Weekend Roundup for 16 October
Includes bulbous cupola, the return of Cock, and wine for breakfast
đ The Night Tube is coming back... Sort of. Sadiq announced on Thursday that the Central and Victoria lines will get a 24-hour weekend service again from 27 November. TfL have also said that the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines will run Night Tube services âas soon as practicableâ.
đ Following the publication of City Hall data, which showed that âBAME Londoners and those in poorer areas were more likely to suffer the effects of poor air qualityâ the Centre for London think tank has told the mayor and TfL that the Ultra-Low Emission Zone expansion (which comes into effect later this month) isnât enough. They want London to âadopt a pay-per-mile road user charging scheme which would deliver cleaner air, increase walking and cycling, and reduce congestion, as well as provide a substantial income stream to help plug TfLâs finances.â
â˝ Before people drive anywhere theyâll need to get some petrol. A tenth of fuel stations in London and the southeast are still dry according to the Petrol Retailers Association, and station storage tanks âwere an average of just 27 per cent full in Londonâ as of the end of last week.
đ Thereâll be no New Yearâs Eve fireworks display again this year. Sadiq has called off the riverside display for the second year running because of âuncertainties caused by Covidâ. There will still be a celebration in Trafalgar Square apparently, but no details yet on what that might involve.
đ Back in our 3 July Weekend Roundup we told you about the Solohaus project to build 200 modular homes to house rough sleepers. Well, the first 33 of these âpodsâ have been built on disused land on Ermine Road in Tottenham and Time Out has been to have a look inside them. Apparently the first pod residents will move in by the start of next month.
đĄ We may need more than 200 though. It was reported this week that London is at the âepicentre of the housing crisisâ as we have around 250,000 people on council house waiting lists right now and new research reckons that number could double by next year.
𧟠And while weâre on the subject of pods⌠One has appeared on the top of Tobacco Dock this week. The âbulbous cupolaâ on the Wapping skyline comes courtesy of Alexander McQueen who installed it to host their Spring/Summer 2022 fashion show. Apparently the giant bubble âsimultaneously shut off and exposed its guests to the outside world, encouraging them to reach out and touch the crisp city skylineâ.
đ In our September 4 Roundup we pointed you to two long reads about the 320-year-old Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City and the two enormous towers that were planned to be built next to it. We say âwereâ because The City of London has just refused permission for the redevelopment of a 1960s office building on Bury Street into a 48-storey tower that would have âloomed overâ the 18th century synagogue.
đď¸ And talking of the sky failing to get scrapedâŚ. The Spire was supposed to be a 67-storey âShard of Canary Wharfâ, but since work began all the way back in 2014 theyâve barely made it above ground level and now it looks like it wonât ever get finished. The land is owned by a Chinese real estate developer called (confusingly) Greenland and China is cracking down on overleveraged builders.
𪣠As if Facebookâs year wasnât bad enough already, now theyâre facing strike action from cleaners in their London office. The Cleaners & Allied Independent Workers Union will hold a ballot this month to decide if they go on strike later in the year due to âimpossibleâ workloads, which have reportedly caused âexhaustion, severe back pain, stress, deteriorating mental health and, in one case, internal bleedingâ.
đ˛ Siona Jones has written an article for the FT (paywall alert) about her âjourney from two-wheeled commuter to Lycra-clad obsessiveâ and shared some of the London cycling routes and clubs that got her there.
đ żď¸ A 2.5 x 4.2 metre car parking space opposite Harrods has gone on sale for ÂŁ250,000. Not sure what else to say about this if weâre honest.
Art and culture bits
đ Mike Bartlettâs play Cock, was a big hit back in 2009 when it ran at the Royal Court, but it never made it to the West End. In March of next year though Cock comes to the Ambassadorâs Theatre and stepping into the shoes of Ben Whishaw and Andrew Scott are Taron Egerton and Bridgertonâs Jonathan Bailey (with support from Jade Anouka and Phil Daniels). The new production runs from 5 March to 4 June and tickets are on sale already.
đ The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition opened at the Natural History Museum yesterday and it looks like theyâve put together another incredible show. If you want to see the winners of each of the categories, the BBC has the rundown including the overall winner featuring some âexplosive sexâ.
đ¸ Jay-Z has been in town for the Frieze art fair. Apparently he was spotted down at Pace, the âinternational mega-galleryâ in Hanover Square, where he was admiring work by Brooklyn-based artist Torkwase Dyson.
đŞ If youâre looking for something to do with the kids this half term then the Pop-Up festival might be your answer. Running from 23â31 October, Pop-Up London is âa free festival of culture featuring family-friendly outdoor performances across the centre of the cityâ. Performances include âhip hop dance acts, musical comedy, storytelling, puppetry, circus skills, magic shows and many more.â
đ¨ Architectural and design mag, Spaces has been to the David Zwirner gallery in Mayfair to take in their âtriumphant retrospectiveâ of work by Noah Davis (above), âthe Los Angeles-based painter who died in 2015 at the age of 32 from a rare cancer of the heartâ.
đˇ The Kingâs Cross Then And Now photo exhibition has been launched to mark âthe 10-year anniversary of the rebirth of Kingâs Crossâ. Being shown across âthe art benchesâ around the area, the exhibition shows how Kingâs Cross has changed over the years. Itâs on until until December 1.
𦩠The Secret Museum is a âspecial hidden museum that will tell you stories of homelessness, once you find it.â Created by the âcommunity driven social justice museumâ, The Museum of Homelessness, Secret Museum will open on 27 October for 11 days only and will use âobjects and stories from activists, community organisers and people who live at the sharp edge of inequalityâ to tell the story of âwhat really happened to people on the margins in the pandemic.â More details here.
Food and drink bits
đ If you somehow missed the story this week of Elizabeth Haigh (the Masterchef winner who opened the Singaporean restaurant mei mei in Borough Market a few years ago) and the accusations of plagiarism that have been levelled against her new cookbook, then Eater has an excellent rundown of the whole thing as well as a broader look at what happens when âmemories and stories attached to recipes become the currency of representation in the cookbook worldâ.
đľ The reviews are coming in for Trattoria Brutto, Russell Normanâs new place, and so far theyâre pretty great. Hot Dinners calls the deep-fried dough-balls with prosciutto and stracchino cheese the âperfect snack foodâ and the 1kg âbehemothâ of grilled T-Bone (a Florentine special called âbisteccaâ) looks amazing despite the ÂŁ82 price tag. The Standard calls it âglorious, determined and one-of-a-kindâ and you donât want to look at Eaterâs photographs of the place if youâre anywhere close to hungry.
đˇ People who enjoy drinking wine before lunch, rejoice! Gordonâs legendary Beaujolais Nouveau breakfasts are back this year. From 8 until 11 (thatâs in the morning, just to be clear) you can get a full English, coffee, orange juice, and âof course this yearâs Beaujolais Village Nouveauâ all for ÂŁ21.50. Plus, unusually for Gordonâs, you can book a table.
đŤđˇ Sticking with the theme for a second: The Guardianâs Jay Rayner thinks itâs âeasier to find terrific French food in London than it is in Paris.â And he doesnât stop there. he also claims he finds Italian restaurants here better than those in Rome, and good tapas is easier to come by in London than in Barcelona.
đĽ It looks like the Trocadero might finally be getting its long-promised rooftop bar. The TAO group have been talking about installing something up there for ages, and this week they produced a bunch of drawings and details of what theyâre calling âone of Europeâs largest rooftop bar and restaurantsâ which will have space for a 1,000 people (it is a pretty big roof after all).
đŚ Hot Dinners has been to 'test driveâ the Seafood Bar on Dean Street, newly arrived from Amsterdam, and they came away pretty impressed by the âhuge seafood plattersâ (both hot and cold versions) on offer.
𼪠As far as back as April we were writing about the unstoppable expansion of Greggs. Back then we were reporting on the arrival of half-a-dozen more outlets in the capital, but now it looks like weâll be getting a few more. âWe are coming into London with renewed vigour,â said bakery boss Roger Whiteside this week, and as theyâre looking to open 100 new stores this year across the country (and they only have 19 in London right now) you can bet weâll get our fair share of them.
đď¸ While we were away last week the Worldâs 50 Best Restaurants list was announced, but we didnât miss much because there were only two London restaurants on it ! The Clove Club came in at number 32, and right behind it at 33 (and also in Shoreditch) was the Michelin-starred Lyleâs. Itâs all quite boring really.
Long read of the week
Movie Maker talks to Edgar Wright and the cast of Last Night in Soho about how the areaâs changed over the past few decades, and the âyoung woman tries to make it in the big cityâ films from the 50s and 60s that inspired the film.