By Charlotte Cox
Oh, this weekend? Well, we’ll be gourmet BBQing, abstract art appreciating and drinking rum, mainly. You?
POP-UP: The House of Peroni
Ciao, bellas! Prepare to live la dolce vita, complete with handmade gelato, wood-fired pizzas and freshly made pastas, on that famous Italian piazza in… um… Hackney. Because the House of Peroni is setting up residency for another six-week season and – mamma mia! – it sounds brilliant. For not only will you find all the aforementioned treats, but there’s also private fine-dining experiences, a floating negroni bar and a LOT of Peroni cocktails on offer, all in a space styled by Margherita Missoni, no less. To use up our last remaining Italian cliché: that’s amore.
19 May-1 July; free admission Proud East, 2-10 Hertford Road, London N1 5ET
FOOD: Jimmy’s BBQ Club
Are there three sweeter letters in the English language than B, B and Q? We think not. Especially when it’s a BBQ created by pop-up supremo Jimmy Garcia, who returns once again after a sell-out summer last year. Not that he’ll be doing all the work, mind you – each table in his weatherproof garden comes equipped with a charcoal grill for you to cook such wonders as beef tail fillets with red pepper and honey emulsion, or chicken wings with Jimmy’s secret marinade. Throw in charred peach with goat’s cheese, a life-changing tuna niçoise and (of course) corn on the cob, and we can sum it up in another sweet three-letter word: Y-U-M. 18 May-21 Aug; £38 for four courses Secret Clapham location, revealed on booking Jimmyspopup.com FOOD: Jimmy’s BBQ Club Are there three sweeter letters in the English language than B, B and Q? We think not. Especially when it’s a BBQ created by pop-up supremo Jimmy Garcia, who returns once again after a sell-out summer last year. Not that he’ll be doing all the work, mind you – each table in his weatherproof garden comes equipped with a charcoal grill for you to cook such wonders as beef tail fillets with red pepper and honey emulsion, or chicken wings with Jimmy’s secret marinade. Throw in charred peach with goat’s cheese, a life-changing tuna niçoise and (of course) corn on the cob, and we can sum it up in another sweet three-letter word: Y-U-M.
18 May-21 Aug; £38 for four courses Secret Clapham location, revealed on booking Jimmyspopup.com
FOOD: Morito Hackney Road
You’ll have heard of Moro, right? The Exmouth Market restaurant that took tapas and turned them into something truly special with their gorgeously spiced Moorish plates? Of course you have. So you’ll be pretty darned excited by the prospect of this, its new sister restaurant in the east end of town. Food-wise you’ll find all the Moorish marvels the original will have led you to expect; but this time with a Cretan twist. This means, more specifically, lamb chops with cumin and paprika, crispy aubergine with whipped feta and date, or fried coriander potatoes with tahini and chilli. And as if that wasn’t enough to sell it, let us leave you with this thought: they have specialty Spanish and Portuguese wines. ON TAP.
Now open 195 Hackney Road, E2 8JL
DRINK: Hotel Street Pop-Up at The Well
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! A new pop-up devoted to everyone’s favourite sailor (that’s Jerry, not Popeye) is landing in the basement of Clerkenwell hangout The Well. And – just as you’d expect from a Sailor Jerry-themed bar – it features pin-up posters, seedy/stylish neon lights and a boat-load of spiced rum cocktails. Don’t miss the Hearts and Daggers (Sailor Jerry, Galliano, Cointreau, lime and blackberries) or the Drink and Ink (Sailor Jerry and Prosecco served with elderflower and blackberries); plus there’s crab croquettes, chilli salt squid and pints ‘o’ prawns to be had. It’s a sailor’s life for us, indeed.
19 May-30 Sept The Well, 180 St. John Street, Clerkenwell, EC1V 4JY
SHOPPING: Star Boot Sale
Fancy rummaging through the personals of Calvin Harris, Hot Chip, Coldplay, Badly Drawn Boy, Grayson Perry and Corinne Bailey Rae, to name a (very) few? Of course you do. Which is why you should get down to Brick Lane’s Old Truman Brewery on Sunday, for a chance to do just that at this huge celeb car boot. Surprise star stallholders will be flogging their wares to raise money for Syrian refugee charity IRC – and as it’s organised by Dave ‘out of Blur’ Rowntree, you can bet there’ll be donations from his band too. Bagsy anything that Damon Albarn has TOUCHED…
22 May; £13.50 91 Brick Ln, London E1 6QR
ART: Jeff Koons – Now
Who says art can’t be fun? Whoever they are, they haven’t been to a Jeff Koons exhibition. One of the most significant artists of the post-war era, he explores themes including taste, consumerism, mass culture, beauty and acceptance. Through the medium of giant inflatables. And framed vacuum cleaners. And basketballs suspended in glass… Now pieces collected by Damien Hirst over a 35-year period will be on show at Hirst’s own Newport Street Gallery, and one thing’s for sure: it’ll be art, but not as you know it.
18 May-16 Oct; free Newport Street, London, SE11 6AJ
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