Flavorpill London Events

Bikram Yoga

2009-07-10T05:45:00Z

Ongoing

Daily (6:45am–9pm)

@ Bikram Yoga City

Until the advent of Bikram, yoga was associated mostly with unlawful bending and the ubiquitous "om". Now, the modern twist on the ancient technique has, for better or worse, turned yoga into a trend on par with weight training in the '90s. Classes of post-work and pre-cocktail young professionals gather in the handy City studio nestled near Old Street (there are also studios in Queen's Park and Kentish Town). Bikram enhances the yoga experience with heaters, causing yoga-doers to sweat copiously in the name of detoxification. Secretions aside, it's kicked off a new fitness trend and brought yoga into the 21st century.

Fox & Anchor

2009-07-10T06:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Saturdays (7am–11pm)

Sundays (noon–6pm)

@ Fox & Anchor

Dating from the late Victorian era, this pub — an old favourite of blood-spattered meat traders from Smithfields Market down the street — has just been beautifully renovated. The landlord is keen to retain its antique character with bar snacks such as pickled eggs and cockles in vinegar, but if you're after something more substantial to soak up the ale, they also serve fried whitebait, chops and hearty meat pies. Two giant mains cost about £18 and are guaranteed to leave you stuffed. If you're too full or inebriated to make it home, you can also always reserve one of the six luxurious bedrooms above the pub and sleep off your hangover.

Canteen Baker Street

2009-07-10T07:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Fridays (8am–11pm)

Saturdays–Sundays (9am–11pm)

@ Canteen Baker Street

With this new all-day diner on Baker Street, Canteen's great-British-grub philosophy finally makes it into the West End. The marriage of contemporary interior design and hearty, no-nonsense food is once again pulled off with aplomb. The menu consists of food sourced entirely from within the UK and includes adventurous starters such as potted duck and devilled kidney for starters; fish and chips, pies and macaroni cheese for mains; and rice pudding and treacle tart to finish. A fast weekday service, afternoon tea and seasonal menus all help to keep this long-established mix fresh.

Côte

2009-07-10T07:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Wednesdays (8am–11pm)

Thursdays–Fridays (8am–midnight)

Saturdays (10am–midnight)

Sundays (10am–10:30pm)

@ Côte

The first Côte opened in Wimbledon last August; before the rapturous reception had died down, a Soho-based second location opened in May, bringing the all-day French bistro to central London. Bankrolled by the ubiquitous Richard Caring, Côte is the brainchild of his former Strada management team. The restaurant's quality-food-at reasonable-prices ethos finds form in authentic niçoise Pissaladiere bread with reblochon and thyme (£3.50) and tasty hachis Parmentier (like cottage pie) for under a tenner — not to mention fish, pasta and a long list of desserts and well-priced wines.

Café on the Hill

2009-07-10T07:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays (8am–4pm)

Tuesdays–Saturdays (8am–10pm)

Sundays (8am–4pm)

@ Cafe on the Hill

With most of central London out-of-bounds (either closed or crammed with shoppers), get perspective on the city from Muswell Hill. Like a less pretentious Hampstead, the area adjacent to Alexandra Palace offers panoramic views — on a clear day all the way to Canary Wharf — and, thanks to the Café on the Hill, a baker's dozen of bistro-quality brunch choices (including the perfectly prepared eggs Benedict). On any given day, diners can expect a welcoming atmosphere at this bustling local brasserie — just be prepared for varying wait times.

Pollock's Toy Museum

2009-07-10T09:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Saturdays (10am–5pm)

@ Pollock's Toy Museum

Evoke dusty memories of bygone days with a visit to Pollock's Toy Museum, nestled in the heart of Fitzrovia. Comprised of two conjoined 18th- and 19th-century houses, the museum is crammed with playtime relics that beg for extensive exploration. Spanning several eras — and with nary a Nintendo DS in sight — the mixed bag of English tin toys, puppets, wax dolls and theatrical items originally belonged to a Mr Benjamin Pollock. Marguerite Fawdry rescued the lot after Pollock passed away — having simply popped in to purchase a little something for her son, no less.

Furnace

2009-07-10T09:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Fridays (10am–3pm & 6–11pm)

Saturdays (6–11pm)

@ Furnace

Tucked down a side street off Hoxton Square is the perfect remedy to the seasonal poultry overload. Shoreditch's best-kept secret, Furnace has been in the area since 1999, serving up superior-quality pizza and pasta to in-the-know locals from behind its unassuming exterior. The carpaccio e funghi enlivens the classic raw-beef starter with wild mushrooms, and is extravagantly portioned at £5.85; the ham, ricotta and spinach calzone (£8.95), meanwhile, is a crisp half-moon with a steaming, succulent centre — so cockle-warming and cold-defying, all those memories of dry, white turkey meat will be instantly forgotten.

United Visual Artists: Deus

2009-07-10T09:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Fridays (10am–6pm)

Saturdays (10am–1pm)

@ The Smithfield Gallery

For United Visual Artists' debut solo show, the London-based trio bring their trademark light-based urban installations to bear in the natural world. The collective use light as a presence that constantly shifts and changes perception — in Deus this involves photographing remote nocturnal landscapes lit by ethereal light balloons. The strangely comforting luminescent spheres change and soften their surroundings, injecting a note of city glister onto nature's unadorned bleakness and bringing to mind the human Glory suggested in the title.

Eltonography: A Life in Pictures

2009-07-10T10:00:00Z

Ongoing

Daily (11am–5:30pm)

@ Proud Camden

Iconic celebrity snapper and all-round good bloke Terry O'Neill first started taking pictures of Elton John when the singer was plain old Reg Dwight. The two men struck up an enduring friendship and this exhibition (and the eponymous book) is the result, compiling more than 200 previously unseen photographs of John taken from O'Neill's own archive. The photographs capture David Furnish's hubby in more candid backstage moments: catching up with the newspapers (while dressed as a bird, naturally) or messing around on the piano.

House of Words

2009-07-10T10:00:00Z

2 July – 29 Aug

Mondays–Saturdays (11am–5:30pm)

@ Dr Johnson's House

To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of London wit and dictionary-creator Samuel Johnson, seven contemporary artists share their responses to his legacy. The exhibition takes place at Johnson's former home, tucked away in a maze of passages north of Fleet Street. Curated by Janice West and Tessa Peters, artists exhibiting include collage-artist Chris Kenny, Jane Prophet and her dictionary-cut silhouettes and Falmouth-based Jason Cleverly, who has created an interactive multimedia word resource as a tribute to Johnson and his continuing influence on modern-day language.

Cha Cha Moon

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Thursdays (noon–11pm)

Fridays–Saturdays (noon–11:30pm)

Sundays (noon–10pm)

@ Cha Cha Moon

Influential restaurateur Alan Yau is back with Cha Cha Moon, returning to cuisine with widespread appeal (he devised Wagamama and Busaba Eathai) at this Malay-Chinese noodle house off Carnaby Street. Yau's genius lies in his ability to tailor restaurants to our diverse needs for noshing, and Cha Cha Moon is aimed at those who want to eat somewhere chic and cheap at a moment's notice. The queue out the entrance is all the publicity that the place needs (there are no bookings, but you won't wait longer than ten minutes), and discovering a menu that prices everything from Seafood Ho Fun to Roast Duck Noodle Soup at £3.50, could have you praying that the credit crunch continues.

Hibiscus

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Fridays (noon–2:30 & 6:30–10pm)

@ Hibiscus

In just a month, chef-proprietor Claude Bosi has taken London's restaurant world by storm. With the relocation of his two Michelin stars from Ludlow to an ever-so-discreet former office space just off Regent Street, the emphasis is on preserving the formula that served him so well in Salop. The 45-cover restaurant is intimate, and the service, presided over by his wife, Claire, is unstuffy and relaxed. Dishes are inventive and refined, juxtaposing texture with flavour, from a delicate foie-gras ice cream starter to a perfect truffled sausage roll. With a sensational three-course menu that changes daily, dinner bookings are already at a premium, so lunch is the best time to test.

John Hopkins: Hoppy, Talking about a Revolution

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

19 June – 19 July

Mondays–Fridays (noon–6pm)

Saturdays–Sundays (noon–5pm)

@ Idea Generation Gallery

Photojournalist John Hopkins captured many aspects of London's cultural revolution of the late '60s, including Beat Poetry, LSD, the Rolling Stones, anti-nuclear rallies and East End slums. (In his spare time, he also hosted bands such as Pink Floyd at his UFO nightclub and co-founded The International Times.) The Idea Generation Gallery exhibits Hoppy's photographs of gigs, rallies, tattooists and prostitutes, portraits of Dizzy Gillespie, Malcolm X and Alan Ginsberg and a number of original promotional posters.

Aaya

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Saturdays (noon–midnight)

Sundays (noon–11pm)

@ Aaya

Though Aaya has been open for a few months, it's still biding its time; rather than go for a press blitz, the restaurant wants to make sure it has a Fuji-solid argument as to why London needs another upmarket Japanese eatery. As a result, the food consistently impresses, with traditional dishes expertly updated: tuna tartare comes glisteningly fresh as a spicy, sesame-dressed, wrap-your-own-nori starter, robata-grilled chilean sea bass is cooked to perfection and the soft-shell crab maki is crisply tender. It's enough to make you swear off the cheap allure (and heavy salt) of conveyor-belt rolls for good.

Pick'n'Mix

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Thursday 9 July (noon–6pm)

Friday 10 July (noon–8pm)

Saturday 11 July (noon–6pm)

Sunday 12 July (noon–6pm)

Thursday 16 July (noon–6pm)

Friday 17 July (noon–6pm)

Saturday 18 July (noon–6pm)

Sunday 19 July (noon–6pm)

@ Woolworths

Although credit-crunched shopping giant Woolworths may have been banished from the high street, its former Leytonstone branch has been resurrected to temporarily house some interesting art. More than 60 local artists have installed pictures, sculptures, films and multimedia pieces, covering various forms, styles and design. (The artists have been encouraged to take cues from Woolies' somewhat "eclectic" approach to retail.) The gallery space — a magnificent Art Deco building — provides an exceptional backdrop for the works on display. Pick’n’Mix forms part of the three-week-long Leytonstone Arts Trail, which includes shows and exhibitions in local libraries, pubs, galleries and schools.

Quo Vadis

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Saturdays (noon–2:45 & 5–10:45pm)

@ Quo Vadis

Sam and Eddie Hart cemented their restaurant reputation by reinventing tapas for a sophisticated London clientele at Fino, then tailoring them for a drop-by crowd at the Cal Pep-designed Barrafina. But their new venture — taking over British food institution Quo Vadis — is something of a departure. Marco Pierre White has long since left the stained-glass space, and the menu has been stripped back and simplified. Quo Vadis features classic cuisine such as veal cutlet with sage (£18) and grilled turbot (£19.50), as well as Mediterranean favourite sea-bass carpaccio (£6.50).

Salt Yard

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Fridays (noon–11pm)

Saturdays (5–11pm)

@ Salt Yard

It's not easy to garner favourable comparisons to London tapas giants Fino and Barrafina, but the diminutive Salt Yard pulls off this Goliath-sized task. The relaxed, split-level restaurant concentrates on Spanish and Italian charcuterie and simple tapas, rather than giving in to the usual seafood bias, and though the sharing plates aren't the cheapest, the place always seems full. The wide selection of sherry can't have have hindered Salt Yard's success, nor could deft, imaginative dishes like courgette flowers stuffed with Monte Enebro cheese and drizzled with honey (£7.25) and Gloucester Old Spot pork belly with rosemary-scented cannelini beans (£5.50).

Dehesa

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Fridays (noon–11pm)

Saturdays (11am–11pm)

Sundays (11am–5pm)

@ Dehesa

Together with Alan Yau's Cha Cha Moon and ace burger joint the Diner, Dehesa completes Ganton Street's status as the epicentre of Soho spur-of-the-moment dining. The petite charcuterie and tapas restaurant — built around a central bar with high, shared seating and a corner-bound ham carver — doesn't accept telephone reservations, but they can slot you on a call-list if you drop by in person and they're full. Younger sibling to the ever-busy Salt Yard on Goodge Street, Dehesa has a menu with similar cues: the chargrilled tiger prawns with smoked garlic butter, rosemary and chilli dressing (£7.50) are gloriously bitter, while the moist, just-sliced slivers of the jamón de Trevélez (£9) are perfect for sharing with a fine dry xérès.

Haozhan

2009-07-10T11:00:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Thursdays (noon–11:30pm)

Fridays–Saturdays (noon–midnight)

Sundays (noon–10:30pm)

@ Haozhan

Thanks to its bustling location in London's tourist hub, Chinatown is less a mecca for cuisine lovers than a torturous odyssey to find decent food, good value and polite service. The sleek, jade-and-wood-bedecked Haozhan, however, has proven that the Wong Kei "quick and cheap" template need not apply across Gerrard Street. With a former Hakkasan chef in the kitchen, the focused menu is full of succulent, tasty and memorably presented pan-Asian dishes, which still respect the price points of the competitive district. Menu highlights include the salt-chilli soft-shell crab starter and the Singapore noodles served up in a hollowed-out bamboo boat.

The Regent

2009-07-10T11:30:00Z

Ongoing

Mondays–Saturdays (12:30–11pm)

Sundays (noon–10:30pm)

@ The Regent

If you awake to find yourself north of Notting Hill on a Sunday morning, get rejuvenated at Kensal Rise's best grub 'n boozer. Since its launch a year ago, the Regent has built a reputation for comfort food that reaches beyond the forever-nascent vistas of NW10. The Perritt brothers founded the place, and their hospitality pedigree shows in the Regent's relaxed, care-worn furnishings and considered seasonal specials. For spring, the word is retox: have a homemade burger with stilton, bacon and spinach (the Bad Boy) or gherkins, honey-roasted ham and a fried egg (the Farmhouse) to go with your usual hair of the dog.

Satellites: A Photographic Journey Through the Unknown Republics of Eastern Europe

2009-07-10T12:00:00Z

24 June – 9 Aug

Tuesdays–Fridays (1–5pm)

Saturdays (11am–5pm)

Sundays (1–5pm)

@ PM Gallery & House

Norwiegan photographer Jonas Bendiksen, a member of the iconic Magnum cooperative, explores post-Iron-Curtain republics and regions of the former Soviet Union in this exhibition accompanying his new book of the same name. On display at the Sir John Soane-designed PM Gallery & House in Ealing, the images focus on former communist areas often overlooked by photo-journalism, such as Transdniester and Abkhazia. Bendiksen's lens also captures spacecraft crash zones between Russia and Kazakhstan, the Jewish Autonomous Region of Far Eastern Russia and an unrecognised country on the Black Sea.

London Fencing Club

2009-07-10T23:00:00Z

Ongoing

Daily

@ Finsbury Leisure Centre

If you've ever watched the dueling scene in The Mask of Zorro and thought, "Hey, I could do better than that," now you can prove your mettle by taking a stab (ahem) at swordplay at the London Fencing Club. The club provides all the gear, including mask, protective vest and a weapon of choice: sabre (the rigid sword with edges on the blade), foil (the bendy one) or epee (the heavier sword). You can then choose whether to participate in a class or one-on-one coaching, and away you go — just do try to resist the urge to start carving Zs into everything.

Free Range 2009

2009-07-10T23:00:00Z

29 May – 20 July

Daily

@ The Old Truman Brewery

Summer is degree-show season, that time of year when emerging artists get to display their talent. Returning for its ninth year, Free Range at the Old Truman Brewery is the largest student exhibition in Europe and features work from more than 3,000 of the UK's top art and design scholars. The expo is split over eight weeks, categorised according to the artists' mediums of choice: design, photography and fine art each get two weekends to strut their stuff, followed by interiors and architecture, while mixed media closes out proceedings from 17-20 July.

The Stratford Hoard

2009-07-10T23:00:00Z

Ongoing

Daily

@ Stratford Station

The Stratford Hoard is an exhibition for Transport for London's Platform for Art project at Stratford station in anticipation of the 2012 games. Curator and self-proclaimed "collector of collectors" Kane explores a statistic alleging that one in four people are collectors of some sort, bringing together an ever-changing array of teapots, '80s printed milk bottles and religious leaflets. The ever-evolving comprehensive stash — which includes Michael Jackon album covers and all the Pokémon characters ever produced — was sourced from the local community and displays countless bizarre variations on personal "taste".

The Old Ship

2009-07-10T23:00:00Z

Ongoing

Daily

@ The Old Ship

If you're planning a trip to the Hackney Empire any time soon, be sure to stop by the newly renovated Old Ship next door. Gone are the sticky floor and shabby armchairs; in their place are shining surrounds and big floppy sofas, plus some choice drinks (including a great wine selection) and genuinely friendly staff. The restaurant at the back is the real draw, though — not surprising, as it's manned by the former chef of award-winning gastropub the Gun. Most of the dishes cost around a tenner and are helpfully divided up into categories of "cow", "sheep", "pig", etc., with pies and salads nestling alongside more unusual offerings, such as nettle soup and rollmops.