Opera Tavern restaurant review

Tapas restaurants, in my experience, are terribly hit or miss. Perhaps that is what makes it so satisfying when you find a good one.

One of my best tapas experiences in London must have been two or more years ago when I went to Salt Yard, the Fitzrovia-based “charcuterie bar and restaurant”. Myself and a group of friends enjoyed a boozy evening of good wine and plentiful tapas. My prior experience of tapas hadn’t been great, often comprising a sparsely populated platter of average quality, overpriced meats along with some token olives. Salt Yard was in another league as far as I was concerned, with excellent food and helpful, positive staff that knew exactly what dishes they were selling. Its sister restaurant Dehesa on Ganton Street has a similarly strong reputation, though I have yet to try it for myself.

When I was alerted to the fact that a third restaurant in the group was opening in the Covent Garden area, I immediately made a reservation. Thankfully, like its sister restaurants, Opera Tavern leaves a strong, positive impression from the moment you enter, something that is as much to do with the attentive and knowledgeable service as it is with the excellent food and wine.

The restaurant itself is pleasantly set up, comprising a ground floor with tables and a bar section and an upstairs with further tables. We were seated upstairs where the candle-lit ambience doesn’t leave you feeling like you’re in a cave, whilst the exposed brickwork, deep terracotta paint, chandelier and unimposing artwork all help to create a relaxing and warm atmosphere.

Despite the similar focus on Spanish and Italian tapas I was told that only a two items on the menu (aside from some of the charcuterie meats), were shared with either of the other two restaurants in the group. Luckily one of those things is the courgette flower stuffed with goat’s cheese which I had remembered so fondly from Salt Yard. The smoky, molten goat’s cheese that oozes out of the crisp flower is wonderfully offset by the slightly bitter-sweet taste of the courgette itself.

The menu is vast but thankfully the staff know their stuff and will happily walk you through the options which, when ready, are delivered to the table bit by bit so that you’re never overwhelmed. Expect to pay an average of £7 per dish. There is also a strong wine list, primarily sourced from Italy, Sicily and Spain in keeping with the food. Again, the waiting staff can provide guidance here and we were very happy with our wine.

I don’t think you can go far wrong with what you order and you can easily stick to flavours and ingredients that you like, or be more experimental should you prefer. Truffle pecorino cheese served with honey is excellent, the two contrasting flavours working amazingly well. The gorgonzola and date croquettes manage a similarly successful blend of flavours, with the breadcrumbs being crisp but not greasy. The crispy squid was tender, cooked perfectly in a light tempura batter and served with a not-too-spicy chilli aioli.

Our waiter had strongly recommended that we try the Iberico pork and fois gras burger which is good but I have certainly had better. It did not help that the fried onion served with it was so overpowering. By contrast, I strongly recommend the grilled Iberico presa which I am told is pork shoulder. The meat was char-grilled so tender but still a little pink in the middle, with the caper, shallot and lemon gravy providing warm yet slightly vinegary flavours that complement the meat.

Should you fancy dessert, the panacotta with clementine sorbet and blood orange granita is spectacular. The way that the icy fruit flavours melt on your tongue first, leaving you with the fresh and creamy taste of the panacotta shows a level of consideration that many so-called celebrity chefs would be envious of. The date and walnut tart is good but nowhere near as impressive, whilst the dessert wine (one recommended by each dish on the menu) might be too tempting for you, as it was for us.

The cost of the meal will build up if you get carried away and if you are looking for a low-budget tapas restaurant, this isn’t it. However, if food quality and service are priorities for you then I can thoroughly recommend Opera Tavern. I will certainly be heading back soon, though I might check out Dehesa first for good measure.

Rating: 4/5

Has it all got too much?

My friend Mark Jennings this morning invited me to read the guest post on his Click to exit blog, written by Hugh Wallace. Whilst Hugh sets up the post as though it is going to be a mad rant, he brings up some really interesting points around the changes he has witnessed working 'in digital' over the past fifteen years, culminating with where we are now and whether we are on the cusp of change, "something akin to the dot-com bust".

I recommend looking at the original post here, but you can see my response below. Feel free to get involved with the discussion over on Mark's blog too.

Having worked in-house for the past two and a half years myself, and witnessed the increasing number of social media services delivered by so-called 'specialists', I have feared that perhaps I am a bit cynical about the potential of social media. In practice, I believe that social media has great potential but, as mentioned above by Simon, people forget to question themselves - "what are we trying to achieve?".

Listening to the vast army of social media evangelists you would be forgiven for believing that the likes of Twitter can act as some kind of Holy Grail for businesses and for individuals without consideration for their specific aims and objectives. Many of these people tend to forget that they are, in practice, early adopters. Most people still "don't get" many of these platforms and I regularly find myself trying to explain it to them. It's clear, in those situations, that the people who then "get it" can see an application for the technology in their own professional, cultural or personal lives and that is the key.

I think some of the most interesting comments I have heard with regard to social media come from those agencies that have actively decided not to engage with the likes of Twitter because they don't have the time or resources to do it properly. Whilst some people might turn their noses up at that, perhaps thinking every organisation simply must have a comprehensive presence across social media platforms, in practice it shows a strong understanding of both reputation and the expectation to maintain a flow of communication in line with the needs of the audience.

For me, audience is key. On a personal level I communicate in different ways, using different messages via different social media platforms. That is because I have different audiences with different expectations. Whilst I think that many organisations understand that, they don't necessarily go through the process of positioning social media strategy within their broader communications strategy which, in turn, should be designed to achieve overall objectives and aims.

Right now there is a lot of "noise" out there and I think there will be an increasing number of people turning away from things like Twitter. They will become disillusioned with the quality and quantity of information coming from those that they follow but, for the sake of not wanting to alienate people or offend them by unfollowing them, they will just withdraw slowly. The challenge here perhaps, for organisations and individuals alike, is to understand the participation habits of their followers. If, for example, your followers are fairly active on any given social media platform and are likely to catch most of your messages (tweets for example), then why repost the same message over and over again? You are just going to annoy people and they will begin to question whether there is any benefit in following you at all.

Perhaps we are approaching a tipping point, both in terms of a realisation that social media doesn't hold all the answers to eternal (commercial) life for all organisations, and in terms of individuals questioning more critically what's in it for them. For sure, ROI will remain part of the mix for organisations and communication and digital agencies will continue to work to promote things that are sometimes tough to measure, sometimes seen as intangible. The challenge that these agencies have in legitimising their offerings is to position social media much more closely in line with broader corporate objectives. There is also a need to be honest, in that every company will not benefit from throwing itself into using each social media platform that comes along. Agencies must be willing to take the moral high road if they are to maintain long-term credibility.

And for individuals? Well, I wonder if there is a dawning of an era of the more discerning social media user. Whilst I suggested above that some people might turn away from the "noise", I believe others will see this as part of trial and error in emerging technologies and will instead start to better tailor their use of these platforms to their own needs, picking and choosing what they use and who they follow to best ensure satisfaction at the level and quality of information they receive.

F. Stokes - a legend in the making

There are some people that make an impact on you quickly and somehow maintain a degree of longevity in your field of vision. Rodney Lucas, aka F. Stokes, is one such person. He is charming, a true gentleman and, above all, an emerging talent on the hip hop scene. That is not to say he is in any way new to the 'game'. Rather he has been working hard for many years and is slowly getting the recognition he deserves.

Stokes and I first met in a bar in New York some years ago; early January about four years ago I guess. He was a friend of a friend of a friend, and we all hung out and had some beers and talked about music, as music lovers are prone to do. At the time I was producing and presenting and online radio show via the University of Edinburgh's "Fresh Air" station and lined-up a phone interview with Stokes for when I got home. It wasn't the best phone line, and maybe the production side of things wasn't as good as it could be if I'm honest, but it was a good interview. Here was a US rapper on an Edinburgh-based online radio show, discussing how he was working with an Australian music producer/DJ. It was very global, very digital, and reflected how a new generation of artist would start using social media to develop their fan-base. We played some of Stokes' tracks (or Flukie Stokes as he was then known), including a rap over an instrumental of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley - the first track to go to number one on the UK charts predominantly through digital sales and one of the drivers for Stokes to choose that track.

Some years later, during a period of personal boredom and a frustration at the fact that I was no longer producing and presenting a radio show, no longer DJing, and no longer promoting any events, I found myself looking Stokes up online and discovering that he had a new album available to own via iTunes. "Death of a Handsome Bride" blew me away. The production was amazing (courtesy of Lazerbeak), and the rapping was far more honed than it had been a few years earlier. I found myself making comparisons to Kanye and Jay-Z as I listened and I maintain a belief in those similarities to this day. I got in touch with Stokes shortly afterwards and expressed admiration for his album and an eagerness to put on a show or two when he finally came to the UK. It turned out he'd been very busy touring around the States and Scandinavia. In fact, he is fairly relentless in terms of his work, constantly touring, making videos and fresh songs. In recent months he has opened for acts such as Del the Funky Homosapien and Talib Kweli, and has just returned from a trip to Paris where he opened for The Clipse.

Now I'll confess to having failed to find the funding to get him over to the UK for a series of tours and, quite frankly, can't afford to put on more than one or two from my own pocket. However, I hope he'll get to these shores soon and I hope to be able to get involved. A quick YouTube search will show you just how good a performer he is and I strongly recommend you check out his album.

In the meantime, you can see an interview with him on web-based YRB TV.

Climate Change

Whilst the issue of climate change is an issue regularly making its way into the media as a point of discussion (or contention), the next week will see the international press, broadcast and web-based media reporting incessantly on the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Naturally, the reported leaking of emails which suggested that climate change statistics had been manipulated (something which will now apparently receive an independent review) adds more fuel to the fire. It seems particularly bad timing that this comes out now, which may well suggest that some organisations opposed to stricter controls on emissions, or perhaps those organisations that make their money from fossil fuels, are seeking to discredit next week's discussions. If that is the case, then their PR people deserve a bonus for the amount of coverage this issue is getting!
Anyway, my good friend Iain Keith arrived there last night as a Global Campaigner for the Avaaz organisation. Although Iain could explain better than myself, Avaaz seems to utilise the internet to connect people on political issues, such as human rights or the environment. It then uses its members to help build campaigns which are targeted at political leaders around the world.

Iain and I chatted briefly on some of the issues earlier and came to agreement, which I will try and get down in words...

Climate change activists should stop focusing on convincing people that climate change is 'real' and that humans play a role in this change. That is not to say that these messages aren't important, rather perhaps it is now time for the scientific community to discuss and validate these 'claims'. Instead, the focus should be put on the economic benefits that a shift to researching and developing renewable fuels and general 'green' living would enable.

We are in (or coming out of, depending on your views) a recession that will continue to impact the 'average man on the street' long into next year. There are millions of people without jobs in the UK alone and things are likely to get harder for our graduates (all those that couldn't get jobs after graduating in the summer will be joined by thousands more in 7-8 months).

Now, I don't claim to be an economist and I am sure many of my friends could join the dots a bit better than me but, if you can harness an argument that says to world leaders:

"Guys, there is now a latent industry that has sprung up around climate change. You see those guys outside with petitions?
They all have jobs because of this issue.

Have you heard of a Toyota Prius?
Now that clearly wasn't made because it is fast or sexy. People spend thousands on that junk because they care about the environment. More than that... they care what people think and that they should care about the environment!

Have you seen all those wind farms popping up everywhere?
I'm guessing someone had to design those, build them, put them up and somehow capture the power and sell it. And it hasn't exactly had a negative affect on the oil price has it?!

Have you ever read a CSR report?
Companies are bending over backwards to show everyone how environmentally responsible they are. There are even organisations that consult on how you should best do that and other organisations trying to develop generic assessment and reporting mechanisms. That means there are jobs there that simply didn't exist a few years back.

Do you get it?
Climate change is real! Whatever the science says, there is an industry there to support the widely held belief that this stuff matters. We can't take away from the fact that people will keep investing in this stuff at a personal or corporate level so, instead, let's jump on the bandwagon.
Let's stop arguing about bottom line emission targets in isolation and ascertain what these targets might mean for positive growth and employment if managed effectively."

I'm guessing I wouldn't be described as cynical if I was to say that, if there's money to be made, people will get behind a shift to developing new technologies, alternative fuels, and sustainable living. It's just about finding the argument that spells out to key decision makers how they can capitalise on this stuff. Then it won't just be publicly listed companies that are expected to put out CSR reports but perhaps countries too.

Why would I want to 'blog'?

I looked at my blog today, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the lack of activity and posts in recent times. It would be fair to say my interest in having a blog has waned.

I used to think of a blog in two ways. Firstly, blogs are a platform for self-expression. In this day and age, having become accustomed to the wonders of the internet and 24/7 communication habits, we all expect to have a 'voice'. Naturally it doesn't mean that anyone wants to listen (or read in this case), and in many cases we find ourselves adding to the vast amount of useless information that has come to clutter the web. However, as some people have proved, there is interest in finding shared points of view or engaging in discussion through the 'comments' box.

Secondly, I thought blogs were a useful showcase. When I was looking for work, particularly copywriting work, a blog helped supplement my CV. It helped show more about me and my personality, and it helped showcase my writing ability (or perhaps lack of!), and my interest in a diverse range of topics. It also pointed to the fact that I was 'up on' web 2.0 trends and eager to engage new technologies.

But my blog, like many others, has become something very different. Rather than encouraging others to engage with my thoughts and content and rather than being dynamic, it has become dormant.

One of the reasons for this is that most of my thoughts and experiences related to corporate communication are directly linked with my current job. I have no interest in openly discussing the communication strengths and weaknesses of 'my' company in the public sphere. As Corporate Communication Manager it wouldn't set a very good example!

On the other hand, status updates on Facebook allow me to quickly share a message with my extended friends through a more 'in your face' platform. The thing about Facebook and Twitter is that you can overtly promote something, albeit briefly, rather than having to build any kind of loyalty. People log on and your status is right in front of them unless they particularly want to hide it.

Today however, my faith in blogging has been restored.

A friend and colleague of mine approached me on the question of blogs. He has been involved in launching a new graduate fast-track scheme in our company, meaning that he and five others will soon embark upon an intense international development programme. To share the experiences, ideas, concerns and questions that they will all be having, my colleague thought a collaborative blog would be the answer.

We had a chat and I set him up with a blog immediately, to tweak before the graduates arrive later this month.

A collaborative blog seems to make so much sense. It will be private (though we might open it up later or use excerpts for our staff magazine), but will have a loyal contributor/reader base from the outset. We can tie it in with a shared Flickr account and bring a degree of interactivity and visibility to their experiences and the company as a whole through the pictures the grads will take across our operating countries. It will also prove to be a retrospective resource as we look to further hone down the programme and perhaps general inductions to the company.

The growing number and success of sites that are, at heart, a cross between digital publications and collaborative blogs (albeit with a limited number of authors), show that this model can work. If you start with a group of people with a shared interest and a commitment to quality, then you can use the blog concept to create something useful and informative. Sharing the 'workload' means you can strive for something dynamic through regular updates. Newsletters can add the 'push' aspect to remind people and can be much more effective than RSS feeding.

Naturally many of these things have a shelf life but, for the moment, I am reminded how powerful simple and free tools available online can be for specific personal and business uses. In fact, it is where personal and business needs collide that we witness the greatest success in these technologies.

Van Morrison at the Royal Albert Hall

Rather than taking time out from work to write my own review of the excellent concert I attended on Saturday night, you can read someone else's:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article6128843.ece

Notes from CIPR Internal Communications conference

Employee communication in times of change - 29th September 2008

The last conference that I attended was an international academic conference I helped to organise some two years ago at the University of Edinburgh. The “evolutions” conference was certainly interesting, with a diverse range of people presenting a diverse range of topics. Perhaps that is only to be expected at a post graduate conference related to the School of Literature, Languages and Culture. By comparison, I attended my first business-focused conference on the 29^th September which I also enjoyed.

The CIPR’s (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Internal Communications conference was enlightening and, in a sense, reassuring. It was interesting to hear actual case studies from specialists and practitioners the sector, but it was as interesting to hear the challenges that delegates are facing in their work over coffee. Whilst the delegates that I spoke to came from smaller organisations or ran their own consultancies, they were all there to hear how other people are ‘doing it’. As it turns out, we all seem to be facing a similar array of issues and I think we could all relate to aspects the specific case studies.

Of the speakers presenting on the day, two stood out to me in terms of the communication challenges they have been facing.

Matthew Hall, Global Communications and Public Affairs Manager at GE Oil and Gas, spoke about growth through acquisition and the requirements for effective internal communications during this change. In the course of Matthew’s presentation it became clear to me of the need to consider communication or mass induction plans for any acquired workforce and an understanding of related requirements when embarking on joint venture projects. Certainly though, we need clear communication plans to welcome, induct and essentially convince people that it is a good thing to work at any given company.

In the course of any acquisition programme GE Oil and Gas organises a Welcome Day, essentially a celebration day creating an opportunity to communicate further with the whole company and to ensure that the change is seen as a positive thing. From what I understood this almost acts as an upbeat town hall-style meeting perhaps alongside some other innovative events. This is the culmination of a complete communication plan for the acquisition.

Anne Eriksen, Global Head of Internal Communications at Maersk Line, talked about the ongoing efforts to streamline and restructure her organisation in collaboration with a specialist project group including, I believe, one or more external consultants. Essentially the company was no longer performing efficiently, with product and service offerings not meeting customer needs, and acquisitions hiding the fact that they were losing clients. Restructuring and redundancies were to follow, alongside the development of greater visibility in KPIs and other targets across the company. This culminated in the development of a video game-style visualisation that showed different business units or areas as ships in a race. Those in front represented the business units that were achieving their performance targets. Those not achieving their targets can be quickly identified, with supporting data provided through the inbuilt ‘dashboard’.

One of Anne’s key messages related to the importance, as an internal communicator, of working closely with the project team that was set up to streamline the company. Only by having a complete understanding of what was going on could she effectively communicate progress across the organisation and ensure that their efforts and planning took current communication practices and ‘the way things are done’ into account.

At this conference, as in recent books and articles on internal communication, much was made of the role of storytelling during times of change or uncertainty. However, we must remember that storytelling also has a place during those times when things are ‘normal’. It is important to ensure that we begin to celebrate the stories and people that are ‘living’ in line with a company’s ethos, core values, or culture.

Some other, albeit less structured thoughts came to mind in the course of the day but I will not bore you with those here. However, there were two figures which I will share that arguably point to the varying importance corporate communication plays in different organisations.

Firstly, Camden Council has 3 people (deemed to be a ‘small department’) dedicated to internal communications for a workforce of 6500 people.

GE Oil and Gas has 13 communications people (including some strategically placed to ‘give the pulse’ locally) for a workforce of around 12,000 people.

There seem to be many discussions going on across forums and blogs as to the autonomy of communications departments and practitioners within organisations, who they report to, where should they 'sit', and whether or not they have the clout to get things done. Obviously these issues can be complicated (or simplified!) further when an organisation outsources some or all of its communication activities. These differences are unlikely to be resolved but, as Leandro Herrero suggested at the conference, there is always the scope for communications practitioners to make a difference without begging for greater budgets or larger teams. Instead the process of coordinating, streamlining, and evaluating communications can, theoretically, be achieved by viral means.