Latest news with #Michele
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
World's best pizza chef reveals ‘horrendous' ingredient he'll never use
Welcome back to What's Cooking, Metro's food series where we find out exactly what's going on behind the scenes in the nation's kitchens. This week we're rifling through Michele Pascarella's kitchen in London, to find out what he really has in his cupboard, fridge and freezer. Michele is the owner of Napoli on the Road with pizzerias in Richmond and Chiswick which were crowned the best in Europe in the 50 Top Pizza Awards 2024. And if that weren't enough, at the age of just 33, Michele has been named the world's best pizza chef. The chef, who hails from Naples, has been making pizza since he was just 11 years old and realised very quickly that it was his calling. Aged 19, he came to the UK and began working in various restaurants, including Sartori in Soho, before finally setting up his own business selling wood-fired pizza from a van, hence the name. If you've ever wondered where a top chef goes to eat in the city, their kitchen must-haves and what they actually cook for dinner after work, we've got the answers… Lots of people might think the ingredients are the secret, but from my point of view it's that I never stop learning. I'm always trying to get better. Learning is key in any job, because if you keep working hard every day then you'll get better and better. And it's important to learn from those around you, when you work with new people, they'll have something to each you – whether it's a new chef in a kitchen or a new waitress in a restaurant, you can always learn something. At Napoli on the Road we get a lot of questions about chicken and pineapple, but I don't like to put these things on pizza. If we were going to do a dessert pizza, I might put fresh fruit on it, but the idea of opening up a tin of pineapple and just slapping it on a pizza is horrendous. In Italy we used to eat lots of chicken, but that was always with a main, so we'd have it after some pasta and do grilled chicken and potatoes, or something like that. We'd just never think about putting chicken on a pizza. Cooked meat can also be tricky as a topping, as it can be very dry and when you're putting it into the oven, it'll be even worse. I'm working so much in the restaurants and see so much pizza every day, so when I go out, I try to go to a regular restaurant instead of a pizzeria. I love Dalla in Hackney, which is an Italian restaurant, and I discovered a new one near Queen's Park called Ida – it's very good. If I were going for pizza, there's a place in Stoke Newington called Oi Vita, it's run by a friend of mine and he's doing more classic Neopolitan pizza, more Roma style. I like that it's very crispy. Sometimes I don't get home from work until 9pm, so I'm tired and don't really want to cook dinner. I just go and buy bread, or get some from my restaurant, and toss it together with some olives and cheese. It's not really very Italian, but I love garlic powder. If I need to cook any chicken, I'll use it and some chilli powder as well to season the meat. I always have tomatoes in the fridge and I'm very lucky because I can buy lots of them from Italy and they're very, very good, especially the San Marzano ones. I use them to make my favourite dish in the world, which is pasta pomodoro (pasta with fresh tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, basil, and salt). There's lots of bread in there, as I don't want to throw away anything. And I always have a box of Parmesan rinds. In Italy, we cut a little piece off the big wheel of Parmesan and when we do pasta with lentils, pasta with potatoes or soup, we put this inside to make it more cheesy. You don't defrost it, just put it straight in there. I really hate the little bags of mozzarella in water you get at the supermarket. Cheese, for me, needs to be quality and those little balls of mozzarella don't taste of anything, it's better to do without. I get lots of cheese from Italy, but I do really like the cheese shop in Neal's Yard and there's a very good one in Borough Market. It's fun trying new cheeses on my pizzas. It's also very important to have good olive oil. If you're doing toast with ham, or a salad, or you want to finish some spaghetti with some extra virgin olive oil it has to be good, because if not it'll be too bitter and ruin it. I've spent £27 on a bottle of olive oil before. I never buy expensive beer, but I like to have some at home. I'm not a big drinker, so I love the Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%, it's always welcome in the fridge. I really love Greek salads. I've always got some Feta cheese and some vegetables to make it and the veg coming up from British farmers is amazing, sometimes even better than from Italian lands, to be honest. More Trending I've also been enjoying fresh strawberries and cherries while they're in season. View More » Want to take part in What's Cooking and let Metro raid your kitchen at home? Email Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ MORE: 100ml liquid limit set to be scrapped for flyers across Europe MORE: The one drink you should never order from a restaurant wine list MORE: Londoners outraged over 'stupid' new charge being added to restaurant bills Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
Metro
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
DJ dies ‘after being beaten by cops' at Ibiza party when police were ‘called ove
A popular Italian DJ who performed around the world died after allegedly being beaten by cops at a house party. Michele Noschese, known as DJ Godzi, was just 35 when he was 'assaulted' by cops at his home during a late-night party in Ibiza. The Italian DJ had been living in Ibiza for the last 10 years and was well-known on the island, performing frequently at music events in London, Paris, Barcelona, and New York. He died Saturday morning, and Spanish authorities are investigating his death, which was announced by numerous friends and online electronic music pages. Michele was reportedly holding a party at his home when neighbours called the Civil Guard over the loud noise. The DJ clashed with several officers and was allegedly beaten, according to several witnesses, before his body was taken to the morgue. The authorities are waiting for the post-mortem results to establish his exact cause of death. Michele's family has reportedly requested an independent forensic medical report, and Italian politicians are demanding answers. Fulvio Martusciello, MEP for the Forza Italia political party, said: 'We want to know the truth about Michele Noschese's death. 'We want to understand what happened and what the Civil Guard's responsibility is. The sudden death of a young, successful and well-liked Neapolitan, an internationally renowned DJ, cannot remain in the shadows.' Techno-house music label Moon Child shared photos of Michele and wrote: 'We are truly saddened by this news. Michele had a kind heart and was part of the Mood family after releasing his track 'Love This Game' on Mood Edits.' Michele previously said his passion for music began when he was just 15, and he went to live in London before later moving to Ibiza. 'I tell any young DJ to work hard from morning to night in front of the PC to compose electronic music,' he said. His death came on the heels of other recent deaths in Ibiza. More Trending Brit Gary Kelly, 19, died in a fall from the third floor of Ibiza Rocks Hotel in San Antonio in the early hours of Monday morning, according to police. Ibiza Rocks in Spain has suspended its events after a teenager became the third British tourist to die there this year. Gary's death came after Evan Thomson, 26, from Aberdeen, fell and died at the same three-star hotel at a belated birthday celebration on July 7. And on April 30, a 33-year-old British woman collapsed and died in her room there. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Trans senator says 'f*** Rowling' and openly breaks Supreme Court toilet ruling MORE: Mum-of-six reserves sun beds then leaves resort to go shopping and get breakfast MORE: Swimmers flee in terror after woman suffers wound from mystery creature
NZ Herald
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
The Good Life: Presents of greatness
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Sqweaky: She of the magnificent whiskers. Photo / Greg Dixon Greg Dixon is an award-winning news reporter, TV reviewer, feature writer and former magazine editor who has written for the NZ Listener since 2017. Come July, it is always the same: what the hell should I buy myself for my birthday? The Victorian artist and poet William Morris famously said, or is said to have said, that one should have nothing in one's house that one does not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. With this as my creed, I have given myself, at various times, a chainsaw and a book about firewood. I will leave it to you to decide what category those fell into. This business of self-gifting has arisen not because I do not trust Michele to get me something beautiful or useful for my annual celebration of not dying for another year. It's just that for one birthday about a quarter of a century ago she bought me a deep fat fryer. I was not sure, and remain completely mystified, what this said about me. Was I oily? Was I hot? Did I smell of chips? We used the thing, which looked like a toy version of what you encounter at a dodgy suburban fish and chippy, only once. It required what seemed like 40 gallons of cooking oil, splattered hot grease about like some sort of weapon of mass destruction and left Michele, the cat and the house smelling of chips, just like me. The deep fat fryer eventually went to the tip, but not before I had quietly determined that it might be best for me to buy my own gifts then give them to Michele to give to me, like the aforementioned chainsaw and the book about firewood. But not this year. This year, I couldn't think what I wanted, other than a bit of peace and quiet and a lunch involving more of the delicious dumplings they serve at the White Swan in Greytown. Fortunately, Michele had an idea – a secret idea. When our old cat Arnold died back in 2010, we commissioned the Auckland artist Kirstin Carlin to paint the dear dead fellow. Pretentious? Pas nous! Anyway, Kirstin's study is a wonderful, amusing work, a bright oil that she decided to paint in the style of a Hans Holbein the Younger portrait of Henry VIII. Though Arnold is now 15 years gone, he continues to be present in our lives because he hangs in the dining room in an enormous gold frame. And just like when he was alive, he appears to spend his days considering whether we should keep our heads. Michele's secret idea for my birthday this year was to commemorate Sqweaky, who we lost in February, with a similar memorial, this time a sculptural ceramic by her friend, the Auckland artist Bronwynne Cornish. To arrange it, I understand a series of secret squirrel phone calls took place over several weeks, usually after I had gone to bed. Cunning! Actually, given my bedtime is similar to that of a preschool child's, it wasn't as difficult as it might sound. Come my birthday I thought, after I'd unwrapped it, that the highlight this year was a little book titled Twelve Poems About Chickens. They are all odes to how beautiful but also how maddening chooks can be, with my favourite a rant about a rooster from one Sir Charles Sedley (1639-1701), titled On A Cock At Rochester: 'Thou Cursed Cock, with thy perpetual Noise/May'st thou be Capon made, and lose thy voice/Or on a Dunghil may'st thou spend thy Blood/And Vermin prey upon thy craven Brood …' Quite right, Sir Charles, quite right. However the Cursed Cock with his perpetual noise was not the highlight after all. That was inside a box couriered from Auckland. We have a number of Bronwynne's pieces about the house, but the one I will now treasure most of all is her wonderful and playful ceramic of Sqweaky, something that is beautiful, but also useful, at least for me. I think, should I be spared, I will leave my birthday gifts to Michele from now on.
New York Post
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Jalen Green's model girlfriend, Draya Michele, opens up on blockbuster NBA trade and the ‘scary' part of relationship
Jalen Green wasn't the only one going through their first NBA trade when the Rockets sent the 23-year-old guard to the Suns as part of a seven-team deal in exchange for forward Kevin Durant earlier this month. His girlfriend, Draya Michele, and their 1-year-old daughter, Lyght Green, were by his side as the family spent their offseason in Los Angeles. 'Well this was my first time experiencing a trade,' Michele, 40, told The Post in a wide-ranging interview on behalf of the 2025 Jeep Grand Wagoneer campaign, WAGS in Wags. 'I just think, you know, as his girlfriend, my main responsibility is to support him wherever we were going. Advertisement 5 Jalen Green and Draya Michele attend Audemars Piguet's special evening with Vogue to celebrate 150th Anniversary on May 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images for Vogue 'I always make the jokes with him and tell him, 'I don't care what city you're in, we could go to hell and play for the hell… and I'll go with you, as long as I have a good SPF… it doesn't matter where we are, if we have each other we'll make the best of it.' It's really just putting families together with their dream cars and making things convenient and also luxurious.' Michele — a model, actress and designer — has two sons, Kniko, born in 2002, and Jru, born in 2016, during her relationship with former NFL player Orlando Scandrick. Advertisement 5 Jalen Green #4 of the Houston Rockets dribbles the ball during the game against the Denver Nuggets on April 13, 2025 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NBAE via Getty Images The Mint Swim USA founder, who recently became an investor in Sereniby, said she and Green weren't disappointed when they found out they were heading to the Suns after being at the center of trade rumors for weeks. They're currently house hunting in Phoenix and enjoying the city, but 'we haven't yet decided on one,' said Michele. 5 Draya Michele supporting boyfriend Jalen Green in her court side seat at a Rockets game during the 2024 season. Instagram/Draya Michele Advertisement 'Luckily [Phoenix] is an amazing city,' she said. 'We were not disappointed with Phoenix at all. But I just need to be supportive of him and of the change and then just try to make things as smooth of a transition [as possible] for him, and not stressing him out with the worries of moving and all that. 'He's not gonna have to lift the finger. I'll handle all of that so that he can just relax and play basketball. Once he gets there, he won't have anything else to worry about. And that's just really what I try to focus on: keeping things convenient and easy for him.' Private life Michele and Green, who were first linked in August 2023, have largely remained private about their relationship. A month after welcoming their daughter last May, Michele told TMZ that they 'block out' negativity online and that it's 'kinda weird' that some people care about their 17-year age gap. Advertisement They revealed their daughter's face publicly for the first time in a Father's Day fashion campaign with Burberry last month. 'I remember we were sitting like in a living room and Jalen goes, 'I just posted [the campaign].' And I was like, 'What? We were supposed to talk about this first,'' Michele said. 'It was scary, it was exciting, but now a big weight off my shoulders because I don't feel like I have to like hide her and be as secretive as much now. The cat's out the bag… and I don't have to worry about if other people are secretly recording her if we're in a restaurant or you know something like that. I'm way more relaxed now as a parent.' 5 Draya Michele modeling one of her Mint Swim USA bikinis. Instagram/Draya Michele Michele rose to fame from reality TV, joining the first season of VH1's 'Basketball Wives LA' in 2011. She left the show at the end of fourth season in 2015 to pursue acting and her swimwear line. The influencer has developed a thick skin with 9.3 million followers on Instagram, and more than 98,000 followers on TikTok. 'I mean, you try to get to that point [where you don't give a f–k], but I mean you're still human and you still have feelings,' Michele said of critics online. 'Sometimes, you know you can read things that are hurtful and you want to just let it roll off, but it doesn't always work like that. It also depends on what type of day you're already having when you read the message… I take it because it comes with it, with the limelight, like I said. But I'm human and I have feelings.' WAG Life Advertisement Many women across multiple sports leagues have attested to the hurdles of being a WAG, saying it requires a lot of sacrifice, living long distance sometimes, traveling and missed milestones, such as holidays and birthdays. Another side of it entails receiving unsolicited opinions from others and scrutiny from the public — especially when their team is losing. 'It's definitely a club,' Michele said of being a WAG. 'It's definitely like very cliquey. … I mean, of course, I'm happy to be part of any women who are into supporting their men because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about — making sure our spouses feel great and they're taken care of.' 5 Draya Michele arrives at the GQ Men of the Year Party 2023 at Bar Marmont on November 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images for GQ Advertisement Michele said she's looking forward to creating more memories in Phoenix, where she will likely be courtside to support Green, just as she did in Houston. Green is one of the best young guards in the league. He will add an offensive footprint to a Suns team that's looking for a new identity after losing Durant and Bradley Beal, who reportedly agreed to a contract buyout with the Suns on Wednesday to sign with the Clippers. Green averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest — while shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point range — in 82 games for the Rockets last season. Advertisement Green, the second overall pick by Houston in the 2021 NBA Draft, entered the league after playing the 2020-21 season with the NBA G League Ignite. The Jeep Wagoneer WAGS in Wags campaign celebrates the intersection of iconic vehicles and renowned women featuring the premium SUV lineup alongside wives and girlfriends of superstar athletes.
Time Out
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
L.A. is home to two of the most beautiful outdoor cinemas in the world, per ranking
Out of all of the beautiful places to catch an outdoor movie on this planet of ours, two are located in Los Angeles—or so says, uh, us. Yes, Time Out editors have recently ranked the best outdoor cinemas in the world, spanning Cannes to Cape Town to Cumbria to, yes, California. And in a movie-loving town like Los Angeles, few things bring Angelenos more joy than cozying up with fellow film lovers for a fun movie under the stars. But it certainly helps when that outdoor movie is enjoyed in a setting as sumptuous as what's onscreen. Out of 30 of the world's most stunning alfresco cinemas on Time Out's list, Los Angeles is home to two, and one cracked the top five worldwide. Coming in fourth place is Cinespia, a local favorite that hosts dazzling screenings around town at Rose Bowl Stadium, the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles State Historic Park and, arguably most stunning of them all, the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Now, hanging out in a cemetery to watch Romy and Michele's High School Reunion might initially seem strange but set on the large Fairbanks Lawn and projected directly onto a mausoleum, it proves to be a truly picturesque spot to, well, catch a picture. Every summer, Cinespia shows classic movie favorites in the same resting places of hundreds of Hollywood stars and musicians including Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield, Johnny Ramone, Bugsy Siegel, and Rudolph Valentino. Bring a picnic, including your favorite wine, or purchase food onsite before setting up camp with blankets, pillows, and low chairs. Stay for the live DJ set after the movie, a perfect wind-up experience inside this cemetery founded in 1899 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 23rd spot on Time Out's list sits Los Angeles' Rooftop Cinema Club, a flawless place to snap 'ussies' with your partner in front of the L.A. skyline before the movie starts. See cult classics as well as new releases at this outdoor venue that got its start in London and has evolved globally to rooftop locations all across the US. There's a bar and lounge, plenty of noshes and nibbles, and wireless headphones that deliver the best high-tech sound. You'll just have to choose between an Adirondack chair or loveseat.
