Iced buns,French fancies and more (Picture: Supplied)
Welcome back to The Slice – our exclusive guide to what’s on in London,where we bring you trusted reviews,sneak previews,and amazing deals and discounts.
We’ve got memories of going to our favourite local bakery as a child: we might have asked our mum or dad for a oozing jam doughnut,a yum yum or a even French fancy if we were feeling… erm,fancy. Modern bakeries have taken over,but old school bakeries still have a place in our heart.
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We’re throwing it back completely this week,longing for the ‘good old times’. We visited a 90s inspired bar,a games arcade spot where you can play Pac Man to your heart’s content,and Claridge’s stunning new bakery where nostalgia meets luxury.
We’re also telling you about an incredible £35 anniversary menu at 35-year-old institution Pied à Terre,London’s longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant. It’s fine dining for a price that will make you double take.
Plus: Have you heard that cookie spot Sablé is moving to a brand new location? Their cookies are NYC-style and ‘nice and gooey’. You’ll be drooling once you read what else we have to say about them.
As usual,there’s plenty happening in the capital. From Holi celebrations,to Tracey Emin’s biggest exhibition yet. Find out more below!
See you next week!
‘The quail ballotine is princely,while the bill at £35 a head is not’ (Picture: Supplied)By Beatrice AidinHey,foodies! Add us as a Preferred Source
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In 1991,Bryan Adams earworm of power ballad,Everything I Do,played constantly,Mr Blobby was unleashed on television,but with infinitely more taste,Pied a Terre opened to culinary rapture. Today,35 years on,it’s London’s longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant and to celebrate,co-founder,the irrepressible David Moore,has launched a £35 two-course menu,including an amuse bouche. The dining room is like entering a sexy jewellery box,with bright colours and come-hither lighting,while our amuse bouche is an egg,macerated with a gentle kick of wasabi,and served in its shell.
We share seared red mullet in a rich bouillabaisse along with candy beetroot,miso ricotta with a kick of apple sorrel and blood orange for here the plant based are not left behind,both sumptuous. Maitake mushroom is a symphony of fungi on a plate,and the quail ballotine is princely,while the bill at £35 a head is not.
Specify ‘£35 anniversary menu’ when booking – lunch from Thursday to Sunday. 34 Charlotte St.,Fitzrovia,W1T 2NH. Book here.
It’s a lot of fun (Picture: Supplied)
The Four Quarters
Best for: games galore
Loved hanging out at the arcade as a teen? Miss the good old days of 2-bit games and fighting over the PS2 controller? Four Quarters is the nostalgic rematch your inner button-masher craves. Starting out as a dive bar in Peckham in 2014,it’s grown into a veritable gaming empire,with locations in London Bridge,Hackney,Elephant & Castle (plus an outpost in Newcastle). Play the likes of Tekken,Pac Man and Space Invader on lovingly restored old-school arcade machines,which all run on US quarters (get it?). Grab your tokens from the bar at a reasonable exchange rate of £2.50 for four,or if you’ve got your own quarters,you can use them for free. Fuel your high score with 2 for £15 cocktails – you can’t beat Donkey Kong’s Tropical Punch – and game on!
London Bridge,Peckham,Elephant & Castle,Hackney Wick. Book here.
Best for: a grown-up palette
International star baker Richard Hart and Head Baker Frederic Doncel‑Latorre have joined forces to combine peak British nostalgic bakes – think Belgian buns,French Fancies,iced fingers and Bakewell tarts – with intricate attention to detail and flawless technique in the iconic hotel’s new luxury bakery.
But with their tart flavours and minimalist presentation,the gooey treats of childhood these are not. (Just look at those Jammy Dodger tarts – they’re are far too polite to get jam on your shirt.) There are savoury bits too: a perfectly flaky Marmite cheese straw spiked with cardamom and posh £7 sausage rolls. Go on,treat yourself.
Savoury bites from £3.50,sweet bites from £4. Brook’s Mews,Mayfair. Just pop in.
Best for: ultimate 90s vibes
90s kids will want to head to Covent Garden,to stop by Bunga 90,a retro interactive cocktail bar. With the strapline ‘Oops,I sipped it again’,you can probably guess what’s coming next. Yes,their cocktail,Britney B***h,is served in a cup shaped like school girl- Britney’s hollowed out head. Then there’s the Fresh Prince,with Patron Silver,Aperol,pimento and prickly pear liqueur,hibiscus,lime and Ting grapefruit,served out of Will Smith’s mug head.
Lastly,‘Kevin’,a blend of vodka apple,pear,elderflower,ginger,and lime,is served out of a Macaulay Culkin-shaped mug inspired by the scene in Home Alone,after he’s put on the aftershave and is clutching his face in horror. They all come accompanied by a ‘snow cone’ of crushed ice on top,giant American-style pizzas and lots of karaoke. The garish maximalist trend is about more than just drinks.
Drinks from £10. 167 Drury Ln,Covent Garden. Book here.
Our favourite kind of cookie (Picture: Supplied)
Crème has been the (literal) crème de la crème of big NYC-style cookies in London for the last few years,but several rivals have set up shop lately,including Sablé (pronounced ‘sab-lay’),which recently moved to a brand new location in Fulham.
Founders Ratika and Andrew are baking up chunky cookies in an array of flavours – everything from Cereal Milk and Birthday Cake to Matcha,and they’ve just started turning these into banana cookie pudding too,meaning there’s something on the counter to suit all tastes.
The Dulce de Leche,which is pure sugary indulgence,is the real standout on the menu – but the Cinnamon Bun comes a close second,with its warming spice and sweet hints of white chocolate. Stuffed with chocolate chips,these cookies are definitely best served fresh out of the oven while they’re still nice and gooey,so be sure to get ’em while they’re hot.
£4.50 for a single cookie,£12 for three,and £24 for a box of six. 188 Wandsworth Bridge Road,Fulham,SW6 2UF. Just walk in.
Brush up on your agave knowledge (Picture: Stephanie Goldfinger)
By Ross McCafferty
Sorbito (little sip in Spanish) is a tasting room and shop project by the team behind Sin Gusano,agave spirit specialists who sell small batch bottles and operate a subscription club for fans of mezcal. While the spirit (alongside tequila) is having a moment,Sin Gusano is about rejecting the domination of the market by usual suspect drinks giants,and working directly with producers on the ground – literally,when it comes to some of the spirits that are distilled through a pit.
That’s the kind of factoid you come away with after an evening at Sorbito,where education is as big a part of the experience as enjoying the drinks on offer. Founder Jon Darby,who travels regularly to Mexico to sample every spirit and meet producers before it is ever stocked,is on hand to provide background as you enjoy a variety of small-batch spirits sold via a repurposed wine dispensing machine operated via pre-loaded cards. 10ml ‘sorbitos’ are the order of the day,and are recommended if you want to sample as wide a range as possible. Come for the spirits,stay for the knowledge.
10ml tasters from £3. 178 Stoke Newington Road,N16 7UY. Book here.
Focaccia is a strong choice for a sandwich in our eyes,so atis selling sandwiches using Dusty Knuckle’s focaccia is music to our ears. Their new collaboration sandwich is made with their famous blackened chicken,sliced avocado,grated parmesan,crispy shallots,and a Caesar and buffalo dressing. They’ll have 25 sandwiches per day available at each atis site from 2nd March – get them before they’re gone!
It’s amazing news for twins… in celebration of the return of their Double Chillies on Nando’s Rewards,twins (plus convincing lookalikes) can get 2-4-1 on mains all day long! 26th Feb. Then,the fan fave promo Double Chillies is back on 2-8 March.
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There’s loads to do for Holi this year – so take your pick! At the Holi Colour Dance Festival in Swiss Cottage you can see incredible dancers,bhangra,DJs and a beautiful,colourful array of street food too.
Or,head to Riverside East at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the largest outdoor Holi celebration in the capital. Look forward to a high energy DJ,a live band playing,and authentic street food! Find out more.
And for a limited time only,get a taste of Fatt Pundit’s colourful Holi-inspired momos. Their vibrant versions of Nepalese dumplings are naturally coloured with beetroot,spinach,and saffron. Available at both the Soho and Covent Garden locations,6-8 March. £9 for 4.
The biggest ever Tracey Emin exhibition comes to Tate Modern this weekend. Catch Tracey Emin: A Second Life at the Bankside gallery from 26 February-30 August.
You’ll be able to see her work spanning her 40-year career,featuring painting,textile,neon and more. Adult tickets,£20. Book here.
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Kew’s Orchid Festival has been running for 30 years – and this year,the orchid spectacular is inspired by China. See lanterns,intricate plant sculptures,and dragons at a beautiful event celebrating China’s biodiversity. 7 February-8 March,daily from 11am. Find out more.
10. Experience Deep Azure,a heartfelt theatre production by Chadwick Boseman
By Lola Christina Alao
A powerful opening beat boxing scene sets the tone for the play (Picture: Supplied)
Through Chadwick Boseman’s two decade career,which was tragically cut short in 2020 as he passed away aged 43,most people will be familiar with him as superhero Black Panther. But not only was he an actor,but a playwright too. Twenty-one years ago he wrote Deep Azure,which has just started a limited run at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe.
It follows Azure,a woman who finds herself confronted with the loss of her fiancé Deep,who was killed at the hands of police,while she is also navigating an eating disorder. A powerful opening beat boxing scene sets the tone for the play,where some songs break up the heaviness,while others convey the characters’ trauma: ‘No justice,no peace,no crooked police’,they chant. The pain in their voices is piercing. The most gut-wrenching scene comes from Deep’s mother,as she realises she has lost the fight to protect her son after successfully protecting him for so many years,in a country with so many dangers for Black men.
There’s a Gothic element to the production – Deep appears as a ghost-like figure – and the script blends Shakespearean poetry and Hip Hop,with various acapella performances. And while the poetry is sometimes difficult to follow,all becomes clear in the second act. And it’s clear it was written in 2005 – pop-culture references capture that time,adding to a sense of nostalgia. With themes of grief,love,and police brutality,Deep Azure is a vibrant,heartfelt production inspired by real events.
Tickets from £8. Until 11 April,Sam Wanamaker Playhouse,Shakespeare’s Globe. Book here.
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