Food, Festivals & Fashion: How To Spend This Weekend

Visit a sunny riverside restaurant

If you’re looking for a pretty al fresco spot for lunch, head to Sam’s Riverside this weekend. Facing the Thames, the restaurant serves up the freshest oysters and seafood, along with a modern Anglo-French-inspired menu. Look forward to starters like the smoked duck breast with radish, lovage mayo, hazelnuts and radicchio tardivo, mains like the tomahawk steak with peppercorn or béarnaise sauce and chips to share.

Facing the Thames, the restaurant serves up the freshest oysters and seafood.

where: 1 Crisp Rd, London W6 9DN
Website: www.samsriverside.co.uk

Try this new cocktail menu

Electric Shuffle is always a good time – bring your friends together for some friendly competition as you try your hand at shuffleboard and feast on sharing boards, pizzas and a lovely new cocktail menu. The spring special menu includes highlights like the sweet and tangy Sunkissed Rhubarb or go for the creamy Pistachio Martini. Plus, the venues are absolutely beautiful and make for a very Instagram-friendly backdrop.

Where: across london
Website: ww.electricshuffle.com/uk/london

Book ahead for London’s biggest food festival

Held from 18th to 22nd June at The Regent’s Park, Taste of London has to be the hottest food festival in London. Bringing together some of London’s most exciting restaurants and chefs in a culinary experience unlike any other, you can look forward to masterclasses with the very best in the business, to foodie conversations, BBQ stations, live music and plenty of festival vibes. Tickets are selling out soon, so get yours while you still can.

where: The Regent’s Park, NW1 5HA
website: www.tasteoflondon.seetickets.com

Add this sparkling event to your calendar

We love a good summer party, and this one is definitely going on our calendar. Searcys at The Gherkin is partnering with Veuve Clicquot for ‘A Summer in the Sky’, a sparkling series of events with free-flowing champagne and a sunset party. Located across the top three floors of one of London’s most recognisable landmarks, Searcys at The Gherkin offers 360º views of the capital, and kicks off with a special celebration on Wednesday, 2nd July. Expect free-flowing Veuve Clicquot Champagne and canapés, with live DJ sets playing for the evening.

Where: The Gherkin, 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BF
Website: www.searcysatthegherkin.co.uk

Explore this sustainable fashion festival

Set to take over East London’s Spitalfields from 3rd to 8th June, this six-day festival is all about celebrating sustainable and regenerative fashion. Expect a live fashion showcase, upcycling workshops and fashion business panels featuring trailblazing designers and brands. You can even revive your wardrobe at the Omnifax repair clinic, mend your jeans as part of the 1000 Jeans Challenge, or join an exclusive styling session with Flair Fashion.

where: spitalfields, E1 6AA
website: www.fashion-district.co.uk

Attend this travel talk

To celebrate the release of Lonely Planet’s newest title, Women Travel Solo, The Nest at Treehouse Hotel London is hosting a Q&A with one of the book’s contributors, Stephanie Yeboah and author, Francesca Spector. The conversation will be all about empowerment and self-discovery through solo female travel and the inspiration behind the book. Additionally, to mark the publication of the book, Treehouse Hotel London will be launching a special offer for solo female guests that includes some very thoughtful giveaways.

When: 31st May
Where: The Nest at Treehouse Hotel London, 14 Langham Place, London, W1B 1QS
website: www.treehousehotels.com

Visit a stunning immersive experience

Taking your standard cocktail drinking experience to another level is the stunning bar, Avora, that promises to whisk you away to a whole new world. Every visit here is designed to be a mission, and as you enter, you will be the first “civilians” to traverse the mystical land, where you will be invited to mingle with the local Avorians (played by a talented set of actors, of course). This isn’t just your ordinary night out – Avora invites you into a magical world that’s brought to life with stunning theatrical sets and delicious bespoke drinks.

where: 5C, 127 Hackney Rd, London E2 8GY
website: www.avora-experience.co.uk

Watch a rooftop film

Open-air cinema is back – and we’re here for it. This weekend, you can watch La La Land on Friday, and everyone’s favourite, Babe, on Saturday afternoon. One of East London’s most exciting spots, the Rooftop Film Club in Stratford has plenty of drinks on tap, snacks to see you through the film and even some games on the terrace that you can enjoy before the film.

Where: Level 8, Stratford Multi-Storey Car Park, Great Eastern Way, London E15 1XE
Website: www.rooftopfilmclub.com

Book this new afternoon tea

Shangri-La The Shard, London, has announced a gorgeous new limited-edition afternoon tea in collaboration with Margot Robbie‘s gin brand, Papa Salt, that promises to bring some laid-back coastal vibes to the London skies. Expect a curated selection of patisserie with highlights like the Ocean Jewel (silky vanilla and pecan praline), Blue Horizon (a fusion of blueberries and lemon), and Coral Bloom (layers of Valrhona Caramelia, apricot and verbena). Cocktails include the Yuzu Drift (Papa Salt gin and yuzu) and Coastal Brambleberry (Papa Salt gin, muddled blueberries and lemon).

where: Level 35, 31 St Thomas Street, London
website: www.shangri-la.com/london

Check out a foodie event

The British Library’s Food Season is a two-day celebration of food through conversations, discussions and tastings. Now in its 7th year, there will be panels with chefs, authors, comedians and musicians to look forward to. The foodie chats will also focus on the joys of homegrown food, big questions like diversity in the industry and the future of food itself.

when: 31st may to 1st june
Where: British Library,96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB
Website: www.events.bl.uk