Kent

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG FOOD NEWS</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/YolanDa_Brown_and_T_Oyelola.jpg-copy.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-74697" /></figure>



Soul food fans, listen up! Jazz musician YolanDA Brown and entrepreneur Adetokunbo “T” Oyelola have broken crowdfunding records with their recent Kickstarter campaign to open a restaurant and live music venue in&nbsp;Islington&nbsp;(they raised a whopping £250,000 in just eight weeks). Set to open&nbsp;this Autumn,&nbsp;<a href="https://soulmama.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Soul Mama</a>&nbsp;will be serving up a fusion of South American, Caribbean and African cuisines to a soundtrack of soul, jazz, gospel and reggae and it looks epic. To get in on a slice of the action, pre-pay for a meal or book tickets to see YolanDA’s first concert there (um, get in line) and you’ll get your name up on the founders’ wall.&nbsp;



Another familiar face who’s got a taste for the restaurant world is Chelsea footballer, Hakim Zieyech. He’s joined forces with the co-founders of swanky Latin American joint, Inca London, to launch&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tacotaco.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Taco Taco</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;Shoreditch. The menu will consist of breakfast tacos – sourdough tortillas stuffed with mozzarella, scrambled eggs and pico de Gallo – while the all-day menu will feature combos like aubergine achiote taco with pickled cabbage and pulled smoked anticucho chicken. Opening&nbsp;26 July, see you there for many taco Tuesdays to come.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/64-2R2A4285-scaled-copy.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-74716" /></figure>



The founders of popular city restaurants&nbsp;<a href="https://honeyandco.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Honey &amp; Co.</a>&nbsp;are adding a deli, bakery and café to their culinary repertoire.&nbsp;<a href="https://honeyandco.co.uk/places/honey-co-daily/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Honey &amp; Co. Daily</a>&nbsp;is coming to&nbsp;Store Street,&nbsp;Bloomsbury&nbsp;this September and will offer takeaway coffees, their renowned pastries and lunches for those on the go, as well as taking diners with more time on their hands in the 40 cover restaurant. As with the other Honey restaurants, the focus is on Middle Eastern flavours – we’re already eyeing it up for an autumnal coffee pit-stop.



Bougie charity event&nbsp;<a href="https://www.leukaemiauk.org.uk/event/whos-cooking-dinner/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Who’s Cooking Dinner?</a>&nbsp;has just announced its return to the iconic&nbsp;Dorchester Hotel,&nbsp;18 Sept. Where 20 surprise chefs from some of London’s best restaurants will serve a bespoke four-course meal (with wine pairings) to one of 20 tables – that’s right you don’t know what you’ll be eating or which Michelin starred chef will be cooking for you until the night. Previous years have featured the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Tom Kerridge and Rick Stein rustling up the grub. It will set you back a sweet £800 (minimum) but it’s for a good cause as all the money goes towards&nbsp;Leukaemia UK.



For more hot new foodie openings, check out our round-up of the latest&nbsp;<a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/london/new-london-restaurant-summer-near-me/">here</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">POP-UPS</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/353054674_702071691930334_2018673075370065656_n.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74696" /></figure>



Beach trip but without leaving the city? Enter&nbsp;<a href="https://bigpennysocial.co.uk/walthamstow-on-sea" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Big Penny Social</a>&nbsp;and their summer long initiative,&nbsp;Walthamstow-on-Sea. From&nbsp;18 July&nbsp;visitors can enjoy the sand beneath their feet, sip a frozen cocktail or cold craft beer while lounging in a deckchair or sitting pretty in a beach hut – they’ve really gone all out. You can even grab yourself the obligatory seaside dinner of fish and chips thanks to a collaboration with&nbsp;Tasty UK. The full schedule of free and ticketed events is&nbsp;<a href="https://bigpennysocial.co.uk/walthamstow-on-sea" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>including the best slots for families with younger kids – here’s just hoping the weather improves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BAG A RELIC</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/49661436_785851568422151_1663589555573358592_n.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74705" /></figure>



Simpsons&nbsp;restaurant, a stalwart in the Strand since 1828 (and arguably one of the best places for a Sunday roast) is bracing for a new chapter and&nbsp;<a href="https://simpsons-auction.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">auctioning off its assets</a>. The exclusive auction is taking place at the former restaurant&nbsp;2-3 Aug&nbsp;which you can attend in person or online. There are some real treasures on the docket – signed Zoom Rockman prints, Art Deco chandeliers, bespoke Robert Angell dining chairs,&nbsp;Wedgwood crockery even brass curtain holdbacks – see the full lot listing&nbsp;<a href="https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/5e1d9d8a-4e8c-4667-aad7-6217ef41dae1/downloads/RGB_Simpson_s%20in%20the%20Strand%20-%20Auction%20Catalogu.pdf?ver=1689588276586" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. Paddles at the ready to nab yourselves a bit of history.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">EXHIBITIONS</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/306911269_10166910499435293_549503052701579255_n.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74701" /></figure>



The&nbsp;Royal Academy of Arts&nbsp;will be hosting the UK’s first major survey of the performance artist,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/marina-abramovic" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marina Abramović</a>, this September. Showcasing prominent pieces from her 50-year-career, the exhibition will combine sculpture, installation, images and, what we’re most excited for, reperformances of some of her most well known pieces. These reperformances will change throughout the duration of the exhibit (23 Sept-1 Jan) so each visit will be different – whichever one you catch you know it’ll be breathtaking, utterly bonkers and certainly not to be missed.



Speaking of breathtaking and bonkers, gravity-defying performance group Bandaloop (above) have just been announced as performers at this years <a href="https://festival.org/gdif/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greenwich and Docklands International Festival</a>. They’ll be scaling St Paul’s Cathedral with their crazy combination of choreography and rock climbing in a (free) show which takes its name from an inscription on the south portico of the cathedral itself – <a href="https://festival.org/gdif/whats-on/resurgam/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Resurgam</a> meaning I shall rise (literally, right?). Bring your binoculars as you’ll probably never see anything like this again, 31 Aug-2 Sept.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stage-news">STAGE NEWS</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/image.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74703" /></figure>



Don your mini skirts as Ben Elton has just announced his new stage musical and its all about 60s icon Twiggy.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.menierchocolatefactory.com/tickets/close-up-the-twiggy-musical/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Close Up: The Twiggy Musical</a>, which charts the working class models rise to fame, lands this September at&nbsp;Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre&nbsp;and with it a jukebox jiving, swinging sixties and seventies soundtrack. Full casting is still to be announced but West End wonder Elena Skye will be playing the icon herself,&nbsp;18 Sept-18 Nov.



And just like that, come January Sarah Jessica Parker will be stepping out of the Manolos and onto the West End stage. She’ll be making her debut alongside hubby Matthew Broderick in Neil Simon’s comedy smash&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thesavoytheatre.com/shows/plaza-suite" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plaza Suite</a>&nbsp;after a successful run on Broadway. The play about an iconic hotel room and the different couples who stay there will be showing at the&nbsp;Savoy Theatre,&nbsp;15 Jan-31 Mar, sign up for early access to tickets. Here’s hoping SJP is eyeing up a vacant shop for her shoe line while she’s here!



Other celebs hitting the stage soon include&nbsp;Nicole&nbsp;Scherzinger in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/sunset-boulevard/savoy-theatre/?&amp;&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwk96lBhDHARIsAEKO4xaEuvBkZzTRzysdKXkeKUNljqOtNEvVThMuQ6wOrsOtiKDgbXiHGmQaAtdEEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sunset Boulevard</a>,&nbsp;Catherine Tate&nbsp;and&nbsp;David Threlfall&nbsp;joining forces in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-enfield-haunting/ambassadors-theatre/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Enfield Haunting</a>&nbsp;while&nbsp;Lily James&nbsp;and&nbsp;Kristin Scott Thomas&nbsp;will be at the Harold Pinter from October in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.haroldpintertheatre.co.uk/shows/lyonesse" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lyonesse</a>.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">IN OTHER NEWS</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/image-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-74802" /></figure>



15 disused railway arches in&nbsp;Peckham&nbsp;are being given a whole lotta love with a whopping £3million makeover (above). The development, named&nbsp;Bronze Yard&nbsp;(a nod to the Meridian Bronze Factory which used to be there) will see the arches between&nbsp;Brayards&nbsp;and&nbsp;Consort Roadtransformed into cafés, shops and offices come Autumn.&nbsp;



The much debated plans to give&nbsp;Oxford Street&nbsp;a well needed glow-up have *finally* been confirmed. Though they don’t include a flagship Topshop equivalent (hmph), they do include more greenery, seating areas and an additional 12 pedestrian crossings between&nbsp;Tottenham Court Roadand&nbsp;Marble Arch.&nbsp;The £90million project is expected to be completed in 2026.

Superflashy newsflash! All the hot goss from the capital

You may also like