UJ AGENDA
UJ’s Pick of the Best

First of all a big thank you to everyone who has written in, tweeted or facebooked their approval of our new agenda; we’re thrilled that you’re loving it! If this weekend guide doesn’t strike a cultural chord make sure to surf over to our website and check out what else is on from the Pet Shop Boys scored ‘The Most Incredible Thing’ (which is getting rave reviews) and a buzzing Hive, to the last days of the Hussein Chalayan Sample Sale, Somerset House’s ‘Pick Me Up’ fair, and ‘You Me Bum Bum Train’. Click around and import into your own calendars for the coming months.

SHOP
The Cambridge Satchel Company x DSM

Summer sunshine calls for school-holiday style satchels with a special touch – we’re loving these new bags from The Cambridge Satchel Company for Dover Street Market in four neon bright colours: pink, green, yellow and orange. Available in 13” and 15” sizes, we say strap your laptop in and sling one of these over your shoulder. Going to work just put a spring in our step.

£110-£120

HEADS UP
Buy My Handbag

In the UJ office alone we have two Pradas, a Marc Jacobs and a Louis Vuitton handbag that need new homes. But having paid crazy prices for a purse with a frog on it (cheers for that fad Marc…), we can’t seem to shift the damn thing for a half-decent price. And it’s probably because all the good handbags are going in sales like this one next Monday, serving up 100 of the best designer bargains at up to 70% off their original value. Handbags at dawn b*tches.

Homemade, 21 Seymour Place, W1H 5BH.
6:30-9:30pm, £5.

WINE CHAP
Q&A: Brett Woonton, Vinoteca

Need a decent wine recommendation this weekend? Leading the new breed of the old school Vinoteca are great innovators, happily listing Greek, Slovenian and Brazilian wines in their original St John’s site when most wine bars considered Austria exotic. Their new venue, a long time coming, is a welcome respite from the main Oxford Street drag. Join UJ’s WineChap as he catches up with the affable owner, Brett Woonton, over a glass or two. Click through to find out more.

UJ OFFER
SPONSORED LISTING
In a Forest Dark and Deep

‘Lost’ star Matthew Fox makes his West-End debut alongside Olivia Williams in the world premiere of Neil LaBute’s new dark comedy of sibling rivalry.

"MATTHEW FOX’S THEATRICAL DEBUT IS A WINNER. HE IS SUPERB" – Absolute Radio

"A THEATRICAL ROLLERCOASTER RIDE" – The Guardian

Urban Junkies subscribers can claim Top Price tickets for £35 (save £10) Monday to Thursday evenings and Top Price tickets £29.50 (save £15.50) Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Click here for more information or to book tickets.

COMPETITION
Win! Tickets to the Pimm’s Summer Party Launch.

Calling the great British nation! To mark the start of British Summer Time, the Pimm’s Summer Party has arrived to help make this summer the best since records began. A summer where socks and sandals are considered acceptable attire and Pimm’s o’clock moments can be enjoyed across this green and pleasant land.

As we count down the hours until every clock in Blighty springs forward, we’re offering one lucky winner a pair of tickets to the exclusive celebrity launch of the Pimm’s Summer Party, in London on Saturday 26th March. It’ll be a celebration of everything that’s brilliantly eccentric about the summer, and if that’s not enough, they’re also throwing in a Pimm’s Summer Party Package, containing a Pimm’s jug and a bottle of Pimm’s No. 1 and lemonade. 

To be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize, simply answer the following question. What date do the clocks go forward in 2011?

ONE-ON-ONE FESTIVAL
SPONSORED LISTING
What’s Your Taste?

The ONE-ON-ONE Festival (follow the action on twitter via #1onFest) is a night of exhilarating individual performances, tailor-made especially for you. This adrenaline fuelled experience is unlike anything you’ve ever done. Choose from ten great set menus varying from the therapeutic to the extreme, each filled with three delicious courses of intimate theatre.

29 March – 9 April 2011, £19.50 (£16.50 concs).
BAC (Battersea Arts Centre), Lavender Hill,
SW11 5TN.

JOIN US
Nike Training Club

Last Thursday Urban Junkies decided to forgo our customary after-work tipple in exchange for trainers (yes really). We ditched the treadmill and joined Nike Training Club Live upstairs at Nike Town London (Oxford Circus). From Squat Tuck Jumps to Russian Twists and Round the World Lunges to Passing out on a Yoga Mat (we rocked this), our Master Trainer exhausted us with a no-holds barred adrenalin pumping hour.

With push-up punishments for anyone not moving their feet, you’ll definitely get results; and a free t-shirt. Nice. To get involved, watch their Facebook page for weekly announcements and details of how to get on the list. Classes are totally free and held at Nike Town London and Gymbox gyms around the city. Get ready to sweat.

AUDIO SUSHI'S - NEW PODCAST
Audio Sushi’s highlights from SXSW 2011

Didn’t make it down to Austin’s SXSW (for the lesser informed, this is the King of the music industry gatherings; kind of like Glasto without the mud or wellies)? As the festival closes for another year, Audio Sushi has gathered together its highlights for a special UJ podcast. The bands creating a buzz this time around included The Strokes (no surprises there) and lots of alt / indie kids: The Generationals, The Naked and Famous, James Blake and The Deer Tracks.  Press play to hear them all.

Click through to listen...

INTERNATIONAL
Alexander McQueen at The Met

The Costume Institute at the Met annually puts on a huge fashion-themed exhibition around which, inevitably, the preceding Met Ball is based. We’ve seen ‘Anglomania’ and ‘Superheroes’ (with an alien praying mantis Anna Wintour holding court), and this year are looking forward to an homage to the late, great Alexander McQueen. Book now to catch ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’, and follow what the industry will be wearing down the red carpet. We’re betting bumster trousers and Lady Gaga in a giant skull. Well, why not?

4th May – 31st July. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, NY 10028-0198.

RESERVED
This week’s hottest foodie destination

Modern Pantry at Meza
Anna Hansen’s globally-infused hot spot pops into town for a month

100 Wardour Street, W1F 0TN.
020 7314 4002
The Modern Pantry at Meza is open now until April 16, Tues-Sat, 5:30-11pm
www.themodernpantryatmeza.co.uk

Location
Our only problem with Anna Hansen’s Modern Pantry is the unfortunate reality that, whilst we regularly pass through Clerkenwell, it’s rarely a destination in itself (the same issue we have with the original St. John in fact). Hence why news of Anna’s month long pop-up in the middle of Soho came with such joy. Its position within Meza (in the Floridita building on Wardour Street), however, was a little more confusing. But still: central is central. And our bellies certainly weren’t complaining.

Vibe
A main central space, organically divided into chambers by semi-opaque drapes leaves an airy, buzzy, informal atmosphere that it is a breeze to settle into and provides all manner of soft nooks to hide in if you’re after something cosier. As with most pop-ups, the crowd is pleasantly mixed, the staff bustling, and there’s a vague edge of celebration as they work out the last little niggles that come with a temporary launch. The 44-person private dining area towards the rear would also make a fab spot if you have an event coming up in the next few weeks…

Flavours
All the bold fusion favourites are here: cassava chips, krupuk-crusted soft shell crab, wattle seed roast butternut squash, and be sure to save space for the desserts. The truffles are frankly orgasmic (the salted tamarind caramel in fact started a small struggle at our table) and the cinder toffee affogato (with espresso from Caravan) was at once sweet and bitter-rich. On the drinks front, our Tamarillo Sour was innocuous enough (note to self: when a waiter describes a cocktail as ‘strange’, maybe listen to him) and the wines, all paired to specific dishes, were spot-on as expected.

Décor
Gratefully gone is the brash, bold, ‘90s-edged black-and-red combo that defined the old Meza. Instead the scene is now infinitely brighter and more convivial: all sleek, simple Fritz Hansen furnishings and billowing peach curtains (which, whilst they were meant to recall the bronze bits in the Clerkenwell original, to be honest had us yearning more for a poolside banquet in Marrakech), as perfect for a romantic twosome as a table of ten. Also take note of the wonky cutlery, which we were very much enjoying.

Upshot
Sadly only open for dinner, there’s alas no breakfast/brunch offering here at the Meza pop-up. On the one hand, this is a shame as a long lunchtime tipple-and-nibble is the main reason we make it to the original Clerkenwell restaurant. On the other, it’s a pleasure to experience Anna Hansen’s world-spiced offerings outside of our usual comfort zone – especially as it turns out she delivers a charmer of a globally-spiced dinner too. We just wish it was here a little more permanently. Well, maybe next year…