Arts & Culture
Originally published on Friday, 3rd June 2016
The Culturist: June
June. The start of summer and the open-air culture calendar. From epic outdoor slides to the annual Serpentine Pavilion, it’s officially time to get out and about. Plus, we have a new open air beach club, a new seaside restaurant, ice cream sandwiches and some fresh Ibiza recipes to cook up. Have fun!
VISIT: XIRINGUITO TAILS
For an English seaside break, the only way is Margate. Aside from The Turner Contemporary and Dreamland, there’s now Xiringuito, the new seaside restaurant by friends Conor Sheehan and chef Jackson Berg (previously of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, St. John Bread & Wine, and Bistrotheque) that has put Margate well and truly on our summer radar. Moments from the sea, the menu may have a serious side (think chicken and razor clam soup, brown shrimp on duck fat toast and curried crab burgers), but it’s the playful dessert of ice cream sandwiches, tacos (chili chocolate taco, anyone?) and donuts in experimental flavours that has us upping sticks.
BOOK: OLLIE DABBOUS AT SOTHEBY’S
June 10, 11 & 12, £250 per person including wine, 31-33 St George Street, W1S 2FL
Great food paired with…great art. That’s the concept behind Ollie Dabbous’ pop up in Sotheby’s. Over three days, the New Bond Street Galleries will host ‘The most wanted chef in Britain’, to coincide with the launch of their Modern & Post-War British Art pre-sale exhibition. The six-course menu by the Michelin chef will boast not only specially sourced British ingredients but it’ll also mirror the colours, forms, subjects and stories featured in the exhibition… making it almost too good to eat.
DO I: VAUXHALL ART CAR BOOT FAIR
June 12, 12pm-6pm, Entry is £5, Brick Lane Yard, E1 6SE
The Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair is back! And, like previous years, you can expect a stellar line-up of established and up-and-coming artists (Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk, Sir Peter Blake and Pam Hogg to name but a few) selling their original artworks out of the back of new and vintage Vauxhall cars. Though this year, there will be a few twee activities thrown into the mix — finger food, quirky circus acts and magic tricks — in honour of the Queen’s 90th.
COOK: 'EIVISSA: THE IBIZA COOKBOOK’ BY ANNE SIJMONSBERGEN
Sure, in recent years, there has been a surge of big bill Michelin chefs planting their flag in Ibiza – but really, when it comes to the White Isle, it’s all about traditional farming, fishing and fresh and seasonal dishes. Now, you’ll be able to have a crack at some of the flavours with the new cookbook Eivissa. Written by Anne Sijmonsbergen (a cook and organic tomato farmer) we’ve already earmarked the chicken with roasted figs and grapefruit and juniper-encrusted pork salad.
DO II: CARSTEN HÖLLER AND ANISH KAPOOR’S SLIDE AT THE ARCELORMITTAL ORBIT
June 24, To ride the Slide, you need to buy a £5 Slide ticket in addition to a ticket to the ArcelorMittal Orbit, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 3 Thornton Street, E20 2AD
The “Willy Wonka of contemporary art”, Carsten Höller is up to his playful tricks again. As of June 24, thanks to the Stockholm-based Belgian artist, you’ll be able to slide down Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit. The slide will be the world’s tallest and longest tunnel slide, so expect to twist, turn and corkscrew, hitting speeds of up to 15 miles per hour—all in the name of art.
EAT: BAO FITZROVIA
Still queuing for Bao Soho? Good news, they’re set to open their third site in Fitzrovia. And, even better news, the space will be bigger and so too the menu. There’ll be a new selection of sharing dishes, with many of them cooked on a charcoal grill; think quail stuffed with pig’s blood, ox heart with Schezuan dressing, and cuttlefish squid and sausage with XO. Plus, rice bowls will feature heavily and there’s a much bigger drinks menu, which includes cocktails, wine and most interestingly milkshakes (in flavours such as papaya, almond, toasted rice, and banana with condensed milk).
SEE: THE TATE MODERN SWITCH HOUSE
June 17, Bankside, SE1 9TG
The Tate Modern has had an extension, a £260 million extension, to be precise. Wander the new 10-story brick ziggurat Switch House, starting from the power station’s former oil tanks on the ground floor up to the viewing gallery on the tenth. And once done exploring the various nooks, crannies and industrial vast spaces, refuel in the new 100-seater Switch House Bar and Switch House Restaurant, which promises to be a destination in it itself.
PARTY: COCOON ON THE BEACH
338 Boord Street, SE10 0PF, 1pm-6am, From £25
Having just partied with our toes in the sand at Studio 338’s brand new open air beach installation for the Sankey’s takeover, we’re now set to do it all over again, this time with Cocoon on the Beach. And the same applies: sand, wooden decking, cabanas, beach bars, hammocks – but, with the Cocoon family.
DO III: SERPENTINE PAVILION
June 10- October 9, Free entry, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA
Nothing signals the start of summer like the opening of the Serpentine Pavilion. Opening this week, the ‘unzipped wall’ outside the Kensington Gardens gallery will, like previous years, house a café with free activities by day and by night host the ‘Park Nights’ programme of performative works by artists, writers and musicians. But new this year are the four summer houses inspired by the nearby Queen Caroline’s Temple. Check it out.
