Post Tom Collins Pizza (Qype does London)

Post Tom Collins Pizza
Chris Osburn

Qype does London

October 12th 2008











Amano’s pizzas are good. Damn good. I’d go back simply for their handmade dough/wood oven pizzas. In fact, I’m gradually starting to change my opinion of pizza in this city. For the longest time (aside from a few standby faves), my thoughts on pizza in London could be summed up in one word: SUCKS! However, with recent and successful forays to Gourmet Pizza Company and continued confidence in bedrocks such as Santoré, I’m starting to think this town is kinda, sorta okay with respect to Italy’s greatest export.

Read the complete Post Tom Collins Pizza post at Qype does London.

Beyond the Rabbit Hole (Qype does London)

Beyond the Rabbit Hole
Chris Osburn
Qype does London
October 5th 2008










As Qyper/blogger Julie so aptly describes in her recent Qype Goes Down the Rabbit Hole post, half an hour spent “wandering ’round the rabbit hole” is indeed an incredibly surreal experience, one which requires significant and immediate time afterwards to unwind and process thoughts induced while being subjected to Down the Rabbit Hole’s “Lynch-esque scenes involving hybrid rabbit-humans.”

Read the complete Beyond the Rabbit Hole post (and its food/drink suggestions) at Qype does London.

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... And check out my Down the Rabbit Hole pics on my Flickr photostream!

Green & Black’s Chocolate Tastings on the London Eye (Londonist)

Green & Black’s Chocolate Tastings on the London Eye
Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor

Londonist
September 24, 2008

Yep, from 6th October, London Eye will partner up with UK luxury organic chocolate makers, Green & Black’s, to offer folks a chance to eat some of Britain’s yummiest chocolates while enjoying one of London’s most commanding view … for a whole hour (with a maximum of 20 people)!

Read the complete Green & Black’s Chocolate Tastings on the London Eye post at Londonist.

Qype at Tsuru

Qype did right by a few of their fave bloggers, taking us out to Japanese restaurant Tsuru for an evening featuring a range of dishes each matched specifically to Akashi Sake or Tokiwa Shochu. Here's the low down.



Japanese Tapas and More at Tsuru
by Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor

Londonist
June 13, 2008

Our palates definitely approved of the matchings and are, thus, more than happy to recommend Tsuru for ‘Ippin Ryouri’ (Japanese tapas); just keep in mind they’re not open on Saturday or Sunday.

Click here for complete post.

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Tokyo's new Subway Line + Saki & Sushi
Posted by Annie Mole
Going Underground
Friday, June 13, 2008

The drunkeness hit us like a sledgehammer wrapped in cloth. After about three very small glasses, you think - "Hello I've only drunk three glasses and this stuff hardly tastes alcoholic - so why do I feel like dancing on the ceiling". Trouble is the alcoholic content ranged from 14% to 19%.

Click here for complete post.

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すばらしい*
by Tim
The Plummet Onions
12 June 2008

The location and food were provided by Tsuru. It’s a relatively new Japanese restaurant nestled into a business area just behind the Tate Modern in Southwark. It’s a cozy spot, and they made some incredible food. Click that link to see my (and others’) thoughts on the food; in short, it was excellent. I’m definitely planning to go back, probably to try some katsu curry.

Click here for complete post.

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Thank you Qype and Tsuru
Posted by Lea
Being Unchained
Friday, 13 June 2008

So imagine my relief when we found Tsuru nestled in amongst it all. For anyone thinking Japanese food consists of sushi and soba think again. Our hosts Tsuru restaurant with Akashi-Tai Sake Brewery created an evening of Japanese joy that would make the hardest amongst you melt. We enjoyed a 5 course feast with sake pairing.

Click here for complete post.

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Qype Goes BIG in Japan
from CaribQueen
Qype Blog
13.06.2008

Learning, eating, and drinking. Three of my all-time favourite things! All being done at the same time! Brilliant! I was happy as clam, so happy I could almost hear the Sound of Music soundtrack streaming in the distance…either that or I was subconsciously humming it to myself… possible, and scary in retrospect.

Click here for complete post.

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Click here for a Flickr set of photos from the evening.

London Daily Photo: Day Out

London Daily Photo: Day Out
Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

London Daily Photo: Entranced

London Daily Photo: Entranced
Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

London Daily Photo: Bankside

London Daily Photo: Bankside
Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Graffiti Coming to Tate Modern

I suppose it was only a matter of time. Is this the beginning of the end, a new beginning or the end full stop?

Street art to adorn Tate's walls
A series of giant graffiti-style murals are to be painted on the walls of London's Tate Modern gallery for its summer season.
BBC News
Page last updated at 08:50 GMT, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 09:50 UK

The artworks will be displayed for three months from 23 May ... A Tate spokesman said a protective coating would be placed on the wall to avoid damage when they are removed.

Click here for complete article.

London Slow Food Christmas Market at South Bank

A Good, Clean, Fair, and Slow Christmas Food Market
Chris Osburn
Londonist
December 21, 2007










With this season’s frenetic pace quickening with the passing of each day till the Twenty-fifth, Londonist genuinely appreciates Slow Food London’s mellowed and delicious approach to “good and clean and fair” Christmas shopping. Located immediately outside South Bank’s Royal Festival Hall (on the non-riverside Belvedere Road bit), the Slow Food London Christmas Market commenced yesterday and continues through Sunday, from 11am to 8pm each day.

Click here for complete review.

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Qype enjoys some slow food
from Linus
(featuring photos by Chris Osburn)
Qype*Vibes
21.12.2007










The Slow Food organisation is an international movement that believes our food should taste good, be fair (i.e. the producers should not be exploited) and also be clean without any negative effects on the environment. The Christmas market was just one of the initiatives the organisation has organised to promote their message, and it was a great opportunity to see just how great ’slow food’ can be as well as pick up a few last minute presents.

Click here for complete post.

London Eye celebrates 25 million with Photo Contest

The first time Emiana and I moved to London back in 2001, one of the first things we did was catch a ride on the London Eye. It was a good idea, helping us get our bearings in this sprawling metropolis and giving us a dramatic panorama of our new home. Few years on and the Eye is celebrating 25 million visitors. As part of the celebration, British Airways London Eye is hosting an online photography competition allowing the public to upload their London Eye photos to a gallery featured on their website. The winner will win some nifty prizes and have his/her photo framed and put on display at the Eye's ticket office. At the end of the competition, the submitted images will also come together to create a giant mosaic of the 135m-high observation wheel.

Photography by Tiki Chris © 2007

I was invited to last night's launch of the contest and got to try my hand at taking a few shots. Click here to view my entry photos. Thanks to British Airways London Eye and to Hill and Knowlton for the opportunity and for a fun evening!

Click here to learn more about the London Eye 's 25 millionth visitor photography competition.

Tate Modern second most visited venue in UK

Tate Modern sees visitor increase
Tate Modern is the second most visited venue in the country with 4.9m visitors, according to new research.
BBC News
Published: 2007/02/21 09:02:44 GMT

The site, in London's South Bank, saw an increase of 21% in the number of its visitors compared to 2005 ... Among the least visited attractions were the National Museum of Costume in Scotland and the National Wool Museum in Wales.

Click here for complete article.


Tate Modern Chimney
Photograph by Tiki Chris © 2007

2007 Globe season announced

Globe new season announced
by CB
London Theatre Guide
1/25/07

Othello, The Merchant Of Venice and Love’s Labour’s Lost form the Shakespearean trio in the new season, joined by new plays Holding Fire! and We, The People, plus Howard Brenton’s In Extremis, which ran in last year’s The Edges Of Rome season and returns in May for two weeks only.

Click here for complete post.

First London solo show of British graffiti artist SheOne (James Choules)

EXIT
The first London solo show of British graffiti artist SheOne (James Choules)
6th January – 13th January 2007
Union Works
New Globe Walk
London SE1 9EB
London Bridge Station

OPEN - Daily, 12pm to 7pm
Free Entry

Inspired by abstract typography and expressionism, SheOne will transform a historical site on the South Bank before its demolition - using bold strokes, emblems and personalised shorthand; a style that has won him acclaim for its quietly dramatic minimalism ... the building will be demolished when the exhibition ends with the paintings still intact ...

Click here for more details.

Click here for photos from the opening of EXIT.

How was the Frost Fair?

Emiana and I took a stroll through the Frost Fair last night, had mulled wine, heard some nice tunes. Nothing extraordinary but with all the fairy lights and festive atmosphere it was kind of nice.

Here are some pics:














Photography by Emiana © 2006

Frost Fair 2006

This weekend's Frost Fair - London’s largest free winter event - will be held outside the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe. This will be Southwark Council’s fourth Frost Fair along the Thames.

Festivities include:
Husky Dog Sledding
Thames Cutters Boat procession
Adult and children workshops in Mongolian yurts

Other attractions include ice sculpting, a winter market with 40 stalls selling food and gifts, street entertainment, bands and choirs singing favourite Christmas tunes, and a beer tent selling festive food and drink, such as roasted chestnuts and mulled wine.














Opening Times:
Friday 15 Dec 4pm - 9pm
Saturday 16 Dec 10am - 9pm
Sunday 17 Dec 10am - 6pm

Click here for more details.

Move over Bilbao (and New York). Here comes London.

Transforming Tate Modern: A New Museum for 21st Century Britain
Announcement of £7 million investment from The Mayor for London
Public information URL: www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm
Press release: 25 July 2006

The new development of Tate Modern will be much more than just a building; it will be the anchor for a dynamic new quarter of London – a new creative campus stretching southwards. Bankside Urban Park, involving the improvement of the urban realm through the creation of pocket parks and other small-scale developments, is a major project being led by Better Bankside with the support of Tate and other landowners. The Urban Park will connect newly landscaped areas around the gallery to open spaces across Southwark.

Click here to read the rest of the press release.

Black flag raised at Shakespeare's Globe

Back in May (was this my first ontoLondon post?), I mentioned that Under the Flag: The early life, adventures and piracies of the famous Long John Silver before he lost his leg, a new play by Simon Bent, was to open 9 July at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (click here for that post).

Yesterday, I caught a performance of this show, which essentially works as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The play even goes into how Mr. Silver came to be called "long" (um ... you'll have to see the play to have that clarified, but any naughty notions you might be entertaining will probably be confirmed).

Now, I wouldn't rank this play anywhere near said classic novel, but it is faithful to Stevenson, fun (in a pillage and plunder sort of way), and historically accurate. The dialogue is Elizabethian and at times downright filthy (a jar full of a monkey's what?). There's even some full-frontal in the first act. Much of the story takes place along the Barbary Coast (argh!) during the height of the fascinating Republic of Bou Regreg.

Catching Under the Black Flag marked the end of a week flanked by piratical entertainment (last Sunday, I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie - click here for that review on my Tiki Chris blog). And, shiver me timbers, I'm a happy boy for it.

As with any visit to a performance at the Globe, pay for a seat (I've seen even spry teenage groundlings' knees buckle) , pay the extra pound for a cushion, and, if the show's during the afternoon or early evening, wear sunscreen.

Long weekend of modern art on the South Bank

'The Long Weekend' is a four-day festival of live events at Tate Modern scheduled for 26 May - 29 May, 2006.

Futurist Friday 26 May 2006
Surrealist Saturday 27 May 2006
Abstract Sunday 28 May 2006
Minimalist Monday 29 May 2006





Much of the line-up looks promising, especially Joan Miró's Grotesque Puppets in Merma Neverdies by Joan Baixas set to perform 'for the first time in over 25 years.'

A Piratical Summer coming to London’s South Bank

A Piratical Summer coming to London’s South Bank

Fascinated by pirate history? Then check out Under the Flag: The early life, adventures and piracies of the famous Long John Silver before he lost his leg, opening 9 July at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Based on the real life cutthroat of Stevenson’s Treasure Island and set around the historical pirate republic of Rabat, this wild tale of high seas and low politics exposes the class hatreds and religious hypocrisy of the 17th century … The production features bare flesh and filthy language.


More details:
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/navigation/frameset.htm


If Long John Silver's ‘bare flesh and filthy language’ would be a bit much for you or the little ones, another treasure for pirate buffs is hardly more than a few breaths away on Clink Street. Located here is the SV Golden Hinde, an accurate reconstruction of privateer Sir Francis Drake’s Tudor galleon in which he circumnavigated the world from 1577-1580. The ship operates as a living history museum, running a fulltime schedule of educational programmes, such as guided tours, workshops and the opportunity for school and family groups to spend a night aboard ship on an imaginary voyage. The ship is also open to the public for self guided tours.


More details:
http://www.goldenhinde.co.uk/generalInfo.html

Cheers,

Chris Osburn