June rolls on: London has enjoyed sell-out stadium shows from Taylor Swift, there are other headliners en route to BST Hyde Park, and the reliably star-studded Wimbledon is on the way: things are decidely looking up.
In the market for a sun-soaked drinking den, new theatre, a hot new taco joint or live music from a Nineties jungle legend? This guide has you covered.
Elsewhere, there’s a multi-faceted multi-media exhibition celebrating a Soho institution, and one of the best photography exhibitions currently showing in London. As ever then, here’s your must-see list for London this weekend.
The hot table: CDMX Tacos
A new taco joint has opened in Soho, promising to bring the authentic flavours of Mexico City to London. Londoners care about authenticity, sure, but first and foremost, it must be good. CDMX is addressing this by not overstretching itself; there are just two options (taco or quesadilla) and only four fillings to choose from. That’s it. Beef or crispy pork belly, cactus or marinated pork, the options are… well really quite limited. But that’s all intentional. It’s tiny, so expect to queue (or pay someone to queue for you).
1 Green’s Court, W1F 0HA, cdmxtacos.co.uk
The old favourite: Forza at the National Theatre
The National Theatre is a huge warren of interlocking brutalism. Expansive low-hung rooms stacked on top of grey brickwork and slender windows that only let in scant light, as if it’s permanently up to no good. But really, it is. The good comes in the form of Forza at the National, a properly brilliant restaurant that continually flies under the radar of many, probably due to its proximity to the tourist traps on the South Bank. But the views are nice enough, on a sunny day there are few finer places to linger, and the cauliflower fritti can’t help but leave you smiling.
National Theatre, SE1 9PX, forzawine.com
The drinking den: The River Cafe Cafe
The sunny terrace space spilling outside the River Cafe and just off the Thames is now open, cleverly(ish) called the River Cafe Cafe. It’ll be a cafe, sure, with coffee and pastries and Italian snacks and desserts, but a summertime drinking den too, with ample Italian wines and plentiful aperitivo. Walk-ins only (operating in antithesis to the perennially hard-to-book original opposite), the River Cafe Cafe should be on your list for quite a lot of drinking this summer.
Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, W6 9HA, rivercafe.co.uk
The gig: Goldie Live Ensemble and Doc Scott
Goldie will be taking to the stage at EartH in Hackney this weekend with his blend of dance, jungle and electronica. Perhaps indicative of the wider late Nineties and early Noughties resurgence, it’s no surprise these genres are enjoying a little more mainstream appeal now than they did say a decade ago, in turn giving a plethora of artists, including Goldie — whose influence on jungle and the rave scene is hard to overstate — a strong second wind.
EartH Hackney, 11-17 Stoke Newington Road, N16 8BH, earthackney.co.uk
The theatre fix: Slave Play
Seven years on from when Jeremy O Harris was a student at Yale university, and when Slave Play got its inaugural outing to a half-full student auditorium, comes the show's first run on the West End. Broadway was a real test for the play, which had drawn criticism from Rishi Sunak for its so-called Black Out days, but the record 12 Tony award nominations put any such controversies to bed. The story tracks a series of interracial relationships in America, touching on themes of desire, love, taboos and racism. It drew in wildly differing reviews in New York, but this is London, so go and see it for yourself.
85-88 St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4A, noelcowardtheatre.co.uk
The exhibition: The Vinyl Factory, Reverb
Soho bastion the Vinyl Factory has been a music industry benchmark in London for a generation, and a vaulting, highly ambitious exhibition spanning a huge range of media is on at 180 Studios to celebrate it. Live music, talks, performances, video and a hi-fi listening room all sit within and alongside this exhibition. Featuring as the centrepiece is a 100-vinyl cover installation which includes releases by Marina Abramovic, Grace Jones, William Kentridge, Es Devlin, Fred Again, Thom Yorke, Massive Attack and many more.
180 Studios, 180 Strand, Temple, WC2R 1EA, 180studios.com
The culture fix: Ernest Cole, A Lens in Exile
Ernest Cole had an extraordinary life. He was the first freelance black photographer in South Africa, he radically opposed apartheid and was forced to flee his native South Africa and was subsequently made stateless. The context of his arrival in late 1960s New York then was one of impending racial emancipation, but those civil rights would be hard fought and occasionally bloody. On at the Autograph, A Lens in Exile focuses on Cole’s early years in the USA, documenting the height of the civil rights movement. The exhibition is wonderfully contextualised against the backdrop of Cole’s own hopes for freedom and returning to South Africa.
Autograph Gallery, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA, autograph.org.uk
The ticket to book now (for later): Double Standard x Diet Paratha, Cue Point
The BBQ series is back at Double Standard on the Euston road and in July, Mursal Saiq’s Cue Point is set to take over the pits for a night of British-Afghan inspired cooking. The menu is set to be a winner, featuring smoked brisket mantu with Afghan chutney and mint yogurt alongside smoked lamb shoulder with lubya chana (a kind of kidney bean curry) and kabuli pilau rice. Don’t miss it.
