Over Christmas I watched a documentary about men with mail order brides from Thailand. Not being able to communicate was occasionally seen as a con - but it was massively outweighed by fewer quarrels, the soft skin, and, best of all, the low running costs. "You should see what she can get out of a chicken!", gushed one of the men.

Interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán leaves me with a similar degree of awe. Given his work for the Andilana group, I wouldn't be surprised if he could magically turn your average fowl into a feast for ten, and then wring out another supper for four from the carcass.

On what appears to be no budget - fiberboard décors, generous licks of paint, and many furnishings seemingly from IKEA - he's managed to give each of their restaurants (Flamant, La Fonda, Balthazar, etc.) a pleasant and individual character, in spite of the sameness of the menus and invariably bland service.