You might have noticed — this weekend is St Patrick’s Day. Across town, the parade will be well attended, the Guinness poured plentifully, and the parties set to carry on to the wee hours. However, if Ireland’s Six Nations success has you irked, then London has plenty else to see and do that avoids thoughts of the Emerald Isle.
Across the capital, London’s serving up Welsh national pride by way of brand new theatre with Michael Sheen, Turkish-leaning restaurant residencies, and a pop-up restaurant to book coming direct from la la land.
We all love a Guinness, but here’s everything else to see, do and eat between pints this weekend.
The hot table: Prelude by Oriole
The name Oriole will be familiar to anyone following the London bar scene. The sister spot to Nightjar and Swift closed in 2022 but returns to London for a Covent Garden residency this weekend. Bar manager Samet Ali has put together a considered new list while the focus of Prelude has shifted towards offering delicious food options. An intimate dining space, live jazz, great cocktails and beef tartare sandos: perfect.
From March 13, 23 Slingsby Place, WC2E 9AB, oriolebar.com
The old favourite: Half Cut Market x Sertaç Dirik
Half Cut Market is a joyful little restaurant and wine bar over on York Way, but this weekend is employing the culinary talents of Sertaç Dirik, late of Mangal 2 in Stoke Newington, for a two-night takeover. The menu is a closely guarded secret but with five courses of fine fare and Dirik’s Turkish inflections, it’s set to be a winner.
March 16-17, 396 York Way, N7 9LW, halfcut.world
The drinking den: Nancy Spains
Opening just in time for St Patrick’s Day, Nancy Spains is the latest Irish pub to open in town and to celebrate the launch it’ll be serving 2,500 pints of Murphy’s stout for just £2.50 on March 16. Make sure to be there in plenty of time on Saturday afternoon, and to get the cheap pint, you’ll need to sign up on the website. Two pints for a fiver? Yes please.
From March 15, 128-130 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AQ, nancyspains.co.uk
The (other) drinking den: Three Sheets Soho
Elsewhere the fabulous Three Sheets — often lauded as one of London’s finest cocktail bars — is opening a new space in Soho this week. The Dalston original regularly features in the Worlds 50 Best Bars list and the new Soho site, tucked away on Manette Street, is set to continue the focus on high quality creations. The take on a French 75 caught our eye, served with gin, clarified lemon, moscato and verjus.
From March 14, 14-15 Manette Street, W1D 4AP, threesheets-bar.com
The art fix: Acts of Resistance — Photography, Feminisms and The Art of Protest
Described as an “urgent and political” show, Acts of Resistance brings together many hundreds of works surrounding the themes of protest, feminism and the value of photography in activism. Put on in partnership with the V&A and available on a free-to-attend basis, this could well be the best photography exhibition in London right now. Certainly the most essential.
Until June 9, South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Road, SE5 8UH, southlondongallery.org
The live show: Sunday Papers Live
Breathing a bit of life into the Sunday broadsheets might seem a struggle, but that’s exactly the challenge that Sunday Papers Live rises to. In fact, they create one of the most interesting events in town covering politics, food, music and culture by transforming them into dynamic discussions live performances. This weekend’s event is set to feature Captain Cornelissen, CEO of Sea Shepherd, discussing protecting the world's oceans and Joshua Oliver, correspondent at the FT on the rise and fall of the crypto billionaire. From sex tourism to Keir Starmer, the conversations will be broad, witty and engaging.
March 17, tickets from £20, 1 Marylebone Road, NW1 4AQ, sundaypaperslive.com
The culture fix: Nye
Michael Sheen’s turn as Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, the Welsh health minister and father of the NHS, offers some star quality to a show that’s both surreal and dream-laden. The battles Nye faced in his career to launch the service, opposed by doctors, the Tories and much of the Labour Party at the time, are played out through the swirling death-bed scenes throughout the play and while Standard’s theatre critic Nick Curtis described the play as “lumpy” it remains vital in contextualising, even mirroring, the current state of the NHS in the UK.
Olivier Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX, nationaltheatre.org.uk
The ticket to book now (for later): Spago at CUT 45 Park Lane
Spago, the flagship restaurant from Wolfgang Puck, returns to London next week for a short but important residency. Byron Puck, Wolfgang Puck’s son and protégé and Tetsu Yahagi, Spago’s Beverly Hills executive chef will head to London, joining Elliot Grover (fresh from cooking for the Oscars) for the celebrated Spago pop-up. The six-course menu looks a treat: bookended by elegant little snacks to start and sweet mignardises to end, with luxurious truffle raviolo, monkfish with chanterelle mushrooms and New York steaks featuring in between. For a taste of the West Coast, not to mention the red carpet, book this.
