Win a £50 meal at Brighton Moshi Moshi

Right, since it's nearly Christmas and we know that all our www.visitbrighton.com visitors love competitions, (because you keep telling us!) we thought we'd get a new one up in a frenzy of festive yule tide spirit.

So in celebration of the Japanese Year of the Ox (ushi) in 2009, we've teamed up with the restaurant Moshi Moshi to give away a £50 meal per week during the whole of January!

Yes, we did say a meal a week!

Voted one of the Top 10 restaurants in the UK by the Independent, Moshi Moshi offers fresh, handmade sushi and an authentic approach to Japanese dishes. Winner of the Green Apple Award for the Environment and RSPCA Award for Animal Welfare, its got a brilliant ethical approach too!

Visit the VisitBrighton competitions page to enter.

Good luck!

Sarah

VisitBrighton

The Science of colour

We've been thinking in terms of colours a lot recently at VisitBrighton. Last week we had a day out of the office to do something called Prism training which is a form of profiling, the idea being to develop a better understanding of your own character traits as well as your colleagues to ensure you have the best possible working relationship. As you may have guessed the training is based on colours, and there are four main groups:

This is an example chart but I will try and summarise the main points for you. Green represents creativity and ideas; Blue is empathetic, emotional and supportive; the Red area indicates drive, determination and ambition and the Gold area (which looks Orange but it's meant to be gold) is someone who is highly analytical and precise. For the most part people are flexible and can flit between all four, however if you have a score of 75 or above (the outer edge of the circle) in any of the four areas then this is what you are most comfortable with and dictates how you will react under pressure. To be honest I'm not entirely convinced how useful this will be in day to day life, however it was a good day out and it was interesting to see the results which I have to admit were pretty accurate for everyone.

The other reason we have been thinking about colours is that it is just over a year since we launched the VisitBrighton brand and so we have been having an internal review to see if everyone has been sticking to the guidelines. You can download the guidelines and find out more about the branding work through our website but I thought as I was writing about colours today I would just mention our colour palette:

These colours were chosen as they best reflect the identity of the city - Magenta as it symbolises culture, femininity and health; Purple reflects royalty, spirituality and sophistication; Cyan because it represents the sea and sky and it is calming, and finally Black because it is timeless and stylish. These colours should be used in all of our Marketing activity, not all together but one could be used as a background colour in an advert or to highlight a piece of text. The colours are used in our logo and you can see on the homepage of our website that the menu tabs go through the spectrum from Cyan to Purple to Magenta. But which colour would you use, what colour do you think of when you think of Brighton & Hove?

Charlotte

Christmas Artists Open Houses

As our marketing manager fled wildly to Woolworths at lunchtime to bag a bargain in the china ware department, we started talking about the 'tragic' demise of this longstanding British retail institution.

Whilst it is undeniably a bit sad, let's face it, it is ONLY a SHOP! It's not exactly up there with the Greek tragedies is it! Although, admittedly, the queues were of rather Epic proportions...

Anyway, if all this 'Wooly's talk and battling with the festive masses in the 50% off crushes are proving a little bit too testing for your festive spirit, why not try the Brighton Christmas Artists Open Houses?

A lot more laid back but still great value, they're a really great twist on the traditional Christmas shopping.

Offering an exceptional mix of art and handmade goods, the houses are open for the first two weekends in December (6-7th and 13-14th) and offer up over seventy houses crammed with all kinds of unusual and beautiful gifts. As well as paintings and sculpture, most houses offer a wide range of ceramics, jewellery, textiles, lighting, furnishings, cards and a variety of Christmas decorations.

For details on the artists and items available in each house, simply pick up a brochure from locations around Brighton, or visit the website at www.aoh.org.uk.

Or if you have an opinion on Wooly's, feel free to share it! I mean it will leave an awful big gap on Western Road!

Sarah
VisitBrighton

The Chilli Pickle wins hot award!

The Chili Pickle is one of Brighton's newest restaurants but they are already making a name for themselves as their chef Alun Sperring has just won the XXX mints Can You Handle the Heat competition for his Oxtail Madras.

This is a fiercely contested national competition so huge congratulations to Alun. Personally speaking it sounds like it was also a victory for common sense as one of the other competitor's dish included a pepper that was 100 times hotter then a Jalapeno and the judges could barely manage one mouthful and have advised that it should not be served in restaurants, which I can't qutie see the point of.

Whereas The Chilli Pickle use local Sussex produce and while their dish was hot it was also packed full of flavour, so a well-earned win there for Alun. Therefore next time you are visiting Brighton make sure you pop in and try some award winning curry.



To find out more about the award check out the video on the BBC website

Charlotte

Film in Brighton

I watched the film Genevieve again last night. I do love it. It's one of those old British gems I just can't get enough of. It's just so funny and depicts the battle of the sexes perfectly. If you've never seen, check it out - I don't think it will disappoint! If you want to own a copy, it's available to buy on the VisitBrighton Eshop.

As you probably know, it's all about 2 couples who indulge in a race against one another in their respective 'old crocs' on the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Great fun. And if you're interested in Brighton's film history, you might also like to check out our Brighton on Film page.

Following on from this I then found a great film on You Tube showing the Veteran Car Run from the 1950s - its well worth a look if you like a bit of nostalgia. And it reminded me of Genevieve too!



And if you love film, don't forget it's the Brighton Cinecity Film Festival at the moment. Loads of lovely filmic fare to get you going. I actually won 2 tickets to see a Polish film last night and the office rudely suggested I was probably the only person to have entered. What a load of old heathens.

Has no-one else seen the Dekalog or the Three Colours Trilogy!? They are just the most fabulous films (oh alright, you may need to be a teensy weensy bit art housey to like them!)

Happy viewing...

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Brighton is the top destination for young people

I don't know about you but I'm not very good with cold weather, in fact I would like to hibernate but as I can't I resort to wearing umpteen layers including some gorgeous thermals and basically just whinge, moan and be miserable. However there will be no whinging from me this week as we've had some news that has helped to warm the cockles...

Brighton & Hove has just been named the Best Destination for Young People at the British Youth Travel Awards, wahoo and hooray to us! Organised by the British Educational Travel Association (BETA), the awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of outstanding companies and individuals operating within the youth travel market.


In case you are wondering the happy chappie clutching the award is our Marekting Manager, John, and he certainly is pleased :)

Charlotte

Romance in Brighton

As I mentioned last week that I was compiling a list of the Top 10 romantic things to do in Brighton & Hove, I thought it only fair that I share the results with you. Oh and thanks to Baroque for the image, the ring is called 'Hook my Heart'

1. Impress your lover with a cultural treat by booking a box for two at the Theatre Royal Brighton to see the classic Swan Lake


2. Nothing is quite as sensual and romantic as a massage, apart from a joint massage at The Treatment Rooms complete with soft music and candlelight


3. Hire a moped from Vroom by the Sea and pretend to be Jimmy and Steph from cult classic 'Quadrophenia' as you zoom along the seafront


4. For a special treat for Valentine's night visit erotic boutique She Said, need we say more…?


5. Get wet and wild at ORB360 as you roll down a hill in a 12ft orb filled with 30 litres of water


6. Oysters are well-known for being an aphrodisiac so a meal at Riddle and Finns Champagne and Oyster bar will get temperatures rising!


7. If you feel taking a dog for a walk is too passé then how about taking a llama out instead? Couples can take a special Valentine's Day walk at the Ashdown Forest Llama Park


8. If you fancy a trip to the movies but are worried about getting a numb bum then take your loved one to the Duke of York's as they have cosy sofas for two so you can snuggle up and enjoy the film in comfort


9. For those whose sweetheart has a sweet tooth to match Scoop & Crumb has the answer as they have a special Sundae menu with 50 varieties to choose from so you might decide to have a Pink Lady and a Bachelors Kiss or you might prefer to share a Really Fruity Sundae


10. If all this talk of romance has made you think about popping the question or if your lover just can't get enough bling then visit Baroque Bespoke Jewellers

If you are planning a break then see our Romantic Brighton section for my Top 10 tips on where to stay

Charlotte