Brace yourselves, City folk, pick-up artist Daryush “Roosh” Valizadeh is coming to town February 2, 2016 Jilted lovers and misogynists often find February’s romantic festivities hard to swallow, so to keep solidarity up they’re meeting at the Royal Exchange this weekend. Daryush “Roosh” Valizadeh, a self-proclaimed “pick-up artist” who was famously interviewed by the BBC over the Men’s Rights Movement and his attempts to teach blokes to chat to womenfolk, is organising [...]
Three Little Birds in Brixton Jamaican restaurant review and the Shuang Shuang Chinese hot pot conveyor belt disaster February 2, 2016 Last time I didn’t like a restaurant, someone got so cross they threatened to report me to the Independent Press Standards Organisation for the sheer gall of having an opinion, which, in this case, happened to be that their restaurant was rubbish. So in the interests of not making someone else cross, I shouldn’t write [...]
How Threadneedle Street’s M restaurant is bringing Japanese fishing tradition Ike Jime to London February 2, 2016 M restaurant's executive chef Michael Reid on being the first restaurant in London to make sashimi using Ike Jime king fish. Ike Jime King Fish Sashimi I was first introduced to the Ike Jime fishing method during my time in Melbourne and it is without a doubt the most ethical and sustainable way to fish [...]
Common gym injuries and what to do about them February 1, 2016 Plantar Fasciitis What is it? One in ten people will develop this painful foot condition at some point in their lives, and it’s a blight among keen runners. It’s often – but not always – caused by over-pronation (rolling inwards on your feet) and is more common in people with low arches. The pain is [...]
Fashion for spring 2016, from Stella McCartney to Christian Louboutin January 29, 2016 Our stylist Ozzy Shah picks out the brightest, fiercest looks to see you through til summer; photographs by Zoe McConnell
Is Parma ham really bad for you? We sent someone to Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region to eat as much as they could January 29, 2016 W e had only meant to stop for a light lunch. But in a quiet square in the tiny town of Piacenza, waiting staff at the Taverna In busied themselves bringing plate after plate of unbearably delicious looking fare. There was a platter of cheese featuring crumbly gorgonzola, fat chunks of salty parmesan and creamy, [...]
Yen at the Royal Court review: A candid exploration of teenage poverty, sexuality and neglect January 28, 2016 Royal Court | ★★★★☆ In the new post-Benefits Street dispensation, references to “poverty porn” have become commonplace. Initially this meant a sort of guilty pleasure at watching the pitiful antics of a presumably scrounging underclass, but the term has become ever less metaphorical. Earlier this month social commentators flaunted their sincerest outrage at popular trouser-free [...]
Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse at the Royal Academy review January 28, 2016 Royal Academy | ★★★★★ At the turn of the century the concept of the modern garden – a tended, cultivated individual plot to be enjoyed as a respite from urban life – increased in popularity throughout Europe and the US, with fervent intellectual interest in botany. The Royal Academy captures the artistic reaction to this in [...]
Herons at the Lyric Hammersmith review: a soaked stage sets the scene for this brutal play January 28, 2016 Lyric Hammersmith | ★★★★☆ It’s testament to Billy Matthews’ excellent performance in Herons that, just a few minutes into the play, I wanted to clamber up on to the flooded stage and punch his character in the face. He plays Scott, a feral, hateful teen who wages a warped campaign of bullying and wild aggression against [...]
Spotlight film review: a real-life story that’s as slow and forceful as a steamroller January 28, 2016 15 | Dir. Tom McCarthy | ★★★★☆ The Da Vinci Code was ridiculed for the moment Tom Hanks cried, “I need to get to a library. Fast!” In Spotlight, a trip to the library is a genuinely exciting proposition. It’s a nuts-and-bolts examination of the Boston Globe’s exposé of systematic child abuse within the Catholic [...]