1 | Sea Cucumbers @ Barrafina, Coal Drops Yard (above)
Today is the day: you can now visit the £100 million development of two Victorian coal drops in King’s Cross, to eat and drink and shop to your heart’s content. There is a host of new restaurants and bars, but our first stop had to be the corner commandeered by the incomparable Harts Group with a new wine bar (The Drop), indoor and outdoor tacos and margaritas (at Casa Pastor and its party terrace, Plaza Pastor), and a great big Barrafina shining bright white like a beacon to greet you on the upper level.
Executive head chef Angel Zapata Martin has had some serious fun with the menu. Originally from Barcelona and with experience in three Michelin-starred Can Fabes and also under Pierre Gagnaire, Angel is your man for exquisite Catalonian tapas. He is particularly proud of his espardenyes, otherwise known as sea slugs or sea cucumbers – they are a little bit like squid, and here served with chicken thighs, garlic and chilli. Slightly slippery but juicy in texture, and delicate to taste, they are well worth a go. Then again, so is everything: tender sweetbreads and roasted new potatoes with double dipping sauces; a glistening plate of cured monkfish with multicoloured accoutrements; crispy squid atop its inky black sauce; a hulk of salt cod sitting on spinach and a tomato, pine nut and dried apricot sauce; absolutely any of the croquetas…
Our advice is to nab your spot up at the bar, order a glass of something delicious and start with everyone’s favourite tomato bread whilst perusing the menu at your leisure. And then waddle happily along the mezzanine to take in the Heatherwick-designed kissing roofs, and more.
Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4AB; barrafina.co.uk
2 | Martinis & Black Truffle Pizzas @ The Connaught Bar
There’s nothing like a birthday, and The Connaught Bar has just turned 10. So how else to celebrate but with one of their top-notch martinis? And this is a double birthday, since the bar’s master mixologist Agostino Perrone has been at the helm the whole time and is marking his decade by creating a very special small-batch gin, which superfans can now sign up to try and buy (there are only 100 bottles going).
However, to be assured of some alcoholic mollification this Friday evening, then just head over to Mayfair and into the smart hotel, where the warm glow of the bar will practically pull you inside. The house martini uses Perrone’s own blend of vermouths for a unique flavour, which is zesty and fragrant. It is best soaked up by the black truffle and fontina pizza because, hey, in for a penny in for a pound. And the combination can truly set your world to rights.
Carlos Place, London, W1K 2AL; the-connaught.co.uk
3 | Tuna Tartare @ Cecconi’s Shoreditch
From Mayfair to Bank, and now over to Shoreditch, Soho House’s Italian restaurant Cecconi’s is spreading itself across the capital. And the new branch may not have been there long but is already buzzing inside. The moodily-lit room provides the perfect backdrop for weeknight catch-ups, with a succinct list of cocktails and satisfying menu full of pizza and pasta and Cicchetti and cured meats and fish. You won’t fail to find something that everyone on your table wants.
Start with the truffle arancini, with melted fontina cheese oozing from the middle, and the quail eggs with salty tuna sauce. The tuna tartare comes with a little dose of theatricality, as a goldfish bowl of the mixture is presented in front of you before being tossed together by your waiter. It is a large portion so needs sharing. The mains can also be communal, the chicken paillard spread out over the plate like a wafer thin (and healthier) schnitzel and the succulent roasted porchetta served on wooden boards with either rocket, parmesan and tangy balsamic vinegar, or roast potatoes for more of a treat.
58 – 60 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DP; cecconisshoreditch.com
4 | Bowie-Inspired Cocktails @ Ziggy’s*
As far as historic David Bowie haunts go, the Hotel Café Royal is right up there. In fact, it’s where he celebrated the retirement of his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust in 1973 with a raucous party packed with the likes of Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand and Mick Jagger, who duly dubbed the bash ‘The Last Supper’.
In the spirit of that night, and all the many others he spent knocking back cocktails with music legends, the recently opened Ziggy’s bar is an obligatory pilgrimage for any self-respecting Bowie fan. Covered in iconic photos of the late singer by Mick Rock, his old official photographer, the beautiful cocktails are all named in homage to his lyrics, from ‘Darkness and Disgrace' (dark rum, port, coffee liqueur, sugar and egg yolk) to the 'Cat from Japan' (cognac, burnt maple syrup and pineapple).
Ziggy's, Café Royal, 68 Regent Street W1B 4DY, hotelcaferoyal.com
5 | Salted Caramel Bourbon Ice Cream @ Lady A’s Bulleit Tattoo & Cocktail Parlour
Whiskey lovers can go to town at the Andaz hotel’s bar, Lady Abercorn's Pub and Kitchen, where there is currently one of the curiouser pop-ups in residence, themed around bourbon and tattoos. Obviously. Kentucky bourbon Bulleit Frontier Whiskey has paired up with East London illustrator and tattoo artist Sophie Mo to design an immersive (and not little bit whacky) parlour, adorned with custom artwork, in which you can sample a host of cocktails inspired by the travels of the bar’s titular (and fictional) founder. That means a Middle Eastern old fashioned, a chai-infused creation for India, a gelato-accompanied shot for Italy, and so on. This runs alongside tattoo consultations, barber sessions and boozy master classes
But the best bit is the bar snacks, which all have a whiskey element too: smoked haddock Scotch eggs with Bulleit and horseradish crème fraiche; even a salted caramel Bulleit ice cream sandwich. If you like bourbon, you’ll be in clover.
Andaz London Liverpool Street, 40 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7QN; hyatt.com
*Ziggy's words by Nick Pope
