England

Words and Photography by Su-Lin Ong Extraordinary eating begins when convention and caution are thrown to the wind. Tonight’s one night stand is to enter mind-stretching realms, with the lofty promise to ‘engage all the senses, to restore, challenge and enrich’. Too tame! It’s a burst of adventurous fun: stones that aren’t stones, the zingiest kaleidoscopic colours, altered states of texture, and flavours that have a piercingly natural clarity. So this is it; when two Michelin starred chefs partner up as in the vision of Nuno Mendes at Viajante. One of his six selected co-hosts in his Craft season which ran in April is Rasmus Kofoed of Geranium in Copenhagen. Rasmus is the only chef in the world to hold a gold, silver and bronze medal from Bocuse d'Or. Geranium in the centre of Copenhagen is set high up. Urban meets rural as you connect with the tops of trees and windmills in view. Viajante in Bethnal Green, East London, is in the restored art deco Town Hall Hotel (see earlier review here). I pass pubs frequented by notorious criminals the Kray brothers and streets of faceless shops to get there.Photo: Viajante Choosing a late sitting tonight challenges this Viajante-Geranium dinner to prove itself all the more. Skip forward some 18 incredible creations over three hours, and it is 1.30am when we finish eating. I feel as if I’ve taken a trip through a dream cloud and emerged supremely energized. Buzzing. Each dish is presented at table in modest detail by the chefs, including Mendes and Kofoed. It’s a seamless sequence without any ceremony. Just as well; it’s been a stupendous week – both teams must have been up all night before celebrating their leap up the league of the World’s Best Restaurants. As for us guests, it’s tempting to play the game of guessing whose dish is whose creation. The real joy is experiencing how the signature style of each chef weaves round each other, emerging, re-emerging, creating a harmony with some characterful clout along the way. The menu is a mystery, and when I finally see it at the end of dinner, the descriptions are short and stripped back – incredibly liberating. You really want to understand the ingredients and composition, but not long into the dinner, you just want to sit back, admire and say wow at every bite. The dinner: Crispy twigs with sea salt aged cheese and burnt leek. Razor clams with edible shells. Crabmeat, peas, nasturtium and crab shell sauce. Milk skin lactose and squid ink. Space-age food. Dill stones and separate dish of lactic acid fermented vegetables with salmon roe. Langoustine with braised chicken skin, pine and chopped radish. Smoked bacon & walnut sourdough and potato baguettes with beurre noisette and hay smoked whipped butter. A fluid jelly made from ham from northern Denmark, fragrant thyme and tomato water, cooked at a constant 62 degrees C. Charred leek heart with lobster and bitter ground elder flower. White cabbage with shoots and stems, pickled leek flower and parsley with champagne butter sauce (our preferred substitute for oysters). Smoked bone marrow with carrot and dehydrated carrot skin. Brill wrapped in milk skin with vanilla and samphire. A royally red tartare made from leg and heart of lamb and smoked pork fat, red beetroot sauce, truffle & blueberry, gel of beetroot & cherry vinegar. Meltingly delicate Iberico pork and fermented cabbage and peppers. Reduced milk sorbet, lemon granita, smoked cucumber, salty cucumber jelly and linen seeds. Naked trees of crispy puréed prunes and frozen dark beer and biodynamic cream infused with beechwood. Beetroot & caraway ice cream. Eggs of dried pine & caramel & chocolate. Finally, petits fours of frozen oil of vanilla and cèpes mushroom truffles. We drank Filipa Pato Bical & Arinto 2011 Beiras and Gerhard Pittnauer Alte Reben St Laurent 2009 Burgenland Austria. Viajante, Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, London E2 9NF, Tel. 020 7871 04

Peruvian Wharf in London’s Docklands is not normally known as a busy place at 6am, but last Saturday things were different. There was a tangible buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air as over 1000 riders gathered in this piece of ex-industrial wasteland. The reason for this gathering? This was the start of the 2013 MITIE London Revolution – the largest multi day sportive in the country. For those that don’t know, London Revolution is a 2 day ride around the perimeter of the greatest city on earth. The ride passes iconic London landmarks, cruises along scenic leafy back roads,  and takes in some legendary Olympic sites – including Box Hill and Herne Hill velodrome. And I was going to be riding every mile of it. Pre-ride Support Everyone has their own reasons for signing up for challenges like this. In my case, it was as a key part of my training for a larger event – the Deloitte Ride Across Britain (more on that in a future post!) which takes place next month. During the months and weeks before the ride, we were sent training plans, ride details, kit lists, and motivational emails regularly by the excellent Threshold Sports – the company behind the event. Following the advice in these emails gives everyone the best possible chance of completing the challenge. For me, as it was part of training for the RAB, the distance wasn’t overly onerous, but the multi day aspect of the event – including the camping and base camp routine – would surely be great preparation. My Ride Day 1 Having left my house at 5:15am to catch the first tube across London, I arrived at Peruvian Wharf – bright and early on a cold but thankfully dry morning. The forecast had been for rain all weekend, it was a relief of at least starting in the dry, and hopefully a sign of things to come. Once registered – a painless process that took a matter of seconds – I received my event wrist band which assigned me to the ‘yellow’ group for the weekend. This colour indicates where you should drop you luggage and also which zone your tent is in at the overnight base camp. With luggage dropped, last minute bike fettling done, it was time to leave. We lined up at the start and waiting to be set off – the start is staggered with a group setting off every 5 minutes or so. This ensures that the roads don’t get flooded with enormous groups of cyclists and also staggers the arrival at the pit stops on the route. We set off on the roads of East London a little after 7:45 for an relatively uninspiring few miles as we struggled to free ourselves from the grip of London. Town riding, traffic lights and roundabouts litter the first 20 miles or so of the ride, but thankfully with light traffic due to the early start. All of the urban riding is soon forgotten though once you breach the M25 and enter the picturesque Essex lanes. Surrounded by woods, parkland and green space, you are truly free of the shackles of London. Soon you are riding through the beautiful Epping Forest as you criss-cross the artery like motorways and major A-roads leading into the City. The first 40 miles pass very quickly, and end with the first feed station. Well stocked with flapjacks, crisps, Cadbury’s chocolate and water it’s a welcome break from the saddle. The nervousness that was evident at the start of the ride has been replaced with excitement and the feed stop is a-buzz with people talking about their ride so far. Leaving the feed stop you are back into open country, and soon crossing the River Lea and on your way into the Chilterns – a truly stunning corner of the London outskirts. Things got noticeably hillier here, and as this is my normal training ground, I started to recognise bits of the route. The second feed station comes after a couple of big hills in the grounds of a large old school. As it was around lunchtime by the time most people reached this stop – at 74 mile

Wembley takes on a Teutonic hue on Saturday as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund contest the Champions League final. The headquarters of English football has hosted Europe’s biggest club match a number of times over the years and here we take a look at the history of the tournament’s London branch. Continental club football first came to London in 1963, three years before the city witnessed England’s glorious World Cup triumph. Wembley’s first experience of Europe’s biggest club competition also marked the emergence of AC Milan as a force in football, when they took their first European Cup 2-1 over a Benfica side that included the legendary Eusebio, who scored the Portuguese side’s consolation goal. In 1968, Eusebio and Benfica were back in London, but their luck was no better as they faced a powerful Manchester United side containing Bobby Charlton and George Best, both of whom scored in extra time to make United the first English side to win the European Cup. Six years later United would be relegated. Funny old game, as they say. London only had to wait three years for another European Cup final as the mighty Ajax put paid to the unlikely challenge of Panathinaikos of Greece. The Dutch side included their talisman, Johan Cruyff, who would score twice to win the same trophy again for Ajax the following year before securing a hat-trick of European Cups in 1973. Further English success followed in 1978, as 92,000 fans watched Liverpool grind out a 1-0 win courtesy of Kenny Dalglish’s goal against Belgium’s Club Brugge. Sadly for English football the dark days of hooliganism were just around the corner, and it would not be until Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 in 1992 (in one of the most boring games we can remember) that Wembley would again play host to Europe’s ultimate club match. As the old Wembley was laid to rest and the new arch hauled into place, changes were also afoot within the game itself, as the European Cup became the Champions League. Not until another Barcelona win, 3-1 against Manchester United two years ago, would Wembley against host the game’s showpiece. However, just before Wembley’s old twin towers were pensioned off, there was time for London’s own Arsenal to ‘enjoy’ a two-season, six-match residency. The club managed to convince authorities to let them play their Champions League games at Wembley to sell more tickets than they could shift at Highbury. Sadly for the Gunners, both seasons would be marked by poor football and indiscipline, and capped by feeble 1-0 defeats to dump them out of the competition (in both 1998-99 and 1999-00) and send them back to N5 with tails between legs. So it’s perhaps for the best that London will have no representative in the final, as the capital clubs’ European reputation at Wembley rests entirely on West Ham’s 1965 success in the long-gone Cup Winners’ Cup (one of two finals of that competition held here — strangely, not a single UEFA Cup/Europa League final has been played at Wembley). Oh well, with Chelsea and Arsenal having qualified again, there’s always next year (in Portugal). By Chris Lockie. Image by Pixelthing in the Londonist Flickr pool.

Tom Jackson Greaves in 'Vanity Fowl'. Photography provided by Cloud Dance. There is nothing quite like sitting in a theatre, not knowing what is about to be shown: one might liken this to opening presents — some are bright and sparkly, some are a bit odd and others might as well be thrown in the bin. Attending a theatrical showcase such as Cloud Dance Sundays is just this – you never know what you’ll get, so you might as well sit back and enjoy, particularly when the roster of choreographers boasts such impressive CVs. It must be mentioned first that the Lion and Unicorn pub is so quaintly situated off the main thoroughfare, you could be sitting in a mate’s countryside garden. But once you wind your way up the tiny staircase to the theatre, the tea and crumpets are long forgotten. The first dance segment called ‘Pull Through, Flick’ begins with three women articulating in geometric shapes to dark, at times droning, electronic music. Flashbacks of Riccardo Buscarini’s unnerving ‘Athletes’ from last month’s Place Prize come to mind, but in this piece, choreographer Rachel Burn uses a sheer outer layer of clothing over each performer to represent grief and one’s journey through that process. There are some beautiful, if not disparate movement sequences, implying Burn’s focus is more on dance as an artwork rather than as a narrative. This is not a bad thing, but it felt somehow more ambitious than perhaps Burn was ready for. The next segment jolts to a war-zone setting where a soldier prepares for one last battle in Afghanistan. The use of voice-over, sound effects and his fluid, all-encompassing body movements entrench the audience in the final moments of his life. Both emotive and exhausting, John Ross’ ‘Man Down’ is modern dance in its best form — not surprising as Ross was recently nominated for Best Choreographer Award by What’s On Stage. Tom Jackson Greaves’ anticipated ‘Vanity Fowl’ completes the showcase, bringing razzmatazz, and even high quality film-work, to the table. Already performed at Sadler’s Wells last year, this performance intercuts between video that helps provide background to a young male dancer who faces insecurities with his friends and colleagues, and an on-stage performance that presents his more confident and care-free side. It is fun, often hilarious and full of energy – this also in reference to the slick, sequin jacket he wears, almost a character in itself. Greaves is no stranger to dance audiences, having been named runner-up to Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Choreography Award. So it’s a mixed bag – one that collaborators Cloud Dance Festival and Giant Olive should be proud of. Putting on a strong line-up of emerging dance performances is not easy – yet the first of Cloud Dance Sundays manages to pull it off, producing an eclectic, solid show. Looking forward to the next one on Sunday 21 July, also at the Lion & Unicorn. Further performances to be announced for July, in conjunction with the Cloud Dance Festival. Tickets are £15/£12 concessions, and can be purchased online or at the door (but get there early as it does sell out).

Stamford Bridge side to muscle in as Mourinho looks to beat Emirates Stadium side in race for Fiorentina forward. Check in to Transfer Window: Done Deal Alerts Chelsea are ready to battle Arsenal in the race to sign highly rated Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic according to the Daily Star. Incoming Blues boss Jose Mourinho is said to be be a big fan of the 23 year old Montenegro international and is ready to make a move for the £25m rated Serie A forward and in all likelihood has the financial clout to blow Arsenal out of the water if a bidding war begins for Jovetic. This source also claims that the Fiorentina star is a big admirer of Mourinho and this too could aid Chelsea's push to sign the talented attacker. Jovetic has been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium for months now and it would be quite a stunning shock if Chelsea were to successfully hijack the North London club's push for the former Partizan Belgrade man, who has scored 27 goals in the past two Serie A campaigns. Chelsea's need for effective striking options may actually be greater than that of Arsenal. Fernando Torres has struggled to come anywhere close to justifying the £50m Roman Abramovich forked out for his services. The Spaniard only recently ended a 16 game Premier League drought and managed just eight goals in English top tier football last term. Demba Ba has also struggled for form since his January move to West London. Stevan Jovetic is certainly likely to leave Fiorentina, not least because Vincenzo Montella's side narrowly failed to secure a Champions League berth for next term, so it seems he may have a host of options to think over in the coming days and weeks.

Liverpool boss confident of Suarez stay.Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers expects there to be speculation over Luis Suarez's future this summer, but insists the star striker will not be sold, according to the Daily Mirror. The Uruguayan has been in sensational form for the Reds this season, scoring 30 goals in all competitions for the club, though his campaign was cut short after he received a ten-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic. The 26-year-old has been a controversial character for some of his on-pitch antics, leading to rumours that he may want to escape from the British press and make a move abroad. The likes of Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich are all admirers of his talents, but Rodgers does not believe Suarez will turn his back on the club after they have stuck with him through difficult times. "Listen, every player has their price but there's certainly no pressure for the club to sell him," said the manager. "We're trying to build that bit of quality so he's not for sale. "I don't have any doubts there will be interest in him this summer, because he's up there. "I know we that as a club and me as a manager have supported him, told him when he's been right and when he's been wrong. "We have supported him when he's been in turmoil and when he's had setbacks, when there's been traumas over the last couple of years. He knows he did wrong." Suarez was a leading candidate for PFA Player of the Year this season, but narrowly missed out to Tottenham star Gareth Bale, though he has certainly established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League with his performances this year.

Midfield ace set to disappoint Spurs and Monaco.Porto midfielder Joao Moutinho could be set to disappoint a number of clubs this summer by claiming that he would be happy to stay with the Portuguese giants, Sky Sports reports. The highly rated 26-year-old has been heavily linked with summer moves to Tottenham and French side Monaco this summer, with the link to Spurs being particularly strong as they are managed by his former boss, Andre Villas-Boas. Monaco have been tipped to make a move for both him and teammate James Rodriguez, but the Portuguese international has stated that he would be happy to stay with the club where he has just won a third successive league title. "Right now, nothing will make me change clubs. I am extremely happy here and the most important thing is happiness and winning titles," Moutinho told a press conference. But he added: "My future is up to FC Porto. No player is immune to leaving. But if something does come up, it has to be something good for both parties." He is also hoping that the club can improve on their European exploits next term by saying: "We want to improve the campaign from last year, we want to improve on the European level, we want to win everything you enter and it is with this in mind that we will enter the first day of the season."

Mackay focussing on his first season in the top flight.Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay has distanced himself from rumours that he will join Everton this summer to replace David Moyes, talkSPORT reports. The 41-year-old guided the Welsh club to the Premier League after so many near misses and has been mentioned as being in the frame to take over at the Merseyside club alongside the likes of Neil Lennon, Roberto Martinez and Alan Stubbs but he has denied the speculation by insisting that it is just that. “It’s really just paper talk,” he said. “I’m focussed on what I’m doing at Cardiff. We’ve got a really busy time at the moment in terms of bringing players in, and the next couple of months are crucial for our team in terms of surviving in the Premier League," he said. “We need to go up there and give ourselves the best chance. For the last three weeks I’ve been out every day looking at different players. I’m just getting on with my job right now.” The former Watford boss has been described as one of the best young managers in the country and Everton were thought to be keen on sounding him out as they believed that he would be able to carry on where Moyes had left off.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week Thursday 23 May: If you enjoyed Luke Wright’s interview with us, catch the show until Saturday, then Wednesday again at Leicester Square Theatre (7pm, £10 / £8). Poet / owner of best cameo appearance ever for I Give It A Year / comedian Tim Key, John Osborne, Nick Hart and Tom McCarthy are at Invisible Dot telling Stories (7.45pm, £8). Ben Fountain talks about his new novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk at the Big Green Bookshop with Sam Jordison (7pm, £3). Children’s author Jon Klassen reads and draws at Foyles Westfield Stratford (3.15pm, free). Anne Stevenson, Simon Armitage, Professor Stephen Regan and Fiona Sampson debate the state of contemporary British poetry at the British Academy (6pm, free, registration required). Conn Iggulden is signing the latest in his Emperor series at Waterstones Leadenhall Market from 12.30pm, but we reckon you should be there earlier to stand any chance of getting pen to book. Chill Pill celebrates the Albany‘s 30th birthday with a big line-up including Kat Francois, Benin City, Chris Redmond, Simon Mole, Deanna Rodger, Dean Atta, Mr Gee, Raymond Antrobus and Anthony Anaxagorou (7.15pm, £9 / £6). Damian Barr is at Gay’s the Word chatting about Maggie and Me (7pm, £2). Not quite sure who to be more excited about, Colum McCann or Jon McGregor at Waterstones Gower Street (7pm, £5 / £3). Kemi Taiwo is the guest stand up poet at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5). Suzanne Rindell launches her debut novel The Other Typist at Waterstones Covent Garden (6pm, free). Storyteller Helen East presents folktales, fibs and facts about Islington at The Acoustic Cafe (6.30pm, free). American poet Matthew Dickman is joined by award winning Ann Gray at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £6 / £5). Second chance of the night to see Luke Wright at Bookslam at The Flyover, along with Jon Ronson, Dominic Frisby and De’Borah (8pm, £10 / £12). Friday 24 May: The Keats Festival kicks off at Keats House. Discover Alexander Pope (2.30pm, free), Cobbett and cottage gardens (4pm, £7) and a continuation of the Southbank Centre’s global Poetry Parnassus project (6.30pm, £5). Saturday is Towel Day, so get in the mood with Vogon Poetry Night at Hackney Picturehouse (7.30pm, £5 / £4 in costume). LA Times Book Prize for Fiction winner Ben Fountain is at Bookseller Crow on the Hill in Crystal Palace (7.30pm, £3). Hylda Sims hosts Fourth Friday at the Poetry Cafe with Mark Gwynne Jones and Joolz Sparkes (8pm, £6 / £5). Brother Niyi, Katie Bonna, AF Harrold, Greta Bellamacina, Bridget Minamore and Lucy Gellman are guest performers at the Farrago Poetry Exam Blues SLAM, with John Paul O’Neill MCing (7.30pm, £6 / £5). Saturday 25 May: The London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre continues: highlights include more Poetry Parnassus (7.45pm, £8), Rupert Everett (7.45pm, £12 / £10), James Salter on his probable final novel (4.30pm, £10), SPIN for kids with John Hegley, Sally Pomme Clayton and BREIS (11am, free) and Rachel Rose Reid‘s tour of the Southbank Centre (1pm, £5). Helen Simpson, Ben Fountain, Roshi Fernando and Anna Stothard read short stories at The Word Factory salon in Soho (6pm, £10). More Keats: Arachne Press presents stories from the Garden of Eden (3pm, £5), Susan Brandt’s docu-play goes behind the affair of Byron and Claire Clairmont (6.30pm, £5), plus more workshops and talks. Helen East leads another storytelling walk around Islington, this time meeting at Farringdon tube and directing us at the water beneath our feet (11am / 2pm, free). Amy Key, Jacqui Saphra and Gale Burns host The Shuffle at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £3). Sunday 26 May: Back at the Southbank Centre for the London Literature Festival, the big draw is undoubtedly the full reading of Sylvia Plath’s Ariel by a ton of famous women poets and actors (7.30pm, £10-£25). We also like the look of Cornelia Parker (4.30pm,

Rooftop Film Club distinguishes itself from most other outdoor screens by being, well, on a rooftop. This year, the organisation pitches up at three venues round town: the usual base on top of the Queen of Hoxton (pictured); on Peckham’s busy Bussey Building; and in the refined parapets of the Kensington Roof Garden. Much of the Shoreditch programme has already sold out. You can still grab tickets at time of writing to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (25 May), The Princess Bride (26 May) and Troll Hunter (17 June). There’s also a special Bank Holiday screening of Purple Rain in the Leonard Street car park, where you’re encouraged to sing and dance along. The Peckham programme, beginning 4 June, has just been announced, and you should be able to snap up tickets if you’re quick to see Ghostbusters, The Lost Boys, Labyrinth, Top Gun, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Clueless, The Graduate, Stand By Me, Empire Records and Trainspotting. The Kensington Roof Gardens got in there early, with winter screenings, but promises a fresh programme to be announced shortly. It’s a dazzling venue, so keep your eyes on this page. See also: Film4 Summer Screening at Somerset House Nomad Cinema 2013 Pop Up Screens 2013 Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens free pop-up screen