Slice of The City Magazine - Summer 2024

Come summer, morning and evening

seem almost to draw apart and in this issue we’ve put our extra daylight hours to good use, looking back at a memorable residency at The Pembroke from Ireland’s much-loved chef, Richard Corrigan, and forward to Bloomsday celebrations in Dublin with a brief paean to the towering novel of the 20th Century, James Joyce’s Ulysses. We’ve profiled our new Egyptian cocktail menu at The Bloomsbury, and you can read all about our Original Gins; the brand new 108 Gin, recent Rick’s Gin and our enduring classic, The Sidecar Gin.

COMING UP FOR AIRE

One of London’s most wonderful spas is also its most unexpected. Step through the front door of a Georgian town house, just off the busy end of The Strand and, with every step into the space below prepare to be surprised. It’s one of the last places you’d expect to find what looks and feels like an ancient thermal bath house. The calming aromatics rising from steamy baths are more redolent of one of those out-of-town retreats where the great and the good get pampered, primped and fully rebooted, but normal mortals never have time for. The bathhouse itself is accessed via a candlelit staircase, and is set under arching brick

vaults, bath after bath of varying size, steam rising atmospherically from warm to hot, with a salt-rich one for floating in – the Flotarium - an icy cold one for plunging in and a bubbly hydrotherapy one for easing tensions away. Aromas waft from the steam room, while the heated marble of the tea lounge awaits. In the house above, heavenly treatments unfold in spaces of pure serenity. Book our VIP AIRE EXPERIENCE package and enjoy 90 minutes in the baths, plus a 15-minute massage, during your luxurious stay at The Bloomsbury. doylecollection.com/hotels/the-bloomsburyhotel/packages/aire-sanctuary-in-the-city

THE CROKE PARK

Explore our portfolio of Irish family-owned luxury hotels superbly located in the centre of London, Dublin, Bristol, Washington DC and Cork

Our new cocktail menu at Doyle at The Dupont Circle showcases creations inspired by Irish counties with strong American ancestral ties. Mainly, though, they’re delicious.

SUNDAY, DAY OF ROAST

News & Views

NAOMI, QUEEN OF FASHION

The V&A does fashion like nobody else and Naomi Campbell is their latest subject of celebration, turning the spotlight on the one-woman icon that’s seldom been out of it since her ‘discovery’ aged 15, way back in 1986. By turns megawatt model, collaborator, ferocious supporter of talent and activist, this exhibition marks and celebrates Naomi’s lasting impact on the global cultural scene. To ensure you get behind this particular velvet rope, our Naomi Exhibition Experience Accommodations package includes room or suite, a full English breakfast and those sought-after tickets to wander the exhibition, admire her fabulous work and sigh a little at the perennially youthful glow that still surrounds her. Go! doylecollection.com/hotels/the-kensingtonhotel/packages/naomi-exhibition-experience

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ON THE COVER

Scarab illustration by Simon Maskell taken from the Egyptian Cocktail menu at The Bloomsbury Club

Slice of the City is published on behalf of The Doyle Collection by Rivington Bye Ltd. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. All details correct at the time of publication but may change. For all editorial enquiries: enquire@rivingtonbye.com

The Sunday roast is a British institution that’s up there with ravens at the Tower and saying sorry when someone else bumps into you. From the swankiest restaurant to the snuggest of pubs we meet and cocoon around tables, inside and out, to enjoy that unhurried weekly ritual of roasted meat (or veg), with all the delicious trimmings, followed by the least necessary of the week’s desserts. At The Marylebone we’re launching a new Sunday Roast menu, a fabulous feast to remember all week long 108brasserie.com

40 YEARS

A quick heads up. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of The Westbury, our flagship hotel in Dublin. It goes without saying that this means we have some serious celebrations planned. So, watch this space!

Condé Nast Traveller and AFAR magazine, afficionados of all things excellent, have named The Dupont Circle in a list of Washington DCs ten best hotels. It has also just been awarded a prestigious Michelin key. Come and find out why!

EDIBLE ART

Our new Afternoon Tea menu at Town House raises a cup (and glass) to The Kensington’s enduring cultural connection to London’s best galleries with a collection of deserts inspired by artists from all around the world. From Starry night and Girl with a Balloon cocktails, to Jackson Pollock-inspired confections, we’ve got afternoon tea down to a fine art. doylecollection.com/ hotels/the-kensington-hotel/dining/afternoontea-in-kensington

RIDDLE OF THE SANDS

For anyone who likes a cocktail that evokes mythical connection and the telling of fortunes, you’ve come to the right place

In 1922, the eyes of the world turned towards Egypt upon the legendary discovery of the tomb of the boy Pharoah, Tutankhamun. Centuries of grave robbing, banditry and looting in the Valley of the Kings had stripped other tombs of every bit of treasure – both precious and personal, taking with it knowledge of how they lived and died. The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb changed everything. It was small (he died at just 19 and hadn’t yet completed something of the usual grand scale) and it was covered in centuries of debris. So, when Egyptologist Howard Carter embarked on the fifth year of his search, bankrolled by an increasingly unconvinced Lord Carnarvon, expectations were low. Yet, as he scrabbled in the only section remaining, Carter didn’t just find the tomb he had always been convinced was there, but a trove of undisturbed treasure, both material and educational. It was extraordinary.

Carter’s discovery sparked Egyptomania in Britain, particularly among the writers and artists of the Bloomsbury Group. Though 3,000 years and 2,000 miles separated them and Ancient Egypt, they shared the same quest: to delve into life’s mysteries and discover who we truly are – through symbols and stories, insight and mysticism, divination and dreams. In addition, the Bloomsbury Group had front row seats to Carter’s discovery, as Carnarvon’s sister was married to Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell’s half-brother George.

Inspired by this profound interpretation of hieroglyphs and art as expression, the Bloomsbury Club Bar’s newest menu has conjured this concept into the names, flavours and presentation of twelve heavenly cocktails. Inspired by notions of destiny and self-determination, we have created an interactive pyramid box with a pendulum that encourages guests to put the decision in fate's hands. And, at the same time, every cocktail (whether chosen by those ancient means or the more modern method of asking your server, reading ingredients, and taking a glance at nearby tables and passing trays before deciding which sounds most like your flavour)

WADJET

speaks volumes about you, yourself, and your immediate mindset. We’re not quite sure what happens if you simply start at the beginning and work your way through (over a number of visits, naturally) but we would anticipate some rather fabulous revelations to accompany the process, and would hazard that even the staunchest of empiricists cannot but benefit from such a journey of discovery.

Inspired by the profound interpretation of hieroglyphs

and art

as

expression

The names, flavours and ingredients of every cocktail are inspired by the profound meaning of hieroglyphs found carved in stone close by the pyramids. So, Anubis, named for the Jackal God of the Afterlife, is a ‘Dark, pungent, head clearing’ marriage of Remy Martin, Royal Accord Cognac, Amaro Nardini (a traditional bitter orange, peppermint and gentian aperitivo) anchored by dates and cardamom bitters, designed to ‘open the way to find and recover forgotten or buried needs of the past’. Or Ib (storehouse of the heart),

inspired by a papyrus scroll from The Book of The Dead is a moreish alchemy of discarded grape skin Chardonnay vodka, with Crème de pêche, Galliano L’Autentico, saffron custard and peach and jasmine soda. To be selected by the self-aware, wishing to atone for past actions with love.

Though there are twelve confections to choose from, one thing they all have in common is having been created, shaken, stirred and poured by absolutely expert hands. And, while some represent a twist on a classic, each is entirely original, endlessly delicious and to be found in The Bloomsbury Club now.

Overleaf: Left The Bloomsbury Group had a strong association with Ballets Russes and their production of Cleopatra.

Right The cocktails are infused with ingredients to be found in ancient Egypt.

This page: Above The new cocktail menu based on a 1922 British Museum catalogue of Egyptian finds (as shown Right far left).

Right above and below left Details of the illustrated pyramid and pendulum diviner.

Centre right The moment Howard Carter opened the shrine of Tutankhamun.

INCORRIGIBLE CORRIGAN

When chef Richard Corrigan came to DC for a residency at The Pembroke during Irish Heritage Month, we were delighted to welcome one of Ireland’s most legendary chefs, widely celebrated as a tireless ambassador for Irish and British produce

“It’s a slap on the back. It’s a splash of cold water on the cheeks. It’s a crushing bear hug of a welcome. This is cooking determined to show you a good time, and to wear a party hat while doing so. With roaring grill and a menu full of hilariously huge, uncompromising flavours, standing proud, refusing to back down.”

Jay Rayner on Daffodil Mulligan

When one of the UK’s frankest (some would say harshest) food critics has this to say about your third restaurant in a city like London, well, it’s unprecedented. Like second album syndrome for a band, a chef is always judged more harshly with each new opening – as critics turn their eagle eyes on every aspect of the operation, in a forensic search for absenteeism and a sense of talent being spread too thin. Yet Richard Corrigan’s cooking has always spoken from the heart to the heart (and sometimes actually involves a heart). It’s always been robust, honest, forthright, incredibly skilled and absolutely all about the flavour.

One of just a few great Irish chefs to have come through in the hugely competitive London restaurant scene of the 1990s, Corrigan made his mark by speaking under the noise. No kitchen histrionics or bad boy antics for him. Instead, his first restaurants showcased the most impeccable artisan ingredients, sourced from small independent suppliers from the UK and Ireland to put produce centre stage, perfectly cooked and un-muckedabout with, served with warmth and love rather than ceremony. Ignoring the decade’s trends for fusion cooking, drizzles, fussy food towers and so on, Corrigan’s deceptively simple cooking and robust flavours won his London restaurants a legion of loyal fans, with two Michelin stars and awards aplenty for the chef. But where did his talent, his drive and his absolute conviction come from?

One of seven children, brought up on a small Irish farm of just 25 acres and a cottage, Richard Corrigan’s early days

might have been a world away from oysters in Mayfair (Bentleys), cooking for the Queen (not to mention Barack and Michelle Obama), but they remain core to his chef DNA. Oft quoted, his own words on the subject always warrant an outing for those newer to his food, and explain Corrigan’s cooking philosophy in a nutshell, “the farming mentality teaches you lots of things. It makes you very unpretentious about good food for a start, and it instils respect, because you know the hard graft that goes into producing it… When you’re thinning out the leek beds and weeding every night, I’m telling you, you appreciate what you grow”.

Born in 1964, Corrigan’s childhood can sound almost Victorian, with his turf cutting, lack of electricity and five-mile walks either way to school (even his wife has jokingly asked him “were you born in the 1920s?”). “The farm was right in the middle of the bog land in County Meath. We had two vegetable gardens, one for

“I was born with the farming DNA. It’s that that keeps me driving on. Having your own restaurant is like having your own farm, and all good farmers are driven.”

the lettuces and the spring onions and the rhubarb and a bigger one, more like a field, for the likes of the potatoes and carrots. Everything (we ate) was produced on the farm (and) … we were the last gasp of a rural era that in most places in Ireland had disappeared twenty to thirty years before. There was a discipline to Irish country life; it wasn’t idyllic, it was hard, but it was great to be self-sufficient.”

While rural life was hard work, they ate well. Killing a pig in the autumn yielded pork, ham and bacon, while they made their own black pudding. Game was all around, so there was always pheasant, wild duck or rabbit for the pot. Rivers were stocked with salmon, the family kept bees. Though “my father always preferred wild honey. If we heard there was a nest of bees, my dad would stop everything and we had to head into the fields, looking to raid it. He’d put the honeycombs in a colander by the fire and the honey would melt and filter into a bowl…” Corrigan’s mother churned butter and made the family loaves, their daily bread.

Naturally, when you live on a small farm absolutely everything is seasonal – fruits and vegetables come in abundance then need eating, pickling, potting and preserving, sharpish. Then before you know it they’re gone, until the next time. What small farm life did achieve was to teach Corrigan everything. “We weren’t educated about food but we knew a hell of a lot. The whole country cycle of farming, shooting, fishing, cooking, eating is what teaches you. The art of country cooking was much finer than you would ever imagine. Growing up on a farm also teaches you respect for the cycles and seasonality of food. I grew up with the simple idea that the sun goes up and comes down

and with each movement of the calendar, nature has something else to give us.”

While Corrigan has worked 45 years in kitchens now, this has never left him. And even today, is precisely how he writes a menu. “Creating a menu for me is all about seasonality, so right now” in London, in early February, “you’re in the hungry gap of the year. Everything is asleep, it’s hibernating, nothing is growing. So it’s root vegetables, the last of the wild game, the mallards, the pheasants, all the game birds are just coming off my menu.

Then with the spring, wild garlic, white asparagus, morels come in, then green asparagus. Then we’re just moving around the garden until we get to the red berries in late summer.”

Corrigan’s drive, too, he attributes to life on the land. “I was born with the farming DNA. It’s that that keeps me driving on. Having your own restaurant is like having your own farm, and all good farmers are driven….Farmers always covet the field next door; you can never have enough land... There is one Richard Corrigan thinking, ‘Do I really need to open another restaurant?’ But the other Richard Corrigan, the farmer, is saying, ‘Go for it’”.

And go for it he did. Corrigan first went into a kitchen at 15 and he’s never left.

After four years in the Netherlands, he came to London, where he started out at Piccadilly’s Le Meridien Hotel. Leadership came pretty early as he headed up the team at Stephen Bull’s Blandford Street Restaurant, jumping ship to Mulligan’s in Mayfair, then settling for a while as Head Chef at Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Grill, which he later bought in 2005. Tempted back by Bull in 1994, Corrigan earned

Left From ceviche to soda bread every dish has its roots in traditional Irish cuisine.

Above The kitchen team working with Richard Corrigan to prepare his menu for guests at The Dupont Circle

his first Michelin Star as head chef at the hugely successful ‘90s icon, Fulham Road. But in 1997 Corrigan went solo, opening Lindsay House in Soho. For many their first introduction to his style of cooking, Lindsay House was an immediate hit. Winning him another Michelin star, not to mention Outstanding London Chef, and he was regularly named in London’s five finest restaurants.

Tiring of the tiny kitchen in Lindsay House (“Everybody who came to see that kitchen couldn’t believe we could serve 90 covers. Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing, Stephen Docherty – all the chefs said: “Corrigan, how on earth are you doing it?”), Corrigan opened Corrigans in Mayfair on the day he closed Lindsay House in 2008. The new establishment took over his knack as a serial award winner, including, for Corrigan’s, London restaurant of the year, three times.

Having already bought Bentley’s in 2005 (which he transformed) and enjoyed successful 1990s collaborations with Searcy’s to create four establishments, Corrigan continued to give in to his farmer’s urge to expand. His Bentley’s relaunch had been an immediate success with critics and the public alike. Here’s fearsome Evening Standard restaurant critic Fay Maschler just about summing it up. “Sometimes, we just go somewhere good. Bentley’s Oyster Bar is a serious enterprise devoted to prime ingredients treated with wit and brio, and because ebullient Richard Corrigan is a consummate chef and restaurateur — and of course an Irishman.” As somebody who has a favourite table in the ground floor oyster bar “the end table on the left opposite the long marble bar” and has written weekly restaurant reviews since 1972 (over two million words) there are few restaurants she visits off duty. Corrigan says he tries not to worry about critics, perhaps because they’re so complimentary?

Virginia Park Lodge, an 18th century, 100acre country estate in County Cavan, Ireland, was a departure from restaurants, though not hospitality. Purchased in 2014, the estate included the hunting lodge

in which Corrigan had married his wife Maria back in 1991, and the family (two of Richard’s children have joined the family business) has lovingly refurbished it into a destination. For weddings, for corporates seeking rural pursuits and for boating and fishing on the estate’s lake, as well as for Sunday lunches for local people. The land is put to good use, with orchards and a walled garden for growing fruit, vegetables and herbs for his restaurants. And the house, lodges and shepherds’ huts accommodate 125 guests.

Daffodil Mulligan followed in 2019, this time in partnership with two other legendary Irishmen: Tony Gibney, publican and owner of Gibney’s of Malahide, just north of Dublin, and London-based restarateur, John Nugent. It’s a 50-cover retaurant upstairs, with a pub (Gibney’s) below. Bread is baked and butter freshly made every day and seasonal fruit and veg comes in from the Virginia Park Lodge gardens. A love letter to Irish hospitality, defined by Corrigan as “A celebration of what Ireland is, from our music, our poetry, our writing and our food”. Drink, too, to be honest. And it’s flourishing.

While most restaurateurs were happy just to come out of the Covid Pandemic with a viable business, and it wasn’t easy for anyone - Richard Corrigan was off. On a new venture with long-term collaborator, Searcy’s. Following a three-year refurbishment, the National Gallery reopened to much fanfare, anchored by The Portrait Restaurant by Richard Corrigan to quite the reception. According to The Times food critic, Giles Coren, “Richard Corrigan has taken over the restaurant on the roof of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and absolutely nailed it.” While Tim Heyward in The FT said “Richard Corrigan deserves his own portrait in the gallery” (among many other fulsome things as he waxes lyrical for a good twelve paragraphs – don’t read them if you’re hungry).

Richard Corrigan is, by any measure, a busy man. So, when we asked him to come and bring Daffodil Mulligan for a residency at The Pembroke during Irish Heritage

Month, we were delighted when he said yes. In his usual forthright fashion. “I love America, I love other cultures. For all I will bring, I will leave with something, too. That is the exchange. An organic farm just outside Washington and our farm in Ireland, I bet we have a similar approach. It’s pointless me talking to a mass producer, we have nothing in common, but with a small farmer or small veg grower, yes we have.”

His signature ran through the tightly edited menu, with snacks including his homemade soda bread and butter (“Great butter, great bread. Sacrosanct, made in every one of my restaurants.”) and oysters dressed in rhubarb, lime and ginger. Duck hearts came with fermented potato bread, grapes and wild garlic. And suckling pig with Irish kimchi, apple and celeriac cream. Desserts included wild honey soda bread and Madeira soft serve ice cream. The menu was bookended by an Irish Breeze (bespoke cocktail) welcomer and an Irish Coffee “For the ditch”. We had parties from out of state who travelled just to eat his food.

It was pretty exciting hosting a whirlwind of such authentic Irishness at The Pembroke, even for just a few days. But we’ll leave the last word on Corrigan to

another food critic feared and admired in equal measure, Tom Parker Bowles. “Chef proprietor Richard Corrigan is a broad, barrel-chested, grinning force of nature. Not a man you’d get on the wrong side of, but one of Europe’s great chefs, no doubt about that. I first tasted his food at Lindsay House in Soho. And never forgot it. His technique was flawless, flavours always broad, but never brash. He’s certainly not shy of speaking his mind, or picking a fight with the big beasts of commercial agriculture. But he eternally fights for the small producer, the artisans, the farmers who work for passion rather than profit. Flavour always comes first.”

Above Corrigan’s Royal fish pie and Irish oysters as served at Bentley’s.

Right Richard Corrigan puts the final touch to a dish at The Dupont Circle

ORIGINAL GINS

To mark the launch of our most recent house gin, we take a look at the (oft maligned) noble spirit and The Doyle Collection’s three fine additions to the pantheon…

What with Gin Alley and Mother’s Ruin (also, ‘blue ruin’) and Old Tom, historically gin has had a pretty bad rap.

To be fair, some of it is absolutely warranted. In fact, Gin’s journey from apothecary to Negroni, has been something of a drama, taking in about one and a half millennia of healing, followed by a brief spell as the crack cocaine of London (early 18th century), before a swift shift to its current incarnation as an impeccable spirit, distilled by artisans, shaken by the best. Gin has certainly always carried with it a sense of contrasts, of contradictions. Not least in its origins. It always feels like the most quintessentially English of spirits yet, along with other surprises, such as Fish and Chips (which were actually gifted to us by Jewish settlers fleeing Spain and Portugal) and Tea (as well as tomato ketchup, for what it’s worth, both of which hail from China), it emphatically isn’t.

The earliest incarnations of juniper berries steeped in alcohol are believed to be from around 70 AD as Roman physicians helping combat chest complaints, captured in one Pedanius Discorides’ Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine . A practice which likely continued until its next capture for posterity in a 1055 recipe for tonic wine infused with juniper from the Benedictine Monks of Solerno’s Compendium Solernita . Initially juniper (gin’s central ingredient) was purely medicinal, and it appears not to have been until the 16th century, in the Netherlands, that gin first made its appearance as a spirit, albeit a rudimentary one.

‘Genever’ as it was called, was actually a malt wine spirit with juniper added for flavour rather than its therapeutic purposes. The word gin, a shortening of genever (in some quarters rather

rudely attributed to the drunkenness of its new British imbiber – rendered unable to manage more than one syllable) was first mentioned in The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices, Publick Benefits by Bernard Mandeville… “The infamous liquor, the name of which deriv’d from Juniper-Berries in Dutch, is now, by frequent use… shrunk into a Monosyllable, intoxicating Gin.” It came to Britain with William of Orange in 1688 – not literally, but it helped that Acts of Parliament were passed in 1689 and 1697 to reduce taxes on home distillation rather than imports. This was designed to discourage the consumption of French Brandy (so unpatriotic!) and in favour of the distillation of gin. It worked a treat.

18th century London water was unfit for human consumption. In some areas water was delivered through basic pipes – hollowed out tree trunks – but even while the science of waterbourne diseases was in its infancy, people knew it made them sick. So most of London’s less wealthy inhabitants (the rich could, and did, buy spring water bottled at source), drank their liquids fermented and brewed; typicaly beer, ale, cider and wine. The water problem wasn’t solved until the passing of the Public Health Act of 1848, so throughout the 18th century Londoners sought ways to hydrate themselves and their families that didn’t require the imbibing of Thames water (yes, really).

Gin was an immediate hit. Although the government had made it easier and cheaper to make and sell gin, and it was a profitable endeavour for both distillers and tavern owners, unregulated distilleries, shops (17,000 of them) and barrows mushroomed with (often adulterated) liquor reaching the street for merely pennies. So people drank. And drank. Sufficiently serious was the crisis to

trigger not one, but two Acts of Parliament, specifically designed to regulate the selling of gin – the second, in 1751, essentially took it off the streets and back into tavens and pubs - beyond the reach, financially, of the very poor. So back they went to beer. And back gin went to normal. Which meant retaining its status as a core spirit in the highballs and cocktails served in the drawing rooms of the many.

An unexpected consequence of the 1751 Gin (colloquially known as the Tippling) Act arose more recently. Designed to limit production only to established distillers (those licensed by the Worshipful Company of Distillers, incorporated in 1638), it was so draconian that the words boutique and distillery were only to be said in that order following its repeal in – drumroll – 2008! Like opening the starter gates to the Epsom Derby, runners and riders thundered down the home straits and started craft distilling in artisan earnesty.

While London was the centre of much of the 18th century Gin Craze (as it was known), other port cities along the south and west coast did not go unscathed, most notably Portsmouth, Plymouth and, of course, Bristol. In Ireland, though, early gin history was a much less tortuous affair. For Dubliners, the fact that it was initially known as Dutch Courage (same origins as Britain then, just, obviously, should have been minus a king ), rather than Mother’s Ruin, itself spoke volumes. Courage was central to its origins, as initially it was imbibed in quantities by soldiers and sailors. And, where the military led, society followed. More soubriquets emerged, still on the jovial side (though Ladies’ Delight soon gave way to Knock Me Down) and on the back of an abundance of grain in 18th-century Ireland a thriving industry arose. By the 19th century Ireland was home to over 200 licensed distilleries, perfecting everything from gin to absinthe. Today we have around 40 established craft distilleries dedicated to gin.

So, it’s been quite the checkered history but the love for good quality gin has never waned and as it came from physicians originally, perhaps we should conclude its history in the words of a more recent (admittedly fictional) doctor, from the 1935 film, Bride of Frankenstein, Doctor Septimus Pretorius. “Without gin, there would be no martinis, and that’s a scenario too troubling to contemplate sober.”

MAKING OUR OWN

Anybody that’s serious about cocktail making, bartending and hospitality fully understands the power of a beautifully made martini, the elegance of a pristine-spirited negroni – and, in turn, the importance of the quality of the spirit that alchemises into cocktails. Behind the scenes at every one of our bars the imaginations of our teams conjure miracles. They freeze grapes in place of ice; cook up cordials redolent of smoke, hedgerow berries, even the forest floor; they make one-of-a-kind bitters, foams, sodas and syrups, all by hand. Though it’s a relatively recent enterprise, it shouldn’t surprise that we make our own gins. So, let us introduce them…

RICK’S GIN

At Rick’s Bar at The Bristol we’ve only been open a year, but it’s been a good one. We love all our customers, and we’re not here to brag, but if you did hear that one of them was a Mr Stanley Tucci supping martinis (on two occasions), well, it wasn’t from us. It was a challenge opening a brand-new bar from scratch shortly after the global pandemic, but we’ve done our level best to bring the glamour of Old Hollywood to the West Country. And one thing we’ve noticed, is that guests are really loving all our classic gin cocktails. So, we created our own gin.

We knew what we wanted, but we needed experts to take us there. Here’s the team at Rick’s Bar, “We wanted our gin to be classic, clean and uncomplicated, inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood. What we didn’t know is that it takes a village to achieve that. But the brilliant Psychopomp Microdistillery took our flavour profiles and botanicals and worked closely with us to create a perfectly-balanced classic gin.”

Even though Rick’s Bar is obviously an homage to a far flung (and fictional) place, our location is a huge part of who we are. “Bristol is a unique city full of enterprising characters, creativity and innovation. It has a rebellious, can-do attitude and we feel lucky to be based among so many bold makers and creators. When looking for a partner in this process Psycopomp Microdistillery was a natural choice. Being Bristol-based and B-Corp certified was certainly a big factor in our decision, but most crucially they are renowned for their unique single-shot distillation process which creates a gin that’s truly superior in flavour and texture. Ultimately we left the alchemy to the experts. We fully trusted them with their craft and they came back with a balance and flavour profile that was exactly what we wanted, effortlessly making tweaks along the way.”

“We were inpired by classic Hollywood films and landed on three key flavours (Cherry, for the whiskey sours in The Seven Year Itch, Raspberry from the Knickerbocker cocktails in The Thin Man and, of course, juniper for Casablanca).” instagram.com/ricksbarbristol microdistillery.co.uk

108 ESTATE

The newest, launching summer 2024, is a labour of love. “We set out with a simple goal in mind, create the best gin we could for both a gin and tonic and a classic martini”, said GM of The Marylebone, Nicholas Davies. “We also wanted to find a top class distillery to help us realise this goal. So we’re working in partnership with the excellent Hawkridge Distilleries.”

A distillery ‘nestled in the strikingly beautiful North Wessex Downs’ (and named after the historic house it started out in), little birdies tell us they distill for the Royal Household. While several members of the royal family have been tireless in their support of London’s noblest spirit, and for that we thank them, what we’re really interested in is Hawkridge’s painstakingly authentic methods, locally sourced botanicals and absolute flair in the making. Typical of many a craft distillery, they’re a boutique operation; alchemist heavy, passenger light, founded by three compadres (two master distillers, one brand guru) to go back to a simpler, more authentic way of making the purest native spirit.

While the gin was always going to be crisp, clear and beautifully balanced, naturally there’s a twist. Honey. “Our gin is infused with honey from Cork as a nod to our heritage”, said Nicholas. “Though it’s well known as a smoothing agent, it isn’t often used by distillers as it’s a rather messy botanical to work with, but it is one of our favourites as it helps create a beautifully smooth spirit and enhances the other flavours.”

“The process is fascinating too”, he continued. “Hawkridge made the gin using a Victorian three-stage process to create something called a ‘tea’ – by steeping botanicals for seven days in pure alcohol. They then strain the liquid and remove the botanicals so they don’t sit and stew in the main still during the 11-hour distillation process. Other distilleries don’t use this process any more because it is so time-consuming but in their opinion it helps create a far superior spirit.”

“The final result is a traditional London Dry, but with juniper, orange and lemon zest, coriander, angelica, rose, cracked pepper, rosemary, lemon verbena, lavender, fresh orange juice, wild gorse flowers, a touch of spearmint and that Cork honey, giving it a light citrus, floral profile. It took a while, but we knew immediately when we found the flavour we wanted. We particularly like it straight from the freezer into a martini glass with a wash of vermouth and a lemon twist (or a pickled onion, for me). Or, if you’re keeping things simple, in a G&T (ideally with London Essence Tonic and a slice of pink grapefruit.” 108brasserie.com/the-cocktail-bar hawkridgedistillers.com

THE SIDECAR

“The decision was made to champion that wonderful spirit in our own way by sourcing it locally and putting our name to something really special.”

If Rick’s and 108 were a labour of love, developing The Sidecar Gin was a beacon of hope, and the project that kept The Westbury’s whole F&B team sane between lockdowns. Given the retro glamour of the space and the expertise of the cocktailmaking here, now that we’ve created our own spirit it feels like a no-brainer. And it’s a proud feeling when we serve our house G&Ts and add our iconic bottle to the tableside Martini trolley. Over to the team. “The decision was made to champion that wonderful spirit in our own way by sourcing it locally and putting our name to something really special. So, we reached out to local distilleries and began the conversation to see who matched our values and the approach we wanted to take. Eventually we settled on Stillgarden. It’s a community garden distillery who grow and source ingredients locally and sustainably – obviously we champion those same values of local, Irish, sustainability and community. The gin is a single pot still distillation and there is also a cold vacuum process involved which helps to draw even more flavour from the botanicals and spices. It’s beautiful.”

“We were very particular on the flavour and profile we wanted, but as we were working to create something special, it was a process that lasted some time – very much to the benefit of the gin we have today. We started by visiting the distillery and walking the gardens. That enabled us to choose botanicals and discuss methods before they started. Then we met for rounds of tastings and tweaking, again and again before deciding on the right blend.”

“The profile we went with is a drier gin with notes of orange, lemon verbena and grassy notes from locally sourced Irish nettle. We also infused a number of spices and freshly foraged ingredients including ginger, bitter orange and, of course, juniper. The Sidecar Dublin Dry Gin is for sale in the bottle and, naturally, served in the bar. Our guests love it. Our preferred tonic is 1724, made with quinine from 1,724 metres above sea level on the Incan trail in Peru. We serve our G&Ts with fresh orange slices, juniper berries and mint. People think it’s such a good idea that everyone in the business seems to have been at the meeting where it was hatched”. instagram.com/thesidecardublin stillgardendistillery.com

BLOOMSDAY

One of the biggest days in the Irish literary calendar, Bloomsday (June 16th) is a joyous celebration of all things Joyce and a great day out in Dublin to boot

Ask anybody, anywhere to name the single most important Irish novel and the chances are they all say Ulysses. Considered by many the greatest modernist novel of the 20th century, and certainly the most inventive of its day, it also, amusingly, comes third in a 2009 World Book Day survey reported in The Irish Times listing the books most people fib about having read. Beating Ulysses to the top spot was 1984 (George Orwell –also, surprising, as quite a slim volume) with War & Peace (Leo Tolstoy, at a hefty 1,500 pages, perhaps not so much) coming in second place.

To be fair very few people were actually able to read Ulysses upon publication, on account of the outcry at its ‘obscenity’ and the novel’s subsequent banning in UK, US and, de facto in Ireland. It was pretty shocking back in 1922 for the central character of a novel to lay bare his inner thoughts in a stream of consciousness narrative style, while sitting on the loo, going about his business as Leopold Bloom does early on. Molly Bloom, his wife, clearly has a love life of her own, outside the marriage, which is neither condemned

nor condoned by a narrative voice. Other similarly shocking stuff unfolds, notably at Sandymont Strand, but the crux of the outrage was more, as it so often is, around the shock of the new.

There’s a sense of an untethered consciousness, a rejection of any kind of conventional structure and a ride around the disordered minds of Joyce’s characters on what feels like just one entirely random day in June, 1904. But of course, there was nothing random about Ulysses. It was painstakingly plotted in episodes following Homer’s Odyssey (an epic Joyce greatly admired, and an icon of classical literature). When writing Ulysses James Joyce insisted he was working on “a 20th-

No sooner was the ink dry on Ulysses’ first edition, and books distributed to shops than the legal challenges (for obscenity) began.

century masterpiece”. It was packed with meaningful classical allusions. And the day he picked for the action was the very day of his first encounter with lifelong partner, Nora Barnacle (and, yes, her actual name –it’s often asked).

Anyway, back to the ban. No sooner was the ink dry on Ulysses ’ first edition, and books distributed to shops than the legal challenges began. In the United Kingdom Ulysses was banned for obscenity and copies seized by customs officials. The ban was not lifted until the 1936 court case R v. The Penguin Books Ltd. In Ireland the book wasn’t actually banned. Just laws around expression were very tight and closely monitored. However, it was cleared for publication in 1932. In the USA, boxes were seized by customs officials in 1922 and ensuing shenanigans continued for a decade. Until a celebrated case before New York District Judge, John Wolesley, in December 1932 when the ban was categorically overturned. Not only that, his Honour delivered a review of which Joyce’s publishers could only have dreamed. “Ulysses is not an easy book to read or to understand” Wolesley asserted. (Well, yes.)

TS Eliot had no such doubts. “I hold this book to be the most important expression which the present age has found; it is a book to which we are all indebted, and from which none of us can escape. These are postulates for anything that I have to say about it, and I have no wish to waste the reader’s time by elaborating my eulogies; it has given me all the surprise, delight, and terror that I can require, and I will leave it at that”.

Naysayers included DH Lawrence, Virginia Woolf and HG Wells, who just raised their eyes heavenward. There was one other set, possibly those with most in common with the average reader… Ford Madox Ford admired Joyce’s talent but also expressed frustration with the novel’s difficulty, while EM Forster praised Joyce’s technical innovation but admitted to finding the novel difficult to follow.

Yet he went on to describe the work as “an amazing tour de force” and Joyce himself as “a great artist in words”. He continued… “The work is not obscene but a sincere and serious attempt to devise a new literary method for the observation and description of mankind.” Well, well...

And Judge Wolesley wasn’t the only one to share that view. In all honesty – and future ban-ers of literature, art and culture do take note, it’s one of the best ways to ensure absolutely everybody wants to buy the thing – Ulysses was certainly guaranteed a reading by anybody with any pretentions to being literary. But what was unexpected was the sheer volume of response among holders of some the world’s mightiest pens – who all immediately put them down to pick up their copies of Ulysse s.

James Joyce had Ezra Pound at hello. He was one of Joyce’s staunchest supporters and championed it from the start, including

actively lobbying for its publication. He said, “I make no apologies for the book. I celebrate it. I should have recognised that it was going to be a great classic whether I liked it or not”.

For George Orwell, Ulysses triggered insecurity…“I managed to get my copy of Ulysses through safely this time. I rather wish I had never read it. It gives me an inferiority complex. When I read a book like that and then come back to my own work, I feel like a eunuch who has taken a course in voice production.”

future ban-ers of literature, art and culture do take note, it’s one of the best ways to ensure absolutely everybody wants to buy the thing

Perhaps they would have benefited from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s thoughts on the subject. For him, “they” (actually Kafka, as well as Joyce) “showed me that it was not necessary to demonstrate facts: it was enough for the author to have written something for it to be true, with no proof other than the power of his talent and the authority of his voice”. We think the idea of being inaccessible and especially difficult to understand was probably of its time. But for anybody wishing to read but struggling to grasp Ulysses , we recommend Jim Norton’s audiobook version. It wraps you up in Joyce’s words in a way that charms, delights and carries you along. Plus, to be honest, a hundred years on we’ve read much stranger stuff since than a firstperson, three-character (Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and Molly Bloom) stream of consciousness narrative, picked up and dropped in turns through the course of one single day.

One thing that does remain pretty strange to the modern reader is the food. It’s offaly (pardon the pun), well, offal-y. And visceral. By turns revoluting and delicious, intense and plain. But emphatically TOO MUCH. Any day that declares its breakfast of a pork kidney ‘modest’ is coming from a very particular place. As Joyce himself

acknowledges, “Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, a fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine”. Hmmm.

Ulysses is no autobiography but this kind of talk feels as though it might provide an answer to the question why Joyce suffered so much from stomach complaints. Bloom the character is unstoppable, though. In Davy Byrne’s pub for a light meal (after that morning kidney) he chooses a gorgonzola sandwich with a glass of Burgundy. Followed by tea and a bun at Burton Restaurant (in chapter 8). By the end of a long evening (read it!!) food features once more, as Bloom hosts Dedalus for a meal of grilled mutton kidneys with bread and butter (and, possibly, some nibbling of a lemon soap bought earlier on from Sweny’s Pharmacy – it’s unclear). “But”, regardless, “there must be blood. Mutton kidneys fried with butter, rosemary and bits of bacon. And no sugar. Liver’s a treat once in a way. Ugh. Eating…”

While there’s obviously no better way to dive into a book than to read it yourself, you very much don’t need to have read Ulysses to enjoy its energy, boldness and wit over 100 years on. Bloomsday is Dublin’s own tribute to Joyce (there are other Bloomsday celebrations all around the country, too) and is marked with readings, tastings (not the soap, but certainly the gorgonzola, and the Burgundy), cookings, performances (Circe, Chapter 15, is written in the form of a play, for instance), and a tour of all the places Bloom and Dedalus visited – many still standing (if not still host to the previous business).

The very committed should hire Edwardian garb early as demand is high – and be prepared to follow the circuit. We recommend starting early with a full Irish breakfast (in the spirit of Bloom, just less offal) at The Westbury. Festivities run from 11th-16th June. bloomsdayfestival.ie

Above The main James Joyce landmarks can be walked on an easy loop around central Dublin from The Westbury. Turn the page for a full one-day tour. Right James Joyce

A BLOOMSDAY TOUR

There will be plenty going on on June 16th, but if you want to start at the Martello Tower and do a One-day Ulysses walking tour that takes in most of the locations covered in the episodes (Italicised), then follow in Alex Lewis’s steps

Covering every stop in this tour takes a full day, much like the novel itself. The distance connecting all stops from #3 Sean Moore Park to #15 Glasnevin Cemetery is 10 kilometres or 6.2 miles. Break out the good shoes. The tour is organized by the most efficient walking route, not by the order of episodes in Ulysses. That said, it does begin the morning like the novel at Sandycove Martello Tower, and the Bloom home, where the novel ends, is the penultimate stop (and Glasnevin Cemetery, the final stop, is a nice place to end). It’s perfectly possible to go in reverse order, but think something is lost that way.

1. James Joyce Martello Tower & Museum* (Telemachus)

Ulysses begins in the Sandycove Martello Tower, where Stephen Dedalus is living in a state of some tension with “stately, plump Buck Mulligan.” Today, the tower is a small museum. Open 10am-4pm

2. Summerfield House, Dalkey Avenue* (Nestor)

Stephen teaches at the pro-unionist Mr. Deasy’s school for boys in a house in Dalkey, based on Clifton School where Joyce taught.( a lower priority stop.)

3. Sean Moore Park Strand (Proteus, Nausicaa)

One of multiple beach parks along the Sandymount Strand, where Stephen muses over a flux of subjects personal and intellectual in the Proteus episode. In the Nausicaa episode, Bloom leers at Gerty McDowell here while she considers love (or while Bloom fancies that she does). The beach is pleasant in the early morning, especially when it coincides with high tide.

4. National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street (Oxen of the Sun)

Here Bloom visits Mina Purefoy as she gives birth, finally meeting the abandoned Stephen and boisterous conversation reenacts the history of the English language.

5. Sweny’s Pharmacy, 1 Lincoln Place (Lotus Eaters)

Bloom stops at Sweny’s for a bar of lemon soap in the Lotus Eaters episode after collecting a love letter from Martha Clifford at the Westland Row post office just north and stepping in to St. Andrew’s (“All Hallows”), a nearby church with a good choir. Sweny’s holds readings in addition to selling used books and lemon soap, making it a good priority stop. Open 11am - 4pm.

6. National Library of Ireland, 7–8 Kildare Street (Scylla & Charybdis)

Stephen lectures on Shakespeare and Bloom looks for an old ad in the library during the Scylla & Charybdis episode; they cross paths but do not recognize each other. The library has exhibitions pertaining to Irish history and art as well as a lovely reading room. Open 9:30am -7pm

7. Davy Byrne’s, 21 Duke Street (Lestrygonians)

After being repulsed by some bad eaters, Bloom lunches on a gorgonzola cheese sandwich with a glass of burgundy at this upscale pub, which still operates under the same name. They do not skimp on the gorgonzola, so order accordingly. If you’ve got a little time before lunch and haven’t already, consider heading south to Stephen’s Green. After you leave, you can stroll up Grafton Street and pop in to Front Square of Trinity College Dublin.

8. Cassidy’s, 27 Westmoreland Street (Aeolus)

The former site of the Freeman’s Journal, a longstanding, but now declining, proindependence newspaper where Bloom sold ads in the Aeolus episode, is now an eccentric bar in the Temple Bar area.

9. O’Connell Bridge (Wandering Rocks)

Multiple characters cross this prominent city-center bridge over the Liffey, including several in the Wandering Rocks episode. It is a major thoroughfare, and the statue of Daniel O’Connell – “the huge cloaked Liberator” – dates to 1882.

10. Eden Quay (Eumaeus)

Near O’Connell bridge is the cabmen’s shelter where the exhausted and confused Bloom and Stephen linger before returning to Bloom’s home. In another touch of historical continuity, a number of bus routes make stops here.

11. Ormond Hotel, 7–11 Ormond Quay Upper (Sirens)

Bloom eats dinner with Stephen’s uncle and eyes barmaids at this hotel in the Sirens episode amid a variety of musical flourishes. The structure from Joyce’s time, derelict in this century, is being replaced.

12. 9 Little Britain Street (Cyclops)

The former site of Kiernan’s Pub is where a drunken anti-Semite threw a biscuit tin at Bloom in the Cyclops episode. (a low priority stop).

(If you do the full trek in order, you’ll end up crossing O’Connell Street again after this stop, either at the Spire or farther north at

Above Because of the distance covered by the tour the scale of the above map of Dublin is only indicative of the marked locations. We suggest you use Googlemaps or Citymapper to give you the precise route between each. Above right The tour in relation to stops #1 and #2

the Parnell Monument, which would be the more Joycean and historical choice. In either case, after the next stop you’ll be going about a mile with comparably fewer food/ stop options.)

13. Corner of James Joyce Street and Railway Street (Circe)

What is now a primarily residential district was Dublin’s red light district or “nighttown” at the turn of the century. Much of the neighbourhood has been both renovated and renamed, making this area a low priority stop.

Tyrone Street

82 Tyrone Street, “the disorderly house of Mrs Bella Cohen,” is now Railway Street; “the Mabbot street entrance of nighttown” is now, of all things, James Joyce Street.

14. Bloom Home, 7 Eccles Street (Calypso, Ithaca, Penelope)

Bloom begins his day with breakfast at home in the Calypso episode. He returns here late at night with Stephen in the catechistic Ithaca episode, and the novel concludes here in the Penelope episode with Molly’s stream of consciousness while lying in bed. The terraced houses of Joyce’s day were demolished to build the present Mater Misericordiae hospital, but there’s a nice plaque marking its place in Ulysses.

15. Glasnevin Cemetery, Finglas Road (Hades)

This striking graveyard holds the funeral for Paddy Dignam that Bloom attends in the morning during the Hades episode; he meditates on death – his own, his son’s, his father’s – before getting back to life.

NOTES*

About the first two stops. As you can see from the map above, #1 Martello Tower and #2 Summerfield House, though relatively near each other, are the farthest from all the others. At 10km from the first or second to the third stop – as long as the rest of the tour combined –they require taking a taxi or some alternative form of transport. If you don’t feel like doing that, #3 Sean Moore Park is a great place to start too; doing so would still cover every episode of Bloom’s day, only missing Stephen’s separate morning episodes.

It’s good to start in the morning, while noting that the #1 Sandycove Martello Tower doesn’t open until 10am and #5 Sweny’s Pharmacy doesn’t open until 11am (you could easily switch the order of #5 and #6 the National Library if timing necessitates). The #7 Davy Byrne’s Pub stop lands right about lunchtime depending on when you start the day and how long you linger at some of the early stops. Several of the morning stops are conducive to lingering or activities: Sweny’s Pharmacy sells books and the National Library of Ireland has exhibits. Many of the stops in the second half of the tour, by contrast, are simply checkpoints. The second half also covers slightly more distance, so plan and pace accordingly.

Events & Happenings

Step out of your hotel and into our pick of this month’s most captivating events

The Kensington

PUKKAH CHUKKAH

For the world’s biggest polo festival, head to Putney! If that wasn’t where you expected that sentence to end, likewise.

But 16,000 people (on Lady’s Day alone) and some of the world’s top polo players will be there. So, head down to Putney (just 20 minutes by tube) and stomp some divots (if you know, you know).

Chesterton’s Polo in the Park Hurlingham Park 7th – 9th June polointheparklondon.com

SHOW OF THE SEASON

Held every year since 1769, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is the world’s oldest open submission exhibition - meaning anybody can enter a piece of work. Coordinated by a different Royal Academician every year (in 2024 it’s the abstract sculptor, Ann Christopher RA), the show features over 1,000 works, many of them for sale.

Summer Exhibition 2024

The Royal Academy 18th June – 18th August royalacademy.org.uk

OOH, FASHION

Before Naomi, longevity in modelling didn’t exist. Then up she came, the original supermodel eating firsts for breakfast. A cultural icon and a collaborator par excellence, Naomi has also been a lifelong advocate for equality. Her legacy is celebrated in an exhibition curated by Edward

Enninful OBE. Naomi: In Fashion

V&A South Kensington 22nd June 202424th March 2025 vam.ac.uk

IN A BARBIE WORLD

For anybody that enjoyed the Barbie movie (over 41 million before streaming), another treat. Barbie, the exhibition isn’t only Barbie, or even just Ken. It’s a celebration of Barbie’s whole world and features original (1959) Barbie, bestselling (Totally Hair) Barbie, diversity Barbies and all their friends - Ken, Midge, Christy, Teresa and Skipper (but what about Allan?).

Barbie The Exhibition

The Design Museum 5th July 2024 – 23rd February 2025 designmuseum.org

The Bloomsbury

BEAUTIFUL ACTIVISM Artist and visual activist, South African-born Zanele Muholi photographs black LGBTI people from South Africa to “document the realities of people who deserve to be heard”. Muholi’s photographs capture the stories of people often marginalised in their society, sharing them, and Muholi’s own self-portrait, in

a compelling new exhibition.

Zanele Muholi

Tate Modern

6th June – 26th September tate.org.uk

MELTDOWN!

Following in a stellar and pleasingly eclectic line of mavericks to curate Meltdown (from Patti Smith to Ornette Coleman, Elvis Costello to Lee Scratch Perry, Jarvis Cocker to Nick Cave), this year it’s Chaka Khan’s turn and, frankly, we can’t wait. Bookended by Chaka herself, it features a diverse line-up of peerless musicians and storytellers.

Meltdown Festival Southbank Centre

14th – 23rd June southbankcentre.co.uk

OH, ROMEO

If you’ve tweens and teens to entertain and you’re looking for a little culture, there’s a fast-paced new production of Romeo & Juliet at the Globe this spring. Whether you perch on the highly polished wooden benches (cushion a must) or you prefer to go as a groundling, this 90-minute re-telling of the drama of starcrossed love is must-see.

Romeo & Juliet Shakespeare’s Globe 19th March – 13th April shakespearesglobe.com

AND, PLAY

Following its 2022 showing at the Venice Biennale, Mexican artist, Francis Alÿs’, acclaimed series, Children’s Games is coming to the Barbican for its UK premiere, with the addition of a “site-specific project for the surrounding community offering new perspectives on his prolific career”. Intriguing. Francis Alÿs Ricochets

Barbican Art Gallery 27th June – 1st September barbican.org.uk

MOTOR CITY BLUES

When the last of its car factories was threatened with closure, the city of Detroit faced unimaginable loss. And in Dominique Morrisseau’s Tony Award-winning play, the human cost of 2008’s global financial crisis is brought to visceral life.

Skeleton Crew

Donmar Warehouse 28th June – 24th August donmarwarehouse.com

The Marylebone

TAKE PRIDE

You know the drill. Parade, check. Performances, check. Club nights, check. Carnival atmosphere, check. Brand partnerships, check. Pride is a rainbow celebration of every orientation and a chance for the LGBTQ+ communities to celebrate their freedoms to love and live. You’re welcome ! Pride in London

All over the city 29th June 2024 prideinlondon.org

TASTE SENSATION

When it comes to food festivals, 55,000 Londoners can’t be wrong. And that’s roughly the number wending their way to The Regent’s Park for Taste (celebrating 20 years). With artisan food producers, dishes from some the capital’s best

Left Barbie Number 1 from 1959 at The Design Museum.

Right, Top Ntozakhe II, Parktown 2016 by Zaneli Muholi at Tate Modern.

Right Romeo & Juliet 2024 at Shakespeare’s Globe.

restaurants, fire pits, cooking schools, craft beer, fine wines, cocktails, music and all manner of food trucks.

Taste

The Regent’s Park 12th – 16th June london.tastefestivals.com

RAINDANCE

Britain’s largest independent film festival, Raindance is the best place to see the work of new and established film makers and predict which might be in for a shout at the Oscars.

Attended by about 16,000 film lovers and industry types, it’s a mix of screenings, workshops and talks, finishing with the Jury Awards.

Raindance Film Festival

Various locations 19th – 28th June raindance.org

BRUTE FORCE

Fuerza Bruta are an Argentinian troupe, established in 2005 by the co-creators of De La Guardia – dance imagineers that took London by storm in the 1990s. Creators of Aven, a

“rollercoaster ride of euphoria, optimism and desire beyond imagination” Fuerza Bruta are bringing their latest world tour to The Roundhouse Aven Fuerza Bruta

The Roundhouse 9th July – 31st August roundhouse.org.uk

Bristol

VISCERAL CANKER

Spike Island’s celebration of the life in work of artist

Donald Rodney showcases his incisive, acerbic commentary in sculpture, installation, drawing and digital media on racial prejudice and injustice, as well as the realities of the sickle cell anaemia that took his life in 1998. Curated in partnership with the Nottingham Contemporary and Whitechapel Galleries.

Visceral Canker

Spike Island 25th May – 8th September spikeisland.org.uk

BRISTOL PRIDE

Pride is like children, you’re really not supposed to have a favourite, but you kind of do. Bristol Pride is a riot, with two weeks of thoughtprovoking and, obviously, big fun programming, culminating in the mother of all parades. Dress. Up.

Bristol Pride

All over the city 29th June – 14th July bristolpride.co.uk

HARBOURFEST

If tall ships, music stages, water display teams, circus acts, street food markets and live performers float your boat, you’re in good company.

The Bristol Harbour Festival brings around 250,000 people every year to the docks and they are treated to quite the long weekend. Find out more and book yourself a pass.

Bristol Harbour Festival All around the Harbour 19th – 21st July bristolharbourfestival.co.uk

LOOK UP!

This year’s balloon fiesta

features the British National Hot Air Championships where around 15 teams go balloon to balloon to compete for the ultimate accolade. Competition flights start on 6th August, twice daily, but the festival proper starts on 9th August; and when not looking up you can enjoy the entertainment, food and drink alongside.

Bristol International Balloon Fiesta Ashton Court 9th-11th August bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk

The Westbury

TASTY!

In 2023, over 35,000 people made tracks for the delicious flavours of Taste of Dublin. With pop ups, food trucks, masterclasses, workshops, tastings from artisan producers, bars and live entertainment, it’s four fun days out for all the family (and kids under 10 go free). Taste of Dublin Festival Merrion Square 13th – 16th June tasteofdublin.ie

50 YEARS OF PRIDE

Things were very different for the LGBTQ+ people across the world in 1974, when the first pride march took place in

Left, Top Aerial dance by Fuerza Bruta at The Roundhouse. Left The irrepressible singer/songwriter Carol Whitworth of Doreen Doreen headlining Bristol’s 2023 HarbourFest. Right, Top Donald Rodney at Spike Island, Bristol Right The Artist’s daughter by Berthe Morisot from Women Impressionists at The National Gallery of Ireland.

Dublin. Looking back, we’ve come a long way. And how better to celebrate than at Dublin Pride, with nine days of festivities, including Pride

village, performances all over town and the legendary Parade and Mother Pride Block Party.

Dublin Pride All over the city

20th – 29th June dublinpride.ie

IMPRESSIONISTAS!

When you think of the Impressionists it’s Monet, Manet and Degas that spring to mind. Yet some of the finest work was produced by female artists who never became household names. The National Gallery of Ireland is redressing the balance this summer with an exhibition featuring Berthe Morisot, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond and Mary Cassatt.

Women Impressionists

National Gallery of Ireland 27th June – 6th October nationalgallery.ie

COME TOGETHER

Every year about 40,000 people flock to a suburban park about 40 minutes south of Dublin City centre

for Longitude festival. With multiple stages, 2024’s lineup was still being revealed but confirmed headliners include Doja Cat, Becky Hill and 21 Savage. If that sounds like your jam, book ahead.

Longitude festival Marlay Park

29th-30th June longitude.ie

GREAT MINDS COME TO CARLOW

Founded in 2012 by Hugo Jellet and Vivienne Guinness the Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas is a threeday meeting of minds to discuss literature, art, politics and every pressing issue of the day. Book ahead. If you can’t make it, we recommend The Borris Broadcasts.

Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas Carlow

7th-9th June festivalofwritingandideas.com

The Croke Park

DANCING WITH TIME

Any new production of Brian Friel’s award-winning 1990 play, set in County Donegal in 1936 and capturing a moment of change for Ireland and the Mundy sisters, is going to be interesting.

But when it’s directed by Caroline Byrne at The Gate theatre it’s a must-see.

Dancing at Lughnasa The Gate Theatre

12th July - 8th September gatetheatre.ie

A WORLD OF WORDS

Just a 50-minute drive from Dublin you’ll find Dalkey, a picturesque seaside town with independent shops and artisan

restaurants. Every June it’s host to 20,000 people, drawn to town by its wonderful literary festival. Founded by Sian Smyth, at Dalkey blink

The Dupont Circle

THE MIGRATION

Step Africa!’s latest production takes its inspiration from Jacob

whole city puts on a show for Pride month with special events and happenings in bars, clubs and restaurants. Pride Festival Parade

and you’ll miss Bono chatting to Tom Hanks or Stephen Fry to Roddy Doyle, while Salman Rushdie dubbed it “the best little festival in the world”.

Dalkey Book Festival 13th-16th June dalkeybookfestival.org

FINAL COUNTDOWN

From July into August you’re reaching the final countdown of the GAA season at Croke Park. Cheer and gasp at any All-Ireland Championship finals, grab a pint or a bite pre or post-match (there's a special Grill 16 menu as a tribute to Hill 16) and live every moment.

Croke Park Stadium 21st July – 11th August crokepark.ie

Lawrence’s iconic Migration Series and tells the story of the great migration of the 1900s (when African Americans moved from rural south to industrial north in search of work and away from danger) in movement, music and dance. The Migration Arena Stage June 6th – July 14th arenastage.org

WASHINGTON PRIDE

With several hundred thousand revellers expected to join the festivities, Pride is always a big fun day out – with entertainments, food, drink and the spectacular parade that makes a rainbow carnival of Pennsylvania Avenue. The

Pennsylvania Avenue 9th June capitalpride.org

BATTLE OF THE BBQS

It’s back to the ‘90s for the 32nd annual Giant Barbecue

Battle in DC. While the theming is all fun and games, the BBQ battles are deadly serious with some of the world’s top pitmasters going head-tohead to produce the most spectacular BBQ on earth – alongside four stages of bands, demos, and tastings. more. All you have to do is go.

Giant National Capital BBQ Battle

Pennsylvania Avenue 22nd-23rd June bbqindc.com

THE FABULOUS FOURTH

It’s the one date everybody knows in the American calendar – Independence Day – and a rare public holiday that’s celebrated by all. In DC it’s a big one – with all the usual food and drink, the big parade, music, parties and, most importantly, the fireworks. DC’s are (arguably) the most spectacular in the USA.

Fourth of July

All over Washington DC 4th July july4thparade.com

The River Lee

MIDSUMMER IN CORK

Come summer everyone in Ireland wants to get out and about, and when it comes to June that starts with the Cork Midsummer Festival. It’s all theatre, dance, live music, and one of the most diverse cultural festivals around, involving pretty much everybody in the community. Enjoy!

Cork Midsummer Festival

All over the city 12th – 23rd June corkmidsummer.com

MUSIC AND WORDS

Like city buses you wait all year and three come along at once. West Cork Music was established in 1995 and presents three festivals every summer. Based in Bantry, just over an hour from Cork City, the Chamber Music Festival

draws the world’s top musicians, the Literary Festival hosts talks and writers’ workshops and the Masters of Tradition is a celebration of the old music.

West Cork Music Festivals

All over Bantry 28th June & 25th August westcorkmusic.ie

PRIDE OF CORK

While the theme and lineup for this year’s Cork Pride is yet to be announced at the time of going to press, one thing we can say is it’s always a showstopper, with happenings all over Cork City and a fabulous, fun, flamboyant rainbow parade that’s well worth lining the streets for. Cork Pride August 5th corkpride.com

HAPPY PLACE

There’s something rather pleasing that Ireland’s gourmet capital rhymes with ‘fork’. Something not lost on the organisers of Cork’s premier food festival that takes over the city streets with all manner of artisan goodness, including tastings, demos, food trucks, talks, entertainments and everything else a foodie could desire.

Cork on a Fork

All over the city 14th – 18th August corkcity.ie/en/corkon-a-fork-fest

Left Quatuor Ardeo quartet at Cork’s Chamber Music Festival.

Right, Top Independence Day parade, Washington DC.

Right The Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas.

24 HOURS

BOUJI SHOPPING IN BRISTOL

With its street art and buzzy docks, it’s easy to forget that Bristol is a city with some seriously bouji shops. We’re heading to the pretty villas of Clifton, high on the hill.

8.30 FUEL UP

Retail therapy is a tiring business. Go big on breakfast. doylecollection.com/hotels/the-bristol-hotel

10.00 STEP OUT

Not every member of a party wants to shop. So refuseniks can take a (very) scenic walk up to Clifton then meet at lunchtime. mikesbristolwalks.com/walks/ walk-five-introduction-to-clifton

10.30 A-MAZE-ING

This family-run, sustainably minded boutique have curated smart threads since 1985. mazeclothing.co.uk

11.00 CLIFTON ROCKS

If you’re looking for fine jewellery from local artisans, Clifton Rocks is a gifting Nirvana. cliftonrocks.co.uk

11.30 INDIRA ROSE VINTAGE

Three storeys of antiques, much mid-century vintage, well worth a wander. indirarose.co.uk

12.00 GRACE & MABEL

Founded by three sisters who stylishly cherry pick from their favourite designers. graceandmabel.co.uk

12.30 SHY MIMOSA

An olfactory adventure in a little shop chock full of perfumes. shymimosa.co.uk

1.00 CLIFTON ARCADE

It’s a little bit gifty and touristy, but it’s a Victorian arcade zhuzh’d up to its original ornate glory. cliftonarcade.com

2.00 LONG LUNCH AT THE LIDO

You can’t go wrong with the cracking menu at the Clifton lido restaurant (yes, really). lidobristol.com

3.30 STROLL

You can’t come all the way up here without peering down the gorge.

4.30 THE BRISTOL ARTISAN

Ceramics, enamelware, block printed robes, giant raffia hats – you get the picture. thebristolartisan.com

6.00 IT’S GIN O’CLOCK

You’ll need a drink before dinner. Make it a Rick’s Bar classic Negroni with Rick’s Gin @ricksbarbristol.

THEN

For almost 300 years Fleet Street was synonymous with newspapers and is still used as shorthand for them, despite most papers leaving nearly four decades ago. Britain’s first newspaper, The Daily Courant, was published there from 1702 to 1735 when it was merged with the Daily Gazetteer. Unusually, even for today, it was published by a

& NOW

Today, Fleet Street couldn’t be more different. While ‘the Print’ was a significant employer of working-class city dwellers (mainly men) for decades, in the 1980s digital technology put them out of a job, with newspapers (and printing) moving to Wapping (previously docks in East London). After years of demonstrations

woman, Elizabeth Mallet. Amusing when you consider that it took until 1982 for women to win the right, in the courts, to approach the bar (pardon the pun) and buy their own drinks in legendary journalists’ watering hole, El Vinos. When this image was taken in 1883, the street was lined with newspaper offices.

and conflict, one Rupert Murdoch was the first to move, taking his tabloids and his 1981-acquisition, The Times to Wapping in January 1986. Today, you can still find some Fleet Street icons, from the Punch Tavern to the Sunday Post building. 20th century gem, the former Daily Express building is now home to Goldman Sachs.

FLEET STREET 1906