Published on BespokeRSVP on 1st June 2012:
Getting caught up in Jubilee fever is inevitable, especially if you live in London. But as Londoners know, there is always something interesting to do in the big smoke. So here are five (food and drink) things you should do in June:
Sample some of the UK’s best produce. The restaurant at The Cadogan hotel has teamed up with some of the best known names in the food industry to bring you Great Taste at The Cadogan. The Great Taste Awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food every year and is designed to pick out the best speciality food and drink. The current menu, designed by food writer Lucas Hollweg and celebrity chef Thomasina Miers alongside head chef Oliver Lesnik, will run until the end of June. Goat’s cheese and courgette flower, rabbit ravioli and loin and bakewell tart are just some of the things you will find on the menu.
Bask in sunshine on the Southbank. At long last, sun and wisps of summer has arrived. What could be better than soaking all those golden rays at the Propstore on the Southbank? Propstore is the National Theatre’s summer pop up, created using props from past productions, and will be running until the end of September. Street food will be served as well as beers, wines and cocktails. It could be the perfect location to sample Sipsmith’s latest gin, the limited edition Summer Cup – it has tea in it!
Go menu-less for cocktails. There’s no time like the present to visit Sanderson Hotel’s Purple Bar and Billiard Room for cocktails. And there are no cocktails quite like it either. That’s because they have dispensed with the menu. Instead, the staff create a cocktail just for you based on what you like and the mood you’re in. I can tell you the Qintini (Belvedere intense, St Germain, Granny Smith apple, rhubarb, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, glucose syrup, egg white) is quite something – fruity, complex and addictive. Some might say, a bit like me.
Eat around London in small bites. The bigger and better Taste of London returns to Regents Park again this year, from the 21st of June until 24th, with a more international theme. As well as demonstrations by British favourites like Jamie Oliver and Michel Roux Jr, superstars on the international culinary scene, David Chang and Wolfgang Puck, are also flying in. Slow cooked pork belly from The Savoy’s River Restaurant, braised beef feather blade by Maze, and Theo Randall’s chocolate cake are just a few of the things you can sample.
Get totally 80s on the river. Chelsea’s 80′s club Maggie’s, is taking their disco, cocktails and a few rotating Rubik’s cube tables to the Henley Royal Regatta for the first time this year. The Maggie’s tent, positioned at the halfway line, will be open for the full five days from 27th June until 1st July. With tribute acts, fireworks displays and the well-heeled Chelsea set, Henley has probably never been more rocking.