Discover a London residency by Michelin-starred Spanish chef Albert Adrià; a safari camp where you can bed down next to the lion enclosure; and a new bunker home for a crazy golf club. Hugo Campbell-Davys from Urbanologie gives us the low-down on some of the most exciting and inspiring London events in 2016…
Swingers: the Crazy Golf Club returns
After its sell-out success in Shoreditch, the Swingers Club reopens this spring in a new permanent home in Central London. Housed in a previously unused 16,000 sq ft subterranean bunker at the foot of the Gerkin, it will be doubling its previous golf offering with two nine-hole courses, a two-storey clubhouse and four bars and street food stalls, including an offering from Pizza Pilgrims and a brand new non-burger concept from Patty & Bun. Think The Great Gatsby meets The Legend of Bagger Vance. The venue will open daily from midday until late and will be free to enter, though tickets for golf will cost £13 in advance or £15 on the door.
Mountain Gourmet Experience
Taking place this month is the third edition Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience, both a skiing festival and celebration of the rustic cuisine of the Courmayeur ski resort in northern Italy, hosted by multiple Michelin-starred celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal. Against this spectacular mountain backdrop at the foot of Mont Blanc there will be full programme of skiing combined with Michelin-star gastronomy. A keen skier himself, Heston will be joined by two-Michelin starred chefs Marcus Wareing, Sat Bains and – for the very first time – three-Michelin starred chef Clare Smyth. The journey will start at Heston’s Perfectionist’s Cafe in the new Heathrow Terminal 2, followed by three days of skiing, one rustic and one gourmet, Michelin-star dinner on the mountain by the hosts, and much else besides. The dinners will celebrate the local produce (specialities include Fontina cheese and Jambon de Bosses hams) and wines of the bountiful Aosta Valley region. The Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience takes place from January 8-11.
The Guest Series at Lyle’s
The Guest Series, hosted by Lyle’s restaurant in Shoreditch (main image and below), looks to showcase a number of the world’s most talented chefs by way of a monthly tasting menu. The first dinners (in February), will see Bertrand Grébaut bring his creative and progressive cooking style to Lyle’s. Grébaut was widely applauded for breaking the boundaries between fine dining and casual bistros when he opened his restaurant Septime in Paris in 2011, currently no 57 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List, which also received a Michelin star in 2014.
Tickets are £59 each. Bookings go live on Monday 11 January 2016.
Safari camp in London
Fancy a room with a zoo? London Zoo began taking bookings on December 3 for a new safari lodge skirting the lion enclosure to allow visitors to get a taste of exotic holidays in the centre of the capital. Arrive at closing time and have a private tour with the keepers before returning to their accommodation, where dinner would be served. Based on design sketches, the ten huts (sleeping up to four) postioned next to the lion enclosure (home to a breeding group of endangered Asiatic lions) have been inspired by native holiday lodges in India and feature private wooden verandas and access to a communal garden with exotic plants and flowers. An overnight stay costs between £378 and £558 for two people, including a drink and two-course dinner, breakfast, an overnight stay in a lodge and a tour before the zoo opens. Bookings are now being taken.
50 Days by Albert Adria
The culinary genius Albert Adrià, Ferran’s younger brother, is collaborating with hotel Café Royal as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations. Named recently by Time Magazine as one of the most influential chefs of gastronomy and the Best Pastry Chef in the World, Albert Adrià is looking to deliver the extraordinary as he has done with El Bulli and his co-owned Michelin-starred restaurant, Tickets, in Barcelona. Join Albert at the Oscar Wilde Bar followed by a tasting menu in the Domino Room. The experience costs £150 per person (£50 deposit required).
Moriarty’s Game
Become a super sleuth and follow clues across the city in a new interactive theatre game inspired by Sherlock Holmes. In teams of up to four people solve a trail of clues, taking you on immersive and interactive tour around London. Explore exhibitions celebrating contemporary architecture, drink in Georgian public houses, scrutinise 15th-century art in a Mayfair townhouse and finally find his safehouse to receive an offer. Based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s last Sherlock Holmes novel The Final Problem, Moriarty’s Game brings the fictional mysteries into real life modern London. Start time: between 11:30am and 2pm and takes 3 to 4 hours. Tickets are priced at £60 per team. Runs till March.
Hugo Campbell-Davys is founder of Urbanologie, which has daily updated insider guides to London, New York, Miami, Dubai, Los Angeles, Ibiza and Mallorca. Enter the invitation code wewantu for FREE annual membership (saving £100 per annum).
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