Weekend roundup for 18 September
Includes dog selfies, glowing condoms and fish tattoos.
đŁď¸ When a statement from Westminster Council starts with the words âWe remain committed to...â you can bet that whatever it is theyâre talking about is very unlikely to happen. And so this week we said âarrivederciâ to the Oxford Street piazzas. âHaving listened to residents and reviewed the cost effectiveness of the proposal for a pilot for the Oxford Circus piazzas,â reads the councilsâ statement, âwe have decided that itâs better to move forward with a focus on permanent schemes.â The temporary âpilot piazzasâ were supposed to go ahead later this year, but the council has now said that theyâll focus on âpotential permanent schemes for piazzasâ instead.
đĽ As the bi-annual Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair began at the ExCel this week, the Guardian reports that six of the nations who have sent delegates to the arms fair are listed by the Foreign Office as âhuman rights priority countriesâ. They are: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, and Iraq.
đ§ď¸ On Monday it rained a bit (about 25mm fell) and parts of the tube flooded, along with Tower Bridge. The Standard spoke to a hyrdrologist (they âstudy the impact of rainfall, rivers and waterways on the environmentâ) about why London seems to flood at the drop of a hat these days (the answer is, essentially, weâve paved over more of our gardens and rainfall is getting more intense).
đď¸ As we mentioned in Wednesdayâs issue, the plans to build âa five-storey office and shopping mall on a car park,â at the Truman Brewery were approved this week, despite objections from residents and business owners âwho are concerned that introducing a large commercial scheme will change Brick Laneâs character and that the new office space it provides will not be affordable to local businesses.â
đ The mayor has backed proposals for the government to introduce a âCovid recovery visaâ to try and fill some of the vacancies in âsectors with serious shortagesâ. There is an existing Youth Mobility Scheme, which gives under 30s from Australia, Canada and New Zealand the right to work in the UK for two years, so Sadiq has âcalled for a similar reciprocal arrangement with the EU.â
đ Khan also announced this week that all new TfL buses in London will be zero-emission. TfL already has 950 zero-emission buses âon the road or on orderâ but this announcement means theyâre pulling forward their commitment âto deliver a 100 per cent zero-emission bus fleet in London by three years, from 2037 to 2034â.
đ While weâre on the subject of buses: TfL just released its latest data for bus fatalities (thatâs a direct link to the spreadsheet by the way). The data shows that, in the past six years, three people were found dead by a driver who was âchecking the bus at the end of the routeâ, i.e nobody noticed the dead person while the bus was driving around with passengers on it. The last time this happened was October 2020, on route 266.
đ˘ Companies are starting to rent office space in London again. Property agent CBRE did one study that shows âthe amount of central London office space signed for has reached its highest monthly figure since the start of the pandemicâ (although the August figure of 815,700 square feet is still well below the pre-Covid monthly average of 1m square feet), and Savills have also come out with some numbers that say âcommercial space requirements in London stand at a three-year-high of 10m sq ft, up 41 per cent from last yearâ.
đ¨ The Guardian ran a column this week on why the Met commissioner job is such a âpoisoned chaliceâ and why appointing the next commissioner from outside the Met (which is apparently the plan) is probably not a great idea.
đ¨âđłď¸ First dubious âsurveyâ of the week comes from âhome appliance company Zanussiâ who have ârevealedâ that âthereâs a generation of âLittle Chefsâ on the rise in London, with children as young as five helping to cook family meals.â Apparently half of 5-11 year olds have âlearned to cook a meal in recent monthsâ which is handy for Zanussi, as theyâve just launched an âonline cooking course for schools in London⌠designed to get children excited about food and learning how to cook healthy and nutritious recipes.â
đ This weekâs second unscientific survey comes from online beauty store Cosmetify, who have âdiscoveredâ that London is the âmost expensive place to date in the UKâ. Apparently, the cost of âtwo cinema tickets, a restaurant dinner for two, a pint of beer, a cocktail and a taxi fare within a five-mile radiusâ is more expensive in London than anywhere else in the UK. And they needed a survey to tell them that?
đś From next Wednesday Leadenhall Market will be home to Dogstagram, âthe UKâs first ever pop-up photo station exclusive to dogs.â There will be four free photo stations with themes including âJurassic Bark, Flower Pooch Patch, the Toy Box and Puparazzi Readyâ.
đĄ The Times have published an article (paywall alert) with the headline Confessions of a millennial whose dad bought her a flat in London, which sounds like the worst bawdy 70s sex comedy ever.
Art and culture bits
đ¨ The Royal Academyâs (delayed) Summer Exhibition opened this week and itâs already got great reviews. The lowest rank so far is the Standardâs three stars, but The Times gives it four stars, and the Guardian goes one better with five stars, saying that this yearâs coordinator, British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, has managed to uncover ânew worlds of talent and imagination. He makes you see with new eyes.â
đ Amy Adams will make her West End debut next spring in a revival of Tennessee Williamsâ The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of Yorkâs theatre. Previews for the play start on 23 May 2022, but tickets are already on sale.
đ The Battersea Arts Centre has launched its autumn programme and it includes Little Wimmin (âa live art, feminist âadaptationâ of Louisa May Alcottâs classic novelâ), We Are As Gods (a âlarge scale immersive experienceâ that puts some of the UKâs mostâŻexciting dance talent âin a maze of rooms, rooftops and secret stairwaysâ); and The Interrogation (which takes you âon a GPS-guided walk through the streetsâ to discover what happened to Charlene, a woman who has âdone something terribleâ). Worth noting that BAC has a âPay What You Canâ scheme for all its shows.
đď¸ The Design District (above) has officially opened. The development, which is on the Greenwich Peninsula, is made up of 16 buildings âwith two buildings each designed by eight different architecture studios.â As none of the architects were able to see what the others were designing, the resulting cluster is very mixed. Dezeen quotes the Districtâs director as saying she wants visitors âto feel that they're not in Kansas anymore; that they've stepped into somewhere distinct from the surrounding city.â
đ Itâs Nice That has been to take a look at Lunch, Erica Eyresâs piece for the London Design Festival, âa collection of food sculptures celebrates immigrant contribution to Park Royalâs food industry.â The collection of ceramic sculptures was created âin partnership with food distribution charities in a nod to their tireless efforts throughout the pandemic and through history.â
đ London Fashion Week started yesterday and as part of it âcult Camden storeâ Cyberdog has created an âimmersive virtual reality experienceâ that theyâre calling âthe worldâs first 24-hour virtual reality shopping experience based on a real-life shop.â If youâve always wanted a box of Cyberdoggy glow-in-the-dark condoms, but been too embarrassed to buy them in the store, nowâs your chance.
đś Amy Winehouse (who would have been 38 this week) is getting a new exhibition in her honour at the Design Museum. Amy: Beyond the Stage, which opens in November, will include âpreviously unseen personal items, including her teenage notebooks, photographs and handwritten lyrics.â
Food and drink bits
âď¸ Although al fresco dining in Soho ends this month, outdoor eating will continue in Covent Garden. Westminster Council have extended the outdoor dining scheme in Henrietta Street, King Street, Maiden Lane and parts of Southampton Street. A scheme in St Johnâs Wood will also be extended. Earlier this week, hospitality staff from businesses across Soho gathered âto create an artificial canopy using umbrellas as part of an ongoing campaign to extend the areaâs alfresco schemeâ (above).
đ Camdenâs Hawley Wharf just opened its doors and thereâs some pretty good places to eat in there already, including BBQ specialists Hotbox, Chinatown legends Bun House, dim sum from BaoziInn and a cafe from French pastry chef, Philippe Conticini.
đ La Cave is a âwine bar, pop-up space and incubator kitchenâ that is taking over the space in the basement of the Hoxton Holborn hotel, where Chicken Shop used to be. The space will get host a variety of chefs and restaurants, with the first resident being former Pachamama chef Adam Rawson, whose Cantina Valentina âwill feature a range of dishes inspired by Peruâ.
đĽ An old Italian restaurant on Roman Road by Victoria Park, has been turned into âan atmospheric Stateside-dive-bar mixed with added East London attitudeâ. The Bourbon, which opened on Wednesday, is well named as the place offers 40 varieties of the stuff (including some rare 23-year-old bottles) which you can sip on on while you gnaw on some barbecued brisket, ribs and burnt ends.
â To celebrate their first UK opening today, Poke House on Portobello Road is bringing in tattoo artists for todayâs launch event where customers can be inked âwith California-inspired designs for freeâ. And if you agree to get a tattoo of Poke Houseâs logo (and sign a waiver saying youâre of sound mind and body) then youâll receive âfree poke for lifeâ (actually âlimited to four times a month, over a five-year periodâ).
đ˝ď¸ The FT has spoken to Jesus Adorno, who was Le Capriceâs âlegendary maĂŽtre dââ for forty years, about why he made the move to Charlieâs, in Brownâs Hotel, a place which is aiming to be âthe Establishment lunch spot in Mayfair.â
đ The FT is also the publisher of this weekâs âbest of listâ thanks to their pick of the ten most delicious restaurants to see and be seen in this Fashion Week. Just donât try and walk into Maison François, wearing this sleeveless neon tech vest from Cyberdog.
Long read of the week
Sean OâHagan reviews Michael Bracewellâs new book, Souvenir, for the Guardian: âA shifting, impressionist narrative made up of recalled moments, places and encounters in the now impossibly distant London of the 1970s and 80s.â
