Who. What. Where? No. 69
For something a bit tasty, Claridge’s Restaurant has a fancy new Sunday Roast on the menu. Come very hungry and choose from the two or three course set menu in the recently refurbed art deco haven. Think a light, airy and relaxed setting with plush leather seating, dazzling skylights and show-stopping artwork from the hotel’s private collection. Kick off with the Parker House Loaf, a soft, warm brioche-style bread that you’re free to get second helpings of included in the price. Standout starters include the deliciously flakey ham hock terrine and the comforting seabass and crab fishcakes, served with a tartare sauce that tastes as stunning as it looks on the plate. Choices for the headline act include new season lamb rump, grilled halibut, roasted Herefordshire rib of beef, Norfolk black leg chicken or celeriac and mushroom pithivier pie. All are served with a table filling amount of sides that include roasties, cauliflower cheese and seasonal veggies. At this point you’re likely to be so full you might think about swerving dessert – DON’T! The final course is five puddings for the table, though if that sounds daunting you can opt for fewer. Make sure to try the apple crumble and the incredible Claridge’s Chocolate, which is an indulgent, encased pie of choc gooeyness that comes with a mini mallet to break into it. Prices start at £85, and you can book here.
In terms of what to do this week to get that little bit of culture, first off it’s the final few days you can pay a visit to The Cult of Beauty exhibition at Wellcome Collection. Exploring different ideals of beauty across varying time and cultures, the exhibit features over 200 historical objects, artworks, films and commissions by new artists. Tonight there’s also a group show at FILET in Hoxton. Debuting the work of CSM students that are bound to become big names in the future, Memoir of a Memoir asked each artist involved to take inspiration from pieces of history in the Central Saint Martins archives. It’s on from 4:30pm to 8pm for one night only. If you’re south of the river and looking for something to sink your teeth into tonight, you could also head to the private view of southopen2, a group show taking place in Peckham’s OHSH Projects. Featuring portraits and avant-garde sculptures, everything in southopen2 has a little touch of the surreal and uncanny. If you don’t manage to pop in this evening, it’s also on everyday until Saturday the 27th from 6pm to 9pm.
Your fashion fix this week comes in the form of the third collab between streetwear label Stüssy and denim mavens Levi’s®. What does it say that these two are joining forces for a third time? That their collabs are, well, great. It was back in the early stages of 2023 that they released their debut collab – which featured some very loud and proud Levi’s® logos – and it was late last year that their second one came along, and they swapped out big logos for repeated monograms and colourful denim. This time around? Though they’ve only released this juicy little teaser thus far, it looks like they’re getting a piece of the motocross trend that’s been having it’s moment lately. Speeding along a race course is a white leather jacket number and later on you catch a glimpse of a co-branded belt. It’s a mysterious drop, but luckily you won’t have to wait too long — the collection drops this Friday, on the 26th.
The roster of music coming out this week will be, well, music to your ears. On the 26th – this Friday – there’s drops from not only Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, but St Vincent and Shygirl. St Vincent’s offering comes in the form of her seventh studio album, All Born Screaming. Though it marks the first album that’s been entirely produced by St Vincent (a.k.a. Anne Erin Clark) herself, you can expect features from the likes of Dave Grohl to Kate Le Bon. When it comes to what Thom Yorke and Shygirl, it’s not so much a straight album as it is a film score (in the case of Yorke) and a fun little collab with iconic venue and record label Fabric (in the case of Shygirl). Yorke’s Confidenza is the OST for Daniele Luchetti’s film of the same name, which looks to be a moody Italian romance drama. Confidenza will mark Yorke’s third stint making music for the silver screen, having done the OST for Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Suspiria back in 2018, as well as Motherless Brooklyn a year later. Last but not least, there’s Fabric presents: Shygirl. Marking the beginning of fabric’s 25th-anniversary celebrations, Shygirl is the first of five artists to curate one of these special mixes. On the exclusive album (stroke-musical-odyssey), you can expect to see everyone from Eliza Rose to legends like Skin on Skin.
