Your September Agenda | The Best Of London, September 2024
We love September, and not just because it’s your birthday.
And if it’s not your birthday then please ignore that. But just know that at least a few people got really, really freaked out.
Especially you, Alex.
But to finish our point, the reason we really love September is, well, because there’s enough stuff going on to paint this town red twice over – from races with over 300 boats charging down the river, to a concert from a virtuoso pianist inside a 40ft cube of moving art; a chance to see some truly witchcraft-adjacent closeup magic (while drinking cocktails); a mesmerising installation of thousands of suspended prisms in an ancient baroque hall; an improvised crime comedy show (in which you’re the killer); a supperclub featuring a legendary DJ & a legendary chef in a legendary space; some absurdly decadent 24-layer chocolate cake (with slices that weigh more than 1kg); wine tasting in a beautiful & secluded walled garden, and a lot more…
So grab a paintbrush, and get to work.
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POP UP EVENTS
1) The Queens Park Book Fest | It’s literally fantastic
Sure, there are a lot of people reading books in parks on any given weekend. But only in this particular park, on this particular weekend will you find a village fete-esque green space with tents, talks, loads of books, and esteemed writers like Jay Rayner, Michael Palin, and Elif Shafak…
Details: 31st August – 1st September | Queen’s Park, NW6 | £5+
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2) The Barbican Outdoor Cinema | Brilliant cinema, Brutalist space
The Barbican’s outdoor cinema is back. We’re calling it The Barbi-Cannes. (To be clear, no one else is). It’s been here for a good spell of weather, and it’s seeing out the program with the world premiere of blur: Live at Wembley Stadium (which basically puts you inside their incredible concert last year) and a screening of Gene Kelly classic An American in Paris.
Details: Until 1st September 2024 | The Barbican | £18 | Book Tickets
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3) Totally Thames | Races with 300+ boats, floating art installations & more
The Thames may be ahem, pretty mainstream already, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve a spotlight. So there’s a monthlong festival this September to celebrate it in all its glory. You can expect everything from a river race featuring 300+ boats, to a colourful floating art installation, to kayaking lessons, mudlarking and more…
Details: 1-30th September | Along the Thames
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4) Lightroom Live: Yuja Wang x Hockney | A virtuoso pianist meets an immersive art show
Here’s one to file under ‘woah’. For three days this month Yuja Wang – one of the most acclaimed & revered classical pianists in the world – will play a series of live concerts in the extraordinary Lightroom, surrounded by David Hockney’s awe-inspiring exhibition of large scale immersive art. Basically, both your eyes and your ears are going to be competing to see which of them is more blown away by the whole affair.
Details: 5th, 6th & 7th September | Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, N1C 4DY | £19.50
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5) London Podcast Festival | Put a face to the voice
The London Podcast Festival is returning for its ninth audio rodeo, to be held once again at Kings Place – in King’s Cross – over a week and a half in September (from the 5th-15th). As is the norm, the organisers have rounded up some of the most acclaimed names from both the UK and US podcast scenes, giving you the chance to finally put faces to the voices on the other end of your headphones that have kept you company during those long Tube commutes.
Details: 5th-15th September | King’s Place | £12+
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6) London Mural Festival | Wall-to-wall fun
It’s the return of the London Mural Festival! That means that for most of the month, we’ll all be out painting the town red. Some more literally than others. And those ‘some’ are the 100+ international artists set to take part, with over 100 new large-scale murals planned for across the city.
Details: 5th – 29th of September | Across London
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7) The Magician’s Table | Cocktails & closeup magic
Allow us to present to you The Magician’s Table – a delightful-sounding experience which is popping up in a secret London Bridge location for two months as of September, and in which you’ll get live music, cocktails, and the the chance to see some top-shelf magicians perform the kind of close-up magic tricks that would, not too long ago, have inspired the local townsfolk to start a new religion/bonfire.
Details: 5th September – 31st October | A secret location | £47.50+
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8) Batman Unmasked | Visit The Batcave and see some cool props
Batman turns 85 this year, but seems as ruggedly muscular as ever (proving once again that billions of dollars do make the best anti-aging cream). And in honour of the masked vigilante’s birthday, there’s a new show coming to town called Batman Unmasked. You’ll get to step into 9 themed rooms (a Batcave, Arkham maze, Wayne manor library, etc) and see props & costumes from several decades of movies. Should be fun.
Details: From 6th September | 45 Wellington Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 7BN | £21+
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9) Greenwich & Docklands International Festival | The insanity is back
The Greenwich & Docklands International Festival (or ‘GDIF’ to anyone who wants to save precious syllables) is back. If you don’t know it, it’s basically a huge showcase of outdoor theatre & arts featuring one of the highest concentrations of performing talent in the country. And the kicker? Pretty much all of the shows are free. This year we’re getting a full 17 days of arty action, taking place until 8th September, and the lineup’s looking preeeetty impressive, involving high-energy pyrotechnic drum shows, gravity-defying parkour dances across buildings, and acrobatics on top of a 2.5 tonne melting iceberg suspended in the air…
Details: Until 8th September 2024 | Across Greenwich | Free
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10) Underbelly Festival | The giant purple cow is back
The giant, udder-shaped hole in your life is being filled once more thanks to the return of the Underbelly Festival. It’s in Cavendish Square, slap-bang in central, for the summer – and it’s bringing with it “A Gameshow for Awful Children”, world champions The Beatbox Collective, and the “childhood dream shattering” Dizney in Drag.
Details: Until 8th September | Cavendish Square
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11) Walthamstow-On-Sea | A pop up beach outside a beer hall
You know what they say, life’s a beach and then you find one in the sunny alfresco space outside the country’s biggest beer hall, complete with tons of sand, beach huts, deck chairs, fish & chips, penny sweets, and more. Take advantage while you can…
Details: Until 8th September | Big Penny Social | £4
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12) Greenwich Comedy Festival | London’s biggest comedy festival, apparently
You know what’s funny? The Greenwich Comedy Festival. They claim it’s the largest gagfest in the land, and we’re inclined to think this is the one time they’re not joking – particularly because they’ve lined up stand-up talent like Dara Ó Briain, Josh Widdicombe, Olga Koch, Phil Wang, Alan Davies, Simon Amstell, Ardal O’Hanlon, Nina Conti, and Dylan Moran to name but a few…
Details: 11th – 15th September | National Maritime Museum, Royal Borough of Greenwich, SE10 9J | £26.50
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13) Finding Your Voice | A Nudge Talk with Caroline Goyder
Finding your own voice can be totally transformational, supercharging your confidence, self-esteem, and relationships. Unfortunately, it’s not something you just rummage for down the back of the sofa. But it is something that you can learn, and relatively easily too – and speech expert Caroline Goyder is going to show us all how at the next in our Nudge Talks series, which will be going down at the lush Peckham Arches on the 12th of this month.
Details: 12th September | Peckham Arches | £20 (incl. entry & a welcome drink)
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14) The London Design Festival | The blueprint for a fascinating time
The LDF is, they say, here to show off London as the “design capital of the world”, and when you lay down a gauntlet like that, you need to back it up with something impressive. Like, say, a mesmerising installation of thousands of suspended prisms in an ancient baroque hall, a surreal collection of the weirdest things on earth, or a chance to indulge in a little light time-travelling. That kind of thing.
Details: 14th-22nd September | Across London
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15) Open House Festival | Snoop Around Mansions & Derelict Factories. For Free.
London has so many amazing museums, galleries and free places to visit, that anything kept behind closed doors seems all the more enticing …and for just one week a year, those doors are unlocked. It’s thanks to the Open House Festival, which for three decades has provided the public with legitimate ways to be nosy by throwing open the doors to private houses, mansions, libraries, clock towers, factories and other buildings of particular architectural interest, to all and sundry, and all for free.
Details: 14th – 22nd September | Across London | Free
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16) Colourscape | Do a little prism time
Colourscape has popped up at several locations around London over the years, but it’s never failed to completely annihilate the reality centres of visitor’s brains. It’s made up of a labyrinth of huge tunnels – almost an acre of them – whose walls are made up of vibrant colours that seem to glow in the daylight. And this year, they’re throwing in a little live music, just to push the psychedelic button a little harder.
Details: 14th – 22nd September | Clapham Common, Windmill Drive, SW4 9DE | £12
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17) Jazz Cafe Festival | The venue’s first outdoor festival
This month the Jazz Café‘s putting its favourite artists out to pasture – specifically, the lush landscape of Camberwell’s Burgess Park, where the iconic live music venue will be staging its first ever outdoor festival. It’s set to be a day-long extravaganza featuring live performances across four stages. And just like the venue itself, it’ll bring together an eclectic line-up of artists across a whole range of genres, in a celebration of the Jazz Café’s storied 30 year history.
Details: 15th September | Burgess Park, Albany Road, SE5 0AL | £35+
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18) HowTheLightGetsIn | A Music & Philosophy Festival (with 35% off, for you)
HowTheLightGetsIn is officially the world’s largest philosophy & music festival – but aside from being a perfect opportunity to ask why it takes two to tango, it’s also got a whole lot of comedy, food, workshops, and other stuff on offer too. All in all, there’ll be a tidy 150 speakers & performers, with topics ranging from debates about quantum physics and living in the moment, to stand-up comedy and BAFTA-winning musicians. And of course, that’s on top of the long table banquets, pop up bars, philosophy breakfasts, street food, cabaret, and massive amounts of other stuff. And Nudge Members are getting to experience it all, with a tidy 35% off tickets…
Details: 21st & 22nd September | Kenwood House, Hampstead Lane, Highgate, NW3 7JR | Use Code ‘NUDGE24’ for 35% off
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19) Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre | Play outdoors
Here’s some dramatic news: the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is still open for business. Surprisingly for its size – it seats a cool 1,253 – it’s a place you wouldn’t really stumble across unless you knew it was there. Hidden away in a grassy corner of Regent’s Park, it’s a sprawling outdoor stage surrounded by a canopy of trees and rows of amphitheatre-style seating, that all allows for the kind of mind-blowing staging that’s hard to get inside…
Details: Until 21st September | Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, NW1 4NU | £15+
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20) Carradine’s Cockney Sing-A-Long | A jolly good knees-up in a majestic, crumbling music hall
Carradine’s Cockney Sing-A-Long is the work of the wonderfully charismatic and thoroughly charming Tom Carradine (who is also the pianist with Champagne Charlie & the Bubbly Boys). He plays regularly at Mr. Fogg’s Tavern and the Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington, but once in a while he packs out the gorgeously atmospheric Wilton’s Music Hall in Wapping for a good old-fashioned knees-up – and he’ll be doing just that this month.
Details: 24th September | Wilton’s Music Hall, 1 Grace’s Alley, E1 8JB | £6.50+
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21) Woodburner | Intimate live gigs in a leafy, festoon-lit woodland oasis
Returning to Dalston Curve Garden for a 12th year, Woodburner is sparking to life once more. They’re a team of curators and producers who programme gigs at some of London’s most celebrated live music venues, But of all the esteemed settings they’ve popped up in, it’s the long-running summer series at Dalston Curve Garden that Woodburner’s best known for, transforming the leafy community oasis into an open-air stage where artists can duet with the birds…
Details: Until 24th September 2024 | Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, 13 Dalston Lane, London E8 3DF | £11+
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22) The Moth MainStage | Live storytelling in Union Chapel
Moths may be famous for loving light entertainment, but this event is not that. The Moth specialises in true life stories – the kinds that might make you laugh, gasp, cry, feel inspired and probably cringe a bit too. And the MainStage is their quintessential event, in which five storytellers will take to the stage and share, without any notes, personal true stories that will likely take your tear ducts out for a quick spin before a musical interlude.
Details: 27th September | Union Chapel, 19b Compton Terrace, London, N1 2UN | £37+
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23) CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation | Whose chalk outline is it anyway?
After a series of acclaimed sell-out shows at Edinburgh, it doesn’t take a detective to figure out why CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation is popping up at Wilton’s beautiful music hall this month. The show is an entirely improvised murder mystery, which isn’t so much a whodunnit, as an audience-abetted whydunnit, wheredunnit, and how-on-earth-dunnit, too.
Details: 28th September | Wilton’s Music Hall | £8 – £22
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24) Wild Swing Mini Golf | Puttloads of fun
“Mini golf in North Greenwich doesn’t get better than this” claim the makers of Wild Swing. Preeeety bold claim, we know. But when you see the vibrantly colourful, floral course, and you hear that it costs just £2.88 (with all equipment included), you might just believe then.
Details: Until 29th September | Design District SE10 0AX | £2.88
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25) Between The Bridges | A 4,000 sq ft festival of fun, now with Crazy Boules
Between The Bridges can most boringly be described as a “really big beer garden” but should more accurately be described as “a massive, free to enter al fresco adult playground which fuses a smorgasbord of bars and street food with DJs, live music, drag brunches and special events; all packed into four different dining areas right by the Thames.” And this year it can add the eclectic new sport of Crazy Boules to its portfolio of fun…
Details: Throughout September | Queen’s Walk, South Bank, SE1
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26) Roof East | Raising the games
For the past few months, life in Stratford has been roofless. Or rather, Roof East-less. But no more, thanks to the return of this bunting-strewn outdoor oasis filled with high-altitude games, cocktails and deep-fried cookie dough. Expect crazy golf, neon-lit bowls, batting cages, cocktails, an open-air cinema, and a lot more.
Details: Throughout September | Floors 7 & 8, Stratford Multi-Storey Car Park, E15 1XE | Free entry
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27) Go To The Theatre
You may laugh, you may cry, you may vomit, you may do all three… See The Best Shows On At The Theatre Now
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28) Take A Day Trip
Deal – Ben Garratt/Unsplash
London’s so enormous that just travelling from Notting Hill to Hackney can feel like a day trip.
But if you merely double that journey time (and in some cases, it might genuinely be quicker), you could also find yourself eating a chippie tea on the beach; hiking along glorious clifftops; walking down quaint cobbled lanes and enjoying a wine tasting in the vineyard where it was produced… Take a look at these 21 ideas
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29) See An Exhibition
Okay look, we’re fully aware that it seems like we’re padding the list with entries like this. “Go to an exhibition! What a creative and offbeat idea!” you say. We hear you. But the fact is that there’s some genuinely great stuff on this month, and this is just a neat little reminder to check out the best of it, juuust in case. See the best exhibitions on right now.
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POP UP RESTAURANTS
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30) Meatopia | A festival of pure protein
Meatopia is back. Once again it’s pitching up at Tobacco Dock to kick off the month, and once again it’s going to spoil you with proteinous treats courtesy of over 70 first-class live-fire chefs, all of whom will be scorching their meaty goods over hot, sustainably sourced coals.
Details: 29th August – 1st September | Tobacco Dock, E1W 2SF | Get fan-to-fan resale tickets
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31) Farang’s Spicy Gai Tod Sundays | A Sunday Roast, Thai style
Farang, run by the talented Londoner Seb Holmes, is one of the best Thai restaurants in the city. And for two Sundays this month, he’s putting on a kind of roast-style feast, consisting of tamarind & caramel chicken wings; crispy fried chicken with fresh herbs & burnt green chilli; spicy papaya salad; roast chicken & garlic roti, and more.
Details: 1st & 8th September | Farang, 72 Highbury Park, N5 2XE | £65+
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32) OhGee Chicken | Award-winning Korean fried chicken in Hoxton
A couple of years ago, Netflix ran a show called the K-Chicken War, in an attempt to find the best purveyor of Korean fried chicken in South Korea. (You can’t watch it in the UK, FYI). The winner? Chef Byung Tae Ahn. And now, he’s bringing his own brand of nation-conquering, spice-laden, crispy-as-f**k fried chicken to the Hoxton for three months. Expect multiple glazes, plenty of sandwiches, lots of cocktails, beer towers, soju shots, and kimchi cheese fries.
Details: 2nd September – 30th November | The Hoxton, EC2A 3HU
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33) Dishes From My Grandma | Old school Burmese food
Dan Anton’s grandmother came to the UK from Myanmar by boat back in the ’60s, and she bought her recipes with her. Now, a few decades later, Anton is one of the premier purveyors of Burmese food in the city thanks to his micro-empire Lahpet. So to pay homage to the woman that made him, he’s putting on a series of supperclubs called Dishes From My Grandma at Lahpet West End. You’ll get everything from fritters with tamarind sauce & ginger salad, to beef sipyan & sour vegetable curry, shan pickles with dried shrimp ‘balachaung’ relish, and more. And it’s a steal at £35 for the whole 9-dish menu.
Details: 3rd September | Lahpet West End, 21 Slingsby Pl, WC2E 9AB | £35pp
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34) Uyen Luu | Vietnamese supperclubs in London Fields
Uyen Luu has her fingers in a lot of pies. She’s a chef, a cookbook author, a food photographer, she hosts cookery classes, and she does indeed throw the occasional supperclub, all from her London Fields studio space. Head on down and you’ll be treated to all manner of fragrant & lovely Vietnamese food (pho, chicken papaya salad, 5-spice pork belly, etc). Jamie Oliver went to one, and he loved it, so the odds are you’ll have a good time too…
Details: 7th & 14th September | Unit 32, Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road, E8 4QN | £60pp
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35) Charles Bryant x Café Pier | Steak frites by Albert Bridge
Café Pier is a tiny, 17sq ft former cabmen’s shelter at the foot of Albert Bridge that now serves up some lovely lunch fare. On Saturday the 7th, they’re handing the keys to chef Charles Bryant to cook up his steak sarnies, which sound insane. We’re talking ultra-light Catalan sourdough, HG Walter steaks, roasted bone marrow, beef fat hollandaise, Sunday-style gravy, aioli, and Koffman fries.
Details: 7th September | Café Pier, Chelsea Embankment, Albert Bridge Gardens, SW3 5RJ | £19
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36) Rambutan & Cousins | Guest dinners at a stellar Sri Lankan restaurant
Rambutan was one of the best openings of last year, and now it’s just turned one. So, to commemorate the occasion, chef Cynthia Shanmugalingam is going to invite a few similarly talented buddies into the kitchen for a collaboration once a month. They chefs will be invited to raid the cupboards for Sri Lankan ingredients, and raid Cynthia’s skill-set for techniques – this month, it’s the turn of Nick Molyviatis, the former head man at Kiln…
Details: 10th September | Rambutan, Borough Market | Book here
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37) Yūshoku Club | NIJŪ x Aulis
Opening earlier in the year in spectacular style, NIJŪ is prepping its second act with some collaborative guest dinners in the form of a Yūshoku Club (which is Japanese for ‘supper club’). This month will see them invite the Michelin Starred team at Aulis (who really are sensationally good) to cook up the likes of Aulis’s truffle pudding caramelised in birch, and NIJŪ’s own super-rich A4 Wagyu “Tournedos Rossini” with black truffle & foie gras.
Details: 12th September | 20 Berkeley St, London W1J 8EE | £125
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38) PAIRED by Carousel | Gilles Peterson & chef Yoji Tokuyoshi at the Tate Modern
PAIRED is back. And it’ll be anything but pared-back. Carousel‘s collab series has a simple premise: take one world-class DJ and one highly-decorated chef, and create an evening of excellent food, drinks and music with a combination that’s unique to that night and that night only. No two menus, soundtracks, or events will be the same. This month that DJ will be the legendary Gilles Peterson, and that chef is the wildly inventive Yoji Tokuyoshi. And as for the venue? It’s only the Tate Modern…
Details: 13th September | The Corner, Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG | £125 (dinner), £30 (after party only)
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39) TÓU | A Katsu sand pop up from the team at TĀTĀ Eatery
The team behind the lauded TĀTĀ Eatery have revived TÓU, a specialist pop-up dedicated to Japanese katsu sandos. You can just picture the menu now… because the picture above literally is the menu. They literally do one main dish. But with Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng at the helm – and a killer selection of sparkling natural wines to wash it down – you can bet they do it extremely well.
Details: Until 14th September | Upstairs at The Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, Borough, SE1 9AL
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40) Gasoline Grill | Burgers from Copenhagen
If smash burgers really rev your engines, you’ll need to visit this pop-up at The Standard before you find yourself unable to participate in any smash burger power ranking discussions over the next few weeks. Gasoline Grill comes to London from Copenhagen, where it has cult status despite (or maybe because of) its unassuming home in a functioning petrol station. Your surroundings are a little more swish here at the hotel’s ground floor bar, Double Standard, where you can try the likes of hot Nashville chicken sandwiches and surf ‘n’ turf burgers alongside peach bourbon slushies with a Two Tribes beer float.
Details: Until 15th September | The Standard, 10 Argyle St, London WC1H 8EG | Book here
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41) Ox Head Supperclub at The Pelican | It’s exactly what it sounds like
This month, the Pelican is hosting the first in a series of nose-to-tail supperclubs, starting quite literally at the nose. The Ox Head dinner will involve dishes like grilled ox tongue, beef neck fritters, and braised ox cheek, all paired up with the pub’s excellent sides & wines.
Details: 17th September | The Pelican W11, 45a All Saints Road, W11 1HE | £75
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42) People’s Wine x Lá Lốt | Vino & Vietnamese food
Chef Eric Wan (a former financier who decided to become a chef, and ended up at Dinner by Heston) runs a regular Saigonese popup called Lá Lốt inspired by his heritage – and it’s popping up at People’s Wine this month. Expect chalk stream trout with nước mắm & shiso; oyster mushroom bánh xèo; and pork wontons with lemongrass sa tế. And a lot of wine.
Details: 19th-21st September | People’s Wine, 73 Dalston Ln, E8 2NG
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43) Wild Feasts at Oxmoor Farm | Farmyard feasting
There’s a good reason that the Wild Feasts at Oxmoor Farm sound so ridiculously idyllic: it’s because they are. You’ll find them on a hidden slice of Buckinghamshire countryside just 30 miles out of town, in the Chiltern Hills where the farm itself sits cradled by ancient woodland and a patchwork of open fields. And on that rustic canvas, the owners have stretched a series of long banquet-style tables under an airy canopy of canvas tenting, along with some flame-powered grills. That’s where the Wild Feasts are held, bringing in 10 genuinely brilliant, big-name chefs from May until December. Those chefs will be cooking up sharing-style banquets for just two nights each, making it a strictly limited and intimate affair…
Details: 21st & 22nd September | Oxmoor Farm
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44) Kato at King & Co | Take a bao, guys
With a finger firmly on the pulse of London’s pop up restaurant scene, The King & Co is home to a series of top-tier kitchen residencies each year, inviting street food traders, pop-ups and proto-restaurants to take over the pans for a few weeks at a time. This month, it’s the turn of the folks at Kato, who transformed their love of East Asian food into a roaming bao pop-up. Expect fluffy buns stuffed with the likes of slow-cooked short rib; XO pork with miso radish; tofu & gochujang; and chicken with spicy kimchi. They’re also offering a couple of non-bad dishes in the form of Cantonese beef hot pot; Malaysian pancakes with Penang curry sauce; and for dessert, Hong Kong French Toast with soy kombu caramel and banana.
Details: Until 12th October | The King & Co, 100 Clapham Park Road, SW4 7BZ
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45) Get Baked x Fortnums | 24-layer chocolate cake, anyone?
For two months this autumn, the towering retail icon that is Fortnum & Mason will be getting towing 24-layer chocolate cakes and colourful Knickerbocker Glory pies courtesy of Leeds-based bakery GET BAKED. You can order the whole cake to collect, or just pop in for a single slice (which weighs in at over 1kg) before they head back up north in October…
Details: Until 20th October | Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly
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46) Varrons at Cadet | Sneak Preview of a Sure-Fire Hit
Isabel McCabe
Run by a crack team with the likes of Westerns Laundry and Primeur on their CVs, Varrons might just end up being one of the most exciting openings of the year – but before they get the keys to their first bricks and mortar site, the trio have been popping up for brief spells across the city. Currently on the ticket is a fairly lengthy stint at Stoke Newington’s elegant wine bar, Cadet, where they’re serving a shorter bar menu from Mon-Weds, and a proper restaurant-style offering the rest of the week. Expect all manner of French comfort food, accompanied by a couple of cocktails and some lovely Jura-region wines…
Details: Throughout September | Cadet, 57 Newington Green, London, N16 9PX | Book a table
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47) The BBQ Club | Interactive multi-course menus by the river
Jimmy Garcia, prince of pop ups, tycoon of temporary restaurants, baron of BBQs, is back. His BBQ Club tends to sell out every year, and because he’s not a total idiot, he’s bringing it back. He’s returning to his tried & tested spot on the Southbank, where the Thames-side venue will be split into two distinct areas, a sit down restaurant overlooking the river (with an interactive BBQ build into every table), and a street food space downstairs…
Details: Until 20th September | Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
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48) Bubbledogs | Hot dogs & champagne in 45 Park Lane
Hot dogs & champagne. That was the simple, brilliant, and boujie idea behind Bubbledogs. But that bubble was sadly burst by the pandemic, an injustice that the restaurant gods are now looking to briefly remedy with a pop up in the summer terrace at 45 Park Lane. You’ll get lobster hot dogs, A5 Wagyu hot dogs, and even chocolate & cinnamon brioche hot dogs, all washed down with some decadent bubbly.
Details: Until 29th September 2024 | 45 Park Lane, W1K 1PN
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49) Black Cactus BBQ | Ludicrously huge burgers in a brewery taproom
Popping up at the Exale brewery taproom this month, Black Cactus are an old school, Texas-style BBQ outfit who make everything they can in-house using sustainable techniques, and higher welfare meat. The end result? Oak-smoked, dry-aged, ex-dairy cow rib cap & brisket burgers topped with the likes of smoked ox cheek, bourbon ketchup, and red miso, as well as huuuuge BBQ platters covered in a small farmyard’s worth of meat.
Details: Until October | Exale Brewery Taproom, Blackhorse Road E17
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50) Crayfish Bob’s Crawfish Boil | Fight invasive species by eating them
Crayfish Bob’s Crawfish Boil is:
1) A raucous, pretty much all-you-can-eat Louisiana-style cook out, where you’ll roll up your sleeves and feast on Cajun-spiced seafood from the Deep South and generous schooners of mead.
2) One hell of a tongue-twister. Particularly after a generous schooner of mead.
Details: Until 10th October (Thursdays only) | Gosnells Bar, Arch 72 Enid St, SE16 3RA | £54 (incl. all you can eat & a welcome schooner)
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51) Rake | Excellent modern British food above a pub
You’ll find Rake above The Gun – a sentence that may sound like the opening of a blinding episode of Gardener’s Question Time, but which actually makes for the start of a truly fantastic meal.
You see, the Rake in question is a modern British restaurant concept helmed by a hyper-talented trio of chefs including Jay Claus, Peter Ward & Syrus Pickhaver – their collective CVs include top-tier joints like Brat, ACME Fire Cult, and Quo Vadis, and it bloody well shows. And The Gun in question is an independent Hackney pub with a dedicated upstairs space for kitchen residencies just like this. They recently said a tearful farewell to Ling Lings. Thankfully, this is a more than adequate replacement.
Details: Throughout September | The Gun, E9 6FE
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52) Jack Bosco at Bottle & Rye | Modern Mediterranean dishes in a cosy wine bar
The next residency at Robin Gill’s Brixton wine bar Bottle + Rye is from Jack Bosco. He does first-rate modern Mediterranean food that’s cooked o an open fire wherever possible, with opening dishes that include lamb tartare with green harissa; a new potato & smoked eel salad; Cantabrian anchovies on toast with Amalfi lemon butter and some quail with griolles & persillade…
Details: Throughout September | Bottle + Rye
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53) Mamapen | London’s best Cambodian eatery
Mamapen is London’s only Cambodian restaurant – and it’s a pop up at that. And if, when hearing that, you thought ‘Really?? That feels like it can’t possibly be true.’, then you’re not alone. In a city with the sheer depth of culinary choice that the capital has (we have Eritrean eateries! Javanese joints! Qatari cafes!), it definitely seems weird. So it’s a very good thing indeed that Mamapen exists, because otherwise we’d be missing some punchily flavourful, delightfully unfamiliar, and remarkably good food.
Details: Throughout September | The Sun and 13 Cantons, Soho, W1F 9NG
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54) Ling Ling’s Residency at Bambi | Sunday takeovers this summer
Despite serving some of the best modern Chinese & Vietnamese for in the city, Ling Ling’s doesn’t have a restaurant. So they’re borrowing Bambi. The takeover’s happening every Sunday, and there’ll be specially curated cocktails to go with the likes of poached king prawns; chicken & water chestnut wontons; doubanjiang mushrooms; and more…
Details: Sundays in September | Bambi, E8
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55) Ruben’s Reubens @ Peckham Arches | Stellar BBQ in a beautiful space
Ruben Dawnay’s ongoing pop-up in Brixton Village, Ruben’s Reubens, is still drawing queues months after opening – and now he’s dropping into Peckham Arches for the summer with a menu of smoked meats and BBQ’d veg. His signature meat platter is loaded with a smoked 1/4 chicken, lamb sausage, and pulled pork shoulder, while over in the veggie corner there’s charred hispi cabbage, smoked oyster mushrooms, and BBQ cauliflower – all served with charred flatbread, pickles and mustard BBQ sauce. Oh, and tiramisu.
Details: Throughout September | Peckham Arches, Blenheim Grove, SE15 4QN
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56) Park & Kim at Callooh Callay | The Ultimate Comfort Food (Plus Cocktails)
Callooh Callay‘s new diner-themed cocktail menu was just missing one thing… the diner food. So they’ve bussed in the chef who’s been hopping from hit residency to hit residency, Jay Morjaria, to cook up his take on diner grub. Park & Kim fuses Korean influences with American classics to create seriously indulgent dishes like Gochujang hot honey wings; loaded bulgogi fries; and a buttermilk fried chicken burger loaded up with curry mayo. And it seems only fair to work your way through the cocktail menu while you’re there, starting with the perfectly balanced Green Card, a kind of mango chutney-laced margarita…
Details: Weds-Sat throughout September | Callooh Callay, 65 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3QQ | Book here
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57) Tiella at the Compton Arms | Italian food in a classic North London boozer
The Compton Arms always gets in great residencies. The last two – Four Legs and BELLY – both impressed massively, so they took a slight risk with Tiella because a) it’s not named after a body part, which seems to be the theme here, and b) it’s the debut of Italian chef Dara Klein, who has not yet helmed her own restaurant. But luckily, it turns out that she almost literally grew up in her family’s restaurant kitchen, and soaked up experience the whole time, then worked her way up through the ranks at places like Brawn, Trullo, and Sager + Wilde. So – surprise surprise – that risk has paid off…
Details: Until 20th Decmber (Weds-Sun) | Compton Arms, 4 Compton Avenue, London, N1 2XD
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POP UP BARS
58) Bar Night at Novelty Automation | Pop up bar in a surreal arcade
Novelty Automation has some truly weird arcades. There’s a Money Laundering cash drop, an ‘Auto Frisker’ that will pat you down like a mechanical bouncer, and a ‘Small Hadron Collider’ among many others. It’s like satire meets surrealism meets stainless steel. And for one night a month, there’s a pop up bar there too.
Details: 5th September, 5-9pm | 1a Princeton St, Holborn, WC1R 4AX
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59) Cocktails in the City | It’s back
The liquor-laced weekender is rolling its bottle-clinking wagon back into town for the summer, setting up an al fresco pop-up cocktail festival in Bedford Square Gardens, and bringing together 20 of the finest bars in London (and, by extension, the world) for tastings, masterclasses, and, well, a lot of cocktails.
Details: 5th-7th September | Bedford Square | From £22 – Nudge readers get 25% off
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60) The Rebellious Wine Club | A beginner’s guide to sake
Returning to Bourne & Hollingsworth this month, The Rebellious Wine Club invites first class female talent from the UK’s wine industry in to start debates, bust myths, dive into boozy rabbit holes, and generally mix things up. On the roster for September we have the wonderful Erika Haigh (founder of Moto) to discuss sake in all its delicious forms…
Details: 12th September | Bourne & Hollingsworth | £39 (inc. drinks & snacks)
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61) Wine Tasting in the Walled Garden | Fine wine in a (literally) palatial setting
In an attempt to help fund their new greenhouse, the folks at Fulham Palace are holding a wine tasting in their secluded, flower-filled walled garden this September, so it won’t just be the bees getting a good buzz on.
Details: 17th September | Fulham Palace Walled Garden, SW6 6EA | £20
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62) Oktoberfest at Between the Bridges | Two-pint steins & live oompah music
As we all know, the best bit of Oktoberfest is the beer the ten-piece drum & brass oompha band playing ’80s-’00s indie classics. And Between the Bridges is going to turn that into a fine art, thanks to a live performance from the Old Dirty Brassards, as well as DJ sets from Guilty Pleasures and drag host Miss LeighDing-Hosen.
Details: 27th & 28th September | Between The Bridges, Queen’s Walk, South Bank, SE1 | £15.87
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63) Oktoberfest at Big Penny Social | Britain’s biggest beer hall does what it does best
Big Penny Social is the country’s biggest beer hall so – shocker – they’re participating in the world’s biggest beer festival. Their Oktoberfest (which genuinely is traditionally held in September, FYI) is going to involve beer, bratwurst, pretzels, oompah bands, and Club Du Fromage. Sehr gut, ja?
Details: 29th & 30th September | 1 Priestley Way, E17 6AL | £6+
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64) The Berkeley Rooftop Pool Bar | Open to the public for the first time
This month, the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge is lifting the guest-only policy at its rooftop bar for the summer, and offering everyone the chance to sip cocktails by the pool at their exclusive terrace hideout. As long as they have a booking. And spend a minimum of £50pp. But if you have both of those things at your disposal (and you’re happy to not actually go into the pool) then you’ll have an absolute blast…
Details: Until 7th September | The Berkeley, SW1X 7RL | £50 min
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65) Campfire Cocktails At Midnight Apothecary | Firepits, marshmallows & cocktails
It’s still warm enough for Midnight Apothecary to run their botanical rooftop pop up bar. You’ll start your evening in their charming fairylit urban garden, complete with salvaged garden furniture, firepits, and thriving vegetable and herb patches, and if you fancy you can take a tour of the Brunel Tunnel shaft too…
Details: Fridays & Saturdays in September | The Midnight Apothecary, Brunel Museum, Railway Avenue, London, SE16 4LF | £8
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66) Fairytop Garden Zoo | Catford’s only rooftop bar
When you’re Catford’s only rooftop bar, you’re also Catford’s best rooftop bar. And worst. And purplest. You get it – but we have the feeling that even if there was another one or two similar spots, this would still be the one we wanted to go to. It’s got nice drinks, great views, and a chilled atmosphere…
Details: Throughout September | Atop The Catford Constitutional, 108 Rushey Green SE6 4HW
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67) Fulham Beach Club | Drink cocktails with sand… between your toes
The Fulham Beach Club is back, giving you an opportunity to hop on the tube, get sand between your toes, drink cocktails, play shuffleboard, and go to a themed brunch party.
Details: Throughout September | Wandsworth Bridge, SW6 2TY | £5+
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Looking for more inspiration? See all the best things to do in London