Arts & Culture
Originally published on Monday, 8th September 2014
The Culturist: Septmber
September, as always, comes with a packed schedule. From new restaurants, hotels and bars to London Fashion Week and Design Festival, this month is a busy one. Our top picks of the month run from everything from grill rooms, dessert bars and sea containers, to shopping in Shoreditch and pop up houses in Trafalgar Square. Plus, there’s crazy golf and an Anna Nicole Smith opera. See you in October.
EAT: COLONY GRILL ROOM AT THE BEAUMONT HOTEL
End of September Brown Hart Gardens, Balderton Street, W1K 6TF
nother month, another hotel launch, and this September we welcome The Beaumont (aka Corbin & King’s first hotel), and with it, their restaurant. Departing from their usual theme of grand European cafés for an early 20th century American grill room – Colony Grill Room, to be precise – expect transatlantic cuisine of steaks, oysters and ribs in an opulent setting, complete with stained-glass roof lights, red leather banquettes and Art Deco décor. And if you’re after a cocktail, head next door to the American Bar for some martinis and an old fashioned.
SHOP: GOODHOOD STORE
Now open 151 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE
Cult east London Goodhood store has upgraded to flagship status with a move to Curtain Road. The new, double-storey 3,000-square-foot space has retained all the Goodhood essentials with cult fashion and lifestyle brands (Junya Watanabe, Wood Wood, Comme des Garçons and Opening Ceremony collaborations…) but with the added feature of Commune, a new café on site by Brett Redman of Elliot’s and Pavilion Café. Expect a simple menu of sandwiches, salads, and, of course, artisanal coffee beans. ‘Tis east London after all.
DO: SWINGERS: CRAZY GOLF
September 25 7-11 Hearn Street, EC2A 3LS
We’ve done bowling, ping pong and even spun around a roller rink. Now it’s time for some miniature golf action. Enter Swingers, an east London 7,000-square-foot warehouse that's been transformed into a nine-hole golf course complete with a 1920s clubhouse bar and terrace. Come here for a round of golf but stay for the après activities supplied by street vendors (including Patty and Bun, Hix’s FishDog, When Mac Met Cheese and Pizza Pilgrims), cocktailers and the dance floor. We don’t know much else except to expect ‘Great Gatsby’ meets ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ with a twist of ‘Bugsy Malone’ – see you there!
SEE: LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL
September 18 – 22 Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN
LDF is back and as always, expect a pick-n-mix of design happenings across the capital. There’ll be installations across the city (look out for the Crest by Zaha Hadid), sleek and fashionable lifestyle product lines (Yohji Yamamoto’s Urban Nomad) and exhibitions (Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture). However, our top pick comes unexpectedly from Airbnb and their landmark project in Trafalgar Square, ‘A Place Called Home’, comprising four pop-up 'houses', all identical on the outside but different on the inside. An inspiring insight into the possibilities of spaces.
DRINK AND DINE: MONDRIAN LONDON
September 30 20 Upper Ground, SE1 9PD
This September, the Southbank is where it’s at, with two hot openings – a bar and restaurant – both under the roof of the highly anticipated Mondrian London. Ryan Chetiyawardana (of the White Lyan) will be bringing his brand of experimental drinks via Dandelyan. Drinks are divided into four categories: ‘cereal’, ‘vegetal’, ‘mineral’ and ‘floral’. Next door, Sea Containers, the restaurant headed up by chef Luke Rayment (previously at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s) is part of the ‘farm to table’ movement. Expect organic and locally sourced produce, with the menu divided into ‘small’, ‘raw’, ‘vegetables’, ‘large’, and ‘family style’ plates in the sea-liner inspired interior.
SEE ||: ANNA NICOLE
September 11 - 24 Tickets £5 -£70 Royal Opera House, Bow Street, WC2E 9DD
Anna Nicole Smith, we miss you. Sex, celebrity and scandal: she was one sassy bunny. And now, thanks to the Royal Opera House, we get front-and-centre seats to her tragicomic life. From a small-town waitress to stripper, Playboy model and wife of octogenarian billionaire – all told through flamboyant scenes and sparkles – this is definitely one for opera rookies.
IBIZA: MAMBO IN THE MIX
September 9 C/ de Vara de Rey 3 07820 Sant Antoni, Ibiza
If you're in Ibiza tonight, there's only one place you need to be - Café Mambo. Here you'll see top DJs behind the bar mixing drinks, while you try your hand on the decks, all in the name of charity. Drop by from 7PM- 11PM to test their skills (we say order something complicated!), then donate LARGE! Check out their instagram to see some of the DJs who will be slinging drinks and if you can't make it, you can donate to the Red Cross here: www.mambointhemix.org. See you there!
LISTEN: RAGE ON GOLD
Click here, it’s fun!
Get into some pop-tastic tunes this September with RAGE on GOLD and their first single, Kick Flips.
