Tue 1 Oct, 2013 The Culturist London’s cultural highlights this OCTOBER Happy October! We're still wining and dining our way across London's new hotels (modern British cuisine is the name of the game), but if you must leave, go international and hop across the pond to NYC for some apartment snooping. Plus, it's Frieze Art Fair time, James Franco has his debut novel out and there's a life-sized clay elephant at the Serpentine. Enjoy! EAT: HOI POLLOI Fingers at the ready to book, as Pablo Flack and David Waddington's much-awaited Hoi Polloi opens this Thursday at Shoreditch's Ace Hotel. UJ has already been in for a sneak peak during the soft launch and what can we say? It was instant love. The modern brasserie serves all day - think ricotta pancakes with shaved fennel and salmon at breakfast, pork cheeks with spiced apple and pickled carrot at lunch and Halibut with seashore vegetables at dinner (til midnight, no less). They're also bringing elevenses back (expect cakes, biscuits and endless cups of tea), suddenly making meetings fun again. Plus, the bar is all about no-reservations eating and drinking (yay). Soft lighting, chic booths, electric atmosphere, great cocktails, wi-fi + power sockets: get in now. Opens this Thursday, October 3, 100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ DRINK: FAR ROCKAWAY Shoreditch just got a new hotspot: bar and restaurant Far Rockaway. Inspired by NYC's urban culture, the décor - from street art by boldface names including Xenz and Above, as well as Andy Doig's amusement-park neon signage and a ceiling covered in electric skateboard decks - makes this a visual wonderland. Art is key here - check out this video, with artist inspiration. As for the food and drink? Think frozen margaritas, cocktails on draught (very on trend), slow roasted baby back cola ribs and pulled five-spice duck. With music maestro Dom Chung overseeing a roster of DJs, a 4,000-strong collection of Marvel comic books on site, and late opening til 2am every day except Sunday, Far Rockaway is breathing new life into Curtain Road. Opens October 11, 97-113 Curtain Road, EC2A 3BS SEE: ADRIÁN VILLAR ROJAS: TODAY WE REBOOT THE PLANET There's a lot to see at the Serpentine this month. First, there's the newly opened Zaha Hadid-designed Sackler Gallery. Hadid has taken the old (a former gunpowder store) and transformed it into something very new (the Sackler wing's most striking feature is a free-flowing white fibreglass canopy - all curves and shiny surfaces). The inaugural exhibition here, Today We Reboot The Planet, features Argentina-born Adrián Villa Rojas' larger than life sculptures. The highlight? The artist's life-sized clay elephant crashing into the wall. Free, September 28-November 10, Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA STAY I: GENERATOR VENICE Procrastinators take note: you can still find accommodation during the Venice Biennale (hurry up, it ends on November 24). Banish all memories of the dingy hostels of your gap year though; the Generator is more like a buzzing boutique hotel with serious design cred as it has Anwar Mekhayech (the designer behind Toronto's Soho House and Momofoku) at the helm. Located in a former grain shed, décor was collected from local markets; expect mosaic tiled floors, grand twin staircases and stone columns. It also has a bar and lounge you won't want to leave - expect gentleman's club style armchairs and wooden finishings. UJ says forget the dorms and check into a private room, or make like a big spender and book out the penthouse. Stay tuned for the launch of the Generator in Berlin, with other cities opening soon… Rooms from £16, Fondamenta Zitelle 86, 30133, Venezia, Italy WEAR: CHARLOTTE OLYMPIA'S HALLOWEEN CAPSULE COLLECTION Go gothic in Charlotte Olympia's limited edition Halloween collection. The irreverent London designer has reimagined her cult accessories with a spooky slant - think laser-cut spider webs on suede booties, glow-in-the dark bones on satin slippers and vampire fang motifs on Perspex clutches. Trick or treat? Shoes from £495 and bags from £325, available October 7, Net-a-Porter STAY II: ROSEWOOD LONDON Meanwhile in London, the hotel launches continue. This month sees the opening of the Rosewood London. Based in a 1914 Edwardian Belle Époque building, the hotel is contemporary decadence at its best, featuring modern prismatic mirrors and textured wood veneers juxtaposed against a wrought-iron carriageway and seven-storey marble staircase. Plus, with a bar and restaurant designed by Martin Brudnizki (the genius behind Dean Street Townhouse and Hix), and Bjorn Van der Horst in the kitchen, there's finally somewhere interesting to go in Holborn - soon to be followed by The Hoxton Hotel's second outpost. Rooms from £350, opens October 15, 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN SEE: JOE BLACK: WAYS OF SEEING Meet Joe Black, or rather, his work, in an exhibition devoted to the artist's unique mix of pop culture, mass media and political commentary. Coinciding with Frieze Art Fair, Black's debut solo exhibition features his meticulous, mosaic-like pieces, from a portrait of Mao Zedong made of 9,000 toy soldiers (count 'em!) to a David Bowie rendering created from thousands of painted test tubes. Free, October 18-November 19, Opera Gallery London, 134 New Bond Street, W1S 2TF VISIT: MORTON LOFT Forget last month's nightmare queue at the Battersea Power Station, October is all about Open House New York. Skip the usual culprits (High Line Rail yards, TWA Flight Centre) and make a beeline for Morton Loft, one of the private residences on show during the OHNY weekend. Located in a former parking garage, the loft is a petroleum tanker that has been repurposed to contain two sleeping pods, bathrooms, and closets. Go voyeuristic and take a peek into one of New York's unique apartments while you have the chance. Free, October 12-13, Morton Loft, check OHNY for details. PARTY: TERROR AT AYNHOE PARK   If you missed this party last year, don't delay. Our friends at Love Brunch are once again transforming Aynhoe Park, an enormous British country manor in Oxfordshire (and a UJ fave), into a house of horrors for a Halloween party to remember. There will be the Cuban Brothers on the decks and dancing into the early hours. Costumes are of course required and we'd recommend booking rooms close by to make an all night of it, although taxiing back to central London is easy enough, too. Tickets from £55, 6pm October 26-4am October 27, Aynhoe Park, OX17 3BQ READ: JAMES FRANCO, ACTORS ANONYMOUS Actor-screenwriter-director-grad student James Franco is keeping even busier this month, with the release of his debut novel. Actors Anonymous has (surprise, surprise) an autobiographical slant, with Franco writing a fictionalised take on his Hollywood life. With a cast of offbeat characters (the ghost of River Phoenix and an aspiring actor working in a McDonald's drive-thru to name a few); a pastiche of testimonials, text messages and footnotes; and the promise of an insider's view of Hollywood excess, we just can't put it down. £8.99, available from October 15, Amazon RESERVED Berners Tavern – Jason Atherton's all day slick affair Open now, 10 Berners Street, W1T 3NP Location The Marriot/Ian Schrager EDITION hotel is almost directly opposite the Schrager of yesteryear, the Sanderson. Look for the awning of light bulbs and friendly doormen. Vibe Well, it opened a little over two weeks ago and we've been here four times already. It's almost embarrassing. Right now, this is the spot. It's buzzy, welcoming, and the music's atmospheric but not too loud to talk. It was largely fashion week when we were there, but there was a great mixture of fashion folk, suits, and the odd hotel guest eating on their own taking it all in. UJ loves a solo diner. Flavours With Jason Atherton at the helm, this was always going to be one slick affair. Oysters come fresh, cold, and with a pickled shallot Vietnamese vinaigrette. UJ normally isn't a fan of scallop ceviche, but we are here (they melt in your mouth). The egg, ham and peas starter already has an office following. The iceberg salad - we're all about half a head of lettuce - with blue cheese, avocado, garlic and yogurt had no business being as good as it was and may just be our new staple. We were hungry, so we also had duck fat fries for starters, yum. With mains we went fishy. Halibut with squid ink risotto, garlic squid and broccoli was a highlight. We really wanted to try the crispy shrimp roll (read fried), but when we heard it came in a baguette, with Marie Rose sauce and a side of chips we realised we might have to save it for another day. Desserts included interesting pairings like goat's cheese, sorbet and meringue (meringues were the size of buttons, perfect), and sweet potato crème brûlée, but we'd recommend a liquid dessert, aka the Cereal Killer cocktail (a la Momofuko). Rum, Kahlua and Coco Pops milk. Décor This is one regal room, with soft lighting and a stylish crowd. Gold baroque style frames adorn the walls and the tables are perfectly spread out - close enough to say hello to the table beside you, but far enough apart that they can't hear your every word. UJ loves the up lighting behind the bar and the circular booths. Upshot This is an all-day haunt with crisp white linen, a great menu, flattering lighting and staff that make you want to return. We'll be back for that crispy shrimp roll…and the chipirones in the lobby bar. And maybe the vanilla waffles with bananas, too. Click here for more Reserveds by NN LIKE SHARE FORWARD PREVIOUS EDITION (c) 2013 Urban Junkies. All rights reserved. Reproductions of any portion of this website only with our express permission. Urban Junkies is a free daily mailer. All listings and features are editorial: We do not receive any payment from venues, artists or promoters. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of information listed but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.