes

Today marks the opening of the largest skidome in the world. In where else, Dubai. While you may have flown hours to sit on the sundrenched beaches of Dubai now you can swim and ski your way through this duty free emporium all in the same day. I wouldn't hold out for a rockin' apres ski though unless of course you can find the elusive ladies know as the 'Dubai Duo'..
+'Snow comes the the Deserts of Dubai', BBC News, 2 December.