

News (101)

Arcade Food Hall Centre Point is reopening on Tottenham Court Road
Arcade Food Hall Centre Point â formerly known as Arcade Food Theatre â had something of a false start when it opened back in 2019. Less than eight months after it began welcoming diners to its fancy take on a food court, the pandemic hit and forced it to close. Now itâs regrouped, changed its name and JKS Restaurants (the group behind heavy hitters like Bao, Berenjak, Hoppers and Gymkhana) have brought in some new restaurants to get the central London space buzzing once again. Theyâve finally announced the full restaurant line-up and have an official opening date on Friday April 22. Look out for nine kitchens, with food ranging from Michelin-starred Saborâs little sister Saborcito to American diner-style food at Manna from Bake Streetâs Feroz Gajia and Japanese sushi and omakase from Sushi Kamon and heaps more. Alongside all of that, chef Luke Farrell is to open three spaces at the Arcade Food Hall. His inspiration? Fifteen years living in Thailand and experience of working in kitchens across southeast Asia. Plaza Khao Gaeng will pay tribute to southern Thai cuisine, with the restaurant inspired by an old Thai cinema. Its menu will be based around fresh curry pastes from small producers in Thailand, while the curries themselves will be set out on trays filling the âbox officeâ area. Among Plazaâs offerings will be gaeng tai pla â smoky mackerel with fermented fish innards, bamboo shoots and Thai aubergine; southern sour orange gaeng som curry with garcinia, among other puc

A massive, new cultural open-air destination is coming to Docklands
The Docklands in E16 might not be a must-visit cultural hotspot right now, but a new open-air venue is hoping to change that. Later this year, the team behind some of Londonâs best venues and festivals â including Printworks, The Drumsheds and Field Day â will bring us Dockyards, a new space to get our fix of music and culture. Located by the waterside in Silvertown Quays, the 400,000 square-foot open-air venue will provide a new home for a dynamic range of cultural events, all year round. Inspired by the flow of imported goods and the role the Royal Docks have played in Londonâs history, Dockyards will be a place where âall forms of culture converge at the gateway to the capitalâ. So far, the new space has two massive events booked to close out the summer, with more to be announced soon. Thereâs a two-day Defected London spectacular from the renowned label Defected Records on September 3-4, while leading electronic music group Above & Beyond are putting on their Group Therapy weekender will bring a banging line-up of dance musicâs finest to the venue on September 10-11. As more events get locked in, the venue aims to work with both the worldâs best artists and promote local, homegrown talent. The Dockyards team is also committed to having a positive impact on the area it is making its new home. They will work with the Royal Docks to ensure it delivers a good social, economic and cultural impact in Newham, whether thatâs guaranteeing inclusion and representation of the bor

The Museum of Youth Culture needs you for its Peopleâs Pageant
The Queenâs upcoming platinum jubilee isnât just a time to reflect on Lizâs last seven decades as head monarch, but a chance to look back on British life in those years too. The Museum of Youth Culture is doing just that with the Peopleâs Pageant, which will take place as part of the jubilee celebrations in June. The museum is helping to curate the pageant and says it wants to ensure that the parade âshowcases an authentic history of British people covering the past 70 yearsâ, particularly in the areas of music, style and youth culture. To achieve that goal, itâs calling on the public to get involved. If you sign up, you could find yourself immersing yourself in the roles of various musical subcultures from the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. The museum says no acting or performing experience is necessary and full support will be given for the âfinal performanceâ. The roles itâs looking to fill are incredibly varied, with the â90s represented by subcultures like Britpop, Girl Power, skaters, indie kids and baggies, Bhangra and the Asian underground scene, and â90s garage and hardcore. In the â00s, the search is on for emo kids, nu-metal fans, cybergoths and more, while the roles for the â10s include grime fans, queer clubbers, young activists and others. âWe're looking for people who are passionate about British subcultures and are/were involved with these movements,â the museum says. To take part, register your interest on its website and you could be walking down The Mall on Ju

Tickets for LCD Soundsystemâs London residency are on sale today
The Queenâs platinum jubilee is all fine and dandy, but thereâs another anniversary weâre equally jazzed about. We are of course referring to 20 years of indie-electro pioneers LCD Soundsystem. This June and July, James Murphyâs New York gang will hold a residency at Londonâs O2 Academy Brixton for five nights to mark two decades since their first-ever live shows. Those gigs also took place in our great city, way back in 2002 at Arthur Bakerâs Return To New York and Erol Alkanâs Trash nights. The new dates will be the bandâs first UK shows in over four years and will be the only chance youâll get to see them headline in the whole of Europe this year. LCD will make south London their home on June 29 and July 1-3 and, if their recent 20-show NY residency at Brooklyn Steel is anything to go by, theyâll be bringing all manner of rarities, covers and little-played bangers to their sets. The announcement follows the logo of the bandâs label, DFA Records, appearing on the streets of London â including outside the O2 Academy Brixton â alongside the words âYou are hereâ. The cryptic message referred to LCDâs debut single âLosing My Edgeâ, which features Murphy listing historic events he was at to prove his cool to a younger generation. Tickets for the residency will go on sale today (March 11) at 10:30am and can be purchased here. The best music festivals in London in 2022 Thereâs a shiny new festival coming to Alexandra Palace

London taxi fares are going up to stop cabbies quitting
Thereâs bad news in store for your bank balance if youâre a black cab user â London taxi fares are going up this spring. Itâs been a tough few years for Londonâs Hackney carriage drivers. Theyâve had to contend with the rise of cheaper, ride-hailing services like Uber, rising fuel prices, the pandemic, more taxes on driving in the city via the ULEZ zone and increased Congestion Charge prices. Itâs no surprise, then, that a lot of cabbies have decided to call it quits of late. The number of cab drivers navigating the capitalâs roads fell by 2,693 between March 2020 and February 2021 â a drop of 12 per cent. While the number of black cabs in the city is also currently at its lowest level for nearly four decades: down 24 per cent in the last two years. To try and steady the exodus from the profession, Transport for London has announced an increase to taxi fares in the city, with prices set to go up by 5.5 percent. The new fares will come into effect on April 30 and will apply to journeys taken between 5am and 10pm. If youâre waving down a black cab in the small hours, you donât need to worry â those rates will be frozen. The current minimum black cab fare will go up from ÂŁ3.20 to ÂŁ3.80 and meters will âtick overâ more quickly. A surcharge for passengers headed to Heathrow will also increase by 80p, while drivers will add ÂŁ5.20 to the fee if they enter the airportâs drop-off zone. A Transport for London spokesperson said the fare increases acknowledged âthat taxi driversâ co

Lady Gagaâs Chromatica Ball is finally coming to London
It feels like a long old time since we last got to watch a bona fide superstar put on a show for us and tens of thousands of other people, but those times are slowly returning. This summer, Lady Gaga will be one of the first massive names to serenade us in a stadium, with two new London shows. After a whole host of Covid-related delays, the pop starâs worldwide Chromatica Ball tour will finally take place this summer and Gaga will be headed to London as part of it. As well as a rescheduled date at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on July 30 (two years to the day of what was the original date), sheâs also added another concert the day before, giving us more chance to be wowed by her. Yes, Gaga. The gigs will see the star perform tracks from her 2020 album âChromaticaâ in front of live audiences for the first time, though thereâs currently no word if any of her superstar collaborators like Elton John and Ariana Grande will join her on any of the dates (not that she needs them, she is Gaga). Elsewhere, the setlist will be packed with âfan favourite hitsâ, according to the announcement on the Spurs site, plus, of course, a full-scale production befitting of one of musicâs biggest and boldest names. The July 30 show is on sale now, while tix to the July 29 date will go on sale on Friday (March 11), both from here. The best music festivals in London in 2022 The London music and nightlife weâre most looking forward to in 2022

A new exhibition celebrating the culture behind âTop Boyâ is coming to east London
Itâs been three years since the latest season of âTop Boyâ but, finally, the hit show will return to our screens. To help us get even more excited for its long-awaited comeback, a new exhibition and panel series exploring the culture behind the show is coming to east London. Top Boy Live will take over Brick Laneâs Truman Brewery for one day only on Friday (March 11), celebrating the imminent launch of season two on March 18. The event will include an exhibition titled âThis Is For Usâ, which will delve into the early â00s street culture (expect grime and the fashion of the time to feature) that informed the series. Some of the showâs actors will also be present on the day to take part in a series of panels. Subjects and talent havenât been confirmed at present, but with a stacked cast including the likes of Ashley Walters, Little Simz, Micheal Ward, Kano, new addition Adwoa Aboah and more, it seems unlikely to disappoint. One workshop that has been confirmed is a session titled âDress The Partâ. That portion of the event will feature the showâs costume designer Connor Gaffe, who will give budding stylists tips and advice on telling stories through clothing, making moodboards and getting your foot in the industryâs door. Top Boy Live will run from 9:30am to 7pm at the Truman Brewery. Tickets for the whole event are free, but need to be reserved via Dice to guarantee entry. Tickets for the âDress The Partâ workshop have been snapped up already, but you can join the waiting

Cherry blossom season is about to take over London
Itâs the most wonderful time of the year â not Christmas, but cherry blossom season; a time when we all lose our minds over pretty sprigs of sakura brightening up the city. Although the flower doesnât usually bloom until late March or April, itâs made an early appearance in London this year in places like Clissold Park. If youâve been out and about lately, youâll have noticed the wintry barrenness of some of our trees is starting to be replaced by pastel-pink petals, quietly reminding us that spring is just around the corner. It's cherry blossom time in London. pic.twitter.com/kpsjrSEJrd â A Beautiful Culture (@ABeautifulCult1) March 7, 2022 Itâs a sight we can expect to enjoy until the end of May, at which point the petals will line the streets like a candyfloss-coloured carpet. Expect your social media feeds to be crammed full of photos of the pink stuff, because thereâs nothing we all like more than snapping aesthetic shots of the city getting a floral glow-up. Although cherry blossom might be more commonly associated with Japan, the great news is there are plenty of places to soak up the sakura without having to leave London. Greenwich Park and Kew Gardens are usually awash with the stuff, while youâll also likely be able to spot it on day trips further afield in the UK. Just make sure your phoneâs charged and your picnicâs packed. 23 places to spot spring flowers in London Bring the cityâs spring bouquets inside with Londonâs best florists

The London Transport Museum is doing an underground tram tunnel tour
This spring and summer, the London Transport Museum is inviting us to join them underground for a new look at the cityâs abandoned subterranean transit network. The Kingsway tram tunnel might have been closed for 69 years, but this once buzzing stretch of track will reopen for tours in May. The museum calls the subway âprobably the most important stretch of tram track in London, so itâs a rare opportunity to get a glimpse into a once integral part of the network.â Built in 1906, the tunnel was part of a renewal programme for the areas of Holborn and Aldwych, but then closed just 46 years later. On the tour, youâll explore whatâs left of the tunnel and track â more than half of it remains, including its original features â as well as the former tram station, and learn about how the tram system was a vital part of London life. The tours kick off on May 25, they run from Wednesday to Sunday each week until July 24, and last for approximately 60 minutes, with slots throughout the day. Tickets go on sale this Friday (March 11) and will cost between ÂŁ45 and ÂŁ49. Weâd recommend setting a reminder now â the London Transport Museumâs tours usually sell out faster than Glastonbury. The Kingsway tram tunnel tour is part of a new season of the museumâs Hidden London tours, which will also give the public access to disused stations and tunnels like Clapham South, Churchillâs âsecret refugeâ at Down Street Station, the derelict Aldwych station and more. Virtual Hidden London tours will

Reni Eddo-Lodge and Emma Watson are calling for more tube stations to be named after women
If you look at a map of London Underground, youâll be hard-pressed to find many stations named after women. Two are fairly obvious (Seven Sisters and Victoria), while a third will only be clear to those with detailed knowledge of Queen Victoria (Lancaster Gate takes its name from one of her royal titles). Thatâs part of the reason why acclaimed British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge is calling for more tube stations to be named after female and non-binary figures. Itâs also why sheâs got involved with a new project to create an alternative tube map where each station pays tribute to such a person. As announced last week, Eddo-Lodge, American author Rebecca Solnit and actor Emma Watson have teamed up on the City of Women map. The interactive and print versions of the map will officially be launched today â aka International Womenâs Day â and will highlight some of the non-male figures who have had an impact on the city. Among them are the likes of punk fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, Black feminist and journalist Claudia Jones, transport worker Belly Mujinga, and feminist organisations like Awaz and Owaad. In a piece for the Guardian, Eddo-Lodge explained that the names chosen for the stations on the new map centred âdifferent valuesâ compared to our more familiar station names, which are often taken from men in powerful or wealthy positions (for example, Leicester Square was named after the second Earl of Leicester, Latimer Road was named after the merchant Edward Latymer).

Deliveroo has opened its own IRL pizza restaurant in north London
There are many ways weâd predict food delivery services would develop and grow in 2022, but one of them opening its own restaurants wouldnât have been one of them. Head to Swiss Cottage, though, and youâll find a brand new pizza parlour run by no less than Deliveroo. Pizza Paradiso is the first fully operational restaurant to be opened by the delivery giant, following the launch of eight âEditionsâ sites â ghost kitchens with no restaurant seating â worldwide. It boasts indoor and outdoor tables, a front-of-house pizza oven and a full kitchen in the back. The menu prices its pizzas between a very reasonable ÂŁ5.95 and ÂŁ9.75, while its starters â a small selection of garlic bread and dough wedges â cost between ÂŁ3.95 and ÂŁ4.95. It also offers desserts in the form of a vegan brownie, tiramisu and cheesecake. In January, a spokesperson for Deliveroo told the Wall Street Journal that the delivery company was launching an IRL restaurant as a way to âunderstand restaurantsâ pain points with the aim of solving them. The company hopes that actually running a restaurant will give the organisation and its staff âa deep understanding of restaurant ownersâ mindsetsâ. Currently, though, there are no plans to expand beyond this one location. âDeliveroo was born from a love of restaurants and we are always looking for new ways to support them and help them grow their businesses,â the company said in a statement to Time Out. Thereâll be no special treatment for the pizza parlour, either,

UCL have created a fascinating, interactive map for International Women's Day
As this yearâs International Womenâs Day approaches, the clever clogs over at UCL have announced a new project that will highlight some of the female and non-binary Londoners who have helped make our city brilliant. Authors Reni Eddo-Lodge and Rebecca Solnit, plus actor Emma Watson have created an alternative map of the London Underground, with its stations given new names. Each one has been replaced with the name of a remarkable non-male person who has made a big impact on Londonâs history. The names are under wraps until the City Of Women map launches next Tuesday (March 8), but when it arrives it will come in the form of an interactive digital map, as well as a printed version published by Haymarket Books. Itâs not the first time that a big cityâs transport map has been redesigned to showcase womenâs contribution to city life. The City Of Women map was inspired by Solnitâs previous work with Josh Jelly-Schapiro on the book Nonstop Metropolis, which included a reworked take on New Yorkâs subway map. Back when that was published in 2019, it sparked many conversations about public space, gender, feminism, history and more. Hereâs hoping the London edition ignites our own discussions about the people whoâve helped change our city and shine a light on some more overlooked figures in its ever-evolving existence. Here are the best events for International Women's Day in London this year A Girls Aloudâs songwriter has penned a fierce feminist new musical