Today we’re going to attempt to get ahead of the Q4 rush with a few solutions to improve your performance, appearance, managerial skills and tan line. To keep things brisk and perky, we’re going to solve looming dilemmas with a few keywords and how they will remedy everything that might blow your way across October, November and December. And worry not, you’ve got the best possible guide.

1.
It’s three weeks from now and you’re feeling a bit flat – partly because your days are spent in Glasgow or a similar latitude, and partly because you’re feeling a bit baggy and shaggy. Two words to improve your mood and appearance: Isto and Bento. To pull all of this off, we need to add Lisbon to the mix, because you’re going to have to travel to Amoreiras Shopping Center and book yourself in at Bento for a shave, trim and buff on both your nails and loafers. We have sampled our share of barbershops across Europe but Bento is a proper haven for classic cuts and basic-but-essential maintenance. I took colleagues Raffi and André there this week and they became instant converts. Then we went up a level to Isto for a peruse of its new range of made-in-Portugal, all-wool running gear – impressive stuff. Isto has made a name for itself with its range of quality basics but now it’s elevating the offer ever so slightly with some sharper styles.

2.
You’ve got the cut and the duds but you’re feeling a bit pale and the tan line is fading. What now? I say head straight to the Praia Princesa beach club – just 30 minutes from Amoreiras. Start with a caipirinha and some shrimp tacos, slip into your trunks and then hit the waves. As bracing Atlantic beach set-ups go, it’s hard to beat. Better yet, you can enjoy sunny, 25C days even in December.

3.
Like you, your colleagues also need a little end-of-year pick-me-up in the form of long walks, yummy food, excellent wine and fireside chats. An inspiring setting would also help. How about taking them to São Lourenço do Barrocal in Alentejo? As retreats go, it’s at the top of its game and will soon gain a sibling on the coast. It also works equally well for couples and families.

4. 
The countryside is all well and good for a staff reset but how do you get them to keep that spring in their step and ensure that they do so with a bit of sway and swagger? Book a table at fancy Cantonese joint Frou Frou at 21.30, ensure Kiera is performing and let the evening run its course. Pay close attention to the speed at which the whole place functions and the hip moves of sommelier Gonçalo.

5.
To ensure that everything stays fresh when you’re back at base – as the days continue to get shorter and the mornings nippier – arm yourself with the new body wash and cologne that we developed with Claus Porto (see launch photos below). Soleil Zeste is hitting stores now to keep your mood warm, happy and sunny.

Enjoying life in ‘The Faster Lane’? Click here to browse all of Tyler’s past columns. 

Following the success of their Parisian-style fine-dining restaurant Misera, Yasmin Weyn and Nicolas Misera decided to open another space just a few metres away (writes Femke Vandevelde). Named Bar Misera, the duo’s second venture is a more casual offering. “We missed a place that we’d actually want to drop by on a day off,” says Misera. “No reservations, no rules – just vibrant food and exceptional wine.”

The wine list, curated by ever-enthusiastic Belgian sommelier Trésor Vets, features more than 350 bottles, pairing Misera’s love for classic European bottles with Vets’s fondness for South African vintages. Weyn, a flea-market aficionado, has poured her heart into the space. Think soft half-curtains and 19th-century worktables set to the tune of French chansons in the background.

The menu, conceived by Misera, features soulful dishes such as grilled bone-in fish, veal-head croquettes and spring lamb stew. Not hungry yet? No need to hurry – the kitchen stays open until 23.00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
barmisera.com 

British restaurateur Daniel Willis is one of the masterminds behind Italian restaurant Luca in London’s Clerkenwell. He also co-founded The Clove Club with Johnny Smith and the duo have now launched hospitality group Smith & Willis. Here, he chats to us about his late-summer jaunts, his jazz playlist and how he uses up his leftover greens.

Where will we find you this weekend?
I am currently on a family holiday in a crumbly château on the outskirts of Nantes. It’s heavenly.

What’s for breakfast?
I often make eggs on a Sunday, usually scrambled, and lots of coffee. Sometimes we get pastries from Toad Bakery in Camberwell.

Lunch in or out? 
We typically have dim sum as a family on a Sunday. Dragon Castle in Elephant and Castle is a staple. It does really good pork puff pastries and a fried cheung fun that is also rather naughty.

A Sunday soundtrack?
Sunday is as good as any to listen to jazz. A lot of great spiritual jazz has been released recently. I’m enjoying Orbits by The Circling Sun. It sounds like a lost David Axelrod album.

Sunday culture must? 
The South Bank is hard to beat, especially around the Royal Festival Hall and the National Theatre. On a sunny evening, it feels like Barcelona at its best.

What’s on the menu? 
If I cook on a Sunday evening, it’s usually a pie. We get a vegetable box and often don’t get through the greens. I’ll throw those into a puff-pastry crust with stilton, along with some oven chips and a zingy salad.

Sunday evening routine?
If I’m lucky, I’ll sneak off to my studio, aka ‘The Shed’, where I have my record collection.

Which brands are you wearing at the moment?
I am two metres tall, so it’s often hard to find clothes long enough for me. But I love Universal Works and Pendleton.

To hear more from Willis, tune in to episode 701 of ‘The Entrepreneurs’ on Monocle Radio. And for insights from industry experts and hospitality heavyweights, pick up a copy of ‘Monocle: The Entrepreneurs’, our annual business special.

Korokke – Japanese potato croquettes – typically contain meat, seafood or vegetables. Here, Monocle’s Japanese recipe writer has created some with pumpkin and cheddar cheese. Serve with a fresh cabbage salad for some crunch.

Makes 4 ‘korokke’, serves 2

Ingredients
800g-1kg pumpkin
½ tsp sea salt 
2 large pinches of freshly ground black pepper 
40g cheddar cheese, roughly grated per korokke
60g plain flour 
1 medium egg 
60g Panko breadcrumbs, for coating
250ml of vegetable oil, for deep frying
Tonkatsu sauce, to serve

Method

1.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the pumpkin into halves or quarters, depending on its size. Roast for about 30 minutes or until the flesh is soft enough to scrape out. Once cool enough to handle, remove and discard the seeds and fibrous flesh. Scoop out the pumpkin flesh and weigh 400g for the recipe. Discard the skin. 

2.
Roughly mash the pumpkin; it doesn’t need to be completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and mix. Divide the mashed pumpkin into 4 portions and shape into flat oval patties (approximately 3cm thick and 10cm in diameter).

3.
Create a small dent in the centre of each patty. Place 10g of grated cheddar cheese in the middle and enclose the cheese fully within the pumpkin mixture.

4.
Prepare three separate plates: one with flour, one with beaten egg and one with panko breadcrumbs. Dip each pumpkin patty into the flour, shaking off any excess. Next, coat the patty thoroughly with the beaten egg, allowing any excess to drip off. Finally, press the patty into the panko breadcrumbs, ensuring it is evenly and fully coated on all sides.

5.
Heat a cup of vegetable oil in a deep pan to 160C. Gently slide the korokke into the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes per side or until they are golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to lift the korokke out of the oil and drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

6.
Serve the pumpkin-and-cheese korokke warm, accompanied by tonkatsu sauce.

Mabrouka means “blessed” in Arabic – and stepping through the heavy, carved wooden doors of Villa Mabrouka, it’s clear why Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé chose it as the name for their Tangier retreat (writes Florian Siebeck).

Perched just outside the kasbah and gazing over the Strait of Gibraltar, the 1940s property became the couple’s summer refuge after they bought it in the 1990s. “Saint Laurent wanted Villa Mabrouka to echo the elegance of his childhood home in Algeria,” says British designer and hotelier Jasper Conran, who acquired the house after the couturier’s death and has spent years restoring it as a 12-key hotel. “It is glamorous in its purity and simplicity – a Mediterranean house with the gentle nuances of Morocco.”

Conran paired the villa’s whitewashed walls with a dash of British eccentricity in the form of velvet slipper chairs and Roman busts. Staff glide through the rooms in Conran-designed uniforms, serving a market-fresh Mediterranean menu from seafood bouillabaisse to crisp fritto misto. It’s a subtle reminder that at Villa Mabrouka, blessings can be plated too.
villamabrouka.com

The Alps might not be known for hot sauce but South Tyrol’s aptitude for winemaking translates surprisingly well to a creative supply of condiments (writes Claudia Jacob). Stuzzi’s creators have plenty of industry experience: US vintners Carla and Richard Betts teamed up with Singaporean chef Ethel Hoon and South Tyrolean chef Jakob Zeller of Restaurant Klösterle in Austria’s Zug valley.

The result is a streamlined bottle containing dried Calabrian chillies, distilled vinegar and a pinch of salt. Stuzzi also neatly sidesteps brash hot sauce branding to channel the refinement of Italy’s most elegant province. 
stuzzihotsauce.com

Hungry for more? Pick up a copy of Monocle’s October issue, our annual Style Special. Have a super Sunday.