What To Do This Weekend 02.02.23
SUPPORT A GOOD CAUSE:
Fair Shot Café
Fair Shot, the social enterprise café that provides training and employment for young adults with learning disabilities, has relocated from Mayfair to The Yards at Covent Garden. The larger site means the team can train more young people with disabilities and help them find a job in the capital, from other hospitality roles to employment in corporate offices. Visit the new café for Curious Roo coffee and all-day brunch options like overnight oats with caramelised pear, sultanas and honey; portobello mushrooms on toast with creamed spinach; and roasted beetroot salad with feta, radish and walnuts. There’s also a selection of freshly made focaccias, toasties and salads.
3 Slingsby Place, Covent Garden, WC2E 9AB
Visit FairShot.co.uk
DISCOVER BRITISH ART:
Centre for British Photography
The Centre for British Photography is a new exhibition space and gallery on Jermyn Street. The private gallery – which is free for all – features 3,000 works from the collection of Claire and James Hyman and is now the world’s largest gallery dedicated to British photography. Built up over the past three decades, the collection features over 100 artists including Bill Brandt, Martin Parr, Jo Spence, Karen Knorr, Jo Spence and Heather Agyepong. There’s also an exhibition space in the basement featuring documentary photography of British life.
49 Jermyn Street, St James’s, SW1Y 6LX
Visit BritishPhotography.org
RICHARD HULBERT SMITH
CATCH A CLASSIC:
Carmen at the London Coliseum
Calixto Bieito’s acclaimed and fiery Carmen returns to the London Coliseum this month for its third revival since it was first staged more than a decade ago. One of the most popular operas ever written, it features Bizet’s recognisable score with dramatic numbers including ‘Habanera’ and ‘Toreador Song’ – all performed by the English National Opera. As the famous story goes, Carmen is a woman ablaze with passion and surrounded by men possessed by obsession and jealousy. One of opera’s most well-known characters sets herself on a road to tragedy when she meets Don José, a corporal in the army searching for love. Tickets start from £10.
St Martin's Lane, West End, WC2N 4ES
Visit ENO.org
DREW ECKHEART
GO OUT OUT:
Café 1001
Brick Lane’s Café 1001 always attracts a cool crowd, so we were pleased to hear it has reopened after a revamp. The same buzzy atmosphere has been turned up a notch with the addition of a killer sound system, a custom-built DJ booth and an exciting line-up of DJs. Head into the main bar – with its striking new red design – to enjoy live music and browse street food pop-ups (exact names will be announced in the coming weeks). On Friday 3rd February, deep house and soul DJ Millie McKee will take to the decks, before Voices Radio hosts an all-dayer on Saturday 4th February from 4pm. Tickets are free.
1 & 2, 91 Dray Walk, Brick Lane, E1 6QL
Visit RA.co
SET YOUR GOALS:
Roxie Nafousi Manifest Workshop
If you want to start manifesting to achieve your goals this year, self-development coach and manifesting expert Roxie Nafousi is hosting a workshop to teach participants her seven-step approach through various coaching exercises on Sunday 5th February. Whether you’re looking to make changes in your life or elevate your everyday routine, the workshop includes a meditation session to ‘raise your vibration’, followed by a Q&A session. Tickets cost £79.50pp.
Alexandra Palace Way, Alexandra Palace, N22 7AY
Visit AlexandraPalace.com
COREY YOUNG/UNSPLASH
GET YOUR CULTURE FIX:
Piccadilly Piano Festival
Listen to a range of world-class pianists and up-and-coming musicians at the Piccadilly Piano Festival. From Friday 3rd to Thursday 23rd February, the festival will showcase artists from different musical backgrounds, across genres from classical and jazz to electronic music and alt pop. Musicians including John Grant, Nadine Benjamin and Melvyn Tan will perform on the famous Fazioli grand piano at St James’s Church in Piccadilly. Don’t miss the performance by Jools Holland (Friday 17th February at 7pm), who will be joined by singers from the UK’s leading alternative choir.
197 Piccadilly, St James's, W1J 9LL
Visit SJP.org.uk
REBECCA DICKSON
TRY NEW FLAVOURS:
Treats Club x Cocotte Donut-Croquettes
East End dessert bar Treats Club has teamed up with restaurant mini-chain Cocotte to create a limited-edition molten donut-croquette hybrid, filled with gooey gruyere cheese, truffle and chives. Available at Cocotte’s Shoreditch restaurant until Sunday 12th February, the donuts are served with a pot of house relish and roast chicken gravy. Keep your eyes peeled for Treats Club’s first permanent dessert shop opening on Hackney Road next month.
8 Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, N1 6NU
Visit MyCocotte.uk
PLAN A FUN DATE NIGHT:
Comedy Nights at Aquavit
Nordic-inspired restaurant Aquavit has launched comedy nights on Fridays – and the first show takes place this Friday (3rd February). Guests can enjoy a three-course menu consisting of dishes like pan fried scallops with burnt leeks and dill, fillet steak with chanterelle mushrooms and red wine jus, and Daim bar parfait with almond tuille and chocolate sauce. Guests can then head upstairs to the Stockholm Room for comedy from 9pm. Over the next few weeks, expect to hear from comedians like Paul F Taylor, Pete Selwood and Ignacio Lopez. Tickets cost £80pp.
1 St James's Market, St. James's, SW1Y 4QQ
Visit SevenRooms.com
SEE AN IMPORTANT EXHIBITION:
Ukraine Photographs from the Frontline
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shocked the world last year. But for those living in Donbas and Crimea, the prospect of war has loomed since 2014, building to a conflict that has become one of Europe’s most devastating since World War Two. This new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum features photographs taken by renowned photographer and journalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind during her time in Ukraine between 2014 and June 2022. They document the devastating reality of living in this part of the world. Tickets are free.
Lambeth Road, Elephant & Castle, SE1 6HZ
Visit IWM.org.uk
JEFF EDEN
GET LOST IN NATURE:
Kew Garden Orchid Festival
Kew Gardens has just opened its annual orchid festival at its Prince of Wales Conservatory. This year, the festival celebrates biodiversity hotspot Cameroon – home to some of the world’s most delicate and threatened orchids, some of which are so rare their locations must be kept secret for their protection. From lush rainforests and volcanic mountains to arid desert plains, Cameroon’s huge variety of plants and wildlife are supported by varied habitats, reflected across the ten unique climatic zones in the conservatory. Guests will also see large-scale sculptures by Kew’s team of expert horticulturists, hand-crafted from an array of real, colourful orchids and plants. Tickets cost £16.50.
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, TW9 3AB
Visit Kew.org
SHOP A SAMPLE SALE:
Fermoie
This weekend, Fermoie is making room for its 2023 launches by hosting a sample sale at Battersea Arts Centre. After spending January sorting out stock, the team has amassed 500 rolls of studio trials, end of lines and overruns which will be available to buy at up to 70% OFF – along with archived cushions and lampshades. The pop-up will take place on Saturday 4th February from 11am-5pm and Sunday 5th February from 10am-3pm.
Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Visit Fermoie.com
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