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 |  | …back to reality. Not quite, but getting there! Let’s make a quick list of things that are better now than they were pre-lockdown. We’ll start. Parts of Soho, Marleybone and Covent Garden being pedestrianised. Neighbourhoods having spaced out street hangs. More time in parks, less time on public transport. Masks on the tube are good, air travel feels more sanitary. AND, collaboration and charitable activations are at an all time high. We even feel more connected to our friends across the pond. Let’s stay positive! Happy almost August all!
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 | | | DSM | | | Positive Vibes | | | One (good) thing this period has done is made us all focus on working together, and trying to collectively create something more positive. The DSM x iD Fearless Initiative for Positive Imagination and Inspirational Solidarity is a great example of this. We’ll have the Noah PMA T please; a % of all sales in the UK goes towards NHS charities. Tick, tick.
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| | | Mallorca | | | Likeminded travel picks | | | There are some people we can just tell we’d travel well with, and Kate Lough is one of them. Her recent stay at Sa Pedrissa in Deià (we love Deià, but it’s not the easiest to find a great hotel if you’re not in the market for the stunning but pricey Belmond La Residencia), was something we immediately bookmarked.
| | | Sa Pedrissa |
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| | | Little Duck The Picklery | | | Re-openings | | | On this week’s hitlist | | | This list is going to be a bit random. Our love for Ducksoup is endless, and after seeing the pickled creations they have at their sibling, Little Duck The Picklery, we need to make a Dalston trip pronto. Manteca has just re-opened on Great Portland Street (brown crab cacio e pepe please), Norma (Sicilian, Charlotte Street) will be open by 3 August, BaoziInn’s back on Romilly Street (we’ve missed you dan dan noodles!), and skyhigh Seabird (UJloves) has re-opened with a new ex-Barrafina head chef.
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| | | Masks | | | You know what to do | | These are a couple of our faves. Things we know so far: we like a mask that comes with a bag (we’ve been using a plastic swimsuit bag). Silk feels good, dark colours are easiest to wear, and bulk buying is smart (hence our one reasonably priced pick); sharing is caring.
Vampires Wife | Vogar | Slip
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| PLAYLIST | |  | |  | | Los Enamorados | | | White Isle tunes from our friends at MAV | | | If you can’t get to Los Enamorados for a lazy afternoon on their terrace (we hope the quarantine lifts soon), pour yourself a sangria and put this on, it will be the next best thing. Thanks MAV!
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| | | Stanley's | | | Chelsea Knighstbridge Shuffle | | | On tour | | Chelsea is somewhere we don’t get to that often. Editorially, or physically. But Stanley’s, a new contemp British casual restaurant that has a huge courtyard inspired by the English countryside, complete with olive trees and water features, booths and festoons, looks like a relaxed place to while the day away. Still in the hood(ish), Sumosan Twiga – the good times, Sloane Street Japanese/Italian restaurant – is worth a visit. Their new Welcome Menus (early bird special taster menus) are reasonably priced (for here); choose the Japanese, Italian or combined (£45 pp/£60pp). Available from 6:30-8:30pm, you might be in a bit early, but you can always stay on for drinks to soak up the blowouts and chair bops.
Stanley’s | Sumosan Twiga
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| | | Gstaad Guy | | | Click through | | | Now, we’re not sure if we’re late to the party here, but after a sleepless night stumbling on Gstaad Guy, he’s our new favourite instamate. Not only has he given us hope with the future of content on the gram (less photos of oneself, more original programming), Gstaad Guy is like watching a series of Fresh Prince 2020 – the global/white/privileged version– on the grid. Click through.
| | | Gstaad Guy |
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| | | Lawn Bowling | | | Hyde Park party | | | We went to Hyde Park almost every day during lockdown; we thought there wasn’t a corner we didn’t know, but lo and behold, we stumbled on the Lawn Bowling hut. Called Will to Win (ouch), here you can pay to play lawn bowling, tennis and other sports. Maybe we’ve been locked up too long, but lawn bowling with a drink in the sun seems like a good Friday night, and about as holiday as we’re going to get right now. We’ll take it!
| | | Will to Win |
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| Spotlight | |  | | | | Hot4u_ldn | | | Young guns | | | Another good thing that has come out of lockdown: the hot4u_ldn boys. Chefs Matthew and Eddy had never cooked together before lockdown, but when quarantine hit, they took over a disused restaurant unit on Hoxton St. and started offering innovative, reasonable menus for delivery – and a brand was born. Their tone instantly felt original and fun (a lot of brands would pay big bucks for their authenticity) and their offering unique – menus sold out in no time. They’re now no longer doing deliveries, but their recent pop up at Holborn’s Chicken Shop had a menu that included greats like popcorn sweetbreads, fried apple pie with Szechuan ice cream (yes please), disco juice and a bone marrow whiskey luge; wines were by Top Cuvée and we hear the tunes were great. These boys truly feel like they’ve put the fun back into tough times.
| | | @hot4u_ldn |
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| | | Allegra | | | NEW NEW NEW | | | Fresh and shiny | | | Again, on a positive, looking forward (f.u.corona) tip, we are going to end the newsletter highlighting new things opening. Swift, Soho’s bartender’s bar, has opened a new location in Shoreditch. Amazónico has made their subterranean-through-the-kitchen-cenote-style-invite-only cocktail bar open to all – go fish. Allegra’s brunch by Patrick Powell, complete with wraparound terrace, looks worth the trip to Stratford for (truffled croque please); NY diner-inspired Larry’s (from the Salon/Levan crew) has just opened in Peckham, and Joy at Portobello sees Stevie Parle and Tom Dixon back in their old stomping ground, with spritzes, an outdoor restaurant (Flora), a bottle and farm shop, a dahlia flower garden, and more. Keep ’em coming.
| | | More restaurants |
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| TAKE THREE | | | | Post lockdown outdoor tables we want
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