reFRESH MAGAZINE

Poker. Booze. Dim Sum. Sorted.

Shoreditch hotspot The Drunken Monkey - which has been gaining a reputation for friendly service, reasonably-priced drinks and fantastic dim sum (trust us, we've been there, in a state, more often than we perhaps should have) since 2002 - has recently launched a poker night on Tuesdays.  

In fact, it grew from a few players around a single table who looked like they were having a ball. Rumours of their mirth spread around town such that it soon became an official night, with the whole room involved!

A unique opportunity to mix with city bankers and East End trendies alike (and the gorgeous jocks from the barbershop next door), entry is £5, maximum winnings are £100 and it's all in the name of good fun. Moreover, there is a prize of a bottle of Four Roses Bourbon up each month for the overall best player. Ideally located on Shoreditch High Street, five minutes walk from Liverpool Street Station, it's a great value night out/after work drink venue; even if poker isn't your thing, you MUST try the mouthwatering dim sum. Go with a few mates, order everything and share!

Why Didn't Anyone Think of This Before?

The next issue of reFRESH, the Design Issue, will be out in July and feature brilliant little ideas like the Teasmade, the tea- (or coffee-) making alarm clock by Swan.  Simply load its teapot the night before with two teabags and voilà - recover from the jolting alarm with a soothing cup of tea in bed, leaving you fresh to start the day!

Make your Summer sparkle...

 

Summer seems to have finally arrived now and with it comes the prospect of long afternoons (and evenings) in the sun sipping something fruity (if you catch our drift!!). But what to drink? Step forward Lambrini Pink Bubbly! With its hot colour and fizz it will definitely give your drinking session a bit of sparkle and it doesn't taste bad either!!

Available from all major retailers in a 75cl bottle - for more information check out the website at www.lambrini.co.uk or join their facebook group at www.facebook.co.uk/Lambrini

Taste a bit of Pink at My Dining Room

Starting from Friday June 11, My Dining Room in Fulham will be launching their 'Pink Lunch' menu, inspired by the glamorous lives of its jet-setting customers. 

The lunch will offer London guys the chance to relax, kick back and enjoy the ambiance. All the dishes on the menu have been inspired by the colour pink and additionally to that, your salad and dessert comes complete with unlimited cosmopolitans!!

My Dining Room’s Pink Lunch is the perfect treat for the guys (and girls) following a long morning’s shopping as it won’t break the bank at just £15 for a salad, dessert and unlimited cosmopolitans. 

My Dining Room is located on Farm Lane in Fulham, to make a reservation call 020 7381 3331

Gimme All Your Dough

With summer virtually upon us and the picnic season already under way, Krispy Kreme have relaunched its popular Strawberries & Kreme doughnut, finished with white chocolate curls, shortcake crumble and real juicy strawberry chunks.  For those with tangier tastes, the brand new lemon meringue pie doughnut is lemon and kreme filled, and finished with a lightly toasted, soft meringue topping.  Pop your favourites into a cooling Summer Dozen Box and enjoy with a Homestyle Lemonade or refreshing Layered Latte. 

Both tasty additions will be part of Krispy Kreme's innovative fundraising scheme, in which they offer to sell your charity or NPO a dozen doughnuts for £3.75, which you can then sell on at £7.45 per dozen, i.e. at a profit of more than 30p per doughnut!  Which the charity gets to keep!  A kremey way to appease the heart, indeed.

Tom's Terrace, Somerset House

Enjoyed the great weather recently?  Long may it continue.  After several years of short springs and stillborn summers, and premature autumns that succumb to sturdy winters, we can live and hope that summer 2010 will finally bring us back to the long, torrid days and balmy nights of - can you remember that far back? - 2003 and 2005.

If such is the case, sun-drenched foodies will be committed to searching out those little pockets where al fresco dining not only offers fresh air, but shade, elegant surroundings, beautiful vistas and great food. That might sound like a lot to ask in London, but one place that does spring to mind is Tom's Terrace at Somerset House.

Formerly known as the River Terrace Café, the latest venture of Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens (pictured) is situated on the river side of the House, overlooking the Thames, and is covered by a futuristic canopy, making it an arresting sight from any angle.  Named 'best place to eat al fresco in Britain' by The Times, its menu replicates that of Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea and is therefore a winner, melding traditional British favourites with the continental flourishes that have been absorbed into the home cuisine.

I'll have the liver and foie gras parfait, please, followed by the paillard of chicken, and the strawberries (poached in mint and Champagne, yum).  In fact, go on, give me a whole bottle of Lanson.  

 

Heeeeere's Jonny!

Get your glad rags on: Swanky London hotel Andaz will be hosting their second Fête Surprise this summer with Bistrotheque favourite Jonny Woo.

High-jinks humour will meet five-star dining to once again leave guests seduced on all fronts.  Beginning on June 5th with the theme Everybody's Birthday, expect spectacular performances, stunning costumes, outrageous party games, fabulous prizes and birthday cards for everyone... if cocktails, canapes and a delicious three course meal and drinks isn't enough.  Future theme nights will be Tartrazine Dreams (July 3) and The Pearly Party (August 14).

So break out your bow tie and shine off your shoes for a rather elegant singalong and giggle!

To book tickets to Jonny Woo's Fête Surprise at Andaz Liverpool Street, contact the reservations team on 020 7618 7000 or at london.restres@andaz.com

 

Learn to Cook - Italian Style

It's all very well taking a break from all the hustle and bustle, but if you're used to fast city living then the traditional beach holiday can get bit boring within a couple of days.  That's why more and more people are choosing to combine their R&R with a stimulating, enjoyable pursuit.  For a great opportunity to learn something new and meet like-minded people, why not try a cooking holiday in a family-owned luxury hotel?

Featured in the TV show Rhodes Across Italy and set in the idyllic surroundings of the Sibillini Mountains and Adriatic coast, the evocative kitchen of the Borgo Storica Seghetti Panichi is believed to date back to the 15th century.  Guests have the option of taking a half-day observational course, or a full-day, hands-on session in which to prepare a complete three-course meal, to be enjoyed with the finest local wines available.

For those looking for something more active, the Borgo also offers professionally-guided walks through the wildlife-rich mountains, waterfalls, hills and forests of its stunning environs.  Follow a day of discovery with a relaxing sauna visit and massage back at the estate, before being indulged with that authentic Le Marche cuisine.

A Date With The Don

 On the first really sunny evening of the recent heatwave, I was invited to attend a ‘luxury drop’ at Amika, the Kensington bar favoured by P.Diddy and Rihanna.  Easy to find, next door to Whole Foods, the sexy, dark, decadent entrance beckons you downstairs into a pitch-black corridor, where beautiful, smiling girls lead you into the slick main bar, now sponsored by luxury tequila brand Don Julio.

Immediately, my friend and I were offered delicious cloudy apple and cinnamon cocktails by soon-to-be star mixologist Deano, but the real theatre started when New York-based, Michelin 3*, ‘creative cocktail consultant’ Brian Van Flandern took to the bar, to single-handedly rescue the image of tequila from nauseating New Year’s Eve/stag/leaving/birthday parties, when the richest/least funny/most drunk guy in the room orders thirty cheap tequilas and makes you eat salt and wince.

 Starting with a simple margarita-style drop called Agave, the nectar-filled plants of which are dotted around the room, ‘the key to a great cocktail is acid, sugar and alcohol,’ he instructs, suggestively eyeballing his audience as he pours an almost obscene amount of Don Julio Blanco.  Casting aside our reticence in anticipation of a drink at the end of a long work day, we shout ‘Viva Don Julio’, bite into a wedge of lime and knock back the smoothest, cleanest, brightest, most caramelly tequila of all time, with all the ritualism and festivity associated with a shot.

After pouring us a more masculine, spicy Reposado and Chartreuse-based drop, he then split the room up into smaller groups and invited us to mix up our own cocktails.  Unfortunately, I found myself in a group in which someone insisted on using smoked oysters from a tin, which, even with the ‘acid, sugar, alcohol’ mantra on overdrive, was completely unpalatable.  No matter.  Even after just half an hour with the charming Van Flandern, I was shaking up Agave drops like a pro.  And getting tips.