Tapas Tour: Pix
Another stop on the Tapas Tour, Pix serves dishes inspired by San Sebastian’s pintxos. Basque Country delicacies come on a skewer, in a shot glass or piled on bread.
Oct 6-14, Mon-Thu 12-11.30pm; Fri-Sat 12-12; Sun 12-10pm, £49
16 Bateman St, W1D 3AH
Tube | Tottenham Court Rd, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus
pix-bar.com
Kitchen Influentials: Philip Howard and Mark Kempson
Chefs team with their protégés and friends for a series of deluxe Sunday lunch events, including double Michelin-starred maestros Howard and Kempson.
Oct 7, 12.30pm, £85
11-13 Abingdon Road,
W8 6AH
Tube | High Street Kensington
kitchenw8.com
The Big Debate
”The more we look, the less we cook: too many TV chefs are spoiling a domestic craft.” So says the motion that will be the subject of this heated debate.
Jonathan Meades and Matthew Fort will support the premise, arguing that we’re lazy sods who sit and watch others cook feasts on TV as we chow down on ready meals.
Grace Dent and Oliver Peyton, meanwhile, claim that our culinary skills are enriched by a diet of TV cookery programmes. Booze and snacks will be on hand as the matter is decided.
Oct 8, 7pm, £50
Tabernacle, 35 Powis Square, W11 2AY
Tube | Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove, Westbourne Park
londonrestaurantfestival.com
Gourmet Odyssey (classic): Hix
The London Restaurant Festival is bundling diners onto a Routemaster bus for a series of gourmet odysseys: this one includes a journey through the city’s classic eateries.
Elegant and British will be the order of the day, with a course each at Hix at the Albemarle in Browne’s Hotel, Wiltons, and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon.
Oct 6, 11.45am, £105
33 Albemarle Street, W1S 4BP
Tube | Green Park, Piccadilly Circus
thealbemarlerestaurant.com
Gourmet Odyssey (new): Brasserie Zedel
This tour in the gourmet odyssey series (see above) takes in hot newcomers including Brasserie Zedel, Novikov
and Banca.
Oct 13, 11.45am
20 Sherwood Street, W1F 7ED
Tube | Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Sq
brasseriezedel.com
Ceviche
Ceviche, one of London’s only Peruvian eateries, is doing a two-course lunch for a tenner. Menu choices range from Amazonian to Afro-Peruvian in style.
Oct 1-15, Mon-Thu 12-3pm;
Fri-Sun 12-5pm, £10
17 Frith Street, W1D 4RG
Tube | Tottenham Court Road
cevicheuk.com
Read more: London Restaurant Festival boasts top-end nosh without emptying your wallet
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Inamo Sushi Classes
‘Interactive’ sushi restaurant Inamo is gimmicky, with its food and drink menu projected onto the table, from which you order directly at the same time as setting your surroundings’ ‘themes’ and ‘moods’.
But sushi is Inamo’s main business. For Restaurant Week, Inamo will host two sushi and sake masterclasses.
Learn to make Japanese specialites from the in-house sushi chefs and try a selection of sakes.
Oct 2 & 9, 6.30pm
134-136 Wardour Street,
W1F 8ZP
Tube | Tottenham Court Rd, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus
inamo-restaurant.com
Apas Tour: Pix
Another stop on the Tapas Tour, Pix serves dishes inspired by San Sebastian’s pintxos. Basque Country delicacies come on a skewer, in a shot glass or piled on bread.
Oct 6-14, Mon-Thu 12-11.30pm;
Fri-Sat 12-12; Sun 12-10pm, £49
16 Bateman St, W1D 3AH
Tube | Tottenham Court Rd, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus
pix-bar.com
Henry Harris and Valentine Warner at Racine
TV chef Warner and Racine owner Harris create a Sunday lunch. If Racine’s mainly French menu is anything to go by, expect lots and lots of butter.
Oct 7, 12.30pm
239 Brompton Road, SW3 2EP
Tube | South Kensington, Gloucester Rd
racine-restaurant.com
Ducksoap Natural Wine Talk and Dinner
Ducksoup takes inspiration from France’s neighbourhood restaurants, changing their menu of seasonal food daily. They also specialise in natural wines.
As part of the festival,Ducksoup has invited Guillaume Aubert of specialty wine shop Aubert & Mascoli to talk about natural wines.
They’re more environmentally friendly, but do these vinos taste as good as the conventional ones? Aubert & Mascoli believe so and promote biodynamic wines from independent winemakers.
Oct 8, 7pm, £55
41 Dean St, W1D 4PY
Tube | Tottenham Court Rd, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus
ducksoupsoho.co.uk
Taste by Appointment at Dabbous
Swanky venues offer one-to-one cocktail tasting sessions and ‘taste experiments’ for this Grey Goose-sponsored event.
It’s taking place at Bread Street Kitchen and Hakkasan and Dabbous, with 25 per cent of proceeds go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Oct 13, 1-4pm and 5-8pm, £75
39 Whitfield Street, W1T 2SF
Tube | Goodge St, Tottenham Court Rd
dabbous.co.uk
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Street Theatre
Street food collective Eat St has teamed up with The Old Vic Tunnels to create a day of eating and entertainment in the darkened catacombs under Waterloo station.
Expect stalls serving eclectic food from New York-style hot dogs to oysters. Chow down and feast your eyes and ears on music, performance art and puppets. Free entry.
Oct 13, 12-9pm, free
The Old Vic Tunnels, Station Approach Road, SE1 8SW
Tube | Waterloo, Southwark, Lambeth North Waterloo, Waterloo East
londonrestaurantfestival.com
The Scone Club For Action Against Hunger
British tea company Lalani & Co is hosting an afternoon tea with top UK chefs and food critics to raise money for Action Against Hunger.
Oct 6, 3.30pm, £25
Pret-A-Diner, The Burlington Social Club, W1S 3ET
Tube | Piccadilly Circus, Green Park
londonrestaurantfestival.com
Gastropub Quiz At The Well
Do you know your pestle from your mortar? Get a team together and put your minds to the test. The Well is one of a number of pubs that will be hosting quizzes.
Oct 2, 7.30pm, free
180 St John Street, EC1V 4JY
Tube | Angel Farringdon
downthewell.com
Graze: French and Grace
Experience the best of Marylebone High Street, Bermondsey Street, Exmouth Market, Charlotte Street, Brixton Village and Soho, each on different days.
Buy a Graze keyring and you get a free glass of wine each time you buy a dish from one of the street’s participating restaurants, such as French and Grace, which began as a monthly supperclub but now sells its Mediterranean dishes from a home in Brixton.
Oct 11, 12pm, £12+
Unit 19, First Avenue, Brixton Village Market, SW9 8PR
Tube | Brixton
saladclub.wordpress.com/french-grace
The Wallace Game Dinner
A seasonal three-course game dinner, washed down with biodynamic wine.
The meal will include dishes such as wild boar and foie gras terrine with candy capers, and a brioche-crusted loin of hare with rowan berries and black trompettes.
The restaurant is set in the Wallace Collection museum.
Oct 12, 7.30pm
Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN
Tube | Bond St, Marble Arch
peytonandbyrne.co.uk
Read more: London Restaurant Festival boasts top-end nosh without emptying your wallet
Photos: Natalie Tkachuk, Getty, Thinkstock
